A vs. V

While I neglected to bring my lipstick camera to record the action, another player managed to shoot some footage with an XL1, so hopefully that will show up on the net soon.

It was an amazing turnout, and while there wasn't a definite head count, a couple of us estimated the teams to be roughly even, at around 60 players each. That changed during the afternoon, when the video guys (we) were increasingly outnumbered. We did manage to retain our leadership for the day though, finishing with a total game score of 6-0-1, with the draw happening right after lunch.

The video group had a smattering of folks from ILM, the primary organizer, and a very nice turnout from Tippett, my former employer, of which we had about 20-30 players. In addition to these two, we had a small turnout from Z-Axis and Pixar. If there are any guys from other studios reading, let me know, as these were just the companies I had overheard. The audio group contained our challengers, Studio 880. From what I can gather, Alice Radio showed up as well, and possibly a couple band members.

I have to say, the domination over our challengers was complete. We were definitely intimidated at the outset of the morning, seeing a bunch of Studio 880 Metalnecks, with custom patchwork, camo, mics, and some decent looking equipment. Of course, initial impressions aren't always correct! Theoretically, the plan was to have squad members take control over a small portion of players, and command them on the field. Of course, in reality with paintballers, coordination isn't the greatest. Several of our video guys had military training, and of course a bunch of us probably play Halo, so that may have contributed to the MetalNecks resounding defeat here and there.

Our first game of the morning was a game of One-Flag, with the object of the game to secure the one flag that is in the center of the field and bring it to the opposing side. At the call, most of us rushed evenly along the flanks of the field, with a bunch headed straight for the flag.. I stay near the tail of the group, to get a feeling of where their firepower was coming from. I happened upon one our own pinned down, fighting to get to the flag, while his gun was jamming and not firing correctly. So he dropped his gun. While I provided him covering fire, he ran towards the flag which was about 5 meters away, grabbed it, and came back to me. From then on, it was fairly straightforward to protect him as we ran towards the other side of the field. I had the help of fellow Tippetteers, who we all played together regularly when I was working there,so we communicated consistently and constantly. After this first victory, the other several games played out similarly. Most of the games were primarily two-flag capture the flag, while the last game of the day was team elimination.

All in all, a pretty great time, and I got a chance to catch up with some fellow coworkers at the same time! I can't wait for the next one.