Paintball
Paintball is a skirmish sport in which players compete to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water-soluble dye propelled from paintball guns. It is a team game that can be played indoor or outdoor in fields or woods. It was conceived in 1981 in the United States.
The required equipment include Paintball mask, paintball marker, paint grenades, compressed air or CO2 container, paintballs and hopper. Body armor is optional but players should wear it while gaming outside in woods for safety reasons.
In paintball, players of both teams need to eliminate each other by tagging them with the capsules (paintballs) containing non-toxic and biodegradable water-soluble dye and featuring a gelatin outer shell. These capsules are fired from the paintball marker/gun to hit the target.
It’s a regularly played game on the sporting level just like other organized competitions are executed with professional teams and players. As the game type varies so is the time of playing that may range from seconds to hours. It may prolong for days in the scenario play.
Paintball player in hidingDifferent types of games are played with paintball including flag capturing, opponents’ elimination, ammunition limits, capturing the objects of interest concealed in the playing area and defending/attacking a specific point or area.
Woodsball, MilSim (Military Simulation) and Speedball are the most commonly played paintball games in which players must wear protective masks.
Every year since 1996, an international tournament known as the World Cup of Paintball is played in Orlando, Florida hosted by PSP, NPPL, and now NXL.
Other Skirmish Sports
- Laser Tag — a skirmish sport in which players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device.
- Airsoft — a skirmish sport in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting them with spherical non-metallic pellets from replica firearms.
Similar Sports
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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