D-DAY 2002

On July 13-14, 2002, Skirmish USA in Jim Thorpe Pa. held a massive 24 hour scenario game. The D-Day Invasion. The scenario was put together by Chuck Stoner.
A total of 1,758 players took part in this game. This was my first big game. Due to the number of people here and the feild setup, my sniper skills were not used to the fullest. 99% of the battles were won by heavy fire power.

At 12 Noon Saturday, 6 groups of 50 were the first wave to hit the beach supported by a waterballoon barrage. Their was at least one boat to represent each beach that was landed on on D-day - Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah.I was in the first wave to land on Utah Beach.



We started to take fire before we left the boat. They could see us but we couldn't see them.



Our beach assult forces were backed by paratrooper insertions behind enemy lines on the "Bus-Plane".

Of the 50 guys in the boat, at least half of us were dead within the first 30 seconds, including me.

I acted like a shield for the skinny guys, their for, I was dead in about 3 seconds. One of the fisrt dozen hits I took, hit me "below the belt". At that point, I droped to the ground facing back the way I just came a few feet short of the bunker. After about a minute of screaming for a medic and getting shot in the ass, I ran as fast as I could of the field, taking hits all the way out.




Finally, after 2 hours of extreme fighting, US troops on Omaha and Utah finally made their way into the woodline.


Then, the battles moved inland. The battles were so intense, that not only did possession of the beach change hands many times, but half the land set aside for the game was not used.



The battles raged through open woods and swamp, to dense roadadendrum forests.


Towards the end of the day, a massive offensive resulted in the US capture of "The Hood In The Woods".


This was held till after dark at which point the battles were brought back to the beaches for night time play. Both Allied and German forces battled till 2 A.M. Around 6:30 two speedball games were played for extra points on the new hyperball field.

At 7:00, the battle resumed.

At about 10:00, a stand off occured. For half an hour, paint flew in every direction. By 10:30, the germans recaptured a section of beach. This almost destroyed the allied forced. The germans sweep all the way down the beach to the point where we were reinserting.




Luckly, we were able to hold them of till the end of the game at 12:00.
During the game, Skirmish staff cooked food and sold supplies.

Also, their were representatives from Palmer's Pursuit Shop, National Paintball Supply and CenterFlag Paintball.


At the end of the day, everyone made their way off the fields and eventully gathered for awards. One of the awards was for best costume.




Every one who participated got prizes ranging from air tanks to guns. The final winner received a new Angel. Our ID tags had numbers which were used for an auction. I didn't get nothing but i had a great time. I just cant wait till my next scenario game.
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