subject: Paintball Tactics - When To Bunker Someone [print this page] Paintball Tactics - When To Bunker Someone
What is it?
That said, for those of you who have no idea what bunkering is, it is basically what I said in the previous sentence. To bunker someone, you in effect use the person's bunker against them. Think about it. When you are in your bunker, you really don't know a whole lot of what is going on in front of your bunker unless you can see through some cracks or if you have a good back player shouting out what is going on in the game. You may be safe from incoming paintballs behind the safety of your bunker, but you are still venerable because you can't see everything.
Meanwhile, some guy on the other team knows exactly where you are, AND knows that you probably can't see him. To "bunker" you, he just has to get up, run at your bunker, come over the top, or side and shoot you out. Simple enough? Maybe, but bunkering is really an art. I suggest that there are three types of bunkering moves. There is the strategic bunker move, distraction bunkering, and then there is the last resort bunkering. Really though, almost all bunkering is a result of "last resort". If you could shoot the guy out without having to get him and run down on his bunker you probably would.
Most of the time we can't do this, so we resort to bunkering. The strategic bunker move is what almost everyone tries to do, but does incorrectly. Look at this situation. It is a 10 on 10. You get up, bunker some guy, and get shot out. Now it is a 9 on 9. Have you really gained anything? Maybe, but the odds are still pretty much even. In a strategic bunker move, you don't just bunker any guy on the field. You probably have some sort of plan in mind. Maybe a head of time you said to yourself, "If the other team gets in that bunker at the start of the game, they have to be bunkered."
Strategic Bunkering
Strategic bunker moves involve gaining field position, eliminating a key player, and hopefully you, "the bunkerer" staying alive. First let me point out a common problem that people have when they attempt to pull this move off. A lot of times players will get up, run at someone's bunker, shoot them, and keep running down the field. Usually they make it about two more steps before they are shot out.
Why do people do this? Because they are so full of adrenalin, that they just keep moving. In a strategic bunkering move, you want to bunker a person and take their bunker from them. This will turn the tides on the other team far more than simply reducing the game to a 9 on 9. To take that player's bunker and live, you have to actually STOP! Don't keep moving. I get sick when I see people do this. I've done it my self, and it serves no purpose. Play smart. When you go to bunker the person, be aware of where they are shooting. You should be paying attention to which side they have been shooting out most of the game.
When you bunker them, come around the side that you think/know they aren't shooting out of. Hopefully you'll get to take a few shots at his/her back and get behind the safety of the bunker real fast. This needs to be done lightning fast. Don't take your time, once you fire those shots, dive, jump, whatever, straight to the ground back behind the bunker. You must live. When you do this, you should have your back player be shooting at the person behind the guy you are going to bunker. This way your "victim" has almost no defense. In any bunker move we talk about in this article, always be aware of cross-field shots. Someone on the other side of the field might have a clean shot at you all the way so make sure you look for this when you walk the fields.
Distraction Bunkering
Distraction bunkering is a lot of fun if you don't mind getting shot a lot When you do this, the ultimate goal is to have something else going on at the same time. Distraction bunkering can also be a type of strategic bunkering if your goal is to actually live in the person's bunker that you just shot out. But many times, the bunkerer ends up getting shot out a lot.
Here's how you do it. Say your team wants to move down the tapeline, but there is a big bunker on that tape that is almost impossible to take or shoo out. If you have the guys, you might consider a distraction bunker type move up the center of the field. Your center player gets up, and runs down the center in an attempt to bunker someone on the other team. Not only must he shoot out that player, but also he needs to run past him, and keep running. He'll get shot up pretty bad.
A few seconds after this guy gets up, you need to have your simultaneous move happening on the tapeline. Everyone will be looking at the guy causing havoc in the center so a player should be able to get up and bunker the guy on the tapeline and take and live in his bunker in the process. This guy moving up the center is the distraction bunker move and the guy making the move a few seconds later is the strategic move. If your team pulls something like this off, there is a very good chance you will win the game.
Last Resort
Finally we have a last resort move. Maybe time is running out, or as I see in many instances you might be one of the last guys and just don't want to get bunkered you. So you get up, and run at some guy, shoot him and get shot out yourself. Games over, other team wins. Did this really help? Probably not.
Most of these last resort type bunker moves that I see are a waste and the player had a better chance of trying to take one or two with them from their own bunker. But if the odds are against your team, and you don't think it is possible to fight it out from your current position then you might as well try to take it to the other team. Try to do something they won't expect.
This involves waiting for the right moment when everyone's gun is down, bunkering someone and diving down on the other side of the bunker. You might be able to live and turn the game around this way. But then again, you might have been able to turn the game around if you stayed in your original bunker to begin with. That is why this is a last resort move. It is up to you.
Final Thoughts
Well, there you have it. Bunkering doesn't seem that difficult does it? There are other types of bunkering, like the kind that a team does if there 5 of them and 1 of you. But that doesn't take too much thinking about. One or two guys shoot at his bunker and you get up and "do him".
Whenever you bunker someone you want to have your team's guns up and shooting. There needs to be some kind of "call" that lets everyone know they should be shooting their gun. If there is no one to give cover fire, here is a nice trick. Run and shoot at one side of their bunker. Don't actually shoot the bunker, but right to the side where they might come out. Then come around from the side you were not shooting at.
