Fallout

Fallout: Black Hills

By Jason “foolybear” Lineberger

Photos by Scrapyard Photography

This was absolutely one of the most fun scenario games I’ve played. – Dwayne from Capital Offense

As the game clock counted down the last hour, refs took their positions for the final base count.  In the last hour, teams could score points for holding any of four locations scattered across the sizeable acreage at Command Decisions Wargames Center.  Planet Eclipse’s Team Capital Offense broke into two squads to cover more ground.  One crew took a back route to the most remote base, Vault 85, to establish a foothold there before the enemy arrived.  The other squad ran for the center of the field, to assault fort Alpha before rejoining the team at Vault 85.

Emboldened by a hailstorm of paint, our side, the Yao Guai Clan, swarmed the trenches around Alpha.  Planet Eclipse gun tech and all around paintball slayer, Kris Wilson, racked up the kills as the last defenders fell.  Dwayne, leading the Vault  team, radioed that they had met with some opposition but were holding their own and looking for reinforcement.  I advised him to hang tight, and with 15 minutes remaining in the game Capital Offense merged to full strength as the enemy popped smoke and charged the hill, en masse.

It’s moments like these that we take away from games and keep forever.  High ground.  Hard cover.  Smoke obscuring our positions.  Capital Offense LV1s.  A team of players with solid communications and years of scenario experience.  These are force multipliers, and while the opposition had the numbers, that wasn’t enough to take the hill.  They charged into our guns and Dwayne, playing point, was the first to greet them.  When the blast signaled game over, we exited the field with our side’s flag flying.

Fallout: Black Hills was the second event based on the popular video game series.  Matt “ColMustard” Leonard and his team translated the quirky elements of the game into one of the most fun, most creative scenario events in recent memory.  What set this game apart was the ability for even individual players to have a huge impact on the final outcome.  Points came from not only capturing bases but also by building up a stash of game cash earned from brokering deals with the squad of role-players on the field.  In a true lesson in the market economy, the path to victory was Buy Low, Sell High.  One role-player might sell gun parts for next to nothing, thinking that they’re just scrap metal in the post-apocalyptic setting.  Another character would purchase them for a premium, and the key to collecting big money was figuring out the most advantageous trades.  Mamba, from Capital Offense, walked away with MVP due to his shrewd trading, which netted our side stacks of game cash. 

With land to take, players to shoot, and deals to be made, everyone from coordinated scenario teams to individual walk-ons had something fun to do.

In the end, Yao Guai Clan brought home the victory with a two-pronged plan of military and economic dominance under the leadership of paintball pro Matt Sossoman.  Our opponents, led by Julia “J Killa” Moore from Paintball Soldiers, kept the fight strong all day.  Nothing came easy, and that’s the way we like it in paintball.  Fallout: Black Hills delivered a creative, competitive scenario on a great field among skilled players. 

Thanks to Scrapyard Photography and Matt “ColMustard” Leonard for the photograhs.

To read more and see behind-the-scenes photos of the detailed props and costumes that made this a great game, check out the event page on Facebook.

Jason “foolybear” Lineberger is the woodsball wizard for Planet Eclipse and captain of Team Capital Offense.  You can catch him on Twitter (@foolybear) or on Instagram (@foolybear).