January Newsletter
Welcome to the January News
The first month of the new year is over and we are pleased to bring you the news of what happened around the world of S.O.G. Prairie Fire both in-game and in real life!
We have much to tell you from our MACV SOG Military Advisor team, and some amazing creations from community members, not just mods and artwork but even some amazing S.O.G. action figures! Let’s get started…
1. S.O.G. Prairie Fire gaming events planned
Antistasi Campaign - Over the past few weeks we updated and re-opened our public S.O.G. Prairie Fire Antistasi server. Every Wednesday and Saturday nights currently players can join to help retake Cam Lao Nam from the PAVN and US forces that occupy the land.
Zeus Events - Just like in previous years, we are planning several large Co-op missions in 2023, based on Historical missions with a Zeus (Game Master) overlooking and controlling the enemy units. More on this soon™.
Stay tuned in to the #Events channel in the Official SOG discord to join these popular events!
2. S.O.G. Prairie Fire at the Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum is hosting a 'War Games' exhibition until May 28th 2023 - if you're in London, be sure you don't miss it - especially as Arma 3 and SOG Prairie Fire are part of the exhibition! Bohemian Arma 3 leaders Marek Spanel, Ivan Buchta, and Joris-Jan van 't Land all share developer insights in this unique museum experience at the world's premiere war museum. You can read a report from SOG team members Eggbeast and Barden who visited in January here.
3. In Neptune’s Realm
This month saw the release of a YouTube video of SOG Prairie Fire soundtrack composer Fabian Kreutzer playing “In Neptune’s Realm“ - a mystical, cinematic orchestral theme used in our multiplayer campaign’s Black Spear mission. The track is part of the original soundtrack of S.O.G. Prairie Fire available on Steam.
4. Tilts S.O.G. Cast and YouTube Shorts
January saw the release of SOGcast number 30 from Jocko Willink and John “Tilt” Stryker Meyers' awesome collaboration to bring untold SOG stories to interested people everywhere! In this episode, available on all good podcast outlets, you can listen to Tilt interviewing green beret Robert K Brown who went on to found the famous Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Here iit is on Spotify:
Recently, we’ve been posting some clips (Youtube Shorts) from past interviews with our veteran advisers in which they share some of their incredible stories in the jungles of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. You can watch the first 2 clips here:
5. S.O.G 1:6 Action Figures
We’re really pleased to bring you this fabulous introduction to Tilt’s team RT Idaho, and a composite team dubbed “The Wild Bunch,” via the outstanding miniature figure design work of The Casual Collector.
Here is his RT Idaho team pic, Tilt Meyer, Aau, Doug “The Frenchman” LeTourneau, Lynne Black Jr., Hiep, Tuan, and Son. In his videos he explains all the incredible details of the gear carried by this formidable recon team in 1968-9.
Here is The Wild Bunch which includes Nick Brokhausen, Frank Pulley, Robert Sinton, Eldon Bargewell, Ken Bowra (El Cid in game), and Billy Waugh of MACVSOG around 1971.
These figures cost a fortune to make and are sadly not coming to any comic shops soon! Be sure to subscribe to The Casual Collector for more of his videos of SOG figures.
6. Arma 3 SOG team helps with Medal of Honor upgrade: Paris Davis interview #1
Some community members have been following the story of Col. Paris Davis, who earned a Silver Star at the battle of Bong Son in July 1965. On that heroic day he saved 3 of his team-mates after sustaining significant injuries himself, repeatedly running out in the open under machine gun fire to retrieve his wounded men.
Back in 2020 we helped develop the story using stills from the then-unreleased SOG Prairie Fire DLC for submission to the Department of Defense, as part of the upgrade package to a Medal of Honor for the Colonel.
You can read the original story of the battle here in the MOH submission package.
One of the team who works on these medal upgrades for Vietnam era special forces heroes is Neil Thorne. You can watch the first fully- detailed interview with Colonel Davis here. We visited with him in October and have a podcast and more news incoming soon.
7. What is it like to actually play with MACV-SOG veterans?
SOG Prairie Fire developers and MACV SOG military advisers play weekly as RT Columbia. Here you can see last weeks game recorded in full including the mission briefing by EL Cid who was 1-0 of RT Idaho and RT Sidewinder in 1969-71. After a highly successful mission including capturing the enemy officer and extracting him, there is a standard wash-up team review common to SOG and special forces doctrine.
We hope players and teams can use this as a template for establishing your own continuous improvement cycle if you don’t already do it. People interested in SOG history may enjoy watching the mission design and how EL Cid leads the team 50 years after he did it for real.
8. Operation Tailwind book and air support podcast
Keep an eye on our YouTube channel this month for a fascinating podcast featuring SOG 1-0 Lt. Col. Dick Thompson and USMC Cobra Scarface pilot Col. Barry Pencek. We had the opportunity to spend several days with these awesome Special Operations veterans in October. Pictured below is “Dynamite” Dick Thompson holding “Scarface 20” Barry Pencek’s new book “Operation Tailwind” available from all good bookshops!
In the forthcoming podcast, Barry describes in detail delivering deadly payloads into the forest canopy on SOG operations in Laos, while Dick recounts what it feels like being underneath the canopy, and seeing their impacts. It takes a lot of teamwork to achieve this safely, and the podcast we’re sure will be fascinating to all multiplayer communities!
9. Community Art
Our favorite community screenshots this month feature a comic book style picture of a SOG soldier, Battle of Hue picture and an amazing recreation of the S.O.G. Prairie Fire main artwork.
Artwork by Mike Bravo via Discord
Artwork by Polpox via Discord
Artwork by WrathActual via Discord
10. Community mod news
SOG AI - Solo campaign AI support
Community hero Johnnyboy is constantly updating his amazing SOG AI mod, if you enjoy playing in single-player this mod is definitely for you!
“Features:
- Play Prairie Fire campaign missions with an AI squad that is an asset and not a liability.
- Play East Wind campaign using SOG AI command menu.
- Play Apex Protocol campaign on Tanoa with 4 AI
- Play Escape and Combat Patrol on Altis, Stratis, Tanoa, Malden, Livonia using SOG AI command menu.
- Choose your team (SOG teams, SEALs, LRRPs, US Army, ANZACs, ROCs, ARVN, etc.) for max replay fun
- Maximize immersion by commanding your AI squad with hand signals only
- AI squad can move quickly under fire (break contact)
- AI squad can leapfrog attack or leapfrog retreat
- AI can revive each other and the player
- AI will Melee fight each other
- AI can enter/exit/defend craters quickly and smartly (i.e., no vanilla AI slow walking on craters!)
- Some VC trackers will have dogs that can sense enemy (i.e., you!) and attack
- Modify your AI team's loadout (and player's) at start
- Persistent Napalm FX (scorched earth, burnt trees, destroyed buildings, etc.)
- Grenades can destroy vegetation
- Punji Traps are brutal!”
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2812560646
- Unsung Redux
Unsung redux has recently added a couple of new toys for your Vietnam enjoyment, including none other than the enormous B-52H Stratofortress and the small O-1 Birddog Covey aircraft, along with many other changes.
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2554978758
- Army Men - Prairie Fire
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic! Nightwolf brings you the classic Plastic World Troopers from your childhood into S.O.G. Prairie Fire.
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2925574691
- Northeastern Saigon Reconstructed
Delta-gamma brings us “a simple composition to replace most of the destroyed buildings in Saigon with their undamaged counterparts where possible and with scale-appropriate buildings where not”. A nice upgrade for Saigon.
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2922184526
- [SP/COOP 30] Ravage Mayhem Tour: Cam Lao Nam
“The last evacuating Huey couldn't fit everyone so you decided to stay behind…”
Ravage is an amazing Zombie Survival Sandbox experience which you can now play in Cam Lao Nam with up to 30 players, thanks to this mission by Recaldy.
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2921692909
- Agent Orange
A coop story-driven mission by LAGGY, in which you search for the lost (fortunate?) son of a senator in the deep jungles of Vietnam. Complete with voice actors and cinematics, what else can you ask for?
Download it here
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2908832880
- ArgoChris - Work in progress terrain
ArgoChris has been working on a new Vietnam terrain and has recently shared with us some exciting pictures from his work in progress. Doesn’t it look great?
1.3 Update - when?
The team is busy working on the 1.3 update, which looks set to include:
3 new factions
10+ new vehicles including 30+ new variants
15+ new weapons
A sound and fx overhaul
New music tracks
We can’t yet confirm content until it has passed QA, but we hope to do the daily discord drops before release that went down so well last time. Also no idea about the date, but the team is working very hard to squash bugs and complete content to the high standard you have come to expect from us. Be sure to join our discord community to get the scoop!