Planet Eclipse HQ Blog

By Jason “foolybear” Lineberger Photos by Nichola Hayden of English Rose Photography For over a decade, this beast we call Fulda Gap has grown.  The big game, based on a Cold War scenario, has become one of the marquee events in paintball and one of those games that’s consistently fun. And what’s not to love about hundreds of screaming paintballers, supported by tanks, charging a hilltop fort? Or crawling through the woods, popping smoke, and rushing a base before reinforcements arrive from the nearby dead zone? For me Fulda Gap is camp fires, paintball stories, and enough action on the field to fill a dozen pages. If you attended the game, you also know that this year’s event was the most tightly contested one yet – all the way to the last seconds of the game.  Friday...... The day before the game is always a blast. For Team Capital Offense, this is our season-ender, and it always draws the best attendance.  We welcomed our guests who came so far to ...

Eclipse's own scenario slayer, Jason "foolybear" Lineberger, has laid out his preliminary event calendar for 2013.  His path of destruction encompasses scenario events that range from 8 to 24 to even some 36 hour games!  At most of the games listed below, foolybear will be taking the field with his team, Capital Offense , but he's also looking for a few games to tackle in a solo fashion, so look for changes to the calendar as the year progresses. As foolybear attends these events, you'll be able to read his game coverage right here.  Follow his paintball musings on Twitter ( @foolybear ) and see his latest paintball photographs on Instagram under the same name ( @foolybear-Instagram ). If you spot foolybear at a game, be sure to say hello and invite him to run a mission with your team, and your squad might be featured here as well! February 23 The Walking Dead at Line-of-Fire Paintball April 12-14 Zero Dark Thirty at Splatbrothers Paintball May 3...

Fall Scenario Tour Stop 3:  The Walking Dead at Splatbrothers Who won the zombie war?   Nobody, it was a DEAD tie! In the case of the third stop on the fall scenario tour, the zombie war, while close, was not a tie.  Splatbrothers Paintball Park hosted their 36 hour October zombie-fest patterned after AMC’s hit apocalyptic serial The Walking Dead .  The infected battled survivors in a game with more twists than a box of rotini.  The action actually started Friday night with night missions on the famous tower field (a massive trench/bunker complex dominated by three catwalk-connected towers) for those who arrived early enough to get in on the action.  Capital Offense trickled in as the night progressed, and when Saturday morning’s game-on rolled around, we hit the field hungry for brains. What did the zombie say before the fight?   “Do you want a piece of me?” While Splatbrothers has been a mainstay on the scenario...

Fall Scenario Tour – Second Stop After enjoying some intense paintball on the coast, I pointed my car west and put in the miles to make the trip out to Bearclaw Paintball, in the middle of Tennessee.  Every October Bearclaw puts on a scenario that’s worth attending, and they call upon the talents of Ben and Bonnie Torricelli of MPP to make the game one to remember.  This year Ben topped last year’s amazing event by getting even more ambitious in his scope.  Scripting his missions around George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series (the basis for the HBO series Game of Thrones ), Torricelli ran the first part of a projected seven game series to take place over the course of seven years!  Prominent scenario teams have volunteered to take on roles as the various family houses in Martin’s fantasy world, and they will each square off in an epic battle, over the next seven years, to name a single victorious house. Pre-game Portrait What drew me to make...

Fall Scenario Tour – the First Stop This fall I put myself through approximately 2500 miles of highway travel to play some of the best scenario paintball on America’s east coast.  The journey begins with my first stop – Adventure Beach Paintball on the coast of North Carolina.  After catching the reunion tour for Guided by Voices in Athens, Georgia, I pointed my tired 94 Civic east and drove to a resort in North Myrtle Beach for a day of walking on the beach, soaking in the hot tub, and enjoying affordable off-season rates before gearing up to throw down at one of my favorite scenario fields. Their game took on an alternate history slant, imagining a possible past where the planned invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall, actually took place.  Had that invasion launched, casualties had been estimated in the millions on both sides, as the entrenched Japanese were prepared for a protracted staunch defense of their homeland.  For this paintball version,...

Playing ‘Ball for a Good Cause By Jason “foolybear” Lineberger Pictures by David Wooden William “Willie” Stewart, a 25-year-old tournament paintball player and US soldier, was seriously injured on the first of July in Afghanistan in an IED attack while serving as a vehicle gunner.  Willie faces a long recovery, and his parents must shoulder the costs of travel in order to support him while he heals from his injuries.  To give back to a soldier who gave of his own time at his local paintball field and store, Black River’s Fayetteville field held an event in Willie’s honor, with a portion of the proceeds going to the soldier’s family.  Additionally, Matt Sossoman, of professional team Vicious, promoted a raffle of a Vicious UWL jersey to raise additional funds. The field itself is a rec’ player’s dream.  Built on a former water park, Black River’s Fayetteville location compresses a variety of terrain into a manageable space.  The field’s cre...