Battlefield Basics: The Siege

August 22nd 2006
By Jamie Innes



siege  
n.

   1. The surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to capture it.
   2. A prolonged period, as of illness: a siege of asthma.
   3. Obsolete. A seat, especially a throne.


In paintball, a siege is something you want to inflict upon the other team, but not have inflicted upon you. A siege happens when one team has outflanked the opposing team, and thus has partially... or fully surrounded thier primary position. Thier primary position would either be thier flag, thier fort, thier reinsertion point... or any object or position the opposing team is required to defend.


Tips for defending, during a siege:

• Find a highly fortified defensive position, and do not move unless you absolutely have to. The enemy will find it harder to hit you while you are behind solid cover, as opposed to moving around. Play your cover tight.
• If you are running low on paint. Conserve you shots and only fire upon enemy that come close enough for you to hit them.
• If you have plenty of paint, shoot lots. Shoot more paint than what the attackers are shooting. Accuracy by volume can buy you time and lost ground, since more balls usually means more chance of hitting attackers. However;- do not waste paint at attacking players that too much cover for any paint to hit them.
• If you have enough players, and enough cover... spread out from your defensive position in a circle or semi-circle, facing the attackers. Being spread out means your team occupies more ground, which means less ground is available for the attackers to use. Players spread in a circle or semi circle will function as a defensive skirmish line.
• Do not give up and walk off just because you have run out of paint or gas, you can still act as a decoy to attacking players, or even act as a temporary 'shield' for your own team. (Though this is generally a tactic only employed by real die-hards)

Tips for attacking, during a siege:

• Take your time, if you have well encircled the opposing team, risky tactics are not necessary. Take your time aiming at enemy players, and moving in on enemy players.
• Do not fire more paint than what the enemy is firing. Your siege will be for nothing if your team runs out of paint before the other team.
• Try to find the strongest point of attack. This will be where the terrain conspires with you, and against the enemy. It will be an angle that gives you plenty of cover or concealment to attack from.