I haven't "played" speedball, but I've played urban. I think urban paintball is very similar. We played urban for five years. We had our own facility. You can see it in the pictures to the right. There were seven of those barns. Five were joined by a central hall. There was also a brick building with about 40 rooms. It had three wings, and a tunnel in the basement. Moving down the halls was tough, so we had men rappeling off the roof. You can see the rappellng rope on the waist of the man in the photo below. It was the barns that motivated me to put zippers on my pockets. I lost tubes after leaning out the second floor doors.
If you are from Pittsburgh, you have probably heard rumors about the barns. We had fun. 1988.1989,1990, 1991,1992, these were the years that we were there.
To live for me is Jesus.
Finally, to simulate real life, we decided we didn't need referees. So, on our fields each player is expected to act as a referee. Furthermore, we expect each player to be honest, honorable, and courteous. There are other benefits that come from creating a positive atmosphere on the field. I tell my guys to be dignified when they win. Obnoxious behavior is never good for the field. People don't want to come out to a field that has annoying players.
We have a simple solution for the cheating problem. If a player cheats, then we ask him to leave. Some people just can't play without cheating. As field operator, I've had people attack me when I told them that they couldn't play.
Moving on, to understand me and my players, there are a few more important things that you should know. First, we don't play paintball the way that you do. In 1987, we decided that we didn't want to play "capture the flag." We had a lot of mature men that thought "flag" was for kids. So, we had no choice, we went in another direction. We decided to do Tac Sims, or tactical simulations. To simulate reality, we used no boundaries. We had a big field, and we wanted to use all 180 acres. Now, we play on an even bigger field. When we go on patrol, it isn't just a two minute walk. The best word to descibe this style of play is "Big field paintball."
Since, in real life, the opposition doesn't tell you where they are going, we don't always tell the enemy where we will be. We also don't know where the enemy will be, or what they will do. This introduces another element into the game. It forces a player to improve his hunting skills. You can probably imagine how hard it is to play on such a field. Some guys will concoct plans for a whole month. It's like real life.
My gun. Actually, I don't have to use it. Many of my players have offered to buy me a better gun. In 1990, a group of people offered to buy me a better gun. In 2003, another group did too. I declined both. Actually, as a field owner, I own better guns, but I prefer this one. If it ever stopped working, I would quit the game. Now, you know that I use an antique slow gun. You also know that whenever I play, I usually have new people to watch over. Nothing gets you killed quicker than a newbie. I love them, but they are trouble. In many instacnes, because I was trying to keep a new guy from getting himself killed, I've been "eliminated." Actually, it is an unbelieveable number.
Incidentally, all the photos on this page are copyrighted. So, please don't use them to attack me.
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Finally,
Well, it's been a few years. I've come to one conclusion. World War two is a hot topic. You can get yourself called some pretty bad names doing a WWII scenario. So, let's what can you do? I suggest Vietnam. It's an awesome scenario for Paintball. Click on the Vietnam button above. Vietnam may be my favorite scenario.
