The Age of the Mechanical Marker

[Aslan]

tested

Well, I went to the field Saturday to debut my Minimag and...

I guess my feelings were mixed. I did hold my own against most every marker out there, but I will say the response triggered A5s and X7s were difficult.

When I got into a firefight with some spyder clone or 98Custom, I had the edge. But once I started getting fired on by the full autos, my ability to poke my head out and see where the shots were coming from became virtually impossible.

One thing that happened was I don't know how many comments I got from players that had NO IDEA what kind f marker I was using and what the square thing on the bottom (warp) was. The AO community would have either laughed or cried as they heard the many "guesses" as to what I was using. Everything from a "new Spyder" to an "air fed hopper" And these weren't "total newbs"...I'd expect that from guys that just started playing...but these guys had a couple years under their belt. One thing we need to do is bulk these kids up a little though. When I let these kids hold the Mag I don't know how many times I heard; "OMG it's heavy! How can you carry that!" Granted, my right bicep is a bit sore today...

[b-cuzz]

Pick yer shots, and keep 'em in the bunker till ya come around on 'em. If the paint starts hittin' yer bunker, look for a fallback 'cuz they know you're there. Ya just gots ta play against the player. It gets depressing trying to play against other people's guns. Quickly.
Every day more and more players will rely more on their rates of fire than their abilities to actually play the game. If they don't know where you are, their rate of fire is useless.
Ain't nothing wrong with being out-gunned, but rare is the day I'm out-played.
That's not saying I win every game by any means, but when someone actually makes the effort and out-plays me, that's a loss I can smile and congratulate the opponent about. I've been out-gunned, too, and I walk off saying "Well, y'all got it done, but it took y'all to get it done."

[ProblemKinder]

Tippmann is still making new affordable mech markers that will last through anything up to and including global thermonuclear warfare.

provided you have an unlimited supply of sears

[ProblemKinder]

Look at Azodin, coming out with a new mech with great features (it's a Spyder clone, but none of the Spyder's annoying propietary threading/sizing specs) at a decent price.

also, speaking of azodin, pumps and mech vs electro, anybody see this?

http://www.azodin.com/kp_plus/default.asp

looks like inkundone has some competition!

also I took this from shocktech's website:

"With the back to basics game making a comeback and the rates of fire continuing to be lowered its time to return to the guns we all loved."

thoughts?

[boy scout]

On the subject of all of us youngsters relying on our guns to shoot fast, I picked my newest electro based solely on the boards max rate of fire being able to be programmed down to 5. Its fun to lend the g3 to people and tell them its on ramping... NXL 3 shot activation 5bps max. hehe
On the subject of mech markers-
"OMG, THIS GUN SHOOTS IN THE RAIN?!?!?!"
-an imaginary person who would probably own a "broken ion" that needs a new battery

[chafnerjr]

Nothing better than walking up to the mask cleaning station and giving your mag a bath while everyone looks on in horror!

[Konigballer]

Well, I went to the field Saturday to debut my Minimag and...

I guess my feelings were mixed. I did hold my own against most every marker out there, but I will say the response triggered A5s and X7s were difficult.

I agree with what b-cuzz said about playing against higher rof markers, keep your head focused on the actual player and how to defeat him.

However, if you want to 'get even' in the rof/bps arena, you can do that as well with your Minimag by upgrading to a Retro or Xvalve, and either shimming your on'off with a preset tank or buying an adjustable. My single trigger Retro Valved Minimag will go toe-to-toe with any electro in a bps match if I choose to crank up my MaxFlo. I never do though, I prefer straight semi, more challenging.

[athomas]

Well, I went to the field Saturday to debut my Minimag and...

I guess my feelings were mixed. I did hold my own against most every marker out there, but I will say the response triggered A5s and X7s were difficult.

When I got into a firefight with some spyder clone or 98Custom, I had the edge. But once I started getting fired on by the full autos, my ability to poke my head out and see where the shots were coming from became virtually impossible.

That happens no matter what type of gun you are shooting. Once you are out and firing, you can hold them in too.

[Loneassassin]

I've honestly never found much difference between a good mechanical semi and an electro. (in terms of being "outgunned.")

Sure, it's easier to create and sustain a high rof with an electro, but I think after around 9bps, the extra rof really doesn't do that much. Even when I play speedball with my electro, I rarely shoot over 9-10bps unless it's off the break - and then it's only for a few seconds, generally. Maybe this is because I started off playing with stock class guns - you really learn to make your first shots count. I guess I've never really lost that. And when you hand me a gun that will do 9bps and up - it's just like a bonus statistical advantage.

I see a lot of beginning players, not necessarily noobs, but players who have been in it for a couple of years - buying into the high-rof mindset. They go out and get a fast gun and rain a lot of paint, but their fundamental playing skills are lacking.

Case in point, a year or so ago I played against 3 of just those kind of players in a woodsball game. (I had one guy on my team but he got shot right away.) Anyway, I was using my Sniper (pump), and the opposing 3 guys had RT'd A-5's - and they weren't afraid to use them, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I got into a nice position behind a huge, wide boulder that was about chest high and about 20 feet wide - so I could pop out from multiple positions. Their main strategy was apparently to knock the boulder over with paint so they could finally hit me. I could look up and see the 13+bps streams flying over my head. I would guess that each of them shot no less than 5 pods per game. When I could see that a stream was over my head, I'd pop up two feet to the right and shoot a guy. I repeated this until they were all shot. I did this game after game after game. No attempt was ever made to flank me. It was laughable.

The point is - there is a lot more to this game than simply shooting fast. There is no reason one guy with a pump should ever be able to beat 3 guys with full-autos and a liberal supply of paint.

[going_home]

I like using a semi and limited paint.
I use a 100 round Sport Shot and bring a hundred round pod out with me.
I just ordered one of the new Allen Paintball 50 round hoppers and
three 50 round pods.
Going to try a smaller hopper

[zondo]

Well, I went to the field Saturday to debut my Minimag and...

I guess my feelings were mixed. I did hold my own against most every marker out there, but I will say the response triggered A5s and X7s were difficult.

When I got into a firefight with some spyder clone or 98Custom, I had the edge. But once I started getting fired on by the full autos, my ability to poke my head out and see where the shots were coming from became virtually impossible.

I had this issue on Saturday at GTF in Jacksonville. I really couldn't hold the tape with my pneumag facing 3 guys coordinating an attack on me with full auto or auto response A-5's. So I switched to my Cyborg and just tried wasting a few pods per game to even the score. 3 shot burst or ramping was WAY too much and I didn't feel like I could control it.

I did manage to figure out my problem, and it wasn't so much mech vs electro but instead it was the tiny paint that my .684 PPS twistlock barrel was too big for. After the 2nd game with the 'borg, I switched to the .682 back of my kit and I was finally shooting darts. If I had a smaller bore twistlock, I probably never would have switched to the 'borg. Once I could shoot accurately, I just used pure semi with 11 bps cap.

Like someone said, I only had to be accurate for 3 balls in a second.

[Bassaro]

As one of the guys who started playing this game when the majority of players used pumps (me and my nelly 007) and progressed every step into a electro I have to say the game is evolving.

I am currently using a angel A1 as my primary marker. I play big scenarios (command at a lot) and really have a feel for the woodsball world. The truth is simple, a electro on the field is a force all it's own no matter who is firing it. So many kids today get a smart parts or proto entry level marker,it is hard to charge a electro with a mech, and if the electros pack together your in for a hard time.

Here is another notion that no one pointed out. How hard would it be to take down a experienced player with a nice electro in the woods??? I have found that if you have experience and a nice electro you can do FAR more damage.

I am not saying that if you take a mech or pump to the field that you will not stand a chance. I am simply stating that it will be harder to accomplish the feats you used to achieve. As we all get older, fatter, and less flexible it will be harder to take a mech to the field and rely on experience.

Like I stated earlier the game is evolving (like when we changed from pump to semi). Considering the thought of evolving with it does not make you any less of a skilled player.

[chafnerjr]

Why and how? If you're holding yourself up by sheer ROF then who's really playing the game? Now you didn't say that you shoot people a bunch of times so I'll assume that you offer suppressive fire, or taking out the other speedballers on field, but why would any new player want to play games where 20 rounds/second are going over their heads. The game is always evolving... but most recently cap's have gotten lower and lower. Fields are finding that it makes more sense to attract new players than to make up money on a few players that launch paint all day long.

[Mr. Mouse]

I've eliminated all manner of electros with my mech Mag.
I've played long enough to where I don't feel the need to have an ungodly rate of fire. I've never used an electro before, though, so there may be some hidden appeal to them I don't know about.
I own a Rainmaker, but that's more out of adding to my collection of oldies, and I have yet to use it. Batteries are getting expensive, and I need almost a dozen 9v's just to keep my revvies turning.
I believe that a rather large part of the number of electro users out there consists of people who feel belittled by electros, and bought one out of intimidation.

if your killing through 9v's get a rotor you get 50,000+ shots off 3 double a's which will save you money in the long run

and i love woodsball just as much as i love speedball, i just like speedball because you can consistantly play game after game where as woodsball is fun and a different set of skills, more of a battlefield where as speedball is holding lanes and pushing up. I still own a z-grip mag, a hyper mag and i have a redframe hyperframe im thinking of putting a universal board in and putting eyes on one of my mags but at the same time if i do that i wont have my mech z-grip warped feed mag that i LOVE i mean ABSOLUTELY LOVE playing woodsball with. I think much of this has to do with preference, a electro you get wet the gun fries and its not operational (exception of e/x mag), mech guns run in whatever kind of weather and guns such as tippmans can get run over by suvs and still work where as you did that to, lets say my brand new eclipse geo, it would get flattened like a pancake, it all has to do with preference and what kind of game you play, ive played with a phantom pump i use to own and loved it, ball after ball on target most the time. Electros in woodsball games are nice up to an extent, its nice for suppression but at the same time your wasting alot of paint compared to say someone with a pump or mech, and ive seen pneumags they are sick nasty fast and rt's with modded pins. So i say the gun depends on which kind of game you want to play, or your style/preference, ive seen people with some old palmers guns and some others whoop people with electros, paintball comes down to skill not throwing tons of paint.

it is truely sad that these new people, even a few years under your belt or not, dont know the history of paintball or what AGD is, its probabley one of the best markers out there all around, you can make it a pump, mech, or electro, and they are the most rugid gun that ive played with that is a nice size ( saying that i dont like the way tippmans are designed to be held), if these people would know what agd is and what they are, i think AGD would make a big comeback, maybe its just me.

[sjrtk]

it is truely sad that these new people, even a few years under your belt or not, dont know the history of paintball or what AGD is, its probabley one of the best markers out there all around, you can make it a pump, mech, or electro, and they are the most rugid gun that ive played with that is a nice size ( saying that i dont like the way tippmans are designed to be held), if these people would know what agd is and what they are, i think AGD would make a big comeback, maybe its just me.

I second that sentiment, but alot of the kids don't want to hear that there is even something else out there.