What would Sun Tzu say?

October 18, 2006 11:43 PM

Help me be the win at paintball.

I have paintball on the weekend. Help me:

a) Not lose horribly
b) Not end up looking like a cast member from the Bravia ads

Please suggest tactics, stratagems, past experiences, advice, &c.

posted by oxford blue to health & fitness (16 comments total)

Run for cover and get low. Don't afraid to dive on the ground. Peek out and try to pick off your buddies. Be ready to move/shoot if someone tries to change their position or flank you. Take the high ground when applicable. And always keep them goggles on.
posted by gnutron at 11:48 PM on October 18, 2006

My first time I just pulled the trigger and fired into the crossfire zone. I wasted a lot of ammo and didn't hit anything. It's pointless to shoot at someone if they're behind solid cover.

Paintballs don't fly straight for more then maybe 30 ft; after that they start hooking away.

The name of the game is outflanking - someone will duck behind cover to shoot at you, but he will be exposed at the sides, so sneak around. Work as a team - have someone else lay down 'suppressing fire' to make him hide and then while he's ducking you go around the side.

Don't give away your position by shooting unnecessarily. Also try to walk quietly. If you're in the woods and you hear a twig snap, hide and don't move and maybe you can ambush someone... or stalk them quietly until you can get close.

If you hear a gun firing nearby, hit the deck. They might be shooting at you, even if you can't see them.

If you are shooting and hitting someone keep peppering them until they put their hands up or you see paint on them. Sometimes the balls will hit but bounce off without breaking; in this case he's still alive.
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:23 AM on October 19, 2006

The biggest mistake beginners make is looking for a hiding spot and staying there. Paintball is not war where your life is at stake. It is a game with objectives (e.g. capture the flag), so you should keep moving and take calculated risks. Players who fancy themselves as "snipers" never win. Paintball is more like a football game, but you paint each other instead of tackle.

Don't "get low". Again, paintball dynamic and your life is not at stake. If you are on your belly or on your butt, you can't get moving when necessary. Stay on your feet -- crouching or kneeling is the lowest you should ever get.

Don't "dive on the ground". It's just a game -- not worth risking the injury. If you sprain your wrist and and can't type on Monday, your boss won't be impressed.

During the game, ALWAYS hold your marker ("gun" is taboo amongst paintballers) rifle style -- i.e. two handed, with the stock firmly against your shoulder. That provides the most stable, accurate shooting platform. Drop the barrel when moving but maintain the hold, so that you can raise the barrel and aim immediately when necessary. And stop to shoot -- you won't hit anything if you shoot on the run.

When navigating around opaque obstacles, don't pop your head out first. Only stupid cops on TV do that. Keep your barrel up and imagine what might be around the corner and aim at that imaginary spot. Then ease around the corner, exposing the barrel of your marker first, your body last.

I assume you are using rental equipment. If you notice the insides of your marker are all gunked up (ball breaks in the barrel), ask for it to be cleaned immediately and thoroughly. It won't shoot straight otherwise. If you keep getting ball breaks, ask them to dial down the CO2 pressure slightly or give you a new batch of paintballs (could be a bad batch).

If you're all newbies, don't bother with complicated tactics. Form two or three man groups, stick together, and just improvise.

Finally, remember that this is just a game. Be careful in paintball not to be unsportsmanlike. Do NOT "keep peppering them until they put their hands up". Paintballs hurt, I wrecked a friendship precisely because I did that once. If you're close enough to touch the person, there usually is a rule that you must just tag them with your hand and call them out. And if tempers flare there is the potential for serious injury.
posted by randomstriker at 12:37 AM on October 19, 2006

True. Common sense and house 'mercy' rules apply.

But I've scored hits at medium distance where the ball bounced off and my target lived on to return fire and kill me! If I'd kept shooting he would have gone down. So I guess what I meant is don't assume your target is dead just because you saw a paintball hit him.
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:48 AM on October 19, 2006

Well, Paul, you have to weigh your desire to mark him out against the potential of really pissing him off. Remember -- he's not actually dead; he can still come over and give you a knuckle sandwich.

I have played paintball a lot, and I have seen a lot of nasty arguments happen because of situations like this. In fact there is a pejorative term ("hosing") in paintball culture for the tactic of "peppering them until they put their hands up". Don't do it.

Over time, I have found the best compromise is to fire two shots, give the other guy a couple of seconds to call himself out, then fire another two shots. Never more than two shots at a time.
posted by randomstriker at 12:58 AM on October 19, 2006

Oh yeah, if you're playing in the woods, wear good, supportive shoes. When the adrenaline is pumping, it is really easy to slip on a root and twist your ankle. Again, your boss will not be sympathetic.
posted by randomstriker at 1:03 AM on October 19, 2006

Some places count head shots, some don't. Find out whether they count before the shooting starts, if they don't count then you can keep an eye on the field without being eliminated.
posted by biffa at 1:28 AM on October 19, 2006

"Get low" doesn't have to mean kneeling or lying prone.

Running in a sort of hunched over position that will give you a smaller profile without slowing you down much. This posture also helps stabilize your shoulders, making it easier to shoot on the run if you have to. There are a million videos of SWAT teams and such on youtube that will give you a basic idea of how this works.

When you move, move fast and have a destination in mind. Most people aren't good enough at moving quietly (especially in the woods) for sneaking around constantly to be very useful. You're better off moving quickly between spots, and sitting and waiting when you have cover or a good angle.

Hosing people is a fucked up thing to do, but if they don't raise their hands, that's on them. No one should ever expect you to stop shooting if they don't declare themselves out (with the exception of short range encounters, when it's obvious to both of you.) Most people who play understand that accidents happen; just don't be so trigger happy you can't stop shooting someone quickly when they're hit.

Paintball is basically a game of positioning. Even at the highest levels (i.e., the matches they show on ESPN2 at four in the morning) the players are basically just spraying while they jockey for the best position.

If you're playing in squarish dimensions, one of the best, easiest strategies is to run for the corners. If you split your team into two groups and move toward two opposing corners, you'll usually wind up surrounding the other team.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 3:23 AM on October 19, 2006

If the hopper is empty, there might still be one in the chamber.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:28 AM on October 19, 2006

Don't depend on 11 year olds you don't know for support. All those little punks had to do was stand up and shoot while I ran to flank the other team.

"On the count of three! 1... 2... 3!" Them: still in the creek bed. Me: Covered in paint and welts.
posted by Science! at 6:31 AM on October 19, 2006

Get an Angel. Sure it costs $1000 but it shoots 18 balls per second.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:11 AM on October 19, 2006

My paintball experience has been that while proper movement techniques help, the real key is to have situational awareness of what is going on and to make a plan.

Most paintball games start with both teams rushing onto the field, firing wildly. If you can, hang back for a minute or two and watch to see what is going on, then decide what you want to do. Most of the time, you can look and see a good position that you can reach to be shooting the other team from the side or back. Once you see that spot, move there. If you see someone else moving to such a spot, move to block them. Stay calm, keep your head up, and make a plan based on what is happening.
posted by procrastination at 7:19 AM on October 19, 2006

If your group isn't a large one the field will probably have other people play with you, so that all customers can play as much as possible.

If you are paired with another group that's all decked out in camo and carry more gear than a real soldier don't sweat it. I've played with tons of people who loved getting all set up in camo and buying tons of expensive gear. Some of them got turned off when they realized my group was just having fun, and they moved to another field. Some of them are great people who don't care how seriously anyone else takes the game, and of course some of them will be dicks who will mock you for not spending hours that morning working up strategies and plans. Just do what makes it fun for you and play, you're a paying customer too.

If you're playing with kids don't be a dick.

The referees are there for a reason. At almost every field I've played on the refs were really nice, great people. They'll probably do everything they can to make sure you and everyone else has fun. However, they're not your best bud. Do what they say, don't ever shoot them, they will never find it funny. In the end the refs are there to make sure the rules get followed. The rules are there to ensure customers enjoy the game, and to make sure the field doesn't get sued. If they say don't do X, don't do X or you're gone. It's a lot cheaper to loose a customer who can't follow safety rules than it is to defend a lawsuit.

Pretty much every field I've been to ruled that if you were close enough to touch someone you had to tag them, no shooting. As mentioned before, if that's the rule follow it. One field would put it up for a vote at the beginning of each round, the vote was usually to allow close range shots, and they hurt a lot, but it rarely ever happened. People just didn't get that close.

Observe the other customers. The field I went to most often catered to a very um... 'hick' crowd. The staff let you bring and drink as much alcohol as you wanted, scream all the profanities you wanted and generally do all you wanted (You wanna swim down that river then crawl up through that mud to circle round tha other team? Sure. What tha hell, I'm not the one's gonna be wet an' stinking.) as long as you followed the rules of the game.
posted by Science! at 7:38 AM on October 19, 2006

Ditto the great advice so far. Except for the Angel recommendation (sorry, PM) They are (in my limited experience) fragile, persnickety guns markers. Besides, even if they can shoot 18 balls/second, can you? A sturdy Spyder or Tippmann is a better buy. And "electronic" is easier on the finger.

My tiny bit of playing advice, though... It's usually a good idea to work in groups of at least two so you can alternately move and cover. And communication is key. Good luck!!
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:57 PM on October 19, 2006

BTW... a quick googling of "paintball strategy" will yield a crapload of info.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 2:00 PM on October 19, 2006

You may feel awkward and uncomfortable at first - like everybody's looking at you.

But they're not. You don't stand out any more than any of the other people in funny masks.

Just be friendly to the other players, don't cheat, don't ever take your mask off on the field, and don't be afraid to talk to your teammates while you're playing.

Actually, just don't be afraid. Period.

Seconding ObscureReferenceMan: Working with a partner is way more fun than going solo. One of you can lay cover fire while the other one runs, etc.
posted by eleyna at 5:55 PM on October 19, 2006