ChoicePaintballGuns

    I was deep in the middle of a woodsball match at Liberty Paintball-NY with two of my teammates, Paul Damiano and Brendan Smith.  During this one match in a place on the field called “ The Crypt,” I was almost certain that I heard and saw a flashbang grenade go off on the opposite side of the field.  It made an extraordinarily bright white flash, along with a loud bang sort of sound.  There was a staff member reffing the game who was standing about 30 feet away from me who immediately began freaking out and then ran through the crossfire of the two teams to get over to the other side of te field and find out if a flashbang actually just went off.

     Flashbangs are grenades meant to stun and disorient their victims by use of the flash or bright light and loud blast.  Although this firecracker-like explosive sounds very dangerous, it does not contain any incendiaries or shrapnel, so it is not deadly.  But the main point of a flashbang grenade is to temporarily deafen and blind the enemy, so consequently, they are almost completely banned from the sport of competitive paintball, in the woods, and in speedball courses.  I guess the powers that be who decide what’s right and what’s wrong in paintball feel this type of gear isn’t fair for whatever reason.

A recent beer commercial uses paintball as the crux of its joke. During the commercial, one of the actors calls in a paintball airstrike against one of his foes and is seen at the end of the ad calling off the tanks. While this type of technology may be a fantasy for the paintball enthusiast, there are constant innovations being made in paintball technology.

When paintball was first developed, the range of weapons that you could choose from was severely limited. As the game has garnered more mainstream popularity, the arsenal that players can select from has grown as well. Now there are a myriad of guns to choose from, as well as specialized paintball landmines, grenades and other weaponry.

Like many paintball players who grow up in an urban environment, I cut my teeth on speedball. Just about every weekend, I would get together with a group of friends and play paintball in the basement of our city’s armory building. Over the years, we got to know every nook and cranny of the course, and that familiarity worked as both a benefit and a detriment.

My first game of woodsball was a humbling experience to say the least. My friends and I had signed up for a tournament on the other side of the state, and we were full of confidence. While we had unparalleled communication skills, we were no match for teams that were used to playing outside over variable terrain. I stepped on two paintball mines that day and eventually learned to watch my step. It took a beating like that to make me a well-rounded player.

The RAP4 Pressure Activated Landmine takes paintball to the next level of realism, fun and tactical excitement.  This landmine is light and compact, measures only 1″ high and 4″ in diameter, and barely weighs 1lb. It is powered by a rechargeable 10 gram CO2 reservoir in the center of the mine that disperses smoke-simulation powder or liquid paint! It’s completely safe and fun to use in tactical paintball - these things definitely kick-ass!  They will literally spray your opponent with paint.  Just think of all the tactical strategic implications…. setting up a paintball mine field and cornering/chasing your opponents into it would make an amazing game!  The RAP4 Pressure Activated Landmine is great for your scenario paintball training and ideal for military combat training.  The mine is light and compact, and it can easily be concealed for an effective booby trap as well a great training tool.  As an antipersonnel training device, they can be used with smoke-simulation powder to leave a noticeable residue and dramatic cloud, or liquid paint for a distinguished mark.  The mine will “detonate” with 3lbs of pressure, and produces a loud report!  The RAP4 Pressure Activated Landmine can be recharged with any size CO2 cylinder using the versatile AG1 Thunder Grenade Charger. A huge benefit of playing and training with RAP4’s Pressure Activated Landmine sold at www.choicepaintballguns.com: they are a fraction of the cost of other paintball landmines, and since its power source is rechargeable, it costs only pennies per use. This is a huge advantage compared with other paintball mines!  You can also use the Portable Charger w/12g Disposable Adaptor to re-charge your mines in the field.  This paintball landmine accessory is a must so you can re-charge your mines with disposable 12g CO2 cartridges.
You can also buy this at www.choicepaintballguns.com for a very affordable price.

Surprise your opponent with a device they wouldn’t expect…. a paintball landmine!  Just like the real thing, these devices that are pressure activated and will spray paint or blinding smoke all over the unsuspecting victim.  You can fill them with a paint mix or an inert powder that you can buy very cheaply.  The landmines are re-useable and easily charged/powered by your CO2 tank or a 12g disposable CO2 cartridge and the AG1 Grenade Charger.  You can buy all these supplies from www.choicepaintballguns.com for surprisingly affordable prices.  They also have deals on paintball landmine packages that include multiple landmines, the charger and paint mix.  Now you can booby-trap an area, set up a perimeter or ambush your enemies by directing them into a paintball mine field!

Here is another fun scenario paintball mission that you can use to practice how to set up an ambush and also how to deal with being ambushed by another team.  You can play this mission with a huge group of people or just with your paintball team.  If your just with your own team, get one or two players and they will be the ones setting up the ambush against all the ‘unsuspecting’ other.  You can also play this the other way around as well (large group ambushes the smaller).

The team setting up the ambush should try different strategic scenarios.  Try setting up trip wires with paintball grenades.  Also try using paintball landmines set in strategic places that you might try and flush the others into to get them to blow themselves up.  Of course use fully decked out semi and fully automatic paintball guns on both sides.  Also look for strategic places to put a sniper paintball gun position somewhere to pick off key players while your other ‘regular infantry’ are keeping pressure on them with constant fire.  Be smart with your location as well; try to use the layout of the land or specific sections of territory that might make your ambush more successful.  These are things like a stream, a bottleneck - someplace where the opposing force would have to go through.  This might be a bridge, a trail or even a section of a field.  Try to use paintball gun firepower to divert the opposing team and force their movement into a certain area you’ve already strategically placed paintball landmines or tripwires in.  If you have multiple players in the ambush, consider separating your forces in different areas of your location to accomplish your mission.  Try to have alternate plans and be ready to go with the flow.
Your Mission…. Ambush the opposing team.  The opposing team should give the Ambushers enough time to set up their ambush (so they can strategize, set trip wires, etc.) without knowing what they’re doing.  The mission starts when the opposing team enters the area where the ambush is set up.  Eliminate as many enemy as possible.  Either team can win.
Time Limit…. 30 minutes. Also set a time limit for the ambush set-up (15-30 minutes).
Teams…. One team for the Ambushers (1-2 players if dealing with a small group - or you can use a whole squad if you’re with a big group).  The rest of the players will make up the Opposing Forces getting ambushed.
Enemy….Enemy forces consist of a squad of local insurgents.  Insurgents are suspected to be highly trained and armed with small arms and automatic paintball guns.  Also use snipers as part of your ambush strategy (using high powered scopes and long range sniper paintball guns).
Props…. Use any kind of props you want for forts, hiding spots and snipers, etc.  Try to utilize landmarks or interesting points specific to your location.  Be creative with your equipment for a great time; set paintball landmines or paintball grenades.  You will have more fun with awesome tactical paintball guns and scenario gear that’s totally decked out.  Depending on how much room you have to play with, try using different numbers of players, different equipment and different strategies to be ready for anything.

Here is another fun scenario paintball mission that you can play with a huge group of people or just with your paintball team.  This one’s better with a larger group though.  If your just with your own team, get one or two players and they will be the ‘US Special Forces’ team and all the rest of your team will be the ‘Opposing Forces’ protecting the weapons cache.  Here’s the situation…

A local warlord has recently taken control of a small mountain village capturing a large cache of heavy weapons in the process.  Intelligence reports the cache has been separated and moved to two locations, one in the Northern sector and one in the Southern sector of the village.  You can use either extra paintball guns, but this game is most fun when played with rationed ammo.  Start out with everyone (good guys and/or bad guys) having only half a hopper full of paintballs (or a certain small amount); use boxes of paintballs for the ‘weapons cache’.  You can choose to give everyone a small amount of paintballs or you can give unlimited supplies to the bad guys while the good guys have a small amount (this will make things much harder!).
Your Mission…. Conduct an assault of the mountain village in order to secure and deny the enemy the use of the weapons caches.  Eliminate as many enemy as possible.
Time Limit…. 30 minutes.
Teams…. One team for the US Special Forces (1-2 players if dealing with a small group - or you can use a whole squad if you’re with a big group).  The rest of the players will make up the Opposing Forces protecting the ammo/weapons cache.
Enemy….Enemy forces consist of a squad of local insurgents.  Insurgents are suspected to be highly trained and armed with small arms and automatic paintball guns.  Snipers are also suspected to be in the area (using high powered scopes and long range sniper paintball guns).
Props…. Use any kind of props you want for forts, hiding spots for the weapons cache and snipers, etc.  Try to utilize landmarks or interesting points specific to your location.  Be creative with your equipment for a great time; set paintball landmines or paintball grenades; try to set up a strategic ambush.  You will have more fun with awesome tactical paintball guns and scenario gear that’s totally decked out.  Depending on how much room you have to play with, some guys really go all out and play this game at night with night-vision goggles, high-powered scopes and sneaky tactical strategies.

The M79 40mm paintball grenade launcher from RAP4 is an authentic piece of artwork; it’s as real as it gets and an absolute for the collector with a nose for power.  This is the same M79 style grenade launcher used during the Vietnam war.  It is made of metal with an authentic wood finish.  The bridge opens up just like the real M79 to load the shell into the chamber.  It is compatible with all paintball grenade cartridges.  You can use either the M203 paintball grenade (takes .43 caliber paintballs) or the M68 paintball grenade (takes .68 caliber paintballs).  Your paintball grenades will need to be charged for them to fire; paintball grenade launchers do not have their own CO2 cartridge/cylinder - it’s the paintball grenade that holds the charge.  To charge your paintball grenade, you will need a charger; check out the AG1 grenade charger.  You can purchase all these awesome paintball supplies at ChoicePaintballGuns.com.

There is something primitive about paintball that really appeals to me.  There are very few moments in our modern lives when we are able to truly test ourselves to see what we can do.  Paintball is a way to get out that aggression and to prove to ourselves our skill level at basic combat maneuvers.  What’s more primal than head hunting another player and getting to actually shoot at them?
 
I love to put paintball landmines in places that people would not think of.  Out smarting your opponent in real life settings is an awesome way to spend the afternoon - and get out some aggression.