After almost three years of not playing, I have an update. I
took the DQ crew out for an exciting game of paintball at Paintball Action
Games.
Ironically enough, I almost couldn't make it to my own planned
event. I nearly fell out of my attic (with potentially hurtful results)
and I injured my toe enough that I had serious concerns about not being able
to play, although I bandaged that up and did my best. Apart from that,
the day went beautifully.
Apart from The Nick, we had quite a few people coming. Armonda,
Chris, Nate, Sarah and Becky, Rob, the Jenn with two N's, Vicki, TJ, Dave,
and Warren. With the exception of Warren, we were all DQ'ers.
Getting there was an adventure in and of itself. Beating me
to the meeting spot (the back of DQ) were Rob, Sarah, Becky, Jenn, and Vicky.
Nice to see punctual people. After that, it was waiting for TJ
and Nate to show. After that, it was waking the sleepy people
and getting them over (Chris, Armondo, Dave and Warren, I'm looking straight
at you guys). Between three cars and a truck, we took the group out
to the field to get a few games in with just us.
I should note that our cheerleaders, Jenn and Vicki, have an
interesting story on why they came. Jenn wanted to come out and play
paintball. Vicky did not. In an extortionate move that makes
The Nick proud, Jenn reminded Vicky that she wouldn't go out to cheerleading
camp unless Vicky came out paintballing with her. While Jenn should
have added a strict "No whining" clause, it was entertaining having them
along.
The day was entertaining in that I was on the losing team in
nearly every game. And despite good playing, I was eliminated quite
often, too. However, in my own defense, I was playing a new strategy
of either roving defense or sniper-hunter, usually taking more than one with
me. Still, it's annoying having to explain that you're doing a great
job even though you're one of the first people eliminated from your team.
All of the new players, by the end of their time, were not only
eager, but doing rather well. That was heartening to watch.
Furthermore, I had the best game ever this time. It
was a game of center flag. I quickly ran up the extreme right flank
and lay myself behind a log while there was some cross-shooting in the general
direction of my team and the flag. My whole team was playing a game
strong to the left with one in the center. We also were playing short-handed,
six on eight. I waited patiently when I saw a player (the autococker
guy) shifting up the flank, watching towards the middle. Slowly, he
moved closer and closer to my position, until I leaned out from my back and
eliminated him from close range. As I usually do, I passed him and
apologized (there's just something sleazy feeling about sneaking up on people,
but I love it), but he was a good sport and passed a compliment. Quickly,
I pressed forward and advanced right into the enemy's flank. I came
right up to another guy, eliminated him; turned perpendicular to the field,
ran up about six steps, shot a stream of paint a long distance and
hit with most of the shots against someone who was out of normal range, eliminating
him as he frantically looked around for who could possibly be getting him;
aimed to his right behind him and took out his buddy; turned right to shoot
someone back a ways while another guy discovered who I was, eliminating number
five; then start running sideways while exchanging shots with the final confused
guy, taking him out. That left the two in the back who I fled back
from while they advanced.
At this point, I eliminated six of eight, although I didn't
know there were only two left. I danced back and forth, just out
of range, prompting these two guys to waste ammo on me. It turns out
I was down to one friendly on my own team. These two players were camping
the flag, watching me dance back and forth. Luckily, while doing the
dance, they moved closer together, allowing me to place a rather large tree
between the two of us, which I used to screen my advance forward. I laid
down behind a low bunker right next to the flag, listening to them talk.
"You get the flag!"
"No, you get the flag!"
Repeat for about two minutes, neither willing to run into the
open because of my way out of position teammate. Amusingly enough,
they were both worried about me, pointing off to their left (my right flank)
warning each other to watch out for that guy who took out their entire team,
because he might have doubled back and be going around them. Finally,
eventually, one of them took command, said he'd cover, and told the guy to
go for the flag when he says "Go!" Knowing where they were by the sound
of their voices, I lined up towards the flag, ready to pop up and shoot a
second after hearing the key word.
Did I mention I only had two rounds of paint left? I needed
to make it count.
"GO!"
Count one, count two, pop up....
...and idiot is running not towards the flag, but to the side,
still unwilling to rush the flag. They both panic when they
see someone pop up right there, I miss both of my shots as I try to shoot
at an unexpected angle, and in a daring move, I shoot air repeatedly, keeping
one kid's head down while rushing for the flag. Unfortunately, the
first guy isn't fooled, calmly steps out from behind his tree, aims, and
shoots me right as I have the flag.
We lost that game. Tragic.
In another game, I was holding back, listening to the sound
of fire. Our left flank was far up and strong, but the right sounded
rather quiet. Moving up, I found only one of four remaining. Taking
command, I told him to move up and find some enemies, then report back. When
he got back, our left flank had dropped a bit, so I told him to move up the
middle through the foliage and perform a flanking move. In the meantime,
I was going to go around the back and to the side and start picking off lone
enemies.
The plan was sound. As two refs watched three of my guys
leave the field, they called over in my direction (as I was slowly stalking
up behind someone eagerly shooting into my base, nonetheless) if I was eliminated.
Motioning for silence, I answered with a shake of my head, prompting
them to flee from my line of fire and my target. Getting rather close,
I took one shot to the guy's shoulder, announced "Marked and eliminated,"
while he scrambled about surprised, saying, "Out out out!" then immediately
took his position, motioning under cover to my friends at base that I was
going to move up. As I was looking at an excellent route to take that
would let me sneak up on the entire team and eliminate them one by one, without
any knowledge of my activities, I felt a bunch of shots drop around me. Obviously,
it was inaccurate friendly fire, I thought, as there was no one behind me,
and the enemy couldn't possibly know it was me. Eventually,
when more and more dropped around me, I dropped into the open backward, where
I was shot.
Turns out the man I 'eliminated' had called himself out, gotten up,
walked to the refs a short distance away, whispered, "Paintcheck..."
was noted as clean, and proceeded to shoot me in the back.
Clarification: proceeded to shoot in the general direction of my back, eventually
hitting it. Luckily, the sisters Sarah and Becky, as well as a random
walk-on buddy, managed to win the game. Huzzah!
Final story. In another game of center flag, I actually went
to the left flank, saw the entire team had rushed and taken the flag while
we had no defenders there, and were going to push up this way. I immediately
dropped back, listened to the sounds of fire to see where we were weak, then
went to the right flank, went into their territory, and dropped around to
the rear end of the other team who were advancing under constant fire towards
our base with the flag. I actually got right up next to the
tail end of the guys, pretending to fire at my own team, while the auto-cocker
guy took a few shots and eliminated a few people. I kept moving up
with the other team, until finally, Warren, who eventually revealed that
he always knew who I was because of my ponytail, replied to my 'Hey' with
a 'Hey' of his own, did a look, turned to the action, did a double-take,
and then immediately wheeled on me and shot me right
in the chest.
Humorous thing to note: apparently, my 'friends' were constantly
warning everyone to 'watch the flanks, because that's where Nick likes to
hang out.' So everyone who was running the tape was actively looking
out for me. Hilarious.
Anyway, this was a fun time. With much cheaper prices
and many eager players, we'll definitely be doing it again.