This group would run and hide from officiants every time they were approached . How do you police that ?
Whether by choice or by circumstance , Skirmish has a monster on their hands . And each year they get a little better at riding the wild stallion that it has become .
The Heart of IoN : Family Traditions
What resonates , and what keeps many of the participants coming back year after year , is the community that has grown around this event . IoN has become a tradition , a family reunion , and at the risk of sounding corny , it is part of who they are . In a sport as fickle as paintball , the dedication of the players to this annual festival is a thing of awe , and it is unmatched anywhere else in the game .
For example , that dedication shone through in 2020 , when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mandated that Skirmish shut the event down due to Covid restrictions . The players who are affiliated with the command structures , both German and Allied alike , organized themselves and got together anyway . On the weekend that IoN 2020 was originally scheduled , more than 400 players showed up to Skirmish for what was likely the largest rec ball day in history . And they did so to support their annual tradition .
Through the years , IoN has seen its changes . There was the D-Day Era that included the epic World Record game with more than 3,800 registered plays ( a number that Skirmish has topped several times since then ), but ultimately ended with a dispute with D-Day Adventure Park in Oklahoma .
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