Hi Diane!
Anyways...to my point. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm going to defend DeWayne Convirs, the producer of the "D-Day" and "A bridge too far" scenarios here in Oklahoma.
I'll be perfectly honest here...I don't particularly like DeWayne personally, but I do have a somewhat deeper understanding of his motivations for producing D-Day than most people out there. I've interviewed DeWayne twice as part of coverage for his events on FB Radio. One of the first questions I asked him was "Why". His answer surprised me. He produces D-Day (and yes, makes good money doing it) to honor his father, who participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Given that my grandfather served in MASH units during WWII and Korea, I can understand honoring the service those men made, as his grandson.
Each player is assigned a 'unit' as part of his player's pack, and he uses authentic military unit names. Players have the choice of riding in a "Deuce and a half" truck or converted school busses to the field of play. The players themselves are a typical mishmash of kids, hardcore scenario players, and war veterans who've taken up the sport. Yes, there are players walking around in replica SS and wehrmacht uniforms, but I guess I don't share the european oversensitivity(and some americans)to those years. At some point you have to move on, and I feel that 60 years is enough. Probably in 60 years or so, someone will do a scenario game based on the 9/11 bombings or our actions in Tora Bora. It's not so much a trivializing of history, but a way to keep it alive in people's memories. I think that's what DeWayne's intentions are. He's no neo-Nazi, nor is he an insensitive lout just out to make a dollar. DeWayne makes his living in paintball, Surplus sales, and used cars. Needless to say, he's doing okay. He's found a creative and educational way (a serious player will research those uniforms and gear) to honor his father whom he obviously loved dearly, keep the memories of the WWII years alive in people's minds, and make some scratch for himself in the bargain. Given that the number of people attending "The Big War" (local slang for this game) increases from year to year, DeWayne's facilities keep getting better and better, and there is increased industry prescence at these games, indicates to me that DeWayne is doing a good job.
Having said all that, I've never played D-Day. I want to, mainly because the field that DeWayne has constructed looks like it'd be a scream to play on, and with the large number of tanks that attend his events, it's one of the better times to be had out there. Patrick and Diane McKinnon are brilliant scenario game producers, the best out there, hands down. It bothers me that I was only able to play one of their games this past year, but the good news is that once I get moved OUT of oklahoma in a few days, I'll be in a position to attend more of their games. I wanted to reply earlier in this post but I wasn't able to properly explain their motivations for "Chronicles of War". DeWayne's motivations for D-Day are a bit easier to explain, especially if you've ever talked to the guy.
Anyways...to my point. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm going to defend DeWayne Convirs, the producer of the "D-Day" and "A bridge too far" scenarios here in Oklahoma.
I'll be perfectly honest here...I don't particularly like DeWayne personally, but I do have a somewhat deeper understanding of his motivations for producing D-Day than most people out there. I've interviewed DeWayne twice as part of coverage for his events on FB Radio. One of the first questions I asked him was "Why". His answer surprised me. He produces D-Day (and yes, makes good money doing it) to honor his father, who participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Given that my grandfather served in MASH units during WWII and Korea, I can understand honoring the service those men made, as his grandson.
Each player is assigned a 'unit' as part of his player's pack, and he uses authentic military unit names. Players have the choice of riding in a "Deuce and a half" truck or converted school busses to the field of play. The players themselves are a typical mishmash of kids, hardcore scenario players, and war veterans who've taken up the sport. Yes, there are players walking around in replica SS and wehrmacht uniforms, but I guess I don't share the european oversensitivity(and some americans)to those years. At some point you have to move on, and I feel that 60 years is enough. Probably in 60 years or so, someone will do a scenario game based on the 9/11 bombings or our actions in Tora Bora. It's not so much a trivializing of history, but a way to keep it alive in people's memories. I think that's what DeWayne's intentions are. He's no neo-Nazi, nor is he an insensitive lout just out to make a dollar. DeWayne makes his living in paintball, Surplus sales, and used cars. Needless to say, he's doing okay. He's found a creative and educational way (a serious player will research those uniforms and gear) to honor his father whom he obviously loved dearly, keep the memories of the WWII years alive in people's minds, and make some scratch for himself in the bargain. Given that the number of people attending "The Big War" (local slang for this game) increases from year to year, DeWayne's facilities keep getting better and better, and there is increased industry prescence at these games, indicates to me that DeWayne is doing a good job.
Having said all that, I've never played D-Day. I want to, mainly because the field that DeWayne has constructed looks like it'd be a scream to play on, and with the large number of tanks that attend his events, it's one of the better times to be had out there. Patrick and Diane McKinnon are brilliant scenario game producers, the best out there, hands down. It bothers me that I was only able to play one of their games this past year, but the good news is that once I get moved OUT of oklahoma in a few days, I'll be in a position to attend more of their games. I wanted to reply earlier in this post but I wasn't able to properly explain their motivations for "Chronicles of War". DeWayne's motivations for D-Day are a bit easier to explain, especially if you've ever talked to the guy.
