Turnout: 22. Game Report by Mike, Joe, Vince and Craig

Pre-Game By Joe Lambert: I came early with Diane Boyd (a friend of my wife, Julie) and her son Jeremiah, It was Jeremiah"s second time and he had talked Diane into coming. Diane actually had played years before with the old pump pistols (stockguns). We got set up as more and more players begane showing up. My buddy John Hatfield made a rare appearence. Later in the day he gave Jeremiah his back-up Spyder (what a guy). The weather was great, even a little hot. Firstimers/beginners, the Imigs, Vince, my brother-in -law (who turned out to be a wildman), Josiah and Isaac, my nephews also showed up. It was going to be a good day.

Game 1. {Attack/Defense: Yellow defends Bunker, Red starts at Bridge} By Mike Aberle: I do remember a little of the first game. Mainly due to at least three big errors on my part. Most of the red team advanced through the reeds. We could see them much of the time, but range and obstructions made it a waste of paint to shoot. I and a couple other yellows ran around the rise to meet the red advance from the cover of the Log fort. They did not push against these positions, but set up a skirmish line in the reeds. I slipped around the creek to hit their back but was spotted and had neither the cover nor fire power to be effective. I fell back into the Old Fort, made sure they knew it was occupied by yellow, then slipped back across the creek out of their line of site. It worked. They did not risk advancing under the Old fort's gun ports. I tried harassment and hoped for a lucky shot. Luck was just not with me. I fell back before their luck improved. Besides, our fort was taking a lot of fire and I should have already left. I noticed a red player had advanced near the middle. I was falling back further when Joe suggested I fall back to protect the fort. Nearing the corner fort I spotted a player firing at our fort! I came up unseen to a bunker to his right and rear. Found a clear line of site & let go with one aimed shot that found it's target. He raised is gun and to my dismay I could see the yellow flag on his left arm. Darn! Feeling bad, not to mention stupid for not realizing the possibility our fort may be in enemy control, I continued toward the fort, called for help, and was soon firing at the red players in our fort. Upset over shooting out a team mate, I'm not thinking and wait for the Calvary to come help. I advanced and was soon out. We lost that game by spreading out defenses too thin and leaving only inexperienced players to hold the objective.

By Joe Lambert: I was on the Yellow/Defending team. I headed for the Log fort via the "rise". As I was moving up I saw the bad guys (Paul and another guy) also running from the opposite side, toward it from the reeds. I put on a burst of speed, got the the Fort first, popped up and surprised them at about a 20 ft range. I settled down waiting for more. Three friendlies, including Mike, passed behind me along the fence line going toward the creek. A firefight was starting from the Bunker area. I could see some guys moving in the "reeds", when I started hearing Craig bossing some of the younger guys I knew they were the opposing team. Although Craig kept issuing commands no one would come out of the "reeds" so I could shoot them. This went on for about ten minutes, Craig telling everyone what to do, but everyone just sitting in the reeds. Time was getting low, then I heard someone from the field yell, "red's got the Bunker!" I told Mike (who had filtered back near me), we better get back to the fort. Mike took off first, I stuck around thinking "well, now they'll do something", but no. I decided I had to go, when I got there Mike was engaging the Bunker from the corner of the rise. Time was running out, so I knew it was now or never, I hoped whoever was shooting at Mike wouldn't see me running along the hillside to his right to get a clear shot at him through the door of the Bunker. I was wrong, it turned out to be Mark Reising, he took me out as soon before I could get in position. Time ran out we lost.

By Craig Stanford: Stanford commanded, set out the strategy, and won. Reising completed mission

Game 2. {Capture the Flag, Yellow- Log, Red- Bunker} By Joe Lambert: I was on the Yellow at the Log fort, I took Isaac, my nephew across the creek and moved clear to the "Pinch Point" when someone (Paul, I think) across the creek tagged me. We lost.

By Craig Stanford: Stanford commanded, set out the strategy, and won. Reising completed mission

Game 3. {Joe's "Beleaguered Defender Mini Scenario" Yellow team split-corner/bridge, Red-Log}

Red Team	Yellow Team

By Joe Lambert: I had been thinking about this scenario since earlier in the week when Mike had suggested I come up with one. I repicked the teams because I felt most of the aggressive guys had ended up on the Red team. The Yellow team now had 12.5 (Craig's little guy) player and Red had 11.
The Story: Part of one team is holding the objective and running low on ammo. The other half of their team, with the extra ammo, is waiting in another location for information so they came come to the rescue. All the opposing team knows is they have to take the objective or lose.
I sent the Red team off to the Log Fort only telling them that the Corner fort was there objective. I chose the Yellow team to be the beleaguered defenders/Rescuers, 5 players Craig, his son, Mike, Mark and Jeremiah were "trapped behind enemy lines" in the Corner fort. I sent them down to the Corner fort and told them to wait for me to give them the rest of their orders. The rest of the Yellow team, younger guy's, were told to wait at the bridge until they were told they could leave. I then walked down to the corner fort and told the defenders they were restricted to 1 hopper full of paint. I told them, at game start they could send up to 2 runners to the bridge to get the other half of the team on the move. I also told them, when and if the rescuers arrived at the Corner fort the defenders could only then start using the extra paint in their loaders. I told both teams the game at one half hour, I was on the Yellow Team, and was going to be neutral until the 2nd half of the game. I told both teams as long as I had the (Paul's) pink towel over my shoulder I was a referee, but at some point later I would remove it and join the game. Since I was the scenario creator I was "In the Know", I planned to enter the game some time after the "rescuers" made to the corner fort.
When every one knew what was going on I walked out to the Deadman fort and started the game. Craig, captain of the Corner fort decided to send Mark Reising and Jeremiah Boyd for help. As the game started Mark and Jeremiah sped across the "rise" toward the Bridge. The Red team having overheard about the runners launched Paul and another unidentified player racing into the field toward the Bunker to try and stop them. Mark dived into the Bunker as Jeremiah continued on to bring help. Paul had only seen Jeremiah running, so Mark got a free shot and took him out. Paul's companion retreated (I think). The rest of the Red team was hitting the corner Fort pretty hard when Jeremiah made it to the bridge. By now four Red players (including Paul) were out of the game. As the Referee I collected them at the Dead man fort. I could see Jeremiah leading the cautious rescuers to the rise. Mark, still in the Bunker yelled for them to run to the Corner fort when he saw them. I could see things were about to get worse for team Red, so I told the four red dead guys to go back to the Log fort, pull their barrel plugs and reenter the game. After they had disappeared into the trees, ridding myself of my pink towel I yelled that I was in the game. I milled around in the field not seeing any red guys when suddenly couple of paintballs whizzed by my head from the reeds. I spotted the sniper and opened up on him with my Shocker, He hunkered down into the reeds, not having a clear shot I began using the WW2 Russian general's philosophy that "quantity has a quality all of it's own". I sent a steady stream of paint as I advanced on the sniper's spot until I heard "OUT". I turned out it was Jeremiah's Mom, Diane a first time player. By this time there were three shot out reds (including Diane) milling around near the Deadman fort. I decided to turn back into a Referee for a second and sent them back into the game as I had done earlier with the group of four. After they had gone nothing was happening in the field so I went into the "reeds" and began sneaking towards the Log fort. Diane not knowing, ran into a clump of pallets in the field and engaged Mark in the Bunker. I thought I'll just slip up behind her and see how she likes being sniped from the reeds. Maybe my sneaking technic needs a little work because just before I got into position for my shot she heard me. I did surprise her though and after some unmanly screaming (hers, not mine) I got her on the hopper. Red was still taking it on the chin and I felt kinda bad for doing this back door move on the survivors, but only a little, so I continued. Things don't always work out as we envision them, because when I came out of the reeds Ryan hosed me from the Log fort. I walked back to the Deadman fort, put on my pink towel and refereed the game to the end as the yellow team switch over to offense and was hunting down the Red holdouts when time ran out.

By Craig Stanford: Stanford commanded, set out the strategy, and won

Game 4. {Attack/Defend. Yellow Defends old, Red attacks from bridge} By Vince Imig: As a recent newcomer to the game of paintball, as well as lacking in a military history background and/or a basic understanding of military strategy, my input may be somewhat limited; however, following are a couple observations/questions that I might offer. I was on the attacking team (red). I believe that we failed to take the fort for at least three reasons.
One, the attacked stronghold had a "water barrier", the creek. It was very hard to cross this without being fairly easy prey for the fort defense.
Two. Myself, as well as others, ran out of CO2 (thus ammo), for the last five minutes of battle in this game.
The third reason I believe that we failed may be the most debatable. (Again, I plead ignorance) It appears to me that taking over a fortified stronghold such as the fort requires a sudden and direct frontal assault by several fighters, regardless of almost certain casualties. I am reminded of a Daniel Boone story I heard from my childhood. After being held under siege in a fort along a river for several days, the men realized that the Indians were digging a tunnel from beside the river to the inside of the fort. They also knew that there would be no shortage of redskins to break through inside, even though it meant certain death for the first ones. Fortunately, heavy rains collapsed the tunnel before they finished it, and the Indians gave up the assault. As a "newbie", I would welcome any argument against, or support for, these ideas. (NOTE form Joe: Vince was the only guy who scared us (he got very close, just thru shear guts). If everyone one his team would have been like him the "Indians" would have won)

By Craig Stanford: Stanford commanded, set out the strategy, and won

Game 5. {Attack / Defend. Bridge defends , Bunker attacks} By Mike Aberle: Last game had the remains of the yellow team, Ken, Mark & myself. Our objective was to capture the Bridge fort from it's four defenders. We had 15 minutes. No solid plan, just probe their defenses for a weakness,then try to exploit it. Ken went center of the pasture, I went straight out from the Bunker fort with Mark just to my left. We saw no one. Advanced up to the tree line. Still no one. Spooky. I probe into the tree line and present enough of a target to entice a shot. Still nothing. Beginning to feel like I'm holding a snipe bag, but not willing to walk in much closer. I swung around Mark & started to advance near the left tape line when I saw it. Something white & in the shape of a hopper lid on the side of a tree. I called out my find pointing out the tree to my team mates & was answered by a volley of balls. Hasty retreat. At least one ball made it through the undergrowth to brush the Veil on my mask. Mark returns fire and makes the tag. All is silent again. Ken swings farther right to the edge of the trees. Mark advances. I push the tape line & advance to directly North of the Bridge fort. Ken draws fire from the fort area. Mark advances to the big tree. I spot what looks like an arm with a red band around it that must belong to someone that's trying to be sneaky & slip around the staging building. I warn Mark. Some one calls out and ends a volley of fire from Ken's area. Drat! Its Ken. I charged to the fire wood pile some thirty feet closer to the Bridge fort in the hope of giving Craig, the guy behind the building, less of a shot. Not good. I end up taking fire from fort and Craig. Craig finds a hole and brakes a ball on my visor. I'm out. Mark catches one soon after to end the game. You win some, you lose some...okay, several. The fun is in the trying.

By Craig Stanford: Stanford commanded, set out the strategy, and won against superior
players. Stanford shot out Ken and Mike.