Attacks

To paraphrase “Invincibility lies in the defense. The possibility of victory lies in the offense.” This holds as true for paintball as not. While defense is undeniably a major part of the game, Attacks are the only real option for winning- most of the time, no team has the possibility of victory without attack. This is, of course not always true- many scenarios, Oklahoma Dday, for example, exist where one side has the possibility of victory without ever exhibiting an attacking posture. However, for the purposes of this particular article, we'll assume that an attack is necessary.

Attacks require, to be effective, either overwhelming numbers or firepower, superior teamwork, communication, and aggressiveness. The first of these, numbers, is fairly self explanatory. However, even a large weight of numbers, say, 2 or 3 to 1, against a well-planned defense may not be sufficient to secure victory, or even achieve the goals of the attack. Similarly, while firepower (in this case, the aggregate ability of a group of players to put paint downrange effectively) is also a marked advantage, it will not necessarily grant an attacking force victory alone.

Teamwork and communication are, as always, key in achieving victory. teamwork's importance cannot ever be understated- even limited teamwork such as cover fire, buddy pairs, and limited communications can spell the difference between achieving an attack's goal, and simply losing many players and bogging down into a shooting match- or worse, leaving the way clear for a counterattack that cannot be resisted by the remaining body of players. Communication, of course, is the cornerstone of teamwork. Few, if any teams, can claim to be 100% effective without some form of communication, be it verbal or physical (hand signals and similar). Even the simple act of calling out where opponents are can be a big advantage to any force, letting players know who's shooting at them from where (applying the theory two sets of eyes are better than one)

However, the ultimate resource for an attacking force is the aggressiveness of the players involved. Players must be willing to advance aggressively, take up new positions seconds after achieving their current positions, and always be closing with their objective. The importance of aggressiveness, both in the whole, and on the individual level, is, as with teamwork, impossible to understate. Note however, that this must be tempered aggressiveness- achieving an objective is meaningless if it's been done at the cost of being able to hold it (As Lee found out to his sorrow at Gettysburg). Note, however, that this last doesn’t apply in walk-on games- few of those, if any, require an objective to be held at all by an attacking force.

Types of attack

Attacks can be broken down into two broad categories- that is, attacks made to eliminate players, and attacks made to achieve specific terrain. Attacks made to achieve specific terrain generally covers attacks made to achieve specific missions, take flag stations, or gain a specific terrain feature, such as a hill or woodline, for a different tactical goal. Note that the first kind of attack, that to eliminate players, is usually also included in the second kind of attack, just because players will rarely, if ever, withdraw from an area except as a result of attacking pressure, and even then, most will fight on until eliminated.

All attacks should be made using surprise, speed, and violence of action. An attacking force must constantly be pushing forward- again, defenders will usually withdraw under pressure such as attackers closing to very short ranges. This is the nature of most players- few, if any, are trained to stand in place and shoot it out with closing forces. Remembering that the goal of the defense is to gain time, the goal of the attacker is, then, to be quick at achieving their objectives.

Attacks made to eliminate players should be tailored specifically to do that- terrain should be considered important only in reference as to how it allows the attacking force to eliminate the defending one. Overall, the best kind of attack to use in this instance is an enveloping attack, whereby the attacking force attempts to flank and encircle the defending force. Achieving even a limited flank, creating an L-shape, works as well as achieving both flanks, as it “pinches” the defenders, and greatly limits both the positions they can use and where they can apply their firepower. Note that, in this kind of attack, one of the biggest factors is the initial surprise- While this is hard to achieve in any significant scale, especially in paintball, if it can be achieved, it is a major force multiplier, allowing a disproportionate small number of players the capability of eliminating a large number of opponents.

Attacks made to eliminate players should attempt to allow the fewest opposing players to withdraw. This may mean aggressive pursuit, which necessitates the attackers be wary of an ambush situation. Even so, in an ambush, the attack should be carried- counterattacking an ambushing force can have a major demoralizing effect, especially if it can break the ambushing force! These kinds of attacks will benefit greatly from teamwork and communication- especially the last. The attacking force is out to eliminate as many opponents as possible, and to do so, need to know where they all are.

Attacks made to achieve specific terrain will usually lack the element of surprise. Odds are, the defending force knows the attacking one is coming, and will likely be prepared. Here, the attacker's biggest advantage is mobility. The defenders are tied to a specific piece of terrain, be it a flag station, hill, wood line, or creek, and lack the ability to maneuver to meet the attackers on more even terms. In walk on play, the defenders may have the added disadvantage of being the last players on their team left in the game, and, as such, are fighting from a 'hopeless' situation. This kind of attack benefits most, again, from aggressiveness and willingness to continue closing.

Once an attack to achieve a terrain objective has succeeded, it is important to Immediately adopt a defensive posture within that terrain feature. Remember, the purpose of the attack, in this instance, was to achieve that terrain- it would not do for the attacking force to sweep after whatever defenders were left, and, in the attempt, be eliminated by a counterattack, and lose the terrain! This defensive posture only needs to last the time it takes the terrain goal to become outdated- for example, in an attack to take a specific flag station, once that flag station is taken, and can be used, the attack can sweep on.

Review

It should be noted here that attacks should only be made when necessary. Defensive postures, especially those within prepared positions, can be very hard to break, almost impossible without significant numbers and firepower advantages. Even with those advantages, attacks can be costly affairs, leaving only a small force to defend a captured objective.

However, this is not to say that attacks should only be made in a reactionary manner. While an attack launched after the opposing team has 'shot it's bolt' so to speak, and lost it's attacking force, can have a marked advantage in numbers and morale, it also runs the risk of leaving a team too depleted to reliably achieve any aggressive goals of their own.

In most cases, this article deals with attacks made in large-scale scenario games, and assumes the presence of both large numbers of players, a large maneuvering area, and the ability of eliminated players to re-insert. In many cases, the same general theories apply to smaller walk on games, however, those kinds of games tend to degenerate into mutual attack-attack scenarios, unless specifically prohibited by the rules of that specific game. Similarly, this article dose not deal with the nuances of players in the attack, and what you should expect of players, other than in the most broad of senses. This will be discussed later.

Lastly, control over an attacking force must be maintained. Attacking forces have a tendency to want to continue a successful attack, and to continue to push an opposing team. In attacks made to achieve terrain goals, this cannot be allowed- again, a defensive posture is extremely important to ward off counterattacks.

Overall, the goal of this article is not to provide for a definitive 'how to', but more of a general base of theory. It is this author's belief that, with a solid base of theory on as to why something is done, specific knowledge on topics allows for much greater flexibility and understanding on the field.