It was an early morning, but Joe “The Emasculator” Carucci, Rob “Part 67” Carucci, and I (Doc) couldn’t wait to get going—we had been tossing and turning in our beds since 2am. At 5:00 we met Tom “Six-Four” Malone and traveled by caravan up to Liberty Paintball, about an hour north of NYC. We were a little early, so we stopped for a good breakfast before traveling on to the field.
The staff was very courteous and efficient in getting us all squared away. In the staging area we met TJ “Crazy Legs” Hayduk and his father, and a new prospective team member, Frank Washer, who had played many times before and was kind enough to offer the use of a canopy over our table. We also met up with my brothers, Dave (aka “Crutch”) and Greg (aka “Fracture”). Fracture was familiar with outdoor games, but this was Crutch’s first game in such an open environment. We also met up with our fellow ERSA members from the Red Raiders, Loaded Crows, and Un4given Ghosts, and were glad they could make it. We were all somehow elsewhere as Merc42 took our Yellow team’s Generalship, but that would be the last time we turned our backs on him that day.
Merc42, Part 67 and I walked the field to get familiar with it while the other teams geared up. Then I rushed to ready my equipment and get the supplies and radios working and distributed before we were about to start. At the rally point, Merc42 set “TenaciousD” and his Loaded Crows on the defensive while appointing me and Patrick “Warhammer” Galarza as the offensive squad leaders. I gave point to Part 67 with the fastest walk-on runners who had volunteered.
When the horn sounded, we took off for the western town. Part 67 and his volunteer runners were soon out of sight, and I found myself next to Em climbing a steep ravine I didn’t recall being on our earlier walk. When we reached the top, we found the runners bogged down in a firefight with the Blues who had already reached that point. We traded fire with the Blues at the tree-line, but could not drive them back. I was trying to lead a group to the left flank to get an angle on the Blue team when I was tagged out.
Waiting to reinsert, I heard over the radio that the Crows were holding their own at our command post, but a lot of Blues were headed to that area. Em thought he had lost his marker after leaving it on a picnic bench and had been in the early stages of a conniption, but soon he found it in his bag after hearing a referee and Merc42 had found it out unsupervised. Merc42 then sent us to back the Crows up. I met up with TAPs and walk-ons to head over to that region, but we were quickly caught in a crossfire on a road between two tree-lines. Most of the paintballs were bouncing off us from extreme range, but eventually we were whittled down.
Merc42 detailed the TAPs and Ghosts to lead a squad behind Blue lines in an APC (a van to carry players in). The staff said it fit 8 players, but we loaded that van up like a clown car. I wish my team waited for the other double door to open instead of trying to sqeeze me through the one, but after we were out and running we took back the Village and Crypt from Blue and began pushing them up.
Warhammer and I began coordinating a defense from the Crypt. We found from Merc that the staff had thought the ERSA was some sort of powerhouse team and had initially stacked against us, but with a strategic evening-out of the local Liberty Pro teams by the staff, Yellow began to push Blue back. Matt (a Loaded Crow playing medic) and I began leading a squad of walk-ons with Crutch and Fracture through the woods from our command post, around the perimeter to the Blue’s own. When my cyclone feed broke down, Matt loaned me his Ion, to give me something to shoot with while he could run faster healing players. I observed that Crutch and Fracture were becoming excellent at motivating the walk-ons into an organized fighting force, and Six-Four was an excellent scout, as if he had been to this field many times already and knew where all the best angles were. We worked the squad through the trees right up to the edge of their post in the Crypt, and soon took their home base. Matt finished his medic cards, recovered his Ion and took off on a flank. I covered the walk-ons with a dry-firing marker, and they didn’t seem to notice as they raced up to the front lines for us before I was tagged out. The horn sounded for lunch as I was walking back. We were only down by 100 points.
I cannibalized the A5A2 Double Trouble for a cyclone feed and got my marker working again. We were all very hot, especially Part 67 who had been running point all day surrendering Blue members. A quick nap got him back on his feet, and with a developing overcast we were soon ready for the second half. I was surprised and pleased our banner was getting its picture taken by several paintballers, and hoped we would hear from them at the website soon. We took some quick pictures of the new TAPs members and were off.
TAPs lead a squad with the Ghosts to the WWII / Western front to turn the course on the Blue team by shooting down into the ravine just as we had had it dished to us. Crutch, Fracture, Crazy Legs and I led a smaller squad into our command post area to take our flag, but no one was there. Crazy Legs was proving an excellent back man, and I soon found myself only worried about what was in front. I detailed a smaller force of walk-ons to protect it and led the TAPs back across the field to the ravine area, but the Blues had taken the opposite flank, wiped out the Yellow players with an “airstrike”, and soon controlled our command post. We began pushing them back from the town, but could not advance into the Crypt, and I was soon tagged out by a sniper from the woods.
It was getting really hot, and each time I was taken out I had to strip my gear to cool off and drink another pint of Gatorade waiting for the next insertion. At least the marker was holding up this time.
While waiting to go in, I heard Fracture had helped lead a squad in a furious attack against a Blue APC insertion; they peppered the van with so many rounds that the drivers could barely steer the vehicle back out, and they had to hose it down later. We also used two “airstrikes” of our own. One eliminated another Blue APC, and the players who emerged from it had to immediately walk back to the deadzone. They were not happy campers. The other airstrike was used at Warhammer’s coordination, and was able to confirm a kill on the Blue General. I heard that one over the radio while the Ghosts and TAPs were battling it out with the Blues in WWII, and it cheered us all up. I hoped I could somehow convince the staff at the next game to use a grenade launcher on an APC or tank run. Then Tackleberry and I could really cut loose on the field.
An approaching thunderstorm seemed to whittle players from the field, especially with the lightning flashing. The horn sounded just as the rain began. Blue had won the game, but only by about 75 points. TAPs awarded the Purple Target to Six-Four for the nice cut on his cheek from friendly fire, but the Red Crosshair award had to go to everyone on the team that day—everyone had played a memorable part in the battle in my mind. Protected from the monsoon underneath Frank's welcome canopy, we also welcomed Crazy Legs to TAPs’ Alpha squad, and knew he would be a good addition to the team.
TAPs didn’t feel as though it was a complete loss, for all the fun we had had on the field and the new people we had met. The Liberty field definitely possessed some nifty areas for sustained battles, worthy of some good practice in teamwork strategy between the ERSA members. The difference between High Velocity (points in enemy kills as well as real estate) and Liberty (real estate alone, with emphasis on timing) made for some new and critical thinking, something I hope the ERSA looks forward to challenging itself with soon. Above all, the teamwork and camaraderie of the ERSA members and meeting and playing with the new TAPs members stands out in my mind—Liberty was one of the best games of paintball I had yet enjoyed, and I looked forward to returning.
Christopher “Doc” Winkler, with George "Mercenary42" Wade
