Let’s talk tactics: Woodsball

I see a lot of questions from newbies about what kind of setups or tactics they should use. Now, I generally don't chime in on speedball stuff- it's not my style. I consider myself a fairly successful woodsball player, however, and would like to get a fairly definitive guide going for the rookies. We were all there too once, after all.

I'm not an incredibly experienced paintball player. I have, however, played my share of woodsball. I'm in the military. In the infantry, it's not jsut recreation out there- it's a job, and I've had some very good lessons, which I'd like to pass on. It will all, of course, be adapted for paintball.

The Basics: Or, what sets woodsball apart?

Most people when playing paintball tend to think of speedball. Massive rates of fire on fleeting tagets, generally at pretty close range. You have to be very small, hard to hit, and fast. This mostly changes once you go into the woods, however.

Woodland terrain can provide a variety of tactical situations. Either team may have better ground than the other. You might have to fight going uphill, or be the attacker against a bunkered defense. You might be defending in a scenario game where you're outnumbered two to one.

Speedball happens at short range, for the most part. Woodball generally follows this- but for a different reason. In speedball, it can generally be said that you know where everyone is. Fields of view are very clear, and people generally stick out like a sore thumb when they're moving between bunkers. In woodsball, however, there are two reasons that combat is generally short range.

The first is because, with the often limited field of view, you may simply come across an enemy quite unexpectedly, and be forced to engage at close range. The second has to do with thre trees- long range paintballing necessitates lobbing shots in a ballistic arc to hit your target. Both of these are, to a degree, inevitable- but you can work around them both.

"Where the hell is he?": Or, Woodsball tactical considerations.

The woods can be both a bane and an advantage to you. If you're running around making lots of noise in a bright red hockey jersey, generally you're screwed. The woods are naturally fairly quiet places- sound doesn't travel too far if you aren't giving it a boost by screaming. Visually, it's a clutter. Disruptive camouflage clothing is an excelelnt tool.

Camnouflage won't make you disappear into a foreground; if you're standing in front of a bush you're still fairly visible. What it does is blend you with the background; seen THROUGH the brush, you simply will meld with the existing natural background. There are several reasons why things are seen. Shape, texture, movement, noise, shine or reflection, colour, and spacing, primarily. Shape- you don't see square objects naturally. try to break up the natural outline, particularly of your equipment. green and brown scraps of cloth tied to your marker and mask are unattractive, but effective. Texture- something that appears very smoothe doesn't really fit in in the woods. This also fits in with shiny and reflective stuff. You want a dull, matte gun. Matte spray paint can be effective for this. Movement- Movement is the second biggest giveaway after colour. Move slowly and smoothly. Stay low, and if there's wind, to to move at roughly the same speed that grasses and such seem to blow naturally. Blend in with naturaly movement; the forest isn't still. Noise- Don't make it. Stay quiet. The ear often draws the eye. Colour- quite simple, wear natural colours. Military camouflage can be good for this. Hockey jerseys are generally bad. Spacing- this can be a bit confusing, but if you're operating with others, don't move with a regular spacing. One camouflage blow may not stick out, but three in a straight line a certain distance apart do.

If you can make yourself effectively invisible, you have a terrific advantage. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down. If you can avoid being spotted, you can let an opponent draw very close, and engage them decisively before they have time to react.

As for the tree branches limiting the range of your gun; the only way to fight this, reall,y is to get a Flatline barrel and match it with a good paint. The flatline will shoot the ball in a flat trajectory for about 200 feet, before it drops. You can shoot opponents through thick brush, whereas their 'lobbed' shots are likely to just burst in the trees. It's a decisive advantage at times.

Over the River and Through the Woods: Or, terrain.

Terrain has been the deciding factor in thousands of battles. It can be in yours, too. If you have to scale a large hill, you'll be tired, the enemy will have an advantage in the range they can shoot, etc. Heavy woods make great spots for ambushes. Bushes can conceal an enemy. A shallow ravine or dry creek bed offers a low ground you can advance up without being as easily spotted, or provide effective cover as a fire trench if you get stuck in a firefight. Learn to use terrain to your advantage. On the defence, try to set up near the top of a hill, so you can see a greater area, and shoot to a longer distance. On the offence, advance where you have cover. Try to find a 'safe' spot partway up the battlefield, an area you can easily defend in the event of a counterattack. Finally,learn to think about how the enmy sees the terrain. You can often anticipate where they will mount effective defence, and how you can circumvent or flank it.

Equipment: Or, "wut gun shuld i buy??? help me plz!!!"

The first thing you need is a brain. IQ over 80 is reccommended. Over 100 and you're in good shape. Remember, it only take one shot to kill an enemy. In the woods, you often will have the chance to shoot someone who hasn't spotted you yet. Those first couple shots might be all you need; it doesn't matter if they're using a $1200 piece of intimidation against your stock rental tippman. Use your rbain to put yourself in a good position. Learn to think both now AND a few minutes in the future; that way you get to fight the enemy twice at once, while he figures out only what's going on NOW.

Once you know how to fight with the terrain, then worry about equipment. As I mentioned earlier, a flatline is a great investment. I find a remote line and a stock very useful as well. High rates of fire should not, generally, be necessary in the woods- until your budget iimproves you can dispense with response triggers, or e-grips or whatever. Worry about how to place a limited number of shots precisely, because that's how the woods are fought and won.

A stock will pull the gun into your shoulder. Rather than balancing the gun on tis center of gravity, it's now anchored in your shoulder. The center of gravity becomes your point of control for the gun. You can shoot very tight groups of shots, becuase the gun is much more likely to be pointing at the same place. Specific stocks are up to you- Folding or collapsing stocks let you close it up for moving around, or the occasional game of speedball. Fixed stocks offer some imrpessive looks in the right gun, and that can have its own initimidation value too.

Clothing is key. Camouflage is great. Boots are useful too, and dark coloured gloves. The army surplus palce nearest you should have everything you need.

Get a decent mask. Make sure you can actually see clearly out of it. It's ahrder to see people in the woods than on the speedball field. You might only catch a glimpse of hopper or shoulder to shoot at. It's also nice if your mask isn't yellow or red. If it's acceptable to you, paint your mask. TAKE THE LENS OFF FIRST! You can also tie small scraps of natural colour cloth fto break up the nice man-made outline.

KAMIKAZE!: Or, how not to become a walking-talking Draxxus billboard on the offence

Before ANYTHING else, don't consider cheating. It makes you into a real loser, and you're cheating yourself of the satisfaction of a legit win.

The key to a good game, of course, is survival while engaging the enemy. Don't get yourself shot. The easiest way to do this, is to not be seen. Use the principles of camouflage I went over earlier. Stay low. Be patient and advance slowly if you have to. Don't draw enemy attention- yes, you might be able to see and shoot at an opponent now, but if you can't be sure you'll hit him, it might not be a good idea. Get as close as you can before engaging. Hit them from the flank or rear so they're out before they can find you. Use cover and concealment. Expose as little of yourself as possible.

With a hopper, this can be difficult- if money is on your side, investigate a Qloader- http://www.qloader.com Also consider using 50rd hoppers and carrying several at once. If you're good in the wodos, you should ever be in a pitched firefight where you go through 50rds without a good thirty seconds in the clear. It should only take 5 secs or less to reload. Paint your hopper as well, to make it less visible.

Again, use terrain to your advantage. Use teamwork. Have a pari on one side lay down covering fire while you and your buddy advance. Then return the favor. Leapfrog forwards when you're being shot at.

Be unpredictable. If the enemy expects you to retreat- do it, then as soona s you're out of his view, sprint to a flank, move up, and take him from the side as he moves up to occupy the ground you retreated from.

Stay away from bunkers. They're defnded because they're easy to defend. If you can't stay away, take them out as a team. No less than one person shooting for each person who's moving. Get close, or try to get behind.

Communicate. Make sure you and your buddies all know what's going on. Stay with a partner at all times, so in a pinch the two of you can use at least some kind of rudimentary tactic to at least cover each others' retreat, or advance and take out your opponent.

"They're everywhere!": Or, an effective defense.

Find good spots that offer both cover and concealment. Concealment means they can't see you. Cover means they can't hit you. LAy flat on the ground. Try to use natural bunkers instead of artificial ones- they're generally less obvious to the enemy. Wait until the enemy is close before engaging them. Pick your shots, and make them count. If you have to reload, or know you're almsot there, get a buddy to cover you so that the enemy doesn't get a few easy seconds to operate with.

Select your fields of fire. You and your buddies should each ahve an arc of ground to cover. Make sure no spot is uncovered by at least two people, if possible. Spread out. You might not be able to see behind a particular bush form one spot, but your buddy ten yards to your elft might be able to see  rom an angle that lets him spot them.

Again, communicate. Tell your friends how many, where they are, and if relevant, what they're equipped with. If you see a couple opponents with flatlines, it's good to let people know, since they give such an edge.

Prioritize. Take out the guy with the flatline before you take out the guy with the $35 brass eagle. If you know one opponent is particularly skilled, take him out before anyone else if you have an equal opportunity on both.

Play aggressively. You can either sit back, or you can take the initiative. In one game I was on a team defending a hill. I booked it low and left at the start, and ambushed the two who were advancing up that flank. I then got clean to the end of the field, crossed the dirt track to the other side, and advanced up the opposition's left, coming up behind those that were still shooting. I actually got a prisoner this way, and completely caught them off guard; they were expecting to be covered by their guys on the flank, who I'd already ambushed. They had no clue that it would have been possible for the defence to flank them from behind.

Again, use your brain. Try to anticipate how the enemy attack will work, and throw a wrench in the works. bogging down or ambushing one of their flanks is great for screwing up a strategy.

Utilize your equipment. If you have someone who uses massive rate of fire, get him covering a nice open area where a number of enemies are expected toa dvance. He can stall an advance that way. If a couple of your guys are particularly adept at ambushes, have them rush to set up an ambush midway up the flank. Do things like that to throw the enemy off.

Sometimes things just don't work out, and you lose. Find out how- chat with your opponents, and learn how they did it. It can be inspiration for later games, or simply good intelligence about their skills and abilities. It will also give you ideas for how you might conduct a good offence yourself.

Homies: Or, using your teammates effetively.

Operating alone can have its advantages if your teammates are dumb, but if you have a couple smart friends, work together. Covering each others' advances is a great tip when advancing into unknown territory, or laying down cover fire for a retreat. An atatck is of course easier with several people shooting paint.

Learn to use angles. Spread out, and stagger, so that what might be effective defence against one of you might not work against someone else.

Learn to communicate quietly. Develop hand signals to coordinate. A quiet team careflly moving up a flank can rupture an entire defense if they can take out even one or two guys before the enemy know they're there. It also gives you ana ir of professionalism, before and after the game, which helps to intimidate your opponent.

Consider all this, and add to it if you want. The bigges tip, though, is have fun, and play clean.

(Edited to fix some fonts and spelling- I was a tad rushed, and edited it at two different times; which managed to get me two different fonts. Weird.)

no one who'd read that pointless long post that u proly just copied and pasted from differnt website.

Wow... a noob who knows what they are talking about...

BTW, Good post!

To counter your accusations, it was all original- I haven't looked over it again, yet, but I imagine my plethora of normal typos are still in there.

I'm an infantry soldier in the Canadian forces, which handly adapts itself to paintball. Everyone starts as a newbie, and I, for one, like helping them. While not everyone tends to find posts of that length interesting, I'm driven to believe that your particular brand of inane drivel is somewhat less constructive. Kindly stay out of my threads if they do not interest you.

To the rest of you, thanks, and again, feel free to add to the thread if you want. If you consider this post sticky material, well, don't hesitate to let a mod know. ;)

great post man,
!represent Canadian Infantry!