Haven't played at other fields in the PA are at the time of this writing.
Review:
Skirmish USA has it's goods and it's bads. I went to Skirmish for the scenario event, Invasion of Normandy 2011. I myself am a scenario junkie with sniper tactics and speedballer gusto when required and have been playing scenario style games for over 10 years.
I will start with the field's pros. The shear size of the venue is outstanding. At 700 acres of property, Skirmish USA has enough variable terrain and bunker composure to satisfy even the hungriest of woodsball appetites. At the I.O.N. event we played the lower 345 acres. It was a grand piece of land to play on! The off field staff was very friendly and helpful. Food, though pricey, was good and well prepared. It wasn't gourmet, but it was prison food either. Drinks were comparable to most other fields in cost, $2 for Gatorade and $1 for a 20oz water.
Now, onto the cons. The on field referees were a mixed bunch of, what seemed to be, experienced players that were engaged and teenaged "whatever's" that didn't seem to care about the game at all. Regardless, the ref staff tried to let players run themselves for the most part. For an event that had 4000+ players, there simply weren't enough refs to make calls on marked players. I saw players wiping hits and otherwise cheating because there weren't enough refs to watch everyone. Additionally, there were a ton of people shooting hot. The refs were chronographing on the spot every time an eliminated player went to get healed by a medic ref. That would have been fine if players were owning up to being eliminated in the firs place. It was to the point that I called myself out and walked into enemy territory to watch what they did. Players that got marked would walk back out of the fray far enough to not be seen and wipe their own hits, then run right back into the battle. Dishonest players were in great supply at this field, but what got me frustrated was the lack of refs to keep them honest! This was a minor issue when looked at in the overall gravity of the event. Almost every shot I had taken was a bounce. The only shots that would break on me were either to the mask or at a range of less than 30ft. The reason for that was the garbage paint that was provided for this event. It was Draxxus paint custom made for the field as it had skirmish.com printed on the ball. At $80 a case, I expect some better quality paint. It was field grade paint in a custom box. Don't get me wrong though, I love Draxxus paint. But to charge $80 for a case of what was essentially field grade paint was a total rip off!!! $60 for Sat. & Sun. play + tax was a bit much in my opinion, especially after charging those prices for paint.
From what I could tell, this event was nothing more than a grand money machine for this field. Basing the idea that wholesale paint goes for $35 a box, if you charge $80 for it you just made $45 per box. Assume that a game this size will have each player buying 2-3 boxes on average. At 3 boxes per player, you just made $553,500 in paint sales alone based on 4100 players! Let's throw in event registration fees. 4100 X $60 = another $246,000. So all together, this field made about $799,500 in paint sales and admin fees. Almost $1,000,000 in profit, and I haven't even talked about the profits from food and other concessions!!! If you ask me, Skirmish USA has so much more to offer it's players in regards to fairness and getting your moneys worth. Now, I can't speak for recreational days of play. Perhaps that is an entirely different story and number crunch. But seeing as how I traveled all the way from VA to go to what was supposed to be the biggest and best paintball game on the east coast, I don't think that I will be wasting my time on the trip to chance getting ripped off again!
AEL, Splat, Paintball Asylum,Linglestown P.B.,Wanna Play P.B.,Paintball Thunder,Point Break,Pro Action,Delaware,Delmarva P.B.Maryland,Lots of Private Fields in Penna.
Directions to the Field:
Off Rt. 903, Get Directions from Fields is Best
Review:
Lots of players, had around 500-600 that day, their was around a foot of snow, had a great time playing, once we got started,Lots of wasted time, got their at 10 A.M. started playing around 11:30 ,Players everywhere standing around.Cold 35 degrees.
Walked around a half a mile to the fields!Once their things went good, played 4 games, then took a long 50 min. lunch break, to long for me! it took around 15-20 min. to find all the players on the 2 teams,then we started playing,Everyone wants to fill their air tanks at the last moment! Again wasted time!Half the players walk slow to the fields.
Refs were OK, they did not move alot ,to check players,mainly because of deep snow,
seen alot better refs, and alot worst refs at other fields, safety was excellent,refs watched for players that tried to remove their masks to soon!Playes and refs were all friendly,Playes from New York, New Jersey and Penna.were their.
Food was good, hamburgers, hot dogs,soda,etc. was for sale, had a nice food set up!
I may go back, not sure, it is too many players for my style of playing, I like to play more games, instead of standing around alot! Most fields have 40-60 players a day, I enjoy that much better.You can play more games and less confusion.
I havent been there in a while been in the navy not alot of time to do anything. But when i went there with my friends team "Dark Reapers" I had a blast im looking to go back there when i go on leave after this deployment show them what i have learned over the years. Anyway Tippman Castle i liked alot i am looking forward to bringin that bad boy down again
I was invited by a good friend and his team Silent Nightmare, as we got everything set up tents and such I took a good walk around and it felt like I was a fat kid in a candy store lol I am fat but I was in aw of everything. Now this was my first time there I had talked to people who play this event every year and was amazed by what they had to say. So Sat came and got everything ready now I havnt had an adrenalin rush since the first time I played paintball back in 04 and I have to say I had a blast at Skirmish and want to go back again.
I had a great time at D-Day this weekend, however one incident really bothered me. My boyfriend and I purchased a case of paint on Saturday night in the anticipation of needing more in the last three hours of the night game. It turned out we didn't need the paint and never opened the case and on Sunday decided we wouldn't participate in the morning game. We didn't need the NEW/ UNOPENED case and went to return it.
My boyfriend went up to the counter with the paint and was told he couldn't return it. He then asked for a manager or supervisor and the man at the Skirmish booth claimed he was the owner, wouldn't identify himself (give his name), and again stated it couldn't be returned. My boyfriend, being a consumer advocate, then cited the PA consumer laws on the 3 day right to recision and our right to a full refund. At this point the "Owner" told my boyfriend that he could to take him to court.
I thought it was weird how this guy obviously has no idea about how business law operates in his home state. Not only was it just poor "will" on this guy's part. I mean he obviously made a killing on this event. But, now he will have to give us a FULL refund and pay a maximum of a $ 3,500 fine for violating PA consumer law and it's not us taking him to court! The Attorney General of PA is. Why? I can only assume it was because he thought he could "bully" us into giving up our rights as consumers.
Guys and Gals, remember your rights! If owners think they can violate their state laws, bring a copy of the states rights to recision laws from the field's state. They are available on the internet and every state allows for at least a three day "Cooling off period" after making a purchase.
Think about it, if you can take a bite out of a hamburger and then bring it up to McDonald's front counter and request an exchange or full refund and get it. Why can't you do it with un-used paint?
Safety- great, refs really made sure everyone was safe, and had a good time.
Fields- tons of them all were fantastic and like paintball heaven, greatest fields ever
Hours- 10am to 5:30pm
Prices-109 for one case of paint but had specials for groups and large quantities of paint.
Rules- same as most places not over shooting, mask on no shooting wildlife etc...
Services- great anything went wrong with your gun they'd fix it for you, even the refs had tools to do right in the dead zone.
Pro-shop- excellent had everything needed, and very cheap, great service the guy knows what he's talking about and helped my friend pick his new loved barrel
Refs- very nice, safe, and funny too, one guy Jamie Casey, was very funny, and also really made paintball a fun game, he really makes sure though that safety is a top priority, he even helped me and my friend make an assault on a base.
Food- tons of places to eat, and great taste too.
Review- Skirmish Paintball is by far the best paintball experience I have ever had. It was one of the most fun days ever, the fields are AMAZING, actually everything there is amazing, This is one place you HAVE to go to if you enjoy paintball, if you dont enjoy paintball, you will once you play here. If your ever in the area stop on by at Skirmish USA.
MAKE SURE TO MAKE RESERVATIONS before you go.
Overall- 9/10 because nothing is perfect but this is as close as it gets to perfect.
Last edited on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 4:44 pm PST
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Field Use:
Just once
Date There:
May 29th, 2010
Paintball Experience:
More than 5 years
Other Fields in the Area:
No other fields in Pa but have played fields in VA and NC. As far as actual playing fields, Skirmish was the best but lacked in everything elde.
Review:
I have wanted to play at Skirmish for several years now. I finally got to play this past Saturday. The first thing that I can say is that the prices of paint is ridiculous. One case is $100. The paint that they are using is Diablo Formula 13, which sells for about $50 a case. When I got my case, it was full of golf balls and Easter eggs. When I went to exchange it, the lady at the counter gave me an attitude about it and didn’t want to swap it for some good paint at first. Evidently this is some really thick-shelled paint because it was hardly breaking for anyone and no one I spoke with liked it. Throughout the day, even the refs were saying that it was crappy paint. When I went to chrono my marker was shooting at 240. The guy looked at me and said ok that’s good. When I asked him if that was as high as I could go he said “Oh you wanna go higher? Well 280 is the limit.” Now I’m not trying to hurt anyone by shooting hot because safety is a huge thing for me, and 280 is fine but if your shooting 240ish the paint wont break or go as far. The refs just were not on top of things either. While a game was going on the two of them would stand beside each other and talk instead of taking opposite ends of the field and were not paying attention to what was going on. When we played the Tippmann Castle I was a defender that got shot out so they told me to come back in as an attacker. I worked myself into the castle and as I was moving around the refs were huddled in a circle talking to each other. One of them turned and asked if I was an attacker now. When I nodded he said, “Shows how much we pay attention” and went back to talking. There was another team there that apparently plays there a lot. However, they would not play fair and would wipe. We would have to yell and scream for paintchecks before the refs would check them or either we would just go check them ourselves. We brought this to the attention of the refs but they did nothing about it. At the end of the day while we were packing up, all the refs were in the parking lot getting drunk and cussing every other word (which happened all day by the way). One of them even asked me if I wanted anything stronger than a drink. I’ll leave that to the imagination as to what she was talking about. Skirmish does have a little scam going. When you check and get your paint they tell you that you go out and play a few games then come back in. What they don’t tell you is that you don’t come back to where you check-in. After you check-in they take you to a staging area about a half-mile away from the parking lot. They don’t tell you to bring your coolers and such. When you get out there they have concession stands set up. It’s like a paintball theme park with the prices to match. They do however offer shuttle rides on a golf cart…for $2 a ride.
On the other hand the actual fields were great. Especially the Tippmann Castle. Also, my father hurt his back and had to layout the rest of the day. They did keep a check on him and even gave him a free ride back to the car.
Overall, Skirmish was a big disappointment. It is the one field I have always wanted to play at and I drove 8 hours to get there. The only reason I would ever go back is if my father wanted to go because he missed out on playing the Tippmann Castle. Other than that I would not waste my time or money.
Im giving it a 5 because the actual playing fields were really good and thats what carried the rating.
Skirmish is THE BEST PLACE EVER!!! When u want to change it up on ur second time there there is no need to worry about that with over 20 feilds going there 4 times isnt enough to visit all of the feilds. When u are getting ready to head in for lch dont worry. With the best cheese burgers ever made by an outside grill u can be assured to love the meal. When u are done with the meal and u want to look at upgrades to get for ur gun u can just go into their pro shop and get pretty much anything. The only thing I would really like they get is a tram or something to clear the distances that you can easily clear in a day. The only thing pple really complain about is the paint but when they give %50 discounts on certain days who can complain??
Ok i have read some of the thing people have wrote about the fields here i most say they are the best fields i have ever played on the price of paint is a lot at $105 but at the same time the fields make up for it its a treat to go play there as for the refs i have to say there are bad ones at any field but there are a lot of good ones to I will go back prob play there 3 to 5 times a year plus events
Ok now you cant call yourself a paintball player till you play ION I just played that two day of paintball best ever will be there every year from now on with A Troop thats right if you have played at ION you know who A Troop is if you dont we are the craziest guys there thats all i have to say
-I don't usually head out to PA to play paintball, I'm located in the NYC/Long Island/North NJ area.
-Closest is EMR, which is an excellent field.
Directions to the Field:
Get a GPS, it's in the middle of nowhere. It is suppose to be a fun day after all. If not, it's a little confusing to find.
Review:
I haven't written any reviews in a while so I'm going to write for a few fields. The reason I went to this field was for the recent Intercollegiate paintball game held by extremegoers.org. It was set up big game style with no tanks, just red and blue with a few objectives at different times of the day to score points.
I went there with my own equipment, and this field by far is the worst when it comes down to having personal gear. With rental gear, this place is perfect, they take care of you 100%.
Parking - Parking was simple enough, to make ample space, they flag you to a spot when you enter. 10/10 for doing their job
Registration/Waiver Process - Also simple enough. Go to register, pay money. Friendly Staff. 10/10
Rental equipment: They have a giant fleet of 98s for rentals, 98s as everyone knows always work. They have camo jumpsuits and pod packs for rent ($7 for the suit and $2 for the podback). They also have vests available. Rental masks seem average (yes they do vary field to field, I've seen downright terrible to clean as a whistle.) 8/10
Food: They have a stand with food and also some guy with an ATV with a cooler on the back that drives around for those who want something to drink. Priced fairly for a business. 8/10
Proshop: They don't have a real proshop, its just a trailer with some playing essentials like podpacks, gloves, some hats.
Gearing up/Getting paint and air - Pricing is done pretty high unless you get a group, $100 a case. $30 entry. Ouch. I got in for free do to extremegoers.org and $80 a case with my group.
THIS is my biggest dissatisfaction by far. Unlike most fields, where you would expect the chrono and air to be near where you set down your stuff, the air fill and chrono is literally 1/4 of a mile away, if not more.
The registration area where you pay your admission and paint and get your rental camo and pods is completely different from where the air pumps and rental guns are seperate by that 1/4+ mile stretch of road. There are only two air pumps that I'm aware of at Skirmish, the registration area where you pay and the chrono/rental gun pickup/air pump area. Bring a bigger tank if you got one.
Why they would make the chrono station/air fill station that far is beyond me.
If your gun takes a crap, prepare to walk at least 1/2 a mile to get another gun if you have personal equipment. If you only have one gun on you...well you're going to have a bad day. 5/10 if you have your own equipment. 8/10 if you do. I had one gun crap out plus I saw a few others having to take that "hike" back to their cars to get working equipment/tools.
Fields: The fields are vast and huge. Well balanced. Very small amount of areas where it's suicidal to run out. They take care of the fields very well. It rained the night before and there wasn't any signs of the fields being extremely soggy. I didn't play the fields in sections as big game style allows you to walk everywhere. But I was satisfied by the amount of cover there was. It never felt like there was an imbalance of cover unlike some other fields I went to.
Conclusion: If you have never paintballed or only rent, this is a wonderful experience. If you bring your own equipment, make sure and double check everything 100% the night before because if your gun takes a crap, prepare for a long walk.
I'll give this place a 7/10. I'm thinking they make their money mostly from rentals, so they don't worry about non renters, hence the unfriendly setup. If they changed it and moved the chrono station closer like every other field does, it would be perfect.
Last edited on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am PST
