On April 20th, the first Great Northern Battle will be taking place!

The Battle will take place at the Frost Lands field in Oshkosh next to the Sunnyview Expo Center.

This is a joint event among the NorthEast Wisconsin parks Crimson Circle (Green Bay) and the Frost Lands (Oshkosh).

We want as many new people to play as possible, so come out and play with us!

Imagine if you will, an unusual melding of activities. Take Paintball, remove the guns and replace them with swords made of a lightweight core with padding, but keeping the most various game types. Then take equal parts fantasy adventure book/film and fantasy roleplaying game. add all elements together, and mix thoroughly. In everyday terms, Amtgard is a type of live action role-play. Our members are dedicated to the recreation of medieval eras and fantasy genres. We dress in garb and act out our games while building skill. While Amtgard shares similarities to other live action role playing games and other organizations you may have heard about, we are also different from them. We use the "Class" based role-play system allowing players to choose classes, or careers within the game. These range from Warrior to Assassin to Wizard. There are 10 classes in all to choose among. And each time you participate on a day, you get a credit to raise a level in the class. This grants you new abilities on the field.

While we fight and dress in garb, we don't require that your garb be hand-sewn and authentic to the period. We do want it to look medieval, but we're not that picky about how you got your garb. Machine stitching is quite all right, and if you see something in a store that just screams "Buy me! I'll make good garb for you!", go ahead and purchase it. You don't even have to know how to sew to participate.

Our main weapons are padded swords created to meet very specific rules regarding safety. While we want to have fun, we don't want anyone to get hurt. Most of our swords are made by using PVC wrapped in camping pad or by using FunNoodleŽ type pool toys. Weapons other than swords also have to follow rules regarding safety. Head shots, grappling, and deliberate body to body contact are not allowed.

Amtgard is not for all ages, however. You must be at least 14 to participate on the actual battlefield, and on top of that, those who are under 18, but at least 14, must have a parent's signed permission allowing you to be out there and take part.

This may sound interesting to you, but you're saying to yourself, "I like the medieval aspects and the garb aspects, but I don't want to pick up a sword and fight. Can I still participate?" The answer is yes. There is an area called "Arts and Sciences" that might be just for you. You can build things, you can write stories, cook foods, design sites, draw, paint, anything you can think of. On the field, you may want to "run the tavern" (keeping the Gatorade cold), talk to other people ("mundanes" who are curious as to why those people are beating each other with those funny looking swords), or you could hold an office.

Sound like fun? Here is a link to the Amtgard home page, and to find a park near you, here is the Online Atlas.

To download your own copy of the Rulebook and other Amtgard documents, click here.