Paintball variations
Encyclopedia
Paintball
is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. Generally paintball is divided into either its original incarnation woodsball
, or the small arena-based and tournament de facto speedball
. Amongst these paintball game types, variations of basic rules can be played.
Paintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. Generally paintball is divided into either its original incarnation woodsball
Woodsball
Woodsball is a format of paintball gaming, in which players compete in a natural outdoors area using paintball markers to tag opponents....
, or the small arena-based and tournament de facto speedball
Speedball
Speedball is one of the two distinct game variants in the sport of paintball, the other being woodsball. It is a general term for a game in which the playing field is composed of bunkers, of the same location and number on each side of the field, that provide an equal playing field for each team...
. Amongst these paintball game types, variations of basic rules can be played.
Basic variations
- Capture the FlagCapture the flagCapture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
- When paintball was first started in 1981, the very first game played was a round of capture the flag with twelve people divided into two teams. Each team must take the flag from the opponents' flag station and return it to their own station to win. Alternatively, in a variation called centerflag, a single flag may be placed in the center of the field for both teams to compete over. - King of the Hill - Players attempt to capture and hold one or more bases.
- Elimination or Slayer - Teams or individual player must simply eliminate all of their opponents. Most games with a primary goal, such as capture the flag, use this as a secondary winning condition.
Tournament formats
Tournaments may be played with teams of various sizes, although the most common modern-day formats are 3-man, 7-man and 13-man. 20-man and 15-man tournaments were common on wooded fields in the 1980s, and professional paintball teams played 10-man for most of the 90's and into the new millennium, but today tournament paintball is dominated by 3 to 5 small, 7 to 10 med , and 13 to 15 man large formats. In most tournament formats, teams play a set of games against various opponents. Teams earn points for each game, with the most points awarded for capturing and hanging the flag, but some also awarded for opponents eliminated and teammates left alive at the end of the game.- Capture the Flag - The original tournament format, woodsball tournaments of any size are commonly capture the flag format, as well as most 3-man or 5-man speedball tournaments, but may also be used with other team sizes. The game starts with a flag at each team's starting station, and the team to capture their opponent's flag and return it to their starting station wins. The National Professional Paintball League plays a 7-man capture the flag format, which was used in the NPPL US Paintball Championship (NPPL Commander's Cup 2005 in Miami) broadcast on ESPN2 in the spring of 2006. 7-man capture the flag is also played by regional tournament series like the Xtreme Paintball Sports League and the New England Paintball League.
- Centerflag - The two flags of capture the flag are replaced by one flag located at the center of the field. The first team to take this flag to the opposing team's starting station wins the game. 3-man, 7-man and some 13-man competitions primarily use the centerflag format. Paintball Sports Promotions, a national circuit, offers 5-man centerflag divisions in addition to XBall.
- XBall - A newer format first played at the International Amateur Open in 2002, XBall pits two teams against each other in multiple rounds of Center Flag played one after another until game time runs out. A team scores one point for each game of centerflag they win, and the team with the most points at the end of the match wins. Professional XBall matches are 50 minutes long, split into two halves, while non-professional matches use various shorter game times. Although only 5 or 7 players per team play in any given game, depending on league rules, teams may roster up to 19 players and substitute them after each point. Unlike most tournament formats that forbid players to communicate with people on the sidelines, XBall teams have a coach who can communicate, along with the spectators, with players on the field. Players who receive penalties are not permanently removed from the game, but placed in a hockey-like penalty box for several minutes. The National XBall League, a professional circuit associated with Paintball Sports Promotions, plays the XBall format, which was also used for the Smart Parts World Paintball Championships broadcast on ESPN2 in the fall of 2006.
- XBall Light Like XBall, but only has one period, typically 15 minutes long. The first team to reach a set point total (commonly 5 or 7 points), or the team with the highest point total after game time has elapsed, wins the match. XBall Light is offered by Paintball Sports Promotions as well as regional series like the Carolina Field Owners Association.