We started the first part of this two part article with the When and Why someone might disobey their commander in a paintball scenario. We continue where we left off with some unacceptable reasons for disobeying orders, some do’s and dont’s,  what a player can do when the orders seem a little questionable, and what a leader can do when someone decides to leave the reservation.

My Dog Ate My Marker!

There are plenty of UNACCEPTABLE reasons for disobeying a command REQUEST. More than I could list here, but a few might be…

Not respecting the commander. Hey, we have all played (and worked) with guys that couldn’t lead, or manage, their way out of a wet Camelbak. But, if you are a true mil-sim player, you are going to follow this guy’s direction, because as a “soldier”, that is your responsibility to the army and to your fellow soldiers, and not just your personal squad, but the whole enchilada. Besides, next week, YOU may be the general and you are going to need this moron’s whole team to follow you semi-blindly. For that matter, why didn’t you volunteer to be general this week?

It’s too much work. “You want me to attack a base waaaay over theeeeere?” Call 1-800-WAAAAAH and start humping pal. If Patton could march, so can you. You didn’t hear George Bush say “We can’t fight way over in Iraq, cain’t you bring them ragheads over here?” Hell no!     Wait, maybe that’s a bad example. You get the point anyway.

I’m taking it easy today. Go buy a recliner and watch reruns of ‘The View’ in the air conditioning, Louise. You’re taking up space where we need every player to pull their weight and if you are not here to ‘bring it’ you are just sucking up my air. (Too over the top? I never know.) Point is we are counting onyou. If you aren’t going to go full throttle, the producer could balance out the team with players who will do right by us.

The list goes on and on and on, much like season two of Dancing with the Stars.

Don’t Be A Playuh!

What do you do if you’re a player with orders you don’t like? Well, the first thing is to understand the nature of a mil-sim or scenario game. Before you even show up, be prepared to follow someone else’s lead, win or lose. Winning is not everything, but having a good rep as a team player and good guy is.

Be prepared to bring your full game to the party. Even when you join a team, you now have responsibilities to your brothers in arms to survive and work as a coordinated unit. This means you follow your team leaders orders and cover your teammates backs. If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game to a scenario, you are only letting down your friends for your own personal petty wants. Later, if there’s time, you can go kick sick puppies and kittens.

Help the general out. If this guy is over his head, volunteer to help with communications or delegation or whatever his weak spot is. You don’t have to jump ship if you can get the train back on the track. (Mixed metaphors my butt!)

Find out who the general is going to be. There are guys I just won’t follow. Maybe they treat walk-ons like cannon fodder or won’t communicate or only work with their own squad. I have seen them in action (or heard about them from multiple reliable sources) and the best thing to do is abstain or play for the other side. It’s not that I don’t like them personally, but I don’t care for their command style. A major benefit to not actually being IN the military is we get to pick and chose our commanders. There are guys like the Hun, Runaway, Dave from Capital Offense and others that I would follow to the ends of the earth, based on what I have seen or on just their outstanding reputation. There’s that Reputation Equity again. Do you want yours to be “the guy who isn’t a team player”?

I can’t shoot him and I can’t court martial him?

So what’s a leader to do with a guy or a squad that won’t follow his lead?

Before you whip out your service revolver and double tap them in the forehead, make sure you’re in the right first. Decide that whatever objections they have to the order/request are legitimate or not. Maybe that really is a dumb idea to guard a tree in the back 40 no one will ever attack. Adjust accordingly. Learn to compromise. Say to yourself: HE REALLY ISN’T IN THE MILITARY. Repeat as necessary.

Keep in mind that the first rule is to make sure everyone has fun. While some tasks will need to be done for the team’s sake and to win the game (remember that fort we are guarding?), the boring stuff needs to be rotated to everyone. This includes making sure that the walk-ons AND the experienced teams get an equal share of fun and necessary. And by necessary, I mean this damned empty fort I am STILL guarding.

Listen to them. They may have more experience or even just a good idea. Maintain an open mind to a better mouse trap. Some of “my” best plans have come from the bottom up.

If you are sure your order/request is fair and necessary and they still don’t want to do it, ignore them. Say “Okay.” and walk away. You can’t bend over for every person who doesn’t understand the concept of teamwork or you will be blackmailed for every assignment you hand out. You don’t have time to coddle them and you can’t MAKE them do something they don’t want to do. If you can’t talk them in to it, play around them. They will soon learn that they aren’t getting cherry assignments because they didn’t do the boring ones.

The word will get out that they aren’t team players (remember I said in Part 1 that there can be real world penalties for not going along), and that will affect their reputation and the missions they get from other generals in future scenarios. The only real value a paintball player or team has is (the Equity in) their Reputation of their character. If they are constantly getting into arguments, disobeying command requests, not working for the common good, or whining about cheating or something, the word gets out. The team’s stock value goes down and frankly no one will want to play with them. They will have only themselves to play with (pun intended).

Do’s and Don’ts

• Players: Ask if you can assist a commander (who’s out of his depth) with comms, delegation, etc.
• Commanders: Ask a player or a team how you can make the game more enjoyable for them.
• Players: Don’t show up unless you intend to give it your all. You are only letting down your friends and hurting your own reputation.
• Commanders: Ask for suggestions on how to improve a plan or even new ideas.
• Players: Don’t commit to missions you can’t physically accomplish.
• All:  Leave your egos at home. There is no “I” in team, but there are several in “dipshit”. Scenarios are about coordinated efforts, not individual heroes or loose cannons.
• All: Don’t start flame wars in the forums. That’s just third grade all over again.
• All: Praise in public, criticize in private. Take your player or commander aside and speak with them calmly and rationally if there are issues.

Scenarios are games played by TEAMS. That team may be an army of individuals or it may be a formal team, or a collection of both. If you aren’t willing to follow someone else, you need to lead or get out of the way. Scenarios aren’t recreational play days. They are about working as a group toward a single goal.

Good scenario players don’t always have to be the leaders, but they are always willing to play for the greater good and bring their best game in support of their side and teammates. Great team players make sure that everyone has fun while being good players and keeping a positive attitude. Phenomenal paintball players do all that while they are whacking the opposition with a single shot and a smile.