The End of Armageddon 2026

17 hours ago
4 min read

This big, crazy, happy family started our last day of Armageddon playing our final system, Laserforce, back in Syracuse.

Force was a very intense system, as so many of this year’s ‘geddon players are competitive Laserforce players. In fact, this tournament was deliberately scheduled right up against the start of Laserforce Internationals, also taking place at this same arena. Mama Bear took the lead on this one and we all smiled and followed the game plan for each game.

However, one game did not go according to plan at all. We were going up against Plausible Deniability and felt pretty confident we could win. We also knew we needed the win to keep our position in the rankings. So we all went in ready to give it our all. However, before the game started we discovered a player on our team was not signed in. We tried to halt the start, but were not heard and the game began. Mama Bear shouted for a restart and we all followed towards the briefing room. However, Kelly said she didn’t authorize a reatart and to keep playing. This misunderstanding meant none of us got resupplied at the start, we had all taken hits as we walked through the door and we had lost a significant chunk of game time in the process. We now had all that to overcome in order to take this win that we very much needed.

Well…we did it! I can really only speak for myself when I say I threw everything I had including the kitchen sink. However, I think we all must have done that. We caught up in spite of everything and the game ended like this.

At some point after this win we realized we had locked up fourth place. So on the heels of this game as well as our almost perfect streak in tactical, our team captain took us next door for celebratory shots.

One highlight during this system was watching how well Nobody did in the games and particularly how well she played while wearing a dress! She has grown so much since I first met her.

As we neared the end we realized two things. First, that it would be nearly impossible for us to win the last game against Cope’s all Force team (as those players came for The LF Nats). Second, no matter what happened our team had locked up that fourth place finish and the results of the final game would not change anything in either direction. So we decided to have some fun (and mind you, this was in a game against Cope’s team who had pulled the interesting forfeiting shenanigans the previous day in tactical, otherwise we might not have done this).

So, instead of playing as we normally we would, we all made train and followed each other to the center base shouting “Choo Choo hurensohn” which our teammate Matthias told us was the equivalent of “Choo Choo MFers” in German. It was all in good fun…but saying it in English could have gotten us a penalty. Don’t worry, despite our efforts none of us said it correctly anyway!

We base rushed the center and took a short-lived lead before rushing the green base too. We landed some shots simply from the other team’s confusion as to what on earth we were doing. Essentially, we were making noise and playing in chaos for fun and to burn off some steam…but still playing, nonetheless. I personally played the last minute of my game while rapping “Ice, Ice Baby” at the top of my lungs. Now THAT was fun!

So that was the very last game of the tournament and somehow felt like a rather fitting finale. :)

Once the games were played and the scores were confirmed, all that was left was the awards ceremony. I began by thanking all the Armageddon players who donated to the Alzheimer’s Association through our Tag 4 A Cause. Then Greg and Cope presented the special awards and the team placements.

The players vote on the special awards and I was included in a three-way tie for “Most Okayest Player” with Cookie and Showtime.

I was also very happy to once again be named winner of the “Most Enthusiastic” spirit award.

Team results shook out like this:

First Place - Only Fatness

Second Place - L.O.C.O.

Third Place - Turtle Annihilation

Fourth Place - Shadow Syndicate

Fifth Place - Coping Mechanisms

Sixth Place - Don’t Tase Me Bro

Seventh Place - Plausible Deniability

There were a ton of special award recognitions as well, which I think are great for acknowledging where people excel…even if it’s the simple act of being a nature lover! ;)

Thank you to everyone who helped to organize this event, particularly RNT, Slayer and Lanari, Kelly for keeping things on track and Toby for being our head ref. So much work goes into putting on this event and we all appreciate you!

It’s been another great Armageddon. See everyone next year!