The horn sounds, you run for your life sliding into the nearest bunker. You bounce off it for just a moment; the CO2 tank is freezing against your skin. Gripping your gun you stealthily peer off the side of the bunker, adrenaline pouring into your veins. A black figure slips out from his covering, and with the lightning quick speed of your fingers he flinches violently then walks off the field in pure disappointment. A small smirk appears on your face. Within only seconds their attention is on you, you pull back fast, as you feel the pounding of the paint explode on the top of your bunker. You need to get out of there, find another cover, looking around you see your only possibility; the snake is empty, but farther away, your going to need to sprint with all you've got. Checking your surroundings you see someone at the bunker to the far right. You wait for your chance seeing his heard turn to the right going for another kill, you break out running, shooting, then leaping down towards the welcoming snake, landing abruptly into the mud, skidding two feet. A sharp pain stings, and lingers for a few seconds. You're hit.
Sounds great doesn't it? Paintball is the sport for really anyone who doesn't mind getting shot with a nickel sized paintball [at speeds you don't even want to know], every once in awhile. It's fun, exciting, adrenaline rushing, and an awesome thing to do with your friends. But how do you get started in something like that? First you got to know the rules of the game.
-Rules-
This one is just common sense; Wear your mask at all times when on the field. If you don't you have the risk of getting shot in the face and causing major injuries.
Try to shoot all the members of the other team before they do the same to your team. Or devise a plan to capture the other team's flag without getting shot in the process.
When you get shot don't wipe off the paint, this is one of the most annoying things that can be seen on a paintball field. Take the high road and accept that you got shot.
When you accept that you've been shot, yell out that your hit, raise your hand or marker (gun) and walk back to the dead zone (will be explained below). And of course keep your MASK ON!
Don't shoot at the referees. They're just doing their job, making sure the game is fair.
Some fields don't allow swearing or profanity, and some just say keep it down. But in most cases when playing you cant even hear the person next to you talking, so if you really have to curse then just don't scream it at the top of you lungs.
Also most fields make you have a barrel plug on your gun when you're not in the field.
And lastly don't climb on or over the bunkers. Those things are expensive to replace. Trust me.
-Terms You Might Want To Know-
Gear:
The hopper is what you put all the paintballs into (attached to gun) which then feeds them into the barrel.
The barrel should be pretty easy to find, it's the long tube like thing that the paintballs shoot out of.
A barrel plug is just a small plastic piece that has usually a flat grip and a rounded part that you stick into the barrel, to keep the gun from shooting when its not in use.
Pods are small cylindrical containers that hold extra paintballs for when you run out of them on the field. Practice is needed to be able to shoot and refill at the same time with out spilling half of your paintballs.
Masks are pretty self-explanatory; they just cover your face so it doesn't get shot.
CO2 tanks are the power source of paintball. You hook them up either to the gun directly or to a hose like thing that hooks up to your gun. The one with the hose thing is so you don't always have the CO2 at your side; instead it's on you back with the pods.
Bunker Names:
An Aztec or Temple is basically a triangle bunker with a flat top
Doritos are the smaller triangle bunkers
Stands or stand ups are big cylinders.
Some times there will be a big X in the middle of the field and you can just call it the X.
A brick is a small rectangular bunker.
And lastly the snake is a long tube like thing that either has many curves or bumps in it (like a snake) or has some brick bunkers attached to it.
Field Areas:
Dead zones are at the end of both sides of the field and are where extra gear are and hit players go.
The red zone is in the middle of the field, in between both teams, usually where most hits are.