GREAT YouTube Cartoon
Monday, June 30, 2008

Mark found this, and showed it to everyone, but I want to save it here for posterity. Now, without further delay, witness the hilarity of Paintballing!

Posted byChris at 11:57 AM 0 comments  

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June 28th Recap
Sunday, June 29, 2008

As stated in the first entry, this was going to be a self-serving blog. In light of my best day woodsballing, I gotta say I had a tremendous amount of fun and learned a lot. With a 12-2 (600%) kill ratio, I could not have asked for more. In general, though, this article will be things of note for each of the core players, and I hope everyone picks up something useful.

  • Kevin is moving and shooting exceptionally well. Not so many weeks ago, there was discussion of having Kev be our primary repressive shooter. It's my opinion that this would be a waste of talent. The guy can bullseye like a motherfucker, and can move adequately when the need arises.
  • Mark's sense of field play improves with each outing. Simply stated: he can envision the angles with one walk through, and this is a HUGE advantage to the team. Plus, with gear permitting, this dude can lay more paint accurately than the entire team combined.
  • Ryan proved to be a solid midman throughout the course of the day. In spite of a serious gun malfunction and some general bad luck, he put caps on more than a few people. I'm really looking forward to playing more with Ryan and learning the nuances of his playstyle.
  • Todd... my wingman all day long. The card draws really played to us every time, with the exception of the miss start, yeah? On the first few times out, Todd was a solo artist, but today, he proved his mettle in group play, doing a phenomenal job of holding TWO flanks while I pressed mid time and time again... and picking up multiple kills along the way.
  • Even though gimped by his Tippman setup, Frank was still a formidable covert presence. On at least two occasions, members of my team (including me) were spared a painful out simply by the fact that Frank's setup wasn't primed until the fifth or sixth shot. Look out, gang - Frank's hitting the next outing with "old green" and will be back to sniping in one or two shots.
What is amazing is that we have only played together a bit over two months. The rate we've managed to "mesh" is - quite frankly - frightening. People are working together in ways unimaginable, especially when considering the lack of vocal communication. Which brings us to the next few points: items which we can improve on:

  • Communication - radios are going to be a must if we intend to play wide field like today. For example, Todd and I played "tethered" for most of the game. I'm also aware that a few setups fell apart due to the lack of an ability to talk. To this end, I'm going to recommend VOX systems standardized. Each person will be responsible for what their setup is (throat mics, earbuds, etc) but we NEED to be there NOW.
  • Clear Statement of Intent - This is a two-fold critical critique. First, and foremost - before play begins we need to ensure all teams understanding the objective of the impending game. Secondly is "in team" planning - I was lucky this time through, but I know that on the opposite side there was more than a few times the objective of the team's plan wasn't fully understood. Let's start taking some time and BRIEF all units, then our respective teams, on what is expected.
  • Solid Woodsplay - We all need to work on this, and the list of things is quite extensive and needs to be talked out at length. The short list, though, can come from my perspective:
  1. Keep a small profile.
  2. Don't suppress fire to the extent of pinpointing your position.
  3. Move a lot.
  4. Move a lot... slowly.
  5. Move a lot... slowly... and quietly.
  6. Communicate.
  7. Be flexible - change tactics as the situation dictates.
  8. IF UNDER HEAVY FIRE, FALL BACK QUICKLY AND REGROUP!
For the first time since we started playing, I feel like I had a really great day performing. If it wasn't for all of you - the core members of Mark, Frank, Kevin and Todd - then I would still be a cowering and trigger happy dipshit (much like I was on our first day together). This isn't to say I am "leet", but I'm getting it - finally. Thank you for a wonderful day and let's look forward to growing as a unit together: always improving and always tackling the next obstacle in our path.

Posted byChris at 12:19 AM 0 comments  

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The To-Do List for the July 26 Event
Friday, June 27, 2008

Everyone needs to pitch in for the upcoming event beyond showing up and clearing the paths and junk from the woods. The following list applies to any and all who can contribute. Please check this periodically; I will update this as the list expands.

  • Paper towels
  • Powerbars®
  • Snacks
  • Yellow fabric
  • Blue fabric
  • Orange road cone
  • Bottled water (the more the better)
  • Gatorade®
  • Sunscreen
  • Bug spray
  • Ice (again, the more the better)
  • Hot dogs, hamburger and other grillables
  • Bread and buns
  • Condiments
  • Grills
  • Coolers
  • BEER

Posted byChris at 11:27 PM 0 comments  

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Pre-Game Party Announced

Todd will be hosting a pregame event for MSPF '08 at his house on Friday, July 18, starting at 6:00 PM. We will be watching some Derder paintball DVD's and hooking up the PS2 for some virtual paintball action. Mark will be providing the pizza but it is a BYOB event because (according to Mark) no matter how much beer is in Todd's fridge at the start of the night, he will manage to drink it all by himself.

This pregame will be our final walk through, gear check, and brainstorming session before the event on the 26th. Bring your markers so we can chrono, clean, and tweak them out.

Posted byChris at 11:26 PM 0 comments  

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Woodsball™ Manifesto

I found this on the Spec Ops forums. The original author is a fella named Tyger. Click his name for the link to his personal site. This guy "gets it" and the following text says it so much better than I ever could. Read on...

We are Woodsball™ players. We are the core of paintball. Over 90% of the players play paintball in the woods, and yet 90% of all in-paintball media coverage ignores us. We play not for prizes or money or fame, but for the passion of the game. We play because the challenge is there; every weekend, all around the world. We just need to show up and accept it.

We are not the pretty-boys of speedball. We are the anti-heroes of the mainstream. You won't see us on posters or in videos sliding into bunkers with names like "cans" or "snakes", and that's fine by us. The real game isn't spit shined, groomed and polished or made for TV. It's down and dirty, in the literal trenches. Our fields are not well maintained lawns; it's terrain that both teams overcome. We don't complain about sand or dirt or uneven fields, its part of the world we play in. Scratches and dings in our equipment are displayed with pride, and we can tell you where they happened, and how deep in the crud we were when we got it.

We are the roots of the game that have been abandoned by much of the mainstream industry. We don't throw aside where we've come from to make the game more palatable for an audience. If nobody sees what we do, it does not make the effort or result worth less. We drive through back roads to fields that nobody knows about but ourselves. We know we're there when we lose our favorite radio station and the cell phones won't work anymore. We play under the media radar with no reward other than bragging rights because we want to play. There are no prizes, no million dollar checks, but that makes neither our tenacity to win no less fierce nor our games less meaningful for us.

Our chosen uniform is camouflage, not because we want to be militaristic but because it works. We use our clothing as a part of our game, something that escapes many of the "firefight specialists" that play only arena games. The paintgun is only one tool of a well rounded player, not the only tool. We know this; as we use all the skills and tools we have every weekend.

Based only on our clothing, our gear, and our chosen locations of play, we are looked at as inferior players. We are told we would never stand a chance in a "real game" of paintball. We understand your arena game; yet you refuse to understand our woods game? We are not throwbacks to a long dead game. Yes, we are living history, but we have evolved. We honor our roots, but we do not abandon them to follow the next "promise" in paintball. Long after the "flavor of the month" arena game has worn out, we will be playing in the woods. To know the past is to control our future, and we embrace both.

We are told that we should abandon the woods, for the better good of "the future of the game". Our presence threatens those who never have, and probably never will, understand what the origins of paintball are. They think we will scare away the media by looking like "militia members". Not that fist fights and blatant cheating will attract any better media attention in their games. Not that terms like "Bounce Engineered" or "Ramping Technology" mean anything to the true roots of what paintball started as; what paintball should be. Are the arena players scared of us or ashamed because we remind them what they should be?

We are woodsball™ players. Any given weekend we'll be playing our game with a grasp on the past and an eye on our future. Players that don't understand will come and go, we know this. They can play under the bright lights in front of audiences and pretend to be rock stars all they want. We'll be in the woods years after you retire, playing the game of paintball the way it always had been played; with honor, with integrity, and with friends. All 90% of us.

Posted byChris at 11:22 PM 0 comments  

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Derder Tribute
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

This video kicks some serious ass, from the wicked lead-in speech to the action shots of the pros at work. If you don't get hyped watching this, put your gear on ebay. You don't belong...

Posted byChris at 4:02 PM 0 comments  

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Mid Summer Paintball Fest '08

It's right around the corner, gang, and I'm really excited. Mark's been busting his ass to make sure everything is in order and the blowout is shaping up nicely.


[more later]

Posted byChris at 3:42 PM 0 comments  

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Plans for the Blog
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

This will mostly be a blog of my experiences with my mates playing woodsball, but I'll also be adding features that everyone will find useful such as:

  • Paintball oriented websites (non-gear)
  • Paintball gear sites
  • Social networks
  • Movies and pictures of our adventures
  • Recaps of our latest games

Now, I haven't actually done anything, other than add Brigade links of the three people who signed up, but I will get on it as soon as people start subscribing. If there is anything else anyone would be interested in seeing (tits!) just send me an email.

Posted byC. Carter at 12:42 PM 0 comments  

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