The Outcome
After that, tensions rose to a fever pitch, and for the safety of all parties, they were disbanded.
This year, Skirmish brought the French back, but took a different approach. They were introduced as a band of role players and given props and special missions that players were able to engage with for a more subversive, scenario experience. And the French team was split into two- the Free French, who played alongside the Allies, and the Vichy French, who played as German collaborators. The element worked well, but it will be interesting to see how it develops in the years to come.
Additionally, the Allied insertion was modified to avoid the rocky path that they have used to access the field for the past decade. This change meant that they were able to directly access the field more quickly then in years past. The famous beach invasion was changed as well. As always, the game started on the mounds field at the front of the property and the Allies were only allowed to insert through the five notorious“ boats”, named for the respective beachheads of historic acclaim- Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. In the past, however, they were not allowed to enter the woods and confined to the beach for the first portion of the game. This year, the rule changed. The Allies were able to populate the woods from the whistle, which they did, establishing a foothold that the Axis was never able to reclaim for the remainder of the weekend.
The Allied pressure was so intense, that the Germans found themselves spawn trapped for a majority of the day on Saturday. By early evening, the game was so heavily in hand, that this year’ s interim producer, Sky Fogal, decided to end it before a reset was needed and before the night game could commence, the game was called for the day.
Sunday, the game play was similar. The German army focused their intention on the beach points, and layed a trench line across midfield that the Allies could not break. But Axis was unsuccessful gaining any ground into the back fields, and the Allies took the day.
The Outcome
When the two-day fight ended, and the crowd came together at the stage, the awards were highly anticipated. For the Allies, Chris“ Mongo” Jones was awarded the Allied MVP for his leadership and coordination of the Beach assault. The 82nd Airborne won MVT, and Jaeger Company was given the MoFO for never quitting, even when the fight seemed lost. The Axis honord the brothers, Mike and Richard Bates, for their aforementioned selflessness on field. The MVT was awarded to the Pennedragons, and the Axis MoFO went to 2nd Rangers who were relentless at the midfield.
Given the flow of the game, the outcome was not surprising, but the overall score was. The Allies took a decisive victory 66-30. They will return to fight the Battle for Berlin in October in pursuit of a season sweep for their General, Patrick“ Mercer” Whalen.
But the part that most in attendance will remember most was a moment of rare unity. Before the awards were announced, field manager, Karen Fink, thanked the players for a great weekend and called out the bad behavior of the one individual mentioned earlier in this piece. The players had alerted Skirmish to the xenophobic and bigoted utterances that accompanied the person’ s destructive behavior, and the field moved to have him removed from the property. As proof that this community polices itself when needed, and a thank you to Skirmish that Fink received with a nod and a tip of her hat, the players- Allied and Axis alike- erupted into a ubiquitous chant:“ Fuck that guy.” And in that moment, everyone there stood united.
PbM
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