Paintball - Catch All

Do any of you other GWJ'ers play and if so what's your current gear setup and best/worst stories?

I'm running an Ion, 50/4500 Ninja tank, Rotor loader, full Valken ACU camo, and Sly Profit Mask

Best story I think I've got is on break my gun jammed up so dropped behind cover and got it working, ran to a bunker late and dove in, had two dudes behind me providing cover fire and i peaked out to the left. Then from the right i hear foot pounding (assumed it was a teammate) and someone grabbed my gun ripped it out of my hands (was to shocked to hang on) pointed it at me said "Surrender Cayne (insert real name here)" and then shot the two dudes that were supposed to be covering me out...

My buddy (on the other team) had run out of paint and air stole my gun and got three people out before anyone knew what was going on and shot him out... best roflol moment for me ever. (No i haven't lived down that moment)

All that said when it cools down again anyone in Cali or visiting Cali want to play some paintball (no experience required) I play at SC Village and Warped Sportz PM me and I'll be there all I need is an excuse. Or better yet if we can get twenty+ GWJ peeps in town for something (say comic-con, yes i know it just past) then we can do a private GWJ only game and if we can convince the founders to come on out even better!

Last time I did this I got shot in the face. I had a mask on obviously, but still it hit me right on the breathing grill and 90% of the paintball ended up on my face. I spent the rest of the day wiping my face and missing a spot.

Was playing woods ball in late October after the first chill had set in. I was breaking in a new coverall and had not noticed that there was a breast pocket on it at first. But fast forward to the end of a long match and I'm hunkered down in a small pallet bunker, almost out of paint. I'm taking single shots to keep them honest and stop them from just rushing up on me, but eventually that dreaded sound of a dry fire pops out. I move slightly to get ready to haul ass out of the bunker and back to the flag when a ball sneaks through the slats and I get hit on the chest. Knowing that balls aren't breaking well I peek down to check and not a sign of splatter is on me. I fish around and find that ball in my breast pocket, pop it into my hopper, shake and feed it. Then just as I realized they had stopped firing, one of their flankers jumps over the front of the bunker and I shoot him with his own paint. He was very confused since they all heard me dry firing. The second flanker ended my 5 seconds of glory though =)

There is this strip of storefronts on my town's main drag, where several businesses rotated thru a handful of properties over the last couple of years. Apparently, it's been hard for them to stay on and do well in this economy. About a year ago, however, a paintball store moved in place where a trucking communication equipment outfit used to be. There is always a lot of foot traffic in the store, there are always new shipments waiting to be accepted out back on the outside, and by all indications, the store is doing great. Paintball would be the last thing I'd imagine people to spend money on in this economic climate, but here you go, nevertheless.

When I was in college we took a school trip to some paintball fields in Vacaville, CA. One guy on the trip was talking himself up the whole ride to the fields-- saying he usually refs, has won tournaments, and most of all, had never been shot in the head for the few years he had been playing "almost professionally". So the first thing that happened when our match started? Our teams came running from opposite sides of the field and I saw the sh*t-talker trying to give commands from the back of their group. I saw him pointing and shouting through his mask, so I lobbed one shot and hit him square in the goggles. He stopped talking the rest of the day.

koshnika wrote:

awesome lack-of-paint story

I have a similar story-- My friends and I were playing out in the desert (used to live in Lancaster, CA). My team took out 3 of the 5 people on the opposite team, and I found I only had two rounds left in my hopper. Their last two guys were trying to lob paint at my one remaining teammate from a giant bush, but they didn't see me flanking them. I ran up and unloaded my last 2 rounds on the first guy and surprised the hell out of him, but was out of paint at that point. Luckily, the second guy didn't see that exchange, so when I came up on him from behind yelling "CALL IT! CALL IT!", he screamed, spun around, and fell on his ass with his hands up. I helped him up and thanked him for surrendering since I was already out of paint.

I miss paintballing, but it was a pretty expensive venture for me overall. I used to have a first generation Spyder Xtra, but after college, I didn't have the time or money to keep buying paint and maintain my marker so I cleaned and boxed it, and eventually sold it and my Dye Invision mask.

I used to be big into paintball. Hence my forum name (I was told in a tornament I made the paint happen). Best my team ever did was come in one step below the semi finals (we missed out by 10 points I think). Oddly we were the only team to beat the team who came in first place in the finals. They were perfect except for one round. We played several tournaments and if we hadn't all become broke we were getting better and better and might have made it to the finals. Paintball just because too expensive and we stopped played regularly.

Worst story... Shot to the nuts... from 2 feet away. Lets say "Ouch!" and leave it at that.

My favorite way to play has always been on hopper one vs one though. You'd get some really long matches as you have to concerve paint. I always wanted to get two of those 10 round paint markers. The small handheld ones. That would have made for some great one on one matches!

My best story: I was playing a game with only friends and relatives. Hit my brother-in-law in the goggles when popped his head up from behind a wrecked car, I hustled around their right flank, shot my sister high on her side, and then aimed a little too high and hit my other sister's friend in the neck. Ouch! It left a pretty nasty welt.

Last time I played, I landed wrong on my left knee and it's been wonky ever since.

Mixed woods/speedball course, my wife gets a ball break, hides behind a small barrier. I duck behind cover, toss her my squeegee and then get a ball break in my gun. Cheap paint. She clears her gun and tosses the squeegee back...

And it lands halfway between us, in the open, no cover for a good fifteen feet in any direction.

***

Different game, heavily wooded field with some odd trenches. Fierce firefight in the center of the field, guy comes rushing across, dives in the trench. Says to the two guys in the trench 'I'm okay! I made it! I'm okay!' One of the guys says 'no you aren't' and shoots him. Yep, he forgot to check armbands before assuming they were on his team.

***

I walk off the field, followed by the two guys on the other team that I shot. Get to the waiting area off the field, and start counting heads. Not good. Other than my two tags, there are no other enemy, just 6 guys from my team, I'm the 7th man out... out of 8 total. My stepson, 12 at the time, was out there for his first day playing, now he's alone against 6 men.

Not really sure what he was doing, he wanders towards the enemy base with the flag I had sent him to grab after the flag carrier was shot (the flag started out hung in the center of the field, if you got shot carrying it, you took it back to the center). Referee told me that he watched him wander into the enemy base, while the enemy team captain popped up behind him... only to get shot in the back by his own team. Then another guy gets shot in the back while running up to shoot the kid. And then he finally figures out what to do and hangs the flag, wins the game. Biggest smile on his face, telling me about it.

***

Most of my team has run on ahead to clear a path up the hill to the enemy flag station. I'm walking point, leading the flag carrier and his buddy, trying to cover them long enough to hang the flag. I see someone in cover firing more or less across our path, so I tag him. That's when I saw he was on my team. Pivot, I'm staring at the guy he was shooting at. Weirdest moment, I could see his eyes, and knew he was staring right into mine. He dives for cover, I snap off one shot and just keep walking up the hill. I didn't have to look. I knew exactly where he was, mid-dive, I knew exactly where the paintball round was, and I knew it was a perfect shot. Didn't watch it, didn't have to, just heard him curse as the ball broke perfectly. Zen perfection.

***

My first gun was a PGP 68 (great gun, short ranged, heavy, deadly accurate). My last gun was an Apex Elite (wonderful piece of gear, really, just a bit finicky about the quality of the paint.) I stopped playing back when semi-autos became standard issue, just too much spray and pray going on. Took all the skill out of the game, and all the fun for me. Pity, had some great times.

I volunteer for a local community Theatre group, and for a while, they went paintballing after a show run finished. Only one or two guys actually knew what they were doing, and the rest of us were complete newcomers to the idea.
The guns were pump action - pump to load, then pull the trigger to fire. The safety instructions were, after you were killed, shoot your last loaded shot in the ground (don't go back to the 'dead zone' with a loaded gun). First game, I'm sneaking through trees, and Bam! A shot to my shoulder. O.K., so I'm dead now. Point the gun down and shoot to empty it. You guessed it...OW! MY FOOT!
Second game. I'm sticking to the people who know what they are doing in an attempt to not get clobbered. We are stalking through the wilderness, and can hear the opponents. The leader points to me and says, "Check up the hill a little and see if you can spot them. Don't worry, they are too far away to get a clear shot". Fine, I take a few steps out of cover and at least TEN members of the opposition open up. And not just a shot each, but a whole broadside. I just stand there twitching for a few seconds as the paintballs plaster me a bright neon pink, and look back at the leader. He shrugs "Well, now we know where they are".
My only revenge on the opponent team was once when I was separated from my team. I wasn't really sure where I was or anyone else was, but figured I should go hide and not stand out in the open. I dive under an evergreen tree. Wait a minute, there's someone already here! I freeze. Should I shoot them? It's too dark to see their colour band - I can't make out who it is, either. He spots me and asks "Red"? I respond "no, Blue" and blast him. At least I got ONE guy.

I remember one time I was playing with a few friends out in the desert, in a ravine on the side of a hill made from a rain storm a couple years prior. It was 3 on two, and of course I was on the disadvantaged team. The other three guys were at the top of the ridge, lying prone and shooting down at the two of us, pinned down behind a pile of dirt-- it could barely be called a mound-- but they were far away enough that their range was crap, and the wind didn't help either. We fired a couple rounds at them and I noticed my paint veering off to their right. So I aimed a bit further to my right and fired off another round-- I swear it was like slow motion-- I watched the little ball fly off a good 7 feet to the left of the opposing teams' position, then it curved around and clocked one of them in the throat. Right in the side of his Adam's Apple. The ball didn't even break, but it left a golf ball-sized welt on his neck the rest of the night. It hurt him enough that he gave up and walked out of the playing area. My two-man team still lost, but that was the best hit of the day.

Maybe it's different down in sunny California, but up here in the Pacific Northwest it seems that no matter what I try my goggles always fog up once I start running. I would probably play a lot more once someone figures out how to make goggles that don't fog.

Ion are for newbs...get a 'cocker

IMAGE(http://pol.chum.net/electric.jpg)
DP Pro Cut
IMAGE(http://pol.chum.net/mech.jpg)
Orracle

They are mah babies.

I've only played casually (rent a gun at the place sort of thing). Some friends and I once played in Central Virginia. We all showed up in jeans and jackets and rented guns. The opposition showed up in camouflage and had their own, sick-looking guns and ammo belts. I wanted to crawl in a hole. BUT we did well against them and we ended up winning half the games. The course ref said we were the most aggressive bunch of newbies she had ever seen. The worst shot I took that day was on my head. The ball sneaked above my mask but below my hat and shattered all over my scalp.

They made newbies/renters play against regulars/guys with their own guns? Wow, that's awful. It's like going on Stan's and stacking the teams pubbies vs Goodjers.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

They made newbies/renters play against regulars/guys with their own guns? Wow, that's awful. It's like going on Stan's and stacking the teams pubbies vs Goodjers.

No kidding. They paired two of the regulars with us noobs. One was real chill about it and give us some great advice. The other hated it and defected to the other team (and the other team looked like Army Rangers...he was certain he was going to join in the slaughter). pol posted pics of the type of gun the defector owned.

And we still took wins from them!

pol wrote:

Ion are for newbs...get a 'cocker

Pish posh! Cockers have too many things too them, get yourself an Automag! (Nice marker you have there though)

I rock an Automag and an Old school Tippmann Prolite.

My best story is: Was playing with a bunch of walk on-weekend warriors. One of my teammates (I played on a recreational team) was also on the opposing force. We had a strict no surrender rule amongst our team; so I don't know what came over me when I came across my teammate and asked for his surrender. Before I could react he charged down the hill and tackled me then proceeded to slap my shoulder. He had taken a handful of paintballs and broke them on me. Now I know your saying but that would mean he is out too; to this I can not answer I was struck dumb with laughter as he sprinted down the hill to try and pull the stunt again.

My saddest moment was when I realized, I had played every weekend for 1 year straight and spent at least $7000 dollars at just one field. Not sure how much I spent in total, the 7k was just at my local field, I used to travel all over the state to play. My motto has always been and will always be "Accuracy by volume!" I'm the guy who carries 700+ rounds out with me per round and comes back with very little.

Haven't been paintballing in a long time. Still have a Tippman 98 custom, from back when they were the new hot sh*t. Later I got into airsoft and paintball was never as much fun.
I was playing one time and myself and two guys were manning a sentry tower taking fire from one side. Then we started taking fire from the other side and I ran over to return and al of a sudden the floor went past and then I was looking up through the hole in the floor I had just fallen through.The same one I had climbed up to get in. Felt kinda stupid after that.
Another time we were playing on a field that had a huge ravine in the middle. I was crossing the steepest part figuring that no one would cross there and if they did I'd get clear shot. Well someone on the other team had he same idea and we were playing some cat and mouse cross the ravine. I finally spotted him and had him dead to rights, raise gun, sight through scope, *pop* he hit me literally between the eyes before I could get a shot off.

pol wrote:

Ion are for newbs...get a 'cocker

Please tell me your not actually being that judgemental against Ion's or other types of guns and merely stating love for ya babies.

For me another fun story was playing a 1v1 against my girlfriend who also plays.

It started out 6v6 speed ball and just happened to end up the two of us. She had center 50' and i was on my 75 in the snake. Popped up shot her bunker dropped and crawled all the way to the other side of the snake to her 75 popped up again and saw that she was looking where i was. Put two into her packs and won that round.

She got me back next round ended up being 2v1 her and a partner vs me. I was running from center midfield to back right corner and she longballed me from the 50' right in the neck!

Minase wrote:

Maybe it's different down in sunny California, but up here in the Pacific Northwest it seems that no matter what I try my goggles always fog up once I start running. I would probably play a lot more once someone figures out how to make goggles that don't fog.

They do I've played not only in So Cal and for me any mask that is "anti fog" lens has kept me fog clear all day. Essentially it's the same construction as a regular lens but on the inside there is a second film that is attached with an adhesive piece of foam on the interior of the lens that creates an air bubble that really does a good job of preventing fog ups. Plus as a secondary there are tons of anti-foggers you can use (i haven't had to use it ever but I've got Sea Gold, for my scuba diving mask and that does a pretty good job to for a $5 tube of goo)

Also making newbs play against rentals!?!?!!!... that just ain't right but congratulations for doing so well, i probably would have defected from their team to yours.

I haven't played much the past few years, but I'm running a Tippman Custom Pro with E-Trigger. I modded my helmet with old laptop fans, and I never fog up.

So much fun!

I ran a tricked out Airgun Designs Mini-Mag that was able to beat out most of the 'cockers of the time. Which you can buy scrubby walmart specials taht out perform it these days.

2 cool moments:

1st The team i was on made it to the the semi finals of the National Indoor Championships and was on ESPN2. I was just an alternate that played in earlier rounds but obviously not that one. We came in 10th over all. I believe we were also the first team to be sponsored by Coke. Our team captain worked for them.

2nd We were in another MSPA indoor tournament down in AL. Played against the top rated team and after they took out the other 4 mates almost instantly i proceeded to take out the other team.

What sucked was the next game after that we were pushing and i took out my mirror and and his wing and went to make a push on the flag and as i reached to grab the flag i went to do a quick pivot and my knee went "pop" and down i went. People thought i was just hunkering down for cover and took them awhile for them to understand i couldnt move.

All of this was like 20 years ago... God how time flies.

I have a 98 Custom with a flatline barrel. I never was huge into it, played woodsball with friends and was on one speedball team back in high school.

I'm playing this weekend with some friends on a private field. Should be fun. I haven't used my gear in years.

I've been taking a break, but I played pretty often the past few years. I ran with my Tippman A-5, which has now been regulated to a test piece for my side business. I'm looking at bumping up to a speedball marker, though I play primarily woodsball, probably an Invert Mini. I'm torn, because I get to see a lot of the spiffy new gear through my business, but I can't afford/won't pay that much for my own gear.

I got invited to play this weekend... Damn this bring broke... I can't afford the field fee much less paint... Oh well maybe next time!

painthappens wrote:

I got invited to play this weekend... Damn this bring broke... I can't afford the field fee much less paint... Oh well maybe next time!

yea it can add up. The few times over the years i've played with friends or company functions i missed paying wholesale prices for paint and not having to pay field fees.

ranalin wrote:
painthappens wrote:

I got invited to play this weekend... Damn this bring broke... I can't afford the field fee much less paint... Oh well maybe next time!

yea it can add up. The few times over the years i've played with friends or company functions i missed paying wholesale prices for paint and not having to pay field fees.

I look back on how much time and money I spent on paintballing, and as much fun as I had, I kind of wish I had spent all that money on the seats, rims, and exhaust system I had always wanted for my VW... But then I would have spent even more trying to autocross at the local raceway, so you could say that paintball saved my life

NECRO!!! because i had a great weekend for paintball last weekend, i'm reviving my own thread, what do you all think the odds are of getting a GWJ group organized anywhere in the lower 48?

Oh also I'm no longer running an Ion as in the OP i'm now using an Empire Axe

I'd be up for playing in the NYC area. I'm still essentially a newbie though.

I played all time time in college. I still go when I can, from time to time. I still run with my Evil Omen II. I live in Denver, but would be up for somewhere around here...(5 hour radius)

Well i'm limited to Southern California (Los Angeles area) but at the least I'd be willing to answer any and all questions people have about the sport/hobby... although i wonder what it would take to get it added to penguincon... that would be kind of awesome!

Hey So-Cal GWJ'ers I am going paintballing next Saturday the 28th at California Paintball Park. If anyone wants to go let me know and i'll get you all the information. I promise you'll be on my team so i can help you shoot the other players rather than getting shot!