ok you're a newbie, preparing for your first game.  Here are some things
you can expect your first day:


- you will get shot.  Probably several times.  Possibly more than once
  each game.  Get used to it.  The average player will get eliminated
  once every other game.  The average newbie will get eliminated
  MOST games that day.  It takes time.

- you will be scared.  this is natural for anyone that is not used to
  doing something with this much adrenaline.  Use it to your advantage
  the first few rounds.  Stay in cover as much as possible, and try
  to follow a pair of experienced players.  When shooting breaks out,
  you might just want to stay in cover and watch how they play.  Don't
  feel bad if they complain you are not doing much good for the team,
  they may not realize you are new.  Tell them, and they will give
  you quick pointers.

- you may get lost.  Fields are large, and it's easy to get disoriented
  when playing.  Try to keep track of where you are in relation to the
  staging area.  Learning the field is a necessary step in improving
  your abilities and enjoyment of the game.

- Experienced players may not recognize you as a newbie -- if you get
  hit, and you know you're out, yell it.  In fact, yell "OUT" about
  three times, not quite at a scream, but very loud.  Your face protection
  is muffling your voice, their ear protection is making them hard of
  hearing, and they probably have a loud gun 2' from their face.  Make
  sure they hear you.  Raise your gun above your cover with both hands.
  Hold it there about two seconds and then stand straight up with gun
  above your head.  Chances are you may get shot at some more if you
  don't do at least some of the above.  Even if you DO do all the above,
  it's still possible someone may not realize you're out.  Just yell at
  them and remind them you're out.  Leave the battle area as soon as
  possible -- players hate having 'dead men' walking around; they're
  quite distracting.  Also, don't fire your gun while going back to the
  staging area - you will distract other players still in the game, and
  may get shot at. (by accident, OR on purpose)  If they hear shooting,
  they'll expect that's a player that's still in the game.

- neverNEVERnever take your goggles off, except in the staging area.
  Even if your goggles are fogging up, and there is no one in sight,
  DON'T DO IT.  There may be another newbie to your left that is just
  walking up on you and isn't looking to see if your goggles are off.
  It's not worth it.  If your goggles are fogging too much to play,
  call yourself out and return to the staging area to clean/treat them
  with some anti-fogg if available.

- bug spray.  use liberally.  DON'T get it on your goggles' lens --
  some sprays will marr, pitt up, or cloud up the lens.  permonantly.

- if someone offers to loan you something, accept it.  You'll want to
  experament a little to see what suits you best.  Try several guns,
  several masks to see what you like.  If someone offers to loan you
  a squeegee, ACCEPT WITH THANKS.  Be sure not to lose it.  They come
  in *very* handy.  Same applies to loaders.  Anything that's in your
  pockets, you WILL LOSE.  Just assume that.  Don't put anything in
  your pants or shirt pockets that you value.  Fanny packs with
  zippers are better.

- bring something to carry spare paint in if you don't have a loader.
  Those Kraft parmesan cheese containers make great loaders - they're
  soft plastic and clear.  Also stuff about 5 sheets of paper towel
  in your pocket - you'll need them if you get shot in the goggles.
  The more expensive paper towel is better - maybe buy a roll before
  the game.

- If you are going to carry spare paint on the field, make sure that
  whatever you put it in is about the right size.  If you have a
  container only 1/2 full, the paint will rattle around a lot and
  could give your position away, and worse still, if you are running
  around the balls get jarred around a lot and may start breaking, and
  will ruin them all. (paintball soup, mmmmmm)

- check for field rules.  Some fields don't count head or foot shots.
  Others will not allow physical contact or shots at less than 10'.
  Ask the players about surrenders.  Sometimes the field policiy is to
  ask for a surrender if you think you can get one, but the players will
  just turn and shoot 99% of the time.  Listen to the PLAYERS here.

- NEVER ask whose team a player is on during a game.  If you don't know,
  _avoid_ them.  If you can't risk it, SHOOT them.  If I hear a newbie
  in the bushes ask me if I'm on his team, I'll shoot 'em without a
  though.  Reason?  if you're on the opposing team, good I got an
  elimination.  If you're on *my* team and don't know who to shoot
  at, I don't WANT you near me, for risk of getting shot BY you.

- NEVER ask a player if they're out.  If they don't have their gun
  above their head and don't have any obvious hits on them, shoot 'em.
  If they WERE out, it's their own darn fault for not acting dead.

- If you're being shot at and cannot return fire, MOVE.  I don't care
  if they ARE shooting at you.  If you don't move soon, one of their
  friends will run over to your side and shoot at you and there will
  be nowhere to hide.  This is probably the cause of 90% of newbie
  eliminations.  Read this again.  Remember: MOVE.  It's better to
  move sideways than away from your opponant.  If you run straight
  away from them, they'l line up on you and start hailing in paint
  while raising their gun, and one of them will hit you.  If you
  run left or right, you force them to try to get the correct
  DIRECTION as well as range, and they will more than likely miss.

- chrono your gun if possible before each game.  Nobody likes anyone
  with a hot gun.  Check with the players to see if the field has
  an unusual limit on fps. (some go by 300, others 280)

- if someone has an interesting looking gun, ask them if you can shoot
  it a few times.  Most people will say yes.  Drop in a handfull of balls
  into their hopper before walking up to the range, and don't shoot more
  than you put in.  You might find a gun you like.  If they seem to have
  more than one gun, ask to shoot the one they're not using.  Maybe it's
  for sale?  Maybe they will loan it to you for the game or the day!

- try to help others during the game. (this is more for later in the day,
  when you're "getting the hang of it")  If a teammate jumps up and tries
  to advance, pop up and shoot at where the opponants are at.  It's not
  important to actually HIT them, just to remind them there is someone
  out there that WANTS to hit them.  Instead of shooting at your
  teammate, they'll keep their heads down and your teammate will gain
  better position.  Then he'll start shooting and YOU can move up.
  It works great.  Chances are good if you can hit it off with an
  experienced player, they won't mind you "partnering" with them for
  the game or even the rest of the day.

- if you are looking to borrow someone's mask, and you wear glasses,
  be sure to tell them this before you take the goggles.  Some goggles
  are not designed with glasses in mind, and the corners of the bows
  will touch the inside lens, and scratch it up.  New thermal (no fog)
  lenses are expensive, and they may not want you to scratch them up.
  Remember that if you are borrowing dual-pane lenses, be extremely
  gentle with the inside side of the lens.  Clean it only with a clean
  paper towel or soft clean cloth, and rub slowly and gently.  Chances
  are good that the inside will not need cleaning anyway.

- try to play reasonably agressive when possible.  The biggest complaint
  I have on newbies is when they go find a big bush, crawl inside,
  and just SIT there.  These kind will usually always be the last man
  left on their team, and frustrate their opponants by just sitting
  and making everyone look for them.  This is not good for your image.
  A lot of newbies think they can just hole up somewhere and other players
  will just start walking past them one at a time like a suck shoot.  I
  have seen it happen ONCE in all my games.

- if you are renting/borrowing/using a pump gun, and it has an "auto-
  trigger" feature, use it.  Be aware, when you are wildly pumping
  the gun, look at the tip of the barrel.  It's probably flopping
  around all over the place.  Your accuracy will really suck when
  autotriggering, so only use it to "keep heads down" when your
  teammates need cover fire, or when an opponant is charging or is too
  close for comfort.



NEWBIE QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q: "Does it hurt when you get hit by a paintball?"

A: it can.  There are dozens of factors that go into this, but the biggest
   ones include (1) distance bwtween gun and target, (2) speed of gun (fps),
   (3) angle of impact (grazes can be worse), (4) age and condition of ball,
   (5) place it hits you, and (6) protection at place it hits you.
   Hits can be so soft that you cannot feel them, or can feel like getting
   snapped by a thick rubber band.  Welts CAN happen, and it's been my
   experience that the uglier the welt, the less it hurts. (bizarre, I know)
   Try your hardest to get a mask with face protection.  This includes
   nose, mouth, and ears if possible.  If your mask does not have plastic
   flaps that cover your ears, put the mask on so that the straps cross
   over yours ears.  Ear shots hurt.

Q: "What do I do if someone asks me to surrender?"

A: this is a judgement call.  If they are behind you and less than 100' away,
   I'd give it to them.  If you are getting charged by a bunch of players
   with semis, decide if you want to risk the welts.  If they're dumb enough
   to ask for a surrender when you've got your gun pointed at them, light
   'em up.  If someone asks you to surrender, and you think they are not close
   enough, run. (sideways, preferably)  If they complain later because you got
   away when they say they "could have had you", well, they had the chance
   when you ran, and they obviously were not close enough to have a gauranteed
   hit, eh?  :-)

Q: "What should I wear?"

A: camo is good, but the biggest consideration is the place you'll be playing.
   Some fields have streams running through them, and most have mud, rocks,
   and stumps.  An old pair of boots and some durable clothes with earth
   colors (no day-glo!) are a good choice.  Gloves are unnecessary.
   Avoid black.  Look outside, how much black do you see?  Try dark
   green, grey, or (suprisingy) dark blue.  I'm not sure why, but dark
   blue is hard to spot.  A good combo for a newbie is some grey stonewash
   jeans and a green sweatshirt.  Wear a belt in case someone offers to
   loan you their squeegee, loaders, or something else useful.  Dark blue
   bluejeans are also strangely hard to spot, but don't wear a blue shirt.
   My favorite casual dress is a green sweatshirt and bluejeans.

Q: "Isn't it hard to get all that paint out of your clothes?"

A: Today's paintballs are made with a shell the same as a contact capsule,
   and are filled with a very thick, water soluable paint.  It will wash off
   and out with no special attention.  Paintballs are also non-toxic and
   bio-degradable.  Unfortuantely, they taste AWFUL.

Q: "What if I run out of ammo?"

A: Well, the best idea is NOT to let that happen.  If you are shooting and
   suddenly realize you've only got a few balls left in the hopper, shoot
   very conservatively.  If you run out completely, you have a couple options.
   (1) fake them out.  Some guns are very hard to tell "by ear" if they are
   shooting "blanks" or not. or (2) pick up some balls off the ground.
   Be sure to rub them off, but not if you're borrowing someone's gun.
   In any event, find a teammate that will loan you a few balls until the
   end of the game.  Bring a plastic peanut butter jar or similar to hold
   some extra paintballs.  Make sure it fits securely in a side pocket.
   Note: do NOT pick up balls off the ground if you are borrowing someone's
   gun - if the balls have any dirt on them when fired, they'll put a
   scratch in the barrel, and some of these guys paid around $100 for their
   special barrels!

Q: my shots are totally inacurate.  I can't hit anything, and I can't
   even get my shots near that guy way over there.  What's wrong
   with my gun?

A: First, check the barrel for paint.  Just stick your finger in the
   end and rub and look.  If you've got paint on your finger, borrow
   a teammate's squeegee.  If you can't, you'll have to work around
   your inacuracy for now.  Also, paintguns are NOT very accurate.
   You're not holding a firearm; your absolute range will be around
   350 ft, and your effective range will be more like 200 ft.  
   If your range is REALLY down, your air tank may be running low.
   Check with a teammate.  Expect 400-500 shots if you have a pump,
   (with a 7 oz tank) or 350-500 shots if you have a semi. (with a 7
   or 12 oz tank)  An average gun will not be able to *gaurantee* a
   hit on a 1ft wide target at more than 100'.  The balls are also moving
   slower by the time they reach the target, so your opponant may actually
   be able to dodge them.

Q: "My paintballs keep breaking in the hopper/loader - is this 'bad paint'?"

A: possibly.  More likely you are shaking it around too much.  It's been my
   experience that if you get your balls in your hopper all mucked up, you
   probably chopped a ball when recocking.  If you're using a pump, be sure
   to hold back long enough to let the ball drop all the way into the gun.
   Almost every time you have broken balls in your loader tubes it's because
   they were packed too loosely.  After you fill a loader, shake it side to
   side and spin it.  Top it off with some more balls.  Repeat until you
   cannot make any more room in the loader.  When you use your loader, be
   sure to use ALL the balls.  Any you leave in the loader are likely to
   get banged up when you run around.  Try not to swing the gun around
   too much when running, especially if your hopper is running low.
   The balls can only take so many bounces in the hopper before one
   breaks, and that IS A MESS to clean, and will coat all the other balls
   and make each one hook or slice in a new and unimpressive way.

Q: I keep getting smoked.  I shoot at them when I see them, and get
   my head down when they shoot back, but I still get hit from
   every direction.  What am I doing wrong?

A: maybe nothing.  If you are new, and playing against tough, seasoned
   players, this may be somewhat normal.  Ask them to go easy on
   "the new guys".  They usually will re-divide teams so the newbies
   have it easier.  Be sure that they put more EXPERIENCED players with
   the newbies; a bigger pack of newbies is not always better.  Also,
   you are obeying the "MOVE" rule, right?  Also, just because your gun
   can deliver a paintball 300 ft, that does not mean you can expect
   to HIT anything at that range.  You might want to try waiting until
   they get a bit closer - maybe 100 ft or so - before popping up and
   opening fire. (just don't hide all day)  If you're shooting as soon
   as you see them, you're just giving your position away.



Strategy Tips:

* FLANKING: most times when you confront the enemy, you will be arranged
  roughly as two lines.  The best place to have your own people is in
  front of AND behind the enemy, so start flanking.  If you happen to be
  on one of the ends of the line, try to circle around.  You might have to
  take a little detour, such as backing up and circling wide, but if you
  can do this without being spotted, you will catch that end of the enemy
  line off-gaurd, and will get one or more eliminations, plus throw a good
  part of the enemy team into momentary chaos.  At this point, start taking
  shots at the back of the enemy line, even if you cannot hope to make an
  accurate shot at such a long range.  If you can flush them, they will
  move to the edge of their cover (tree?) to avoid your shots, which will
  expose them to the rest of your team, which is probably in a better
  position to hit them.  If both ends of your team flank properly in this
  way, you will crush your opponants quickly.  If you have a choice, aim
  at the one that has the best cover from your teammates, because he's the
  one your teammates will be least able to help you with when you become
  a popular person with the enemy team.

* FLANKING DEFENSE:  the other team will be thinking to flank too.  If your
  route to flank is too exposed to do effectively, consider laying a trap
  for the other team.  This is the one good time to find a spot and hide and
  wait, because chances are better than 50/50 that they will come right into
  your lap.  They will be trying to get behind the end of your line, so find
  a spot with a curved area of cover that protects you from the main enemy
  line, AND from the side.  Bunker down and wait for company to arrive.  Wait
  until the last possible second before you shoot.  If you are lucky, you will
  catch them running (or creeping) by your position, thinking they are
  approaching the enemy line, rather than waling into the middle of it. :)


                                *E4                  
                                                     
  T     *T          T                   
  *      **     T              Y*
               ***             **      E3
                                                     
                       *                             
                                       *             
                                        E2           
                                                     
 **                        **       *                
 E*       ***               E       E1               
           EE                                        



Above I show cover (*)   your team (T)   you (Y)   and the enemy (E)
E1..E4 shows the path of the flanker, looking to get a position behind your
team.  If you stake out position as show, you should be able to take out
the flanker between positions E3 and E4.  If the flanker reaches E4, it will
be very hard to avoid shots from you AND your teammates.  This example shows
only five to a team, and your team should be larger than this if you are
to make a trap like this, because being a man "short" for a time with so
few players can be lethal.  Remember for this to work, you must not be
spotted by the flanker, or he will be watching out for you.  You may even
get a surrender if he tries to go to the other side of your cover!


* CLIMBING TREES:   don't.  It's that simple.  If you are EXTREMELY lucky, you
  will get just one good shot, and then you are... well you are TREED and going
  to get shot a LOT.  Remember that your gun's range is about 200ft, but
  that's if you don't have branches in the way.  Chances are you will not be
  able to hit anything more than 100' away, and again you cannot hope that on
  a large field thay anyone will happen to walk anywhere NEAR you.

* CRAWLING: not advised.  I have seen it only work once, and that was done by
  experts, with custom modified camo just for the occasion.  If you want to
  be a sneak, just flank wide and quiet.  There's nothing more satisfying than
  tapping an opponant on the back of the shoulder and saying "you're out".

* USING CAMO: It's the chain theory - your camo is only as good as your least
  camoflaged part.  You can spend $150 on a ghilli suit, and then put that
  black anodized gun in your and and stick out worse than when you started.
  The mask is also very easy to see.  It has a white-clear glint in any
  light from any angle, and the rest is usually jet black.  If you are going
  to camoflage yourself to be "invisible", remember to camo it all.  You can
  get many kinds of camo cloth at fabric stores.  Buy a few yards and play
  around with a scissors.  You can have a lot of fun with it if you are used
  to playing games where one team goes to an area and sets up an ambush and
  the other team has to assult them.  Remember when making your camo not to
  simply wrap everything...  you need to break up the form.  Loosely wrap it
  around the gun.  Leave flaps hanging off here and there.  Leave large flaps
  in places and cut them to make 1" wide streamers.  If you do it right, if
  you hold your gun to your body, the onlooker should not be able to tell
  what position your arms or gun is in, when at a distance of 50'.


* GUN PROBLEMS:  If something happens to your gun that makes it not work, or
  if you run out of paint, you don't have to quit if you don't want to.  There
  is a small chance that someone on your team will be able to help you get
  your gun working again, or loan you some paint.  If nothing else, you can be
  a "distraction" to the enemy, and try to draw some fire away from some of
  your teammates.  If it's a game of capture the flag, you just became the
  flag puller/runner/hanger.  You'll move faster without a gun and hppper
  to lug around. ;-)

* FULL-AUTO GUNS:  There are a few out there, and lots of newbies drool at the
  chance of getting one.  They are no good.  Each has a complex mechanical way
  to feed the paintballs into the gun fast, and they break easily.  They're
  also very difficult to clean, and don't react well when a ball breaks.  It's
  usually very difficult or time-consuming to reload them.  A good semi will
  work much better, and will probably be cheaper.



You should be about as prepared as possible for your first game.  HAVE FUN!