Highlights |
|
| |
| New face of Tippmann |
Tippmann Ad |
This past fall, the biggest name in scenario
paintball markers,Tippmann Sports, named Lonnie Colson
its new 'Featured Player' in all of its national ads.
See him on newsstands now. 2B |
Tools of the trade
 Gear
in action
|
Sometimes referred to as a 'Gear Hog',
Grendel hauls around more crap than a PX Ranger on a
weekend drill outting. Check out his custom X7 marker
and other field equipment. #B |
|
Title
Title
Do you recognize that name?
Lonnie named in Paintball 2Xtremes as most recognized
scenario player. #B |
Paintball poster boy
A poster for an upcoming documentary on D-Day
has a familar backside. #B |
Hammerhead story
After a test-fire at D-Day, team became HammerHead's
unoffical spokesmen. #B |
Television debut
Seen on millions of televisions across Chicago, Grendel
hits CBS 2 News. #B
|
LonnieColson.com Snapshots |
|
| Hellions OPFOR group photo. (Source:
D. McClelland) |
|
 |
A
New Storm is Rising: |
On
May 17 the Hellions became scenario producers with 'Red
Storm Rising' event |
Lonnie "Grendel" Colson briefs
players at Red Storm Rising. (Source: M. Eggleston)
|
Last
fall, CPX Sports, the premier sponsor of the Hellions
Scenario Paintball Team, approached Team Captain, Lonnie
"Grendel" Colson and first introduced the idea of having
the team produce a new scenario event at the field. Without
hesitating, the team jumped at the opportunity to experience
another aspect of the sport. The team wanted to come
up with a completely unique event that players would
be talking about long after it was over. Members were
tired of the same old recycled missions and were certain
that other players were as well. The team also wanted
to get away from the increasingly over-used World War
II era and instead create something more current and
emblematic of modern warfare.
The Hellions reached out to two of paintball's biggest
names: Dewayne Convirs, the owner of D-Day Adventure Park
and producer of the world's largest scenario, Oklahoma D-Day,
and Bill Bailey, owner of Bailey's Battlefield and producer
of the World War II Tour of Duty series. Both men signed
on to support the event as opposing generals. Convirs would
be the commander of the U.S./NATO forces and Bailey would
take charge of the Russian aggressors. The basic Chechen
storyline was penned by Kevin "Buckshot" Buchaniec,
and so Hellions: Red Storm
Rising was born.
|
|
FEATURE
STORY |
|
"The year is 2011 and gas
is $13.50 a gallon," the event story line began. "Instability
is at an all time high in the Middle East, and the unrest
has spread to the Republics in the North Caucasus, specifically
Dagestan and Chechnya." The region was researched for
accuracy as known elements of the past two Chechen wars were
incorporated into the event and the CPX map began to look
like the region around the republic's embattled capital.
The story actually became even more plausible as time went
on: Putin went from presiden to prime minister and retained
an iron grip on Russia, and Gasoline prices skyrocketed to
record levels all across the country.
The next big step was to market
the game. Don
"D-Mac" McClelland, the team's resident graphic design
wizard worked a number of spells and came up with event posters,
signature banners, post cards, and customized the Red Storm
Rising online forum.
|
|
|
|
Das Grindhaus
|
| Hellions roll
out the tank |
Red
Storm Rising marked another first for the Hellions. Not
only was it the first time that the team had ever produced
its own scenario event, but it also marked the debut of
the Hellions' new armored threat, a paintball tank dubbed "Das
Grindhaus".
Built by the team's mechancial guru, Kevin "Buckshot" Buchaniec,
the tank is a sight to behold. Looking at it, one would
never believe that it was once an ordinary Geo Tracker.
After several months of Buckshot's scapel-like precision
with a cutting torch, the end result is enough to make
even legendary Jesse James
of American Chopper turn green with envy--after all, how
many motorcyles has he designed with twin machine guns?
|
|
"Das Grindhaus" paintball
tank. (Source: Hellions) |
|
| |
The first thing that to go from the Geo Tracker was
the roof. It had to be lowered significantly and reinforced
in order to support the gun turrent. Heavy-duty metal bumpers
and classic Army Jeep tires were added to give it an even
more rugged military look. As if it needed any more tweaking,
Buckshot decided to make the front headlights resemble
"black out lights" used on modern combat vehicles.
The tank's armaments include
twin "Double Trouble" automatic Tippmann A-5 markers
mounted on a turrent capable of 360-degree movement.
A large high pressure air tank was added to the rear of the
turret as well to keep the air hoses from becoming entangled. The
gunner sits in an elevated seat with full control over the
turret's traversing movement. Requests for additional information
on the design specifications of the turret have been turned
down. Similar tight security measures surround the vehicle's
communications array.
|
| See TANK, next
page » |
|
