PENN FOREST TOWNSHIP, CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — It’s like painting a canvas, but instead, you’re shooting paint-filled capsules at people running around a real-life castle.
28/22 News has more on how you can storm the battlefield and even go up against tanks this weekend in the ultimate game of paintball in the Poconos.
Tucked away in Penn Forest Township is Skirmish, the world’s largest paintball facility.
“We have 750 contiguous acres here. We’ve broken that up into approximately 50 maps,” said the president/owner of Skirmish Paintball, Sky Fogal.
The family-owned business has been operating for more than forty years, welcoming in tens of thousands of players to maps like the Tippman Castle, where the exterior wall is a quarter of an acre, or Tippman City.
Fogal says its newest bus addition to the city helps bring the virtual world to life.
“We tried to make that resemble ‘Nuketown’ from a very popular video game. Basically, our goal here at Skirmish is if you can play it with your Xbox or your PlayStation, I would like for you to be able to play it in real life, and that’s how we look at and design new fields,” explained Fogal.
Lackawanna County community addresses zoning ordinances as data centers come to NEPA
Skirmish always strives to take the game to a whole other level.. Which is why tanks will be rolling into the business on Saturday.
“You can ride in the tanks with them, or you can go up against the tanks. It’s really kind of interesting to see how you can beat a tank, but it’s a lot of fun!” said Fogal.
The facility is also the host of ‘Invasion of Normandy’, where 4,000 paintballers gather to recreate the infamous World War II D-Day over two days.
But you don’t have to be an expert to play. Fogal showed 28/22 News reporter Sydney Kostus the ropes, and she successfully and apologetically hit photographer Taylor.
It’s the fun and excitement of the game that Fogal says never gets old.
“There’s nothing quite like going back to the hunter/gatherer type days, where you’re out there stalking your prey, but to amp it up, you’re also being stalked,” explained Fogal.
Skirmish is played year-round and even offers a rainy day policy where if it rains a measurable amount for more than an hour, you will get a free pass for another day.
