It was an unexpected trip to D-day this year. I had decided to opt out and take the kids on a vacation to the coast instead. My amazing and beautiful wife decided to sign me up anyway, giving me a month to prepare for the intense heat and exertion of this massive scenario game in Oklahoma. I am still undecided if this was an act of kindness or an attempt to collect on my life insurance. The rush of excitement built as I dreamed of entering the target rich environment for the fourth time as a member of the 6th Fallschimjäger unit.
After 2200 miles of travel, our Canadian trio arrived on the red soil to discover that this year would be a much smaller attendance than previous years. The park seemed empty compared to other years when the field brimmed with over 3000 players. It wasn't long before we found out that the Germans would be vastly outnumbered and we hit the field for our first day of play.
Like previous years the drastic difference in climate hit hard, and after the first game I found myself caressing the porcelain fixture in our hotel room and taking refuge in the cool sheets of the bed. While it seemed to be less humid than other years, the average temperature still extracted payment from it's lofty height of 90°+ Fahrenheit (35°+ Celsius).
Operation Sea Lion
Last year we showed the Allies how to take Omaha beach in a mini scenario that has now become somewhat of a tradition. The 6th Fallschimjäger take the beaches wearing shorts, Hawaiian shirts, floatation devices and an assortment of bright spandex. This year, Utah Beach was our playground and in true form we took hits like champs. The allies hope to prove that the beach scenario's are broken and impossible to overcome, so they stacked several hundred players (4-500 maybe?) on the highside of the beach to defend against our daunting force of 150 (max) players. It was total devastation, and yet the Germans proved their quality in repeatedly storming the first wall, taking uncountable hits some carrying nothing more than a lightsaber or pool noodle. I was personally invited by a referee to charge the hill alone wearing my multicolored spandex unitard and my pants around my ankles. For me, and many of the 6th, this mini-scenario is an opportunity to show the allies that we are not afraid to take a hit, and that we are relentless in our pursuit of victory. It is also an opportunity to show that we can have fun even if it means we lose! Ok, I will admit, there is a bit of psychological warfare happening when I charge the "enemy" with my pants around my ankles. I want them to fear me... and they do.
I find that I have the most fun playing with and against my own unit. The 6th plays at a higher level than the average D-day attendee, so when we play games within our unit it is always a challenge, and always an adrenaline charged event. For the second year, I lead a game of "Zombie" with a handful of 6th. This quick scenario goes by other names in other places, but has always been a great way to finish a day of play off and exhaust any leftover paint before heading home. Essentially, everyone starts off alone, or with a partner scattered around the field. If you are shot, you walk to the player who offed you, and join their team. This goes back and forth and people change teams many times often having to shoot previous team mates who once had their back. The game typically collapses on a central point as teams get closer and closer and ends when everyone is on one team. We played at dusk, and as the fireflies began to light up, we emptied our paint into eachother leaving our mark and creating stories to tell around the fire.
DDay
The event we had all been waiting for was a bit lack luster for me. Now don't get me wrong, playing with thousands of people in the biggest game in the world is always a treat but a few factors affected my overall enjoyment of the game. First, certain allies seem to cheat whenever possible. This happens every year, and it seems that for the most part, it goes unpunished. It started at Utah Beach, where allies continually spawned, and played from the out of bounds area. That being said, I have a little grace for going outside boundaries because there is not always clear markings or referees enforcing the boundary. I found myself in an area that was in bounds for a time, and then became a "minefield" where no one was allowed to enter. I had no idea that it was out of bounds, and when two players began shouting at me for shooting them, I called myself out to talk to a referee and make things right. If this had been the case on the opposite side, I would not have been bothered but countless allied players went through a barb wire and electric fence that marked the property line of the field, and went around our defenses for a tactical advantage. The first group was caught, and the ref's pulled them back. They continually repeated this offense and the refs were unable to manage the vast number of offenses, and just them continue to play. The second factor was the "Airplane". Players from previous years know exactly the vehicle I am talking about due to his overly bad reputation on the field. A big white van marked as an allied airplane has been a problem for the past 3 years. In one instance I had to break up a fight with their driver and a player because the van lit-up an eight year old boy and a handful of other dead German players from point blank without cause. The van was caught cheating in a couple instances, blocking the road, refusing to go out, and shooting overly hot. One account said the van was chrono'd at over 360FPS! Several players complained of broken masks, and one German player received cracked ribs from being shot by this vehicle. To make matters worse, after the vehicle had been ejected from the game, by removing their "Honor Tags" the conspicuous white monstrosity re-entered the game and had to be escorted by staff off the field. Several reports are saying that it has been banned from future games, many of us are keeping our fingers crossed but I am skeptical. The largest issue I had with the game was that due to the vast disparity in player numbers on each side, the allies won the game by noon, and the entire allied side walked off the field three and a half hours before the end of the game. I for one, don't really care about the final score even though I have appreciated the wins we have had. What bugs me about the allies leaving the field is that the "Big Game" was rather small and that only a very few amount of players were there to enjoy the game. This is the very first scenario game that I have played where the team with the winning score leaves before the game is over. In any sport, if a team walks off the field, they forfeit, so who really lost this year? All of us. Those who drove for 33 hours to be there like myself, the veterans that we are meant to honor in this WWII memorial game, the allies who forfeit, and the Germans who lost by the scoreboard.
It wasn't all bad though, I had a good time when the game was on, starting off as a forward scout and trading shots with large numbers of opposition is always a blast. Much of the battle centered on Coleville, a town somewhat central to the field that could accomodate the numbers fighting there. At one point we became a volunteer fire brigade as smoke grenades lit the grass and one building known as "the Church" on fire. Between the fire, the huge numbers of allies, and a couple hairy moments in and around Coleville, this adrenaline junkie was able to get a good fix, along with a few war stories to tell.
As the large purple welts begin to fade, and the chigger bites slow their incessant itching I remember the week with a smile on my face. A news report on the event featured an interview of Dewayne Convirs, the field owner who said "Freedom isn't free". This event serves as a reminder that while we play, our freedom has bought with blood by men and women in uniform. It is a debt we can not repay but to enjoy what we have been given, and honor those who have paid for it.
The game started to the booms of pyrotechnic detonations, and loads of energetic Allied players diving headlong onto the paint tipped spear of the German occupied beach. The Germans positioned on the bank had a clear advantage from the onset, raining paint long range with a disgusting accuracy. It wasn't long before "artillery strikes" in the form of white smoke began pummeling our trenches, and forcing us to make the long walk back to our re-spawn location. Our German forces did not back down easily however, holding pressure on the wound in the middle of the field from both flanks. By half time, the smurf colored armbands had failed to push up to the two airplane hanger objectives and we all broke for lunch.
