Paintball Rules and Playing Tips...

1. Goggles must be worn at all times apart from when you are in the safe area (Neutral Zone).
2. Never shoot at anyone who is not wearing goggles.
3. Guns are not allowed in the safe area. They are left outside on the gun rack.
4. Never put anything into your gun other than the paint pellets provided by Adventure Sports Ltd.
5. Avoid very close range shots - always give people a chance to surrender.
6. Never shoot dead players - they will be holding their gun up in the air to show they are out of the game.
7. Stop shooting and return to the safe area as soon as the whistle blows at the end of each game.
8. If you get lost (it does happen)head down hill. Our Paintball woodland at Wedgnock Rifle Range sits on a hillside - the Neutral Zone is at the bottom of the slope). Marshals will also come out to find you and will make lots of noise with their whistles - head for the noise and shout up so they know where you are.
9. If you are on any medication or have any health issues let the senior marshal know before you start playing.

1. Eliminating a Player

For a paint pellet to eliminate a player it has to hit them, break open and leave a splat of paint approximately the size of a 50 pence piece. The pellet has to hit the player directly - a pellet hitting a tree and spraying the player does not count.

If you feel a paint pellet hit you, always check to see if it has burst. If the pellet has bounced off, you are still in the game.

A paint splat anywhere on your body counts, including your head. Shots on your gun however, do not count.

After you have been shot you are out of the game. Hold your gun up in the air and walk out to the edge of the game field (or return to the Neutral Zone if the game involved the whole wood).

2. Boundaries

At Adventure Sports Ltd. we base the Paintball games in a woodland area covering 50 acres. In theory games can involve the whole area, but in reality only a small area is used at a time.

Some games have boundaries (Village, Trenches and Arena Ball). During these games all alive players must stay within the marked area. Generally dead players head to edge of the boundary, from where they can talk / shout advice and encouragement.

3. Starting and Ending a Paintball Game

Games are started and ended with a blow on a whistle. Until the whistle has blown players should carry on playing.

Players will occasionally see that a flag has returned to their own base, assume the game is over and stop playing only to find the flag carrier had been shot and the game is still carrying on.

4. Foul Play

Playing On. Paintball does rely on players being honest. If you have been shot you will generally feel the pellet hit you. Always check yourself for a paint mark. If a player is found to have deliberately carried on playing after being shot they will be put out of the game together with the nearest two players on the same side.

Wiping. The biggest sin in Paintball is to wipe off a paint splat. The Adventure Sports Marshals have a keen eye for a freshly wiped paint splat and no matter how much scrubbing, wiping or rolling in mud you do they will find you out.

The two live players who are pulled out of the game with you will not be best pleased - watch your back in the next game - being shot by your own side still counts.

Pretending to be Dead. Once you have said you are out of the game you are out. You cannot put yourself back in the game.

Occasionally a brave player will stand up in the middle of a game and calmly walk through the middle of the game field with their gun down by their side. Everyone assumes they are dead and ignore them. In reality they are actually still in and doing a "Dead Mans Walk". This is perfectly legitimate and can sometimes allow the "dead man" to get right behind the opposition.

A dead player will always be holding their gun up in the air.

1. Always get behind some cover before you start to shoot. If you stand in the open you will get shot.
2. Work in small groups - if you get pinned down you will have someone else to put down some covering fire.
3. Don't get tunnel vision. Look all around you all the time. Most players are shot out, not by the player they are shooting at but by another player at a different angle.
4. Don't bunch together. A group of people is a much larger target than an individual person.
5. Covering fire can be very useful. Even if you can't see any part of an opponent to shoot at you can keep their heads down by shooting at the tree / barricade they are hiding behind.
6. Communicate with your team members. It is always intimidating to the opposition if you sound organised and working as a team - even if they are not.
7. Make sure you have sufficient paint pellets with you to play each game. You can fit 200 pellets in the gun and carry more with you with an ammo belt.
8. The sides of the game field are always important. Games with a boundary are usually won by the team who breaks through on one side.
9. In an open game send a small number of players out wide to come in from the side / behind the opponents. They will be busy concentrating on what's going on in front of them and not looking behind.