Whisperwolf Warehouse

West Point'09 Video Teaser

2009-04-21T17:40:00.002-05:00

West Point Paintball Combat Classic Spring 2009 Teaser from Jay Lavely on Vimeo.

Stalingrad '09 Pictures

2009-03-16T16:26:00.008-05:00

My personal stats for this game can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.










The last three pictures were taken by Skirmish Photos. The other photos were taken with my LG enV2

Russian Front '09 Pictures

2009-02-10T23:39:00.003-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.


I'm not sure who took this photo???

Russian Front '09

2009-02-10T23:17:00.005-05:00

Russian Front was, once again, brought to the small town of East Hampton, Connecticut. Snow had blanketed the battlefield but the fire was stoked in the hearts of the German and Russian troops. The temperature was mild, the sky clear and the fighting fierce.

Every inch of ground was hard fought over. Towards the end of the day, it looked as though the Russians were in control of several key field positions but the Germans were raking in mission and prop points. In the end, it was the Russians who claimed a narrow victory over the Germans, 511 to 509. This ended the Team Extreme Measures twenty-two game winning streak but with such a greatly played game and close ending, there was absolutely nothing to be upset about.

Strategy Plus does a great job with their scenario games. I'm pretty sure the number of players at this game neared, if not exceeded, three hundred. Keep in mind this is for a game in February and that winter games usually draw smaller crowds. Obviously many others agree about the quality of play at Strategy Plus! Keep an eye on them for details on their next scheduled game (Should be War Of Attrition in April).

Paintball 101 (Part 2)

2009-02-03T23:15:00.016-05:00

For the second installment of Paintball 101, I'd like to touch upon a few different ways paintballers play their game. Before I was a paintballer, I was a skier and I introduced a number of my friends to that sport. Of course, when people invision trying something new they bring their pre-conceived ideas of what it would be like. With skiing, people would envision adrenalin junkies hucking it off cliffs, tricksters bounding down the moguls or speedsters barreling down a run. The truth of the matter is that there is a spectrum of activities to fit the ability and energy levels one brings to the sport. I feel this is as true for Paintball as it was for skiing.

The most common form of play at your local paintball field will probably be a Rec Game (as in Recreational). Your local field may have multiple fields on which to play. After a saftey brief, two teams are divided from the available players and a ref usually chooses a field on which to play. Depending on the where the ref chooses, you may be playing in the woods (with just trees or the natural terrain for cover), a town (consisting of a cluster of simple buildings) or a "Speedball" type field with inflatable bunkers. Other common bunkers / features that you may find are wooden pallets, old vehicles, large-diameter corrugated drainage pipes or even multi-level castles. The two most common objectives for a rec game would be to capture and return with the opposing force's flag or to eliminate the opposing team (referred to as Capture the Flag and Elimination). If the players tire of this style of play a ref will sometimes suggest a simple scenario for a game. A popular scenario objective would be for two or three players to defend a building against a larger force (á la Blackhawk Down) or for a small force to escort a VIP to a location on the field with out the VIP or team getting eliminated (VIP Escort). Rec Games are usually short and don't last more than 10-15 minutes. On a small field, it's possible for the game to only last a couple minutes. When a player is eliminated, he or she waits until the next game to play again.

Out of the original recreational games evolved a style of play commonly referred to as speedball. Speedball is probably the type of game you'd see on ESPN and it is played on professional, semi-professional, regional, and local levels. There are various leagues and organizing/sanctioning bodies that maintain there own sets of play rules. Layouts vary but a speedball field usually has symmetrically laid out inflatable bunkers and the games are a combination of Elimination and Capture the Flag with a defined scoring system. Players are on teams that could vary from a group of neighborhood friends playing in an amateur division to paid athletes from around the globe playing a Pro division. Tournaments vary from local to international. Speedball fields are fun to play on whether your a tournament player or a beginning recreational player. A rec game on a speedball field tends to be quick and rewards players who communicate well and move quickly.

A third form of play is Scenario paintball. Very simply, this style of play has a game designed around a particular back-story or "scenario". The game objectives are weaved into the story-line and points are awarded to the teams that complete the objectives. A tally of the points at the end of the game reveals the winner. Scenarios vary from historical battles to fantasy/science fiction to themes based on video games and motion pictures. The scenario possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the players and producers. Scenario games based on WWII battles are prolific. Name a battle and someone has probably done a scenario game based on it. Skirmish USA in Pennsylvania has a game based on the Invasion of Normandy that well over 4,000 people attended a few years back. Over 4,000 also attend Oklahoma D-Day, where the festivities are a week long! Of course these are extreme examples. A small local field may see under 100 players and a medium size field could see 300-500 players. Over the past few years a number of fields have started running small monthly scenario games as well.

In forms of paintball other than scenario, players generally want to shoot out as many of the opposition force as possible. In scenario games it may be more advantageous to avoid many firefights. Completing objectives is far more important than eliminating members of the other team. Besides the fact that points are not usually given for eliminations, eliminated players usually respawn from their "deadbox" every 15 minutes, or in some cases, continually (an eliminated player would only be out for as long as it takes to walk to the designated re-insertion point). Some scenario objectives could be to take and control an area of the field, to find and retrieve an object, to escort a VIP or to place an object, an explosives satchel perhaps, at a given location. Of course counter-missions could be to defend a position, to protect an object, to capture or assassinate a VIP, etc. Most teams need good control of a field to run a bunch of missions. If your the type of player that is not interested in actually running missions and would rather be in firefights all day, there is still plenty of action for you at a scenario game. The missions will win the game, but your team's field position makes running the missions possible. Scenario games have places to utilize the strengths of various players of differing play styles. At many games, newer players newer are often sent to the front lines while some of the more seasoned teams generally run the missions. This is not always the case and it's not always done purposefully. Newbies tend to follow the sounds of the firefights and sometimes may be intimidated by the complicated business of mission running. The experienced mission teams know where to go and who to talk to for missions. If you think you'd like running missions, find your side's general or XO and ask to tag along with a mission team.

I've detailed a bit more in this post about scenario paintball because it's the type of paintball that I play most. I think a scenario game is a great place for a first timer or beginner to play. As I mentioned before, many times re-insertion is continuous so while you may have to take a walk to respawn there shouldn't be too much downtime where your standing around waiting to play. Also this gives time to fill up your air tank and get more paintballs if needed. When it comes time for you to re-engage the opposing force, you may have a chance to access the battle from a new angle.

My next game is Stalingrad at Skirmish USA on March 14. Let me know if your interested in going.

Paintball 101 (Part 1)

2009-02-02T15:39:00.021-05:00

Some time has past since I've written an "intro to paintball"-type of post. Since my last post of this type, some of the information has changed and it seems that the target audience has as well. While I still seem to have some younger cousins that are showing interest in paintball, I have had a bunch of people, 20 & 30-somethings, that have shown some interest as well. Typical questions usually range from 'what equipment should I get', to 'where are good places to play', to 'how do the games work?'

For young and old, no matter what style of paintball you decide to play, the one thing I would stress is choosing to invest in play-time over marker and equipment upgrades. Getting sucked into wanting the latest 'this' or best 'that' can be WAY to easy and in the end your equipment is only as good as you can effectively use it. It's best to first get some experience and then see what equipment you would like to use. Usually, for any first timer I would recommend renting a marker. By marker, of course I mean your paintball air gun. Most of the industry decided to call paintball guns markers. It was the user friendly / politically correct way of not getting disapproving looks from non-players when paintballers were talking about their sport. Personally, I think it probably had more to do with making paintball more attractive to soccer moms shopping at Walmart for their kids. (No disrespect to soccer moms) The term 'marker' is generally more digestible to many than the term 'gun' especially when it comes to kids.

Make no mistakes regarding a paintball marker though. It is not a toy and it can cause serious damage if handled without caution and used without the proper protective gear. By far the most important piece of that gear will be your facemask. Eyes, ears, noses and mouths do not take well to paintball hits. All of the rental packages at any of the paintball fields that I've been to have include a paintball mask as standard equipment for good reason.

All fields will usually offer some way to carry paintballs as well. Paintballs are usually carried in a pod and the pods are usually carried in a pod pack (or paintball harness). The rental type usually looks something like this. Marker, mask and paintballs are the basic components of your gear that will be needed for a day of paintballing. Most fields will offer a rental of coveralls so that you don't get your clothes full of paint and subsequently on the ride home, your car seats.

The good part about going to a field and renting is that they will have everything you need to get going and it is their job to make sure you know how to do it safely. They will remind you to ALWAYS keep your mask on. They will remind you to keep a barrel blocking device installed when in a staging area. (This is usually a plug or small bag that goes over or in the end of a barrel). They will lay out the rules of the game and should be making sure players are obeying those rules, making for a fair and safe game. They will take care of any equipment technical issues that may arise with your rental. You should be busy having fun and shooting your friends worry-free. Going to a paintball field, as opposed to backyard somewhere is definitely the way to go, especially for someone just starting out. It's safer and usually more fun. Once you've played a couple times, you will know if this sport is something you then want to invest your time and money on. You will also have a better idea what equipment you'll want.

I have a scenario game this weekend at Strategy Plus in East Hampton, Connecticut. Strategy Plus does offer rentals and is an excellent field for first-timers and the experienced alike. Let me know if you have any interest in coming out to any of the games in my schedule. I have a few more posts in mind to complete my Paintball 101 update, one describing a few styles of play and another covering some basic of equipment.

Following is a list of fields in the area where you can get in some play-time...

Closer (outdoor)

Liberty Paintball* (Patterson NY)
Paintball Sports Inc.* (Plattekill NY)
Hornet's Nest* (Ancramdale NY)
Cousins (Coram NY)
High Velocity Paintball (Coram NY)
Tuxedo Ridge (Tuxedo NY)

Closer (indoor)

Vendetta Paintball (West Nyack NY)
Hornet's Nest (Ancramdale NY)
Cousins (Staten Island NY)

Further

Strategy Plus* (East Hampton CT)
Skirmish* (Jim Thorpe PA)

(Fields marked with an asterisk* are the fields at which I have personally played)

So how 'bout it?!

Operation Frozen Tundra '09 Pictures

2009-02-02T11:38:00.006-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.



I'm not sure who actually took the photos but they were downloaded from the Paintball Sports Inc website.

Operation Frozen Tundra '09

2009-02-02T01:56:00.012-05:00

Operation Frozen Tundra was the first Scenario at this (formerly Cousins paintball) field in Plattekill, NY. The field is now run by Paintball Sports Inc. It was a cold day and much snowfall from earlier in the week was still on the ground. Despite the cold, fun was had by the many hardy souls who decided to brave the winter weather.

This game had an interesting and unique set up. We played the good guys, the town militia. The Scenario was as follows... Rebels have blocked off all trade routes to the town. They have seized control of a chemical factory that produces the additives used in oil refining. They are holding the town survival at ransom for protection fees. A local militia is tasked with re-securing the supply routes and escorting barrels of crude oil along a 4-step refining process. Each step requires taking control of certain area of the field, transporting your oil drum to that location and then holding it there for 15 minutes while it is being "processed". One of the steps requires procuring oil additives from the rebel stronghold at the chem factory and getting it to one of the refineries to be combined with the oil from your drum. This is to be done while not being overrun or allowing your barrel to be destroyed by 5 paintball shots. To up the difficulty level, the militia is outnumbered by the rebels by about 2-1 and the layout of the field means that the barrels are to be carried from one end of the field to the other and back again to complete the refining process.

Needless to say, the militia had its work cut out for them and completing the objectives was nothing less than difficult. The rebels had a tight grip on the chem factory and our militia was only able to secure the additives a few times. The snow made traversing the field a very laborious task, even WITHOUT trying to carry one of the barrels. I felt that this was the case from personal experience! While I traveled the barrels path several times, only once was I needed to help carry a barrel (and for only one sixth of its round trip). By the end of the day my quads were pumped!

It was the militia's task to control the supply route and that is what we did, save for a few instances where the rebels mounted a strafing run. The few times that the militia took control of the chem factory and got the much needed additives was enough for us to gain an advantage in points. Points were awarded for how far along the refining process the barrels were and for total time of possession of the chemical factory. Points were also awarded for the finding and returning of props and for General and XO (Executive officer) eliminations. These eliminations are where the rebels made up for some of their point disparity.

Much respect has to be given to the rebel players for their outstanding play! On one occasion when their push on our position was stopped, they left ambushes in the wake of their retreat. As we transitioned from defensive positions to offensive maneuvers, I couldn't help but feel our force start to get sucked into an ambush. As we were clearing the area, we thwarted two ambush attempts, but the third proved very effective for them. Three of our six or seven man squad were eliminated by a rebel that had waited for us to walk up along side his position. I was already past his position when I saw my team mate behind and to my left get eliminated. I alerted the rest of the squad as I scanned my left side for his position. The corner of my eye caught his movement. Before I could swing my marker into position, his paintballs were airborne and I was eliminated before getting off a shot. Two of us were down before a shot was even sent his way. The squad was on to him at this point but another member was sent to the deadbox before the enemy threat was neutralized. Beautifully played!

Another occasion of outstanding play was at the very end of the game... in the final waning minutes of the final battle. The militia was successfully defending the town from advances of the rebel forces. After a failed attempt to breach our lines, the militia took advantage of the momentum's turn and charged into the remaining rebel force. The militia dealt a devastating blow to the remaining rebel force but not before a single rebel player was able to sneak into the town. That single player armed with a stock class pump marker was able to take out our General, XO, their guards, and a couple of remaining players in the area! That single rebel player was walking straight into the bulk of the Militia's forces that were returning from the charge when the whistle blew and the game was over. Nicely Played!

Overall the day was a fun day paintballing in the snow. The cold did seem to cause paint issues. When I received my box of paint, I could tell it was kept very warm (even for an indoor temperature). Outside temperatures for the day were between 20 and 30 degrees and I'm not sure the paint agreed with the indoor/outdoor temperature swing. Many players on both the rebel and militia sides were experiencing paintballs breaking in the their barrels and flying with wild trajectories. While frustrating at times, the fact that the problems were affecting both sides equally, this didn't seem to ruin the mood of the players. The end score showed that the Militia had narrowly escaped defeat with a tally of 370 pts to 340 pts. I believe that the total headcount for the event was over 90 players and that the field could count the event as a success (not bad for a first showing under new ownership and management). Personally I look forward to seeing what else Chris at PSI has up his sleeve for his next game.

Russian Front III Scenario at Strategy Plus

2009-01-19T00:31:00.003-05:00

Come play in the snow...

Click on the flyer for more information and to register online

Tentative 2009 Big Game Schedule

2009-01-18T22:44:00.011-05:00

Operation Frozen Tundra - Paintball Sports Inc. - January 24
Russian Front III - Strategy Plus - February 7
Stalingrad - Skirmish USA - March 14
Spring Combat Classic: Battle Of Riva Ridge - West Point - April 4-5
War Of Attrition - Strategy Plus - April 18
Junk Yard Wars II - Lehigh Valley Paintball South - May 3
Stargate Universe - Strategy Plus - June 13
Invasion of Normandy - Skirmish - July 18-19
Return To Deadwood - Strategy Plus - August 8-9
Fall Combat Classic - West Point - September TBD
Halloween Horror - Strategy Plus - October 17
Toys for Tots Holiday Game - Strategy Plus - December 5
Check the SpecOps Game Locator section in my Brigade Page for opt-ins
Check the SpecOps Play Log for game results and comments

Santa vs The Grinch '08 pictures

2008-12-11T00:05:00.008-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.



I took the first 2 pictures with my cell phone camera. The last picture was taken by Boy Scout Assassin. I was too busy playing to take more on-field picts or to be captured in an action shot myself!

How It's Made - Paintballs

2008-11-11T10:00:00.004-05:00

I just saw this on the discovery channel. I think this is episode 6 from season 2. It's old and and I wouldn't be surprised if things were done somewhat differently now but I thought it was interesting.

Despite the "sweetener", secret combination of food ingredients and the gelatin -"the kind used to make gummy bears"- I don't recommend eating paintballs. They're not very tasty.

2008-07-13T06:43:00.001-05:00

Here Malone and Craigo are going over some mission details.

I'm usually too busy IN ACTION to get any decent action shots but luckily Skirmish has very talented roving photographers. Hopefully they caught some nice shots of us.

2008-07-13T06:31:00.001-05:00

This picture was snapped about 20 minutes before the game strarting Beach Assault. From left to right is Team Extreme Measures members Craigo, Sinkhole and Capt. Malone.

ION 2008

2008-07-13T06:06:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday morning here at ION and the troops are just waking up. Yesterday's battles are still fresh in everyone's minds. Stories of mishief, mayhem and adventure were abound around the campfire last night. In a bid to re-write history, the Germans held the beach and did not let even one of the five stations fall. From my perspective, completed missions and props were streaming into German headquarters all day. Let's see what today brings...

Game On!

2008-06-13T01:40:00.008-05:00

Looks like I will be unexpectedly attending the "Finish It" scenario at Strategy Plus this weekend. I'll try to remember to stream some photos while playing- ...not that I'd want to distract myself from any missions I may be running!

The "Finish It" scenario is based on the recently released Halo 3 game for Xbox. Aliens vs. Humans - or, if your familiar with Halo, United Nations Space Command vs the Covenant. There are some good players and teams that will be in attendance so this should be fun. And the weather is supposed to be beautiful!

I've never seen an "I'd rather be working" bumper sticker on a paintballer's car. Come out and have some fun!

Posting Game Updates?

2008-05-19T01:15:00.001-05:00

I was playing with the idea of posting some live game updates from some upcoming games. I'm not really sure what kind of stuff is really worth posting or how those posts will fit into this site's current format! In a forum post I've seen people ask for a current update for a game that they couldn't attend personally and that sparked the idea. (Of course this is the shoestring budget version of the original idea requiring much less time, energy and capital!)

I'm actually in a 'paintball leave of absence' for a couple months, until ION. I may be around doing what I can to promote some upcoming games at Strategy Plus though. Stay tuned for more info on that front.

Btw, this post was from a mobile device and was a test as much as a means to post an update.

West Point Spring Combat Classic 08

2008-04-09T13:36:00.002-05:00

This is the map for the Korean War Scenario in jpg format.

08 Invites

2008-04-09T13:25:00.003-05:00

I’ve been lax in my duties of spamming all of you with invitations to join me playing paintball this year! I know a bunch of people from my invite list still check my blogs so I figured I’d leave the invites here. Though I’ve been told that my emails are not spam, I always feel funny sending mass emails. I’m the guy were all the chain letter and joke email forwards end.

Let it be known to all my ex co-workers, family and friends, you are all invited to join me at any of the games on my schedule. I’ve been to two games so far this year and have quite a number to go. Look at my schedule to see when and where I am playing.

THIS WEEKEND is the spring West Point big game. I mentioned the game to a few people already. For those that I haven’t spoke with, I know this post is short notice. The Cadets put on some of the best games I’ve been to. The people that usually turn out to play have been some of the best crowd to play with. I really can’t say enough about the West Point games or the men behind the scenes that make the game possible. From the beginner to the advanced player, I can’t imagine anyone having less than a great time. They have announced that they will have artillery sims, smoke grenades, and two machine guns (a M249 and M240B firing blanks) on the field during the game. There will be a Blackhawk helicopter doing a flyover and landing so that those interested can get a closer look at this awesome piece of machinery! It looks as though some of the top Northeast teams will be in attendance. Greg Hastings will be there. Rain or shine, this will be a great game. You can follow the pre-game chatter in this PBNation post.

After this game I have a little hiatus but I hope to see you at ION in July at Skirmish, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in August at Strategy Plus or one of the many other games this year. If you just want to go out for a pick-up rec game, let me know and we'll schedule something in!

War of Attrition '08

2008-04-06T12:48:00.004-05:00

WAR OF ATTRITION: ROAD TO PARIS

This was a fun game right from the start. A number of teams decided to split their members between the two sides. Consequently, there was much spy and intrigue action all over the field. I played on the German side with my team captain and the majority of my teammates. Whenever we took the field, we seemed to push the opfor around. Controlling much of the field, we had the chance to hold possession of many objectives and fly our flags over them. Unfortunately, we had a mole in our ranks that would flip many of the flags back over, signaling Allied possession, at the tops of the hour in order to have them recorded as points for the opposite team! The game was still closely fought and the victor was decided by the outcome of the final battle. The final score was Germans 44, Allies 35. I could see many people having a great time, regardless of what was going on in the game or should I say, despite any backstabbing or underhandedness by those role-playing.

I think the splitting up of teams between the sides was an interesting idea that added to the fun of the game. Teams usually do not do this for a big game and it was, if not original, then a novel idea. I not sure dividing teams up like this is a good idea to do too often, but it gave an opportunity for some fun espionage role-playing by players that may have not otherwise engaged in such underhandedness and it gave leadership roles to others that may have not had the opportunity to step up. Personally, I had the chance to lead a few squads under orders from our General and CO. Various orders included providing reinforcement to troops across the field, providing escort and leading a charge.

Strategy Plus continues to draw quality players (about 150 of them to this game). I am sure this is in no doubt due to how well the organizers run events. The Refs were in the action making calls and spot-checking for hot shooting markers. (btw, I did not hear about anyone shooting hot) The weather was sunny and beautiful and the paint shot well. The game format, with the splitting of teams to each side, made this event a memorable one. Another nice touch was the addition of an award for "most valuable scenario player". This was in addition to the more standard MVT and MVP awards. With all the great staff, terrain and players, I am happy to call Strategy Plus my home field. If you haven't played Strategy Plus yet, I highly recommend their field to anyone, whether you are a beginner or advanced player.

Stalingrad ‘08

2008-03-27T01:20:00.005-05:00

After a few false starts, our German forces spread out from our base at Krassnaya and began taking control of territory as far as Mamayev and Orlovka. Members of Team Extreme Measures pared into squads, which were then sent off for various duties and missions across the field. This member’s squad was tasked with taking and holding the immediate area around the Swiss embassy and creating a skirmish line to keep the Russians from splitting the field north-south and cutting off missions to the north. Having made the run from our base to the swiss embassy twice and having the game start as we were returning to base the second time, we arrived at the embassy with a line already formed.

That line extended from Krasmy Factory (tippmann castle) to the Embassy (dye castle) and points north. Opposing forces were positioned on the east and west walls of the embassy. As we began eliminating Russian players and fresh German soldiers began to bolster our line, Russian Forces began flanking from the north. Our squad reinforced the left side and began repelling the flanking force. Most of the day, time was spent pushing opfor lines back, quickly resupplying and pushing back opfor in another place on the field.

While we were running support for a couple missions up in the northern parts of the field, we did find a lone enemy squad to eliminate. [insert evil laugh here] Directly afterwards, we took control of the neighboring field and earned a prop to return to our HQ.

Leading in points, we resupplied and spent the last hour or so playing base defense. During that time we had several minor attempts on our base and one final battle. For that final battle, the Russian war cries could be heard shifting left and right and progressively getting louder as the Russians pushed the skirmish line back and brought the fight to us. By the time the fight was brought to our base, there was only about 5-10 minutes of game time left and it was intense. Every Russian attempt at an advance was met with a wall of paint. As they’d try to flank right, under the cover of some pines, they would butt heads with guys we had positioned in front of them. Then they’d get shredded from the crossfire from teammates on the main firing line. The Russian Forces were trying to use smoke to cover their movements but we’d keep intercepting and throwing the smoke back at them. Admittedly, if they had chose to try to flank our left, we might have had a tougher time of repelling them. As it stands though, the opfor was stopped cold, and the Germans brought home sweet victory. I believe the final score was 30-something to 60-something, with the Germans almost doubling the Russian points.

The game was a lot of fun to play and the Skirmish refs did a great job on the field. I’m not sure how the whole false-start thing came to be in the beginning but once things were underway, all was well from my perspective. I was happy to see refs roaming with hand chronos AND using them. As a suggestion though, more than 1 or 2 chrono station at the German (or any side’s) reinsertion would go a long way towards keeping the line from backing up. If I’m on line, I’m not shooting paint and the field is not making money. While I wasn’t particularly upset at seeing safety precautions being taken, I can see were some might be annoyed at there being a line that takes any more than a couple minutes. I had not experienced any problems with paint (using the Origin paint) and my Tippmann A-5 and J&J ceramic barrel functioned flawlessly.

Stalingrad '08 Pictures

2008-03-18T10:30:00.002-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.



These pictures were taken by Skirmish Photos. Bottom photo is of SFC Dubois in action. He mentioned that he didn't have the time to pick up his photo so I snatched and scanned it for him. Go Army!

Santa vs. the Grinch '07 Pictures

2008-03-18T09:41:00.002-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.



I've had these pictures on my harddrive for some-time now. I don't remember the original source but I probably found them off a PBnation post

Site Updates

2008-03-18T09:21:00.002-05:00

I just got back from Stalingrad and I'm slowly updating the site for 2008...
I've made some schedule changes and I have some pictures to post.
I attended a work party in January to prep for Russian Front but I never got to play due to personal obligations. I heard from others, teammates and otherwise, that it was a blast. Stalingrad was a blast, but I'll save that for another post.

Lemme dig up those pics...

MySpace Page Up

2007-12-02T06:04:00.000-05:00

Well..., I have officially put up a MySpace page!
(I know... a little behind the curve on that one)
I'll try to not let it get too GARISH!

Whisperwolf Warehouse MySpace

Santa Vs. the Grinch Scenario at Strategy Plus

2007-11-15T23:49:00.000-05:00

Hitman Paintball Challenge '07 Pictures

2007-11-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.





...

Hitman Paintball Challenge '07

2007-11-12T20:53:00.000-05:00

The Hitman Paintball Challenge was a cross promotion by Twentieth-Century Fox Pictures and the NPPL (National Professional Paintball League). Thirty Fields in 18 states spread across the nation participated in the Hitman challenge over the past two weekends. Oddly, none of the fields in NY, NJ or PA participated. Two fields in Connecticut and two in Massachusetts did with three out of the four holding the event on the same day?!? About 50 people registered and played at the Challenge at Strategy Plus.

The format at Strategy Plus was 3 mini-scenarios each 1 hr long. One team was comprised of ‘The Agents’ and the other was the ‘Russian Mafia’. The first mission was for the agents to retrieve a brief case of documents that was in Mafia possession. Of course it was the Mafia mission not to let that happen. The second mission was for the Mafia to infiltrate the Agency base and retrieve a small file cabinet of important documents. The agents were not to let that happen. The last mission was elimination round with side with the most players left standing winning the mission.

Team Extreme Measures played agents. I believe there were about 12 of us dressed the part; black suits, red ties and bald heads! (Personally I found a Tux at my local Goodwill for 12 bucks!) For the first mission (retrieve briefcase) the agents set out on a two-prong attack. I was involved in the attack in the right flank and had fun blindsiding a couple players involved in skirmishes with our squad to the left. With ten minutes counting down and no major ground taken in the last ten. I decided to sacrifice myself and run up on the bunker that was holding us back. I got one of the two men that were there and that was enough for us to advance our side. When I got back to our re-spawn point I had found that the other fork of our attack had come back to our base with the briefcase.

Starting off the second mission we took defensive positions in between the two bases. From our vantage point, we could see which way the mafia was trying advance and adjust our players to fend them off. I began reinforcing our right flank. We spread our forces and widened our angles of fire on that side. Those that weren’t eliminated were retreating. We could see a squad of 6 or so of the mafia going far to our left. So a number of us broke off to hit the opposing force broadside as they tried to advance. With word passed up to the base and agents coming down to meet the opposing force head on, it was not long before the left side was cleared. I claimed three eliminations for my own. Then We made our way to the base and began to clear it. It seems most of the opposing force that was remaining was outside the base to the left. I came into the base on point and took out one before being taken out myself. A teammate to my left took out the 6 of 7 players on that side and we had their base. The Russian mafia never got close to our base!

During the third mission, I was out in the first 3 minutes due to a longball to the leg. Eeeh, it happens sometimes!! The Agents won the first two missions and the Mafia won the last. That put the agents in for the win.

It definitely was a fun day of paintball! The three mini-senarios, with a 5-10 minute break in between, was a welcome change to the usual all day / multi day play. The weather was beautiful! There was never anyone in line in front of me for air and each tank fill was a full one (3000 psi in my case). I didn’t have any paint or marker problem (gotta love Tippmann!). The staff was top notch as usual and the crowd playing seemed to be a good bunch.

Tentative 2008 Big Game Schedule

2007-11-06T00:06:00.004-05:00

~~Russian Front: Operation Uranus - Strategy Plus - February 9~~
~~Luck of the Irish Woodsball Tournament - Strategy Plus - Ides of March (15)~~
Stalingrad - Skirmish - March 15
War of Attrition: Road to Paris - Strategy Plus - April 5
Spring Big Game - West Point - April 12-13
Invasion of Normandy - Skirmish - July 12-13
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Strategy Plus - August 9-10
Fall Big Game - West Point - Date to be announced...
Special Olympics Fundraiser - Strategy Plus - September 20
Halloween Horror - Strategy Plus - October 25
Toys for Tots, Santa Vs. The Grinch - Strategy Plus - December 6
Check the SpecOps Game Locator section in my Brigade Page for opt-ins
Check the SpecOps Play Log for game results and comments

Hitman Scenario at Strategy Plus

2007-11-01T23:19:00.000-05:00

Reserve here!
Come see the foliage... ...and sling some paint!

West Point '07 Pictures

2007-09-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.








I'll take credit (or responsibility) for the pictures above. New England Regulators should soon have video uploaded of the final battle (plus other footage, I'm sure) .

Invites

2007-09-13T17:23:00.001-05:00

A couple of people who make my monthly invite list have shown some more interest in the past month so I’ll throw this out there…

THIS WEEKEND is the fall West Point big game. I’m not sure what the rental situation is. The Cadets have some rentals but they are rented out on a 1st come 1st serve basis. Just shoot them an email (no pun, ok yes pun). Last month I was in Mad Mac’s paintball in Mahopac. They were selling off their rental guns. They are no longer going to rent. If I recall correctly, they had some A5’s and a bunch of 98customs at the time. A marker, hopper, mask and pod pack will get you going, as I have a couple CO2 tanks and some extra pods. While the rental situation may not be ideal, the West Point Cadets put on an excellent game and the people that attend have always been out to have fun. This is probably one of the more fun games for a beginner and is the closest game for most of us. West Point’s last game was a blast, you can see my write up here. I am bringing a tent and one of those 10’x10’ pop-up canopies. There is probably about a dozen or so guys from Team Extreme Measure coming as well. I believe the plan is to be on the Russian side (Russian vs. NATO). I do realize this reminder/invite is extremely short notice…

- More info on the PBN WP Fall’07 Game thread

…But October 27th is the “Gears of War” Scenario at Strategy Plus in East Hampton, CT. It is based on the multiplayer “Gears of War” third-person shooter game on Xbox 360. I will not pretend to be familiar with the Xbox game, but honestly, whether you are or not, probably wont make a difference while playing. The idea is that the human team, called the Gears (aka Coalition of Organized Governments or C.O.G.) is fighting for their survival against a subterranean mutant force known as the Locust Horde. Outnumbered, they need to complete their missions in order to defeat the Horde. The Gears of War aspect of the game should make an interesting back-story for gameplay (especially so close to Halloween). The Friday night before the Game, from 5 to 10pm, there is a haunted “Trail of Terror” walk set up at the field. I understand one of the guys from Team Extreme Measures is bringing a projector for an Xbox 360 Gears of War Tournament, and some horror movie showing.

- There’s more info on the PBN Gears of War Game thread

Come on out...

PS - Bryan, read over this for a short description of Scenario/Big games vs. Recreation Games. Email me if you have questions. (At this point I might not get back to you till after the weekend)

Deadwood '07 Pictures (& videos)

2007-09-09T00:50:00.000-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.








I took the Band and talent show footage (video and pictures) but most of the other pictures were taken from the gallery on the Team Extreme Measures website. For more photos see the Fireworks Photography website.

Deadwood '07

2007-08-22T14:16:00.000-05:00

Deadwood was a two-day Paintball scenario game that was one of a series of Cowboy/Western themed games at Strategy Plus known as "Frontier Wars". There were poker games at the saloon, horse auctions, horse thievery, stickups, kidnapings, cold-blooded murders, Posse roundups, duels and too much tomfoolery to begin to mention all in one place! On the red side there was the Swearengen gang and on blue, the Tollivers. There were actually two "third entities". The Law wore green armbands and the Indians (or Native Americans, if you prefer) were in green bands and headdresses.

Team Extreme Measures played the Law with several of our members playing specific roles. On Saturday, the bulk of us spent time responding to threats to our lovely town of Deadwood. Right at the start of the game, Swearengen's goons chose to come into town to knock off a couple of orphan girls. That put the red team at a disadvantage for the early part of the game as the Law could not let such a heinous act, that devastated the peace and tranquility of our little town, go unpunished. First point of order was to lock down and purge the town of any of Swearengen's men. Push them out and exact retribution with extreme prejudice.

During most of the time that I spent at the town, on one end of town we were constantly being harassed by Swearengen's men and on the other side, Swearengen men (who were obviously unaware of what the other men on their team were up to) were walking right up to us. They would realize that the Law was returning fire at their own teammates. Before they could say, "what the ...!" and raise their markers, they were being barrel-tapped or opened fire upon. This certainly made for an interesting dynamic. At the same time that the Law was trying to protect our town from would be raiders, we were also trying to be open to players acting roles and trying to barter goods and favors.

One of my personal highlights was after chasing some of Swearengen's men out of deadwood and down to the neighboring village. After being shot out, myself and some Lawmen had to pass through Swearengen's men to reinsert. On our way we realized that we had backed them up against our reinsertion point. First thought was 'GREAT, how are we going to get back in without getting lit up'! Then it occured to us that their attention was on the ridge where we had come from, not behind them at our reinsertion. Once we had made it to our reinsertion, myself and two other Lawmen decided to barrel-tap as many people as we can till we're found out and then just start shooting till we're eliminated. The idea was that we would weaken the line enough for our teammates over the next ridge to push through. We spread out and snuck up behind the opposing force. We worked our way from back to front, barrel-tapping as we went. I personally tapped about 15 people as I made my way through the most dense pockets of players. All told we eliminated about 25 of our opponents. In fact, we made it back to our guys on the ridge to tell them all was clear. As I looked back behind us, I could see only one of Swearengen's men out in the woods. I have never barrel-tapped so many people! much less all at once! Priceless!

On the second day, I mostly tried to help out the field and see where I could be of use to the field manager. Several times I ventured out into the game to deliver messages and missions. It was really cool to help create a mission and help put it in motion. Also staying at "mission control" gave me a chance to change perspective and gain a birds-eye view on how the game was running. While I did not carry a marker at any point during the day, I included the day in my brigade page play log because I was shot at and in one case pegged by a few paintballs!

One highlight of the day was delivering a telegram to Marshall Bullock that called for the capture and detainment of Francis Wolcott for murder. Upon delivery of said telegram, the marshall began reading it out loud... ...while Wolcott was standing right next to him. All Props to Shadawg of Team Ragnarok who played Wolcott because I have never seen a man in full paintball gear take off and run that fast! EVER!

What a great weekend! The weather was beautiful and the field was great! I don't think there was ever more than 1 person in front of me in line for air and every tank fill was a full one. Although the paint was accurate and didn't cause any breaks, it seems that the fill in the RPS Premium paintballs seemed to be staining more than usual. I'm not really sure what to attribute that to? While I missed Friday's meet and greet, potluck dinner and poker game, I was there for the Talent show, the performance by local band "Hit and Run" and several other impromptu Poker games. The food served up at the field was also good. How could you go wrong with grilled steaks and sausage?! - Oh, and good company.

Another Invitation...

2007-08-01T13:40:00.001-05:00

I'm really looking forward to his one. Deadwood is all about having a good time. Time to let out your inner cowboy/cowgirl. If your up for some role play, there still appears to be some roles available too. You can tell people are getting excited about a game when there's a YouTube trailer for it! see below...

Check out the itinerary. There is a Poker game friday night and a Deadwood talent show Saturday (At Gem Theatre?). Both, I believe, are for points. Go to the Strategy Plus website and the Deadwood PBN thread for more info. There is limited camping at the field. I'll be there for sure. Come on out y'all.

ION '07

2007-08-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

French action began at 1200 on Saturdy as we assisted in helping defend our beaches along side German forces, against the invading Allied forces. While the French were defending the left beachhead against the landing Allies in front, the 101st Airborne division was knocking on our back door. At about the same time that the Allies had punched a hole though the middle of the beach, word was spread that German forces were attacking our French base at “Le Grand Bunker”. French forces were now fighting Opfor on three sides with our backs to the tapeline and I was personally running out of ammo. I even borrowed a pod before leaving the beach to resupply and reinforce our base defense.

As I was walking off the field, the French forces appeared to have started falling back to protect our base and keep the Germans outside the base perimeter. Seizing the chance to rid our lands of the German occupiers, we resupplied with air and paint to join with the Allied forces. Together we pushed the Germans away from our base back to Benouville (aka ‘the hood’) and prevented German movement into interior France. The fighting at Benouville was fierce as the Germans had a strong hold of the town. The French MASH unit was nowhere to be found and Refs to punch medic cards were scarce. Our French contingent regrouped at our GP tent. Armed with fresh pods and full tanks we took to the field at 1700 to try to intercept German mission teams. A capture of one of their flags would drive the message home to the German leadership that the French no longer wanted their occupation. A counter-clockwise sweep of the field around the centrally located French base indicated that the French controlled about 2/3rds of the battlefield at the time. At around 180˚ of our sweep we came across one squad of Allied forces running a mission. For all intent and purpose, German misson taking was shut down.

At nearly 270˚ we came to the town at Benouville again where the Germans were still maintaining their tight grip despite being almost completely surrounded by Allies. They weren’t running missions but they were flying a beautiful German flag. One that if caught would send the message to the German command loud and clear. With eyes on the flag, our group of 10-12 sprinted around the outskirts of the town till we found a good place to push in. As we rushed in, we drew in and rallied a handful or two of the troops in the immediate area. Markers up and paint flying we provided a base of fire for each other as we took angles on the opfor and advanced into the town. The town had been surrounded for some time but our war cry had resonated through all the attacking force and the town folded like a deck of cards. Unfortunately the flag was taken as the Germans made their hasty escape from the town. Unfortunately as well, when the flag carrier was pursued and eliminated he did not drop the flag. Instead it was rolled up and carried off before we could bring it to any ref’s attention. We may have not gotten our flag but I think the message was sent. At this point, the Germans were pushed to and contained at the Beach and their Base at Normandy. With some paint left we decided to make an attempt to capture the German MASH unit. That proved a bit difficult when the stretcher of the Mash unit was being used as a shield that was healing the people shooting from behind it. (read painball instead of paintball! Not ‘are you hit?’ but ‘Have you had enough hits to cry uncle?’) From our position at the edge of the Beach, we decided that what we actually just accomplished was giving points to the Allies for possession of Benouville as opposed to reaping any reward for leading the assault that made it fall. We did not end up with the points we were looking for with a capture of a German Flag. We did have the satisfaction of knowing we pushed the Germans ‘right outta Dodge’ so to say!

While resupplying at our GP tent, word had gotten to us that the Germans were losing the beach and were on the verge of being cornered in their base. French command had decided that a platoon-sized mixed detachment would be sent to bolster the German defense and help defend the beach. (‘mixed’ from a few of the teams within the French forces) I’m not sure what we gained in return other than, honestly, a few hundred Germans that might’ve decided to stay and play a second day of paintball!

Upon arriving at the beach with literally a truck-full, AND TRAILER-FULL, of troops, it was obvious that the Germans had lost the beach. The Allies had rolled all the tube bunkers to the edge of the treeline and the German forces were pushed into Normandy. Once cleared by German command, we inserted at the German insertion point and spread out along the treeline. After we covered a few angles and eliminated some of the players hidden amongst the tube bunkers, I jumped up to the tubes and began to push. Following the lead, the whole front lines took to the tubes and before long the we pushed 100 yards or so and the Germans were starting to gain a foothold back on the beach. Having helped turn the tides and running out of paint and air, the French reinforcements started withdrawing as German replacements came forward. The drive still had momentum as we wlked off the field.

By the time we were back to our tent to resupply, night had fallen. We headed out to our base at “Le Grand Bunker” to provide base defense. While I cannot say things were quiet, base defense for the night was largely uneventful. Shortly after 2300, gameplay was halted and we exited the field.

Sunday Gameplay started at 0900. I arrived at the French base at 0920 due to having to procure a third case of paint earlier in the morning. It was understood that at this point, the Germans had no way of winning the event but they could still challenge the French for 2nd place. The French might also see some action from the Allied Forces looking to secure and extend their lead. Only time would tell what the day’s event would hold.

...To be contiued...

NJ Nam '07

2007-07-04T08:35:00.000-05:00

So the problem with waiting so long after the game to write the summary / review is that the details of the game begin to be forgotten. The Brigade play log has had my kill & death numbers posted for some time now. I usually start the write-up there and then spruce up the format and embellish when it moves here. The problem is that the Play Log composer times out if you take to long writing your entry. I timed out twice after a lengthy bit of writing and lost the will to write t over again. When I compose locally on word it just seems like forever before I get a chance to finally upload. That’s enough excuses…

Regarding this game, one thing is certain, there was certainly a lot of hype and there was much anticipation. I believe the rule about letting the hype get so stratospheric is that you HAVE to deliver. Much of the hype was centered around, what I’d call game accoutrements, non of which I’d signed up for and of which I was a little skeptical how they were going to be incorporated and effect the gameplay. The thing I did know was that I wanted to be there to see how things would play out. I had heard good things about Pyro Production’s games and this was to be my first time to one of their games.

The field (Accurate Paintball) is adjacent to an active but small municipal airport that is home to a popular Skydiving School. Spots were being reserved for skydiving insertions, helicopter insertions and plane runway insertions. I had done a tandem jump before and was not really interested in doing one with paintball equipment or wasting my paintball time with the logistics of being involved in a mock airborne insertion or heli drop, especially if it wasn’t really going to help our cause in the gameplay. Therefore, I was not disappointed when the helicopter broke down and could not make it. Nor was I disappointed when, for whatever reason, there weren’t any air jumps or plane insertions. (From what I understand there were several ‘ballers who did some tandem skydiving but it was not in an insertion scenario.)

Evidenced by the reaction on various forums, a number of players were disappointed that Pyro delivered less than was advertised during all the pre-game hype. Personally, I could only give the weekend a couple of negatives. One was that the vegetation was on the dense side for my tastes with copious servings of holly bushes, thorny vines and various prickers. The other negative was that it was extremely hot especially on Saturday (more on that in a bit). From what I understand, the brush had been cut back and grown back quicker than expected and the weather is, well…, the weather.

On Saturday there was one group of kills that I particularly enjoyed (insert evil grin and evil “muah ha ha ha” laugh). Encountering a head on battle occurring down a narrow pathway, a fellow teammate and I slipped into the brush to the left of the firefight. We crawled, pushed and squeezed our way into position. My teammate was about 20 yards ahead of me as we positioned at the edge of the trail where all the fighting was happening. As I was coming into position I could see opfor trying to advance through the brush on the opposite side of the trail. I found a shady spot next to a tree with some low-lying foliage. The opfor’s path through the brush must’ve had 2 natural and irresistible stopping points because one after another opfor filed into positions that also happened to correspond with a small but clear firing lane from my position. I racked seven kills (+7) before the escalating firefight my teammate found himself in started drawing my attention. He had found himself ON the path that was the main firing lane between our and the opposing force. I could only imagine that the woods were becoming too hot and he pushed to the path to meet the oncoming opfor.

The situation meant I could no longer enjoy increasing my elimination ratio from my concealed position. Besides, my teammate looked like he could use some support as he was out in the open at the edge of the path sending ropes of paint towards an advancing opfor. As I busted out of the brush and fast-walked my way toward the opfor, I heard my teammate call himself out. I skirted the opposite side of the path to shield myself from the bulk of the incoming paint, while three members of the opposing force ducked for cover behind a wooden structure. One of the three didn’t move quick enough. (+8) As the remaining two tried to conceal themselves, I rushed the structure knowing one or both of them would probably peek out trying to find me to. Sure enough, a mask and hopper pop out and they realized they’re losing cover with my advance. (+9) I could see +10 pop out behind the person I’ve just eliminated but, between the two of us, I’m not sure who was hit first. As I walk off, +9 and my teammate with whom I had crawled through the bush with, exchange comments on how nicely that was played. It’s good when you can see a grin from behind a mask!! I could see theirs and I know I was grinning ear-to-ear.

One of my memorable eliminations was when I took point in a 4-man team and pushed into dense brush to find a couple snipers. To make a long story short I slowly pushed my way in stopping frequently to scope the area. The density of the brush had us hunched over and crawling. As I threw a leg over a downed tree, WHAP!, right in the left ass cheek. As I spun around, I could see the sniper about twenty yards away against the downed tree I just climbed over. As I turn to find my way out, I spot the second sniper 15 yards down the opposite end of the tree! It was THAT thick in places. As I backtracked my way past my teammates, “WHAT HAPPENED?!”, they asked. “I GOT SHOT IN THE ASS!”, I blurted out before I could button my lip. Major kudos to those snipers!

I think the player count for the weekend was 1,700. Saturday’s heat was brutal. I believe 22 people needed help getting out of play due to heat exhaustion. A number of those needed an ambulance and a few had to be taken to the hospital. I personally drank about 300 oz. of water and lemonade with electrolytes. Sunday was not as hot but was still humid. I still drank about 150-200 oz of water. It did rain Sunday and the cool rain was a relief. It would have been nice if we weren’t trying to hold the closing ceremonies and prize raffles during the downpour though! There were a number of markers, HPA tanks and large gear bags given away as prizes as well as some marker specific upgrades. I don’t remember how many prizes were given out exactly, but it was more than I’ve seen before. Somehow I managed not to win anything or snatch any freebies that were tossed into the crowd. It was a fun weekend. I had a great time and have no problems going to another Pyro produced game.

There are plenty more stories to tell about this game but I am already looking forward to ION in a couple weeks. They’re expecting 5000 for that one.

NJ Nam '07 Pictures

2007-06-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.




Two top pictures were taken by Team Extreme Measures. Action Shots below by Kathie Williams of Fireworks Photography

Gallery

2007-06-14T03:35:00.002-05:00

2008 Season
Battle of Stalingrad (Skirmish USA)	March 15
I've tried to give all proper credit to where it's due and asked permissions where I thought necessary.

2007 Season
Battle of Hube's Pocket (Hornet's Nest)	March 3
Battle of Stalingrad (Skirmish USA)	March 10
War of Attrition (Strategy Plus)	April 14
Battle of Guadalcanal (West Point)	April 21-22
NJ NAM (Accurate Paintball)	June 2-3
ION (Skirmish USA)	July 13-15
Deadwood (Strategy Plus)	August 11-12
NATO vs. Russia (West Point)	September 15-16
Hitman Paintball Challege (Strategy Plus)	November 10
Toys for Tots, Santa Vs. The Grinch (Strategy Plus)	December 8
I've tried to give all proper credit to where it's due and asked permissions where I thought necessary.

What do you need? An Invitation?!

2007-05-29T17:10:00.000-05:00

I just sent out an email to a few friends, who like to talk about going paintballing but have trouble committing! Well here's your open invitation. My schedule is posted and updated here. If there's a weekend you want to come out. Hit up my email or pick-up the phone. Last minute is usually ok for the games listed.

Yes these are Scenario Games, AKA Big Games, based on accomplishing various missions for certain point values; like seizing and holding an objective (person, place or thing) or finding & returning an objective to your base. This differs from the typical game of capture the flag which often times boils down to a game of elimination. Elimination doesn't tend to work in scenario games due to there being healing "medics" on the feild and/or respawns on the quarter hour or immediately at a respawn location.

Whereas, in a normal recreation game the feilds are relatively small, a scenario is gererally played on a feild consisting of a good number of acres and is large. To someone who hasn't played a scenario game, this all can sound complicated and for a hardcore nut. While some may like that hardcore image, I submit that these games are usually more friendly! Bragging rights aside, the sole purpose of these games are generally to have fun. Besides when your out there with a bunch of friends slinging paint and you work together to make a plan come together, or you give 'em hell trying, how can you NOT have fun! That's enough of me trying to sell the scenario game...

If you still don't think you ready for that and want to do a rec game. Here's a short list of feilds in the area where I'm sure we could have a good time...

Closer

Cousin's (Plattekill NY)
Liberty (Patterson NY)
Hornet's Nest (Ancramdale NY)

Further
Strategy Plus (East Hampton CT)
Skirmish (Jim Thorpe PA)

(There are a couple in Jersey that are relatively close but I haven't been to them personally yet so they are not listed. There are also a few out in north-eastern Long Island but I generally detest Long Island Traffic.)

So how 'bout it?!

War of Attrition '07 Pictures

2007-04-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.




Pictures were taken by LT "Cook" of Team Extreme Measures

Battle of Guadalcanal ‘07

2007-04-26T15:55:00.000-05:00

This was West Point’s 2007 Spring Game. The last time I played West Point in Spring of ’06 the weather was very cold with torrential rain. This weekend, the weather was beautiful! Cold Gear out, Heat Gear in. Both Saturday and Sunday, the temperature was just below 80°F with sunny skies. Point is… it was a perfect weekend for paintball.

West Point has great natural terrain for paintball. The field was located by Camp Buckner off Route 293 and was rather large. I found, for the numbers playing, there was plenty of room to maneuver, be it to flank or sneak around. Some of the hill inclines were rather steep and long though. Shortly after the open of the game, several of us Japanese saw American opfor trying to sneak around our base. We came down one of these long hills to meet them; down, all the way to the shoreline of the lake that was the west border. We repelled their push, but not without losing most of our squad. We had been eliminated down to two men when Opfor began pushing again. After my other teamate was shot out, I began bouncing from cover to cover, trying to get angles on the approaching team without getting myself surrounded. As they advanced further this turned into a Lazy D until I started to get low on air. At this point I retreated about 40 yards until I was out of sight and then advanced back through the cover of pricker bushes, about 25 yards, to what I figured would be the center of their advance. I sat and waited. My idea was to pop up in the middle and try to eliminate a few before I was eliminated or ran out of air. I could hear rustling out in front, then to the side and then behind. Turns out, from behind me, Japanese friendly reinforcements were moving up. Opfor must’ve seen them coming and decided on another route. After we swept forward through the area, I broke off to get air. That’s when I realized how far down the hill I had traveled! Let just say that I had to stop several times to catch my breath and the CLIMB was not easy. Now, I’m not the most in-fit nor anywhere near the youngest on the field, but I didn’t see anyone who could bound up these hills without stopping for a breath! God Bless the Cadets whom train out there! During the course of the weekend I trekked down and up twice more. It may have been smarter to let the fight come to us, but that wouldn’t have nearly been as fun!

I had the pleasure of meeting Chibbs of Team Voodoo and playing alongside him. -same for Mariol, General Rob and the rest of the Hell Katz. Barney, Craig and a contingent of RT Raiders dealt swift HAMMER blows to any Allied forces in their path and the Red Raiders brought one hell of an arsenal to send the GI scurring. (Besides the “normal” bazooka-type shoulder fired rocket launchers, these guys also had M2-type baseplate’n’tripod infantry mortars, as well as 3-man slingshots to hurl grenades!). I think it’s well established at this point that the sides were balanced heavily to the Japs. By lunch of the first day, the Cadets were already trying to get people to jump sides in an attempt to even things out. Our opening push drove the Americans back to their spawn points at their Base & Airfield and we had control of most of the field real estate. That’s not to say that there weren’t a number of tough skirmishes at various points across the map. There were several ‘beach landings’ where the Americans were advancing on our base. In fact, at one point we were being overrun and were told to evacuate the base so that our own side could send in artillery fire to clear Opfor out. In the first day point totals, the Japanese had accumulated 4 or 5 times the points of the Americans. My best guess at my personal death/kill ratio is recorded in the play log section of my brigade page.

At the start of the second day, the Cadets had redistributed the teams again and due to people choosing not to play the second day, they effectively shortened the field by moving all objectives to one side of the field. I remained Japanese and again, we brought the fight to the Americans. Resistance was much stiffer now and real estate much harder fought over.

It is interesting to note that the two days had similar weather and most reported the paint to be excellent for both days, whereas I experienced a flurry of in-barrel ball breaks on the second day. It must have been something to do with my equipment. On the second day I was getting poor accuracy and barrel breaks about every 15-20 rounds. I was using a barrel squeegee and cleaning each time. I started carrying the squeegee in my left hand instead of putting it away. I seem to be the only one I know of that had any problem with paint during the weekend. On day one, I only had one barrel break and accuracy was decent.

One notable skirmish on day two was when myself, Mariol and two others made our way to the north west corner of the map by the shoreline, and started making our way up the hill, along the North tape, to the American HQ. There was already a major attack on the HQ from the East by, I believe, the Red Raiders. I think it was the Skulls who were advancing up and along the ridge from the south. And here we were coming from the west. We were doing OK trying to maximize our angles and not let any Opfor past us about a ¼ up the hill we lost a man and another was out of paint. About ½ way up, I was out of paint. Moving up, calling out enemy positions, working angles and dry firing, the Opfor was still retreating up the hill until we found ourselves at the ¾ mark! By then, the Skulls to our right had joined us as the perimeter of our forces tightened on their HQ. Reinforcements were sneaking up to the left and right of me as I tried to distract Opfor from the Skulls who were closing in from within the ridgeline. I was finally eliminated, but not before reinforcements were in place and we were closing in on ‘em. I felt as though this had been the most effective I’ve been without a lick of paint to shoot. Unforunately, I was also completely out of all the paint I had for the weekend with only an hour left of the game. Thanks to Capt. Malone for the few pods of paint keeping me in till the end of the game.

I thought it was clever that when we took the American re-spawn point, the Cadets gave the Americans our spawn point so that they would mass and attack us from behind. What the Americans didn’t realize is that from our new vantage point on the high ground, we were able to see them coming and radio in their position to our troops up close. Also when they tried to flank the troops that were close-in, we could rain down paint from above! The second day’s point total had the Americans leading, but their second day’s lead could in no way make up for day one’s massive deficit. I don’t remember the exact totals but it was something like 6000+ points for the Japanese and 1700-something points for the Americans. It was a great weekend to see and sling some paint at a bunch of friends and of course make a few new ones while you’re at it.

OH - how can I forget! I thought having a real M249 SAW firing blanks right behind you as you play was awesome until I heart the report of the 50 cal Machine Gun. First a TA-DA-DA-DA … DA-DA … TA-DA-DA-DA followed by a DUGG-DUGG-DUGG … DUGGA-DUGGA … DUGG-DUGG-DUGG. The Blackhawk was one sexy beast, and its fly-bys were a nice touch, too. Sign up for Fall early! Early word says the date is September 15 and the scenario will be of a cold war / Red Dawn type. Proceeds always go to the West Point Black Knights Paintball team.

Photo credits...

2007-04-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

I recently added a Photobucket/Adobe Photo Mix-up Video to my brigade page but I didn't have enough room to add proper credits. I am up against the character limit of the player description and had to reword the content a little and remove some coding as it is.

The watermarked photos are courtesy of Strategic Paintball and the others are courtesy of LT "Cook" of Team Extreme Measures. Here's the video...

This was actually very easy to do with the tools incorporated into photobucket. This one took about 10 minutes. Drag & Drop photo's from your album. Drop in transitions if you want. Find and drop in a song. Adjust the photo durations to the music cues via a slider. proof. publish. done.

Hube's Pocket '07 Pictures

2007-04-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

My personal stats for this game and my game notes/comments can be found in the Play Log section of my brigade page.




Pictures were taken by Strategic Paintball

War of Attrition '07

2007-04-16T02:43:00.000-05:00

This was my first official game as a member of Team Extreme Measures and we played the French on our home feild at Strategy Plus. In the AM we sided with Germany after giving them sanctuary at our base and being attacked by Allied Forces. After a few hours of the Germans making themsevles a little too comfy in our land of wine and cheese, with the help of Allies Forces and some artillery fire we gave them 'Das Boot'.

First time at Strategy plus and while the terrain was very hilly, it offered some really great opportunities for concealed movement using natural and man-made cover (cliffs, gorges, rock outcropings, varing brush density, laurel bushes, bunkers, buildings, spools, tubes, etc). The Paint was ok but I think most of the team made a poor choice in purchasing the Blizzard cold weather paint as opposed to the premium summer paint. I didn't get any breaks but the paint wasn't the most accurate for the warmer day that it turned out to be.

It was a beautiful day to play though and I played rather well. I don't think I was ever shot out without getting 1 or 2 people out myself. I got away with not getting out through a number of skirmishes. My number of kills might have been a little higher but since I can't remember exactly, I don't want to guess too high. I remember at least the number I recorded in the play log in my brigade page. Three of my deaths were during the final battle when we were defending our base from both the German and Allied Forces and our re-spawn point was our tank (a Chevy Suburban with 8 guns sticking out)! Eventually I ran out of air and before I could reinsert we had teamed with the Allied Forces, and ultimately gave them the points to win.

There were several memorable moments. One was when I and a couple teammates were holding a line just outside our base perimeter against advancing opfor. We were spread out with about 30-40 yards between us. They were advancing losely scattered and we'd wait until they'd move into our 'kill zone' One of us would engage and if the one didn't get them right away a second or third would open another angle or slide in for a flank manuveur. After one, two or three kills we'd reset our line. Up goes the kill/death ratio.

Another moment was when our base was getting harrassed by opfor on three sides and our squad of 3 swept through an arc outside our perimeter eliminating all we encountered. When we reached the 3rd side, we found a second squad of friendlies had swung around outside our base in the opposite direction and were at the opfor's opposite flank. We popped the opfor like a zit on prom night.

Another time, I went out to cause some trouble with Craig from RT Raiders and one of his buddies. Seems there was some trouble at a location called Teepee. We spread out and marched through sending OpFor packing. As we pushed forward our friendlies rallied and we all cleared bunkers and flipped a couple flags as we went. I personally got to flip one at the artillery behind teepee as we secured the area.

La pièce de résistance, would have to be the battle finale at our French base. We were outnumbered by at least 5-1. We didn't have enough numbers to mount a proper defence given the layout and terrain. We were surrounded by both Germans and Allied Forces who wanted to take our base to secure their respective wins. Paintballs were whizzing by from 360 degrees all around. As I'd see a few balls coming at me from in front, a couple would go past from behind. I'd send longballs out of my flatline in attempts to keep opfor out a distance away and when they popped out close up from behind a ridge or building... I'D LIGHT THEM UP LIKE A DISCO DANCE FLOOR ON SATURDAY NIGHT. DANCE BIATCH!

We seemed to hold the base for quite a while. As I mentioned, I ran out of air and at the same point, we lost our re-insertion point (the tank). I had to huff it back to the other side of the feild to get air and re-insert. I was half way back when the game was called. In that time a deal was struck with the Allied Forces and the Germans were repelled. The allies won by a couple points. For the record... the French were not collecting points at this game. We were there to role play, act as mercinaries if we felt like it and just make the game more interesting. Basicially at one point or another, WE GOT TO SHOOT EVERYBODY!

One of the guys on the team took some pics. I'll get them up on the blog ASAP! I also have some from Hube's pocket and possibly from Stalingrad.

SpecOps Recon Videos

2007-04-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

These were meant as spoofs, pretty fun to watch. Usually there's one video per magazine issue. The next issue is on newsstands, but the video is not out yet.

Recon Vol.1 Issue 2

Recon Vol.1 Issue 3

Recon Vol.2 Issue 1

Recon Vol.2 Issue 2

Recon Vol.3 Issue 1

There's more videos at the SpecOps Video Vault. The Blackcell stuff is pretty cool too!

Paintball Bio

2007-04-02T02:43:00.001-05:00

I started playing paintball in the spring of 2003. My first experience was at Skirmish with a church group a friend of mine was a member of. I'll never forget that day. How we ran into position at the countdown. How I was short of breath from anticipation while waiting in ambush for the enemy. How I startled at the sound of the first reports of fire. How I strained to hear opfor pushing past the brush as my heartbeat pounded in my head.

No, I didn't have a heart attack that day and I recovered just fine in the deadzone in time for the next round! I look forward to that annual outing all year. I also look forward to getting out with my family and friends whenever we get a chance. I usually play 3 or 4 times a year. I've played at Skirmish, Liberty, West Point, Hornet's Nest, Strategy Plus, Accurate Paintball and a few backyards. I'm looking to try out some new fields this year, possibly a Cousin's outdoor field. We'll see.

I play different rifleman positions though I prefer Sabre. I lay coverfire. I flank OpFor. I have forced surrenders. I have been a part of pushing through enemy lines. I've been part of two-man sniper/scout teams making weak-side advances. I am not afraid of getting lit up 'going for it' but know few situations warrant such big moves. I enjoy playing offensively and will fill in where my team needs me. I'm big compared to the others I usually play with (5'-11" 200 lbs) but I usually don't like to hang back. Most of all, I keep my eyes open. I constantly try to communicate OpFor positions and numbers to my teammates. If I run out of paint or air I go into intel mode.

After meeting up with several members of Team Extreme Measures and playing side-by-side for a couple games this year, I was invited to join the Team. Playing recon and fire team positions as part of an experienced and seasoned team in my most ambitious paintball schedule to date, I hope to see you on the field!

View my Special Ops Brigade Page to see my opt-ins, play logs and gear list.

Warehouse up and running!

2007-03-28T02:39:00.000-05:00

Well... I'm sure they'll be a number of changes but here it is!
As I've been updating the whisperwolf SpecOps Brigade page, I've started to hit a wall with regards to how much information that I wanted to be contained there. I've tried to format this blog in a way to be very complimentary to the Brigade layout.

If your not familiar with the SpecOps brigade, it is a good place to keep track of player logs, other players and local games. For more information and to sign up go to the Brigade home page. Be sure to tell 'em whisperwolf sent ya (Brigade ID 62542).

Tentative 2007 Big Game Schedule

2007-03-27T13:57:00.001-05:00

Battle of Hube's Pocket - Hornet's Nest - March 3
Battle of Stalingrad - Skirmish USA - March 10
War of Attrition - Strategy Plus - April 14
Battle of Guadalcanal - West Point - April 21/22
NJ Nam - Accurate Paintball - June 2/3
Invasion Of Normandy - Skirmish USA - July 13-15
Deadwood - Strategy Plus - August 11/12
Fall Big Game - West Point - September
~~Halloween Horror V - Strategy Plus - October 27~~
Hitman Paintball Challege - Strategy Plus - November 10
Toys for Tots, Santa Vs. The Grinch - Strategy Plus - December 8
Check the SpecOps Game Locator section in my Brigade Page for opt-ins
Check the SpecOps Play Log for game results and comments

~ 2008 Tentative Schedule ~