Alright big scenario paintball lovers in the PacNoW... It's that time of year again to start piling together your camo getups and camping gear. Supergame, hosted by Sniperzden paintball in St. Paul Oregon(Click Here for driving directions), is back for it's 39TH EVENT, and it's looking like it will be the biggest yet!
My first Supergame was #37, in the beginning of May, 2009. Pulling into the field, it looked like we were going to be in for a long weekend. The forecast all weekend was set to be rainy and cold, with a little sun break on Sunday. My friend and I didn't arrive untill the sun was starting to go down on Friday, so we got right to setting up our tents. I was instantly struck by how much camping space there was. On the same property as the field, there's acres of orchard space. Big tall leafy trees, planted with enough space between them to pull a truck or RV, and definitely enough room for hundreds of people to camp.
It was really great to have our own team designated area, where we were all right next to each other. We also had a few teammates staying in a hotel, so additionally, there was plenty of room for them to show up in the morning and park in our area.
When you pre-register, you can sign up for a camping spot for yourself, or as many people as you're bringing with you. My scenario team had over 20 people, and we were accomodated nicely. On the other hand, if you're not the sleep-on-the-hard-ground-in-a-sleeping-bag type, or if the feild accomodations fill up, you have other options. Nearby Champoeg Park offers tent sites, RV with full hookups, Yurts and more... and it's only 3 miles from the field. There are also Shilo Inn Branches in both Newberg and Salem that offer discounts for Supergame players. For more information pretaining to camping, and how to get your accomodations reserved, CLICK HERE.
Friday night was the night game. As fun as it is to play in the dark, I really wouldn't recommend it if you haven't taken some time in the daylight to walk around and explore the field a bit. It's an enormous field, and it's really easy to get turned around if you don't know anything about the field. If I remember correctly(which I probably don't), I think the entire field is about 60 acres... although I think it's more... I know at Supergame 37, I ended up playing in a creek bottom... literally thigh deep in a creek. TOTALLY would not have done that if I had known a little bit about the field. If you're unsure however, I still recommend buying the three day pass, that includes the night game. Whether you play Friday night or not, it still works out to be cheaper than if you pay for Saturday and Sunday independantly... Plus, you have the option to play Friday if you want(not to mention the Friday night feast avaliable free to all who paid for a 3 day pass).
Saturday was another story. In the full daylight, you got to see just what you were up against. Red Army vs. Yellow Army is definitely not your average Saturday woodsball game. With this year's head count expected to far surpass the 1,000 player mark, each team should be rostering north of 500 players apiece. Don't get intimidated. There are players of all skill level playing for each team. From seasoned tournament players(including former pro player Greg Hastings, and even a few of our own DBS kidz, local rising stars in the Division 1 PSP division), to the 13 year old kid from down the street who's never picked up a paintball gun in his life, and everyone in between. There's even a special band called the Renegades assigned by Dan Bonebrake to swap teams and help if one side starts finding themselves outgunned. Each side also has extra weapons in their arsenal: TANKS! Only able to be taken out by someone toting a rocket launcher, these beasts charge the opposite teams front line, carving a clear path for the attacking team to fill in behind.
With each hourly objective changing to a different base, you definitely get to play all types of different terrain, but if you prefer, there's always something going on in all areas of the field... so you don't have to go far to get into the action. There are 7 bases spaced throughout the entire field, and every hour, to get points, each army tries to take control of said base. Whoever has control by the end of the hour gets the points. Then, it's on to the next goal. Players are always moving, and tactics are always changing.
Rain plagued players all day long; pouring, then sprinkling, then clearing for a few precious sunny moments. It wasn't till about 4:30 that the sky really opened up and let loose what I lovingly call 'the monsoon'. I've lived in Washington all my life so I'm no stranger to rainstorms all year long, but rain I've seen on the magnitude of what happened for that five minutes I can only count on one hand. I was getting ready to go back on to the field after refilling my pods, and I was standing under the covered area field-side deciding what I wanted to do. Suddenly, the rain intensified, and I was unable to see across the field. It was literally an opaque wall of water. Everybody on the sidelines stood with mouth open, and hanging onto the poles of pop-up tents to keep them from blowing away in the sudden watery onslaught. After a few minutes of Mother Nature's rage, the skies cleared, and the sun broke out once more. Dan, the event organizer, decided to call the day then, which was probably a good idea. It was only 30 minutes before the end of the day anyways, and everyone was soaked. It was a good call, and no one was particularly angry about it. I think everyone was ready to dry out for the night.
Sunday opened with sunny skies for the first time all weekend, and it stayed that way. Now, apart from when my SPPL team won first in our division at the Oregon event 3 months later, Sunday was probably my favorite day of scenario paintball I've had to date. The rain from the day before had left the field a muddy mess. Not so muddy that you couldn't run for fear of injury, but muddy enough that if you wanted to slide into your bunker, it didnt take much to make you slide for miles. In my opinion, a recipe for some great paintball! The format for Sunday is slightly different.
It's 5 hours of play, and instead of the objectives changing every hour, EVERY base has the opportunity of scoring points at the hour mark, as well as multiple times throughout. At every base flag there's a ref, and with every ref there's a huge tub of Mardi Gras beads. Every time one side captures a base by raising their respective flag color, players from that team have 30 seconds to get inside the designated neutral zone, and cannot leave said zone untill the ref releases you. All players in the zone will get handed a necklace, and the necklace counts as one point. If you hold the flag at the end of the hour, every player in the neutral zone gets two beads. As soon as all players have their beads, the ref will count down, and the players will become live again. You have to be careful though. Although the opposite team cannot fire upon neutral players, they can still move in around you... so it's not in your best interest to move all your players to bead collection. Its a good idea to leave a few players on the field to hold off the other team who will, no doubt, want to take advantage of the opportunity.
I liked this day because there's always action, and there's always points at stake. If Red and Yellow army come out of Friday and Saturday with equal points, Sunday can literally come down to a difference of one or two points, so every victory and loss is vital. As an added bonus, every necklace turned in earns you a raffle ticket that goes into a drawing for the $40,000 pot of prizes!
Now, some of you may be thinking about showers, and wet gear, and things like that. I feel you pain. Nobody likes to camp wet and cold. No worries. As you can see from the directions I linked you to above, the field is only a few minutes from I-5. At the exit, there's a few gas stations, as well as a restaurant and truck stop. The Diner has American style food, and is actually a pretty good value. They have a pretty extensive menu, so you can find something to eat no matter what you're craving. The Truck stop also has LAUNDRY MACHINES AND SHOWERS *gasp*! The Laundry machines are quarter opperated, so you can wash and dry a few loads of wet muddy clothes for only a few dollars.
The showers, on the other hand are a little more pricy. It costs ten dollars, which can be an offputting price for most people. Personally, I think it's totally worth it. Not only do you get to clean up and get warm and dry, but these are probably some of the best showers Ive ever been in. Its a closed room, about 5'x8', and there's NO TIME LIMIT ON THE HOT WATER! I literally sat in there for an hour before I decided I was clean. There's also a sink and wall outlet, and the facility provides you with soap, shampoo, towel, and washcloth. I also cheat a little bit, and wash all the mud off my dirty clothes and cleats in the shower, and then tote them down to a dryer machine so that I can skip out on washer costs.
That truck stop is probably one of the most conveiniently placed establisments I've ever used.
It's that time again my friends.
Ready yourselves.
Prepare for Battle.
Supergame 39 will be one for the books. If you've ever thought about trying paintball, or even if you're a long time player who's considered it in the past, Supergame 39 will not be an event to miss. With Yellow Army scoring victory in May 2009, and Red Army bringing the pain in August 2009, both teams are going to fight to prove they have what it takes. Now it's time to ask youself:
Do you?
I hope to see tons of new faces on the field this year.
For more information, and for pre-registry, please visit the Supergame website at http://www.supergame.tv/index.html
For some awesome pictures of Supergame 37, check out this album from Washington's premiere Commercial, Portrait, and Sports Photographer, Jimmy Hickey! Click Here!
-Steph
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Stephanie_88_06@msn.com
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See ya at 39! Which side ya on? I'm gonna be on yellow with Jason "Xaber" Schaber and Crossfire. Ever play ForestFire? Later!
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