D-Day: Preparing for the World's Biggest Paintball Tournament

The world's largest paintball event takes place over a week in June in Oklahoma at D-Day Adventure Park where 3,500 - 4,000 players gather to re-enact the Battle of Normandy.

Safety paintball supplies like goggles are required for all those on the playing field. However, there is plenty of opportunity for spectators to witness your sniper paintball guns marksmanship in action, and are invited to watch and camp for free. Players can expect to use around a case of paint during the tournament, though should also bring a back-up case to make sure not to run out of paintball supplies.

Units can pre-register, or register as an individual and be assigned to a German or Allied team. Allied teams are further broken up into Commonwealth teams (British and Canadian), German, and French.

Ice and water is available throughout the playing area, although the organizers highly recommend bringing canteens and camelback water carriers.

Night vision goggles are allowed for evening and night tournament play. No full auto or burst settings are allowed on paintball guns however, so perfect your single-shot and sniper techniques!

2010 D-Day highlights will include a 91st Birthday party for author and four-time combat jump veteran Jake McNiece as well as USO Show.

Bide Your Time to Success

During my last paintball encounter I devastated my opponents. We play at a field with barrels, blockades and sniper towers hidden in between the crooks of tree branches. My five friends and I play three on three. I have paintball supplies that include a paint ball gun that shoots 15 shots per second, and a sniper scope. I put the latter to use frequently during that game.

My buddies ran in circles trying to capture the flag, while I, stationed high above in the quietude of an oak, like a darkling thrush biding its time before winter comes, waited. The first shot of mine landed right on the mask of my best friend, who I was playing against. It surprised him so that his paint ball gun shot out a few rounds when it hit.

My next victim was lurking close to our flag, and in fact, was playing quite well. But I, waiting like a master, allowed him to think that he actually had a chance. He crept closer and closer to our flag, and just as he was making his final approach, I snagged him right on the chest. Stunned, he screamed in pain and anger.

I knew it was time. With just one player left, I easily made the approach and won the game for my team. No problem.

The Top 3 American Paintball Fields

Playing paintball is a blast, no matter where you play. But like your paintball gun, where you play can make a difference in your game.

The best place in the country to play is in Skirmish USA in Albrightsville, PA. This place has all kinds of different fields ranging from a western battlefield, to an airfield with airplanes, oil derricks, and towers, to castles with ramparts, towers and 15 foot walls. They also have a fake city called Tippman City, with 27 buildings perfect for hiding and sniping. The Metal Lands are filled with steel boxes that provide some of the field’s best sound effects. With over 700 acres, you will be sure to find a field that intrigues you.

Old River Paintball is in Florida, and has 12 different fields. They also have an air station to refill your paint ball gun tanks. With a variety of games, like Speedball, Airball and Hyperball, they keep the fun coming.

Third is Advanced Alabama Adventures. AAA has been around for more than 20 years, and is willing to change the course to suit your desires. Personalized paint ball has never been so easy.

These three are some of the country’s best, but if you can’t get to any of them, it’s easy to find a good field in your neck of the woods.

The Origins of Paintball

Above: The Nel-Spot, the first paintball gun.
In 1976, a stock trader by the name of Bob Gurnsey and his writer friend Charles Gaines, the man who documented a series of photos called “Pumping Iron,” (yes, that Pumping Iron) were discussing Gaines’ recent trip to Africa where he hunted buffalo. To simulate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, and in talking about Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, the duo invented a game whereby they would hunt each other.

In 1981 in New Hampshire, using Nel-spot 007 pistols for paintball guns, which are typically used by hunters and farmers to mark boundaries, the pair and ten friends played a capture the flag type game.
Early paintball was quite different from today’s game. Shooting was rare, as the CO2 tanks were only 10 grams. Without masks, shop glasses were used, and the original paintball guns at most held 10 rounds, which had to be tilted to roll into the chamber, and recocked after each shot.

After the game, Gurnsey began talks with Nel-spot to license specific paintball supplies. In the following years, national interest surges as competing companies began making equipment, and the way was paved for modern paintball. By 1984, paintball had become international. The rest is history.