Equipment & Materials

Another transplanted comment from Brian. Hmmm. . . I can see we need to have an actual forum, not just a blog. Working on it. . .

Brian Hastings said...
Well since this one is for disscussing what is needed, I would say that the RangerBall Regiment needs to make its first purchase be a quality Chrono. This item being used at every event will let everyone playing know that there are rules and they are expected to play by them. Besides it is also a question of safe gaming, nobody wants to see a injury on the field resulting from a marker turned up to high. There is my two cents.
3:56 PM

Organizational Matters

This deserves a thread of its own, so I'm transplanting comments from Brian and myself here. Feel free to expound.

Brian Hastings said...
I agree with Mikhail on this, it is in essence a breed apart from the rest. As for the yearly dues for a Paintball club, I think that a charter should be down up. This makes it a formal club, Also another thing that will needed to be looked at, is going to be a non-profit organization that is simply furthering the sport of Paintball. Or a for profit oganization, looking to benefit its members? Both have some pretty serious Tax considerations to take into account. I am all for having dues to belong to such a club, and perhaps charge the $20 a year amount for Rangerball Members, and the $40 a year amount for the elite members. Either way we will have to look at the formal legalities of forming a club that takes in dues and if it can or cannot take actions that would result in profits.
11:18 PM

TT said...
As for profit vs. nonprofit, I definitely want to pursue both. The Association and the Regiment can be under a nonprofit, but I see some sort of associated business growing out of this--as do several others of you.
3:54 AM

Brian Hastings said...
The thing with getting a non-profit designation is that you have to obtain a 501c(3) from the IRS to be considered a nonprofit entity. If we go for the For-Profit aspect, then we need to look at forming a corporation so that the Rangerball Association is seperate from all of us from a Legal and Financial aspect. Either way I am good with it, we just need to address the details.
3:51 PM

A New Kind of Paintball?

Here's an email I got from Mikhail, which touches on something I've been thinking about for some time. I'm not so presumptive to think Rangerball is completely unique (there are probably other "milsim" groups doing similar things), but I do think we've touched on something that lots of paintballers are craving.

"I think this is the beginning of a new division in the paintball world. There exists now speedball, recball and scenario ball. There is some play out there of military-style games but it is really small-scale. Rangerball is the key to getting a crossbreed of all styles. It incorporates using speedball tactics in one area, with the slower pace of recball in others. All with using a tactical, military type approach. I think charging a fee is a good idea for certain events that are on the larger side, although from now on they all may be larger scale. A regimental due I believe is a good idea. The $20 tag I think might be on the low side, I was thinking more in the $30-40 range. It is a discussion point that we will all have to agree upon. The word IS getting out and as time goes on Rangerball will grow into the next generation of paintball. This is going to be big. I will see you on the beach!"
-- Mikhail

Any thoughts from you others?

T.T.

What is Rangerball?

In my view, four things make Rangerball different from other forms of scenario/recball.

1. Rangerball is very focused on realistic military tactics, as much as possible in the paintball world. It might be short of true "milsim", since we accept players using less-than-tactical clothing and gear, and standard paintball markers instead of high-priced recreations of military weapons. But in EFFECT (not just in appearance), Rangerballers are always pushing towards playing tactical paintball, where effective formations, camouflage, fieldcraft, communications, and equipment are used. Our scenarios are almost always military-related, instead of sci-fi, fantasy, or some other genre.

2. Rangerball is properly played in very large areas, measured in miles, not acres or yards. We try to avoid using artificial boundaries, because it constrains our tactical choices and decisions. Instead, in designing our scenarios and tactical exercises, we try to use geographical features, objectives, and time constraints to naturally limit the area of operation (AO). This seems most realistic to us, and we are constantly looking for great new areas, and interesting and challenging terrain to play in.

3. Rangerball requires players to pack everything they need along with them into the AO--paint, air, parts, tools, water, food, etc--and to be ready to move through the terrain, on foot, for at least a mile or more. This puts great emphasis on proper gear (vests, hydration, backpacks, etc.) and on physical stamina. Rangerball is very physically demanding, even extremely so, and we actually take pride in making it tough. It is definitely "Not for the Weak or Fainthearted".

4. Rangerball is also about instilling discipline, teamwork, esprit-de-corps and fostering leadership qualities. This in particular really sets us apart from most paintball groups and events. We strive to be organized, start on time, have our gun and gear ready to go, and to be a positive influence on whatever event we participate in. Just as the real Rangers of the U.S. Army pride themselves on being the world's most elite light infantry, we strive to be the most elite scenario paintball players.

Any thoughts?

Purpose of This Blog

This Blog is for members of the Rangerball Regiment to discuss how to advance this crazy obsession we have with playing tactically-oriented paintball. Also how to organize ourselves, how to set up new scenarios, what kinds of equipment we need, upcoming events, paintball tactics, markers and gear, etc.

I'm hoping we can use it as our Regimental forum, at least for now, where we can easily exchange ideas and information. If it doesn't serve our purposes, we can look at other options.

T.T.