First Strike thoughts

Finally played with FS rounds for this first time this weekend.  Only fired four shots all day (not including chrono); the fourth one wasn't really a shot as the mag had leaked air in the interim.  Out of the other three shots, one was a confirmed elimination (I believe it was a head/neck shot); another one I don't know if it hit the target or not.

(Skip to 1:40 for FS action)

There's a lot of fluff about what these rounds can and cannot do.  Here's my view of the situation.

These do increase the effective range that you can engage a target at.

With normal paint, I normally try not to engage people over 70 feet away.  Note that I'm not a "accuracy by volume" player, so this is sort of the max effective range that I feel comfortable/confident in hitting my target.

The "target" is a source of ... annoyance in some of these range tests.  Some of these guys perform range tests and consider hitting a standing target anywhere a success.  I think that's bullshit, because then you're fucked if your opponent is even partially behind cover, which is most of the time unless you're playing against total idiots (in which case it's not even worth using the FS rounds).

Realistically, I'm aiming for something specific.  Usually a mask or hopper, because that's what's presented to me.  Furthermore, they are hard points which are more likely to get a break.  Sure, you can extend the range to include soft targets, but if your paint doesn't break, then what difference does it make?  You haven't extended your "range" -- you've just extended the amount of paint you waste.

So the effective range must take into account target size.  Mask or gun.

From the groupings and testing that I saw, I think this winds up being somewhere between 100 and 150 feet.

Effective range also has to take into account your opponent's ability to get out of the way of incoming paint.

Since sound perception is logarithmic, and sound dropoff is proportional to the inverted square of the distance, that means at the increased distances, the target is slightly less likely to hear your shot in the first place.

The reduced speed dropoff also means the paint gets there faster.

The paint also happens to be a neutral color, which is harder to spot in flight than something hot pink or fluorescent orange or something.  I've always preferred darker, more sedate colors of paint shell for this reason.

(Incidentally, their neutral color also makes it hard to track the rounds -- might be worth airbrushing the backs with something bright to help trace them.)

All three combine to decrease the opponent's ability to dodge incoming paint, thus increasing its effectiveness.

There's also a less commonly mentioned use for this paint.  The flatter trajectory allows for additional shooting situations, particularly in the woods.  Sometimes you will get a target which is within range under normal conditions, but you can't hit him because the arc of your paint path will hit something, usually a tree or building or something.

With a FS round, you can send a shot underneath all the foliage while your opponent is trying to lob his paint through branches and trees to get at you.  Also applies to buildings with windows and other unusual bunker conditions.

(Clearly, the converse is also true; you can't use FS rounds to land sneaky drop shots on unsuspecting players.)

(Skip to 4:40 for sneaky drop shot)

So these rounds represent a reasonable increase in effective range and shooting situations, in exchange for rather steep cost.  They're not the end-all-be-all of paint, and I think for most people, the rounds aren't worth using, but like many high performance products designed to push the boundaries, they can be devastating when paired with a skilled operator.


They seriously need to make a shorter rifled barrel though.  14" is fucking ridiculous.  And no, I'm not fucking buying one and cutting it down.