Hey all. I'm a resident of downtown manhattan and I'm trying to find a group of gamers. I just got back from a deployment in Iraq and I've decided to finally indulge my long-standing fancy for dorkish things. I've got about 1200 points of guardsman painted up and the whole library of DH books. I've been trying to get a play-by-post off the ground with mixed results. It seems people can't really manage to post regularly enough to keep it interesting. That said, I'm thinking of getting a group together in the real world. For starters, I'll probably try to get a few games going at Compleate Strategist on thursday for 40k. I've tried to meet folks at the local GW store, but the crowd there is pretty young and slightly off-putting (or maybe I'm just not used to hard-core gamers)...

Anyone from the Big Apple?

For anyone with an interest in PBP, you can find my game here...

http://www.storycrafter.com/story/index.php?storyid=4822

Click on 'show all acts to get a look at the character preludes. The preludes are the titled threads. "Fall of the house of Drake," is the only one that's been completed. The 'tableop' threads contain all the rolling, OOC chat, etc...

Well I am sorry to say I am not from NYC. I just wanted to thank you for serving your country. I leave in a year for the US Navy, and I take the chance to thank any and all veterans that I can.

Well, the navy can be a lot of fun and it can be very very dull. Do you know your MOS? MOS makes all the difference, even in the marine corps where "every marine is a rifleman." If you signed up to be EOD, for example, you'll get deployed a LOT.

Also, good luck in boot. I've heard navy boot camp is pretty rough. On the other hand, I don't think its very long.

Also, I hope you enjoy heavy drinking, scuzzing the deck, and Sodomy, as those are the navy's three favorite pastimes.

(Just kidding)

Im going in as a HM (Coreman), I dont know which spicific job I'm going to have but I'm pretty sure they want to put me in the Feild Medic program. Navy basic is only 9 weeks, unlike marine basic which is 13 weeks.

Yeah. That's one I have a bit of experience with. It's Corpsman, by the way. Corpsman are the primary medical care for the marine corps in the field. Every infantry platoon will be assigned with at least one corpsman. They also find themsleves working in the BAS (the field medical station) and scattered throughout the non-infantry units. This job is a bit like caring for and feeding a pack of large, slightly dangerous animals. Some guys love it, some hate it. The downside is that you have to deal with all the BS of the Navy, and all the BS of the Marines. Sailers tend to have a low tolerance for Marine Corps "games"

In the end, Corpsman are basically Marines without the attitude. And the Corps is not for everybody. Many Corpsman serving in the Infantry are intensely proud of what they do. (And you get to carry a pistol or an M-4! Sweet!). Other guys dread the next zero-0'clock reveille call, ass-chewing, or interminable combat patrol with nothing to look at but the back of the Marine's head sitting in front of you. (not to mention the possibility of getting hurt)

On the other hand, Corpsman also provide primary medical care for the whole Navy, so you could end up with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan or you could end up serving out your contract in a navy hospital here in the states. Or you may be assigned to a float aboard a navy vessel or submarine. The blue-water side of things I have no experience with, unfortunately.

Corpsman are everywhere in the military. The Navy's Medicine is very highly regarded.

Well atleast it's a respectable job, even if I hate it no one is going to look down at a guy going into a combat zone with Marines, who doesnt have all the training a Marine has. What sort of "games" are you refering to?

Thank you for the more laymans definition of the job, were you in the Corps?

Indeed I was. What sort of 'games'? Oh you'll see...

Its kind of a catch-all term for disciplinary action against a unit as a whole. (i.e. stand in formation all night in the rain, remove all the furniture from your barracks at a high rate of speed, then replace it, then remove it again, then replace it again, ad nauseum. Run up and down a mountain in 100+ degree weather until poeple start passing out/vomiting/etc. That sort of fun stuff.

The Marine corps plays around like this more in peace-time than in war-time, but you'll see your share of games if you end up assigned to a marine unit. Some Staff NCO's will leave the Doc's out of the fun, and some will include you.

"Doc" is what people will call you, by the way. That will become you name. As in, "whats up Doc?' or "Doc, can you take a look at my junk, I slept with a prostitute last week and I think I caught something..." etc...etc...

Some people think that would put me off, but actually it makes me a little more excited. The Marines were my first choice, but many of my friends were marines whom told me it wouldn't be for me and begged me not to go into the Corps. My one friend actually got down on one knee.

What did you do in the Corps? IMHO most "geek marines" go for the high ASVAB score jobs.

Thanks for taking the time to share all of this with me, if you ever find yourself in the Jersey Shore area (neer atlantic city) PM me and we can get together. I'll buy you a cup of coffee, maby get a 40k game going.

Absolutely, although I rarely leave Manhattan, lately. And I'm happy to talk to a new poolie, even if you're still a year out.

Its true that most geek's have high ASVABs. (and there are a lot of geeks in the marine corps, surprisingly)They tried to give me a bunch of high-speed MOS's. That said, I'm in the infantry. 0351, Infantry Assaultman. I like to blow stuff up : )

What was the reason your freinds told you not to pick the marines?

They said that there was a lot of bullsh*t associated with a job that should be given alot of respect, but reguardless of how well you preform you still have to go through all the BS at the officers whim. Most of them added that the Marines stress how little you matter in the big scale, and being a Marine isn't just a 9-5. The Navy, when not on deployment, is a little more chill.

Thats not a verbatum quote, but close enough. Funny enough, when I was at MEPS there were a lot of women joining the Marines. And not beastly women, but really hot, tiny girls.

Well, the Navy is definitely more chill. That something a a lot of Docs have told me, anyway. The Marine Corps can get quite ridiculous. I wouldn't have it any other way.

As far as female marines, go, I don't know any. Women can't be in the infantry so the only time I ever saw any in country was in administrative roles on large bases. That's fine by me, frankly. Being a female marine is practically like being in a different branch of service, as far as I can tell. I don't think I've ever seen one break a sweat. I saw a few doing long hours on convoys runs, but thats about it. Some of them are hot, though. Its quite rare. The Air Force has a lot of attractive women. But mostly, you could go a whole deployment without speaking to a female (if you're a grunt). Hell, if you're on a FOB, You can go months without even seeing one. Its one of the less charming parts of the job.

I know there are rules for no fraternizing with coworkers in the Navy.. is it the same with the marines?

I never ran into it. Strictly speaking, fraternization is an inappropriate relationship (business, freindship, or romantic) between people in the service of different rank. And not just slightly different rank, but divided along specific lines. E-1 to E-3 are all considered junior and there are not limits on their interactions. E-4 to E-5 is the next group who can interact amongst themselves, then staff NCO's -E-6 to E-9 also keep to their own. An NCO doesn't hang out with junior marines, under normal circumstances, nor does he hang out with his staff NCO's.

Sufficed to say, officers are not to have too much truck with the enlisted man, and officers of different ranks, O-1 to O-3, O-4 to O-6, and general Officers also are not supposed to interact too much. This also includes, but is not limited to, romantic entanglements with females.

That said, a previous relationship is repected under the UCMJ and doesn't get punished. I have a freind who is a ranking officer, but I knew him from before we joined the marines so our freindship is not fraternization.

If you are assigned to an infantry platoon and you get deployed to ... I almost said Iraq, but I guess Afghanistan. You will not get laid for your entire deployment. It is sad, but ineviatble sacrifice one makes in the infantry. If you end up in some kind of non-grunt unit, I imagine there are all kinds of behind the scenes hi-jinks. A lot of the females are lesbians, but a good proportion of them are not. For the straight ones, being in the military is like being a kid in a candy store. Female marines have a reputation for...Indiscretion. But, then, who could really blame them. Their just as bored and horny as everyone else, and after 10 months of not seeing females, even ugly ones start to look pretty appealing.

I saw a funny bit of graffiti on the wall at an airstation which was the first stop for many units returning home., It said: "To all female marines returning home, How does it feel to be ugly again?"

Like so many things in the marine corps...Cruel, but funny.

Well thats just interesting, and kinda funny. I know my buddy "knew" a girl in AIT who messed around with alot of guys, and got court martialed for being in the guys barracks. I also hear navy girls have a reputation to be slutty.