(Continued From Above.)   Erich Garbers of Tippmann Sports; Glenn Palmer of Palmer’s Pursuit; Dewayne Convirs of Oklahoma D-Day; Mike “Blue” Hanse of Blue’s Crew; Sal Briguglio of Xtreme Paintball Park; Tony Mineo Commissioner of the NXL; Richmond Italia, founder of ProCaps; Dan Colby of Guerilla Air; Larry Cossio of Cossio Insurance and inventor of the barrel condom; Duane Bell of Atomic Ordinance; and so many more that should be named but cannot fit in this small space.  Also represented were Facefull Jungle, Paintball News, Paintball Sports, Action Pursuit Games, Splat and Recon magazines.  Tippmann Sports generously provided free rental markers for all first-time players to encourage them to come out and learn from the veterans that started it all.  DXS/DraXxus Senior Vice President Craig Miller took the mantle of General of the USMC Force Recon (Blue) and Sean Scott of Smart Parts/Smart Corps fame assumed the role of his adversary, General Seanovich Scottski of the Red Ultranationalist Army (Red).  General Miller appointed Hellions Dan “Spartacus” Pianfetti as Communication XO and Kevin “Buckshot” Buchaniec as Missions XO and Heretics Todd “Spartan” Berens as XO of the “Shock Troops”.

Both sides burst out of the gates running at the sound of the ‘game on’ signal.  Each team placed a priority on retrieving their supply drops to ensure they had their fill of engineers, medics and snipers.  The focus then turned to fulfilling missions.  Teams such as Ground Control, Ragamuffin Soldiers, Warlords and Bad Karma concentrated on missions for the Marines while others such as Blue’s Crew, PB Nation and the Heretics aimed more at sewing confusion among the ranks of the Reds.  The battlefield advantage seemed to sway back and forth all day long. 

The Pre-Dinner Break Battle was frenzied and chaotic with both sides sending players dashing into a wall of paintballs to the slap-sticks on the center berm.  The single-elimination battle raged for the full 30 minutes and even spilled over into the woods along the North side of the field.  In the end, the score was 3-2 in favor of the Red Ultranationalists although there was some dispute as to whether or not one had been struck after time expired.  The Veteran’s of Foreign Wars Post 6863 generously catered dinner for the Hellions and their guests.

Night play was enjoyably chaotic.  Each side took advantage of the darkness to infiltrate the lines and destroy the other’s base.  There were barrel-tags galore.  If any team stood out, it was Thunderstruck with their supply of Gen-III Night Optical Devices (NODs).  The cold set in early and both teams agreed to call the game at 2200 hours.

Sunday play began promptly at 0900 hours.  To ensure fairness, the bases were switched.  The Marines moved to the East end and took over the fort of Kharkov and the Ultranationalist moved into the small structure of Odessa.  The advantage shifted back and forth between the Red and the Blue forces.  Both sides continued completing mission after mission but the Reds controlled a larger portion of the field on several occasions.  The Marines knew that the Final Battle would be do-or-die.  A “Last Samurai” plan was hatched by some of the Blue players.  In the final minutes, everyone would charge the hill in loose columns hopefully protecting the rear players just long enough to allow them to reach the slap-sticks and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  When the battle began, the Reds seemed to have a leg up and reached the center well ahead of the Marines.  They dug in and used their advantage of cover to prevent the Blue player from ever seriously challenging their control of the berm.  As the hour-long battle raged, many player ran out of paint.  When the final minutes arrived, there were just not enough players left to ever really reach the crest of the hill.  The end result was a clear Red victory. 

Dan “Spartacus” Pianfetti of the Hellions was recognized by General Scott of the Red Ultranationalists as the “Most Formidable Opponent” or “Mo-Fo” due to his unyielding and successful arguing of the rules to the Marines’ advantage.  Ground Control of the Marines and Thunderstruck of the Reds were awarded MVT honors.  Krazy-8 of Special Ops Elite was given the Valor award.  A number of other teams and players distinguished themselves at the legendary event.  We hope their omission here for lack of space is not seen as a slight on their very noteworthy accomplishments.