Gotcha & Tagg Paintball in North Carolina

March 24^th – 25^th, 2001 - Chronicled by Mongo

It was a dark and stormy night as advance elements of DBD Southern Division careened north on I-95 amidst the gathering gloom....OK, OK...maybe that's not EXACTLY what happened....

But two enjoyable days of paintball were had this past weekend. And, despite illness, familial obligations, and VERY short term notice, a total of four DBD members did take part in games spread across two fields in eastern North Carolina. And other team members would have played had they not been prevented from doing so, largely by prior commitments.

Day One was rec-ball at Gotcha Paintball, a field north of Rolesville and south of Louisburg. An interesting combination of speedball (with junk cars and wrecked vending machines in addition to the more traditional barriers) and woods (varied foliage, well-built bunkers, and drier than most), Gotcha provides a friendly staff, a low field fee ($5 each), and some of the least expensive paint around (starting at $55 a case), not to mention a free hot dog or hamburger (whatever they're grilling that day).

Allan Shang (hereafter referred to as "Conn", a name of yore, lore, and gore) played in the opening speedball game and his team emerged victorious. And, while I myself missed the first woods game that followed, Conn and Tradeguy both headed out to the field. They worked together for a while, but eventually Tradeguy advanced alone clear to the enemy flag...before being shot by a well- hidden enemy. And Tradeguy's performance in this particular game even got him an offer to join a tournament team....

Next game was also woods. I myself chose poorly in that one, advancing too far, breaking a ball, and soon taking a round to the throat. Not sure what happened after that...Tradeguy and Conn lasted a lot longer than I did.

Next game was speedball. Conn had to leave and Tradeguy was still getting his equipment back in shape from the previous game...so I ended up being the sole DBD member in this one. Speedball's not normally a great place for a pump gun, but this one turned out to be a lot of fun. Mostly I roamed the backcourt, taking aimed shots at guys snap shooting from behind bunkers, switching from the right side to the left side and eventually back to the right side again. We won that one, largely thanks to an excellent push by our left front player.

Last game of the day (well, at least for DBD) was back in the woods. I started on our left flank, with Tradeguy in a nice defensive position to my right. The fighting broke out almost immediately to our far right (home of the famous "land bridge"), but the enemy on our flank failed to advance rapidly. So I headed up the left tape line, taking fire both from bunkers ahead of me and from bad guys to my right. But we eliminated the hostiles in the middle, cleared both of the bunkers on the tape line, and eventually poured down the field towards the enemy base, strongly supported by teammates sweeping in from the right. The final enemy survivor (who had wisely taken cover elsewhere than in their fort) was pinned by a hail of fire from Tradeguy and soon eliminated.

Day Two was the St. Patrick's Day scenario game at the TAGG field in Garner. TAGG may be the toughest field in the Triangle terrain-wise. Wet in places (although not as wet as Heart of Darkness can be), it's real claim to fame is a veritable network of deep gullies, ravines, and valleys (in combination with vast tangles of fallen trees left over from Hurricane Fran). Game fee was $25, but that did include all day air (for as many tanks as you wanted filled) and a lottery ticket. And we were able to use up paint that we had leftover from an earlier day of rec- ball at TAGG (which shot well...I played with the Flatline all day and never broke a ball).

The scenario itself was fairly straightforward...the Townspeople of Raleigh against the Leprechauns (over control of the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow). Points were earned for enemy players leaving the field (whether they'd actually been eliminated or not...if you left for air or paint or for a drink of water you were just as "dead" when in came to points awarded). Additional points were earned for enemy officers. And even more points were earned for controlling objectives at certain points in time during the day (i.e. holding the "Beginning of the Rainbow" at 12:30). Next time I'm wearing a watch....

Anyway, St. Paddy’s Day started out a little rough for DBD...and for the Townspeople of Raleigh. TAGG's field is basically a giant "U" with the parking and staging areas in the middle (and with the human and leprechaun bases at the opposite ends of the "U"). With Swamp Thing already in play, Tradeguy and I inserted near the Townspeople base and headed high and right around the outside perimeter of the "U". We covered a lot of ground, but I eventually walked into an enemy dug in on the tapeline (turned out to be their general...a player with a good marker and excellent knowledge of the field). The firefight was short...and I came out on the short end of it. And Tradeguy was likewise eliminated by that same player not too long afterwards.

Meeting Swamp Thing off-field, we three vowed revenge against the evil Leprechaun King (i.e. that same general...it turned out that he'd taken out 5 or 6 of our guys) and vowed to drive him from the field. So Dead By Dawn once again swept that side of the field and found...nothing. Perhaps he'd already been eliminated...perhaps he was busy elsewhere...or perhaps he was simply fleeing from our righteous wrath...we'll likely never know. But our long range patrol did eventually encounter the vicious leprechauns and a spirited battle ensued in a large valley (where the Flatline proved very useful). There were, however, too many of the little beasties and my comrades fell valiantly in battle. I myself retreated up the slopes, only to find enemies to the left of me...and to the right of me...and, in fact, behind me...I didn't last much longer.

After that things became somewhat of a blur...I do remember working the inside of the "U" with Swamp Thing and running into a group of enemy encamped on an objective. After he was, unfortunately, eliminated, I lone wolf-ed it around behind enemy lines, looking for a good dry gulching spot. Almost ambushed a few of my other teammates, but finally ended up joining them in another valley fight (where the Flatline let me hit folks who clearly thought they were out of range). A good battle, but I ran out of air (and dumped sand in my barrel) soon afterwards....

While I was off-field (refilling my tank and un-sanding my Tippman) Tradeguy and Swamp Thing prepared for re-insertion near our base. Unfortunately, a large number of the enemy leprechauns had used a "special" insertion to insert at the same point just moments earlier, setting up a killing zone just across the tape line. Worse, the few Townspeople being inserted knew full well that they were walking into an ambush. Having done this myself (back during the Great Pumpkin Game) I know from personal experience that it is NO fun, at least not for the players that know they are heading into a trap. But the only choice from the ref was to either to go in and die...or to not go in and still get counted as being eliminated. So our boys went in...and perished within feet of the entry point....

Well, except for Swamp Thing. He himself can provide more details of how he accomplished this, but, suffice it to say, using camo and stealth he remained undetected as the carnage went on. And, after the massacre, he began to exact a deadly toll on the now un- suspecting ambushers. When Tradeguy and I re-inserted 15 minutes later the first sound we heard was Swamp Thing's "Hey guys!"...but, of course, we couldn’t still see him....

The fighting went on (almost as long as this long-winded paintball report) and our team began to concentrate on holding objectives (and winning points). The townspeople would hold one end of the rainbow, then swing around the "U" to capture the leprechaun base, then reverse direction and liberate our own base from the clutches of the little people (all in time to collect the points for each). When the points were tallied after the game the Townspeople of Raleigh were declared victorious! And, as the victors, we each got an additional lottery ticket. Even the lottery went well...at least for me...I won a "grab bag" full of useful paintball accessories.

So what's next for DBD? Young Guns at Madison? Eye of the Storm at Wayne's? Big Game at Gotcha? Triggertyme in Columbia? Star Wars in Fayetteville? Only time will tell....

Dead by Mail at: TeamDBD@dead-by-dawn.org

Ó Copyright 2000,2001 All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be duplicated or reproduced in any way without express written consent of the site owner.