2008 Woodie Awards
Tactical Wargaming Organization receives awards in several southwest competitions
John Lubbers
Issue date: 3/31/06 Section: News
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"Snakeyes, get your team down to flag nine we need to keep the Zombie hordes from letting loose that spell…. and get that preacher over there as well!"
Many people hear about the game of paintball and think that the game is a bunch of kids wanting to play army by shooting each other with paintball guns in their backyards or in forests. What these people don't know is that there are so many intricacies to the sport. I say sport because Paintball is played around the world in sanctioned tournaments involving countries such as Russia, Canada, Brazil, UK, Israel, the Philippines and many, many others. Eight million people played at least once last year in the United States alone. Many companies support and sponsor these events around the World. Many magazines some movies and a television show have been devoted to the paintball industry as well. While this side of the game is giving paintball its deserved media and publicity there is another side to paintball that is bringing millions of players each year to the sport. This themed game is called Scenario Paintball.
Scenario Paintball is simply a very large game set on land with a role-playing theme. Whether this theme involves space marines or merely survivors of a virus trying to fight back zombies, these themes enhance the game ten-fold. A scenario game usually runs from 12 hours to 36 hours long, where most are around 24 hours in length. Involvement in such games can include anywhere from 60 people (BlackCat Paintball Sponsored "Windtalkers" in Ilwaca, WA) to 4000 people (Oklahoma D-Day in Wyandotte, Okla.). Celebrities of all types play in scenario games across the country and around the world, including but not limited to Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, and Keanu Reeves.
In a scenario game there is a competition to see which side good vs. evil, living vs. undead, Americans vs. the British--wins. These competitions are based on a point scale. To gain points, each team must complete missions, capture locations on field, discover and identify and eliminate the general of the other team. Players may be eliminated with everything from a standard paintball marker to a rocket launcher or tank. One of the best parts for players, though, is that when eliminated you may reenter into the game at the next insertion window, so you're usually never out of the game for more than 10 minutes. The team at the end of the allotted time, i.e. 24 hours that has the most points wins that particular scenario.
Many people hear about the game of paintball and think that the game is a bunch of kids wanting to play army by shooting each other with paintball guns in their backyards or in forests. What these people don't know is that there are so many intricacies to the sport. I say sport because Paintball is played around the world in sanctioned tournaments involving countries such as Russia, Canada, Brazil, UK, Israel, the Philippines and many, many others. Eight million people played at least once last year in the United States alone. Many companies support and sponsor these events around the World. Many magazines some movies and a television show have been devoted to the paintball industry as well. While this side of the game is giving paintball its deserved media and publicity there is another side to paintball that is bringing millions of players each year to the sport. This themed game is called Scenario Paintball.
Scenario Paintball is simply a very large game set on land with a role-playing theme. Whether this theme involves space marines or merely survivors of a virus trying to fight back zombies, these themes enhance the game ten-fold. A scenario game usually runs from 12 hours to 36 hours long, where most are around 24 hours in length. Involvement in such games can include anywhere from 60 people (BlackCat Paintball Sponsored "Windtalkers" in Ilwaca, WA) to 4000 people (Oklahoma D-Day in Wyandotte, Okla.). Celebrities of all types play in scenario games across the country and around the world, including but not limited to Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, and Keanu Reeves.
In a scenario game there is a competition to see which side good vs. evil, living vs. undead, Americans vs. the British--wins. These competitions are based on a point scale. To gain points, each team must complete missions, capture locations on field, discover and identify and eliminate the general of the other team. Players may be eliminated with everything from a standard paintball marker to a rocket launcher or tank. One of the best parts for players, though, is that when eliminated you may reenter into the game at the next insertion window, so you're usually never out of the game for more than 10 minutes. The team at the end of the allotted time, i.e. 24 hours that has the most points wins that particular scenario.