Success
Success in paintball is always exchanging shots with
your opponents in a situation when they are more likely to be shot than you are.
One way to do this is to position yourself so that you can see a larger area of
them than they can see of you. Then just fire away and the laws of probability
will do the rest.
The minimum angle
A good rule is that all the enemy within range should fit
into a 90° arc from your current position. If the angle is greater than this it
is hard to ensure that you have adequate cover to protect you from all
opponents. More importantly it is hard to keep an eye on them all, which could
mean that you are locally outflanked and caught unawares. In general this makes
the middle of the field the most dangerous position and the flanks the safest.
Dead Man's Shoes
If a team mate is shot out, don't promptly move up into
their position. The chances are that they were shot because it is a risky
position, and that you will be too.
Wandering about
When in a safe area of the field you may stroll from tree
to tree, waiting for something to happen or just moving to a new part of the
field. This is an excellent way to get shot. Always stay in cover except when
moving, and do this as fast as possible. Not only might there be someone lying
in ambush, but also stray paintballs can travel a surprisingly long way and
still burst, especially if they hit something hard such as a gun or goggles.
Catching a stray ball is particularly frustrating, so minimise your chances of
being unlucky.
Redeploying
Often as the game develops team deployment will become
unbalanced. In other words there are too many players in one area and not enough
in another. You should keep an eye out for this and be prepared to move a group
to compensate. It is almost always safer to pull back directly away from the
enemy and cross the field near your team's baseline before going forward again
at the chosen point. Crossing the field further up is needlessly dangerous and
will not save you much time.
