People don’t just know your guys, they now cower in fear, but there’s this other team that shows up every weekend you go out with your guys. They’re getting the edge over you when your teams meet on the field, but you’ve realized, well, it’s almost like they’ve studied you. They know your calls and even worse sometimes, they know you.
Every team eventually reaches the point where others know about them, and the tactics that they use. If not recognized in a team sense, then at least a certain group of players that act together. Here is where the bulk of analysis comes in. not so much in learning other teams styles, but recognizing certain favorite tactics and who’s involved.
Command players are bound to creating, implementing and modifying a plan for their team, and they are also required to do the opposite, seeing, analyzing and countering, for the opposing team. This is done through the recognition of tactics.
The three base schools of tactics are Strongside, Lazy D, and Flanking, each specializing in a certain type of situation and offensive style.
Strongsides are the use of one large offensive down one side of the field, with a smaller defense on the other. However, this school of tactics can be implemented in a variety of ways. It may be a small squad that suddenly makes a charge, an Ambush making headway with a Broadsword on the other side. Any of these can be considered Strongsides.
Lazy D’s involve awaiting an incoming tactic and slamming a gate down on the opponent so they are enclosed and knocked out because of superior angles. Ambushes are generally thought of for this tactic. Anytime you get the “Drop” off on an opposing force, you tend to have done a Lazy D.
Finally, the Flanking school uses sudden changes and additions of angles by large forces to hit opponents. Swinging around the side of an opposing force to gain additional angles, or add height or firepower to your attack is a flank. You must also come at the opponent from their Side-Door angle in order to use a flanking maneuver. Also, Flanking generally ends lame 50-50 firefights.
No, you don’t have to declare some kind of allegiance to a certain grouping of tactics, but you probably will prefer a certain type of tactic to others. It’s human nature. Knowing what you do in which school isn’t important, knowing but when it comes at you that is.
Knowing that every Command and team has a certain preference, you can watch for these. Notice how people are equipped, who they stay with, how much paint they use and what they say off the field is just as important as what they’re shooting at.
Seeing flashy colors, guns with super fast hoppers and short to medium size barrels tends to indicate the Strongside tactics. Also, grand and repeated pushes for the same location on the field are major indicators of Stronside tactics. Also, a large amount of pods in a belt (Full, not empty) tend to signal players that prefer this kind of tactic. SpecOps Brigade members that identify with the Dagger position tend to use these tactics, and note how this is mainly tournament players that fall here.
Slightly less obvious are the Lazy D players; these are your regular guys that pull out into the field looking for a good time. Waiting for action, they tend to hold their fire even when commanded to do so, but when pushed, they will slam anything that comes near them. Rentals, Tippmann markers and lower-end gear and equipment tend to also signal these players. Sabers, Javelin and Broadsword players derive many of their attacks from this school.
Then we have Flanking players, who swear by their BDU’s, swing around Mil-Sim and modded markers and a flair for sudden charges. Their gung-ho attitudes show off the field the most, often exchanging exciting, though not necessarily ego-boosting, stories of their exploits on the field. Ambush, Hammer and Saber players tend to stem from this school of tactics.
Watching the tactics, you can get a handle on what’s going on in the field; find out things about the players, and what the players can do. By identifying the tactics that happen, you can then identify which players are the biggest on the team, giving you an advantage and a few targets to take out early on in the game. Usually, players of the different schools will act according to that school’s base tactics and make it noticeable. Understand that you won’t see every single player on the field. It’s just not possible, so talk with your teammates to find these players and hear all of the tactics on the field. After a game or two, you should have a good idea of the valuable players, and who to take out early, and what kind of attack to look for.

 

There’s not many commanders that would ever want to stare down a bunch of Marines any day of the week. There’s a few more that would be willing to go up against a speedball team like Dynasty or Empire. Even more would stand up when reduced to a local-level SPPL or NCPL (National Collegiate Paintball League) team, and everyone would be up and at a bunch of newbies that don’t even have proper equipment.
Or think of it this way: between a Marine, a newbie and a scenario player, who would you rather have? Common sense says the Marine, naturally, then the Scenario guy, then the Newbie. But what if the newbie’s got game? And what if your pick of the Marine turned out to be a guy that stays in the rear with the gear? Looks can be deceiving.
So, what does that mean? Showmanship. Mental edges, and of course, scaring the opponents so much that they don’t want to try anything. Or getting them so pumped up and making stupid newbie mistakes. Both ways work, but some give better benefits. In all simplicity, using a team image can give an edge that is better than a $3,000 marker and unlimited paint could ever give. Any team that can properly and consistently employ an image stand to gain an advantage in the form of Showmanship.
Showmanship is the way in which a team carries themselves, how they play, what they say (And again, how they say it), and what they look like. A team with showmanship essentially picks up its own personality that is reflected through gear, clothing and tactics.
Gear is obviously the easiest form of showmanship. A better looking gun that works really well obviously will impress people. That means a SpecOps digi-camo A5-A2 will get compliments and respect for your team and yourself. So will a Longbow, and that Angel that you spent two years working up the money for. Mods like a stock, magazine and barrel shrouds always garner envy and looks, and Air-Through stocks make people cry when you can ball up in about half the space of any other player. Real-life mods like the 98c and A-5 M16 kits scare the living daylights out of Tourney players. When going for showmanship with your gun, remember that people react differently under fire to different things, and staring down the barrel of an M16 or Tommy Gun looking paintball marker will mean a whole different thing on the field.
Podbelts that look good also help, along with impressive looking pods. A 6+5+4 belt (+ Belts: Podbelts with rows of loops for pods, starting from the back, the progressive rows lessen with spaces between the previous row.) with spring loaded pods, as large as it is, looks danged good. So do vests. Remember that you’re going to try and inspire awe and fear, not looking stupid. So a 14 pod belt isn’t the best choice unless you’re a Javelin, and you take down a tank single-handed while wearing it. Use common sense. Usually tournament players wear 4+3 or 5+3 belts, and a scenario player usually carries a 3+bottle. An impressive way to use the belt is just to get good looking pods to go in them. Hopefully, there will be digi-camo pods soon.
Clothing is a different matter. Between BDU (Military Camo), Marauder/Fusion, tournament, and the old clothes from last week you don’t mind screwing up, there are a lot of choices of gear. The most impressive are the Tournament Gear, but they get noticed in deep woods. That leaves you with hard to get Marauder/Fusion and BDU’s. BDU’s always look impressive, especially on paintballers that are actually enlisted because the patches they have on them. Marauder/Fusion gear can also look good, provided that you tell people about the Brigade while you’re wearing it. Fusion, which looks similar to Tournament Gear, can really scare newbies, and some tournament players. Clothing really depends on what image you want your team to have. More on the image later.
Finally, Tactics are an integral part of showmanship. A unified strong side by people that are obviously on the same team through clothing, will always impress. A battle cry or other similar event, like chanting some phrase or cheer when people come within range of an ambush can give you another edge over them in addition to surprise, can unnerve a defender.
Now imagine a single person shouting like a madman when charging you. Imagine five, then ten. Add that to when they’re executing a plan that wipes out half of your team. Then they’re all wearing a uniform, and they’ve got really scary looking guns and masks. If you don’t fire in about a split second, you’re out. You wet your pants..?
That is what the power of a team image can do. Teams with a proper image can wipe out lesser teams with a single rush by scaring them with their image. Poking around the Special Ops forums, the signatures of various members point towards these teams. Look at some of the ones that depict teams. All of them match, have similar, fearsome equipment, and all of them look like they could kick your ptootie. Team images do not grow from egos (Unless that’s what you want), but from good play, unified teams and equipment.
Now, what if you’re not a rich team, your equipment’s all second hand and you still look like newbs even if you’ve all played since you could hold a marker upright? You’ve got another advantage all together. Since you don’t have money, most other teams will underestimate you. For what you lose in tactics, you pick up in opponent stupidity.
Hiding skill under lackluster looks has been a hallmark of the Tippmann marker since the dawn of the game. Never having looked impressive, the Tippmanns have become known for reliability, ease of use and durability. You could probably shell the heck out of these things and they’d still at least puff air. Similarly, a team can be the same way. Though not looking impressive, you can pull an image of dependability and versatility out from under your pauper looks and surprise even the best teams. This is how Brass Eagles routinely eliminate Halo’s and Dye markers.
That is from using an opponent’s gear against them. By using the fact that they know your team has bad looking equipment, you can nail them on skill and tactics. If they think they’ve got the advantage, they’ll take it. That’s good commanding, but it can get you in trouble. Especially when those guys with Wal-Mart guns turn out to have been playing forever and can easily pick you off. That is the advantage of being seemingly horrible.
Thus, any team, if commanded and put together properly, can use what they look like to gain an extra advantage over the opponent, giving them the extra edge to snag a win. Whether the team looks like crap or like a magazine ad, they can, and will, use that look to win.

 

So now, you have a team. What do you do with it? The first thing that needs to happen, after forming and finding positions and all that, is to organize. That means fire teams, squads, if your team is large enough, and platoons if you’re in a scenario games. (NOTE: this article deals with only squads and fire teams.)
The two base units of organization are the fire team and the squad. Most teams are squad size, but some are only fire-teams. A fire team consists of two to four, maybe five, members that’s positions, personalities and relationships coincide and allow for the maximum teamwork.
People can be on multiple fire teams, but do not put one person on more than three, or their objectives will become foggy and lost in the multitudes. Also remember that that person can only be in one spot at one time. More on this later.
There are many different combinations, and some of the most common are below.

Sniper (AMB HMR/BRD)
Command {CMD SBR SBR}
Attacking [DGR DGR DGR SBR]
Defending (SBR SBR HMR HMR)
Ghost {AMB SBR SBR DGR}
Weakside [SBR SBR DGR BRD ANY]

(CMD= Command SBR= Saber DGR=Dagger AMB=Ambush HMR=Hammer BRD=Broadsword)

Each individual fire team is given a particular objective, say for an Attacking team to get a base and clear the way for a Defending team to hold the position that the Attacking team just took over. Perhaps while they’re doing this, the Command team is counting on the Sniper team to hold people off of the flag or other major objective for long enough for them to pick up the flag or do whatever they need to do (Satchel Charges anyone?) and get out.
This scenario is considered a squad level action. Squads are combinations of two or so fire teams that equal at least ten people. OR the squad can be multiple fire teams linked together through people, usually a command team. I.E. a Command team that’s sabers are also on the Weakside. (Personally, this is stupid.) The squad is given a main objective to complete, such as get the flag from the base that the enemy controls. Then the Commander makes the plan and orders the fire teams on what to do, and the teams head out and accomplish.
Now, three things can happen. One: Everything goes as planned with few casualties. Two: A problem occurs and the Command needs to get down there and help fix it, or Three: Someone disobeys orders.
Obviously, the first scenario needs no explanation, you win. The second is a hot topic among commands: Where do I go during a game? Well, that’s each command’s individual choice. Commands must pick up a secondary Special Ops class that they use the attacking style of during games. Again, this can be anything you want, plus the Javelin (Tank Hunter, Vigilant Enduring Seeker) position and you also get to pick it. What could be better?
When you pick your own combat class, be sure to match it the same way as you did with your players. And for the love of everything paintball, DO NOT PICK AMBUSH. Commands need to be mobile, not sitting ducks.
The third is a little thornier. It really depends on how you want to handle it. If the person disobeyed an order that caused a breakthrough, don’t congratulate them as much as cheerfully requesting that they warn you of an opportunity before the next time they try something without your orders. If it winds up causing their elimination, and or a break in your own line, Don’t come down hard on them, at least not the first time. The next few times they don’t follow, get harsher and harsher with their penalty, asking them to sit out games or even kicking them off the team if they become too disobedient (Usually, you’ll find this trait in Ambushes and Daggers. Usually the really good ones.)
Now obviously, this sort of formulation of all these elements needs to be tied together. Below is the rank structure from the 4077th Concordance’s run for the Ho Chi Mihn Trail scenario game at Bushwacker’s Paintball Park in Imperial, Missouri. (Note: Callsigns are used over the player’s actual names in interest of privacy.)

4077th Concordance: Ho Chi Mihn Trail 2005
Command: Sgt. Jayuuker
Second in Command: Cpl. Sarge

Squad 1: Assault
Dagger: Cpl. Gabriel
Dagger: Pvt. Loki
Saber: Pvt. Tenacious
Saber: Pvt. Pat

Squad 2: Ambush
Ambush: Cpl. Tabbie
Broadsword: Cpl. Thunder

Squad 3: Objectives
Command: Sgt. Jayuuker
Dagger: Pvt. Stout
Dagger: Pvt. Cam
Saber: Pvt. Thunder
Broadsword: Cpl. Sarge

Here in this example setup, we have an assault, ambush and objective fire teams. The Objective Team was supported by the Assault and Ambush teams in accomplishing objectives. We also have an example of linked fire teams, through the Objective and Ambush squads.
These three fire teams form a squad, which gives them increased flexibility and usefulness to a higher ranked commander during big and scenario games. This is a fairly balanced team setup and can accomplish many goals, but further specialization by gear setup and team organization can improve the squad’s power immensely.
One final point: The command’s actual position on the field. This is a major point of discussion on the Special Ops Command forum, and needs to be addressed directly. This was discussed briefly during the section on Fire Teams, but should be gone into depth.
Again, a person’s position on the field is dependant upon their position they play. Since Command has no real combat power, Command players must take a secondary combat skill that fits their gear setup and personality, just like any other player. However, a command must be careful about how he attacks.
Command Daggers should play like a Dagger, except when entering a contested area, should be in the middle of the group where they can react and make tactical decisions with at least some time and have the ability to shout the commands out and have most of the fire team hear them. This gives the attacking squad an edge by having a tactical mind with them to give advice and orders mid firefight.
Conversely, Command Broadswords and Command Hammers should be always in the back. In theory, this is a great position for a Command, but sometimes this places them towards the back and can prevent their orders from being heard by players in the heat of battle, unless the team has radios. It does carry the merit of allowing the Command to act as a refill station for the rest of the team with the amount of rounds the player must carry as being a Broadsword or Hammer.
Command Sabers should be actively engaged in the midfield where their troops are, acting as a supporting gun in firefights and allowing the team to gain necessary ground and angles. Here, the commander acts as an extra hand in addition to The usual help of tactical advice.
Command Javelin are able to become powerhouses, singlehandedly making their plans happening with their arsenal of grenades, rocket launchers and satchel charges. Even with such power, they are impractical in normal situations. Their power is nullified unless there are scenario objectives of attacking and destroying a location, eliminating a tank team, or search and destroy missions. However, given the right objectives, a Command Javelin can make whatever they want happen.
Last, the Command Ambush. This is arguably the worst position a Command can take. It separates the Command from the team in exchange for a strong support team. The Command still gains vantage, but due to the Ambush’s job description, cannot use shouting or even a radio to command the team. Also, the Command needs the ability to make sudden changes, which the concealed Ambush cannot do deep within enemy territory.
Thus, with proper organization, and a well matched subclass for the Command, a Team can attain a greater degree of control on the field that can give them the edge in high-stakes situations.