Chicago Force Paintball 2002

On September 22, 2002, Chicago Force went on their first paintball outing. It was a perfect day for paintball, a little cloudy in the morning and in the mid-60's, clearing up by midday to be a gorgeous, sunny Sunday.

12 Chicago Forcers made it out: Matt "Darth Astuart" Springer, Dave "Bosh Talk" Gray and friend Ed, Ray "Rex Karrde" Bosques and friend Hector, Phil "Mos Eisleian Radio" Salomon, Mark "Jodo Kast" Franklin and friend Bien, Mary "Amber Eyes" and son Mike, Tom "TomTav" Tavrides, and Matthew "Hazmatt" Callison.

Everyone had a lot of fun, and there was talk floating around of making this an annual or semi-annual event, so stay tuned to Chicago Force Web. There was a lot of paint traded by both teams, with the group going through 5000 paintballs during the day. Yes, they sting when you get hit, but it's certain there was more pain the following day, when little-used muscles made their presence known to the owner.

Finally, a very big thank you to Blast Camp Paintball and our ref, Whisler. The facilities were top-notch and the staff was organized and professional, creating a fun environment with zero delays. Good job Blast Camp!

Now, on with the evidence....

Meeting up at Huck Finn's
The first order of business was to meet up in the morning to caravan out to Blast Camp. We chose Huck Finn's Donuts on the corner of Damen and Archer.
Yes, everyone stared at us because of the way we were dressed	Bosh gets the BIG doughnut	"And I'm going to shoot YOU in the head."
Before the Battle
We played at Blast Camp near Hobart, Indiana, about 40 miles south-east from Chicago.
Ray, on the way to the field	Smile for the birdie!	The troops prepare for combat.
CENTER COLLAPSE
The name of this game is "Center Collapse". It is an 8 minute game. During the first 5 minutes, the playing field consists of the open area between the buildings and the interior of the of the buildings. For the last 3 minutes, the buildings are off-limits, and players must remain inside the courtyard. Any player caught in a building after the first 5 minutes is automatically eliminated.
The teams gather at the field	Whisler explains the rules	The long walk
Waiting for the whistle	Game on!	View of the courtyard
Ray gets to the center octagon first	Dave defends the backfield	Bien provides cover-fire while Mike storms a building
Matt tries to get an angle	Bien holds the building	Mike and Bien
"Stop shooting, I'm already hit!"	Tom scopes out the field	Ed, Matt and Dave prepare to attack
Tom tries to keep his head down	Ed moves into position with Dave covering	Mark falls down, Take One
Mary gets in on the action	Mary shoots her son	Hector and Ed move up the field
Dave checks his position	Mark rushes the center	Mark falls down, Take Two
Game over, re-group and change sides	Game on! (4 MB Quicktime movie)	Dave takes control of a building
Dave is at home on his knees	Ed advances through the building	Hey, don't shoot the cameraman!
Tom trades paint with Ed	Bien gets eliminated	Mike poses for the camera
Bien gets resurrected and moves out	Ray waits at the resurrection point to make a break for it	Mark falls down, Take Three
Ray takes the middle	Mark moves around to help Ray	Ed guards the entrance
Nice shot of Matt's butt	Dave stays in the building too long and is taken out of the game	Hector sneaks up on Ray in the middle
Hector eliminates Ray	Final push at the end of the game	Mary wonders if it's safe
Ray pushes deep into enemy territory	Back to the staging area to reload	FARP (that's military-talk for "Fuel-Ammo Resupply Point")
This is a tired bunch 'o' people, and it's only about noon	"And then I snuck around this corner and..."	Hazmatt's custom Tippmann Carbine
We never figured out what this was, we were shooting WHITE paint	Ready for the next game	Whisler, our fantastic ref
PROTECT THE PRESIDENT
The name of this game is "Protect the President". This is a 15 minute game where one person is selected as "The President" and one person is assigned to guard them. They go deep in the field and hide, then everyone else has 15 minutes to find them. We voted for Matt to the be the President and Dave to be the bodyguard. The action in this game was fast and furious and the brush was thick, so not much of the action is covered. Just use your imagination and think of your favorite Vietnam movie.
Whisler leads Matt and Dave to the field	Whisler explains the rules. He did forget to tell them about the 3 hardened bunkers, unfortunately.	Matt and Dave head deep into the "bush"
Here comes the hunting party	Whisler explains the rules	Shhhh! Be vewy quiet, their hunting wabbits
"Nope, they're not behind this bush."	Mark heads in after his prey (3 MB Quicktime movie)	And it's over (2 MB Quicktime movie)
SPEEDBALL
The name of this game is "Speedball". This is a 10 minute game where there is one flag in the middle. The object is to get the flag and take it down to your opponents goal. This is a game that is often played in paintball tournaments. Speedball is called that for a reason: it's fast. Normally, if you are behind a bunker for more than 20 seconds, you're dead. Despite the 10 minute time limit, most games are done in less than 5 minutes.
Heading to the field	Orange takes their place	Yellow takes their place
"3..2..1..Game on!"	Ray rushes and is first to the flag, but gets pinned down	He calls for covering fire
Ray covers Bien as he moves up	Matt keeps Ray from advancing	Bien moves up to assist Ray
Hector takes a shot at Ray	Tom lets it fly to keep Hector contained	Ray moves up within striking distance of the goal
Bien watches Ray hang the flag	New game, switch sides	Game on!
Boy, that's a good lookin' paintgun	Ed rushes the center and gets the flag	Dave looks for someone to shoot
Ed tucks the flag away and unknowingly drops it	Gun hits count, and this is all you have to expose to get eliminated	Matt watches Ed get eliminated and decides to make a run for the flag
Ed checks to make sure he is really hit	Mary covers Matt as he runs for it	Mark tries to shoot Matt to no avail
Mark makes his own run for the flag	Mark pops up to get Matt and is promptly shot in the forehead	Matt makes it to where Ed was hit, but the flag's not here...
Matt braves the fire one more time to run back and pick up the flag	This is why auto-focus cameras don't always work. Matt hangs the flag while we get a good shot of Dave's head.	Everyone checks their paint supply
THE AFTERMATH
Out of paint, we decide to call it a day	The final walk off the field	Ray shows off his battle scars
More wounds	As good as it was, we're glad to be done	It was a glancing blow, but it's gotta hurt
"Do you want to see my hiney?"	Matt caught more than one at close range	That was fun. Let's go home.
We stop to have BK our way	We need red meat and grease to combat all that exercise we just got	Ray asks, "Wanna wrestle?"
Looks like we over-loaded the cook	Ah, now to the grub	Ray on the way home
Must be contagious