ChoicePaintballGuns

If you’ve never been to the paintball field, here are a few questions that may be helpful to ask when you get there.  If you’re all alone (and not with a buddy to show you around/tell you what to do), ask if the field has games for just rookies or players using stricly rental paintball guns.  This helps because you will probably be playing against other new players of roughly your own experience level.  By talking to a field operator or some of the players that frequent a particular field you will find out what the general policy is toward rookies.  They may have their own area to play in (much like a ski slope will have a section roped off for beginners); or they might have certain times or specific games offered to learn the ropes.  Next, ask about paintball equipment.  Most fields want your to rent theirs but find out what’s legal if they allow you to bring your own.  If it’s an outdoor field, ask if you can rent camouflage clothes, or if you need your own.  Camos help you last longer by letting you hide better.  It can also give you more confidence because you at least look like a regular player.  Finally, check to see what the field offers in the way of face protection and paintball goggles.  If you are serious about trying the game and they don’t have some good head protection to rent, ensure your fun, spend some bucks and buy some.  www.choicepaintballguns.com has goggles for all different experience levels…. paintball masks and goggles for the beginner and the black belt.

Try to avoid the typical rookie mistakes.  When moving through open ground with no cover, have someone on your team give you cover fire.  Move quickly, and never stop in the open.  Try to run a zig-zag pattern.  Scan ahead for a bunker or suitable cover that will hide your whole body.  When you get good cover, look around, and when you are prepared to give cover fire, have your teammates advance in leap-frog fashion.  Rookies usually stay in one place too long.  If you stay put too long, the other team will find you and shoot you.  Do not let your fear of being shot for the first time make you play too cautiously.  If you have a fear of being shot, you need to force yourself to be aggressive.  Usually after the first couple of times the fear of getting hit leaves you.  Another good habit to develop is to check behind your back every so often.  It will prevent your getting shot in the back and allows you to keep tabs on your teammates’ locations.  Try to buddy up with at least one other player so you can cover each other while changing CO2 or loading paintballs.  Load your paintball gun with paintballs or CO2 anytime you have a chance just to keep your paintball marker as full as possible.  If you feel you have time and there is any doubt about the amount of CO2 you have, change it.  Try to carry more paintballs and CO2 than you will need so you don’t run out during a fire-fight.

This tactic is great for bunker to bunker fighting.  It is best when you are protected from other opponents, and you only need to be concerned with one opponent in a bunker, but is good in almost any situation.  Usually, bunker to bunker fighting is very dull - pop up, fire, duck; opponent pops up, returns fire, ducks; and usually it goes on like this until someone makes a lucky shot.  When you go to return fire, stay up instead of ducking, but stop firing while keeping aim… The opposition thinks you have ducked, and when they pop up to return fire - Blam…. you got ‘em!  Also, try and remain as quiet as possible, and DO NOT FIRE UNLESS YOU HAVE A CLEAR SHOT.  I have seen many a newbie waste hoppers full of paintballs, just to keep one enemy’s head down.  They not only waste paint, but they also give away their position to anyone who doesn’t know yet.  This tactic is very useful.  It is simply human nature, if under fire, duck and don’t come out.  But, when you hold your fire, the opposition thinks it’s safe to move, then they will try and advance; they come out into the open, then “Blam!” you hit them when they least expect it!

Disperse your team.  This is the human equivalent of the “herd instinct” you see African plains grazers display on nature documentaries.  Lions circle a herd of gazelle.  The gazelle clump together for protection. The lions pick off the weakest.  In paintball you shouldn’t think with “prey” mentality.  Think with “predator” mentality.  Watch any third rate war movie and you’ll find a stereotypical sergeant screaming for his men to “SPREAD OUT!”  The theory is easy to comprehend- if you are all clumped together you make one large target.  If you are spread out you make many little targets- much harder to keep track of and eliminate.  To properly disperse you must form a skirmish line stretching from border to border.  Your line might zig or zag a little as opportunity for cover and advancement vary- but overall you must strive to maintain a line.  This line is important is because it will protect your most vulnerable areas- the flanks.  When the match starts, DEPLOY RAPIDLY.  In order to be able to retreat you must have land at your back to retreat into.  A winning team runs into the field, gobbling up as much real estate as they can while it’s free. A losing team leisurely walks towards their opponents when the game begins. These players are going to have to purchase territory at a very expensive price in men, CO2, and paintballs. It’s common sense to get there first with the most players and let your opponents try to evict you.

You may own the most powerful paintball guns, like paintball machine guns, but it’s important to realize that there’s more to the game than just fire power.  There’s no doubt, the excitement of paintball is made palpable by your adrenaline; this can sometimes affect your judgement while playing, thus you’re more likely to make bad judgment calls.

Here are some pointers which can help you to improve your game:

~Treat each game as a learning experience; improving should be one of your top goals.
~Keep in mind that paintball can be an individual or a team game; when playing with a team, battles are won when individuals work together.
~Remember that paintball games are battles; there are winners and losers at the end, and you want to be the winner.
~Never surrender; use creative thinking to remove yourself from impossible situations.
~Keep practicing; It takes practice to develop strategy and tactics.

Paintball is a recreational activity that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years.  People of all ages can enjoy the thrills of playing paintball on courts that are designed for sharp shooting and skill.  A sniper paintball gun is one of the many types of paintball guns used to play tactical (or scenario) paintball.  This specific paintball gun features a scope used to simulate that of a real sniper rifle; the strategy here is to hide in the bush, wait for the best shot and slowly pick off precision kills from a vantage point.

A paintball sniper rifle is ideal for the serious paintballer. It is excellent for someone who is looking to become very aggressive in the sport.  This gun shoots with top accuracy and allows for good control.  Also, you can even choose a custom paintball sniper rifle that can be designed for the individual player.  Likewise, there are many other special tactical paintball markers that make paintballing even more fun and exciting; it just depends on your style of play, what kind of game you like to play and how you want your gun to look.

You’ve got to start somewhere.  Don’t treat the newbie on the field like he’s got some kind of disease!  Help him out, answer his questions, tell him the real deal about paintball and how to play.  You never know, the newbie next to you could be the next Bob Long.  If you meet someone on the field and it’s their first time…..

1) Treat the new player with the respect that you would any other player, nothing would make them feel more comfortable about paintball than if that one person was nice to them.
2) Make sure that they understand the safety requirements, because nothing is worse than a blind newbie (or a newbie blinding anyone else for that matter). 
3) Help them out with their paintball gun.  If their barrel comes off, don’t tell them that they should make a suicide run because their gun is broken, help them out a bit.
4) Squeegie their paintball gun barrel if they need it.  Don’t forget that a new player can eliminate any player, and a straight ball or a curved ball could mean the difference between winning a match or losing one. 
5) Answer their questions? TRUTHFULLY.  If they ask you if a paintball hurts, don’t tell the story about how Uncle Bob got hit in the ribcage with a paintball and nearly died, just say it only stings for a few seconds.
6) Explain things to them in a way they would understand. “Yeah, I got an RVA on my P68SC and I think that I might rig her up with some HPA after I buy my KP2?” WHAT!?!?!? Don’t expect a new player to understand that kind of talk.  Remember, they might not even know what a Stingray is, or what a burst mode is.
7) Help them on the field.  If they are in the same bunker as you and they say they want to go some other bunker, provide them with some cover fire. Don’t just shove them out of the bunker and take their spot.
Give them advice.  If they ask you to give them cover-fire to what you know is a death trap, then don’t just play along, tell them that another place is better, just try and prevent them from getting themselves eliminated.

Mil Sig is a Canadian company who has been manufacturing paintball markers for many years.  In fact they are the fathers of the currently popular T Series T68 paintball guns sold by RAP4.  The K- Series is the world’s first dual-fed scenario paintball marker that allows you to switch between a hopper feed and magazine feed in a matter of minutes.  In the heart of every K-Series Marker is a high pressure in-line blowback system that marks the culmination of over 25 years of design and manufacturing experience in the paintball industry.  It is only recently that the Canadian government has allowed the sale of paintball guns from Canadian company’s to the U.S., so we’re looking forward to seeing more from the great up-North.  Solid looking guns, each one is tested and all the glitches have been worked out; these things are the real deal and the prices are right too.  There are also numerous attachments, paintball gun barrels, buttstocks and handguards to try on these markers too. Check out the 552 Holographic Red Dot scope that is also made by Mil Sig and looks great on the K-Series Elite (shown).

Paintball is a sport that basically produces pure adrenaline on the player’s part. Two teams (sometimes a free-for-all) go out onto a field with paintball guns (paintball markers are what they should be called) and try to shoot one another.  When you are hit by a paintball, it will (usually) break, leaving a big splotch. This indicates you are “out”, or “dead” or “marked”.  Of course, this description is about as basic as you can get. What I didn’t mention was the sneaking around, peeking out from behind bunkers, crawling through mud puddles, or, the experience I have had, actually taking a paintball in the rear end.  There are variations on the game, such as Sup’Air ball, which remain somewhat similar in concept.  Overall, paintball is addictive, fun, and lets you live out your action movie fantasies.  Start off with a cheap/low end paintball gun to see if you like it; plan to buy a better, more technical tactical or competition paintball marker later.  As you advance in your skills you will want to advance in your equipment; this of course makes the game even more fun than it already is.

Okay, well, this is the question all newbies want to know before they go out.  Well, let me put this in perspective for you.  For the most part, most guys that play paintball seem to be between 15-27 years old, wiegh about 120 lbs. and are in fairly good to excellent physical condition.  To me, the feeling of getting shot would not discourage me from going. The truth is, yes, it stings.  It feels like a towel being snapped on you, or perhaps someone throwing a marble at you.  The good news is, the pain varies depending on the distance from which you are shot.  If you are shot in the hand at 10 feet, and the paintball doesn’t break, then it’s going to sting extremely bad and you may need to ease off that hand for a few minutes.  If you’re shot from 40 feet in the arm, then it’s more of a dull pain that you won’t pay attention to.  The FPS (feet per second) at which your assailant’s paintball gun is set to has something to do with it as well.  I accidentally made an enemy the first time I went, and he threatened to set his tricked out Planet Eclipse paintball gun up to around 500 FPS (normal is about 250) and pop me constantly with it.  So, in summary, yes, it hurts, but only like a nagging reprimand that says “next time, don’t get shot”.