CIVIL WAR

The following story is a day by day account of the "North vs South" Civil War event hosted by Pyro Paintball Productions. Courtesy of MBP Militia's Captain, Tom Bolton; September 8-10, 2006. Written on September 12th, 2006.

September 8-10th - a weekend in which MBP Militia was destined to shine.

Pre-Amble:
After the conclusion of Saigon/NJ NAM 2006 at USANA/Pyro Paintball Productions MBP Militia decided to remain a team. Over the summer we worked hard as a team to practice, gain more recognition, become organized and land a few great sponsorships along the way. We dedicated ourselves to fight in the Civil War along side the JSOC on the North Side right at the end of June. As a result of our roots with the JSOC, our sponsorship with The Undertakers and frequent communication with our General Hercules "The Hitman" we were handed down the assignment of base-security (a huge role in this war). Basically we were to defend the General and our capital city of Fort Sumpter at all costs and so the story begins....

Friday:
Most of our team arrived at USANA between Friday afternoon-late Friday evening, where we set up camp for the weekend, and met up with some of our officers and friends from the North as well. Friday night we also had a few top secret missions before the war even started, which I am not at the liberty to divulge at this moment. All in all Friday was definitely a fun (yet hectic at times) evening.


Saturday:
The next morning we woke up quite early to greet our General and meet up with most of the Northern Army for the North's VIP meeting. After being briefed, and receiving specific instructions it was time to gear up and hit the field for what was to be known as "Blood and Guts" a Civil War line battle, and also the General and XO pistol duels. I'll tell you these events were pretty intense to start off the war. The North won the pistol duels, but due to being extremely out manned we lost the line battle. However, MBP Militia was there to fight to the last man, literally. The last 4 men in the Northern Army alive were from MBP Militia, including: myself, Marc, Mike and Shaggy - who was the last brave soul standing. After this beginning battle we headed right to Fort Sumpter, which was the North's capital city. As soon as we got to Fort Sumpter a few groups fanned out to retrieve some money bags, which would be used for supplies and bartering with the Tyrell Corporation ("3rd Party Carpet Baggers"). Mike, Hanley and I formed one group that instantaneously took off in pursuit of a couple money bags, obtained them quickly, and then reported back to base. Upon returning Hercules gave me the order to set up base security and establish an outer perimeter. Within minutes we had the base secured and a pretty sound/staggered outer perimeter in place. Timing was everything at this point because almost directly after the base was secured there were shots heard in the distance and word of the rebel force advancing soon came from up the road. Before we knew it the South was striking our base with full force, but we held them off for hours. Ultimately being outnumbered caught up with us and despite our heavy resistance we were pushed out of the base for about an hour. The North eventually regrouped and alongside the massive firepower of Blue's Crew we pushed the South out of the base and took it back. There were a few more skirmishes that pushed us to the very back perimeters of our capital city, but again we regrouped during theses fights and pushed the South back again. This would be the last time they would push us from Fort Sumpter. The day seemed to be flying by and word was getting around that we were down by a lot of points already, as the South was controlling the field for most of the day. As a result, we began to lean heavily towards fanning out and getting as many missions done as possible, such as, taking the strategic points of Gettysburg, Bull Run, the Southern Field Hospital and poisoning the Southern water supply. Dinner break was now approaching and it seemed as if the tides had slowly changed in our favor. We were indeed beginning to reach objectives/missions again and word came over the radio that Hercules with his bodyguards Izzy and Greg, our XO Kodak, Jack from the Midnight Raiders and a handful of others from MBP Militia and Undertakers had taken the Southern Field Hospital and with the help of a Blue's Crew cover fire they poisoned the South's water supply as well. We then headed into the night game with a full head of steam.

Saturday Night:
After dinner break was over it was time for the infamous night portion of the war. We gathered as many as we could for another briefing before the night time battle, and it became incredibly evident that we were severely shorthanded. There were no more than 20 of the Northern Army on the field at one time compared to the South who had 100 of their players still active on the field, including some with full night vision (Knight Stalkers). None the less, this would not swing our determination. We now had the momentum of the game in our grasp and pulled together what seemed to be a small portion of the JSOC to face the entire Southern Army. This time we started from the field hospital that we recently took control of near Gettysburg. Almost immediately after the game restarted we began to take control of the field, hitting them hard from all angles. We stuck to our game plan to attack in small packs, almost like wolves stalking then assaulting prey, it proved to be very effective. In fact, the General himself had assembled a group of assassins which included Undertakers and MBP Militia members, their target: the South General. Towards the end of the night game Dennis, Whitesell and I found ourselves manning the 13th Legionnaires tank, which was en route to the Atlanta premises. Also taking place in Atlanta as we arrived with the tank was an all out assault on the Southern players; we had taken over their base and raised the Union Flag for big points. At the very end of the game word got out that the unthinkable happened: Hercules had succeeded and taken out the Southern General. Most of us were in disbelief, but it was confirmed and we rejoiced, knowing this would be huge in our comeback hopes. Not only was it dark on the battlefield but it seemed as if the sun had also set on the South's dominance of the war.

Sunday:
We arouse early on Sunday morning and met up with Hercules and what was left of the Northern Army for another briefing before the war resumed. Although, we had more players back for the day game, it was still quite evident that we were again undermanned. The entire Northern Army consisted of: The Undertakers, MBP Militia, Gods of War, Blue's Crew, 13th Legionnaires, and Wacata (sorry if I forgot anybody, but if there was anyone else it was maybe a handful at most). Short handed we may have been, but we were up for the task. We manned up with every last person we had and started off once again at Fort Sumpter. Knowing now that we were still behind on points, our goal was to complete as many missions as we could and take back as many of the strategic locations as possible, also known as: Bull Run and Gettysburg. That being said, we had to really spread our forces thin because we were shorthanded to begin with. Once again, the South began the day game coming strong at our base and since Hercules and our XO Kodak from the Hellrazorz, had already gone out into the field to regain points, I was basically left in charge to protect the base with about ten soldiers. On top of that more than half of my team, MBP Militia, was out in the field to try and even things up, so now base security seemed more fragile than ever, but as out gunned as we were during the South's offensive, we would not fold. I remember thinking to myself, "This is it, we have no reinforcements coming to help us out; we must hold this base and not retreat under any circumstance" and we held our ground. One of the most intense and hellacious fire fights I have ever experienced took place defending Fort Sumpter, but we stood strong and held them off permanently. That was the last time the South would challenge our Fort Sumpter. Good news was coming in over the radio as the day went on, that we were doing real damage in key locations on the field and really taking the fight to the South. By this time it was getting close to noon and word came back to base from Hercules, that there was a massive firefight going on at Bull Run. A bit later more news came back that we took Bull Run and held it for more points. Now it was about one o'clock and the radios started to light up as our plan was before the game to move to Atlanta once the clock struck one.

Sunday Late Afternoon (Armageddon):
It was time for the siege of Atlanta. We needed to move the supply train down to Atlanta, which Marc, Mausner and Hanley had retrieved earlier in the day at record speed. It was no easy task to transport the soon to be mobile medic unit to Atlanta but we eventually got it there. Time was of the essence, and everyone was dividing up to try and breach the walls of Atlanta. The South had it tightly locked down, and it was very difficult to contravene their borders. We had some of my teammates from MBP Militia, such as, Marc, Jay, and Dennis, members of team Wacata and a handful of others on the far side of their base trying to flank them from the woods. Meanwhile we had Mausner who was out of ammo and gun-less, single-handedly pushing the supply train further up the road to Atlanta, as well as Shaggy, Mike, Greg, Hanley and myself running and gunning up and down the road trying to find a way in. We were joined by the Undertakers, Blue's Crew, 13th Legionnaires and assorted others all pushing up the main road. Once Jack and Kodak took out the last of the Confederate tanks (artillery units) with the law rocket, we were able to get the mobile medic unit/supply train further into Atlanta and that's when we really began to drive into their capital city. Along with Blue's Crew I personally ran into Atlanta quite a few times in an attempt to sack the capital, but to no avail. With time dwindling away quickly, Hercules called me over and gave me the order to get as many as I could together and geared up because we were going to make one last massive push to take Atlanta. At this point it looked like it was raining because there was paint pouring from the sky and all around us, that's how thick the battle was. Still we couldn't get inside Atlanta, so I walked up to the front lines once more and grabbed Mike and Greg by the shoulder telling them, with about 5-10 minutes left, that we were going to take their main fort inside the city, they looked at me as if I was insane. Before anyone realized what was going on I took off and they followed. Mike got lit up quickly, but Greg and I squeaked by and assaulted everyone in that base with a reign a fury I didn't know we were capable of. Almost simultaneously as we entered the base team Wacata, Jay from MBP Militia and a couple others came in from the other side of the woods and we raised the Union Flag proudly. Unfortunately due to time restraints, this was the only fort we were able to take in Atlanta before the game ended.

Post Game:
When the war officially concluded, those who could still stand walked off the battlefield. For the Northern side, we knew we fought our hearts out, but there was still that thought in the back of our minds that we may not have done enough to come away with the victory. At the post game ceremony the official score was announced, and although we had taken the fight to them from Saturday night through Sunday and built one of the most historic comebacks ever, the South had prevailed and was awarded a well deserved victory. Next the Generals awarded their MVTs and MVPs. For the North MBP Militia received the Most Valuable Team award and Angel from Gods of War took MVP. Jack from Midnight Raiders also walked away with Most Valuable Medic award. Congratulations to all. After the ceremony we were invited to a photo shoot with the other MVP's and our General and XO, which lasted a few hours and was pretty neat to be a part of. Look out for our mugs in the media soon! Honestly, coming into a large event like this we never expected to obtain the MVT award but we were certainly very proud and grateful for it, as we worked incredibly hard to achieve the honor. Perhaps even more rewarding was all the praise we received from the players, some of the refs and even the event staff about how great we played, the effort we put forth and how hard we worked the entire weekend for the North. Some even went on to say that we deserved the award hands down, which was really nice to hear. Despite the loss of the war, it really felt good to be acknowledged like that by our peers and people that we truly respect in the paintball world. All in all "North vs. South" Civil War was an incredible weekend of battle. I feel we walk away from it with a great amount of dignity, experience and pride as we look forward to competing again soon.


MBP Militia: We may have lost the war but we won every battle we were engaged in. We fought like warrior poets: Marc Bolton, Tom Bolton, Jay Clark, Steve Hanley, Mike Jaconetti, Dennis Link, Justin Mausner, Mike Monaghan, Chris Whitesell, and Greg Wirth.