Tactics: Steps to SPPL Success
by Bruce "Charon" Johnston on Nov 18, 2008
Every time you step on to the field, you’re ready to experience a new, unique adventure. No two game situations are the same: terrain varies, opponents vary, and subtle changes in your team’s tactics can make a huge difference on the woodsball battlefield. Even so, in every competitive woodsball game, you’ll find basic situations that occur over and over again. Being able to identify and react to these situations will give your team an advantage and enhance your chances of success, especially in a format like the SPPL, where your team wants to capitalize on every advantage that it can.
In this article, part three of our series on SPPL success, we’ve divided the game into logical segments--the breakout, midgame, and the final minutes--and covered common scenarios you may see during each segment. We’ve also included a special section on what to do when everything goes wrong! These simple steps to SPPL success should be part of every team’s play book and part of your team’s practices.
Breakout
After the starting horn blows, the flow of the entire game will be set within the first three minutes. If you can execute an effective breakout, your team will set the tempo for the rest of the match.
The most important, and most often overlooked, part of the breakout is making sure your gear is ready to go. You will be useless to your team if the horn blows just as you realize you forgot to refill your hopper, or turn on your e-grip, or bring your harness. The extra fifteen seconds you need to find a twig to turn on your APE board will be more than enough time for the other team to advance and eliminate you and the teammate you were assigned to cover. Before you step on the field, check your gear.
A fast breakout is crucial. A moving target is harder to hit--it’s as simple as that. The faster you move, the more your chance of survival increases. When the game starts, move as quickly as possible to your assigned position on the field or capture point. If you move quickly, you will get to the capture point before the other team, have time to set up a hasty defense and wait for them, plus you will get extra points for your team every minute you hold a base.
Many players get “tunnel vision” at the start of a game. They concentrate exclusively on reaching their primary objective and block out everything else. Remember, the other team is also attempting to reach their primary. If players from both teams are heading to the same point, the player seen first is usually the player eliminated, so keep your eyes moving left to right.
You never know where a target may appear, so always be prepared to shoot. As you breakout, ensure your marker is up and ready to engage any targets of opportunity that may appear. A player from the other team may only be visible for a fraction of a second. To reduce your reaction time, and score the elimination, always have the marker pointing in the direction you look.
An ineffective breakout will leave your team fighting defensively and make it difficult to take the initiative away from the other side. The strongest woodsball teams have a good breakout; a strong breakout forces the opponents to react the entire game.
Mid Game
The most difficult part of competitive paintball is implementing your carefully-made plans against another team that isn’t cooperating. As the saying goes, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”
No matter how thoroughly you prepare for a game, the other team will do everything in their power to foil your plans and execute their own.
When the game takes an unexpected turn, and your plans start to unravel, trust in the core paintball skills you have practiced and re-take the initiative. Shoot, move, communicate. Stay calm and use your head. If you can take a few seconds to survey the field you may find a new, possibly better, opportunity has presented itself.
Flexibility is the key to dominating the mid game. If you are in a position where the pre-game plan will not work, try to rework your plan on the fly. Implement only a portion of the original plan until you can get your players in a position to re-try your pre-game tactics, or come up with a new plan as the situation dictates.
Don’t be afraid to regroup and try your plan again. The infinite number of variables--including terrain, bunker placement, and even enemy locations--that exist on the field can result in a failed tactic on the right side of the field working perfectly up the middle.
Be creative in your approach to the mid game. This is the time to have fun and experiment. The wildest, most unorthodox plan can be just the spark your team needs to break the game wide open in your favor. A player running across the middle of the field, arms flailing wildly, while screaming “BANANAS” repeatedly, will get everyone’s attention and may distract the other side long enough for you to take control of the game.
Break the Noose
When everything goes wrong, and it seems the other side knows what you are going to do before you start, you may be tempted to give up hope. Even when the other team is closing in all around you, there are ways to break the noose that is threatening to choke the life out of your team.
If you can push the attacking team in behind bunkers and keep them pinned down, you’re on your way to breaking the noose and turning the tides of the game. Keep paint in the air, flying toward the other team, at all times. You don’t have to empty your hopper and grab a fresh pod every few seconds like a tourney back player holding the lane to the snake. Shoot enough to let the other side know if they expose themselves, paint will be coming their way. Keeping paint in the air will make the other team react to you, thereby giving you the opportunity to retake control of the game.
When the other team thinks they have your side on the ropes, they will expect you to post up behind a bunker and shoot it out. To regain the initiative and break the noose, keep moving. Move forward, move laterally, move around in circles, move anywhere except where the other team expects you to move. If your team coordinates movements, your angles on the other side will constantly change, giving you a better chance to make eliminations, and forcing the other side to react to you.
When the other team starts to roll, they will get excited, move faster, start to make mistakes and overlook the obvious. When they start to tighten the noose, don’t be afraid to get dirty. The opposing players will look for targets posted up behind bunkers and cowering in corners. The last thing they will expect is for you to belly crawl under the bushes and through the mud to escape their trap. Once you are behind the main line you are free to wreak havoc from the rear and disrupt the attack.
When you’re ahead in the game, you might be able get away with a few “lone wolf” players not sticking to the plan or coordinating with teammates. But when your team is in the noose, it’s crucial to prepare a coordinated defense. You are part of a team; act like it. In this situation, players who believe they are invincible and can singlehandedly beat the other side back will only manage to get themselves eliminated. This makes the situation even more difficult for the remaining players. Coordinated fire and movement between teammates, coupled with aggressive tactics, is the best way to succeed when all hope seems lost.
Endgame
All players must be conscious of their paint and air consumption during a game. There are few things that will simultaneously dishearten one team and motivate the other as hearing the distinctive ‘bulllllllap’ of an A-5 running out of air. Knowing your equipment is a key for scenario success. All players must manage their paint and air consumption to ensure they have enough of each to either make the last push to win the game or be able to hold the line in the waning minutes.
If all else fails and players do run out of air or paint, all is not lost. Players who remain on the field when unable to fight can still help the team. The other side will be unaware of the situation and divide their fire amongst all opposing players on the field. With “lame duck” players as “decoy targets”, your players who are still able to fight will have fewer people shooting at them. Even with fewer guns firing paint, your team may be able to score more eliminations.
Going flat out for an hour during a woodsball tournament game is exhausting. But no matter how tired you are, the other team is just as tired. There will be plenty of time to rest once the match is over, so keep pushing as hard as you can right up to the very end. If your team is winning, this will keep the other side from mounting a comeback. If you are on the verge of losing, a last minute rush might be enough to tip the scales in your favor to pull out a win. No matter what, never quit.
There is no secret formula, nor wondrous magic, that will make a paintball team great and ensure success at the SPPL. However, there are steps that every player on every team can take to improve each time he steps on the field. The steps to SPPL success are simple and, with practice, every team, of every skill level, can become proficient. Practice and teamwork will give your team a better chance for success in the Scenario Paintball Players League and every other time you play.