by Kevin Shimwell
In a land far, far away there were 2 great empires known as the Hidden and the Knowing. It was told that a little farm boy found an ancient piece of parchment with a coded message giving clues to the location of the oracle. The oracle was a tale handed down through the generations of empires from tribal kings of the Knowing.

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Team Tango Alpha2, at a recent team meeting, has decided to use some of the money it has generated over the past  year to directly benefit its current (and future) team members. Among those planned benefits are: paying for team members’ events for 2010, free entry and paintballs into Fulda Gap2010, a new rocket launcher and rockets for anti-tank/bunker busting, and new team shirts, banners and additional UHF radios. It’s good to be a Tango!

The economy sucks. Unemployment is at a record high and luxuries like playing paintball sometimes take a back seat to minor items like rent, gas and food. Attendance at some of the events this year was testimony to how much the economy has impacted paintball. Read more

On February 5- 7th, Adventure Beach Paintball in Tabor City, NC is hosting, “The Road to No Ends“, a 24 hour scenario. The sides will be “The Knowing” vs. “The Hidden”.  Billy “Greenman” Ford of ODX will generaling “The Hidden” and has started recruiting already, with a number of well known teams volunteering to follow his leadership. The general for “The Knowing” is yet to be announced, but should be shortly. Pre-registration rates are $45 and ends Feb 1st. After that, registration is $55. This is a field paint only event. For more information, you can email: info@abpaintball.com or call 843-222-9081. Read more

We have been working with the various fields and producers trying to compile a comprehensive list of paintball scenarios in our region and “as of right now” what we have, can be found at Updated 2010 Events (a regular page at the top of this blog). There is no question it will change every time the wind blows, but I think we have it fairly well down right now. We are still waiting on Boss Paintball to supply us with their schedule, as well as Paintball Kingdom. We tried to get everyone to spread the events out so they are not on top of each other, allowing players to not have to choose between major events and to budget appropriately. It didn’t always work out, but it’s better than it has been in the past. Hopefully, fields will adhere to this schedule. What you can do to help them out is register as far in advance as you can so they can assess what they need to make these great scenarios cost effective. With the schedule a year in advance, you should be able to budget so you know what you can afford  both in time and money. Note the conspicuous lack of events in the summer? Someone has been paying attention!

If you are a field owner or producer and do not see your schedule up here, please email me at paul@Tangoalpha2.com

This time of year, it seems like every paintball field is throwing a Toys for Tots game. As well they should. Moose from Wolf Creek is trying to get toys for 250 kids this year. The Toys for Tots people have informed him that in their area alone, there are that many kids that, due to family situations, economy, whatever, are going to be without presents this Christmas and Wolf Creek wants everyone to step up. The ages of the kids range from infant to teenager, and even though the paintball demopgraphic skews heavily to guys, Moose asked us to “don’t forget to bring presents for girls in those age brackets.” Read more

Unmentionables

I know. You wanted me to mention your team or name, but of the 950 players there, 95% of them were affiliated with teams, so of course I would miss nearly everyone anyway. And then you would feel slighted. On the other hand, this is my article and I get to write what I want. So nanny nanny boo boo. Read more

Fulda Gap on Saturday, while a much closer battle and nearly tied in points had gone the route of past Fuldas with the Warsaw Pact dominating the field by capturing and holding the majority of the real estate and NATO holding tightly to several strategic bases. The night game made things even closer. Read more

 Easily the biggest paintball event in the southeast, Fulda Gap at Command Decisions this past weekend continues to set the bar for other regional scenarios to aspire to. Nearly 950 players showed up, along with nearly a dozen tanks, to climb the hills of Taylorsville, NC in search of either retribution or vindication.

Dozens of experienced, established paintball teams flocked to the NATO forces, hoping to be “the one team that turned the tide” and snatched the win away from the Communists. The Warsaw Pact, flush with an unbroken streak of victories seemed confident, even sometimes overly so, of a fourth win. They did seek to prove that communications, coordination and planning would overcome the aggressive recruiting of the enemy. Only the Warsaw commanders seem to think this was a slam dunk. Everyone else thought this would be the most contentious battle in Fulda Gap history. Turns out, everyone was right. Read more

The biggest paintball event in the Southeast is just days away and we have some tips on how to have a better Fulda Gap experience. Also, Tango Alpha2 has arranged for discount rates for paintball players at the Red Roof Inn in Hickory, [1184 Lenoir Rhyne Blvd SE in Hickory, NC 28602-5169 (828) 323-1500] for as low as $49 per night. It is just off I-40 on Lenoir Rhyne Rd. Read more