First played | June 27, 1981, Henniker, New Hampshire |
---|---|
Characteristics | |
Contact | No physical contact between players (contact can result in penalties) |
Team members | Varies depending on game format and level of play (recreational or professional) |
Type | Extreme outdoor |
Equipment | Paintballs, paintball marker, CO2/HPA (High Pressure Air), goggles, hopper |
Woodsball (also known as woods paintball, hillball or bushball) is a format of paintball gaming, in which players compete in a natural outdoors area or a recreation of a town called urban fields (contrasting with inflatable bunker-based speedball format) using paintball guns to mark opponents. The term woodsball is sometimes used to describe non-milsim airsoft games, which take place in a forest.
It is recognized as the first format of paintball ever played, and is often used in conjunction with scenario paintball, allowing players to enact parts in a story or historical battle. [1] This is due to its effectiveness in allowing players to simulate military situations using realistic weaponry and equipment; all of which are customizable - allowing each player to fulfill a tactical role. The types of games playable are nearly infinite, and include mostly capture the flag or elimination.
The first game of paintball was played in Henniker, New Hampshire on 27 June 1981, with players using a "Nel-spot 007" pistol; normally used by farmers and ranchers for marking trees and livestock. [2] The term woodsball was a simple concatenation of the woods where games were originally played, and the ball from paintball.
Woodsball is a style of paintball that can be played in natural terrain, including wooded areas - limited only by the availability of land. The basic rule of paintball still applies; players must attempt to eliminate opposing players using a paintball marker filled with paintballs. The format is flexible and is played at both the recreational level by enthusiasts of any skill level, and at the tournament level. [1] The length of games is roughly determined by the expanse of the playing area and the number of players involved – generally it takes five to ten minutes before players make contact with an opposing player. Woodsball features large teams, in competition to obtain various goals and objectives. Large Scale woodsball games are commonly referred to as "Big Games" or "Scenario Games". Popular examples of this format are Cousin's Big Game in Coram, New York (on Long Island) and Hell Survivor's Monster Game just outside Pinckney, Michigan and Invasion of Normandy at Skirmish U.S.A in Pennsylvania which draws in about 3,500 to 4,500 players a year and lasts for two days. Another variant of the Big Game is the "Attack and Defend" format where large numbers of attackers try to overrun a fixed, but well-defended objective such as a compound or large building. [3]
Woodsball players adhere to a unique strategy amongst the paintball variations, in that players can be given the option to equip themselves with differing equipment based on their assigned role or class within the team. The make-up of a player's role is potentially limitless, and can be based upon realistic military roles. [4] Additionally, these classes may grant them unique options in the game - for example, one type of player may be able to communicate with gaming officials, while another may be allowed to begin the game before the rest of the players. [4]
The natural terrain and weather conditions affect the strategic options offered to players in a differing way to a symmetrical playing field encountered in other regulated sports. Fields may contain both natural and artificial structures, including bunkers, barricades and bases. [5] This may lead the players to adopt different types of strategies to meet their objective in woodsball. Weather conditions particular can affect players; wind can affect paintball trajectories, fog can hamper visibility, and hot and cold temperatures can affect CO2 in the paintball marker propellant system.
Woodsball equipment includes the standard mandatory paintball equipment, which includes marker, paintballs, harness/pod belt, and protective mask – but players also make use of other military items such as camouflage, combat boots, and ghillie suits. [6] Additionally, a player's equipment might vary depending upon their style of play, or position.
While standard paintball equipment can be used in woodsball, manufacturers may market their products as specific to the woodsball game format. In most cases, such equipment is designed to be more reliable in outdoor harsh conditions. [7] Gloves, padding and other armor are also allowed to improve comfort and safety in rugged playing environments, such as canyons and rocky areas.
While any paintball marker may be used in woodsball, the format allows for marker customization [8] – allowing a player to fill tactical roles while using the same marker throughout. For example, a player might fulfill the role of a sniper [9] [10] by adding a telescopic sight, stock, and more accurate barrel to their marker. The same equipment can be later replaced by fully automatic grips and/or circuit boards, which enable the player to play as a gunner. Because of the range of possibilities, woodsball markers often come out of the box with basic configurations, allowing for later modification. Markers can also include military-simulation (or "Mil-Sim") markers - which appear aesthetically similar to real firearms.
Camouflage is of importance for woodsball; players need to blend into the surrounding environment, making it harder for the opposing team to spot the player. [11] The exact nature of the camouflage may vary, and can include military (such as Flecktarn and MARPAT and one of the newest types of camo, multicam) or hunting styles (includes Mossy Oak and realtree). Players can also take advantage of "sasquatch" or "ghillie" suits, allowing them to remain undetected at close ranges.
Woodsball players can take part in amateur or professional play, with tournaments organized by leagues worldwide; the game generally considered cheaper than the speedball tournament standard format, though not as widespread. [12] The United States has two dominant leagues, the Woodsball Tournament League (WTL), [13] and the Ultimate Woodsball League (UWL).
The particular rules and variants of woodsball are limitless; however, there are basic modes that are often played and organized by woodsball field operators.
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was initially developed and released as a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess Cliffe in 1999, before Le and Cliffe were hired and the game's intellectual property acquired. Counter-Strike was released by Valve for Microsoft Windows in November 2000, and is the first installment in the Counter-Strike series. Several remakes and ports were released on Xbox, as well as OS X and Linux.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games. Other types include pairing off (partnered) games, and parlour races. Different games will generate different atmospheres so the party game may merely be intended as an icebreakers, or the sole purpose for or structure of the party. As such, party games aim to include players of various skill levels and player-elimination is rare. Party games are intended to be played socially, and are designed to be easy for new players to learn.
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy air weapons called paintball markers that are powered by compressed air or carbon dioxide and were originally designed for remotely marking trees and cattle.
Tippmann is an American manufacturer of paintball markers and paintball equipment, including military simulation (MilSim) kits. Tippmann Industrial Products, a related company manufactures manual and pneumatic heavy-duty sewing machines primarily used for leather, other leather-related equipment, and some industrial products. Originally a family-owned business run from Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2004 Dennis Tippmann Sr. sold a majority ownership stake to Summit Partners, a private equity firm. Tippmann designed one of the first automatic markers, the use of refillable air systems in place of 12 gram cartridges, the "Cyclone Feed" system, the "Flatline" barrel, and the Tippmann C-3, the first propane-powered marker.
Capture the Flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. Enemy players can be "tagged" by players when out of their home territory and, depending on the rules, they may be out of the game, become members of the opposite team, be sent back to their own territory, be frozen in place, or be sent to "jail" until freed by a member of their own team.
Scenario paintball is a colloquialism used to represent a diverse array of paintball events that encompass many themes that may include historical re-enactments, movies, current pop culture, futuristic or video game simulations, and more. Others have no theme at all. They frequently feature game mechanics such as "medics" and "snipers" and "helicopters" carried out through various simulations. The common denominator for this type of play is anywhere from 75 to 5000 players, with at least 6 hours of continuous play. These events average 12 hours of game play across a weekend in 2 major play periods. The longest and most challenging events run 24 hours straight with no breaks, with elite players covering ultra marathon distances. Instead of playing on a single field at a venue, all fields are combined into one continuous playable area. To further enhance the theme of a game, field locations may be named for important story locations, and props of various sorts are added to the game. These may be objects that players collect for points, or even vehicles that take part in the fighting, like paintball tanks. Players may don costumes specific to the theme, such as historic military uniforms or other costumes.
The Autococker is a closed-bolt semiautomatic paintball marker manufactured by Worr Game Products (WGP). It was one of the first paintball markers to be designed specifically for the sport, and has long been known throughout the paintball community for its popularity and customizability as well as its complexity. It is commonly believed that the closed-bolt design of the marker makes it inherently more accurate than its open-bolt counterparts, though this is disputed.
Smart Parts was a paintball manufacturing company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which filed for liquidation on July 28, 2010. As of August 22, 2010 Smart Parts' assets and intellectual property were acquired by Kee Action Sports.
A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, paint gun, or simply marker, is an air gun used in the shooting sport of paintball, and the main piece of paintball equipment. Paintball markers use compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) or compressed air (HPA), to propel dye-filled gel capsules called paintballs through the barrel and quickly strike a target. The term "marker" is derived from its original use as a tool for forestry personnel to mark trees and ranchers to mark wandering cattle.
Paintball is an equipment-intensive sport and in order to safely conduct a game, every player requires a marker with propellant to fire the paint, a mask to protect the eyes and face, paintballs, and a loader to hold them. To ensure safety off the playing field, a barrel sock or plug for the marker is also compulsory.
A paintball tank, also known as a paintball armoured vehicle (PAV) is a vehicle, or a portable structure that resembles a vehicle, sometimes used in the sport of paintball, usually with the intent of military simulation. The purpose of the tank is to provide a mobile shelter for one or several players, from which they may employ their markers against players on the opposing team. Small pneumatic guns, effectively low-powered potato cannons loaded with foam darts, are also often employed against other tanks.
Paintball is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. Generally paintball is divided into either its original incarnation woodsball, or the small arena-based and tournament de facto speedball. Amongst these paintball game types, variations of basic rules can be played.
Speedball is one of the three distinct game variants in the sport of paintball, along with woodsball and scenario paintball.
A water fight is a type of mock combat using various water-dispensing devices to soak opponents. Everything from buckets to balloons to water guns and even cupped hands cradling water can be applied in a water fight. There are many different levels of game play used by those engaging in water fights, from quick, casual fights to long, objective-oriented-style water warfare campaigns, and tournament-style games. In most but not all cases, the common objective is to soak one's opponents while trying to remain dry. Water fights are most common in hot summer weather in order to cool off.
Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball is a 2004 first-person paintball game released exclusively for the Xbox. The game gathered a cult following, consistently appearing on the Xbox Live Top 25 list posted by Major Nelson, peaking at the number nine position. A spin-off, Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D, was also released on multiple platforms many months later, with a full sequel released in 2010 for the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
WDP PAINTBALL LTD owns and operates NPF Bassetts Pole Adventure Park, a paintball site / adventure park in Birmingham., England. The company WDP is also known for manufacturing the Angel line of electropneumatic paintball markers.
Oklahoma D-Day was the world's largest scenario game of paintball that recreates events of World War II, held at Oklahoma's D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, Oklahoma every June. The game was created by Dewayne Convirs, and was first held in 1997 - with attendance of 135 players. The following year was more popular, with 335 players participating.
Combat archery, sometimes known as battle archery, is a sport similar to dodgeball, paintball or Nerf war played with bows and arrows tipped with foam.
Gotcha! Extreme Paintball is a first person paintball video game developed by Sixteen Tons Entertainment and published by Gathering. The game was produced by Ralph Stock. It was released on Microsoft Windows and Xbox in Germany first in 2004, and the rest of Europe in 2004 and 2005, following a release in North America in 2006, published by Viva Media.
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