Snipers?

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   Since some of you won't listen to someone like Oldsoldier you won't listen to me either, but I'm still going to do this....AGAIN.

First some basics need to be established. The game is paintball and for the purposes of this class it is played in the woods where the terrain dictates that you’ll be engaging each other most of the time at between 20 and 25 meters. (In other words close range) It is played most often by 2 opposing sides of roughly equal size. For all intent and purposes this game is modeled on military small unit combat. 

Now several you are going "whoo hoo, my kind of sniper country"…without knowing what makes a sniper. Many of you have gone to the dictionary and found a reference saying something to the effect that a sniper is someone who fires from concealment and have used this a your basis for your claim to being one in paintball. That's all well and dandy, except you ignore the rest of the definition. 

snip·er ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sn p r)n. A skilled military shooter detailed to spot and pick off enemy soldiers from a concealed place. One who shoots at other people from a concealed place. 

Now you’ll note that this expanded definition is still quite general in it scope, after all anyone who squats behind bush to fire is a sniper which is not the case. 

So, since the dictionary has not resolved this we must consult the experts for a better definition of what makes a sniper in our chosen environment. It happens that I’ve had the opportunity to do just that from time to time in my 22 years in the Army. 

In summary here are the extreme basics of what is an effective sniper: 

· A superior marksman 

· Expert knowledge in the art camouflage for concealment 

· The ability to approach the target without being detected 

· Engage the target from beyond effective range of return fire 

· The ability to engage the target without revealing your position 

· The ability to egress the area after successfully engaging the target without being positively identified and engaged 

The first three of these points are possible in the game of paintball, but do not make you a sniper, they just take some training and practice. 

Let’s look at them one at a time.

A superior marksman

Basically someone who’s shooting skills are well above that of the average player.  No big problem here,  skill levels very, some people are just plain better than others.

Expert knowledge in the art camouflage for concealment

This one is a little tougher.  It takes knowledge of what will fool the eye into not seeing what is really there.  It’s still doable though. Trained military have an advantage over the someone whose camouflage skills are solely based on hunting.  Not because the non-military hunter is any less skilled but because of who the camouflage is intended to fool.  But once armed with the knowledge of what the differences are this isn’t even a problem.  So, yes this can be effectively applied to paintball.

The ability to approach the target without being detected

This one is a bigger problem.  If just taken as being able to move close enough to a player that is already in place to make your shot undetected is very difficult.  Since instinctively humans are hunters, our attention is automatically drawn to movement or things that are out of place.  It’s takes someone that is extremely skilled in moving undected to pull this one off.  But I have seen it done.  

I should add to this the ability to setup a position that provides an undetected position from which to shoot that covers an area you expect your opponent to move through.  A basic ambush.

Both require an undetected shooting position and can be effectively applied to paintball depending on skill level

The last three points are where the concept of a sniper in paintball fails. 

Engage the target from beyond effective range of return fire

No matter what you do, as long as everyone has the same approximate muzzle velocity, everyone has about the same effective range. Yes, that means Flatlines too. While Flatlines do have the ability, do to an aerodynamic backspin, shoot farther than other barrel systems the paintball still loses velocity at the same rate. What this means is that a paintball from a flatline loses the energy to break its shell at the same rate as one fired from a conventional barrel. The advantage of the flatline is initial flat trajectory that paintball has, which allows someone to fire under foliage that would otherwise break the ball. (The first failed point in being an effective sniper) 

The ability to engage the target without revealing your position

Since the effective range is around 20-25m means that when you fire you have effectively revealed your general position.  What I mean is this.  Your shooting from such a close range that either the pop of your ball leaving the barrel or the sound of your bolt cycling (or both) will give your general position away to anyone with average hearing as far away as 40m.  Unless you are only engaging 1 or 2 people or are extremely lucking you yourself can now be effectively counted as a mission kill. (The second failed point in being an effective sniper)

The ability to egress the area after successfully engaging the target without being positively identified and engaged

What this means is the ability move to a new shooting position after having engaged a target without being detected and counter-engaged your self.  Since it’s been demonstrated that you can’t effectively engage a target without revealing your initial shooting position and exposing yourself to effective counter fire this one automatically fails. (The third failed point in being an effective sniper)

Now just because you can’t effectively apply all of the above tactics of what makes an effective sniper doesn’t mean that the first 3 listed can’t be applied to paintball. Do they make you a sniper? No. But they do give you the ability to setup an effective close ambush. Just a word of advice here, bring along several friends and you might even be effective at it. 