The Week of the 24th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War

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	January 6th through 12th, 2015

The lake enjoyed sub-zero cold and a blue sky early in the week. That would, and would not, last.

Fort building started on Thursday. We lost the blue of the sky earlier in the week and it somehow got colder. The strong wind did not help.

On Friday, there was still wind, but the clouds were thinning and the Southern fort's walls were almost done with fewer casualties than forecast.

On Saturday, temperatures rose to the balmy single digits. Starting and finishing touches were added to the Northern fort.

Clouds rolled in before the sun set on the finished forts. The Northern rampart's "U" shape had 6 krispa class launchers , sloped snow armor, and a plexiglass view port.

The Southern citadel had 3 krispa class launchers, 1 K2 class launcher, 360 degree wind/rocket protection, and a polycarbonate window.

At about 6:15 CST, the first ranging shots were fired.

Minutes later, the air was filled with jet propelled sticks. With report!

Trajectories were lowered. The long flowing arcs that streamed harmlessly over combatants and snow walls began coming in flat and fast. The shots pounded walls and, in one case, a head.

The almost 5,000 rockets (exactly 4,446) were exhausted in just over an hour. A new record. After the last shot, surviving fighters and a few civilians retired to the bar to recount stories of honor, bravery, and general glory.

Sunday morning's light confirmed the ferocity of fire the previous night.

The walls of the Northern fort were pocked and stickelated.

Even the plexiglass portal was damaged after it suffered a direct hit.

The Southern stronghold also bore scars from Saturday's event.

It was hard to find a square foot of unscratched snow armor.

One shot even came through a firing port and damaged a rocket cannon. The crew of battery Alpha 3 managed to work past the damage and remained effective for the duration.

We'd like to thank everyone for both their direct and indirect contributions that made the 24th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War the best ever. The Bottle Rocket War marks the start of twilight for Deep Winter. Sure, there might be some unspeakably cold days ahead, but the days are getting longer and the third part of Winter, Thaw, is almost upon us. Yay. The ice under those forts is over a foot thick as is the snow on top of that ice. There wasn't enough time to gather exact snow and ice levels. We'll be sure to get those measurements for next week's update.<br><br><br>-Nemo, proud member of battery Alpha 3.

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