Hi all,
This was my first time at a F5 event.
Outrage were generous enough to let me jump in with them and I was happy to pick up the 2nd place trophy for them at the end of the day.
So what are my impressions of the event :
This is a far more spectator friendly format, you have a very clear central focus that a non paintball knowledgeable person could follow.
The choice of ROF was novel for me, did you opt for high ROF ramping or semi, suddenly ROF becomes tactical as you have to weigh up volume of paint in the air to the rate at which your air and paint will last and hence your effectiveness on the field.
Also the reduce FPS meant you had a slightly reduced range so you needed to get up close but also you are not going to do as much damage to your opponent if you get the business end of your marker inside their comfort zone !
I found myself hurrying the eliminated players off the field so that I got out to continue our push or shore up the defence. I think the pits were busier and you had less of rest than in X-ball, though we had 8 players and a coach with no pit crew so maybe that would of helped. You had to be more organised or you would not have a full five team members on the field and as such you would struggle further.
This format is also more marshal friendly. In that I mean that you can not state that a refs call lost you the game. A poor marshals call will just facilitate in rotating a fresh player onto the field and not mean you losing the whole point and possibly the match.
The score board is getting a revamp currently, so expect John to have a few soldering iron burns next time you see him. If you could add a kill counter to the score board live as well that would be the icing on the cake.
The event was held as I'm sure we are all aware is in Sosta's back garden, the surface was for better than that provided at some Millenium events and I only paid a total of £65 for the day.
There needed to be some netting at the car park end of the field to stop the cars picking up the long shots, whom ever owned that Yellow motor must have had a fun clean up at the end of the day
. Also John you may need to get the strimmer out and cut us some new car parking spaces as the event is getting more popular you were running out of places for players cars !
I think the field needs a slight shuffle, we, Outrage, managed to trap Demolition Squad and Hawkes in their spawn ending with Demolition Squad throwing the game as they could not physically enter the field without being eliminated. Maybe some large pieces should be left around the spawn to protect emerging players and give even a team on this most severe of back feet a chance to battle their way back into the game. Also making the spawn exits solid so the other team can not tell which side they were entering on would help.
To sum up I am thankful that Sosta and co did not just sit back and watch the tournament scene die. Instead they have created a fun 'new' format and have backed it with there own time and money. He has tremendous drive and I wish him all the success in future events, I for one will be attending.
There were a couple of memorable moments. Firstly Olly in the midfield snake tower giving the opposition's snake player a carefully aimed single shot to the head got a round of applause from the spectators.
Secondly for myself in the Hawkes game getting into their witches hat and getting pinched from both sides. I'm sure that was funny to watch, I have never got that friendly with a bunker before!
I look forward to seeing you all at the next event.
Regards
Ed
