Paintball Skirmish

I went to paintball skirmish today. I had never been before but some friends kept saying how much fun it is so I said I definitely had to go soon. Before this year, you had to travel to New South Wales to play paintball because of ridiculous gun laws in Victoria that said you had to have a gun license to play paintball. Finally the Government saw some sense and changed the law.

We went to a place in Coldstream (just after Lilydale) called Paintball Games. We decided to go for the half day package with 300 paint bullets which cost $90. You think 300 bullets sound like a lot, but when you're playing and going a bit gun crazy, you lose track of how many rounds you go through very quickly. A few people ended up using 500 bullets today.

We were split up into two teams and played three different games in total. Most of us were really tired by then or otherwise we could have played a fourth game if we wanted.

The first game was to steal the other teams flag. You start in your own castle and try to make your way across the field and capture their flag. I suggested that our team should give cover fire for each other and then go forward in staggered motions. We implemented this really well and I personally ended up dashing across to the other castle and bringing their flag back to our castle.

The second game was to protect a flag whilst staying in a defined area of space. This task proved too hard for both teams as we both lost the flag when it was our turn to protect it. It was just too hard to cover the whole 360 degrees with limited cover areas. We did end up with 5 team members when we captured their flag while they only had 2 left when they got ours.

The final game was to protect a "President" who had on a vest and if he was shot on that vest then we would lose. This time however, the Presidents team got a really good castle to hide behind and take aim from, making it almost impossible for the other team to shoot the president. Hence both teams protecting the President saved him and won.

Despite being quite expensive, I would say Paintball Skirmish is definitely worth it. I've played laser skirmish type games many times but it just doesn't have the same feel. The outdoor environment, the larger playing area and the reality of the paintball skirmish just makes it such a better game. When you see a bullet whiz past you or hit something right in front of you, you do flinch sometimes and feel that adrenalin rush. When you get hit by a bullet, you definitely know it. The force of the bullets were quite large, I've got about 3 bruises to prove it. The two late hits I took on the neck really stung at the time but now don't hurt. Instead I have a bruise on my upper arm, under a rib and on my thigh that I didn't even feel during the game but feel now.