Below are basic and common rules of the game. The rules given below may be altered or may adapt variation depending on the organizers of a paintball tournament where a player is joining.

Equipments

Goggle System refers to the use of the mask which is the most important equipment for safety of the players. The goggle system is for the protection of the players face, particularly the eyes.

Paintball velocity is needed to be constantly checked and monitored. Paintball markers are designed to have a standard maximum velocity which is 300 feet per second or 200 miles per hour. To ensure the safety of the players, this velocity is required to be monitored through chronographs because when paintballs travel faster than the maximum velocity limit, players can possibly acquire serious injuries. Chronographs are customary equipment used in measuring the paintball’s speed of rate. Players are required to chronograph their markers after every adjustment or replacement of parts is done because these changes may alter the marker’s speed. Likewise, the paintball itself must be chronographed because a change in temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure may also alter its velocity.

Barrel Blocking Device

When players are not actively on the filed for the game or tournament, they must ensure that paintballs will not be accidentally or intentionally shot by using a barrel blocking device. These devices contain a small bag, which is termed as barrel sock, barrel bag, or barrel condom, that covers the front end of the barrel. This barrel blocking device is used in catching any paintballs that are accidentally or unintentionally fired. Barrel plugs used to be a popular barrel blocking device but they were replaced by the barrel sack because plugs have the tendency to fall out or be shot out.

Player Eliminations

Players are out of the game when they are hit by their opponent with a paintball. A player is termed as ‘hit’, ‘marked’, or ‘tagged’ when the paintball shot on him breaks and leaves a paint mark. Any size of mark counts as a qualifying mark for elimination. A splatter of paint that was only incurred by the player from a ball that breaks near him does not qualify him to be eliminated from the game but when the splatter sizes larger than a dime or nickel, he is then eliminated. In most fields, hits on all body parts including the gear he uses (like foot, gun, backpack hits) are counted for elimination. If the player is unsure whether the paint mark he has is valid or not, he may call as referee for a paintcheck. In some rules, a player who requests for a paintcheck is termed ‘neutral’ and is exempted from being shot while the inspection is being done. Being ‘marked’ or ‘tagged’ is not the only way to be eliminated. Players who wish to be out of the game may yell and call themselves out. This is usually done when a player committed a penalty like stepping out of boundary.
Players may request official for a paintcheck on their opponents if they think that they successfully fired a paintball on them. It is possible that a player continues to play because he is unaware of the hit he incurred or he may intentionally hide or cover his hit mark. If this intentional covering of hit marks is done by a player, it is termed as ‘wiping’, which is a serious offense that may lead to being banned from the playing location.

Surrender Rule

Surrendering is acceptable in a paintball game. A player who wishes to make his opponent surrender and he is within 10 to 15 feet distance from him, may yell “surrender” or “mercy” before an open fire is declared. The target player who surrenders is then considered out of the match as soon as he signals that he is willing to surrender, mostly with the raising of the hand or the marker.

In official paintball tournaments, surrendering is not one of the rules, instead the players are mandated to mark their opponents even when they are caught off guard. Other play tactics are run through or bunkering. In the ‘run through,’ a player moves down the field in order to shoot as many opponents as possible while in bunkering, a player shoots his opponent from over the top or around the side of the bunker or barricade where his opponent hides or covers.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 9:01 pm and is filed under Essentials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.