Consider the suggestion to never fight an uphill battle. Why is this true? Why does it suck to do so? How bad is it to be on the uphill side? Better yet, what’s so great about going down the hill and attacking that way?
Now, think of why there are barrels like the Flatline and Apex. Think of the benefits of long-range combat and artillery. Wherein lies the advantage in such expensive equipment? Why does it matter that these exist?
These two concepts of height and distance add to the concept of angles in presenting the world in a three dimensional way, the one in which we actually play. The Theory of Height and Distance states that the higher up you are, the better off your forces are, and the farther away you can make an effective strike, the better. In addition, the higher and further away you are, the harder it is to hit you. (NOTE: This theory does NOT apply to Ambush units, who are better off in lower positions tricking people with their preconceived notions.)
Obviously, Javelin and Sabre units benefit the most from this theory. For them, applying this theory can lead to great advantages against the opposition and can gain them ground, which saves paint, and also assists in the defeat of the most noble and dangerous enemy of all: The Tank.
Let’s start with height, the amount above the ground that you are at the moment. Now, being high up has its advantages, as well as being down low, and so does being at ground level. Most bunkers are considered ground level, but some, like buildings and towers, are higher up and provide some height. Height can be employed in a multitude of ways.
With heights that are above the ground, you gain vantage, or the ability to see, as well as an advantage in the form of the Pythagorean theorem. When you are up in a bunker that’s above the ground, there is a little triangle that forms over your head that starts at the level of the opening that you can see out of, say, a window or other such thing. This line reaches to the back wall of the building, and then goes up. Also, in the third dimension it stretches from the bottom corners of the window. This is the visible area. When you’re in this area, you can be seen and hit by an opponent, but when outside of it, they can’t see you, or hit you. Keep in mind that visible areas form off all sides of a window, and though you may not be able to be seen from three directions, you may be visible from a fourth, most likely up above your current position.
This ability to see is what vantage is. From up high you can see down into bunkers and buildings to weed out unsuspecting opponents. Especially when you have roofless or open bunkers. Also, the range you can see and what you can see is greatly improved by being higher up. This is natural physics and is helpful for most situations. Vantage is what you can use to drop in on unsuspecting opponents.
Distance, which is directly affected by height, is the amount of airspace you are away from a given position. Yes, airspace, not ground. From higher up, you are further away to a certain point than if you were the same physical distance away and at ground level. The effective range of a paintball marker isn’t that great, and can be improved with the Flatline and Apex barrels. The advantage that these barrels give is in the fact that they have a greater effective range. (Though personally I call DOODYHEAD on the Apex’s claim to glide along walls, the distance increase is useful) Though they do not guarentee that they’ll break in the extended range (Which is approximately 30-40ft) they can give good covering fire that can be useful for Sabre units to clear up an area for other units to get through.
Now, how to use these two in tandem to gain an advantage. Start by finding taller bunkers. Taller bunkers that have platforms at the top give you a tactical advantage in controlling who can use open bunkers. By controlling the open bunkers, you can allow your team to advance faster by clearing these bunkers’ opposing side and allowing your team to claim the bunkers.
This advantage is greater when the tall bunker is central to important areas. Being equidistant allows you to be able to target all open bunkers within range with equal vantage into each. This allows for greater control of the bunkers and for the team to make a quicker approach because they are guarded from above and their own open bunkers are less venerable from above because they have the highest point on the field that is closest to the center.
Earlier, it was noted that this theory does not really apply to Ambush units because they are better off on low ground. There are two reasons for this: One, people’s natural assumptions about snipers, the real world equivalent of the Ambush, and Two, the purpose of ghille suits and their inherent design.
Snipers in the real world are usually portrayed as having “Nests” that are high up in buildings and structures. This is true, and is mainly because of many of the theories discussed here. However, these assumptions, and the general paranoia that an Ambush unit brings with them, can be used against people.
When Ambush units are placed low, they become invisible because people will ignore looking down near the ground for them. Get low with your Ambush self. People don’t look down because they figure that people won’t shoot upward. Use this fact to gain an edge on the opposition.
For this same reason, Ghille suits, sheets and digital camouflage were invented to look like the ground. They are made this way for this specific purpose. Ghille is more effective when placed at ground level among similar looking objects, not up in the trees themselves, though it’s makeup does resemble leafier trees at times. Digital camouflage is the same way, except it is made to hide movement a little better.
Then came the tanks. Javelin units were mentioned as benefiting from these theories, but have yet to receive support for this claim. Really, Javelin units gain a benefit from this theory in Visible Range. Though most paintball tanks are built with plexiglass or metal mesh outsides to provide visibility, Tunnel Vision is common in gunners unless they have a good driver or support unit with them because of the rate of fire that their weapons put out.
Javelin units can use this to launch anti-tank missiles (yes, those crazy looking nerf footballs!) without being seen until the tank is hit. By running another unit closer to the tank, they can provide the distraction the Javelin needs to fire before the tank realizes that an anti-tank unit is in the area. Also, this same thing can be used by Sabre units to sneak up on another player. By repeating the same movements, a unit can “train” their opponent to fire to the same location and expect them there, allowing the saber to surprise the other unit and fire back.
This, is how Height and Distance benefit paintballers, in the way that it can change how a player can fire on another player because of their distance away or height off of the ground.
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