Paintball Day
by Nathaniel Bluedorn, Copyright April 24, 2004, all rights reserved. 230 views
9:30 – We arrive at Dewayne Fender’s wooded lot where he has built forts and paths for playing paintball. Before we start he explains the rules of paintball and how to play safe. We have eighteen players and we divide into two groups: the Blue Team and the Red Team.
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| From 2004-04-24 Paintball Day |
Getting ready for the first game.
10:00 – Siege: Our team is set to guard one of the forts. We place players behind the walls and on the tower. The rest of the team hides in ambushes around the fort to guard where we’re vulnerable. We have a timer set for seven minutes. The other team must get everyone out of our fort before the timer goes off. The attacking team has multiple lives, so if they are hit, they can return to their base and re-enter the game.
Right from the start, we have trouble risking ourselves. Nobody wants to get shot. However, though the day we learn to take risks and charge the enemy’s position. After a fierce battle, our team wins the first game.
10:30 – Elimination: Both teams start at opposite ends of the field. Each team tries to eliminate the other team. This is simple, and we finish in less than five minutes. We advance using barricades to cover us as the next guy runs to the next barricade.
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| From 2004-04-24 Paintball Day |
A paintball battle in progress. You can see the players crouched behind the barricades.
12:00 – We break for lunch. Mrs. Fender has made a grand supply of goodies.
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| From 2004-04-24 Paintball Day |
Everyone is hungry for lunch.
1:00 – Capture the Flag: This was the longest game. Each team needs to capture the opposing team’s flag. The flags are at two forts on opposite ends of the field. If you are hit, you can go back to your team’s fort and re-enter the game.
First, we strategize and divide our team into three divisions. One division guards our flag, and two divisions take different routs toward the enemy’s fort. But once the game starts, tactics change. For the first ten minutes, there is confusion as players are hit and run back to their fort to re-enter the game. I am in the division guarding our flag. I shoot from behind a barricade that allows me to keep the enemy off for quite a while. Then my gun jams. At first, nobody notices that I’m not firing, and I try to keep it that way. But then they make a rush. Within five minutes, they take our fort and our flag and run.
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| From 2004-04-24 Paintball Day |
Taking a rest after the game.
2:00 – It begins to rain. We go into Mr. Fender’s garage and tell yarns about our exploits in the field. Novices propound clever strategies for wining, and old-timers keep silent with views of their own. Then someone gets the idea of playing a game in the rain.
4:00 – The day ends as we file back into the garage wet and exhausted. We start cleaning ourselves and our guns. The rain’s washed off most of the paint, but now we have to wash off the mud.
6:00 – We have supper and talk.
9:00 – Everybody goes over to our (the Bluedorn’s) house to spend the night.
Paintball teaches skills that you can’t learn in books. It’s a game of action and quick decisions. You must choose to risk your life, figuratively speaking, and know how to coordinate with your team members. Being an overly strategic person, I’ve learned when less thinking and more quick action is needed. I’ve enjoyed this, and I think it will help me in the future.
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