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.
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