Village of the DamnedBy: Cameron "Spike" Harlow
Photography: Cameron "Spike" Harlow
Thursday January 10, 2008
Village of the Damned
Story and Photos by: Cameron "Spike" Harlow
MXS held their “Village of the Damned” 26-hour scenario game at Splatbrothers in October. Warm weather and 300-plus players got things off to a great start. This sequel to the original old movie pit the descendant seedlings against the humans. The humans, led by Brandon “Corndog" were faced by seasoned general Phil “Jet” Chapman of Team BeBop for the seedlings and special head ref Coyote of team Dead by Dawn. Jet’s job was to control the field and find a way to get their mental powers linked again and to maintain the three transponders. The humans? Prevent this and find the secret to their strange alien abilities.
Saturday’s start saw fire-fights immediately. The humans rushed the seedling base and practically stayed there all day. Corndog hammered Jet’s base relentlessly and prevented several of his missions from being completed. The seedlings fought back hard and, using the tank provided by Team Krisis, were able to maintain some modicum of control. Jet worked hard at collecting the pieces of the device that would enable the “hive mind” to connect again. He even used several of the telepaths and their special abilities to make the enemy humans shoot at each other and sometimes dance! The seer also provided special crystals that were thought to enhance abilities.
The dinner break found the seedlings falling behind by three missions. This wouldn’t deter them from pushing forward as hard as possible into the night game. The humans still pushed on Jet’s base and even managed to blow it up a couple of times before the weekend was over. As the sun set, the fighting broke up into smaller patches scattered through the woods. Both sides stalked each other in the darkness, each waiting for the other to make a mistake. Sometimes the mistakes resulted in the loss of a mission. The seedlings pushed up to Cheeseburger Hill, the location of the third transponder and in view of the human base. They had it turned on until they were noticed and subsequently eliminated. Meanwhile, the seedlings managed to keep the other two lit all night and held much of the center of the field. At the end of night play, though, the seedlings were still trailing in points.
Sunday morning came too early for the seedlings. Their base saw only the General, Jet, and two other seedlings start the game. The three of them did an amazing job of protecting the base from many of the humans. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, as it cost them a vital prop that could have pushed their points, not to mention the story line, back to their favor. Jet’s followers slowly regained numbers and even the tank made an appearance and helped push the humans back for awhile. Sadly, in the end, the seedlings lost the game by nearly 200 points. Corndog’s ego may have been bolstered by his win but Jet will not be downtrodden for too long by his loss.
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