to unleash that beast that has hibernated for
so long. CPX events are not just built around
the competition, they are built around the
overall experience, players come to see their
friends and families, they run with or against
their favorite players and then they tell lies
around the campfires at night. The warm
temperatures, the swamp forest backdrop
and the kiss of ocean water in the air brings
out the warrior in everyone, that savage lust
for competition and conquest. Players have
received their player packages, they have
readied their weapon of choice and they
adorn themselves with their battle regalia. The
popping sound of the chrono station, the call
to arms and then silence as players await the
start of the game. Missions have been delved
out, the strategy has been decided, and as the
blast from the cannon tears through the air
men, women, children storm the field as once
did the warring faction of ancient times, the
race to gain territory or to meet foe, they race
for conquest. Many thanks to Skyler Svoboda
for providing an actual cannon to start both
days and the final battle.
The Buccaneer commander Vanilla Gorilla
had much to show when he decided to step
into the ring with legend Mamba but fear
was not on that list. The Buccaneers raged
the field with distinction, they left nobody in
question as to who the dominant team was on
the field and in the High Seas. The blue team
stifled every advance the Marauders tried to
accomplished and took every point they could,
the only reprieve the Red team seemed to
take advantage of was when the Buccaneers
were not on the field for either refueling or
High Seas battle, Mamba snuck in every point
he could in these down times, even deciding
at one point not to supply players for the High
Seas battle, forfeiting to Blue, only to take
the field and gain unanswered points. The
Marauders fought hard, they gave every ounce
to their commander and against their enemy
only to fall short on day one by 1700 points, a
seemingly insurmountable lead.
Honu and the CPX production staff came
through for this event and for their players,
facing the failing supply and logistics chains
that most businesses are facing, they still
produced a quality game full of fun for every
player. They continued with the High Seas
battles, giving teams other opportunities to
gain points on the speedball field as opposed
to the woodsball field. Missions were
periodically handed out to commanders to win
2 of the 3 High Seas battles, with a solid victory
your team was guaranteed 100 points and an
extra cannon shot. That extra cannon shot was
an extra bit of fun for the command staff, as
they found themselves involved in a game of
battleship against each other. This new bit of
skullduggery from CPX gave each commander
a battleship board, allowed them to align their
ships and then they were able to fire on each
other’s fleet. They were given 5 cannon shots
per hour, an extra for a High Seas victory and
as rewards for completing other missions. This
added some extra fun and strategizing for both
of the command staffs. Dreaded Legends 5
was stocked with buried treasure, exotic birds,
bags of doubloons, and every pirates’ favorite
mermaids.
The teams were given missions to locate buried
treasure by going to specific locations on the
map, following the directions the map gave
(i.e. face north and walk five paces, then walk
25 paces east) and then were actually provided
to a shovel to dig for the treasure whether it
would be gold or explosives. The production
staff even, out of the goodness of their heart,
provided each commander with their own 3-D
pirate ship puzzle to build. Neither of which
were put together because both teams found
this extremely difficult during game play and
decided it best to not complete this task. These
puzzles however were later put together by
the production staff and were admittedly very
difficult. The CPX staff went above and beyond
creating a game and atmosphere that players
and their families wanted to be a part of, they
created an event that was the light at the end
of a dark tunnel.
024 paintball.media magazine