War, Stratagy, and Paintball - The principles of war

Paintball is not war, simply because you can get eliminated in a game of paintball and keep playing. Also things like range, ROF, and ammo weight stop paintball from being realistic. Now don’t get me wrong, I like it this way and I do not want paintball to get to the point where paintball becomes war if for nothing else because many people fight war to win at all costs. However the one part of modern warfare that can translate directly into paintball is the principles of war and basic strategy. Now for those of you who may not have studied war closely I’ll give a very over simplified lesson. First of all you have Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels of war. For a paintball game the levels would apply in the following ways.

Strategic – your overall game plan, how you are choosing to win a WHOLE scenario. For example one game we decided our grand strategy was to divide into two fronts, hold one and push the other. We would move units from one front to the other depending on mission location however we did not want the enemy to get past a certain point on our left side.

Operational – This would be a specific mission plan. Say your mission is to capture a building and hold it. Are you going to go from the front? Flank it? Or simply just stop the other team from getting the building.

Tactical – how your units fight on the field. Are you going to send paintball player one into the building, or have his unit flank at that time? While tactical and operational can be confusing think of operational as applying to a large group of people and tactical applying to individuals and squads.

Once you understand the basic levels of planning the game it’s easier to go along. For example I usually play a General in the games I run, so I concentrate more on the Strategic and Operational plans while leaving some of the operational and tactical objectives to my squad leaders. It’s important to give everyone an idea of what you want but also make sure NOT to micro-manage. If you have 40+ people on your team telling all of them your plan is smart at the beginning however is can get time consuming and cost you valuable time in a game.

When making my strategy I like to keep the principles of war in mind. Many people will tell you they originate from Sun Tzu’s Art of War but to be honest I know of them from my military classes. How I always remember them is using the acronym MOUSEMOSS

M - Mobility
O - Objective
U - Unity of Command
S - Surprise
E - Economy of Force
M - Mass
O - Offensive
S - Security
S – Simplicity

Believe it or not each of these does play a role in paintball and should have something to do with your main strategy. One of my most successful games to date was the Saint Valentines day Massacre where the score was 5400, to 2000, and while I still remain undefeated (knock on wood) I like to use this game as an example of the elements success. So let’s go through them one by one…

Mobility – In paintball mobility defines how well and how fast you can move through an area not only by foot but also by fire fight. A lightly wooded area of the woods will be harder to move though yet easier to stop the enemy from moving through. With the lack of cover it is easy for players to bog down in one position and firefight playing 50/50 for the whole game. However an area with more bunkers allows players to quickly leap frog from bunker to bunker. When making your plan try to think about which areas of the field will take longer to go though, as what may seem like the longer route on foot may be quicker.

Objective – This one is short and sweet, always make sure your team knows what they are doing. If it’s something as simple as “shoot the other team” or “capture the flags in this order, fire off a rocket, and turn around three times” they need to know. Chain of command can really help out for the bigger games where you may have 100 or more people on your team.

Unity of Command – can mean many different things, quite simply it should mean someone should be the supreme commander. However it also applies to games especially when you have more than one team, on a team. For example if you have alpha unit and bravo squad on your “red” team you need to make sure that there is one individual who everyone agrees to listen to and follow. If you have everyone trying to use their own team in their own way the teamwork will fall apart.

Surprise – Nothing can turn the tides of a game quicker than doing something unexpected. Surprise can come from someone camping in a path, spies, or even special weapons. I know I was playing a game where I saw a “sniper” watch an entire squad walk past him and take them all out. If he had started firing immediately he would have lost the element of surprise and probably have been eliminated himself. If you’re always thinking outside of the box you will eventually get a huge break. But keep in mind, the bum rush is usually a bad idea!

Economy of Force – is tough to explain and even tougher to execute. Heck, I might even argue it’s impossible to truly understand economy of force in a scenario game until the end if you’re playing with walkons. Economy of Force is basically using what you need to complete and objective or mission. If you need 5 people to accomplish something don’t send 10 and you could have those other 5 doing something else. The reason economy of force is such a hard concept to use is that the player who is usually an all-star may have a bad day and the little chubby kid who might seem worthless can really save the day. I remember back in the SVM day game a kid who I sent on what I deemed a “distraction” mission to attack the other teams base with 4 other people ended up pushing their way through and holding the fort versus many players. Anyways, the final thorn is just when you’re starting to figure out your teams abilities people get tired, maybe leave, and run out of paint, air, or time. So I hope someone can master this one and teach me how to better use it!

Mass - Is like economy of force but different at the same time. You always want to have the advantage of power on the opposing team. Sometimes that’s in the form of firepower and sometimes it’s in the form of just how many players are on your team. Most paintball games are set up to limit Mass advantages strategically so focus on operational and tactical mass.

Offensive - Whenever possible be on the offensive. If you’re running a defensive mission take it to the enemy. Place some defenders further outside the fort and send a separate squad on a “discretion” mission to attack the enemy and make them lose focus. Many paintball players hate to move when being shot at, so by taking the offensive and shooting at them you can literally stop them from going anywhere.

Security - In most games the general being eliminated is worth a very large sum of points. As the general not only do you have to worry about protecting yourself but also your assets. When settings up security for yourself try to use only players you really know. I usually have a detail of 4 people all of whom I am related by blood. Any other player coming close to me needs to put down there gun or we shoot them. Anyone who is actually on your team shouldn’t be mad as your death is worth 1000 points and theirs might be worth 10. Nevertheless it is also important to know the rules of the game, if there are no spies you should focus more on setting up a perimeter around the base, rather than around yourself. Also if you have some objectives or VIP’s make sure to keep them safe. Its always important to have a few people defending objectives regardless of how much they are or aren’t worth currently as that can all change in a few seconds.

Simplicity – Finally KISS (keep it simple stupid) Sometimes I find myself making elaborate plans. But to be honest the simpler things are the easier they are to understand and execute. If you’re operational directives are easy to understand then people know what they are doing and it’s easier to tactically manage them on the field.

These principles have been the same for thousands of years and are still being used today by modern militaries across the globe. That would be back to the days where we were using swords to now days where we have B-2’s and nuclear subs. So while I think I still have much to learn, I hope that my knowledge and the principles of war will be able to help you somewhere along the line in your paintball career. Just remember when you are out on the middle of the field engaged in a fire fight two simple words… MOUSE MOSS

The Equipment of the Infamous

Recently I have been giving more and more advice on what equipment to buy. I like giving advice to people who have the same playing style as mine but sometimes I can’t help but butt into an argument involving people saying that they a-5 is the best gun for _______ or that a phantom can play every position. I’ll tell people that I don’t trust high ends in the rain, and that sometimes I’d much rather just use my a-5 for fun. Normally the responses to this type of advice is “If you owned a Tippmann, Pump, or High End you would feel differently” I think its time to come clean after playing more times that I can begin to think about I’ve narrowed my marker selection down to 3 markers… my A-5, my Phantom, and my Marq 7 and they all have their disadvantages and advantages so I’ll take some time to talk about paintball marker theory and why I shoot what I do.

To start off I am a believer that there are six main categories of paintball markers Pump, Pistols Low Mech, High Mech, and Low Electro, High Electro. I know there are high end pumps and that the high Mech market is dwindling but that’s just how I feel. Now I also feel that its impossible for a low end base (such as an a-5 or ION) to ever become a high end marker. So I don’t care how much money you spend on your ION and especially you’re a-5 it will always be a low end marker. How do I determine which markers are high and low end? By how it performs, materials, weight, and brand name DOES count.

But I personally feel that you can limit it to four categories Pump, Pistols, Mech, and Electros. I also feel that the pistol category is completely worthless unless your using it as a primary for fun, its just more weight to carry IN CASE your marker malfunctions. So with that in mind I own one marker from every category….

Tippmann A-5

The Tippmann a-5 is a very popular and versatile marker, and also my first paintball marker. This sucker is a tank I could throw it around, jump on it, and run through trees and it still shoots. However I can do the same thing with other markers. I have upgraded it a ton and to be honest it probably cost me almost as much as my Marq 7 (since I wasn’t sponsored at the time) so looking back I think it makes more sense to buy a high end marker and save the money / time.

As you can see I threw a stock on it and a palmers stab to help with accuracy but to be honest I rarely use the stock and it is the only part of the marker that has every broken. I do like the double trigger as it reduces finger fatigue. Right now I consider the a-5 my backup marker the only reason I would use it as a primary is if I knew I was going to be doing a ton of sneaking as its better camouflaged.

Pros: Durable, easy to paint, many aftermarket parts, can use CO2

Cons: Heavy, Not very efficient

CSC Phantom: VSC

The Phantom is another popular marker however not very versatile. It can be set up to play a variety of ways but in my opinion why use a pump if your not going to play stock class. The reason I like this marker so much is because its so small and adds a challenge to the game. If I’m going to go walk onto a field I normally will switch to the phantom if the challenge is just not there or if I simply want to better myself. That’s right guys, I own a phantom and understand that its more challenging and love it. However that brings me to my biggest con, I can never sweep the floor with the phantom its just not made for that type of play. The phantom is good for fun, but not for competition play it’s a handicap.

The biggest down side is you need to buy all new equipment to use pump and can’t just show up with a pump gun and switch to semi mid day, you need to bring both. However playing pump is a good way to help your game if your don’t want to travel to find better players.

Pros: Light, Very maneuverable, improves skill, fun

Cons: Pump, New Equipment Needed, a handicap

Bob Long: Marq 7

The Bob Long Marq 7 is an amazing high end gun. While its new and hasn’t reached the status of the intimidator, matrix or the ego its on its way. This gun can shoot fast, its light, and incredibly efficient. The tac-one may be quieter and slightly lighter but a dagger should be more than willing to give up that for the ability to shoot much quicker and get more than 100 shots out of a tank. The biggest con with this marker is that I just shoot more paint because it shoots faster, however I also play better. Also since I shoot more its not uncommon for me to be weighed down by more paint. Nevertheless after shooting a true high end its easy to tell why you paid the extra 500$. Now while the Marq needs to be lubed once a week regardless of play all you need to do is unscrew one Allen screw in the back and push the whole gun out. Wipe off the old lube and throw new lube on. It usually takes me no more than 10 minutes.

Pros: Light, shoots fast, quick to maintain

Cons: Expensive, needs to be lubed once a week regardless of play

So here you have it people, the equipment of the Infamous, the alchemist, of Bielerga. As you can see I shoot a mech, a pump, and a high end all the major food groups. So next time you hear me babbling on about how I think high ends are better than pumps please don’t tell me I’ve never played with a high end or a pump, because well…. I do.

Blood Fest 07 - Big Game Halloween Weekend

Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, giant spiders, and more monsters than you can shake a stick at. Looking for a big game to scare things up a bit, challenge the norm? Need a break from USA vs. Communist type games? Well The Guardians and Cabin Creek have a game for you Halloween weekend BLOOD FEST 07. On October 27th let your nightmares become a reality and come to a completely revamped, redecorated, and rebuilt scenario field where witch's brew and summoning the undead to do your bidding are just a fact of life. Join forces with the vampires or the werewolves and fight to the death for the privilege of preying upon humanity till the end of time. Fangs or Claws take your pick and come sling some paint at this unique game.

Register soon at www.cabincreekpaintball.com and get a deal on paint and entry. With a scenario field turned into a paintballer’s haunted house you wont want to miss out on this twisted game of magic and the undead.

More information to come! (email bielerga@muohio.edu)

FACT: Why Pumps are inferior

A gun that can shoot 8 bps can shoot 1 bps.... however a gun that can shoot 1 bps cannot shoot 8.

Whatever works for you, doesn’t work for me!

Before I left for Russia there was a new trend starting on the spec ops forums. After looking on the forums for a few minutes it is rather apparent that agreeing with the spec ops positions is now considered “un cool.” Now before I begin let me state that I consider myself a dagger and use the “positions” to classify players all the time. Ok so we have the Commander, Dagger, Saber, Broadsword, Hammer and the infamous sniper. Five basic positions that can give people a basic understanding of how a typical scenario squad works. So where is the problem?

I’ve noticed a few posts that have said “Is this equipment good for a dagger?” or “Can I use this as sniper ghille?” The majority of the responses used to be “yes it is” or “no it isn’t” Yet somewhere in the time I took my exams and left to go to Russia the new response is “If it works for you” which to me is not a response at all. Now, don’t get me wrong! I think you should use the equipment you like however that’s not the question that was being raised. As stated above I consider myself a dagger, but do I go hand in hand with the guidelines set up by spec ops? No! But do I use some of it? Yes! Spec ops has made general position guidelines and has made equipment to go along with their guidelines (such as the dagger a-5 or the dagger vest). We just need to keep in mind that the so called positions are guidelines, and if someone wants to take them as word for word instructions who cares? Its what works for them right? Not every sniper has to wear guile, not every dagger has to have a reversed tank, and not every hammer has to have a hammer.

However, there are certain truths to every position and I think that’s the point that is being missed. Recently I was discussing the issue of daggers and remote lines. Some of the people decided to argue that “just because the daggers on spec ops webpage don’t use remote lines doesn’t mean you can’t use remote lines” and that’s right! The problem lies in taking your game to the next level. If you want to play in a serious game as a dagger in vegetation all the remote line is going to do is get caught up and slow you down. While a remote line can make your maker lighter you can train yourself to hold the heavy marker but you cannot train your remote line to dodge trees. Same thing goes for snipers, sure you don’t NEED ghille but it helps conceal you and helps you be a better sniper.

I’ll be the first person to admit that there are players much better than I using equipment much cheaper than mine. However if you compare two people of equal skills, knowledge, and experience the one with more refined equipment will win. So there is nothing wrong with using any equipment and playing a position on a squad (except for using a pump as a hammer). But by having more refined equipment you will be able to fulfill your role better. Take a look at other professional sports sure swimmers can swim in swim trunks but they use speedos because they cut down on drag. Soccer players could wear gym shoes, but they wear cleats for traction. Look at any professional athlete, in any sport and you will see equipment specialized for their position. I’m not saying that good equipment is the answer to all your problems since currently you can not buy skill. But a good piece of equipment can go a long way. So if your going to be a sniper you might want that ghille and if your going to be a hammer you want to spend a little extra on that e-grip. Some things are debatable such as the length of a dagger barrel, but others are not such as hammers should not use pumps.

So the next time someone brings up a spec ops position remember how convenient they are. A majority of people are just using them as a ballpark estimate so when talking to people about equipment please don’t jump to the “If it works for you it works for me” response and use the guidelines of the playing style to contemplate an answer.

Guardians are Recruiting

The Guardians have one mission...

"To amass a unit of the finest paintball players and take them to the ends of the world to compete while supporting Cabin Creek and its interests"

And with that mission in mind we have our first goal of competing in the 2008 SPPL woods ball tournament. To accomplish our mission we are currently looking for dedicated, hungry, and wise paintball players of every kind. Don't be scared away by a lack of experience, if you have only played paintball a few times but are willing to improve thats all that matters to us! So if you want to get more out of your paintball experience come on out and join the guardians!

The guardians are also currently looking to form a 18&U scenario team and like Cabin Creek are very family friendly. Parents if you would like to talk to me via phone or even in person about your paintballer's participation in the team please just let me know and we will work something out ASAP!


However there are a few guidelines,

First an foremost you must follow all of the rules Cabin Creek wishes to hold its players to and must always realize that you represent Cabin Creek and the guardians. Any action you do regardless of where you are can effect the team and the field!

In case anyone is wondering any player who wishes to be a player on the guardians cannot currently be ROSTERED on another team. Unless said team does not conflict with their participation in the guardians and meets one of the following three requirements.

1. Second team is a College, University, or School sanctioned.

2. Second team is a speed ball team of Cabin Creeks.

3. Second team is formed on a one time basis to participate in a tournament that the guardians are not taking part of or do not have room on their roster for said player.

Keeping that in mind we want our players to get out and play as much paintball with as many different people and teams as possible however with everything Cabin Creek gives us we must make them our number one priority.

If you have a small group of players who would like to join up under a squad it is possible for this to be arranged but keep in mind the needs of the team outweigh the needs of the individual when it comes to assignments.



FAQ:


Q: I want to tryout for the guardians!

A: Look at these forums as tryout dates will be posted on a regular basis. You can also contact me at bielerga@muohio.edu for more information!


Q: I'm younger than 18 years old, but I want to play! Do you have a spot for me?

A: We have a spot for anyone who is willing to come out, play, and learn!



Q: Will I be expected to Ref if I make the guardians?

A: Probably, the details for this are currently under the works so stand by. Chances are that if your older than 30 you wont have to ref but don't hold me to this yet.


Q: Are you sponsored?

A: Yes, Cabin Creek was lucky enough to sponsor us and give us sponsorship access to Archon, Bob Long, and many others!



Q: Greg I currently play on a speed ball team at cabin creek but I would also like to play in the woods with the guardians, can this be arranged?

A: If you get it cleared with Jeanne and your current team captain we can try to work something out. However we are not going to "steal" players from other teams and you will still be required to meet all of the guardian team expectations so this can be a challenge. But we are willing to work with you.


Q: Greg I was on a team that was cut / left from Cabin Creek can I join the guardians?

A: If you were cut from CC or left from CC you must get your admission back to the guardians approved by Jeanne. After that you can come and try out same as anyone else.


Q: Are you affiliated with Dead Reckoning?

A: No, if you were on Dead Reckoning and would like to join the guardians contact me for information. Check above question for more information.


(note: everything in the above message is subject to change by Jeanne the owner of Cabin Creek)

The Guardians are coming...

Tryouts July 15th at Cabin Creek

Email bielerga@muohio.edu or comment for more information!

www.cabincreekpaintball.com

in russia

though I might be playing paintball very soon!

Is BPS BS? - A look at ROF in the woods

A lot of jawing goes on between speedballers and woodsballers over the importance of BPS. However the argument that always perplexes me is that Speedball relies only on the amount of paint an individual can throw, their BPS, ROF whatever you want to call it. Now I’m not going to pretend like there was not a period of my paintball career where just the very utterance of inflatables made me cringe, but after being around the sport more I realized that there were times where a higher ROF was useful in the woods. However that brought me back to a question I’ve debated since I’ve been playing paintball….is BPS BS?

In the beginning as I stated earlier I thought that shooting a whole lot was what the tournament players did to make up for their lack of skill and strategy. That by covering such a small field with as much paint as possible the would had a higher chance of winning and that’s all the game was about. Eventually I learned that there were 15 bps caps and so it didn’t matter if your gun could shoot 200 bps it was going to be capped. After watching people play, and playing more myself I slowly began to see that we shoot a lot of paintballs in the woods too, it just seems like less because the games are longer and there is so much ground to cover that we are not in constant battles. As I played more and more woodsball I realized that if I shot one ball at a guy he would pop up and try to shoot me again, and if I shot 5 balls at him it would take him longer. So the more paint you sling at someone the less willing they are to move and I don’t think anyone will argue with that.

Later down the line I was a general at the Gorilla game at PVM in Ohio. As the 5 star one of my biggest objectives was simply not to die. Well I chose to set up fort in a tower which ended up being the enemy’s objective which led to waves and waves of men trying to take it from me. I sat in the tower and the first few waves almost killed me. I was trying to pick them off while they moved and kill them with single shots like I do when I sneak up on people. Quickly I realized that this was not going to work and that if I really wanted to hold them off for the remaining two hours, I needed to slow them down. So I started firing more and more which not only did it slow their movement almost to a halt but I got many lucky shots which resulted in forcing them to retreat and re-enforce.

Since than I’ve encountered other one on many situation and understood that BPS could be a useful tool and since then have kept it in my back pocket just incase I got into a bad situation. Think about all the many scenario games we have all played. When on defense its good to have a high ROF to better slow the enemy down, or if you see a large group of people running at once you can use a “spray and pray” approach to the issue. Also if you’re a dagger running out in the middle of the open it is nice to be able to scare people down when your moving. I’m sure we could think of more examples if we tried, but I think ya’ll get my point.

So in conclusion BPS is NOT just for speedball. Just to clarify I have a Marq 7 with four eyes, Tadao board and tons of bells and whistles it can shoot as fast as the hopper you have (so over 30 bps) yet even so I have it capped at 14 because while I do think bps is useful there is a limit. There is NO reason to have greater than 15 as think about it 200 rounds at 15 rounds a second and you can shoot for 13 seconds before you need to reload. If your using HPA especially with a Tippmann you might not be able to shoot more than 1000 rounds on a tank anyways. So with the increase of BPS comes the need for finger control even more than using something that can shoot 5 bps.

So with that in mind try to find the balance, know when you just need to use one or two shots and know when it’s ok just to unload… just make sure you have some full pods!!!

Outlaw – ignorance is no excuse : Mini Post

So I’ve been blessed to live in an area with more paintball fields in driving distance than I know what to do with some of them are even BYOP and free (not outlaw however) I have indoor scenario and air ball fields, and many people to play with. So I normally don’t play outlaw games yet when I have there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all MAKE SURE you know who owns the land and where the boundaries are the last thing you want to do is wander onto someone else’s land with guns. Second make sure you have WRITTEN PERMISSION to be using the field or at minimum an email with a phone number where the owner can be reached. The final tip and the most ignored tip is just because the land is public land, or hunting ground, does not make it ok to play paintball on. Call the local parks department and ask, the 2 minutes on the phone could save you and your friends some serious money from fines. Also remember a team with a criminal record will have trouble getting sponsored. So have fun playing, but play by the rules and keep in mind

IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE!

SVM 3/11/06 - Game day Tactics

The tactics that I used were not to complex. I'm mainly going to talk about the ones I used first half as for reasons I don't want to get into or discuss. My team, nor myself was not bringing their A game. Anyways I split my team into two main groups at first to make two large pushes. I had half the team go to the cotton club and the other half of the team move along the right side of the field to try to attack the bootlegger. I knew that If we could secure the bootlegger and the cotton club right off the bat we could earn some fast easy points.

Once the team had the cotton club under control I told them to advance along the left tape line and try to bottle-neck capone's forces. I figured that naturally they would retreat and try to hold king of the hill giving my team the tactical advantage. Since paintballers are drawn to fire fights if I had a big one going on over there players who should be going to defend the bootleggers and their base were drawn to king of the hill.

The other fire team was supposed to move along the right line past the jail and to the bootleggers. At the first part of the game they got held up yet eventually managed to break through. After I got them over into the field they managed to capture the non-defended red fort and hold it with resistance the whole game. 3 kids held it till the last 45 minutes and than one kid held it for the last 30.

With about an hour and 30 minutes in the game one of the dirty cops tried to hold me hostage but we point blanked him and told him he could have half my money if he killed capone... he did and than stayed on my team for the rest of the game. I think I lucked out and he wanted to be on my team anyways so he really didn't care.

With about an hour left in the game we held all of the objectives on the field and they ended up re-spawning at the big dead zone. They eventually pushed tommy-z out of the cotton club and got up the hills to the pines. I Kept sending re-enforcements where they were needed and with 20 minutes left in the game I called back all the VIPs to my head quarters and told my right side attack team to move into the base while having the guys on the left stop the advancement from the cotton club.

We ended up keeping all the objectives but the cotton club at the end of the first half.

If I had to say the most important things in my strategy...

1. Knowing the field in advance
2. Keeping in contact ONLY with my VIPs
3. When people came back to the base I would ask them whats going on in the field, and where they died so I could know where to send them.

Yet there were a few non-traditional methods I used.

1. Motivation - with walk on’s you need to try your best to keep everyone happy and wanting to work for you.
2. Encouragement - I was giving away free paint and telling people they were doing a good job.
3. Feedback - I made sure to ask everyone what they thought was the best plan of action so they knew that they were important to me, and that made them more willing to work for me.


Any questions? The first half the score was something like 5000 to 600.

Longer Barrels Shoot Further - Mini post

MINI POST!

I just wanted to post a quick statement as many people like to debate this topic. Yet it is not a long enough topic to make a whole post on. Mini Topics will be short, sweet, and NOT posted on the forums so if you want to read and comment on them you will have to come here!

Longer Barrels shoot further, period. I know we have all seen videos and read opinions of people who would beg to disagree but all of these tests lack one thing, scientific logic. Now I can go and shoot a 10 inch barrel and compare it to a 14 inch barrel and say they shoot roughly the same distance. Of course I could also look at two water bottles one filled with water and the other with ethanol and they look roughly the same. Here is where things get a little tricky according to the laws of physics with the same parameters if two objects of similar mass leave a point at the same speed and height they will travel the same distance. So if you were to move one of those objects four inches further ahead of object number one and have them keep the same speed and height the object that was moved will travel four inches further. Now, will it take a greater force to propel the paintball, yes but it will shoot at least four inches further.

SVM 3/11/06 Master Plan - You asked here it is!

Intro: As some of you may know whenever I play a big game I always end up being a general, no matter how many times I say no, or tell people I don't want to I guess since I'm trying to become the best officer I can be I just end up leading the battle for experiance in leadership. I have been asked by a few people what my general plan was but here is a top-secret e-mail sent to my vice commander in the days before the game.

Note: Some sections were deleted for various reasons, mostly personal topics or issues.

(intro deleted)

Ok so onto the important details, this weekend. I am sure lately you have been thinking about karate and work but I’d like to bring up some things about the game and how I would like to play. Just because you are my vice does not mean I want you to accept everything, I am pretty sure you already know that. So please tell me what you think about the plan. I am going to divide it into 4 separate sections. General Plan, Fire Team 1, Fire Team 2 and us.

(deleted)

General Plan

Our first objective is to keep all VIPs alive. Right now me and you are the only ones worth points and thus its more important we stay alive. The other two VIPs will be sent out on the field towards their missions but will not be in the front line.

Fire Team 1 – Tommy Z (sharpshooter)

Fire Team 2 – Kyle B (phone tapper)

I want to split the team up into two parts to accomplish the objectives. I am assuming that each VIP will be required for each mission, one each half. So if Fire Team One’s VIP has the first mission he will be in the center scenario (death trap) area trying to accomplish it while Fire Team 2 will hold off speedball hill (the cotton club). Depending on if we accomplish missions and time of the match we might move more troops from one area to the other. I do not include defense as part of my general plan as the team in the center scenario will have to make sure no one gets past them to accomplish their objectives. NO ONE can flank us from directly behind in the pines, people will try but I will be ready to shoot them so we are out own defense. We need to make sure who ever is leading the fire team knows that they need to keep them moving on the scenario field and that stopping = death.

Fire Team 1 – with objective

I cannot make a plan up for this fire team yet… why? I have no idea what Tommy Z is supposed to shoot. Probably someone at king of the hill or the spools which will be a bitch to get to. I’m going to plan that we are supposed to take one of the two with him.

Red Dot – Our Base

Red Line – First move

Green Dots – Primary Defensive positions

Purple – Fire team splits up and moves across the creek

Yellow – if spools is objective keep moving.

Below is the improved map I made and gave out to officers on game day.

Fire team one will make their way to the scenario field hopefully setting up half the team on defense in the woods in the middle. After defense is set up the defense should spread until they have most of the field covered. One green dots are in place they should swing over the creek in two separate locations. They are going to have trouble because the right purple dot needs to focus more on not getting flanked from the spools or the forest area while the left dot moves up the hill. If the objective was at king of the hill I say we take it than move on to the spools and hopefully onto their fort for a general kill. As the players trying to kill the general die we make sure to send some of them to the Cotton club but the majority of them to kill the general, unless time is almost over than we let them run loose.

Fire Team 2 – With Objective

The plan for this team can be set in stone for the most part as they have all but told me that one of the objectives is going to be the radar station. This objective is going to be very hard to get for a few reasons. You know where it is on the field and can be defended super easy and also be shot at from their dead box. I’m not going to do a map for this one cause basically we just need to do the same thing, but instead of swinging to the spools swing into the radar station from the woods. It is less important to have a super plan for this one cause really we just want to send the party up the center as strong as possible. With leaving the other team at the cotton club. We want the line to swing far enough not to get flanked but focus strong on the left, however if they exploit this line we’ll be in trouble. Hopefully our guys can walk back to the dead box and get back out there before they get to close to us.

Our Plan

So right now our idea was to set up in the fort and hold it. You will be facing the majority of the field and I was going to face the back flank. We might want to think about this more cause I’m really not sure. Since the front has a higher chance of getting attacked speed would come in handy. However our objective will never be to kill them as much as hold them off till we can get support. It would also be very easy for us to switch sides quickly so I don’t think this will be to big of a problem. We will stick both the Phillips out at that one location to help guard the jail and if they hear us shooting hopefully they can turn around and shoot at people shooting us in the front.

Some things I would think about. How much paint do we want to bring with us? Your gun is a gas hog and so is mine. I’m brining up two tanks so I can probably get 2000+ paintballs out if need be, more than enough. Your gun is what concerns me, while its accurate and reliable as hell it’s a gas hog. When we are in a situation where we are buying for time BPS is the answer. We need to shoot a ton, if for nothing else to sound scary. I’m planning on using my new gun which can throw down the paint and so can yours. Keeping this in mind how much paint are we going to want to buy? I figure If I buy a case, and you buy a case that should be enough to fill up four people. I would consider getting a third so we can put it in the fort with us just in case we somehow go through our pods. I’m assuming your going to carry 4 on your, and I’ll have at least 6. So if we have pods on the floor that should be enough. If Phillip has 6 for him and Phillip that’s about 2500 in pods. If we buy to much paint we can always use it next weekend or PBJ so I would air on the side of caution. Also If we are going to assault at the end we need to be ready to bunker down.

So I would just say our main plan is if we get attacked…. BPS for time.

Remember to make sure that your hoppers have fresh batteries and that your guns are shooting before you come. So keeping that in mind anything you would like to add?

(deleted)

(deleted)

Pro-Talent and SPPL rules - Who is a pro?

I was listening in on the new blast radius pod cast and I noticed that a restrictions on "pro-players" per team would be enforced. Well here is my question what does spec ops consider a pro player? I am having problems reaching a conclusion on what I think spec ops views as a pro for a few reasons... I'll try to simply outline why.

1. SPPL is the PRO woodsball league anyone who plays in an SPPL game I would view as a woodsball pro and thus how can you restrict how many pro's play on each team? Even if you look at factory teams right now as woodsball stands with only one league everyone should be allowed to play.

2. AIRBALL pro's should not be considered professionals in woodsball. Why? I know I have played against D1, D2, and D3 speedball’ers in the woods and while they might be hot stuff on the airball court I have not been impressed with their play in the woods. Besides until we have more divisions I think its unfair to stop players from playing because they play airball. For extra fun with D1 airball players play "hoppers only", but now I'm getting sidetracked.

3. Sponsored Players should not be considered professionals in woodsball. Why? I think it would be shocking to some if you realized how many players are actually sponsored in woodsball. I know I'm sponsored by a few companies and a few fields and than a few more from my team. But does that make me a professional? I don't think so but if you just look my team is sponsored so does that mean everyone is a professional? And most paintball sponsorships (at least none of mine) have an actual dollar amount of services donated. Sure you might get free gear, paint, or upgrades here and there but I don't think that makes you a pro as much as someone who got lucky.

4. Anyone who was in the military, special forces or no. I've done my share of military combat training and let me tell you. While it does help paintball is a completely different ballgame. So this one should not be brought up. Now if you took a special forces team and let them learn how to play, that would be an impressive sight to see.

These are all the scenarios that I can think of for someone who would be considered a paintball professional and I don't think that restricting the amount of members on any team because of any of these cases. If I'm wrong let me know but in all seriousness restricting a team because of these factors just seems wrong until you make separate divisions. But even after the separate divisions who is considered a pro?

WTS (used) ION 200$ - Is lowballing always lowballing?

So recently I have been looking at purchasing another marker. Yet since I have already ordered a new marq-7 (thank you archon paintball!) there is no need for me to get another brand new gun. So I figured hell I will buy a phantom or an Ion! Both guns are fun to play with and easy to upgrade; yet as I searched e-bay and the forums I was a little shocked at what I found. Here’s the story. I headed over to PBN and found some guns that interested me. One of them was a used, stock ion. The kid said he has had it for about 5 months and wanted to sell it so he could buy a nicer gun. His asking price for the stock gun was 200$. Looking at the marker I decided hey, I would be willing to spend 160$ top on this gun and thus I sent a PM.

About a day later I got one back with many vulgar words telling me that I was wasting his time and how dare I PM him with such a low price. He said quoting directly “If your going to lowball me go to hell you n00b.” He proceeded to tell me he paid 200$ for the gun brand new and that’s what he was going to get for it. Now, I could be wrong but since when would people prefer a used paintball marker over a new one? What made the use of his ion for 5 months make the value stay the same? I know you are all probably thinking that I just dealt with one bad seller but I challenge you to take a look around the BST forums at any major paintball website and you might be surprised at what you see. Since when does the value of equipment not decrease with use?

The one marker that always seems to get away with breaking this rule is the Phantom, mainly because they are custom made and have a two week turn around. But even sooo…. Why am I getting flamed for offering 240$ on a gun that’s probably been dented that cost 260$ brand new?

The first thing that comes to mind with this whole idea of item depreciation is cars. As soon as you drive a car off the lot, you lose thousands of dollars on the resell value. The reason for this is there is so much you can do to a car that will make it look fine on the outside but hurt it on the inside. Also a new car sounds better than a slightly-used car. Another thought is what you might get for the car selling it on a sunny day or a rainy day, or in winter versus summer. Convertibles are worth a lot less in the winter – trust me.

So unless you have performed some upgrades, or somehow managed to enchant the marker, I am not going to pay you within 20$ of what you paid for it new, and if you did upgrade the marker, the value of the upgrades depreciate too. So the fact that you strapped a flat line and an e-grip on your A-5 a year ago, doesn’t make it worth an extra 200$ today. Regardless of how many upgrades you have, or how shiny your marker is, how can you prove to me the most important thing… how well have you taken care of it. This alone could be worth hundreds of dollars especially if you’ve been using CO2 on your Tac-One.

I spend a lot of time on e-bay. From that experience, I can tell you there is no such thing as a “fair price.” There is the price a bidder is willing to pay and there is a price at which a seller is willing to sell. When the two overlap, you know what the market price was for those two people at that point in time. For any other two people, or any other point in time, it could be something else. I would love to see the seller above buy a used car (as he likely will when he learns to drive a few years from now.) I hope he gets some help from someone who is a little less naïve about how it works. If not, well, good luck with that “fair price” thing.

Meanwhile, when I see someone posting a used marker at the original price, I promise not to think, “You’re trying to highball me go to hell you n00b.” I will just see it as someone who either doesn’t know the real world or someone who wants to start the process somewhere above where they hope to settle.

When I offer you 160$ for your used stock Ion, please recognize that, in this case, I have no intentions of raising the price because for me that is a fair price. If you really needed the money ASAP to buy textbooks, you would take it and that would make it a fair price for you too. So please don’t flame people if they are offering to give you money. Sure it may not be as much as you wanted but how hard is it to just say “no thanks, I’m holding out for more.” Why chase away someone who might come back later with more? So in conclusion, the value of markers depreciates and the value of used markers and even sometimes new makers) will vary. And no, I will not buy your used stock ion for 200$... even if you throw in the AGG red scythe trigger…

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.