War Games

War Games or Paintball - two teams armed with air guns filled with paintballs battle to capture the opposing team's flag. Was reminiscing about this with H last night. Talk to anyone who has participated in one and they'd furnish you with exciting and funny tales. And sometimes, painful and jaw dropping tales.

My experience was in New Zealand and I only played it once. The reason why I never went for a second or third was because my blue-black from a shot lasted me a good 3 months. The adrenalin that courses your veins at the start of the game can make you do things you'd never expect yourself to do like crawling on your elbows in mud. There is a deafening silence and an occasional rattle of the paintballs in a moving gun pierces the air. You wouldn't know if your enemy could be crouching just behind the next bush waiting to spring an attack. In fact, most of the time, we shoot our own team members anyway either because of fright or just to kenakan the fella.

We had a friend who wore neon green sneakers and kept wondering why everyone was shooting him. And there are "professionals" who garb themselves in camouflage gear (I hear there are some who bring smoke bombs in there too) and have their own personal guns.

We had this group of Kelabits (a small community found in Bario, Sarawak. The Kelabit family we know is absolutely out of this world but that is another story altogether. Actually, one of the brothers, Z, alone has done things which could fill a book by its own like trying to make his own furniture to save money and chose to use the chainsaw at 2am) were considered pros in paintballing. They climbed trees and shoot those creeping below them. With their camouflage outfit, you won't be able to spot them. Don't play-play.

Then we've had folks to shoot at close range on the head. The victim nearly fainted and a massive swell formed on his skull. It's fortunate he is used to injuries as he plays a lot of football and has broken several bones but still! Some people never think.

This is getting to be a popular activity here in Malaysia but we moan of the terrain and props which are still much to be improved. Here, the terrain is flat and has empty oil drums and plywood as places to dodge bullets. In NZ, there were closely grown shrubs, trees, a rusting car, tall grass, a stream to divide the two areas with a small plank bridge, hills and valleys. If only... but still, I guess I'd have my reservations to play again because of the pain.