Recreation
Be the 'terminator' while playing paintball
By Seabrook Mow
Special to The Advertiser
It was a simple mission for the seven of us.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Most of us, friends since high school, knew that some of us were not coming back alive.
Participants can play a variety of games, from capture the flag to the terminator.
Our objective was simple: steal the opposing team's flag and eliminate any opposition in our way, and stay out of the line of fire.
Our guide/referee led us to the mouth of the kill zone. For such a terrifying place, it was unusually peaceful under the hot sun.
Then chaos broke out. Sniper fire was blazing down at us from the ridge above. Instinct made us head for cover. Our strategic plan of a staggered line to cover all possible angles quickly was forgotten.
Everyone panicked and ran in different directions to avoid the barrage.
Where: Kualoa Ranch Cost: $25 semiautomatic gun, includes safety mask, and all- day playing fee. $20 pump gun, includes safety mask, and all- day playing fee. Paintballs are $65 per case, which is 2,000 balls. For more information contact Colin Mamiya at 371-7977.
I managed to avoid being shot by running south.
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New Order Paintball
I ran carefully, dodging strategically placed land mines and finally hid behind a tree, out of sight from sniper fire.
"Remember when you're looking down the barrel of the gun you can either run or fight; I chose to do the latter," said "general" Mike Domingo, 23, of Waipi'o, a law student in San Diego.
After hearing the inspirational cries echoing in the field, I summoned the spirit to charge and joined the firefight.
It was a mistake. I foolishly gave away my position and drew fire from three different sources. All I heard around me was a relentless "splat, splat, splat," as I cried for help. But my cries went unanswered. I then realized that none of us were getting out as I was hit blindly from the right side in the arm and chest.
None of us ever made it to the flag; we were all taken out in the line of fire.
But instead of blood, it was paint from a broken paintball marking the spot where we were "shot." And those pesky land mines were actually cow dung patties.
"It (paintball) makes you feel like Rambo," said Marcus Maglangit, 24, of Waipi'o, who is a nuclear engineer at Pearl Harbor.
"Paintball is not even close to actual combat," said New Order Paintball owner Colin Mamiya. He explained in real life you would not have all these gung-ho types charging toward a hail of real bullets.
"But paintball does provide you with a rush, especially when you're being shot at. It's like that perceived danger, without actual physical harm," Mamiya said.
The only danger is getting tagged by one of the marble sized paintballs that travel at speeds of up to 285 feet per second.
"They do leave welts on you," Mamiya said.
The air-powered guns can range in price from as little as $100 for a pump gun to as much as $2,000 for an electronic gun. There are also three types of guns. A pump-action gun shoots one ball per pump. A semi-automatic fires a ball with every squeeze of the trigger. But if you want maximum firepower, an automatic is needed. All you do is hold down the trigger and watch your targets fall.
A variety of games can be played.
A basic game is capture the flag, where one team tries to steal the opposition's flag. A variation of that is called steal the bacon. Instead of playing with two flags, only one flag is used and it is placed between the two teams.
Then there is the terminator. It pits one man against an entire force. The only way to stop the terminator is to splatter two paintballs on his faceplate. However, if the terminator tags you, then you join his side against the others.
"Most people don't want to stop the guy (terminator), they just want to make him pay. So they shoot everywhere else but the face," Mamiya said.
Mamiya will let you invent or make variations to the games, as long as they are safe and fun.
Mamiya, who has been running his paintball operations within Kualoa Ranch for the past four years, mostly caters to private groups every weekend. He also rents out equipment for play.
"It's very team building," Ma-miya said. "A lot of businesses come out for company outings."
Groups can choose from two fields. The larger field, which is twice the size of the smaller field, is more of a traditional paintball field that uses trees and stumps for bunkers and coverage. Here players can incorporate strategies to overtake the other side.
On the smaller field, speed is all that matters.
"The smaller field is more like a speed-ball game, where players can actually hit each other from the start," Mamiya said.
The compact field is littered with barriers and barrels as coverage.
"It's all exciting at first, but when your team members are dying you feel like a little girl; so helpless," Maglangit said.
