Auckland Armageddon Sat 24 until Mon 26 November, 2015
We were invited to this 3-day event by Dave Hannay (King of Swords) to provide Roman bodyguards to escort the overseas guests from their dressing rooms to the main stage cutting our way through the rowdy crowds. The Romans were very popular, and many cosplayers in plastic garb marveled at our weapons "wow, that looks just like real steel!" Halted in our march by requests for untold selfies, and Magic FM radio station's DJ made us give a Roman war dance with drawn swords to kick off their dance party competition - one of the weirder things we've had to do.
Out in the field we camped with Ruff Birtles' Norse group, where Victor and Steve entertained the crowd HMB-style going hammer and tongs battering each other to a standstill. Chris and Petra warmed up the baying mob with a Gladiatrix vs Roman legionary fight before the main bout. We also picked up a new member who joined on the spot so that security would give him his sword back, and he stayed loyal all day. In truth, this is about the only event where everybody is dressed so far-out that the Romans look perfectly normal.
