Paintball Strategies




Strategies for Paintball


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FORM A SIMPLE PLAN - Simple because the more complicated a strategy is the more likely it will be to get off-track.
THREE SQUAD STRATEGY

Divide your team into three squads. Assign an area of responsibility to each squad. There are only 3 possible areas of responsibility:
A) the right border tape
B) the left border tape
C) the center
Learn what squad you are in and where you are going.

DISPERSAL

Humans are by nature animals of the pack. We think with "herd" mentality. We do what everyone else around us does. You can see it in the way novices play. One runs to cover behind a rock, next thing you know six more run to cover behind the same rock. Their primitive, subconscious mind is telling them that there is safety in numbers. It's like a clip from a nature documentary. A herd of gazelle stand all clumped together while a hungry lion circles around them looking for a victim to pick off. DON'T THINK WITH "PREY" MENTALITY. THINK WITH PREDATOR MENTALITY! Watch any third-rate war movie and you'll hear the stereo-typical sergeant screaming to his men "SPREAD OUT!" The theory is very simple. If you are all clumped together you present one large target. If you are all spread out you present many small targets.

DEPLOYMENT

The ideal deployment for a team is the skirmish line- just like A scrimmage line in football- an unbroken line stretching from boundary to boundary. In practice this skirmish line will zig and zag across the field as opportunity for cover and advancement present themselves. That's O.K. But... DON'T FORGET TO MAINTAIN A SKIRMISH LINE- even a zig-zag one. As in football, the line will prevent any opposing players from getting past you and shooting you in the back.

FLANKS

It is critical to always have your flanks secure, especially along the border tapes. Experienced players hardly ever participate in a frontal attack. They probe right or left along the border tapes in the attempt to gain an advantageous ANGLE OF FIRE into their opponents positions. For this reason you should pay close attention to your flanks to avoid elimination. This can be done in several ways:
A) Keep a field border to your immediate right or left- at least you'll have one flank totally secured, since your opponents can not attack from out of bounds.
B) Find several team mates you can count on and keep them 30 feet out to your left and right in a skirmish line configuration.
C) Communicate any opponents attempts at flanking maneuvers to your team mates immediately.

ADVANCE
The name of the game is "capture the flag". To do that you have to get across the field within 30 minutes. You can't win if you sit still. YOU HAVE TO ADVANCE. Maintaining a skirmish line, move forward from cover to cover. Advancement doesn't need to take place across the whole field. The right squad can hold in defensive positions creating a "hinge" that the rest of the team swings around on, sweeping inexorably toward the opponent's flag. Or the left can act as the hinge. Sometimes the middle can be the hinge for a double advance along both border tapes.

WITHDRAWAL
But if worst comes to worst and your simple plan begins to disintegrate, your team mates begin to drop like flies, and your opponents begin to flank your position, the best thing to do is PULL BACK IMMEDIATELY to better cover. Let your surviving team mates know you are abandoning your position so that they can pull back also. As you withdraw toward your flag pick up as many surviving team mates as you can and form a defensive perimeter 50 feet out from your flag in the best cover you can find. It's "ALAMO" time. "CUSTER'S LAST STAND." Now you will be playing for time, trying to hold out until the game runs out. You're going for a draw. It's not winning- but it sure as hell beats losing!

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