Post by Captain America on Feb 2, 2009 13:11:20 GMT -5
Field shape and terrain is normally the second issue of consideration. Terrain is often the issue that most heavily affects a commander's decision of movement routes and the his/her plan of battle, based on the deductions from the weather about the general atmosphere of play (i.e. which set of strategies would be appropriate: stealth operations, fast assaults, et cetera).
There are several field variables that usually influence command decisions. These are topography, vegetation, water, and the field's seasonal changes, or seasonal variability.
Topography is important because it has many effects on woodsball play. High ground almost always has advantage over low ground, due to the inherent difficulties of scaling the rise while fighting. These difficulties are at the maximum when the enemy at the top of the ridge are elite and have experience in how to keep their opponents trying to scale the rise, without allowing them to the top. (This is also a tactic of attrition.) A feel of a field's topography typically grants a commander the ability to, with an understanding of other elements of strategy, see how the game will play out and a feel for its general struggle.
The specific details of topography as a factor in strategy is difficult, as it is one of the more intuitive and instinctive areas of a commander's expertise. The main issues with topography are related to movement and concealment. In some areas, movement can be fast and easy, such as over flat ground or down a slope. Movement may be more difficult, such as movement up a slope. Ease of movement, or more exactly, the lack thereof, is attempted to be influenced by commanders who wish to provide their opponents a more difficult passage. Often, ground is chosen particularly if it is difficult for one's enemy, or if those difficulties may be compounded by specific force placements. If one's enemy may be halted by a combination of properly utilized terrain and a deftly deployed team, then this provides an opportunistic commander with a pause in which to operate (sometimes called an 'extra turn', in reference to turn-based games), giving him or her a strategic advantage. In essence, manipulation of topography is choosing for one's enemy where he or she can move without sustaining heavy losses or other such disadvantages. A commander choosing for his/her enemy in this way has a clear advantage, not only in strategy, but in morale as well, as being forced to move in a particular direction by a team's enemy will hardly inspire confidence in members of that team.
Concealment is the second issue of consideration. A commander may elect to try to hide his or her forces behind a hill or over a ridge or the like, for a number of reasons. Most prominent of these is to allow the commander to initiate a sneak attack.
Vegetation is key in woodsball strategy. Vegetation will almost always be present in woodsball games, so commanders need to have a working understanding of how it can be applied in the field, both to the benefit of commanders' own teams, and to their opponents' loss.
Vegetation's main use is concealment. A clever commander in a heavily wooded environment can maneuver his or her entire team through the woods, using trees and bushes to conceal movement. A concealed team can be a very dangerous team if handled correctly by its commander.
Vegetation's potential for concealment is not only beneficial for advancing or attacking teams. Marksmen and ambushes are renowned for their usages of vegetation and camouflage to keep themselves concealed. Marksmen especially are well known to use vegetation in conjunction with their camouflage to ghost through the woods. A defensive force can use vegetation to more efficiently employ a horseshoe ambush, as concealment within bushes allows the prongs of the ambush to better hold silent until the enemy are well within the horseshoe.
Another factor to consider is that vegetation can obstruct mobility. Some fast paced strategies may not be possible, because of a great deal of vegetation. In such situations, a slower, more methodical strategy will be required, most likely relying upon stealth and heavily upon ambushes and marksmen.
A very important factor to remember is water. Water may be placed strategically by the field operators, or may be a natural occurrence, as can be found in areas such as private land, and in state forests, wildlife preserves, and other government-owned land. In any case, water can be very important indeed to a commander's overall strategy and the general atmosphere of the game.
The first issue with water is movement impediment. Sometimes it may be faster to try and avoid water; other times, it will be faster to go through it. Sometimes water is navigable and the possibility of water travel must be taken into account. Travelling down rivers and across lakes can save a lot of time, and in the heat of a battle, such speed could be the difference between victory and defeat. Even if the water is not navigable, a shallow stream running through the woods will like as not provide an easier path than directly through the woods. Most woodsballers, especially recballers, are generally not willing to get themselves wet, and this can be used with advantage against them.
If the water is deep enough, one may elect to have a squad sneak downfield by advancing down a river, with the squad members almost entirely submerged in the water so they cannot be spotted. Often this tactic may catch the enemy completely off guard, as very few if any teams expect the opposition to be willing enough to get thoroughly soaked by wading through a river. However, it must be remembered that a paintball gun's operation can be greatly effected if it is filled with water and often will hardly work at all, if recognizably; hence, most squads travelling downriver are very careful to keep their markers above the waterline, even if those markers are not electropneumatic.
Usage of watercraft is normally the best way to utilize navigable water to attain a higher speed of movement. Often in fields that have navigable water, watercraft will be provided for use, although often with a referee piloting the craft in the place of the craft's combatants. However, watercraft are not always designated, although a team with enough determination can without much difficulty create a watercraft from scratch.
Water can be used to impede movement. If water is deep enough, enemy players will not be able to cross it without swimming which will inevitably mean getting their weapons wet, causing reduced functionality in accuracy if not in other fields of the gun (such effects vary from marker to marker). One team may capture all watercraft available and move them out of the reach of the enemy, forcing them either to swim or to try and take a land route. Even if the enemy uses watercraft to try and cross the water, they would in all likelihood be stranded on the embankment for at least five seconds, and a lot of fire can be massed in such a concentrated place so that none of the players within the watercraft are left in the game.
However, there are practical reasons why it can be undesirable to get wet. Being wet can provide a high degree of discomfort for some players, which can negatively affect their performance. It must also be remembered that players with electrical equipment (radios, electropneumatic markers, GPS handhelds, et cetera) should not be deployed in water. Most new model guns are water-resistant, but very few can withstand being submerged completely for long periods. Because of this players with any electric parts in their guns must take special care to not get wet while playing, and commanders should not deploy such players to water areas, especially if such players could be better used elsewhere.
Commanders must also consider what time of year it is. Certain strategies may work best in certain conditions, or possibly not even work at all. For example, summer months may provide less visibility due to vegetation, while winter months may allow you to cross small water features. Some seasons such as summer and autumn can provide more cover than the same terrain in spring or winter.
The change in cover is very important. Concealment is arguably vegetation's greatest use, and without substantial bushes and shadows provided by fully leaved trees, it is much more difficult for stealthy players to advance undetected. Additionally, paintballs freeze in cold weather, causing a host of problems: few actual ball breaks; additional worn protection to guard against dangerous hits, causing reduced maneuverability; and, with some cheaper brands of paint, greater shot-to-shot inconsistency.
Different times of year affect mobility in more ways than clothing-wise. For example, it is harder to move quickly in deep snow than it is on solid ground, just as it's harder to travel through woods clogged with leaf-covered bushes than woods with little if any leafy bushes. Speedy movement is understandably desirable, and often commanders will favor fast-paced maneuvers in winter months. However, such strategies are not employed with the hope of greater speed - in truth, the presence of snow will in all likelihood actually reduce the speed of maneuvers. Rather, such strategies are chosen because stealth, which is integral in so many woodsball strategies, is much more difficult during the winter months. Having a 'ghost squad' in enemy territory is nigh impossible, not only because of the camouflage difficulties but also because the enemy can simply see footprints on the ground leading into their territory, making them immediately suspicious.
This brings about the issue of camouflage. Different seasons need different camouflage. A commander will want to choose players with better/correct camouflage to perform some of the more stealthy missions. For some smaller or less-established teams, this can be difficult, as few such teams have the means to procure as many different sets of camouflage as the seasons warrant.
There are several field variables that usually influence command decisions. These are topography, vegetation, water, and the field's seasonal changes, or seasonal variability.
Topography is important because it has many effects on woodsball play. High ground almost always has advantage over low ground, due to the inherent difficulties of scaling the rise while fighting. These difficulties are at the maximum when the enemy at the top of the ridge are elite and have experience in how to keep their opponents trying to scale the rise, without allowing them to the top. (This is also a tactic of attrition.) A feel of a field's topography typically grants a commander the ability to, with an understanding of other elements of strategy, see how the game will play out and a feel for its general struggle.
The specific details of topography as a factor in strategy is difficult, as it is one of the more intuitive and instinctive areas of a commander's expertise. The main issues with topography are related to movement and concealment. In some areas, movement can be fast and easy, such as over flat ground or down a slope. Movement may be more difficult, such as movement up a slope. Ease of movement, or more exactly, the lack thereof, is attempted to be influenced by commanders who wish to provide their opponents a more difficult passage. Often, ground is chosen particularly if it is difficult for one's enemy, or if those difficulties may be compounded by specific force placements. If one's enemy may be halted by a combination of properly utilized terrain and a deftly deployed team, then this provides an opportunistic commander with a pause in which to operate (sometimes called an 'extra turn', in reference to turn-based games), giving him or her a strategic advantage. In essence, manipulation of topography is choosing for one's enemy where he or she can move without sustaining heavy losses or other such disadvantages. A commander choosing for his/her enemy in this way has a clear advantage, not only in strategy, but in morale as well, as being forced to move in a particular direction by a team's enemy will hardly inspire confidence in members of that team.
Concealment is the second issue of consideration. A commander may elect to try to hide his or her forces behind a hill or over a ridge or the like, for a number of reasons. Most prominent of these is to allow the commander to initiate a sneak attack.
Vegetation is key in woodsball strategy. Vegetation will almost always be present in woodsball games, so commanders need to have a working understanding of how it can be applied in the field, both to the benefit of commanders' own teams, and to their opponents' loss.
Vegetation's main use is concealment. A clever commander in a heavily wooded environment can maneuver his or her entire team through the woods, using trees and bushes to conceal movement. A concealed team can be a very dangerous team if handled correctly by its commander.
Vegetation's potential for concealment is not only beneficial for advancing or attacking teams. Marksmen and ambushes are renowned for their usages of vegetation and camouflage to keep themselves concealed. Marksmen especially are well known to use vegetation in conjunction with their camouflage to ghost through the woods. A defensive force can use vegetation to more efficiently employ a horseshoe ambush, as concealment within bushes allows the prongs of the ambush to better hold silent until the enemy are well within the horseshoe.
Another factor to consider is that vegetation can obstruct mobility. Some fast paced strategies may not be possible, because of a great deal of vegetation. In such situations, a slower, more methodical strategy will be required, most likely relying upon stealth and heavily upon ambushes and marksmen.
A very important factor to remember is water. Water may be placed strategically by the field operators, or may be a natural occurrence, as can be found in areas such as private land, and in state forests, wildlife preserves, and other government-owned land. In any case, water can be very important indeed to a commander's overall strategy and the general atmosphere of the game.
The first issue with water is movement impediment. Sometimes it may be faster to try and avoid water; other times, it will be faster to go through it. Sometimes water is navigable and the possibility of water travel must be taken into account. Travelling down rivers and across lakes can save a lot of time, and in the heat of a battle, such speed could be the difference between victory and defeat. Even if the water is not navigable, a shallow stream running through the woods will like as not provide an easier path than directly through the woods. Most woodsballers, especially recballers, are generally not willing to get themselves wet, and this can be used with advantage against them.
If the water is deep enough, one may elect to have a squad sneak downfield by advancing down a river, with the squad members almost entirely submerged in the water so they cannot be spotted. Often this tactic may catch the enemy completely off guard, as very few if any teams expect the opposition to be willing enough to get thoroughly soaked by wading through a river. However, it must be remembered that a paintball gun's operation can be greatly effected if it is filled with water and often will hardly work at all, if recognizably; hence, most squads travelling downriver are very careful to keep their markers above the waterline, even if those markers are not electropneumatic.
Usage of watercraft is normally the best way to utilize navigable water to attain a higher speed of movement. Often in fields that have navigable water, watercraft will be provided for use, although often with a referee piloting the craft in the place of the craft's combatants. However, watercraft are not always designated, although a team with enough determination can without much difficulty create a watercraft from scratch.
Water can be used to impede movement. If water is deep enough, enemy players will not be able to cross it without swimming which will inevitably mean getting their weapons wet, causing reduced functionality in accuracy if not in other fields of the gun (such effects vary from marker to marker). One team may capture all watercraft available and move them out of the reach of the enemy, forcing them either to swim or to try and take a land route. Even if the enemy uses watercraft to try and cross the water, they would in all likelihood be stranded on the embankment for at least five seconds, and a lot of fire can be massed in such a concentrated place so that none of the players within the watercraft are left in the game.
However, there are practical reasons why it can be undesirable to get wet. Being wet can provide a high degree of discomfort for some players, which can negatively affect their performance. It must also be remembered that players with electrical equipment (radios, electropneumatic markers, GPS handhelds, et cetera) should not be deployed in water. Most new model guns are water-resistant, but very few can withstand being submerged completely for long periods. Because of this players with any electric parts in their guns must take special care to not get wet while playing, and commanders should not deploy such players to water areas, especially if such players could be better used elsewhere.
Commanders must also consider what time of year it is. Certain strategies may work best in certain conditions, or possibly not even work at all. For example, summer months may provide less visibility due to vegetation, while winter months may allow you to cross small water features. Some seasons such as summer and autumn can provide more cover than the same terrain in spring or winter.
The change in cover is very important. Concealment is arguably vegetation's greatest use, and without substantial bushes and shadows provided by fully leaved trees, it is much more difficult for stealthy players to advance undetected. Additionally, paintballs freeze in cold weather, causing a host of problems: few actual ball breaks; additional worn protection to guard against dangerous hits, causing reduced maneuverability; and, with some cheaper brands of paint, greater shot-to-shot inconsistency.
Different times of year affect mobility in more ways than clothing-wise. For example, it is harder to move quickly in deep snow than it is on solid ground, just as it's harder to travel through woods clogged with leaf-covered bushes than woods with little if any leafy bushes. Speedy movement is understandably desirable, and often commanders will favor fast-paced maneuvers in winter months. However, such strategies are not employed with the hope of greater speed - in truth, the presence of snow will in all likelihood actually reduce the speed of maneuvers. Rather, such strategies are chosen because stealth, which is integral in so many woodsball strategies, is much more difficult during the winter months. Having a 'ghost squad' in enemy territory is nigh impossible, not only because of the camouflage difficulties but also because the enemy can simply see footprints on the ground leading into their territory, making them immediately suspicious.
This brings about the issue of camouflage. Different seasons need different camouflage. A commander will want to choose players with better/correct camouflage to perform some of the more stealthy missions. For some smaller or less-established teams, this can be difficult, as few such teams have the means to procure as many different sets of camouflage as the seasons warrant.
