OK, I’m done work and stuck at the office, and I’m excited about playing paintball tomorrow for the first time in a few months.
So hit me (pun intended).
Do you prefer psuedo-Urban settings, or wooded natural ones?
Pseudo-urban is my preference. I’ve played in an indoor field that I really enjoyed until it got too expensive, and I like playing speedball courses.
Sniper, commando, or damn-the-torpedos?
Is paintball where you got your handle?
Marker of choice?
More sniper, but I’ll lay cover fire for a commando if need be. Actually the demo for Soldier of Fortune is where I got my handle.
I use a Tippmann Model 98 Custom with the flatline barrel system. I run a remote hose to a 9oz tank and I use a 4+1.
Explanations for those not having a clue what I’m talking about. The flatline barrel is for that model of paintball gun and its curved shape increases the range that the gun can fire drastically (as in about twice other guns). A remote hose looks like a telephone handset cable that runs from the gun to the CO2 tank that powers the gun. A 4+1 is worn on your back and holds four loaders which hold 100 rounds of spare paintballs each and a place to hold the tank.
So you don’t aim, just spray?
As a friend put it, it’s accuracy by volume.
Ok, here’s a question for you. I have played paintball three teams in my life. Once me and my friends had the shooting area all to ourselves. Twice we played in large groups with people who do it all the time. The time with just my friends was a lot of fun, really suspensful, and back and forth. The other times, well, they sucked.
Why? Because my friends and I don’t own our equipment and don’t play enough to buy, so we have to rent. The only stuff to rent are the little pea shooters. All the hard core players with the semi automatic weapons make our weapons a joke. Any strategy you might come up with is nullified by the sheer mismatch in firepower. Also getting plugged several times because of shot rapidity is a lot of fun. :rolleyes:
So my question is: What would you tell newbies frustrated by the inequality in the sport to keep them interested in playing again?(keep in mind these are people unwilling or unable to invest in all the equipment, they just want to rent)
-Basically, yes.
Keep in mind that a paintball gun fires a not-quite-perfectly-round lightweight sphere out of a short smoothbore barrel, and at pretty low velocities. In other words, not exactly conducive to accuracy.
A standard paintball gun will pitch a ball roughly 160 feet if you really lob it. And you can count on having a target area about the size of a Cadillac at that range. The Flatline, however, induces a “backspin” on the ball, which provides a modicum of lift. That additional lift can add fifty percent more range, but has the drawback of reducing the already-poor accuracy even further.
Also keep in mind that “tournament” players can and do typically go through 600 to 1,000 paintballs in a ten-minute event.
For recreational play, it’s more like anywhere from 50 to 400 balls.
And not to hijack Throatshot’s thread, but to realitytrip- If you intend to play fairly regularly, four or five times or more a summer, you can easily pick up a fair quality semi-automatic of your own for under $200. Toss in your own mask (goggles are required) and maybe some accessories, and you can have your own kit for under $400.
Of course, if money is no object, you can always pick up an electropneumatic marker that has programmable fire modes including full-auto and burst, and an LCD screen that gives mode, timer and battery-condition readouts, add an electronically-controlled regulated air tank, with it’s own LCD pressure readout and “shots remaining” counter, that holds 4,500 psi of compressed air, and top the whole mess off with an “intelligent” motorized loader that plugs into the gun’s CPU. 
And no, I’m not kidding.
It sounds like why Death Match Doom quit being fun when some a__hole used the BFG.
Or Quake being won by the guy who can afford the fsatest connection to the internet.
First, if they gave you pump guns instead of semi-autos, you are going to find it very tough going. Only experienced pump players are going to consistently hold their own against people with semi-autos.
Second, as Doc Nickel said, you can get decent equipment for the cost of around three outings. My gun is $125 and the flatline is another $100 (but it’s optional.) A 9oz tank is around $20. A decent mask is $35. And you can buy cheaper paint than it costs at most fields if you pay the walk-on paint fee that most fields allow. I shoot Marbelizers, but there are cheaper paints out there.
Finally, if you still need or want to rent, the best strategy I can give you is to stick together and work as a team with your friends. Cover for each other, don’t fire until you have a fix on your target, get down in the dirt and stay hidden. A lot of those people with their Angels (this gun starts at $1200), Automags and Autocockers don’t work with each other, and a great gun in the hands of a bad player only makes for a marginal player. A bad gun in the hands of a good player makes a good player.
Angels[sup][/sup] in the hands of A-holes* are why I still have my old SplatMaster. Nothing teaches humility quite like getting wasted by a single-shot plastic gun, when you’re packing $1800 worth of top 'o the line technology.
[sup]*[/sup]The “Angel” is one of the top-of-the-line, megawhammodyne super guns.
My SO likes the idea of me learning to paintball. He has his own kit and I admit laser tag was fun and target range shooting was too much fun, but paintball? How much does it hurt? Will all you guys come running out of the woods to shoot a girl? I don’t want to go out heavily armored but I’d hate myself if it hurt so much I sat down and cried.
Oh, yeah. A girl for bait and the guys with cheap guns hide and blow away the rich kids. Cool. This I could get into.
Cyns SO checks in…
Bait hell, shes SCARY with my Glock 19. She should hold her own.
FTR I just have a stock stingray with a 12 ounce tank. I got LOTS of chuckles from rich kids with scuba tanks and 200 round hoppers. I would go out with a 40 round hopper and maybe 100 rounds extra. I also carry a 5’x5’ piece of camo print mosquito netting. Guys with $1,000 dollar guns just love getting tagged by the invisible guy under $5 worth of fabric
Anyone who might be worried about pain, good comparison would be to have someone throw a quarter at you as hard as they can. Remember that your face is not an issue due to protective gear. Wear heavy clothing and most of the pain is minimal, long sleeve sweatshirts are great for this
If you really are worried motocross protective gear is both cool looking and very durable.
http://www.hrpsports.com/chest.ihtml?step=2&cat_id=1&prod_id=8
http://www.hrpsports.com/slam_shorts.ihtml?step=2&cat_id=16&prod_id=25
A local indoor place issued chest protectors like this to all players (colored appropriately for team play) it makes it more likely that balls will break but takes away that evil sting of multiple hits in point blank firefights.
One of the biggest handicaps I have seen where newbies get slaughterd by high dollar plays IS protective gear. Guys with good pads arent afraid to run and dive or take a little tumble making them play far more confidently. Try hooking up with someone who has played alot who might loan you an old set of pads or encourage the field to rent knee and elbow pads.
Best advice for anyone right there.
Try and hook up with a group that plays together often. Good team players understand interlocking fields of fire, overwatch, etc, pay attention and learn. Also look around for books, sites, etc on infantry combat tactics. It ALL APPLIES TO PAINTBALL. In paintball the bonus is you get to learn from mistakes that would kill a soldier on the battlefield. Don’t get discouraged if you have a hard time at first, the “combat” mindset is not something most people are accustomed to and takes a while to settle in. After a few times you will probably be better trained than the average WWII infantry soldier when he entered combat.
Stop looking at the gun and realize he is still one person. He/she dosen’t have eyes in the back of his head, he can’t see through walls and he is out with one hit just like you. Play dirty, set ambushes, have friends flank them. Many “superequipped” players think that $2,000 worth of gear makes them invincible and will pursue into ambushes where cheap guns are on equal footing. Make them come root you out of good cover. At close range all their high tech toys are of minimal value. Also if you feel like doing a little number crunching look at how much money they spend for each hit. Watching somebody throw $10 worth of balls at a target is kinda entertaining especially if his target kills him. Learn to shoot, speed will come with the confidence gained on multiple sessions. Find a way to set up targets in a side area and do “fire on the move” drills on them. Just learning to control your fire while moving is a big plus. Moving targets are far more difficult to hit so if you get good at tagging slow movers while you run and gun you will kick ass even against megawhammodyne super guns. (thank you tranquilis)
I’ve never been treated like anything other than another player, though I do get more looks because I have my own gear. There were two women this Saturday with the walk-ons (those not with a private group who just showed up to ‘walk on’ to a game.) Me and a coworker’s wife. Other than being “the girl with the Tippmann” (me) or the “girl with the Spider” (her) no one paid much attention to our gender except the younger boys who act like most pubescent boys.
Yes, it hurts…depending on where you’re hit. Sometimes you’ll come home to find a spot you didnt’ even know was there. Other times, a bruise will form before you even leave the place. Overall, the pain isn’t bad at all.
I want to add that unlike people think, getting hit in the breast doesn’t hurt any more than any other spot of your body. I was hit dead center this Saturday (and it didn’t break, either), and while it hurt, the pain was no more than when I was hit on the knuckle or the thigh. Actually, the one on the thigh still hurts while my breast is fine. So don’t worry that you need chest protection for that reason.
But men, you DO need a protective cup. A solid hit there could put you in the hospital. I’m always surprised at the number of adult men who go out there and then comment when the balls start flying that they should consider wearing a cup. My hubby was once hit dead center on his cup and didn’t even feel it. I was assured he would’ve felt it had he not been wearing it.
** On Pain **
Most painful spot to me: stomach. First time I almost threw up from pain, but that’s a rarity. Never wanted to cry from the pain, even when I got tagged eight times in one game. Just yell, “I’m hit” as much and as loud as you can and hold your gun up. It takes a little while for 1) Your brain to register the hit 2) The other player to register that you yelled and stop pulling the trigger 3) The balls to stop flying through the air. All that adds up to getting hit more than once a lot of times. And unless you spend a lot of time squatting or kneeling, you’ll probably have a little muscles soreness the next day.
** On Gear **
Oh, and three things I recommend that you may not think about: 1) A towel to sit on for the ride home so you don’t get paint and dirt on your car seat 2) Gloves (any cheap pair is fine, with or without fingers) 3) Knee pads.
I just use the kind of knee pads you buy at Home Depot for working around the house, but I’m going to buy some shin/knee pads that are sold at paintball stores because those I have start to hurt the backs of my knees after a day of playing. I still wear them though because that hurts less than stone bruises on my knees.
** On Strategy **
Working together is always the best way to play. The best games I’ve ever had involved working with those teammates on my side of the field to advance. Helping one player run a bunker[sup]*[/sup] is rewarding. One of my most memorable games involved covering for a guy who was out of paintballs while he ran and got another guy to surrender. He got two people out that way.
A willingness to get a little dirty also helps. Crawling is surprisingly effective as long as you’re not suddenly surrounded since you’re not as maneuverable. You can sneak quite close to a lot of people this way. I should add that it’s best not to try this on the speedball fields[sup]**[/sup].
*Running a bunker means running at people hiding behind their cover, whether it’s a plywood board or a small fort. When you’re within 20 feet, you’re supposed to yell at them to surrender. Within 10 feet, you’re never supposed to shoot for any reason, but you can order them to surrender and they can either run away (and get shot in the back) or comply.
**Speedball is a game where the field is clear of wooded areas and is set up with manmade cover. This can be cable spools, car hoods, plywood boards, etc. There are also blowup speedball bunkers, but I’ve never actually seen them. The fields are very small and the action is much faster than most wooded games. I like speedball, personally, but most of my friends only think it’s okay.
De nada.