I am not a fan of head to head confrontation. Such confrontations are for grinders who want to show who has more muscle. It’s a battle of the Ego vs. the Id. It’s like Grant grinding his way into Petersburg. It is the type of paintball I find boring. Imagine football without a passing attack.

I have always preferred the fast moving tactics of the Mongols under Genghis Khan then later by Ogedei, and other – who favored speed and maneuverability which allowed, them hooked, sliced and fen retreat only to close the circle and annihilate more heavily armed and armored opposition.

Field owners love head to head confrontation. It’s a scenario that maximizes the amount of paint being fired. And, in the right situation, such as a scene I witnessed at a Scenario Game in 2002 down in southern Georgia, it can be impressive and devastating.

A game plan built on speed and maneuverability is a thing of beauty to watch and to be a part of. It can allow a team that is greatly outnumbered to win a battle or the game. It only works effectively when the players executing it are in sync with one another. There is no need for large numbers; the attacking force need not number more than ten players (except in giant scenario games when you should have at least 20% of the manpower you are facing) as long as each member of the strike force understands their mission and can transition their attack on the fly depending on how the opposition reacts. Mobility allows a team to hit and widen weak points of the opposition until that team losses the ability to enforce their will on the field of play. The other advantage to a team with superior maneuverability is that they loose very few players.

At the old Westside Field I loved moving a force one way and at the moment of engaging peeling off with a handful of selected players to hook and slice into the under belly or at the Achilles of the force just encountered. Most players – once engaged in a firefight will lose sight of anything that is not in front of them. They just hunker down and let it rip. While head to head confrontation was going on, the group I slipped away with moved quick, at times back tracking to not draw attention and then carry out our primary mission of envelpoping our opponentx with quick hit and run tactics.

There were many times when we were in such a maneuver that we realized we could slide through the lines without firing a shot, pulling their flag, and returning it to our base for the win without firing a shot. For some – playing without firing a shot is like not having played at all. But If I can help win a game without firing a shot – I find that to be a perfcet game – where one has outfoxed their opposition – A victory of mind over muscle.

Duane Kirby Jensen
DBS – Staff (Playing since 1993)
9.19.12