But my Marker Looks Cool - Mil-sim and paintball

I was looking at my A-5 the other day and thinking: I have really upgraded Natasha (my shiv A-5) as much as I possible can. I have all the knick-knacks, bells, and even the whistles. Yet, when I posted my gun’s picture on the forums yesterday, I was shocked at the amount of comments I received telling me to upgrade the cosmetics. To the people who suggested I get a duracoat, I agree. Trust me, I would love nothing more than to drop 200$ on getting my gun and mask a custom digital woodland paintjob. But, the honest truth is I do not have 200$ to spend on a paintjob for a 200$ marker. However, a majority of the others were telling me to get an M-16 shroud, or an MP5 kit. My personal favorite was one telling me to buy an AK47 kit. Can these “upgrades” add anything but aesthetic appeal to my marker?

Very, very few mil-sim upgrades, with the exceptions of stocks, add anything but weight. The average scenario game lasts an hour which is a decently long time to be holding 10lbs worth of marker and the extra strength used to hold it could be used to run, crawl, or just move quicker. Yet every week at my local field, a new range of mil-sim upgrades appear. My personal favorite is when I saw an older man with an A-5 with a huge shroud on it dressed to kill with NVS, Red dot, 6xscope, and a flashlight at 10 in the morning… This leaves me thinking when did we start picking looks over performance? Why would we want to add weight onto our guns?

I asked a few members this questions and they stated because it looks cool and it was worth the extra pound or two to have a marker look like a real weapon. Maybe I just do not get it since I like to play light. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to make my equipment LIGHTER and not heavier. So to watch people turn around and throw chunks of steel onto their markers perplexes me. Think about this real quick, why are we trying to make our paintball guns look like real weapons?

If anything, this is one thing speedball is doing right that woods ball is not. Communities are afraid of anything that even sounds like a gun, let alone looks like one. When they drive by a field and see people walking around with tons of assault weapons, what will they think? Better yet, what might the parents of new players who simply come to watch, think of all this? Let’s be honest, the police do get called to paintball games because of smoke, loud noises, and kids playing with guns.

There are a group of people that will tell you having a marker with mil-sim attachments can intimidate other players. They think that walking onto the paintball field with an M-16 looking marker will scare people. There might be a little merit to this. If I see that someone has invested a lot of money in their gear, I think they must be pretty serious. Generally speaking, serious players are better players. However, sometimes, they are just playing ‘dress up.’

I prefer to avoid the risk of looking like a poseur. First of all, many players already complement my marker and ask questions about it all the time. When I tell them about my ‘hidden’ upgrades, they seem to be even more impressed and ask to play with me. (Which might I add, can sometimes be more annoying then a good thing.) Secondly, has anyone ever heard of anyone being afraid of shooting at a player on the field because of how their marker looked? In my experience, in the woods you’re lucky if you see anything but another person’s barrel or their back. I play with my little cousin and once in the woods, he is not asking “Where is that person with the scary gun?” So much for intimidation.

In conclusion, while I can accept that some people may buy mil-sim upgrades while telling themselves they are buying them for ‘style’ and intimidation, for me the most worthwhile investment is in things that will truly up my game. In my view, spending hundreds of scarce dollars on mil-sim at best only adds some unhelpful weight and at worst keeps me from investing something that will truly make me a better player.

EXTREME Tag Ball

For those of you who are looking for some EXTREME action on a rainy day check out... TAG BALL

http://www.411toys.com/tagball_med.mpg

Its like airsoft, but way cooler. (note: this is a joke watch the video its funny)

Goggles: Faux Fog?

Many would argue that the most important piece of paintball equipment is your mask; personally I would tend to agree with them. Not only will a good mask increase your range of vision and comfort, it will also decrease your chances at an injury. Out of all the paintball injuries I have ever seen, heard, or read about eye injuries are the ones that never seem to work out. Sure I have walked off of the field bleeding numerous times (because I do not cover my forearms) but I would never risk eye injury. A mask is the ONLY piece of equipment I would recommend buying while you are still in the trial stages of paintball.

So you spend the money on a very nice mask, put it on and the mask feels like a glove. You would think that if you spend all the money on a 100$ pair of Events that your mask would not fog at all. However, on a hot summer day your mask begins to “fog” in the middle of the game. Now I’m not going to lie, it took me awhile to figure out where this mysterious fog came from, after many games of having blurred vision I realized what the two errors were.

A majority of scenario players mistake sweat and dirty lenses for “fog.” When you se a player with a decent pair of thermal lenses complaining about their mask fogging up on a hot day it is almost certain to be one of these two culprits. Have no fear as both are easily fixed!

For the sweat it is as easy just to wear a sweat band or du-rag. Personally I wear both. If you put on the sweat band and the du-rag you can get maximum protection and camo. Since du-rags are really cheap getting a few to match various patterns of camouflage should not burn a hole in your wallet.

Second, dirty and smeared lenses often cause players to feel like their mask is fogging. When the clean off the mask at first it looks relatively clean. Yet as the mask stays in the heat the remaining grime begins to disperse causing the mask to “fog” over. One way to fix this would be to remove your mask and clean it each time you get hit, but this takes a long time regardless of what goggle system you have. The easiest fix to this problem, you might already have at home. Rain-X! It comes in a yellow bottle and can be picked up at your local Wal-Mart or other auto store. What Rain-X does is create a Hydrophobic (water fearing) barrier on your mask which causes the paint splatter to literally slide off. If you get rain-x anti fog and apply it to the inside you will not have to worry about real fog either.

So in conclusion, chances are you’ve encountered these culprits at some time during your paintball career and now you have a good chance of saying goodbye to mask problems all together!

Speedball versus Scenario Play

This post is a lengthy comment on the previous post by Bielerga. I want to add another element of difference that I think creates tension between the scenario and speedball communities. Greg mentioned it briefly but I think it warrants more emphasis. This is in how each group treats the rules and their violation.

I have watched a lot of discussion on whether and when it is acceptable to mark from close range. It seems to me that many speedballers think little of close hits and are happy to ignore any bunkering rules. I think this is mostly due to the smaller size of their playing area. A good scenario arena is measured in acres while a speedball arena is measured in square feet or yards. In scenario play, you are happy if you can out-maneuver the other team and achieve your objective without the other side even seeing you. In speedball, you have to outgun the other team and the final move is always a run-through by the team with the most remaining players. A good run-through demands close-in, snap shooting.

Scenario play, by way of contrast, has many more players per match, often family groups. The emphasis tends to be more on having fun and running through the woods than winning. Scenario players tend to be less team-oriented and more oriented to good individual play. People are more concerned with their number of personal 'kills' than whether their team wins. Scenario fields almost always forbid firing at ten to twelve feet. For scenario players, contact at these ranges is rare (though a good 'point-blank' ambush is something to relish and embellish.) As a result, close-in firing is considered reckless and out-of-control behavior by most scenario players.

Along similar lines, I have seen some games where a player with an obvious hit plays on, waiting for the ref to call them out. If you question speedballers, they will freely explain that they wipe and ignore hits until called out by the ref. One player told me his team has regular sessions to coach each other on ways to conceal hits. Again, I think this relates to both the size of the arena and the emphasis on winning. In speedball, the refs are close and there are more of them. In most of my scenario experience, we are playing on 5-15 acres with only three or four refs. You cannot rely on refs to keep the game 'honest.' In speedball, the refs are there to call people out; the winner is usually an outcome of numbers at the end. In scenario play, the players call themselves out and the refs are there to keep the time and declare a winner. I suspect that scenario is closer to the sports roots when the game was played by people for fun and there were no refs. In addition, as Greg noted, scenario play is increasing using re-spawn games to further reduce the criticality of being taken out.

The problem arises when a speedball played decides to enter a scenario game and brings with them the ethics of the other sport. (For those who want to challenge me by asking what about what happens when the scenario players enters the speedball arena, I can only ask: How many people have you ever seen in camo on the suppair field?) The speedball player simply assumes this is just another version of the same game. When a scenario player sees a speedballer engage in "dishonorable" behavior, the outrage is automatic -- and the speedballer player is shocked that anyone would be so naive as to believe people don't cheat. The way I see it the solution is to make sure that when people show up in bright colors for a scenario game, we all have a good up-front discussion about how we play. Everybody should follow the norms of the community you are joining. And for my fellow scenario players, I would urge don't condemn; try instead to understand. However, if you made sure the other guys understood and they still cheat-- don't play with them. After all, you are not asking to join them; they are asking to join you. They will soon get the message.

What the hell is Speedball?

One of the most popular arguments I encounter in regards to my knowledge of paintball is I will start to talk about the differences of scenario and speedball and people will immediately accuse me of being a “hack” claming that I don’t know what speedball is. So I figured it would be a good idea to make a post talking about the game of speedball and some of my opinions on it. Speedball in its purest form is also known as airball or xball. It is played in 15 minute games with 5-7 players on each team. Depending on the number of players the size of the field and the number of bunkers change to meet the rules of the game. Your goal is to eliminate the opposing team or have more players than they do at the end of the game. In some styles of airball you must also capture the opposing team’s flag to win the game.

Some rules that are very different from those in scenario games are the different types of penalties and how they work. In scenario paintball a majority of games are played on the honor system, yet the refs play a more involved game in speedball. They perform many paint checks, remove players from the game, and can also enforce penalties on teams such as 1-1 and 3-1 which are translated into one for one and three for one. These penalties can drastically sway the pace of the game. For example if you get shot and wipe and the ref sees this he can issue a three for 1 which means you and three of your teammates are eliminated leaving your team dwarfed in size. There are also various classifications of positions front, center, and back… pretty easy to understand. This is mostly for organized games of speedball because as you get into recreational speedball the structure becomes less ridged to account for the wider range of players.

Here is where things get a little fuzzy though, when you actually look at the three most disputed arguments in comparing speedball/airball to scenario/woodsball. No, I’m not talking about the amount of skill, money, or fancy equipment required to play but when you look at speedball compared to scenario three big differences appear.

1. Time of Games
2. Amount of movement
3. Volume of paint used

First of all the difference in the time of games is indisputable. You cannot say that a 15 minute speedball game lasts as long as an hour long scenario game. Now, it is possible to argue that if you get out in the first 15 minutes of a scenario game you will not be playing as long but now days many scenario games (including the SPPL) are moving to re-spawn games where players are reinserted into the game every few minutes. On average I find myself lasting for a minimum of half the game. I watched some Airball on ESPN 2 the other day and recorded the times of the game and they lasted an average of 8 minutes.

The games being longer is also probably why in a scenario game most people move more then they would during a speedball game. Let us assume we have an extra large speedball field the size of two football fields. Even if you ran all the way to one end of the field and back you would still not cover the same distance as moving even half of a 30 acre field. Just these statistics means that movement is more of a focus in a scenario game than in a speedball game. However I would take it one step futher and say that in a speedball game you can get your position at the beginning of the game stay there, firefight, and do pretty well. Many players try to do this in a scenario game near a flag, base, or other objective and end up finding themselves shot in the back. The fact that enemy fire can essentially only come from a 180 degree radius in speedball allows the strategy of holding a bunker to be much more effective. Now before we get all feisty front men I understand that the dash to the fifty at the beginning of a game is a dash of faith and that you are in fact moving. Yet once you get to the snake most players will stay there till the team is down to one maybe two players which again shows the effectiveness of bunker defense in speedball.

Since the bunker defense plan is by far the most popular style of speedball players new, old, experienced, and professionals alike the first ¾ of a game are played out in firefights (sitting around slinging paint at each other) until one player sticks out to far or for too long and gets tagged. So if you know this is how your game is going to play out, it would only be intelligent to increase the amount of paint you could shoot in quick bursts. So if your marker shoots faster, you will probably use more paint, and thus need to carry more paint into the match. Thus if a speedball player walks onto the field with four pods and leaves with one they are using more paint than a scenario player who walks onto the field with two and leaves with none. However, in a scenario game it is not uncommon for players to leave without opening a pod, and sometimes only with firing a hundred shots. Don’t get me wrong I have a marker that can shoot around 15 bps (fingers only, non-electronic) but I only carry two pods onto the field with me and normally don’t use either so just because you have a faster marker doesn’t mean you will use more paint. But when I see three fifteen minute long games with players using 4+ pods per each game they are using a much larger volume of paint that that of an average scenario player.

All of these facts brought together would lead me to believe that in a game of speedball the focus of a player is their marker and it’s BPS. While in a scenario game tactics come first. Do I have any data to support this fact? Well let us take a look at my firing team; you have my Uncle (50+) and Phillip (12). We frequently will be playing recreationally at a local field and have a group of “professional” speedballers come and challenge us to a match of five on five. My initial reaction to this is always to smile and say the most feared words of any speedballer “Ok fine, but no pods.” The game starts off and before you can say “Left side ready” the two additional walk-ons are out. As the game plays out and the airballers run out of ammo and find themselves fighting a team with 300 paintballs versus them with maybe a dozen each. We move up allowing them to take potshots with their remaining paintballs and then if they have not called themselves out we surrender them. So if the amount of paint and BPS is not the focus of speedball why does this always happen?

In addition when I talk about speedball most people immediately think I believe there is a complete lack of tactics and strategy. That all they do is shoot at each other for fifteen minutes. This is incorrect; I know that any team who does well in a match has to have some strategy. Knowing who goes where and communicating the enemy’s positions, and firing lanes are just a few examples of good speedball tactics. Nevertheless as stated above I believe that tactics are more important in a game of scenario than airball. For an easy example let’s take a look at player/equipment specialization. If you look at the three positions of airball and their players you will notice slight differences in the equipment they carry. Yet by turning around and looking at the equipment that scenario player’s use, a more diverse range emerges. I am not talking about the mil-sim add-ons as a many of these do not add any real advantage to the marker. I am talking about stocks, scopes, remote lines, barrels, grenade launchers, and even the type of hopper. Different positions in scenario games will have different add-ons for their marker to increase the effectiveness they play in their position. Throw in the use of exotics such as grenades, mines, mortars and tanks and the differences in the tactics of JUST equipment lean heavily towards the game of scenario paintball.

Just by touching on the basics of the two games I hope that I have demonstrated that I do get what speedball is about yet I also know the differences. The honest truth is you may like faster, more intense games and that is great I am glad you found something you love. Nevertheless by telling you what I think are the differences in the game I am not trying to tell you that you shouldn’t like airball or speedball but rather they are just not the game for me. I prefer a game with different emphasis and which is why I consider myself a scenarioballer instead of an airballer.

First Post

I am happy to see Greg start this blog. It can give us a place to engage in some discussion of issues related to paintball. I have only been playing for a year. My experience is in scenario and woods ball. I have never played a supp-air field. However, I have watched more than a few games and don't see much to interest me.

I will be happy to think about and then comment on any issues anyone brings up. I also promise to be open-minded and adjust my views in the presence of good arguments. One area sure to excite a lot of discussion should be paintball etiquette. The rules are fairly standard but how we respond to grey areas and how we deal with violators enjoy a wide range opinion. I would hope we could help the paintball community by encouraging more mature responses versus some of the juvenalia I often see in the forums.

New beginnings

So I always find myself holding somewhat of an opinion about almost everything in general however something I have found myself extremely close to is the wonderful sport of paintball. Now as you have probably figured out by the name of the page I play scenario paintball, this is not to be mistaken with woods ball which I classify as speedball in the woods. I keep talking to many individuals who seem to have the two confused so I would like to start off from the start and say there is a difference. Scenario paintball has been slowly coming back over the past few years mostly with the Special Ops Paintball (www.specialopspaintball.com) revolution, yet the problem I see with this site is while they do have articles and tips on paintball they often only write suggesting how you need their products to have success in a scenario game. Don’t get me wrong I love special ops paintball they have brought a lot to the table for scenario paintball yet I always want something more. I often find myself at www.pbreview.com looking at gear and trying to find someone who wants to have an intelligent discussion on paintball fields, equipment, or even paint its self yet for every good comment or discussion I enter another twenty “flames” are guaranteed. The actual amount of information for a beginning scenario player is very limited and to sift through the amount of garbage that is out there consumes time. A dad who wants to look at playing paintball with his kids doesn’t want to see a post called “Paintball for Beginners” and than search through hundreds of posts that say “Come to my field and I will light you up n00b!” So after posting my own, comments, posts, and reviews on various sites I thought about how I could give back to the paintball community. After various discussions with my Uncle George he suggested that if I was having such a problem voicing my opinions on the forums why not make my own blog where I could post the link and share my ideas with others. I decided what a fabulous idea and here we are.

If you have managed to make it this far let me say a few things. I am not by any means a paintball guru, there are many people who have been playing the game longer than I have and know more about general paintball. If these people would like to post on this site and share their knowledge please email me and I would love to have you share you opinions. Yet I am also going to be drawing from my own unique staff, my Uncle George and Cousin Phillip. Hopefully if you re-visit this site, and read our articles you can find information, resources, and articles to make you think. With all of this in mind let us start writing and see where we go from here!