| « | Gastovski: Three men, on their own against a well-defended enemy encampment? Blake: Three of our "finest" men. Caper Blake assigns Major James Gastovski with a vital task
|
» |
Caper Blake is a supporting character in both of ArmA: Cold War Assault's campaigns.
Background[]
Blake was the commander of the U.S.-led NATO task force on Malden. Initially, Blake served under the command of General Williams, the former leader of all NATO forces in the Everon islands group.
Following the end of the crisis on Nogova, Blake was elevated to Williams' post, and took charge of the NATO counteroffensive when General Aleksei Guba's rogue forces attacked both Everon and Malden.
Resistance (1982)[]
When the partisan fighters on Nogova successfully managed to corner the last of the Soviet garrison, a U.S. special operations team led by James Gastovski discovers that their commander, then-Colonel Aleksei Guba, intended to raze the entire country to the ground in a firebombing campaign to cover his retreat.
Gastovski requested immediate air support to prevent the atrocity from being carried out but was denied by GEN Williams. Williams remained unconvinced that the Soviets would commit to the bombings and was reluctant to provide assistance aside from submitting a letter of "protest" to the Soviet Embassy.
In a stroke of luck, Blake was present at the time of Gastovski's appeal and overheard the entire conversation. After much deliberation, he managed to convince GEN Williams to send troops to assist the partisans.
Thanks to Blake, a squadron of U.S. attack helicopters are dispatched and destroy the Soviet tanks surrounding the last of the guerillas, forcing the remaining Soviet forces to surrender. However, they are unable to stop Guba from fleeing Nogova.
A month later, Gastovski submits his letter of resignation to Blake (now promoted to the role as commander of U.S. forces on Malden), and the former is discharged from the U.S. Army.
Cold War Crisis (1985)[]
Three years later, Blake continues to command NATO forces in the region, with a training camp being established on Everon to serve as a vanguard against potential future aggression from the Soviets.
However, reports start to come in of "unknown forces" appearing on Everon, who simultaneously destroy the camp overnight. Blake immediately dispatches helicopters to investigate the attacking forces, and also sends Gastovski's (now back in service at the request of his colleagues) team under the cover of darkness.
| « | The longer we wait, the longer those guys, whoever they are, have to dig in and reinforce. We're going to have to do the best we can with what we've got. Blake briefs the NATO garrison
|
» |
When neither of the helicopters reported back, Blake returned to the main NATO base on Malden to brief the U.S. troops on the current situation. He also requested additional reinforcements, with a U.S. Navy carrier battle group being dispatched, though it was still at best several days away from arriving.
The next morning, Blake's forces set foot on Everon and proceed to attack Morton, a village on the outskirts of the island. They are immediately fired upon by what appear to be Soviet Red Army troops, but Blake remains unsure of whether they're rogue soldiers or Moscow-sanctioned invasion forces. Following its liberation, U.S. forces proceeded towards Regina, another village to the south of Morten. Encountering even stiffer resistance from the Russians, they are eventually forced to retreat when scouts report a platoon of Soviet tanks charging towards their position.
With the crisis rapidly spiralling out of control, undeniable evidence of direct Soviet involvement continuing to pile up, and NATO command in an uproar, Blake needed to make absolutely sure that the unknown attackers were indeed sanctioned by Moscow. His forces proceed to seize the city of Montignac but are yet again repelled by a massive wave of Soviet troops.
The remnants of the U.S. troops at the city are ordered to fall back to Malden, though the hasty evacuation leaves many of the forces stranded and cut-off by the Soviets; Corporal David Armstrong being one of them.
Three weeks after the retreat from Everon, Malden itself falls under attack when the invaders launch a full-scale assault on the island. Blake scrambles all NATO forces to defend in a desperate stand, forced to deploy even rookie tankers like Lieutenant Robert Hammer into combat.
| « | Blake: Gentlemen, it's good to see you. As you know, we've got something of a situation here. Gastovski: Way I understand it, Malden's coming down with a bad case of the Reds. Gastovski's team reports back to Blake after their long recon mission
|
» |
Gastovski's team finally reports back to Blake, but he immediately dispatches them again on another assignment to sabotage a platoon of Soviet tanks preparing to strike the main NATO encampment.
As NATO's momentum slowly builds up thanks to Gastovski's team, Blake continues the push while they retain their advantage, retaking the cities of Saint Marie and Chapoi after heavy fighting between U.S. and Soviet tanks. Despite facing such heavy opposition, Blake's counteroffensive succeeds with central Malden, the captured ports, and also the beachheads at Lolisse retaken, allowing them to decisive drive off the Soviets completely.
Not long after, he receives a direct transmission from the Soviet commander whose identity is finally revealed to be General Aleksei Guba, the very same Russian commander who had led the occupation on Nogova three years earlier. He personally demands Blake to immediately withdraw from the islands and threatens him and all NATO forces with nuclear annihilation if they do not comply.
Satisfied at the very least that the attackers were not sanctioned by Moscow, Blake reports back Guba's ultimatum to his superiors and also calls for (now Sergeant) David Armstrong to meet with him. Impressed with the Sergeant's progress, he immediately promotes him to Lieutenant, and introduces him to Gastovski while also showing him Guba's broadcast.
In the hopes of recruiting the FIA guerillas to assist in the retaking of the island, Blake orders LT Armstrong to escort Gastovski back to Everon. Meanwhile, Blake assembled his remaining troops (along with newly arrived NATO reinforcements) in preparation for the upcoming offensive.
With Gastovski and Armstrong having paved the way for the invasion, Blake finally commences the attack on Everon, with U.S. troops stepping foot again on Everon's soil for the first time in more than a month. Blazing a trail from Morton and all the way to Le Moule, Blake's forces (with the help of the FIA guerillas) finally succeed in retaking Everon.
The fight wasn't over yet however, with Guba's rogue army based on Kolgujev still being a threat so as long as it remained standing. Blake assigned Gastovski's team to sabotage the island's anti-aircraft defences, and then sent in attack jets to bombard the bases.
During one of the airstrikes however, one of the jets piloted by Captain Sam Nichols is damaged by enemy fire and is forced to crash land. Though he ejected to safety, the pilot was captured by Guba's men. Blake soon receives another video broadcast from Guba, again personally addressed to him. Guba announces that he intended to execute the pilot, and also threatened to use a "secret" weapon that would destroy not just his own army, but both Blake and all NATO forces as well if they continued to defy his demands.
| « | Gastovski: We're about to start World War III... Blake: No. We're going to finish this as quickly and cleanly as possible. Blake
|
» |
Determined to put a stop to Guba once and for all, Blake orders Gastovski to return to Kolgujev yet again in the hopes of retrieving the disarm codes for Guba's unknown device, and also to find the location of the weapon before it could be launched.
| « | Gastovski: ...back to Kolgujev. Blake: Back to Kolgujev. Blake
|
» |
Gastovski discovers both the codes and location of the device, and indeed confirms that Guba's secret weapon was a nuclear device. With time running short, Blake immediately orders NATO forces to assault Kolgujev itself, striking at the heart of the island where the SCUD was hidden. With their help, Gastovski manages to destroy the missile and prevents its launch at the last second.
Even so, they had only delayed Guba's plans. Unbeknownst to Blake, Guba had a second SCUD missile stashed away and was also preparing its launch. Blake dispatches Gastovski's team to hunt down the rogue commander and eventually corner him while en-route to the SCUD.
Despite his apparent "defeat", Guba triumphantly declared his imminent victory and unknowingly gave away the location of the second missile. Gastovski reports back the location of the SCUD and knowing that there wasn't much time left, Blake assigns him the responsibility of finishing the job. With just seconds left on the timer, Gastovski succeeds in destroying the final SCUD missile at the last moment and apprehends Guba, putting an end to the crisis on Everon.
Personality and Appearance[]
Blake had a trimmed, black head of hair and donned a Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and Patrol Cap camouflaged in the U.S. Army's ERDL pattern while on duty. He always wore a set of black squared glasses.
Succinct and orderly, Blake was a sharp-eyed individual who remained calm even in the face of a major crisis. He closely monitored his subordinates and as in the case of Armstrong, valued them based on their resourcefulness.
Trivia[]
- Blake's first name "Caper" is never mentioned in-game and was only listed on the game manual bundled with Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (the initial release name of Cold War Assault).
Gallery[]
See also[]
| Characters of ArmA: Cold War Assault | ||
|---|---|---|
| United States | Berghof† • Bormioli† • Caper Blake • David Armstrong • Fowley† • James Gastovski • Kozlowski† • Robert Hammer • Sam Nichols • Sutherland | |
| Soviet Union | Aleksei Guba* • Angelina Malevich† | |
| Resistance | Nogovan Partisans | Anton† • Gabriel† • Geronimo • Stoyan Jakotych† • Victor Troska† |
| Everon Freedom Alliance | Ian Stoyan • Slava† • Tomas | |
| Civilians | Nogovan | Liz† • Peter • Tom |
| Unknown | Tasmanian Devil† | |
| † indicates deceased characters | * indicates character status is unknown | ||