FlagRaiders “D-Day Viva La Resistance”

FlagRaiders 26th edition of their Phoenix Project, “D-Day Viva La Resistance”, was nothing short of spectacular. What I love about the Raiders field is that owners Joe Kimpson and Todd Ancich and their great staff never rest and are always looking for ways to improve on what they have done in the past … they just keep raising the bar. 

In business now 25 years, here is a field operation that knows how to put on an event and do it right. As Joe Saunders mentioned on Facebook “this was one of the better events I have ever attended” … agreed Joe! Despite all the threats for days from an errant weather man, the skies withheld all the promised rain and while overcast … cool temps made for perfect paintball conditions. As we rolled up the morning of, it was already evident that the day was going to be a good one judging from the parking lot filling to capacity as over 800 paintballers piled in to get a good game on.

Another awesome touch to this years event was the appearance of some of our American cousins from across the border. Paintball personalities such as veteran and 2011 Man of the Year Daniel “Barney” Alamo, Greg “Red” Hastings, A-Train and TRex joining many of the cast from popular online show “Behind the Bunker” as well as Lightning Force from Buffalo, New York.  This year General Zubrickas of the Task Force Raiders led the command with assistance of his XO’s Greg Hastings and A Train while the German High Command saw General Zeewin Rommel leading the infantry with the help of XO’s, Kaz from Visual Reviews alongside Hotspur of the BT Rangers.

As the sound of multiple firecrackers cracked the air signalling the game to begin, the field roared to life as the battle began in earnest. In the opening salvo,  a troop carrier full of Allied troops found themselves in an unfortunate situation as the Axis troops rained paint on their position from the high ground with only a few Allied troops surviving the initial onslaught. Certainly much the same as the historical battle that took place on the beaches of Normandy during World War II (as seen in our video production).

One interesting aspect of the event was the Waterloo Air show taking place simultaneously over the weekend. The crowds of paintballers had an added amount of authenticity to the game not only with all of the period costumes but multiple jets zooming overhead.

Clearly Axis troops meant business for most of the morning but as the clock ticked towards the noon hour the Allies, fully incensed, began a feverish assault on enemy positions. This would mark the turning point of the day. As the scores clearly show the Allies maintained control of the field positions and were able to pull off more success with missions on account of all the real estate. While casualties were even, the Axis inability to regain the flag stations proved their downfall. Make no mistake, this was not an event where one side completely dominated the other, there were some fantastic battles all day long.

Yes, The Catshack Reports set aside the cameras for a time and joined the Allies on the field to help re take the Church in one battle and defend the Tac Town in another. I can honestly state from a players perspective that the D-Day game was just to much fun! “I think this game was spot on” stated Greg “Red” Hastings “there are some incredible people who appeared in authentic garb, those guys literally should be let on the field for free, it really added to the authenticity of the themed event. By the way I cannot wait to come back to this field, Flag Raiders is pretty incredible. I would give this field an 8.9 out of 10, I would give it an even higher rating but I did not get to see the whole field as the battles prevented it but from what I have seen it is pretty awesome” Greg went on to say.

Certainly since last at Raiders, a new Oil Rig as well as some interesting trenches have been added to the field. As the day closed, Kaz from Visual Reviews awarded Citrus Connection “Most Valuable Team” while A Train awarded the Most Valuable Player complete with a DeadlyWind Barrel courtesy of The Catshack Reports Paintball News and DeadlyWind LLC.

Allies

Missions 2700

Territory Controls 65 x10= 650

Total Eliminations 1690

Total Allied Score 5048

Axis

Missions 1800

Territory Controls 40 x10= 400

Total Eliminations 1662

Total Axis Score 3862

For the Catshack photos see below and for our latest video production please visit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WInokeNCYec

as always please remember to rate and subscribe to The Catshack Reports YouTube while your there!