Paintball Scenario Secrets: Effective Radio Net Tactics for Scenario Game Success

The Battleship New Jersey cruised the German lines before the Skirmish USA Invasion of Normandy, using a paintbazooka to soften the resistance. Photos by Skirmish.com Inside the Battleship New Jersey. Mission: Locate Scenario game vendors usually have great specials! Hell Survivors 2006 Trilogy of Paintball! Michigan Monster Game, Tippmann World Challenge, & Global Conquest, presented by Exotic Sportz & sponsored by Procaps, VForce Vision Systems, and DraXxus. HellSurvivors.com, VForcePaintball.com, ProcapsDirect.com. Schedule: Global Conquest June 24-25, 2006. Michigan Monster Game, July 22-23, 2006. Tippmann World Challenge, September 23-24, 2006. The Tippmann Challenge at Hell Survivors, Pinckney, MI, is an annual Big Game.

Your team gets a mission assignment from the general and you coordinate your plan. You, the captain, know your team's strengths and know how to use them to your advantage. You might have 10 or 15 players ready to go at a moment's notice. What if you could get 30 or 40 players? Sounds good, huh?

Any Game, Any Time I started playing in 1987. The first time I played was indoors with an NSG Rapide paintpistol with a 20-round magazine. I still have it...and it works. That was when a guy with a pump, constant air, and a 40-round hopper was "high-tech." I'm 39 years old and still play this great sport. I have acquired quite a few more markers since I started, 13 to be exact, and have even purchased an electro. I play woodsball, scenario, speedball-whatever you want, I'm there. I even got my neighbor, his son, and brother-in-law hooked. We started a team and have a really good time. I love to tag out kids with my old Phantom pump-it's older than they are! -Tom "RedMagik" Swetz, Fierce Allegiance Paintball Team (CO2 Mail)

If your team is like ours, most of your players have radios for communicating with the team-but what about communication with your general, the base, or even the rest of your "army"?

First, split your 15 players into two-to-three-player attack teams. Have one player on each of these on the "team" channel, and a different player on the contact channel with the base or the general. When the mission comes out, take your attack teams and let them pick up three or four other players-you know, ones who might not have a team of their own, new to scenario play, or who just don't have anyone to run with. Very quickly you can double or triple the size of your mission team.

Next, as you set off on the mission, tell your players (in a quick meeting or over the radio) what the mission is, and your plan of attack. You will be talking only to the one player in each smaller unit who is on the "team" channel. They in turn will spread the word among the other players very effectively.

This structure gains eyes and ears for you, all over the field. You structure the mission team like a small platoon of soldiers. These smaller units act like squads, with your players in command positions. Use radio contact to direct and control their movements and to give you an overall view of the mission progress or of the battle they are in. You'll have a much larger force than just your 15 players.

WWII North Africa: MPP 2006 Ben and Bonnie Torricelli, promoters of the MPP (Millennium Paintball Productions) scenario game series, joined forces with DraXxus and VForce Vision Systems for the 2006 Brothers in Arms series. World War II battles this season are from the North African campaign, pitting the "Desert Fox" and his Afrika Korps against the Allies: Enter Rommel, El Agheila; Forward to Benghazi; Rebel Yell!; El Alamein: The Devil's Garden; Operation Torch: Landing in Africa; Afrika Korps: Tunis. Info is at www.mppgames.com.

By maintaining radio contact with your squads, and with the general, you'll become very important to the game. Relay information about the mission back to base, and let your squads know what's going on in the bigger picture around them.

Our team, The Help, has had a fair amount of success using this radio net tactic. We find that most scenario players play smarter, more tactical paintball when they are part of an organized force. They understand the importance of a mission to the game as a whole, knowing they have a good idea of the game's "big" picture and that they are part of a larger force rather than just a single player on the field. This tactic might also find new players who develop an interest in your team, and may wish to join.

One more benefit: The general will be thankful for your assistance. With the hectic job a general has, any help you can give is greatly appreciated.

The Help is a scenario team from Augusta, Georgia, and surrounding areas. Visit www.thehelppaintball.com for more info.

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Scenario Tip of the Month

Flashlights can be an important tactical item. Here's a trick: Send a player off alone with several flashlights. Once he or she is away from your squad, then the player turns on the flashlights and shines them in various directions so the opponents think they are seeing a big squad. Keep up the distraction while your main force attacks from the dark! -Dave "Landshark" Norman