Shatnerball Through the Eyes of Tom Kaye

[AGD]

All,

It was such an incredible experience I wrote down my perspective in a 7 page essay. I have attached it here as a plain text file because it is too big to logically post. You can read it with notepad.

AGD


ps It seems that if you just click on it in Explorer it opens without any paragraphs. Might be best to right click, download the file and then open in a word processor.

[TransMan]

Thanks Tom i too had a great time although there were some short comings i will do it again with out a doubt.

[Drgnwyng]

Yeah Im new I joined right when i got back form the game cuzz AO is great there all so nice and freindly great player all around amazing people And thank you all of you for opening up to some kid that datapimp69 drag out there : } and Thank you Yes Tom the game was incredible and just all around fun im with Transman on this

TransMan Thanks Tom i too had a great time although there were some short comings i will do it again with out a doubt.

Thank you Tom

[Army]

Open Toms report in Word, it fits fine.

[Fred]

Tom,

Next year, please try to push for a better location, such as Hell Survivors in MI, EMR out East, or any other field that has actually run scenarios (successfully). The lack of organization on the field due to rules, refs, and especially air filling facilities just made it a crappy day.

Hanging with the AO group made a bad scenario weekend a great success as far as fun goes though.

PS. I hope everyone enjoyed the donuts at the orgy, while the Assimilators and GPEA were duking it out with the pumps over on the hyper-ball fields... (yes, I'm still bitter about our lack of sideline support...)

---Fred

[theraidenproject]

Of all the pictures and descriptions of Shatnerball, none made me wish I was there as much as that. Thanks, Tom, for the great read. I NEED to be at the next one.

[Tunaman]

"For me it was the end of an experience that was so incredible I can't find the words to describe it. To be on par with a Hollywood legend and radio superstar on stage and in battle will never happen to me again. I could only think that I didn't have the right to be there, it should have been Zena or Schwarzenegger or Mel Gibson, certainly not Tom Kaye from Airgun Designs - who the heck is he? It was very emotional to actually have so many people WANT to be on my team, to have Shatner and Mancow include me in the on and off stage stuff, and the fact that these two superstars would agree to even PLAY paintball. After so many years of my industry being ignored, suppressed and legislated, it's just emotionally overwhelming to see it explosively break out with this event. The fact that I was a major part of it made it one of the biggest highlights in my life and also the most humbling. I want to express my sincere gratitude to EVERYONE that participated and especially to JJ for having the vision. If someone had told me twenty years ago while I was watching Star Trek reruns that someday I would be the only person to ever battle Captain Kirk for real, I would have bet him a million dollars he was wrong. Sometimes million to one odds do come true".

Tom Kaye
Borg General

An incredible masterpiece of journalism...
If it wasnt for you, this whole event never would have happened. If ANYONE deserved to be there, that would have to be you. You bring more excitement and fun to the sport of Paintball then I ever thought possible. I only wish I could have been there. Face it TK...you are the King now and forever ...
Long live AGD!

[LaW]

I would have to say that it was very well written. Sums up the entire day very well. I was right there when you were making the alliance with mancow and it was very exciting to hear.

[Dayspring]

If you open it in Notepad, all you have to do is click on "Word Wrap" and the paragraphs reappear.

I'll post my thoughts on it in a bit.

*EDIT*-- Jealous Tom... VERY VERY Jealous.

[Havoc_online]

Tom, I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had on the entire trip from you showing us Airgun and telling us about your hobbies to working the booth and running the front line in attacks that got us kills by the 10's...I can't wait for the next one!

Suddenly this HUGE Tiger tank shows up! Our side starts scattering as this behemoth moved slowly toward us. Paint marks start appearing on its sides and I know this is useless since only a LAWS rocket can stop a tank. Now I am running away looking for cover!! Will I get robbed of my bragging rights? Is this going to go on even longer? Suddenly the Tiger just starts turning around and going away!!?? I don't know what exactly happened, I can only speculate one of our guys did it in and saved the day! KUDOS to whoever that was!!

I'm not sure if I can take credit for this(actually I really doubt it) but during that attack I ran on top of the closest hill in the field to find 5 fed's shooting at our guys who were so far back they didnt need to worry about it, after these few seconds another battle quickly began with the Fed's that were left trying to hold us off from behind the few hills out there.

I found myself running on top-hill after hill surpirsing the few Fed scum that were left. By the time I got to the last hill I suddenly got hit by more balls than weltman, I dropped to the floor getting ready to hold my gun up when I couldnt find a break, I yell for a ref and get him to spin me around to find out I'm still in! Without thinking I fill my hopper and put 20 balls into every opening I saw on the tank(I filled my hopper again).

By that time I slowed down from exhaustion, a few other guys were running hard from behind me on the tank yelling "shoot the holes!" when a ref waves them to stop cause the tank is a goner...I didnt get what happened, I was to tired to care at the moment but I had to good of a personal victory with all the kills I got in that raid that I gave up for the day to go help at the booth.

[the123]

This was probably the most fun i've had playing paintball YET! Rubbing elbows with the big guys, Cow, Shatner, Orr, Red(Redz), Manike (you sure are tall), and last but not least TOM, it made for a day that couldn't go sour no matter what. The hearty clan of AO'ers there made it even better. Thanks LOAD SM5 for the stickers, it made it simple to know who had your back.

My day started a little late, and I missed the initial insertion(paint line). Thank you CPX. Got onto the field at and headed straigt for Bedlam. At this point it was overrun with the Federation and it was a real pain to take. I ran out of air and had to go back to fill.
SO i get my 1900psi (thankyouCPX) and return to find we have now taken Bedlam and are in the process of taking Armageddon. I push with JonAGD up the armageddon tapeline and bolted up into a tower. Now my heart is pumping good and i'm taking out federation player after player. I lost my voice trying to command the field pushing the Feds back into their own insertion. That was the best part of the day. We must have held that insertion point of theirs at bay for at least 1/2 the day.
On to the final battle..
I strayed off TK's plan to sweep around the feds and bolted into Bedlam's north east building with about 12 other experienced players. With just us, we held off the Klingons from making ANY forward progress on the north side of the field. As well as shooting away all our air. What the Feds did, by rushing over the hill, was very brave and I commend them for absorbing every single ball I shot at that HORDE of players running twords us
Thanks LOAD SM5 for the stickers, it made it simple to know who had your back.
Thankyou Riotz? for the Ninja stickers.
Thankyou Gambit for hosting the barbecue and beer orgy.
Thankyou Rusty and Law guys for stopping the ememy tanks in their tacks very quickly.
Thankyou JJ for inviting me to Whirly Ball (awesome time).
And
Tom, thankyou for .. everything. lvl 10 too Not 1 broken ball alll day. 2+ cases.


This sums it up for most of us Borg:
All around me the Borg were glowing, knowing they had finished the day in typical Borg fashion, with superior firepower against an unsuspecting sacrificial opponent. -TK

[PaintballChannel]

Tom,

Beautiful write up. You expressed the feelings of many of the players out there and captured the event in its entirity.

And, yes, you did deserve to be the leader of the Borg.

Cheers, and here's to next year!

[Python14]

crimeny, That was good tom....almost brought a tear to my eye. Next year, go to Skirmish, they are one of the best run fields I've ever been to.

[agdemagman69]

Shatner is SUCH a liar, we were walking through the woods when I saw this arm sticking from behind a bunker, so i shot the arm... and long story short we captured shatner

[DSMPilot]

I had a great time as well. It was nice to meet alot of the friendly AO people and for all their offers of non paintball related activities. Thanks MXRacer for driving me around and TK for taking the time to take a pic with me. The only downfall of the event was the air fills and some thief that took my 1/2 case of paint(must've been those damn Klingons). I woulda had just as much fun just hanging around with my new friends than playing paintball. The whole trip to Joliet was well worth it, count me in for the next big game!
TC

[Tack]

I think the highlight of my day (besides Ratt and I forceing a tank gunner to drop into his tank and surrender near Arramegeddon) was at the Braveheart charge. I went with Bud and the deversion unit into Bedlam and got 10 confirmed Klingon kills off the bat when I stepped out of the trees and saw them just standing there.

I was also the one who announced to everyone who was within earshot that "We got Shattner"! After he charged down the hill. As much paint as he had on him I think everyone on the Borg team that was in the tree line can say without much of a doubt that at least one of their shots hit him. I yelled it so much I think my voice will never get better.

I had a helluva time when I was on the field but hated the crap we had to deal with with poor paint and 1500psi. Hopefully we can get a better set up next year.

[soulegend]

Hey, I missed out on the donut orgy and stayed around watching the pump tourney all of Friday. Could've used some more people around there for the added support. Ahh well.

[chrisj]

Great report!

I am so sorry I missed it.

Chris

[Iceman8446]

Great write up. If ya guys hold it any where near me next year i'm definaly commin.

[SirOssis]

Tom that little essay more than any other thread makes me want to kick myself a little harder for not going. And then hearing about the lack of refs makes me wish I had drove over and grabbed a refs jersey from Forest. Oh well, just like the Cubs... wait til next year.

[HellsShooter]

Tom you sumed it all up great. Hope to play with you next year.

[OnyX]

i would like to thank load for the stickers.

yeah we had a blast down there me, hellshooter, bean, mxracer, 2000sabre, dsmpilot were just knocking guys left and right during the shatner game and especially that friday when we were playin open game speedball in the hyperball field.

even though we were outnumbered 5:1 or so and had the worst location for insertion, borg did what they do best and its keep mowing down the feds and the klingons.

was a pleasure to meet the AO crew and especially our general tom kaye, will be looking forward to more big meets with the AO platoon.

[AGD-OfficeGal]

GREAT essay, Tom!

I haven't had time yet to read all the threads and all the posts about Shatnerball, but already one thing is clear to me: despite being handicapped by lousy air fills, screwed up scorekeeping and whatnot, for sheer valor, valiant hearts and having a good time, THE BORG WON!

Marcia

[845]

The borg arent suppose to win, they're suppose to lose but take down 4x as many people as both the feds and klingons combined.

[Roadkill]

I have to say this was the coolest game that I’ve played in and had a great time. I had no idea the fantastic talent I was playing with throughout the game. I also think with the 2000 psi air situation set aside, the BORG would still have not been victorious. The reason why I say this is that throughout the event I observed several things that would have prevented our victory. I’m not criticizing anybody’s leadership or the game and I’m only basing this upon my own Military and MILSIM experience:

1) Objectives - Missions and scenario objectives were never clearly defined or communicated. This alone could have given us victory. I think this mostly in part in the way the scenario was planned.

2) Command and Control – The professional teams had a chain of command and much like a Special Forces or Seal Team, were accustomed to working together in a small unit. However the walk-ons, like me, were not included or put into an organized unit with a leader. Likewise, similar to when several SEAL teams where sent to blow up Noriaga’s plane in Operation Just Cause, the professional teams probably had never worked as a cohesive unit. The professional teams could have served as the cadre or leadership similar to a how an Army Special Forces ODA functions. By having a Chain of Command, orders can flow down and all of the units could work together for a common objective.

3) Tactics – While small unit tactics were used, the big picture never seemed to develop. The small units worked well individually in taking an objective, like the Temple, Bedlam, and Armageddon, but they would be lost because an occupational unit was not deployed to hold it. When we controlled the Federation’s entry point, reinforcements never arrived and it was eventually lost. With a game this size, larger tactics need to be employed. A small unit could get into place for say a DA (Direct Action (Sniper) mission, while a larger unit masks there movements by engaging the enemy in another location.

4) Resource Allocation – Like the chain of command and unit organization, resources were never fully used. In resources, I mean smoke, LAWs, Snipers, Medics, etc… I saw some of the Teams go into the box with 2 medics and others with none. I also saw two players with LAWs grouped together while some of the teams could have used the additional firepower. Distribution of resources can make all the difference in MILSIM.

5) Supply – The air situation has already been addressed (Fortunately, there was a guy in the lot with his own compressor. I traded a 9 volt and some Gatorade for two 4500 psi refills). The paint line was bad – CPX should have set up a cash only line. Also, the mid level paint sucked (while I didn’t break any balls, they were irregular and didn’t shoot straight with my Tippmann Flatline).

6) Other miscellaneous things like intelligence / reconnaissance, field noise discipline, hand and arm signals, use of rally points should also be pointed out.

Maybe this was all going on behind the scenes, but all of the above is from several players’ perspectives and my own.

Now, you may ask yourself who am I to make these recommendations? After spending about 8 years in the Army working in Intelligence and Psychological Operations (PSYOP), I’ve seen how the big picture works. I’ve had the privilege of working in the TOC and in the field. I’ve planned at JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center) and for real world missions in Panama, Honduras, Iraq and Haiti. In these operational planning sessions, I’ve had the honor in working with the SF, Rangers, 10th Mountain Division and the Marines. I’ve also been in the field working in a small team attached to larger unit, like an SF ODA. This being said, I would like to volunteer these skills for the next Federation, Klingon, Borg, or even Romulan engagement. Once again, I had an excellent time and I am not criticizing the leader, teams, or the game at all. It was a blast, but next year, resistance will be truly futile. Tom, thanks again.

[hitmanng]

I want to say I had a great time mostly due to the opertunity to meet my AO friends.
But I could tell the Borg were doomed from the first 5 minutes. I am not sure what happened but from the outset noone seemed to have clear objectives. The initial push on Mancows base was fun but was set up like the british in the civil war. One well placed player took out 10-15 of our men.
Also the paint and air was going to be an issue. In a tourney you may play 15 5 minute game or 75 minutes of play time against a fixed 75 targets. Here we had hundreds of targets for 8 hrs. I shot a case in less than an hour. I was not really interested in shooting $800.00 in paint so had to slow down. Luckily the air fills or lack there of helped.
The objectives where not set out early in the game and never really explained to the masses. It seemed like I helped take bedlam 4 times for no apparent reason than it was there.
The rules were not even close to followed as far as insertion sites etc and it seemed like they changes throughout the day.
I also cannot believe we had close to 400 people on the field. I have played in a number of big games and if we ever broke 200 I would be very surprised. In the final battle Shatner had 400 easy that is how they came down in waves like 4 times. We were lucky to have 100 left. Oh well.

I did have fun but unless I have a guaranty of a better set up from the SPPlat people before next year, You will see me at the Viper events and the MXS events not Shatnerball, it just wasn't worth the money.
Maybe Mother and Pacman can run it next year. Nice try and the registration process was great, but it was kind of a let down on the field of play.

I do want to say I enjoyed meeting everyone and think no matter how play was the hard work that everyone put into it and the publicity we obtain for paintball made this event well worth it. Not to mention over $500,000 for charity.

Hitmanng

[JJBrookshire]

Tom,
Thank you for the incredible essay. I am forwarding this to Shatner and will let you know of his reply. To everyone, please email me your comments. I will answer a few of the most common complaints here but will wait until I get more input and have a plan for next year before going into more details.

As for the air: I was under the impression that CPX handled as many as 1000 players per day on a regular basis and never thought they would have so much trouble with air fills. It turned out the compressor had a clogged filter which limited the air fills and overworked the electrical system resulting in power outages. Next time there will be more air capacity than needed.

As for the paint: Originally we were to have multiple brands of paint available with $20 per case going to the charity and players buying directly from the manufacturer/distributor. This idea was completely overturned by one man after I had announced the location was to be CPX and many people had registered with that in mind. This one man is the president of Brass Eagle which owns the majority of CPX (see www.BrassEagle.com - Investor relations for the press release from Nov '99). His name is E. Lynn Scott and he can be reached via email at LSCOTT@BRASSEAGLE.COM.

For next year, we will require potential locations to submit "bids" for the event in a similar fashion to an Olympic event. For a location to be considered they must agree to multiple paint brands and show they have the ability to handle the number of players.

[Dayspring]

[cough]Skirmish[/cough]

And guys, just remember, had we played by the REAL Borg rules, after the first 5 or 6 are taken out, nobody else could get shot, AND every player we eliminated would join our side. So we got handicapped from the get go

[rjvemt1]

what kind of gun was shattner using?

[SeeK]

E-Mag Extreme C&C