1000-Word Excerpt

Game 7
Tag
Oh, you forgot about this one? Well, remember that's what paintball is all about. You are playing a high-tech and very adult version of that little kiddy game called tag. So, take a trip into the Waaaaayback Machine and think about how to play tag. One player is "It," and he has to tag someone else. When he does, he's no longer "It," and the person who was tagged is now "It."

Now try it with only one paintgun (i.e.: marker)! Pick someone to be "It," and then send everyone else out on to the field. When a designated period of time has passed, the person who is "It" enters the field and shoots someone with the paintgun. When the other player appropriately yells, "HIT," the player who was "It" puts the paintgun gently on the ground and runs for cover. The player who was tagged has to pickup the paintgun, and now he has to tag someone.

Game 44
Lemonade
I must admit, I think this is my favorite game. It's simple, fast-paced, requires good team and individual skills, and it's so weird that it can't possibly be taken too seriously. Try it out and see what you think!

The objective of this game is to make one gallon of lemonade. Put a box of lemons out on the field, a few gallon jugs of water in another location, and lastly, put a few bags of sugar in another spot in the field. Make sure that everyone on both sides knows where all the ingredients are. When the referee starts the game, both teams have to race to recover their ingredients. Teams should be discouraged from destroying the opposing team's ingredients by pouring them on the ground, etc. Borrowing the ingredients from the opposing team might be allowed depending on the pre-game judgement of all the players who will play the game.

Once your team has secured a bag of sugar, a gallon of water, and a few lemons, you're almost home free. Squeeze a few lemons into the jug of water. Pour some sugar in the jug, cap it very well, and return to your flag station (i.e. game starting location). The referee will confirm that it's lemonade, and you'll win.

Since there are three objectives that need to be grabbed, the possibility of controlling the other team's assets, an operation that needs to be performed, and a race to the finish, the strategy needed to play the game is immense. There's a lot of work just to get that golden beverage to the finish, but-then again- you are just making lemonade!

NOTE:
I'm not sure it'll always be that safe to drink lemonade that was made in a hurry on a paintball field. Aside from the low-quality resulting from little or no measuring of ingredients, there could be all kinds of paintball chips, etc. in that jug of water. Use your judgement as to whether or not it's safe to drink (i.e. drink at your own risk). FYI: We've never tried to drink it!


Game 45
Red-Shirted Ensign Game
There's a certain sci-fi series that's been around since the 1960's. It spawned movies, several television series', books, and even action figures. The funny thing about that series is that whenever there's a dangerous mission, the most important characters always go to personally investigate or deal with a problem. Their only buffer is usually a red-shirted ensign who never makes it through the mission. Bad guys seem to always target the poor sap.

Well, in this paintball game, everyone on a team gets a chance to be a red-shirted ensign. Two relatively even teams will play a regular Elimination game, but with a big twist. One player on each team will wear a bright colored jacket or shirt (preferably an easy to remove red shirt). Only players with who are wearing the red shirts can be tagged. Tagged players who are not wearing a red shirt must return to their flag station or field entry location before they can re-join the game.

Here's the trick. If a red-shirted player is tagged, that player's entire team has to return to their flag station. The player who was wearing the red shirt removes it, give it to another teammate to wear, and then leaves the game. Both teams would have to target the other team's red-shirted players, and both teams need to defend their red-shirted players. The winning team is the first one to systematically tag all of the other teams players, one at a time!

Game 49
Hold That Bridge!
This is a simple and fun way to modify the Elimination game. Use some tape to outline a smaller field boundary in the middle of an existing field-preferably a very open area with little or no visual or physical cover. The new field should be about 20' wide, and at least 30' long. This rectangle represents a bridge. The paintball field that you play at might already have a bridge, but if it doesn't, this will do (+a little imagination). Besides, a taped-off bridge also prevents anyone from accidentally falling off into some stream or gully.

Both teams will start off at the farthest ends of the taped off field/the "bridge." When the referee starts the game, a regular Elimination game begins. The surviving team is the one that controls the Bridge at the end of the game.
50+ Ways To Play With Your Paintballs
by Scott Malensek
05/22/02