After breakfast, it’s Game On! again! This is the final four to five hours, because most scenarios end at noon on Sunday. These final hours can be very fast paced because both groups are trying to make as many points on missions as possible.
About an hour before the game ends, Joint Fury’s Steve Cranmer notes, many scenarios put on a final great battle. Both groups are “herded” to the center of the field and given an objective. Usually, it is to hold or seize a certain location or object on the field and teams are given the final hour to accomplish this. The final battle is often worth a large number of points, so a group that is behind in points can sometimes win the final battle and take the game.
When the final horn sounds and the game is over, everyone meets with the scenario promoter to hear the final point tally and receive player and team awards from their respective generals. At this time there is usually a final, grand prize drawing and it is frequently an expensive and desirable gear item donated by a paintball manufacturer, a new electronic marker, for instance.
Elimination
Eliminations in a scenario game don’t have any effect on a team’s score although they may affect your squad’s ability to accomplish a mission. When a player is shot, he must check in at his team’s “hospital” and await the next insertion window, which is usually every 30 minutes. This way, eliminated players only have to sit out for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time. When they go back into the game, they must enter through a “safe passage” entrance to their side’s headquarters.
One of the roles most valued in scenario games that incorporate it into the script is that of “medic.” If a medic tags an eliminated player within a certain amount of time from the moment of his hit—sometimes 90 seconds—the player is “cured” and may keep playing without leaving the field. Of course, the medic is vulnerable to being hit, too.
Elimination in a scenario game usually requires that players accept an honor system. With hundreds of players, numerous special “missions” taking place at any given time and play throughout the night, it is impossible for referees to rule on every hit. This may be a challenge for tournament players who often don’t consider themselves “out” until they are flagged by a ref. But since “resurrection” normally takes place within half an hour, many experienced scenario game players don’t mind taking a little time off the field to take their goggles off for a good cleaning, squeegee their marker and adopt the prone position briefly for some inner eyelid review.
Nevertheless, scenario events follow regular paintball rules of elimination. If you are hit anywhere on your body or equipment and the paint mark is the size of a quarter, or you accumulate a quarter’s worth of paint splatter, you are eliminated. An eliminated player holds his marker high over his head, shouts that he is “hit” or “out” and walks off the field to a “dead zone” or the team hospital. But remember, in a 24-hour scenario game you can get reinserted in about a half an hour. So, don’t fret. You won’t be out of action for long.
ROLE-PLAYING
Role players such as this Scottish warrior at Sherwood Forest Adventure Games, LaPorte, Indiana, in May 2002, have a special status in scenario games. This particular game, “The Quickening,” was produced by Mackz Xtreme Sportz . (Photo by Ted D’Ottavio .)
In certain types of games, players take on popular roles from fiction or perhaps even from history and then compete to see who can accomplish objectives within the overall game. You might play Gandalf, Tolkien’s wizard in the Lord of the Rings, or Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate States’ Army of Northern Virginia or even Ho Chi Minh in a Vietnam scenario. The possibilities, says Ben Torricelli, owner of Millennium Paintball Productions , are practically endless, but competition for the well-known roles is tough.
When you take part in a scenario game and especially when you accept a special role, play will not be predictable, certainly not as predictable as it is at your local field on an average Saturday afternoon. Expect surprises. Expect sudden air assaults. Expect espionage and even hostage-taking. Depending on the scenario director’s inventiveness and the host field’s capabilities, the sky is really the limit.
Some Typical Scenario Roles
Look around at all the new faces. Scenario games welcome walk-ons and will usually rent all of the playing equipment you will need. The player meeting before any game, scenario production or a tournament, will orient you to the rules. This is the best time to begin psyching out your opponents!
A Demolitions Technician (demo tech) is certified for missions or developing situations that require the placement and/or activation of demolition charges. Sometimes these charges will just be “Action Cards” that need to be placed, but they can also be physical objects resembling sticks of dynamite or satchel charges. Demo techs may be given simulated rockets to add realism to their roles.
Engineers are needed to help a team recover from the actions of demo techs. Engineers carry “Reconstruction Cards,” enabling them to rebuild demolished structures. If the Mongol Horde, for example, demolishes a key bridge that the Teutonic knights need to accomplish a recon mission, the knights will fail unless they have their engineer play a Reconstruction Card to a referee and restore the bridge.
Each side has a few Medics who can heal non-lethal wounds in the field. The medic has a tablet on which he records the ID numbers of the victims he heals. Typically, a medic is given a limited number of healings, so this, too, is bound by an honor system. If a medic tags a wounded player within about 90 seconds of being hit, the wounded player can resume play right away. If a medic is eliminated, they can no longer heal others until they themselves are resurrected at the next player insertion.
Some character cards contain fascinating clues telling the player their role may include being a Spy, Secret Agent, Double Agent, Saboteur or even a Traitor. For example, look for a line that describes your character saying, “You have become disillusioned with the war effort and, given the right opportunity, you will be inclined to switch sides.” Sometimes, only the double-agent with a special “License to Kill” card can take out the opposing team’s general.
Game organizers will often recruit players to act out Special Fictional Roles. These help bring the unfolding scenario to life. You can see space aliens, wizards or historical figures roaming the field in full costume and acting out their parts. These roles are not for beginners, but can be a lot of fun when you have the opportunity to play something special.
And if you don’t dress the part when you are asked to be The Gunslinger, you’re not going to have all the fun you can. Here’s your chance to strut!
Sometimes you can make up your own character. This is referred to as “going creative.” But switching back and forth between characters in a single game is confusing. It won’t endear you to your teammates and may not be appreciated by the scenario operator, either. You could end up with no one trusting you and, in that case, don’t be surprised if you get shot in the back every now and then. (Shooting a disrespected officer or NCO in the back was called “fragging” in Viet Nam.) Some games allow you to bring your own props, like your homemade rocket launcher that shoots soft nerf balls, but you need to check with a referee or the scenario operator before you spring them on the field. Remember, if you are thinking about it, so are others; don’t be surprised if some of the more experienced players try to go solo or operate outside of their assigned character.
Scenario Tips for Newbies
“Halt! And give me the password.” A scenario team can’t