ChoicePaintballGuns

As a kid, you may have played cops and robbers or cowboys and indians.  Remembering these fun filled memories, adults now play scenario paintball - where they have the opportunity to be a soldier, a sniper, a navy seal, or even cowboy in the Wild West; and you get to use guns that actually shoot!  In scenario paintball, the playing fields and conditions are made to look like historic places, settings, or events.  Usually the terrain is a natural setting; a canyon, heavily wooded area or even an old junkyard.  Often times, historic battles such as D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, or even the Battle of Gettysburg are reinacted on the the paintball field.  Depending on the size of the game, the amount of detail may vary.  These games, however, can range anywhere from lasting five hours to several days at a time.

One of the major differences between scenario paintball and traditional style paintball is the type of paintball markers and gear used.  In traditional Speedball matches, only a paintball gun is needed and used to make straight line, somewhat close range shots.  For the most part, your enemy has to be in your line of sight in order to hit them and get them out.  In a scenario game, paintball landmines, grenades, and other such weapons not only add to the atmosphere of the game but offer more interesting ways of thrashing your opponent.

Another major difference in traditional games and Scenario games is the number of players involved.  In scenario paintball games, sometimes the scenario will dictate how many people should be involved; for some games it’s common to have over 100 players on the field at one time.  In scenario paintball, military missions is the name of the game.  In general, you will either be in a platoon of players or playing solo and you will go on a mission (or series of missions).  In Speedball, once you are out of the game you are out for good.  In scenario games, however, you are usually only out for ten to thirty minutes before you are allowed to reenter the game.  Rather than getting all of the opposing players out of the game to win, your team will have missions and objectives to complete in order to win.  These missions usually vary from game to game.

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.

Speedball is a fast pace game.  It can be played indoors or outdoors, but generally played on a rectangular paintball field.  Both sides of the field must be set up with the same arrangement of semi or permanent bunkers.  However, speedball can also be played on a field with portable inflatable bunkers such as the half moon or the beam in instances where the players want to make their own original arrangement.  Speedball tactics used by each player will depend on the arrangement of the bunkers, the types of bunkers used, and the alignment of the opposing team.  A lot of the speedball skills and tactics are intented for formations with multiple players, because the possibilities vary as well with team play.  Either way, it’s important for every player to be aware of the position of each of his teammates.  It’s unlikely that each team will not lose a number of their players, but it helps if the team is well balanced.  It is important for each player to practice skills for multiple positions and situations so you can be as prepared as possible.  Many teams also like to walk on the field before the tournament to check out the bunker layout and make their game plan.

An important move to use while paintballing is the crawl.  Crawling is a way of moving around, both backwards and forwards, on all four limbs and stay close to the ground.  It may be necessary on a field where the bunkers are low to the ground.  It can reduce the likelihood of being shot during an ambush and is good for a means of moving around quietly.  It’s also great for avoiding enemy fire and staying out of harm’s way.  There are some important things to remember while crawling, however.  First of all, make sure that your elbows and feet are not exposed to potential paintball impact.  Also, make sure your marker remains close to your body and out of your enemie’s range.  Most importantly, make sure the hand your holding your paintball gun in is in a position that you can shoot at your enemies if needed.  There are many instances when crawling is the best choice for getting around.  Some instances may be when opposition is moving forward and has not spotted you yet; when you are playing in the woods and there is plenty of brush and vegetation to help conceal you, and when you are moving from one bunker to another that is connected or very closely spaced to the one you are leaving.  It is important to maintain open lines of communication with your teammates and even for them to shoot and distract your enemy while one individual from your team makes their move.  You may also want to crawl to stay invisible when trying to flank your enemy.

In paintball, Freight Training is an illegal move.  Freight Training is an attempt by a tagged player to affect the outcome of a game by lingering in the game.  After being hit, the player is supposed to put their barrel plug into the end of their paintball gun and immediately exit to the nearest dead box that will not cause any interference in the game.  If the player attempts to block a shot from an opposing player at one of their teammates, it would be considered freight training and can be penalized for it.  Another form of interference is deliberately getting yourself bonus balled.  Sometimes players will step out on the field with the intention of getting an enemy to shoot them in anger.  As soon as their enemy shoots them, the player yells out to the referee who will usually call a penalty on the opposing team.  All of these actions, if caught can get your team penalized.  Booooooo!

Flanking is one of hundreds of paintball tactics in which a player distracts the opposing team with an attack while another player sneaks around the side or back of the other team.  It is most successfully used on players who have tunnel vision or are so wrapped up in fighting off the players in front of them that they don’t notice the attackers making their way around them to defend an attack from the side or back.  The attacking player who is making his way around to the side or back of the enemy relies heavily on his teammates.  It is up to the teammates to keep the opposing team distracted.  Without full support from his team, the likelihood of being successful with this move is low.  When flanking, make sure to stay as invisible to the other team as possible; remain unseen with crawling and staying hidden behind bunkers, keeping shooting to a minimum to avoid being detected.  Then when you’re in the right spot, surprise the enemy with a barrage of well-placed shots, preferably from an automatic paintball gun.  Make sure your flanking move is pre-planned in your team strategy so your other teammates know when you’re making the move and will keep fire heavy while you’re moving.  Sometimes it’s smart to have your sniper do the flanking so he can sneak precision shots at key players in more vulnerable positions.

Paintball started off as a simple game of elimination where each player shoots at everyone else until there was only one individual left.  Well, the ‘Last Man Standing’ game has gradually become more complex; although this is a fun game if you just want to get out there and shoot at each other.  Now there are all sorts of senario games and props used to make things more interesting.  Some of the props that have become popular are Armored Paintball Vehicles, electronic bugs, grenade launchers, and the smokescreen.  Some scenario games now even include hundreds of players, played over several days and are designed to simulate famous real-life actual battles that have taken place.  Some of the team positions involved in these scenarios include generals, infantry units and special operations units.  The point of the scenario game is to complete your objective - which could mean any number of things depending on the mission.  Sometimes your team will have several different objectives to complete before the game is over.  With each completed objective, a point is scored for your team.  The team with the most completed objectives in the end wins.  The multiple objective games are usually played in the larger scale scenario games - the ones spanning several days to play.  Players in these games often use tactical paintball guns, camouflage clothing, grenades and paintball landmines to add to the experience.

Attack and defend games are quite popular in paintball.  There are many different variations of this game.  In one version, one team may be confined to an area they’re to defend, the rest of the team may have a flag or treasure to capture for the opposing team and bring back to home base.  Either way, the basic point of the game is to defend your territory while breaking past the other team’s defense.  One popular game is capture the flag.  In this play, the opposing team must lower the defenders flag and raise its own.  The opposing team has to raise their team’s flag to the top of the flag pole.  If they are eliminated while raising their team’s flag, the flag stays where it is and the station remains uncaptured until the flag is fully raised.  At this point, the defending team cannot recapture their station.  Another flag themed game is ‘Attack The Fort’.  In this game, a fort is built up on a bunker.  Each team guards their own fort while trying to break past the opposing team’s defense and get their flag to the tower of the opposing team’s fort. 

Another fun variation (that doesn’t include a flag) is the Bunny Game.  In this game, the team on defense has a fake bunny to protect.  The defending team cannot leave the defending area or conceal the bunny from plain view.  The attacking team starts off far enough from the defense that they are not in shooting range.  They are free to move around where ever they want as long as they remain in the boundaries.  The purpose of the game is the assassinate the bunny.  To win, the attacking team must shoot the bunny in the lens of its goggles.

Bunkering is a move for more experienced players.  It can be trouble for less experienced players, because there are so many things that can go wrong.  To be successful with bunkering, the player needs to be able to mix things up with little warning.  When a player is bunkering his opponent, he charges straight at a bunker that is occupied by an opposing player, shooting as he goes.  The opposing player ducks behind the bunker to avoid getting hit by your shots and you get a chance to run closer to him without him aiming at you.  This does, however put you out in the open charging straight at enemy lines - open for other players to nail you; this is why it’s so important to be able to make critical decisions in a moment’s notice.  Often the player executing the bunkering maneuver is the front player of the team and will be bunkering either the back or midfield player of the opposing team.  This move usually isn’t used until late in the game.  It is very popular though when your team is down on points and time.  Occasionally, there are instances when you are well covered and you have an easy run to your target…. do it and don’t hold back!

In paintball, it is considered unsportmanlike to shoot a player from closer than 25 feet.  Sometimes you can sneak up on a player or if you get too close to him to shoot, you can use the ‘Barrel Tap’.  A Barrel Tap is when a player eliminates his opponent from the game by taping him on the back with the barrel of his paintball marker.  The benefit of the barrel tap is you can eliminate your opponent without having to fire on him from close range.  Being as most players at local fields and leagues may know each other and don’t want the humiliation of having to surrender in front of his aquaintances, the barrel tap saves him from having to make the choice of either surrendering or being shot at close range.  A common occurance for the barrel tap is when one player bunkers an opposing player.  For the most part, when a player bunkers another player, one of them will end up getting tagged.  Once the charging player gets to his opponent and neither one has been tagged, the player in the bunker will surrender or the bunkering player will execute the barrel tap.