Bounty Hunters....

The Bounty Hunters scenario paintball team started as a small group of family and friends playing in the woods on the property of one of the family members, near Greenville, KY. In 2009, the group decided to start playing as a team, and the Bounty Hunters scenario paintball team was born. Six members participated in the team’s first event in February 2010 at Bear Claw Paintball in Fayetteville, TN. Since that time, the team has expanded to eighteen members from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, and has traveled to events in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana.

The 2015 season began on a chilly March weekend in a familiar and cherished place: Bear Claw Paintball, for the “Starship Troopers” game, presented by MPP Games. The Bounty Hunters fought on the side of the Roughnecks who were invading the Arachnids home planet of Klendathu. 

Saturday’s action began with the Roughnecks needing to establish a landing zone and take six objectives, including taking their own base, within the first hour. One group of Roughnecks, including the entire Bounty Hunters team, headed to the high end of the field and took three objectives while encountering moderate resistance and taking few casualties. However, objectives became harder to take as the Roughnecks advanced further into Arachnid territory. The Arachnids were able to control much of the field and complete many of their missions partly due to a tunnel system that allowed them to ambush advancing Roughnecks from behind. By the end of the day, the Arachnids had a comfortable 1000 point lead.

On Sunday, the Roughnecks took a page from the Arachnids’ book by using tunnel passes to enter the tunnels and circumvent the Arachnids’ defenses to run missions. Coupled with the bulk of the Roughneck forces pressing on the Arachnid base, this turned out to be an effective strategy. A few groups, including a few Bounty Hunters, effectively used the tunnels throughout the day to complete missions and cut into the Arachnids’ lead. As is often the case at Bear Claw, victory would be decided by the final battle.

In order to defeat the Roughnecks, the Arachnids would have to defend key objectives and protect the Brain Bug. However, the Roughnecks continued to press the Arachnids and, within a few minutes, captured the Brain Bug. A few Bounty Hunters manned both floors of Ft. Warden while the remainder of the team made up a line down the hill from the fort. Several Arachnids were able to outflank the line and surround the fort. Just as it looked like the fort would be taken, the line was re-established allowing the Roughnecks to eliminate the remaining Arachnids in the Bone Pit and surrounding the fort. This was the turning point of the final battle as the Roughnecks were able take all of the objectives in the last few minutes.

The Roughnecks had put the finishing touches on a fierce comeback, but would it be enough to take the win? The final score was so close that it was re-counted three times. In the end, the Arachnids came away with a 4100-3800 win.

In the months following Starship Troopers, Bounty Hunters made three trips to the Indianapolis area, including Indy Paintball Battleground in Greenwood, IN for  “Command & Conquer: Redemption” in April and “Outbreak!” in June, and White River paintball in Anderson, IN for “Beaches of Normandy” in July. The team also played in Go’N Postal #2 in May and Go’N Postal #4 in August at Paintball Asylum in Louisville, KY. The Bounty Hunters took part in victories at four of the five events.

Bounty Hunters are proud to be sponsored by Planet Eclipse and Paintball Asylum, and we are excited to use Eclipse products. Several of our players have been impressed with the Etek 5 with OLED board. Players have praised the soft shot and quiet sound signature, which has allowed them to lay down heavy fire without giving away their positions. The OLED board has made programming a breeze.

Up next on our schedule is MPP Games’ Game of Thrones IV, November 6-8 at Bear Claw Paintball in Fayetteville, TN. This is the main event on the Bear Claw schedule and will feature two beach landings, one during the day and one at night. The night beach landing is truly a sight to behold. If you make it to the game, feel free to try out the team Etha or Etek 5.

To keep up with the Bounty Hunters and the latest Planet Eclipse products, find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bountyhunterspb

Thanks to Michael “Tinker” Bell for the Pics....