I beg to differ.
This precisely matches my experience and observations.
This is very true in my experience. I dress much lighter than most people, because I’ve got a pretty high pain tolerance, and while those balls sting pretty hard, it was never that bad. Yeah, it left a welt, but it fades after a few hours.
Then I went with a guy who’s really into it, has his own guns, and got hit at ~20 yards on the bare skin (wrist between sleeve and glove). That was an entirely different experience.
Having said that, my advice for the OP is that most first time players are pretty inaccurate, and tend to play very conservatively. I’ve managed to pull some coups just by being ballsy – get some covering fire, and then just run and grab the damn flag. Who dares wins. And even if you don’t it’s more fun than spending half an hour hunched behind a stump, shooting at another guy hunched behind a stump.
I played for the first time this Saturday and, to be honest, I’d hesitate to do it again (at least at this location). There was no organization, and because our group of 21 people wasn’t large enough to warrant our “own” games (minimum was 35) they set us against another group of about 25 people to play, us vs them. Thing is, we were all total noobies, and they were all experienced people with their own equipment. At first it wasn’t so bad, but after 2-3 games of them killing us all rather quickly, they started to become impatient and downright mean.
One of my teammates was out, she had her cork in the gun, hands up, called out “touché!” (“hit!”), was walking off the site, and an asshole sniped her under the chin from below - and yes, his position was such that he could tell she was already out of the game. From about 15 feet away, onto her unprotected neck. The same asshole - or one with the same hat at least - shot one other guy three times in the back of the head from close range, again, once the guy was already out and as he was trying to climb down a ladder in order to leave the site. The guy basically fell the last 2-3 rungs of the ladder. Another took the time to shoot a 14-year old girl repeatedly in the ribs from close range, as she tried to put the stopper into her gun and leave, in tears (and yes, you could tell this was a child, not an adult by her size). I paired up with her for our last game, and we did alright for a while, but again, once we were out, they kept shooting at us… had I not been out of paintballs at that point, I was tempted to march right up to the asshole and shoot him pointblank. I know I hit him at least once, and he never stopped - they all kept playing even once “killed”. Appeals to the refs did nothing - they were a bunch of teenagers working a summer job and had no authority. It turned what could have been a pleasant day into a miserable experience. We asked to be split from that group, and they wouldn’t do it. They should have mixed both groups together to balance out skill and experience levels, but the other group wouldn’t hear of it. Just awful.
I also apparently leave my left side vulnerable - every hit I had was on that side (I’m a righty…I assume this is a common phenomenon?) I bruise at nothing; my shoulder is black, and I basically have a bruise from my left hip to my knee from all the hits I took in the leg! One in the kidney, and one in the left hand. That really didn’t bother me, though; it’s not so painful that I wouldn’t play again because of that, though I like to wear short sleeves and dresses in the summer and I’d be too embarrassed to always be so bruised if I played regularly!
Basically, I’d only do it again if I knew it was only amongst friends, skill levels were mixed, and some sense of organization was instilled.
Though I’ll give the site credit - it was beautiful, with lots of cool “scenarios” and structures to play on. I just hate playing against loser asshole 35 year old army-wannabe men who feel the need to beat up on 14 year old girls to prove their manliness! :rolleyes:
Sorry but that is wrong. Rifling makes 0 difference in paintball guns. I believe that we are not able to link to other forums, but here is a quote from Tom Kaye creator of the Automag.
I saw a marked improvement with my own eyes.
Gun w/original barrel = shorter range, less accurate
Gun with after market barrel = longer range, more accurate.
Accuracy with a paintball gun is a relative term, but there was a significant difference in performance between “tricked out” guns and stock or rental guns. Maybe things have changed since the late 90s. I dunno. But I do know what I saw and experienced.
I agree that if no one knows what they are doing, then it’s chaos, but I think the OP may take advantage of his training to good effect. Me and a group of newbie girls got teamed up with three serving RAF men for one game and they had us drilled in 5 minutes. We totally overwhelmed the other team with coordinated tactics/covering each other as we stormed the encampment etc, it was FAB!
What did they show you how to do?
I was thinking of training others in leap frogging (A stops and keeps a lookout while B advances then B stops and keeps a lookout while A advances), fix & flank (A shoots to keep the foe pinned while B flanks the foe) and the Autralian peelback (A and B shoot at the enemy to keep their heads down while C pulls back some distance away, then A and C shoot while B pulls back, then B and C shoot while A pulls back).
Eyeglasses will probably fog. It’s a real bitch to deal with. Spit is an acceptable way to deal with it, but it’s temporary. Some masks will have anti-fog coatings that kind of work; your rental mask almost certainly will not, or will not anymore. You can’t remove your mask during a game to deal with it, but it can help to pull it a fraction of an inch away from your face, let the hot, humid air vent, and let it return. The exact legality of this will depend on your field, but it is pretty safe if you’ve already taken cover.
Take a couple test shots before you play the game. It’ll get you a sense of how the gun works, how to aim, what kind of range you have, and so on.
Yeah. I originally started playing paintball because I thought there would be fewer assholes there than in airsoft because of the actual markings. Damn, but there are some jerkoffs in these games. I rarely had fun on commercial fields but I enjoyed playing little two-on-two and three-on-three games in the woods.
If you get the chance, play with actual military guys. They may whip you pretty well, but in my experience they’re pretty friendly about telling you what you did wrong and certainly will not pepper you after you’re already hit.
I’ve heard people talk about catapults to represent “paint artillery” and water-balloon like paintball “hand-grenades,” although I’ve never personally seen any such devices.
My fantasy, which I have sadly never actually put into practice, is to duct-tape a standard 2-inch paintbrush to my gun barrel, dip it into paint just before we start, and thus wield a paintball bayonet.
I’ve seen paint grenades used. They weren’t particularly useful, and were pretty expensive. Seems like there were two types…one with a bladder that would bounce and, in theory, spread paint around an area, and another that would sorta explode. I was too cheap to buy any for myself. Think they were going about $4 each.
Also saw a few guys using smoke. This was useful to a certain extent, but again, was expensive…
This certainly could be true but it’s not due to any rifling.
16 years playing around 40 games, 2 years reffing hundreds.
-Don’t drink the night before, or during the game.
-Jeans are ok, but cargo pants are better.
-Camo is unnecessary, but black sucks…it gets hot out there.
-Bunkers are death traps if you’re outnumbered and they can flank you at will.
-If you’re allowed to bring your own paint, do so, you can get it at Fleet Farm or even WalMart. A case of 1000 should be enough for the day if you love to shoot…and you probably will.
-Don’t worry about the pain of getting shot, it feels like getting snapped with a rubber band, the chances are good if you have injuries they’ll come from jacking your knee on stumps or tripping.
MOST IMPORTANT
-When you’re out there don’t be afraid to yell for help or coordinate attacks. Flanking is key and the chances are good they already know were you are so you won’t be giving away your position. The dead can’t talk but you can, let everyone know who died so your teammates can patch up weak spots in your line. In short, communicate.
Rookies never do this and it’s by far the fastest way to become more successful.
Utter waste of money.
In my experience those will all be very useful.
In general I’ve found that the concept of covering fire works very well.
Leap frogging is always good for advancing or retreating (esp when the non-movers are laying down covering fire).
Open and loud communication is key to all of those. It’s hard to see hand signals (mask) and hard to hear (mask) so just belt it out. Yes, the other team will hear. They’re still unlikely to pop their heads up when paintballs are flying near them.
Oh, and something I forgot earlier, moving perpendicular to the attackers is usually good too. Paintballs move fast but they aren’t bullets. (I’ve seen paintballs dodged at long ranges. Close up.. not so much.) Most people don’t lead their shots that well and you can often stay in front of the usually “spray and pray” stream. Running right at an attacker is bound to get you shot.
I wear glasses. On both the occasions i’ve tried paintballing my glasses have fogged up almost immediately. This is despite putting the antifogging agent on them.
The last occasion was for a stag do (bachelor party). After having had to be led of the field by a marshal for the second time that day (as i was effectively blind) i said “To hell with this” and sat out the rest of the action.
I hope you have better luck