I’m back from Challenge Park, Living Legends, and it was an absolute blast - big smiles, all around. I had never played CPX before, only drooled over the videos and stared longingly at the photos, so I had to take this opportunity to get out there for a game, and what a game! With 600+ players, many of them members of some of the country’s best teams, the action stayed competitive, the terrain kept me on my toes (especially the mud), and getting to play with some of my far-flung friends made the trip well worth it.

Being able to stand on stage with the likes of Jim Lively, Rene Boucher, Wayne Dollack, Craig Miller and Blue was a true honor.  Most of the assembled group were players who have had a direct hand in shaping paintball by creating a tournament scene, developing the concept of scenario, or inventing something as essential for today’s game as constant air tanks.  To be included with a group like that - it blew me away.

The game itself was a blast.  My article on the event will go into detail and include a slew of great photos by Bruce “Camera Guy” Smith.  If you’ve never played a game at Challenge Park, slap one on your calendar, because that’s a field that is well worth the trip.  I spent a good portion of my weekend in the woods, taking and retaking some of the same ground, from both sides, but it’s the action in Bedlam that I’ll remember the most.  That’s an incredible urban field, and I got to be a part of two sweeps to clear the town of pesky Russians, and a couple of failed attempts on Saturday to gain a toehold into the field.  If we had gotten in there we would have had a chance, but it’s pretty darn hard to sweep from the woods into the town when the streets are teeming with enemies.  Hats off to all the players on the red team for a weekend of stand-up, competitive paintball.  The scores ran quite close, but the Russian performance during final battle was the last nail in the Marine coffin (and I still have the marks on my neck to prove it).

One of my best memories from the weekend was being handed a photo recon mission to run - a mission I thought would be a breeze, until my team informed me that our target, a giant Tiki head, sat in the middle of an enemy-controlled woods.  Teams Bad Karma and Hellions ran escort for me as I tried to snap three different pictures of this statue while taking fire from three directions.  My escort formed a perimeter, placed themselves to take hits for me, and had a medic ready to heal me up.  By the time I had three shots, we had come under heavy fire, and only one escort remained to book it back to base at my side to turn in our pictures.  Fun stuff!

Thanks also to my new buddies John and Taylor from Argent Force, old friends Krazy 8, Monty, and MOATI from Special Ops, and to Krusty, Pogo, T-Devil, Swammy, and Hopsing from the Psycho Clown Posse for keeping me fed and hydrated and for taking some of the heat off me.  You guys draw more attention (and ammunition) than I do, which pulled enough guns off me to make some moves.  At one point I was pinned down, only yards away from a mission site, when I saw Krusty on my 9 trying to lead a charge.  Of the 10-15 players with him, probably less than five followed his lead, but I knew that as soon as they made their move, they’d draw enough attention for me to make mine.  Mission complete.  Thanks Krusty.

I’ll try to get some pictures posted when I get the CD from Bruce.

My next event will be the Smoke & Mirrors game in Virginia, and after that MPP’s game at Command Decisions, then Oklahoma D-Day and Elite Weekend!