Maximum Violence Tactics

Acting as a team is probably THE single most important factor to winning. Sure, every now and then a single player has an inspired game and leads his team to victory ... but it's the exception rather than the rule. I'd know I'd rather have my money on a team that plays as a unit.

So where to start? First a few points which become pretty obvious if you watch some of the really good teams : Captaincy and Membership They have a Captain who is in control, both on and off the field. (S)He provides motivation, tactics and the 'glue' to keep the team functioning as a cohesive unit. More importantly he must inspire players - sure words like respect, trust, pride and loyalty may sound very 'grand' for a game like Paintball but the truth is that they make THE difference. To play at their best players must belong to something they believe in. It follows from the above that teams must suit players and players must be compatible with other team members. I've seen players that just 'don't work' in some teams but work brilliantly with others. Teams need to agree on a way to recruit new members. I recommend a probationary period (so both sides can check compatibility) and a team vote before full membership is earned.

A good captain thinks of all of the players in the team, the strong and the slow, the loudmouths and the quiet types. This means using different techniques to motivate, praise, train or discipline different players.

Aims and 'Team Rules' Early on (and throughout their existence) teams need to decide what it is they (as a unit and/or as individuals) are trying to achieve. Teams who want to play 'social Paintball' require a very different type of player and commitment than tournament teams. A player who has all the high tech gear, uses heaps of paint and trains by running up hills 4 nights a week will (generally) not be happy within a team where the majority of players turn up 10 minutes before a game, grab rental guns and take the field still chatting about last nights party.

Teams should agree early on how fees and paint bills will be split, what training will be required (both individually and as a group), what equipment is expected etc.

I recommend that all teams playing in competitions split paint bills equally between players (i.e. those actually playing in that comp). Why? Because a guy playing 'point' is far more likely to be hit early on (before he's used much paint) but his performance may rely on the 'gunner' behind him using $50 worth of covering fire.

Teams should agree on when they want to turn up for training sessions or games and players need to recognise that this is a commitment they should make every effort to meet. Nothing ruins a competition or a practice faster than having 1/2 the team turn up late!

Decision Making The team must have players who are able to assume leadership roles on (and off) the field. Teams that rely completely on their captain for on-field leadership lose more than a player when their captain is tagged out early in the game - they frequently lose their tactical capability. On field each squad will need leadership - especially in bush games with 10 or more players a side when cross field communication can be a problem. In small team games (eg 5 man) EVERY player needs to be able to communicate with team mates and issue 'orders' to the others. As an example a teams most junior player on point needs to be able to tell his captain to give him covering fire or to move to a new position. 'Rank' on the field must give way to expediency.

Ultimately every player needs to be able to make a decision if they are the player on the spot. The team culture needs to balance following orders or plans with the freedom to take advantage of situations as they occur or to recover from setbacks when plans fail.

Delegation
Off field jobs in the staging area need to be delegated. In a tense competition a captain can quickly hit information overload if every player (or official) comes to him with every problem. Developing specific jobs for people (including gassing, paint preparation, rules and scoring, cleaning, gun repair, tactics etc) means that people know what's expected of them and team preparations can be accomplished with fewer instructions and less stress.

The points above concentrate more on off-field issues. While a team can set ground rules for behaviour for training and 'management' the hard part is trying to weld the group into a unit that can perform better than the sum of it's parts when on the field.

I'll get on to on-field matters later, but first I'll look at communication and team calls because they highlight a lot of the tactical points a team must react to. When you look at the 'advanced calls' they are as much a definition of the various tactics as a description of a call.

TEAM CALLS
When any group of players gets together there is certain information they must spread amongst themselves if they are to act as a team.

I'd recommend that new teams start by calling in plain english - the MOST important thing is that all team members understand the messages. Sure, using codes helps keep your opponents in the dark but this is of little value if some of your own.

The following is a list of useful calls. Those in the first group are a very basic set that new teams should use. Others are more advanced and should only be used once a team has begun to 'click'.

BASIC CALL SET
Team Id A way of identifying your own players is useful (especially when you don't know each other by sight). Suggestions are to use a challenge/password pattern (although this is easily faked by the opposition once they've heard it working) or to have a changing code e.g. Total of challenge and response = 10. Challenge "3", response "7" etc. A lot of teams end up using 'handles' for each player on their team. Most teams seem to eventually rely on recognition of the voice, camo, equipment or field position to identify their own players. As a general rule once teams have experience and are communicating well then the chance of a 'friendly fire' tag are greatly reduced.Hit Count The most important call (although it's only of use in 'elimination' games). I'd recommend that a team develops a simple way of counting how many opponents they have hit and how many of their own players have been eliminated. One suggestion is to use 'ups and downs'. A call of "1 Up" means that one opponent has been eliminated. A call of "2 Down" means that your team has lost 2 players. Some other popular methods are using 'VC 1, 2 3' etc for the opposition or to use 10's for one side and 1's for the other. e.g. a call of '21' may mean that 2 opposition and one of your team have been eliminated.Time All players should wear a watch but a call giving the number of have hit and how many of their own players have been eliminated. One suggestion is to use 'ups and downs'. A call of "1 Up" means that one opponent has been eliminated. A call of "2 Down" means that your team has lost 2 players. Some other popular methods are using 'VC 1, 2 3' etc for the opposition or to use 10's for one side and 1's for the other. e.g. a call of '21' may mean that 2 opposition and one of your team have been eliminated.Time All players should wear a watch but a call giving the number of have hit and how many of their own players have been eliminated. One suggestion is to use 'ups and downs'. A call of "1 Up" means that one opponent has been eliminated. A call rminal' problem and you are totally unable to shoot. (There are still plenty of useful actions a player without a gun can take)Covering Fire Give me covering fire (before/as I make a move).Flag Grab You/Your Team has got the/their flagFlag Gone The opposition have got the/your flagContact I have located (and usually also shooting at) one of the opposition. 'Contact 3 Left' means contact with three opposition players on the left.Clear Position is clear, player is not in contact.

(Borrowed From Another Website) But we follow these guidline to the Fullest