Go west on 34 until you see a yellow paintball sign. Turn Right. Figure the rest out yourself. :)
Review:
I played in Smakzone's largest scenario event last weekend. I was very impressed with almost every aspect of this field. The field itself is amazing. The terrain, bunkers, bases, and everything else about it was first class. The services available at the field were great too. They had self filling air, which is a hard thing to get most fields to allow. It made my day way easier. The game was well run, and more importantly, very fun. I would recomend attending any of Smakzone's bigger scenario games to anyone.
Blodgett - MO
Springfield Paintball - MO
T Square - AR
Paintball Ridge - MO
Review:
First let me say that Mark runs the best game in paintball. Much better than Panzer Attack and D-Day. These other guys try hard, but Smakzone caters to the players and their all about fun. See ya all at OES 2006. Glad to hear the Kick'n guys will be back with their awesome air services and store trailer. Oh and their paint has shot good the last times I've shot it there. If you want to play the best Scenario/Big Game in the Midwest you need to play one at Smakzone. Good Job Mark! Keep it going.
Last edited on Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 at 7:05 am PST
PGP, PGP North, The Bunker, Bunker Ridge, Springfield Paintball
Review:
Played there at FFO in 2004. Good field. Only saw the dam but it was all good. Good reffing and prices. There was tons of parking and it was only about 10 minutes from where we were staying. Very convient. Registration was a breeze so was air fills. Only played 2 hours but what I did see was good. Look foward to trying to make it there in Sept. for the Panzer Attack pt.2.
ok, now first of all this is that only actual organized game that i have been to. so, i cannot compare and contrast this feild with others.
Thier are a couple of things you need to know about this feild and it's owner.
1. I have done my research on prices in my local area (st.louis, MO region) for milsim or scenario games. If you can find better prices just let me know cuase i would love to see it. His feild paint is almost the same price as paint from internet stores. He throws a free BBQ friday before you play. Also has a free pancake breakfast sunday mornin before you play. As most feilds that host scenario games he also has free camping.
2. If you and mark can't get along, well then you can't get along with anyone. He is absolutley the nicest, most help, and willing to answer any question that you have.He will listen to you on how you would like to play.
3. The feild is so nice. Thier are a total of five or six bases. Some are nicer than others, but all are really neat. Sat com, which is up ontop of a hill is two stories tall. it has many fox holes that are dug into the ground around it. For the attackers thier are bunkers as you go up the hill. As far as terrian thier is everything that you could possibly imagine. The trails very nice and cut down and wore so that it is easy to stay on them if you get lost and you will find something, either a base, your HQ, or the oposing team. If you go to the smakzone web site they have feild pics that you can look at that are very helpful, but they do no justice to the field.Mark is always upgrading his feild. from the day that i read the forums on his site (4 months before his Operation Eminent Storm IV) Thier was a new base come time to play.
4. the atmoshpere has to the best. If you have ever just went in the woods behind someone's house and played, that is the atmosphere that you will encounter here. The friday before the game i met so many helpful, nice and respectful people that it is crazy. It seems like no matter if you are a seasoned vetern or a brand new player everyone will pitch in to make sure that you have a good time. One thing that I really enjoyed at marks feild is that in the breifing that our general gave us, he told us that if we were run and gun players that enjoyed slinging alot of paint that was fine. That if we were here to run mission that was fine also. He told us that if we just wanted to go into the woods and just shoot poeple that was fine here also. He didn't push us to do anything that we didn't want to. He just said have fun. I have heard from other poeple that have played at many other scenario games that thier generals would make them do some mission. well not here you do what you want as far as the whole style of play.
5. the night game is awesome. Their is a generator located in the playing feild that controls certain lights strung throuhgout the feild which you can control and turn the lights off if your team would like.
thier is one thing that mark doesn't ask, he tells. That is saftey and honesty. If you read his rules on his site it even says in nice big capital letters "if you are prone to cheating or unsafe play of any kind, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME AT THIS FIELD. " I think that, that says it all. His ref in play (RIP) works very nice. If you would like to have fun, meet new people, and enjoy the sport of paintball for the first time thier is no better place in my opinion. If you are a seasoned vetern and want a competitive game then you might want to check out this feild. If we were rating feild this would get a ten.
The Front, a lot smaller, and nowhere near the amount of complexity in the bases.
Review:
This field is just awesome. That is the only word for it. It is a huge feild, but somehow you can always find a good fight, or sneak around one if you want. The bases are multi leveled, some with great trench systems built in. Mark runs a top notch game, and he insists on honest players. My team will be back.
well i just got back for OES IV and i had a pretty good time. mark is a super nice, laid back guy. he tries really hard to run a good, fun, game for his players and deserves a lot of respect for it. the ref in play system seems to work pretty well with the few minor exceptions but that's expected with anything. the game is run a little more like a big game than a true mission based scenario game. this leads to a less structured, more free flowing game. the actual playing field is still a bit rough. from what i'm told mark only runs a few games a year, and you can kinda tell that it's not a full time, professional field. i'm not trying to say that mark isn't a professional guy, it's just that you can tell that the field still needs work. pretty much everything is uphill all the time.(at least it seems) there are well worn trails that lead through to just about everything but no real clearings anywhere except for the main areas. the woods are pretty thick and a little difficult to traverse. i found the reinsertion a little frustrating at times as it's constant and people take advantage of it. the only real problem i saw all weekend was the air station. as much as i hate to say it, it was down right bad. their compressor never filled all the way to 4500 psi and i talked with a kid and his father that had gone to get their HPA tanks filled and they were filled with co2, ruining the tank. that is just really an unacceptable mistake. if they got someone new to do the air fills and some how made their little piece of earth more flat this filed would be really close to being absolutely great. i did have a good time and i will most likely be back at some point in time. if you live in the area, i think you should really support mark and his product.
I also like The Front and Battle Creek, but Smakzone is the best.
Review:
I've had the opportunity to play at several fields, and I like Smakzone the most. There's enough combination of cover and clearings; trenches and bunkers, and well put together towers, bridges and varied terrain that you have good play all over the field.
Mark works very hard to steadily improve his games. He expects his players to be safe and responsible, but also has a high player appreciation - like free BBQs and some excellent give-aways.
The Ref-in-play program means that Refs are more evenly distributed among players, and you never know when you might run into one.
The bigger games offer tanks and medics and lots of missions and props. Just fun.
OES IV will be May 14 & 15.
Last edited on Sunday, March 27th, 2005 at 5:11 pm PST
Fields in: Iowa, Utah, Washington. Recently, Jokers Wild, and fields in Middle eastern Iowa
Review:
I went for the first time for the 2005 Spring fling. I met Mark and lots of the regulars. I have been playing off an don since 1979 and have not been to a field that compares to Mark's as to safety, fairness and downright fun factor! The field itself is well designed and has obstacles, forts, and so forth to please any Scenario player no matter how discerning.
There is are many different types of tarrain, and the camping area is very nice. He even has a nice several acre pond with lots of fish fo the family members that do not play. Mark insists on fairness and safety above all. I will not hesitate to recommend this to any player no matter what age.
This is easily the best field I have ever played on and the prices are the best around. If you love scenario paintball, fairness, safe play, and like the idea of REFS-IN-PLAY this is the field for you.
I can't wait for Operation Eminent Storm, a weekend long game coming up May 14-15th. I will be there along with as many as 500 players (they had 300 in 2004).
I would give this field a 15 out of ten...but that's not possible. Play this field, you won't regret it!
Mark puts on a great game! Best prices I've ever seen for an entire weekend, safety is put first, and he'll go out of his way to make sure you're having a blast! The field is spectacular, with great bases and the only the night game I'll play in. The field attracts a great group of players, I've yet to see a bad apple playing there. He also has awesome giveaways for events of the size he puts on.
I give this field and his events a 10. No doubt it is worth the drive from anywhere within a 300 mile radius.
