SPRING 2013
SPRING 2013
Have Marker, Will Travel.
Game Review by Kornbread.
When it comes to paintballing in Canada, it’ s always a good idea to knock the cobwebs off after a winter of hibernation and poutine. On March 23rd I attended the 1st Annual Roughneck Random7 Tournament at Marked Paintball and Laser Tag in Almonte, Ontario.( Just outside Ottawa) I had never played there before so I looked forward to checking it out and the day did not disappoint.
The idea behind the event was pretty straightforward. Everyone gave their name and marker type when registering and then everyone was randomly divided into teams of 7 and assigned a colour. When I talked with the organizers they were happy with the turnout as there were enough players on hand to field 6 teams. The games were played on Marked Paintball’ s Hill-Billy Ball field which is essentially a speedball field using bales of hay and tires as bunkers and logs for the snakes.  Now believe it or not, until the day of this event I had never played anything that remotely resembled speedball. I started in the woods and moved to scenario, so this was a completely new experience for me but I felt that this tournament and field was perfectly suited for someone new to this style of play. The snow drifts around the tires provided a nice cushion for someone who was learning how to slide into a bunker. Over the course of the day the advantages of each side of the field presented themselves. The north side had a major wind advantage, so players could stay in the back row and lob shots downfield. On the south side there was a lot less snow and rushing to the 50 was way easier. If I had my choice I preferred to play from the south side and get to that 50 right away.
Following lunch and door prizes the games continued and as the afternoon progressed players began to drop off and it was decided that there would be a final free for all game where players could respawn until out of paint. Teams were divided up evenly and then let loose. After everyone was out of paint the event was over. Every player’ s entrance fee also included admission to an after party at a local restaurant following the event. There was a silent auction, good food and lots of fun. From what I’ ve heard, next years event is already being planned.
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