I,Target

This weekend I went and played paintball with a small group of guys.
It was Steve's birthday wish to himself to play, so, of course I could not say I wouldn't participate.

Let me preface by stating that I am 37 and (after, paintballing finding out) that I am grossly out of shape.
I lasted four out of the five hours we were out there, but, the others being at least ten years my junior, still had a full head of steam to continue.

It was the first time I'd played, but I'd heard stories and seen it played. Basically, I had some idea of how it works.

It's a no-brainer: point and shoot. puh-puh-puh.
The sound alone makes it fun. puh-puh-puh. It's a unique sound that is made when the C02 propells a round paintball from the barrel of the gun. puh-puh-puh.

We had six guys, so we started off by doing a "three-on-three" battle.
The course we were using had man-made barracades as well as natural ones and was surrounded by woods, which we used later.

In the course of those four hours, we played several variations of war-fare:"President" in which one is chosen to be unarmed and gets two "Secret Service". The object is for the 'President' to get from one end of the course to the other without getting shot. The game ends when either he is successful in reaching his destination, or gets shot.

In another game, one is chosen to be "the rabbit" and gets one or two guns, depending on personal preference. The object of this game is to hold off all attackers. Basically, the 'rabbit' has no chance in hell of surviving so we chose the whiniest of the group and basically said "RUN RABBIT" and ganged up on the poor soul.

The best part of the day was in the beginning when we were doing a three-on-three in the woods, and it began to rain. THIS made it feel like what it must during real combat. (I word this statement this way because I've never been in real combat and I don't wish to assume anything and offend someone who has and may take offense. Respect)
The rain just made everything more intense. Not being able to hear the 'crunch crunch snap' of oncoming assailants made it more fun.

I'm not sure paintballing is a hobby I'll take up, but for the occasional opportunity to go out and shoot people without fear of prosecution is always appealing.

puh-puh-puh