Paintball Journal

This is the most insane thing. Ever.

Firstly, if you can afford to set up an airball course, inside your living room, with a massive TV inside of said room, you have a bit too much money and need to send some to me. Also, probably should stop dealing drugs, because… this is too extravagant to be funded legally.

Secondly, who gives their kids guns and gear like that? Especially when they have difficulty lifting the equipment?

Thirdly, haha, pwned by the wife.

Seriously, folks, I am gobstopped. This is in no way fair.

Here it is, one of the biggest controversies in the history of paintball. Joy Vs. Dynasty in the O.C. Super Seven Commander’s Cup all squeezed into a 1:28 clip. This was the first time I’ve been able to look at it, and I’d have to agree with the refs. Bonus balling Fraige was a bit over the top, but then hammering Cole at point blank after he was clearly out just took the cake (just look at that hopper!).

Not only were the tournament standings on the line, but the entire ’06 season. And it’s not like paintball is at the level of the NFL where you can just call back plays, review them from a dozen different angles, etc. It happens right there on the spot, and the refs must make a call based on what they saw happen in only a seconds time. I think I feel sorrier for the refs than I do for either team. I sure wouldn’t want to have to make a call like that.

The tournament resulted in Dynasty taking first, Joy in a close second, and XSV taking third. Being the final NPPL event, Dynasty took first place for the overall season. XSV barely grabbed the points they need to take second place, and Joy took third. This win made it Dynasty’s fourth overall season champions in a row.

It’s a Shocker! It’s a Timmy! No! It’s just Rick Galinson’s latest creation! Rick works for a special effects crew in Hollywood that has worked on past movies such as Batman, Jurassic Park, Men in Black, Artificial Intelligence AI, and Snakes on a Plane. This creation involves six barrels, 1,200psi of pressure, and a whole lot of paint.

Of course, it’s only in the prototype stage. The gun appears to have some problems with the triggers, but I wouldn’t know anything about that; I just shoot guns, I don’t work on them. What I’m most interested in is how it’s going to be fed…Perhaps a solid flow of paint somehow pressurized through a hose from a large tank? If he does happen to sell it off, or allow them to be produced, I take it that they will be vehicle mounted, probably something similar to the Hellhound that came out some years ago. And I’m guessing it’s not going to be tourney legal (rolls eyes).

“Ollie Lang has taken the snake again! My God, what’s that thing he’s using! If I know anything at all, that is not the latest Shocker! My God, he’s mowing the entire field, literally! Oh the humaaanity!�?

Even in its seemingly infinite coolness, I can see some very real dangers to something like this. Think of the poor kid that’s on the receiving end of one of these (assuming that it makes it out of the lab). As if it doesn’t hurt bad enough getting ramped on by regular guns…ouch, I just cringe at the thought. Who knows, maybe it’ll be riding on our C-130 gun ships someday, haha.

Here’s the vid -

There are two things that should signal a bunker move.

1. If an opponent moves into a key bunker (snake, maybe a 50 bunker) they will have excellent angles on your team. You could try to shoot them out, but can you risk losing one, two, maybe more guys trying to do so? If you think he’s going to dominate the field, it’s best to just bunker him out before he does any damage.

2. If they have one or two guys left, and you have twice as many on your team, send some guys down on run throughs or bunker them to finish the game.

If you are just bunkering somebody for the sake of it, and you know that you’ll just get shot out as soon as you do so, then it’s really not worth the trade.

If you need to bunker, talk to your back man and tell him to keep fire on that position. As soon as the opponent is pinned, make your move, but be fast and be smart. If they still have several left, expect to get shot out. If you don’t have support, take a few shots to pin him in, make your move, but do not just keep firing while you are running up on him. It’s easy to tell where somebody is (or when somebody is coming at you) when they are shooting. I’ve had instances where I’ve known that somebody is coming up on my bunker because they are just absolutely hammering it with paint, so I just would just get up and sprint out the opposite side firing away at where I think the person will be. This can throw them completely off guard, and you have a decent chance at making it to another bunker. It’s better than getting shot out just sitting there.

Directly from:

“Published 11/21/2006
The National Professional Paintball League and Pure Promotions are pleased to announce that the 2007 Semi Professional League will be open for all teams wanting to participate (with the exception only of the 2007 NPPL Professional Teams). This gives each and every team from all nations and leagues a chance to prove their worth and earn a spot in the elite 2008 NPPL Professional League, as at the end of 2007, the top three ranked Semi Professional teams will be promoted to the 2008 Professional League.

To learn more on the divisions, rules, season schedule and much more; all NPPL Members are encouraged to join in on the 2006 NPPL Annual Meeting in person or via web broadcast Wednesday, November 29, 2006. More information on the Annual Meeting can be found at www.NPPL.tv.

The NPPL’s mission is to be the World Wide Governing body of the sport of paintball, to run and promote the highest quality events, to ensure safe, fair, competitive play for members, teams and spectators, while showcasing paintball as a major sport with integrity and professionalism. The NPPL is committed to setting rules, standards and guidelines for safe, competitive and fair paintball competitions worldwide.”

Incredible. This chance comes so rarely, the real competition in ‘07 might be in the Semi Pro league, not the Pro…

VForce’s latest mask design, the VForce Grill, released at World Cup.

Specs!

Hardtarget Design- Small, low profile, just what everyone has come to expect from VForce.
Cutting Edge Optics
Sleek Spherical Lenses
QuickChange Thermocured Lens
Customizable Lenses- Very cool lenses, high visibility, a ton of choice in the type, easy to switch out.
Maximum Bounce
Temple ComfortPads- Comfy!
QuickChange Strap
QuickChange / ClickDry Foam System- Good news for people who like keeping their gear in shape.
ProVisor- *shruggable*
Integrated VFlector- On your forehead, supposed to increase bounce.
Featherweight Comfort- Unknown weight spec, but it’s probably going to be at the very least lighter than the Profiler.
Comfort Chin Strap- Never found these comfortable, but that’s just my personal preference.

Whether you’re in a sudden death situation, or just messing around with your friends, there are certain things that you will want to make sure you do. If you’re completely confident in your gun fighting ability, then you can just ignore this.

The very first rule to 1 vs. 1 is to never lose track of your opponent! If you lose track of an experienced player, you’re already dead.

Off the break, shoot like it’s nobody’s business. Generally speaking, the more paint you lay downfield the better chance that you are going to hit him. This will also force him to take a bunker. Once you are sure you have him pinned, and once he’s not looking, make a move to pick on his weak side (usually means going right).

Never move backwards. Move up field and off to one side if possible. I’ve found that once I have my opponent in his bunker, I’ll unleash a good rope at him, but only enough to make him stay in. I’ll be instantly bumping up. If he spots you heading in one direction, give him a good gun fight, pin him, and then take off for the other side of the field.

You should be nearing the fifty by this time, and the hope is to have enough of an angle on him that when he leans way out to look back at where you were at that last bunker, you should have an open shot at him.

But again, never lose track of your opponent. This is the first thing I see people do. If you really want to get good, practice your gun fighting skills.

1) Eat a good breakfast and get a good night’s sleep. No really! It makes your performance on the field incredibly better than if you had gotten two hours of sleep and had water for breakfast. On nights before I play, I try to get 6 hours of sleep, and I usually start the day off with a bowl of Ramen noodles.

2) Make sure you’ve packed your equipment the night before, and that you have everything you need, including extra batteries, towels, clothes, etc.

3) On a related note, make sure you clean everything the day after paintballing. Leaving paint on your mask can eat away the fog protection, and make the lens more likely to crack. Maintaining your gun is the best way to avoid problems.

4) Snacks, drinks, and tunes. Yes, these are necessities for a great day of paintball.

5) Your attitude. If you go to a field thinking that paintball is anything but a game, you are sorely mistaken and are likely to have not that great a time. But if you go to paly and have a great time, chances are you will!

No, there is no typo in the title. You might think you know how to run, but you very well might not know how to run.

Running off the break is essentially two things, bounces and speed.

To get bounces, you need to cover the hard spots, sprinting at a decent pace will take care of the soft spots. If you are running so that your left side is to your opponent, cover the top left side of your mask with your left hand while you run. Carry your gun in the hand that is away from where the paint is coming from. Those are the two hardest targets on you, your gun and your mask.

To get speed, well, you’ll have to work on that by yourself by working out. Running at speed is harder in paintball, because you should be running low to the ground for a fairly short distance, getting ready to slide or dive into the bunker that your going for.

Running in paintball takes practice, but is one of the most valuable skills for any player, but especially those who like to make long runs off the break to valuable bunkers like the snake.

Well I’ve heard many rumors about it, people at school “freezing�? their paintballs to make them shoot like marbles more than anything else, but I just found a very interesting video that pretty much completely disproves the myth.

For those of you that can’t load it, a man has taken a bag of paintballs and set them in the freezer for over two months. He then takes them outside, and begins to drop the frozen paintballs on the ground. Amazingly, they just hit the ground and don’t bounce at all. A regular paintball would be quite bouncy. Freezing them actually makes their shells more brittle, and simply coagulates the paint fill inside, but does not freeze it to a solid form. When they hit, the shell just cracks. So if you’re trying to freeze your paintballs, it’s really not worth the time, at least on all modern brands.

This probably seems like common sense, but DO NOT bunker the little kids! What a great way to start your paintballing career by getting shot several times from a few feet away. This is a horrible way to bring new people into the sport, and an excellent way to enrage some parents and field officials. There are rules that the field probably has, so make sure you don’t break any of them and get yourself booted.

And what would you get by bunkering a kid anyways? “Yeah, I totally bunkered this seven year old, Man it was awesome!�? Yeah, you bet. If you’re looking to boast your ego, go bunker a pro or something. Then I’d be impressed.

Now there are certain instances where a bunkering might be called for. We all know the type of snobby kids that show up fully decked and with some of the best guns money can buy, and well all realize that it was their parents who bought it for them. It is when these kids start bragging, or talking smack, when I’d have to say that he deserves a bunkering. Heck, if anybody starts talking trash to you, they deserve a bunkering.

So long as they understand the game, and realize that bunkering is a part of it, I’d say you’re in the clear.

P.S. - For those that don’t know what bunkering is, it is when you use an oppenent’s bunker against him. Because he can’t see you, it allows you to run up close to it, then as you’re running by, shoot the player out. It is usually a close range shot.

Yes, the infamous snake. It is that one bunker on the field that will make or break a team in almost every game. If you’re looking to play the snake for your team, you’re going to have to be fast, probably small, and be able to gunfight from awkward positions. And of course, the general tips…

-Walk the snake before hand and find where it has the best angles
-Know which bunkers have the best angles on you
-Listen to your backs
-Know how to superman dive
-Can’t be afraid to take to massive amounts of paint

So these are pretty obvious; now the set up.

A snake usually occupies one tape line of the field. At both ends of the snake, tucked away in the very corner of the snake-side of the field will be the two back bunkers. For you, the snake and these two bunkers will be the most important in the beginning.

The back corner is key to you as a snake player. If your back man is good, he’ll keep his mirror in check (and enemy snake players, if there are any) and allow you to move up knuckles. He will also be one of your guardian teammates that will protect you from getting bunkered.

If your back player is shot out, and there is no one available to replace him, problems can arise. First, it will be your sole responsibility to keep an enemy snake player from moving up and taking out your team, whereas this job would usually fall on your back man. If the other team still has their back man, your job will be even harder because he will have free reign over you if nobody is there to pin him in. Any information you receive may be faulty, because nobody will have the same angle as your back man. They may not see where the snake player is, or which way the back is looking.

Another important aspect is knowing what exactly you are trying to do. There are two similar, yet different plans you can use. You can take the snake to dominate the opposing side of the field, or you can take the snake and act as a distraction.

Both are very similar, but just because you are in the snake doesn’t mean you have to wipe out the other team. If you play conservative and only come up periodically to keep their attention on you, then you can succeed in being a distraction. If they don’t give you the attention you need, make them listen. Take a few guys out and they will be more than happy to give it to you. This will then open up the opposite side of the field for your teammates to move up. When they turn to focus on them, then you can move up. It’s a vicious cycle.

See the potential that revolves around the snake? There is so much you can do right with it, and so much you can do wrong. This is simply one of the many plans out there that you could formulate, but most of it just depends on personal style. We’ll try to keep posting more about it in the future.

Paintball already has a bad rap with the media, but how about this. If you’ve played any flash/miniclip/java games you have probably seen the Stress Relief Paintball game. What a sick, sick world we live in.

Those poor little smiley faces grin innocently at you, while your objective is to blow them to pieces with a paintball gun. In the game instructions it reads, “Shoot all the yellow faces to score maximum points and advance to next level.”

Now, I’ll be the first one to admit, those little guys scare the crap outta me. But I’ll be damned if boredom pushes me over the edge of moral and sane thought. Have a heart people, those little smiling balls haven’t ever done anything to you.

The game itself is inherently harmful to the sport! So many subliminal messages pervade the essence of the “harmless, little stress-relief game”.

For example, by playing this abomination, one might think that it is okay to bring a paintball gun into the office. NO! Unless it is “Bring your paintball gun to work” Day, do not bring your paintball gun into the office! Of course, if you’re a professional paintballer, then this does not apply to you, I’m speaking in broad generalizations.

Also, take note of the design of those objects which you are tasked to shoot. Smiley faces. This tells the gamer that you are using a paintball gun to kill smiles. That’s right, folks, this game wants you to believe that PAINTBALL KILLS HAPPINESS. Which I assure you isn’t true.

So, if you have any heart, please game responsibly. Play the game, by all means, but play it in the same way that you would play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and realize that it is far, far outside the bounds of reality. (Also note, you can shoot the smiley faces multiple times, which is a good way to rack up points quickly…)

Paintball Zap the smiley faces with your paintball gun to score points.

Play this free game now!!

Don’t let a shop owner pull this on you. Learn your gun. If there is one off-field skill that you absolutely must learn, it’s how to fix and maintain your gun. It will save you so much grief on the days when your marker decides not to fire.

For entry-level markers, you can learn most things on your own and from the diagrams provided in the models. For slightly more advanced markers try and learn as much as you can on your own, but let more experience players and field owners fix anything that you aren’t sure about. You want to be sure to watch them, but don’t offer any useless commentary, because there isn’t much that can annoy someone working on a gun more than someone trying to ask them questions, or questioning what they are doing.

I’ve heard stories of shop owners just looking at a gun for $10. Don’t let this happen to you. Learn how to fix and clean your gun. Just maintaining it should keep the bad days away.

Everyone knows that prices are incredibly better online than anything you can purchase locally.

However, next time you are bargain hunting, think again. Your local field charges slightly more for everything for a reason. They want to stay in business. They aren’t selling incredible amounts of gear like those sites we all know and love, so they have to sell all their gear for a bit more.

I’m not saying let your local field gouge you for money, but don’t buy cheap paint from Wal-mart, especially if you can afford the extra 5 or 10 dollars it takes to support your local field. You want a place to keep playing, buy local.