The Tippinators along with hundreds of other players reenacted the Invasion of Normandy, the theme for the second annual PEI Big Game held at Spikes Paintball, in York, Prince Edward Island on August 31st.
Chris Vessey, the organizer and driving force behind the PEI Big Game, decided to go with a more familiar theme in 2008. "We decided to try a game in which every player knows the objectives." Vessey continued, "Field owner Roddy MacDonald wanted a scenario that was readily identifiable and understandable - and what better than the D-Day landings?"
After a fierce initial fight at the opening horn the Allies were able to secure a small beachhead. Once they had ensured the beachhead would hold, and that respawned players were able to return to the game via landing craft, the Allies began to push forward.
The thin line of outnumbered German players began to crumble under the weight of constant Allied onslaughts. Fierce fights and mounting Allied casualties, along the entire line proved the Germans would not easily yield a single inch of ground.
As the Allies controlled more of the field, and with the noose ever tightening, the Axis General decided to use an airdrop behind the Allied lines. A group of 10 players dropped on the edge of the Allied beachhead wreaked such havoc on the Allied lines of re-supply and communication the entire offensive stopped. All Allied players redeployed to counter the threat to the rear. German airdrops, while not historically accurate, added an extra dimension to the game. The drops gave the German command a chance to widen out the field, retake the initiative from the Allies and push the aggressors into the sea.
Before the bulk of the airdropped players were found, and eliminated, the German side was able to push the Allies back to their start point, but not off the field. The Allies, forced to retake territory for a second time, threw themselves aggressively into the German lines.
Renewed vigor of the Allied attacks following the removal of the German air drop quickly faded. The German side now knew the exact choke points and avenues of advance the Allies had used previously in the day.
The weight of numbers once again played to the Allies favour. The German side was, again, pushed back across the field, ever closer to the Enigma decoding machine, the main prop being searched for by the Allies.
Three of the German players, who survived the air drop, slowly made their way to the Allied beach. A final push into the surprised Allied players at the very rear of the field was enough to destroy the allied landing craft, cutting off any further reinforcements.
The daring move by the German players was not enough to turn the tide of battle. The Allies required no further reinforcements, and were able to secure the Enigma, winning the game in the final minutes of play.
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