Team Work
Team co-operation
It is extremely difficult to get a team of amateur
players, comprised of small groups of strangers to play together in any sort of
co-ordinated way. However if you can get some strategic planning, then the
following is a reasonably simple basis for a group effort.
Split into units
At the beginning of the game split the team into groups of three. These groups
should try to work together and support each other. Make sure you know the names
of the rest of your group so that you can attract their attention. Working in
small units allows a much larger range of tactics which are discussed in the
next section.
Attack and Defence
It is a good idea to designate a group of players with the
primary responsibility of getting the enemy flag and another with the primary
responsibility of defending your own. However this should not mean that one
group hides around your base while the other disappears off into the woods. This
splits your forces and could well result in giving the enemy local superiority
of numbers. Instead you should aim to get as many players as possible in
simultaneous contact with the enemy team. This maximises your fire and the
increased number of firing positions and angles will minimise your opponents'
ability to take advantage of cover. The defense group should be small and come
as far forward as possible while still being within site of the flag and the
adjacent boundaries. They are there principally so that stray opponents cannot
sneak round the back and make off with the flag while team attention is
elsewhere. Generally UK paintball fields are small enough that you can form a
continuous line across the field, with each player being in visual contact with
his neighbours on either side. Consequently you can advance as a single skirmish
line with a couple of players hanging back slightly to intercept anyone who
breaks through the line and attempts to rush for your flag base.
Defence is not for inexperienced players
Commonly inexperienced teams will split themselves in
half. One group will attack and the other defend. The defenders are usually made
up of the most timid and inexperienced, (and there's usually a gender divide
too). The only time these defenders are going to be in play is if their team is
losing. At this point they will be surrounded and generally outnumbered by the
most skilled and aggressive players in the opposing team. In the panic they will
probably forget how to fire their guns and get mowed down in a hail of
close-range paint, and this unhappy experience will reinforce their lack of
confidence. If they play further up the field, however, they will get to
exchange a few paintballs on a more level playing field, and if things go wrong
they can fall back/run away rather than be trapped and slaughtered.
