Tips on Walking the Field

What you should do when walking the game-zone / field:

• Look for the position you will take first (according to where you think the enemy will be).
  
• Know what your personal objective is in order to enable the team to win the game.
  
• Try to figure out where the enemy will set up and position yourself accordingly to be able to eliminate their offensive plan.
  
• Find the 2nd position that you will advance to after the first, or possibly fall back to if retreating or covering a weak spot that has suddenly appeared due to losing a player.
  
• Know what looks attractive to the enemy team. This is where you should set traps.
  
• Get an overview of the field, new field or not.
  

The purpose to walking the field is to try to figure out where you have to go before the game. Plan out escape routes, plan out places to advance to, plan out where the probable conflicts will be. Walking the field is like reviewing a football play before putting the play to action.

Firstly, your team captain is ultimately in charge of strategy planning and player positioning around the field of play. This person is responsible for clarifying the objectives of the battle, brainstorming ideas with the team, deciding on a final master plan and then communicating this plan to each member of the team.

Before a game starts, you usually get to walk across it or at least along one side of it. If your team get the far end base, you have an instant tactical advantage in that you get to see more of the field before they do. Your team captain should be the first to take note about the terrain and weak spots as well as tactical advantages whilst walking the field. The team members should draw on previous paintball experience whilst walking the field and offer relevant info to the group at the 'talk through' prior to the game beginning.

The game isn't won by worrying about how the other player is going to shoot you, but rather concentrating on how you are going to take him out first. Timing is everything so creaping through the undergrowth terrified of being discovered is going to virtually cut you out of the game completely as these games only last 20-25 minutes at the most. With military timing and precision you need to support your other players rather like pro footballers do - pretending to be a tree for too long will leave the field wide open for the oppsoition and they will probably win swiftly.

When you and your team get together for a talk-through you only have minutes before the game begins - so your plan, positions and strategy planning needs to be clearly understood and fast in the making. Holes in your defence or weak spots can be quickly remedied by keeping close to your given position but with one eye on the weak area, or you can move to a position in between these two during the set-up. Moving to the mid-point between two positions comes in handy when another one of your players gets shot out. Finally once the game is over you can review what went right and what went wrong and try to address these points before the next game. If you are playing the same field again try to learn what worked well for the enemy and use it against them if it gives you a definate advantage.