Skirmish D-Day

[STOLTZ]

48 Hours... Ohhh yeah..

Of course none of the mercs will show up in these promo shots for 2010...

Why?  Because we'll be up there in the smoke at the tree-line - trading paint with the Germans at 20-30 feet.  Cause that's where the real men hang when storming the beach

[Shock Doc-Shawn]

Give to them nothing.........But take from them everything!!!!!

[inthedeadbox-Chris]

Give to them nothing.........But take from them everything!!!!!

Make that a table for 1,750. 

[hiroitchi]

Good luck Guys, I definately wish I could have kept my Allied Ticket for this event as I don't know how long I'll be in PA for.

[lil_giggles]

Hope you guys have fun. Wish money wasn't so tight. But I got a new paycheck today =)

[STOLTZ]

It...WAS..EPIC...

More comments to follow - but right now I am too tired

I will say however that - WE WON!!! WOOO! GO ALLIES!!!!

[inthedeadbox-Chris]

Full of FAIL... and full of WIN.  104 (Allies) to 98 (Germans) and I never even made it out of the boat.  Someone stepped on my foot and I went face down on the gate (EPIC FAIL) breaking my marker which BT fixed for free shortly thereafter.

I didn't get any action shots but here are a few pictures.

Awards Ceremony:


Ready to play Sunday morning:


Tippmann castle Friday night:


Earl at the camp:


My new Howitzer:


The beach:


Andrew and Shawn setting up their canopy:


Words cannot descibe this, nor do I think they are necessary except to say that YES, they played paintball like this:

[Shock Doc-Shawn]

And it was awesome! definitly stung a little more though.... oh well. Definitly pumped for next year.

[inthedeadbox-Chris]

And it was awesome! definitly stung a little more though.... oh well. Definitly pumped for next year.

Dude you guys kicked MAJOR butt no matter what you were wearing, and Andrew gets the "awesomeness" award.  He took every bunker he wanted, and repeatedly charging with no paint in his marker and not getting hit?  I've never seen anything like it.   Is he the one that turned the flag on Sword beach?

I'm awarding myself this one for the faceplant three seconds into the first mission:

[Shock Doc-Shawn]

Unfortunitly he was not the one who turned the pole but at one point he did have his hands on it. That was as close as he got. Alot closser than what alot of the other people got though.

[Mini]

yeah i ran up and touched the pole but by then i had at least been shot 50 times n fell tio the ground, by the way at the time i had no clue what the objective was with the flag lol, but it was fun making it there. Also we all did great stolts n chris spotting n tearing into people, stocky sniping getting moving and whatnot, and danner doing a suicide grenade run  .

[Shock Doc-Shawn]

That suicide gernade run really hurt, but what else was I going to when I was out of paint and Dave gave me a gernade. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If Dave gives you a paint gernade, pull the pin and run into the enemy.

[lil_giggles]

lol nice guys....sounds like it was awesome I hope i get to meet you guys in the near future and not just chatting through here

[STOLTZ]

Ok - for the record, Chris is being waaaay to hard on himself about that beach insertion.  Because just making it three feet out of the boat, I mean to just force yourself to move out into that ungodly wall of paint - that counts for something, believe me.  And even when his gun was down, he still deployed into that madness and helped spot targets for me.  So don't let him fool you, he got it done on the beach

Highlights of the trip for me were:

1. Deploying in the first boat at Sword Beach... There is NOTHING like Sword beach, let me tell you - it's the boat closest to the treeline and that makes it  the most fearsome killzone in the game.   You just HAVE to feel good about yourself walking out of that boat with 300-400 Germans firing 10+BPS at 100' or so - ALL OF IT RIGHT AT YOU.  A big thanks to Shawn and Andrew for picking the Sword beach boat and to everyone else on the team for having the stones to pack into that first insertion... AWESOME.

2. The last deployment on Saturday - when after getting the tar beat out of us for a few hours we decided to give it a go and head out together one last time... We found ourselves at the front of a monstrous Allied surge to retake one of the cities on our side of the field.  Chris, Dave and I ran out of paint and were shot out at the edge of town but it was an awesome advance and we left the field feeling good... And then the next morning, hearing how Shawn and Andrew stuck with it and took that city - was truly a thing of greatness.

3. And finally on Sunday - when the Germans had pushed us all the way back again, almost to our base - to deploy with the mercs right into the thick of it... And to push to the front of a fight that was so vicious, so nasty and so fierce that even the judges feel back from it - was truly a thing of beauty.  Every one of us moved into that madness and nobody on the Mercs fell back or gave ground.   The best moment for me was when all of us hit a deadfall that was 60' or so from the German line (about 500 of them) and a good 50' IN FRONT OF OUR OWN LINE... To be pinned down in that madness and see Andrew spotting (because he had no paint and wouldn't let that stop him), Chris blazing away, Dave on a knee right there with us, laying down some amazing covering fire - that was one of the best times for me in paintball to date.  And then to see Shawn in that fight - running around in that crazy yellow spandex - always in front of everyone else, always fearless - he literally humbled me with his aggression.  It was a great way to end the event.

Well I've waxed poetic long enough I think.  This weekend had some highs that were very high and some lows that were very low - but in the end it was ION in all of its glory... And when you walk into the firestorm that is Invasion of Normandy, with good friends to fight with side by side - it is truly one of the greatest experiences in Paintball.

Thanks Dave, Chris, Shawn and Andrew for an awesome weekend - you guys fought with honor, aggression and skill every step of the way.. And while we didn't win any awards or mentions, the victory won this weekend belongs to each of you as much as it belongs to anyone.

Stoltz

[Shock Doc-Shawn]

Well said, very well said. I too also can say that I.O.N withe the MERCS was one of the best paintball experiences in my life as well as some of the most fun I've ever had. Looking forward t it next year with you guys. It looks like I'm hooked and am planning on attending this event for years to come. Thanks to all the MERCS who came up there and stood toe to toe with the germans and and got into those blazing fire fights. It was truly epic and unforgettable.