PAINTBALL TACTICS: GETTING STARTED

By Nate the Sharpshooter

I am Nate, from Kenton, Ohio and I’ve been playing paintball for around 3 years and
have been studying different paintball tactics ever since. All though I’ve never played any large
scale paintball, I’ve got almost 20 hours play time in teams of 20. I’ve picked up a few tactics
that would be useful for squads to use when they break off from the main group.
First things first, you need to know your team. Victory can be affected simply by
knowing who is good at what and knows how to do what. I suggest that a team sit down and talk
for a 10 minute period at least before a game so the entire team knows what they need to and
who is going to be doing what job. There should be 4 different position/jobs that need done in
every squad.

First you’ll need light gunners or foreword players. Most of the team should be in this
position. These players usually have both the highest kill and death rate. Rarely a game goes that
forewords survive the entire game, even with pros. I’ve played this position several times and I’ll
tell you the number one assets to a good light gunner is speed and lots of it. Put the fastest
players in this position.

To keep the enemy’s heads down, you’re teams will need heavy gunners or backers
Their job is to cover the back, suppress enemy advancement and alert their team to flanks. They
usually don’t need to be fast or even good shots but a rapid fire gun is a very good idea.
Then comes optional players. A player who can play any position moderately well (like
me) is called a medium rifleman. We mediums are used to fill in for a player whose been
removed from the game. This is why we need to play any position, because we never know
where we’ll end up.

Another optional position is the sniper or ghost flanker. These positions use cameo to
sneak right up on their target and hit them when they don’t expect it. The effects of an ambush
sniper attack are more psychological than actually eliminating an enemy. All they have to do to
slow down an attack force is shoot one and hide. Then the squad get’s what I and my team calls
“Sniper panic” and they think everything is a sniper. Some players will get so panicked they
become delusional, and mistake anything as a sniper. A ghost flanker is the offensive version of
a sniper. Using similar techniques they circle and enemy and come up right beside them with a
clear shot. This type of player can make or break a gunfight.

Finally another optional position is a squad leader or commander. This position isn’t
necessary but is a good idea. I’ve been put in this position a lot too because of my strategic
knowledge I’ve acquired from my studies. They must keep their team organized and help their
teammates to find the best angle on their enemy. They must know who is able to do what best
under what circumstance. This feature is the only thing that separates squad leaders from
mediums, and why mediums often make the best squad leaders.

But my strategy in a game against a well armed opponent is what I call the Sitting Bull
Trap. This is a tactic best used by a team forced to play a defensive game or is outnumbered or
outgunned. The team divides into 4 teams. The first two teams together should make about half
the team, and then the other half should be 3-1 ratio. So on a team of 20 you’d have 2 squads of
5, a squad of 6-7 and the leftovers are a squad. The team of 6 or 7 is in charge of defending the
base position. The smallest moves up the center and the other two set up an ambush around the
outside of that squad.

The small squad should move very slow exposing themselves to fire. Their goal isn’t to
find the enemy, their goal is to be the bate and lure the opponents into the open, basically,
they’re the bait. Once the enemy takes the bait and is well within the ambush area, the two large
flanks attack from both sides and assault the enemy with a huge surprise attack, ideally from the
rear. If they wait long enough to spring the ambush, the ambush should easily eliminate even
experienced players with minimal casualties. It is a good idea to put light rifleman as bait,
snipers and ghost flankers as the head of the ambush (leading edge), and heavy gunners in the
rear of the attack. If everyone cooperates, you should be able to overrun the enemy with relative
ease.

This strategy has been proven several times on the field by me and my friends in small
scale runs but I’m sure it works. Give it go! It takes some team practice but once you’ve got it
you’re going to be unstoppable!