Attacking and Defending

It may sound obvious but it does no harm to state that paintball is all about attacking and defending. Get these elements right and you’ll be on your way to becoming a successful team. But get them wrong and you’re in a whole world of trouble! Simply put, working as a team is vital if you’re to get the upper hand and ultimately defeat the enemy.

Attacking as an organised unit may take practice but the results will be well worth it. Attackers need to split into front players and back players; the back players provide covering fire so that the enemy does not see the advancing front players.

Keeping your fire steady and accurate will keep enemy heads down, leaving your team free to gain ground and secure the best position. However, back players must be aware of what is happening in front of them because the enemy may have also split up and be heading their way!

Front men must also be skilled in playing a controlled game. Paintball markers are not the quietest devices in the world so any shots are sure to give your position away.
Obviously the front men’s cover will now have been blown so they need to make a tactical retreat. Covering fire from the back men at the surviving enemy will give the front men the best chance of securing another hidden position.

So how does the defensive team counter this tactic? Well, the first way is not to play a defensive game! Digging in for victory is a dangerous move as the above explanation should have made clear!
The golden rule to remember is that, for the most part, two players should not share the same barrier. It gives the enemy too great a chance of eliminating you both and that’s a bad move on your part!

The first thing to watch out for is that long burst of covering fire which appears to be coming from the same place. The key here is not to bury your head in the sand. You need to be aware of everything that’s happening around you.

The way to do this effectively is to look around your barrier, not over the top of it. Looking over the top gives your enemy too much of a target. Also, vary the place you look out from because as soon as you become predictable, you increase the odds of being killed.

As you get more and more experienced you’re sure to find out what works best for you, but as a starting point, you could do worse than give these ideas a go.