Saturday, July 02, 2005

Flying Projectiles of Paint, Oh My!

So, I played paintball this morning. It was quite enjoyable. It reminded me of the first time I played, and the experienced players put all of us newbies on one team, then we played shirts and skins. You've never heard so much whining, or seen so many welts in one place.

But paintball is fun. The strategy I've adopted is the flanking strategy. You can read about why flanking is such a crucial aspect of war, but you won't really appreciate it until you've been there. If you're flanked in paintball, about the only strategy is to run like the dickens. And if you've ever flanked somebody else... Well, it's a beautiful thing.

For me, it's fun to move to an extreme flank, and then press forward. I watch for players on the other team, and then move to a spot where I know I will have a good shot. I wait for a bit, then jump up and POW, it's all over in about two shots. On a good day, I use less than 50 balls, and have as many people surrender to me as I do actually hit. Surrendering is a mercy action. If you are within 10 feet of somebody, the paint can really sting. So you ask if they want to surrender. If they look thoughtful, or move their gun, you open fire.

Anyway, I spent about 3 bucks on paint. 3 bucks on air, and had a wonderful, wonderful time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I got home and took off my shirt, my wife took one look at my collection of purle-red welts and said, "You must have lost...".

Marion Jensen said...

LOL

The highlight of the day was when Al became caught behind a pressing enemy front. He had enemies to the front and right flank. There was nothing to be done.

Well, except to stand up, beat a hasty retreat, all the while, firing madly at everybody.

He had at least three people shooting at him, and not a single shot even came close.

The picture of Al running full tilt while paint balls zinged around his head made the whole day worth it.

:)