Splatbrothers – Rise of Empire Top 5

Photos and article by Jason “foolybear” Lineberger

Rather that present game coverage, a play-by-play, or a thoughtful piece on the state of modern paintball, here’s a top 5 from Team Capital Offense’s recent season-opening full squad scenario, Rise of Empire, at Splatbrothers Paintball in Hopewell, VA.

5.  The Looooong Sweep

For the past few scenario events we’ve attended at Splatbrothers, they’ve blocked off two major trails that divide the field.  These become “rivers” that are only passable at designated “bridges.” As a result, the closest bridge to each base becomes an instant bottleneck, and while fighting through a bottleneck can be fun, it’s a low-percentage move.  Combine that with the crazy cardio of certain team members and you have the tapeline-skirting, full field crossing, bushwhacking, long sweep.  It starts with David and Jiggs taking off through the woods, and it ends, eventually, with the more experienced team members arriving at the destination.  Those long sweeps may be a pain in the calves, but they netted us some prime field positions at Rise of Empire.   And shooting our foes in the back is always much easier than a head-up gun battle.

4.  Feeling the Pinch

Watch video of the best paintball teams, whether they’re in the woods or on the airball field.  You’ll see teams moving in unison.  One player breaks left while his partner runs up the center.  One squad engages and draws guns to let the other squad flank wide and get the clear shots.  When great teams are on top of their game, they can do this without a lot of chatter.  Players who know each other well know when to make their moves.  It came together like that at Splatbrothers.  Rather than remaining in a stalemated gun battle, we worked as a team to draw fire, make moves, get angles, and pinch out our opponents.

3.  Geared up to Get Down

Capital Offense plays hard.  We’re a full-on charging, fort-clearing, low-crawling, gun-fighting scenario team and we use equipment that matches our approach to the game.  We each have our preferences, but here’s one example – my current playing gear, head-to-toe.

·         HDE Camo Headband (usually over an Eclipse bandana)

·         HDE Capital Offense jersey worn over an

·         Overload Compression jersey

·         Distortion gauntlet gloves

·         HDE 4+3+2 pack (usually with six pods)

·         HDE Utility Pouch (radio)

·         HDE Drop bag

·         HDE Pants

·         Eclipse Tilt Socks

2.  Ring of Fire

Capital Offense always has a hot camping area – literally!  We like our fires large and our tales tall.  At Rise of Empire we had a chance to catch up with some old friends and to swap stories with new ones.  Our team dinner Saturday night involved an invasion of a local restaurant where we were mistaken for a rugby team.  I’ve heard pinball and ping pong but rugby?  That’s a new one.

1.  Knives, Butter, Get the Picture?

The best feeling all weekend was when it all came together on the field.  Four times over the course of the weekend we started at our base and walked off after grabbing most of the available turf.  That’s not to say that these pushes weren’t hard-fought or that we didn’t have help, just that the feeling of cutting through the opposition is the best thing that happened all weekend.  Sure we got stopped a few times, but those struggles just made the next run all that much sweeter.

Thanks to all the teams who shot it out either with us or against us.  Our next game as a team will be Operation Ramadan at Command Decisions Paintball.

Foolybear is on a mission – a mission to play a lot of paintball!  If you see him at a game, be sure to say hello, and he’ll probably give you a free sticker.  You can follow his exploits on this blog, on Twitter (@foolybear) and at the same name on Instagram.  Check his game calendar to see where he’s playing next!