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School
intro
The History of Paintball..
Brief
It all started with balls…
minds out of the gutter people; we’re talking about paintballs.
The first paintballs were created by the Nelson Paint Company
in the 1950s for forestry service use in marking trees from
a distance, and were also used by cattlemen to mark cows. Two
decades later, paintballs were used in a survival game contest
between two pals in the woods of Henniker, New Hampshire… and
Paintball as a sport was born. HALLELUJAH…
HALLELUJAH
The Story
So, way
back when in 1976 the two friends Hayes Noel, a stock trader
and his friend Charles Gaines, a writer, were walking home and
chatting about Gaines’ recent trip to Africa and his experiences
hunting buffalo. Eager to recreate the adrenaline rush
that came with the thrill of the hunt, and inspired by Richard
Connell's
The Most Dangerous Game,
the two came up with the idea to create a game where they could
stalk and hunt each other… obviously.
In the
following months the two comrades discussed the sorts of qualities
and characteristics that made for a good hunter and survivalist.
They were stumped however, on how to devise a test for those
skills. That was until a year or so later when a buddy
of theirs, George ‘Butty’ Butler showed them an agricultural
Paintball gun created by the Nelson Paint Company, the “Nelspot
007”. Noel and Gaines undoubtedly purchased one each and
engaged in a battle of sizeable proportions, settling who was
in fact the supreme being, spawning the very first game of Paintball.
Gaines celebrated his victory and placed Noels head above his
fireplace as a sign of this significant victory (last part not
factually true).
From
here there was no stopping the sport as the two devised basic
rules for the game along the lines of capture the flag, inviting
friends to play with them. One of their friends, a writer
from Sports Illustrated took part in a game they had called
“Survival” and he published an article about it in June of 1980.
As national interest in the game steadily built, Gaines and
Noel formed a company, National Survival Game, and entered a
contract with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor
of their paintball equipment. Thereafter, they licensed
to franchisees in other states the right to sell their guns,
paint, and goggles. As a result of their monopoly on equipment,
they turned a profit in only six months.
These
original games of paintball as you can imagine were very different
from what is played today, this was mainly due to the primitive
weaponry, whereby the Nelspot pistols were the only guns available.
They used 12-gram CO2 cartridges, held at most 12 rounds and
had to be recocked after each shot. It wasn’t just the
guns that were basic, they wore shop glasses that left the majority
of their face exposed, additionally the paintballs were all
oil-based and thus not water soluble; thus “turpentine parties”
were frequent after a day of painting one another. Games
often lasted for hours as players stalked each other, and since
each player had only a limited number of rounds, shooting was
rare.
Between
1981 and 1983, rival manufacturers began to create competing
products, and it was during those years that the sport took
off. Paintball technology gradually developed as manufacturers
added a front-mounted pump in order to make recocking easier,
then replaced the 12-gram cartridges with larger air tanks,
commonly referred to as "constant air". These
basic innovations were later followed by gravity feed hoppers
and 45-degree elbows to facilitate loading from the hopper…
thank the lord for technology!!
About Ex Mayhem..
It all started when after months of scrutinous plotting to rescue
Paintball in the UK - Duncan, Lis and Darren (AKA the Sunshine
Kids) took to the sky in microlights. Once overhead our nations
capital, the three left their crafts one by one. Having forgot
to actually pack their chutes it was Duncan who was volunteered
to take the full impact of the jump, and positioned himself
at the lower of the three. Having fortunately fallen gracefully
on the roof of their desired destination of the Extreme Group
Headquarters, he took the other two’s impact without hesitation
- they were very much in business.
Bearing paintball guns and armed up to their eyeballs in paintball's
– not forgetting the abundant smoke grenades – they abseiled
down the face of building and stormed the 4th floor. In a well-conducted
and seamlessly timely attack, the three hijacked the main office
before swiftly targeting the office of an unawares Al Gosling,
CEO and Founder of the Extreme Sports Channel. A manoeuvre not
short of tactically brilliant left the surprised Gosling shaken
and stirred, cowering at the foot of his desk amongst a thick
cloud of smoke.
What followed this calculated strike however was nothing less
than barbaric, a beasting Gosling took - wave after wave of
paintballs!! Why had the Sunshine Kids lay down such a brutal
attack you ask? Well, it was all in the event of urging Gosling
to submit to the pain and anguish in an exchange for Gosling’s
pledge to use the power and mass marketing capabilities of the
Extreme brand to help salvage the neglected industry that is
Paintball. Once the ordeal was over, Gosling who ironically
was already very much behind the idea of developing Paintball
in the UK prior to the attacks ensured the Sunshine Kids that
Extreme would head this new venture. As a result of the unnecessary
disorder the three amigos had managed to cause, this endeavour
would appropriately be named Extreme Mayhem.
basic variations
of the game
Capture the Flag
Has ever a flag been more important… it’s arguable. A
team must take the flag from the designated flag station, often
either at the opponents’ flag station at the opposite side of
the field, or in the center of the field. The flag must
then be hung at one’s own flag station or the enemy flag station,
respectively.
Elimination
Either a team or individual player tries to eliminate all of
their opponents… occasionally the victors get cocky and continue
on in an attempt for world domination.
Scenario
This is where the strategically minded come into their own…
little showoffs! Either a team or a player must
achieve the most of the objectives designated in the scenario,
usually discussed before a game. Often these are seizing
and maintaining control of areas, often designated by flag stations,
or items such as a base or truck.
recreational
Recreational paintball may be simply defined as paintball played
by the masses. The majority of the paintball industry
caters to so-called 'rec players'. These people typically
play a couple of times a year (or less), and often don't own
their own equipment. They show up to a paintball field
without any gear, and rent what they need. The field owners
give them an orientation, including a safety briefing, and help
them get on their way. Church groups, office parties,
stag parties, birthday parties, weekend getaways, and spur-of-the-moment
thrill-seekers usually fall into this category.
Characteristically, recreational paintball is fun, laid-back,
and easy-going. Few players keep track of how many games
are won and lost, and often players help each other. Nobody
takes things too seriously, and at the end of the day complete
strangers often become friends.The largest form of rec paintball
is the 'big game.' Big games often consist of hundreds
of players together for an entire weekend. A single game
often lasts the entire weekend, and can be run under a fantasy
scenario.
Recreational paintball is alternatively known as Woodsball,
due to paintball having started out as a recreational game in
wooded areas, with capture the flag and elimination being the
most common formats.
scenario
Scenario
paintball games are based on a storyline or theme. Scenario
games allow for a wide range of player skill levels and an even
larger amount of participants. These games can span a
period as short as 12 hours or last for days. Objectives
vary based on the storyline but cooperation is a major theme
in these games. The largest game to date was Skirmish's
Invasion of Normandy, held annually in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania,
which drew 4,007 players in 2006.
tournaments
Tournament paintball
shares its origins with the sport as a whole in the woods, but
as speedball became more common in the late 1990's, most tournaments
moved from woodsball to speedball play. The small size
of speedball fields brings several advantages to competitive
play. Artificial obstacles allow the fields to be set
up with each side in mirror image to the other, eliminating
advantage due to different terrain on each side of woodsball
fields. The flat, vegetation-free playing surface makes
it easier for officials to see players and make the correct
call, and coupled with the small field size allows spectators
to see the entire game at once.
Since speedball fields don't have trees or other foliage, camouflage
is not of any use. Camouflage clothing common in wooded play
has been largely replaced in tournament play by colored team
uniforms similar to those in other competitive team sports.
speedball
Speedball is a
type of paintball characterised by a small field size and artificial
obstacles. While a woodsball field may cover several acres,
speedball fields are usually less than half the size of a football
field, and located on a level, treeless terrain. Bunkers on
a speedball field are man-made, and have evolved from wooden
spools and crates to corrugated sewer piping to the customized
inflatable obstacles in various shapes that are common today.
Because of the small field size, and the lack of foliage, players
can see from one end of the field to the other, and games are
usually much shorter than those played in the woods. Since players
can see each other and start the game within range of each other,
action between opponents is immediate and lasts the entire game.
Due to the smaller field size, there are usually fewer players
per team than in woodsball, commonly from three to ten players.
While speedball is presently used in tournament play far more
often than woodsball, many casual recreational players also
enjoy speedball outside an organized, competitive setting, especially
at indoor playing facilities where a woodsball field is not
an option.
Sup’Air
Sup'Air is the name given to an inflatable bunker used in speedball,
a variation of paintball. They are essentially tough skinned
inflatables, capable of withstanding repeated paintball impacts
and are normally anchored to the ground. They are manufactured
in various shapes and sizes and can be employed for both indoor
and outdoor use.
techroom
Safety Equipment
The single
most important piece of safety equipment is the mask.
The mask consists of heavy-duty lexan goggles, face protection,
and head protection. All three are vital to ensure the
safety of the player. No substitutions are acceptable
my friends. Do not use shop goggles, ski goggles, BMX
goggles, or any other type of mask in place of proper paintball
safety gear… that would just be silly.
Secondly,
sturdy clothing and footwear is recommended – available from
sturdy girl herself! The vast, majority of paintball injuries
have nothing to do with the paintballs themselves. Generally,
if someone is hurt playing paintball, they suffer a twisted
ankle or sprained wrist.
Finally,
it is important that male players wear appropriate protection
while playing - paintballers don't want to end up no-ballers
so athletic cups are advisable.
If all
of this safety equipment is worn, injuries can be eliminated...
well nearly.
Markers
The paintballs
are generally propelled by a pressured-gas marker. These
markers come in at least three different forms. First,
there is the simplest and earliest kind of marker - the stock
pistol. Next came constant-air pump-action markers.
Finally, semi-automatic (and some fully-automatic) markers appeared
on the scene. All three are still in use today.
Stock
pistols
are powered
by small, 12g Carbon-Dioxide cylinders. This small amount
of Carbon-Dioxide often allows for only 20 or 30 shots before
it must be replaced. Stock pistols often hold no more
than a handful of paintballs in a tube on top of the marker,
and reloading after shooting a paintball requires a somewhat
cumbersome pump action. To be a true 'stock' gun, some
very specific restrictions must be followed. These restrictions
may be found in the 'resources' section below.
Pump-action
pistols were the
next to arrive. They were originally modifications to the
stock-class pistols to improve their performance. Often
a large paintball loader sits on top of the marker, holding
as many as 200 paintballs. The paintballs feed into the
marker by gravity, and the whole system is tuned to allow very
rapid firing. An experienced paintballer can often shoot
several paintballs per second for a short burst. Often,
these pump-action markers are powered by larger cylinders of
carbon-dioxide. 7oz, 12oz, and 20oz tanks are all common,
providing hundreds of shots without a refill.
Semi-automatic markers
were the next logical progression. With each pull of the
marker's trigger, a ball is fired, and another is loaded into
the marker. Modern semi-automatic markers with advanced
paintball-feeding systems can fire eight balls per second or
more for an extended period of time. To improve performance
over extended periods of time, the thermodynamically-limiting
carbon-dioxide propellant (bit of a mouthful!) was replaced
on many markers with a compressed-air system. This new
system provides much more reliable and consistent operation
in the marker, but at a higher price.
Thanks to
Wikipedia for all the research, merci beaucoup.
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