grip nº13

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competitionDPL

scenario

Advanced Scenario

Campaign

Alex Goldmaninterview

millennium

Puget-sur-Argens

N.º 13 | May 2015

reviewR2

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T H E C H O I C E O F C H A M P I O N S T M

D Y E P A I N T B A L L . C O M

04 index

index06–07Team

09Editorial

10News

12–13HighlightAndy Cavenet

14–15ProfileTomáš Perutka

18-25DPL

26-29Path of the champoinsEdu Cabellos

30-39InterviewAlex Goldman

40-45Gallery

48-65MillenniumPuget-sur-Argens

66-73Miss GRIPAgna Oriana

78-81ScenarioASC

14-15Profile

Tomáš Perutka

index 30-39Interview Alex Goldman

05index

82-84ReviewR2

84-85Review

GF Boomstick

66-73Miss GRIP

Agna Oriana

48-65Millennium

Paris

78-81ASC

advertisement

86-88ReviewUltra Pro Low Gravity Jersey

40-45Gallery

06 team

PEDRO SIMÕES GRIP Magazine’s pho-tography editor. He’s also an accredited photojournalist.

RITA PEREIRA GRIP Magazine’s Art Director. She works as a professional graphic designer.

DANIEL TEIXEIRAGRIP Magazine’s kid. He is the man in charge of our website and all bits and bytes.

ANDRÉ FARIAThe scenario man. If we’re talking about camouflage, gun replicas and lots of fun, then that’s where he is.

VANESSA RAUSCHERShe is everywhere and knows everything. She is our reporter on duty. If there is any paintball event going on you will probably see her there.

EDU CABELLOSEdu is accompanying Five Star Lleida in their quest to rise to CPL. All the adventures during this year will be told by our Spanish friend.

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NINA ANNAProbably the fastest rising photographer of our market. A good set of skills with amazing style makes her our preferred choice in terms of photography.

team

JIM ZUUR He is a gentleman. Always polite but at the same with a total urge for news. If it is new in our sport, he is the right person to ask something about it.

SIEGIE KELLYWho better to help out than one of the RSH designers? Any subject related to image, he’s your man!

ANDRÉ GOMESOne of the “kids” of the team. Dominates the English language. and helps us translate a few thousand words per issue.

RITA RISCADOOur «Irishwoman» translates and puts up with us and all our doubts. Without her, you simply wouldn’t understand us!

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GRIP – Paintball Magazine or André Filipe Sobreira Garrido are not responsible for the content of the ads nor for the accuracy of the characteristics and features of the products and/or goods advertised. Their veracity and accordance with reality are fully and exclusively the responsibility of the advertisers and advertising agencies or companies.

IT IS STRICLY FORBIDEN TO COPY TEXTS AND IMAGES BY ALL MEANS

Property of André Filipe Sobreira Garrido NIF: 227215290

Legal address: Rua General Taborda Nº3 - 1º 1070-137 Lisboa

ERC Registration Nº 126231 Frequency: Quarterly

DIRECTOR EDITOR

MARKETING ADVERTISEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY

André Garrido ([email protected])André Garrido ([email protected])Carla Peixoto ([email protected])GRIP - Photo Services

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09

editorial

There has never been a year as strange as this one’s start. There are many rumours in the air, a lot of «he said she said». Ranging from some of the biggest companies almost going bankrupt to the difficult scenario of one of the greatest paintball tournaments in the world – PSP.

The problem is that this all reaches Europe in a butterfly effect and this nervous atmosphere affects the whole panorama here. For now, there are few changes made, and we hope it stays like this but only time will tell.

After three years, we’ve also decided to change things. We are focusing on creating a smaller magazine, reducing content but getting it to reach the readers faster. Many have told us that our magazine is simply too long so we have decided to go down this path. At the same time we have redesigned our website, with a layout that is media-friendly.

In the first edition of 2015, we go back to the biggest tournament in the world – DPL. With a fresh take on German paintball, Vanessa gives us a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes.

As is the norm, we went once again to Puget for another Millennium Series event. The weather was astounding, which made Nina’s photography even better than usual.

Regarding scenario paintball, we went to Advanced Scenario Campaign, and had one of the craziest and most memorable game paintball has had.

We have also given the new R2 and Anthrax Jerseys a look. And since we couldn’t afford to lose their amazing skill, we still have an amazing gallery done by our brothers in RSH.

And the cherry on top of the cake, our most beautiful Miss GRIP! Don’t miss out!

By André GarridoDirector GRIP

editorial

10 news

Planet Eclipse Shaft 5 Barrel – Insert Driven

The Shaft FR is a barrel extension for the shaft range of barrels which can hold freak inserts from Empire, GoG and Smartparts. The back consists of two parts: the main body and a joiner; the latter for holding the freak insert in place with a ramped lid to let the paintball slide in on the ramp instead of the sharp edge of the insert.

JT Premise GoggleHK Army Loader – TFXThe New HK Army TFX Loader is the new and first loader from HK Army. The loader can hold 216 paintballs and has an innovative built in ramp to make sure balls are fed into your marker by the loader.

DYE Rotor 2 New Vanquish

A whole new way of holding a lens, that’s the promise of the new JT Premise goggles. Because of this new retention system it is easier than ever to change a lens, replace the foam or

even clean the goggles as a whole, which is especially interesting for the rental market.

After years of service on their original rotor, DYE has finally come out with a new and updated version of the Rotor.The 2nd Rotor is even easier to use thanks to its toolless design, and an on-the- fly ability to increase its capacity from 200 rounds to 260 rounds. The R2 also gives you an alert when you need to reload, which is a first in this industry.

Empire have brought us a new Vanquish, one that has all the features the old Vanquish had like the one hex key for all screws, but it’s quieter and more accurate than its predecessor. It has a new sleeker body design that hides the screws even better and has a new, more reliable double eye breech system that is super easy to clean.

1212

Keep training because one day we will all be playing together!It was too soon for you to leave the field.

R.I.P Andy CanevetPhotographer: D. Elsa Basso

13

Keep training because one day we will all be playing together!It was too soon for you to leave the field.

R.I.P Andy Canevet

14 profile

Tomáš Perutka

Tomáš Perutka or Tomík as all his friends call him is not only the captain of MLKings but one of the most influential players for the

future of our sport. Tomík started playing in Troja Prague

at the age of 20 and didn’t take long to move into the new CPL team MLKings. This new adventure will be full of victories and this mentality was a surprise in Puget, where they came in 8th place in their first

event on the major league of Europe.To prove that this wasn’t just luck

he has a huge trophy list ranging from Millennium Series titles to seven Czech League Champion awards. He was also crowned CPS champion last year, 2013 OPLX victor and many other first places.

Like any devoted player, Tomík considers that his biggest experience in our sport was the time he went to the PSP in Chicago and Florida. •

15profile

NICKNAME Tomík

DATE OF BIRTH19/04/1989

BIRTHPLACECzech Republic

STARTED PLAYING IN 2004

PLAYS FORMLKings Prague

INTERNATIONAL EVENTSMillennium Series, CPS, Czech leagues, PSP, IXL

EVENTS WONMillennium, Czech Championship, CPS, IXL and many others

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PAINTBALLFirst place St.Tropez-Cannes 2012 Millennium Series

Text: André Garrido

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1818 competition

DPLMORE THAN JUST ORGANIZING TOURNAMENTS

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After telling you all the facts about the German Paintball League in our

8th edition, we wanted to know more about world‘s biggest paintball league. GRIP went behind the lines to tell you

what it’s all about in German paintball.Text: Vanessa Rauscher

competition 19

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DPL started out 12 years ago replacing the open leagues. It was the year when Consilium Dei Zürich become first German Champion ever. As they kept the title the following year they became one of two double title holders in Germany: they share this accomplishment with Offenburg Comin’ at Ya which are also the current German Masters.

Only two years later DPL fused with the German Professional Paintball League. The First National League was born. And with it Comin’ at Ya’s first star.

2007 DPL again fused with two leagues, this time the amateur series DNL and DAL. The first small structure including lower leagues came up, added to the First National League from 2005 and the second

and regional league that were added in 2006, which was actually a legendary year as record holder and internationally known team Frankfurt Syndicate got their first of five master titles.

As the DPL sets up the German Champion and all the National teams,

they need a pool of players who can be competetive in international tournaments. And they have that pool. With over 3000 players spread all over the leagues, DPL is the biggest Paintball League worldwide. To find out how they made that massive expansion I talked to one of the DPLs CEOs, Arne Petry.The first thing he tells me

DPL is doing everything to achieve the appreciation German paintball deserves.

competition

21competition

is that they are snowed under with work at the moment, as the league is about to start in a few weeks. Making gameplans, assigning venues to the events of the divisions with differing venues, supporting all the players with their registrations and answering all their questions.

And as the size of the league grows new tasks have to be solved: planning everything for the livestream, communicating about event time, place and technical details about the broadcast. The DPL even hosts an online gambling game where you can bet on the winning team.

Well maybe most of you may think

now that this isn‘t a very special offer from a sports league. So let me tell you something about the difficulties painballers have in Germany. It’s one of the few European countries where paintball is not accepted as a real sport. This is not from a lack of public aid, it is even restricted by law to have and carry a marker on the sporting venue. So for the Germans it is very important that the DPL fights to be accepted.

There are four years left for the DPL to become a real federation, as all members of the EPBF declared voluntarily. So Arne keeps on telling me about their work to accomplish that massive goal. As guest

22 competition

23competition

lecturer he visited the sports college in Heidelberg to tell the students about paintball and in return, they tried to figure out how the sport could become an accepted sport in Germany.

After a huge school massacre in 2009 where a boy shot 15 other students and then killed himself, everything seemed to break as the politicians demanded to completely restrict paintball. Seems a little peculiar that the opposite happened. Everybody talked about paintball and the DPL worked hard on elucidating everybody about the fact that paintball is more than just hiding in the woods and shooting

each other‘s faces. Visiting sports fairs and exhibition with videos and briefing packs, providing national TV shows with information and of course the scene itself sticking together against the upcoming restriction made it happen.

So with the four general principles of professionalism, fairplay, safety and youth encouragement, the DPL is doing everything to achieve the appreciation German paintball deserves. Therefore a structure proportional to the amount of

For the Germans it is very important that the DPL fights for public acceptance since

it‘s restricted by law to have a marker.

24 competition

players registred in the DPL is needed for conolidation of progress already made. They are planning to make it easier and at the beginning cheaper to start with paintball for example with a league for people with rental markers or allow them to save money on expensive jerseys by playing in same-coloured t-shirts. There are workshops planned to help starting paintball.

In the near future there will be an all-new German paintball paper magazine which you can buy at the station kiosk, airport and newsagent, which is not normal in Germany at all. Everyone is excited with the livestream that will

happen in the future, as they are planning to upgrade the graphics on a higher level, with layout flash and schedule graphics.

Leading a paintball league in Germany is a lot more than planning tournaments.

It has a lot to do with ideology and fighting for acceptance. It has a lot to do with elucidating people and presenting concepts. It is a hard fight for German paintball to become an accepted sport and the DPL is deeply entrenched in this war. •

With over 3000 players spread all over the leagues, DPL is the biggest

Paintball League worldwide.

25competition

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26 paht of the champions

FiveStar was very close to the two places that raise team into the CPL category, coming 4th overall last season 2014. Our goal for 2015 would be very clear, making the leap to the highest category.

The difficulties in reaching this goal are the same that have haunted FiveStar since the start, the lack of players and experienced teams in Spain. This year despite having two teams in the Millennium Series, one in SPL1 and another in SPL2, no Spanish players came to the tryouts. These circumstances forced us to sign players from abroad and now we have up to nine nationalities within the team. Another difficulty is the distance between all the players of FiveStar between them, which with the lack of competitive teams within the country itself, forced us to leave the border to practice in foreign countries.

Given this situation, and to help us achieve the objective, this year we have in our team players from Houston Heat, Tim Montressor and Sam Monville for the first team and Ryan Smith for the second team. The involvement of these players

has helped us consolidate and give a strong pool of experience in the team.

Two weeks before the first event, the entire team got together in France to practice with Dagnir Dae in Xtrem paintball Belcastel, for a first contact with the layout and make the most of the training, because we could not get together again until two days before the Millennium.

Also on Wednesday of the week of the first event, we met up with the American players for the first training at the TonTon’s field. Here we faced Breakout Spa, GK Paris and TonTon. Despite the weather, it was a very profitable for both of FiveStar teams,

as we were able to detect and correct some errors, under the eyes of the whole Houston Heat team, who helped us at the practice at all times.

On Thursday we had a double training session in the Millennium field, first with our fellow Anthrax Bad Boys Oss and in the evening with the second team.

By Edu Cabellos

the path of the champions!

Our goal for 2015 would be very clear, making the leap to CPL.

27

With just three practice sessions, but filled with confidence, we started the first event of the Millennium Series.

The first match was against Vienna United, the strongest team that we would face in the group stage.

It was a very close hard-fight game, but finally we won, in overtime, by 4-3.

The following games were against Redball Paris, which we won 4-0 and the last game of the group stage against Toulouse CS Unit, which we won 4-1.

With three wins we pass as first in the

paht of the champions

group and destiny made us play once again against Redball Paris in the 1/16 round. This time Redball Paris complicated the game for us, but it all went our way with a final score of 4-2.

The next round would be against Joe Bar Pélissane, a new team in this category, but who were playing a very solid game. At the end we beat them by 4-3.

We got to the semi-finals of SPL1 for the first time this year, and the next round would be really complicated. We would play against Scorpions Milano, a team with 4

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this 2nd place allows us to be in the leading group in the overall standings, giving us the confidence to face all the season fighting for one of the two spots that provide access to the highest category of the European paintball.

On the other hand, our second team,

newly promoted to SPL2, after having been 3rd last year in OD1, achieved a more than deserved 3th place winning against teams that were last year in SPL1 category like Force Majeure Moscow beating them not once but twice in the same event. We

paht of the champions

members of the former team Joy Division.It was a very tactical game, where

the two teams measured each other’s movements and points went from side to side and we reached 3-3 but the last point finally went our way.

We were in the finals!In the field we would meet

Vienna United again, who had played a difficult game against Manchester Firm in the semi-finals.

The final against Vienna United was highly contested until the 2-2. But a few penalties following each other in the last points and a great display of skill from Vienna gave them the first place.

Despite not coming up with the victory,

The entire team got together in France to practice with Dagnir Dae.

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could say that, the Millennium weekend had been a dream event for FiveStar Lleida, having both teams in SPL1 and SPL2 on the final podium.

This year we will have the support of GI Sportz, the market leader in paintball not just nationally but also internationally and once again we count on the support of Anthrax as

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our biggest sponsor, being its Factory Team.We have also been one of the chosen

teams of DLX to be part of their new project, so we will be shooting the new Shocker RSX this season.

We also want to thank the support given by Rosa Mediterranean Houses, RSH Media, Bricketwood and Stater Park. •

30 interview

Alex Goldman

31interview

GRIP: You were part of one of the most talked transfers of this season. What made you go to Infamous?Alex Goldman: I had other options actually and Infamous wasn’t my first choice. The other options eventually fell through and didn’t end up working out. It was a blessing in disguise now since I feel like this is the right team for me and I am more than satisfied to be a part of this squad.

GRIP: Now I’m curious, what were the other options?AG: Impact, Damage or to continue playing with Ironmen.

GRIP: Why did you decide to leave Ironmen?AG: I didn’t have any good communication with the ownership and truthfully I felt this was still a team that needed more experience and some more time before they start winning events. I’m getting older so I wanted to be on an already established winning team once again.

GRIP: I know that Marcello is one of your best friends. Was it hard to leave him behind?

Alex Goldman is a man of short words. He knows his value and says that without any

problem. Meet this cold assassin that is playing this year for Frankfurt Syndicate.


AG: Definitely, we’ve gone down this long road together. 10 years now we’ve been playing on the same teams together on and off. He understood my situation though so I think mentally he was prepared for the change.

GRIP: In another interview you said that you just can’t play for the fun anymore that you need to make some money. Do you live only off paintball?AG: It’s an argument I’ve had going on in my head now for a handful of seasons. My income isn’t entirely based off paintball but it helps pay the bills. I am trying to venture off into a new career and continue to play paintball as well.

GRIP: Can we know which career is that?AG: Nothing set in stone yet. I have a few ideas I’m going to test the waters with and hopefully branch off into one of them and go from there.

GRIP: In that same interview you said that is too difficult to live from this industry. Why do you think we are so different from other sports in this specific case?

32 interview

AG: The sport is just simply not big enough. At least on the tournament side of paintball. Hopefully one day that will change.

GRIP: I heard that you were amazing at football when you were a kid. You could

be rich now! (Laughs) Why did you stop?AG: Yes, I will on a competitive travelling team and everything. Once I got to high school paintball took over my passion and I was very small for my age and paintball didn’t require as much physical demand to compete so I made the commitment to play paintball instead.

GRIP: This might be strange but over this side of the «lake» we think that North-Americans don’t care much about football. How did you start playing soccer?AG: I started playing around four years old. There was no soccer in my family history either. I just found the passion for it on my own and I would play from sun up to sun down every day. And yes I agree soccer in the US is not as serious as in other countries so my goal when I was younger was to eventually move to Europe and play there.

GRIP: And how was that passion replaced by paintball?AG: I kind of relate paintball with tag or hide and seek and I was always good at those games as a kid so I was naturally pretty good at paintball from the go and when you’re good at something it’s easy to build that interest.

GRIP: Going back to Infamous. Recently you won Dallas with your new team. Were you expecting to win already in the first event?AG: I had a really good feeling about that event, as soon as the tournament started.

«Infamous wasn’t my first choice. It was a blessing in disguise.»

33interview

I think the whole team’s confidence grew gradually throughout the event.

GRIP: How did the team feel? What does the team needs to improve to continue with great results?AG: We know what it takes to win tournaments. Now we have to continue doing the same thing but work even harder for the next event. Easier to get to the top than stay there.

«When I was younger my goal was to move to Europe and play football.»

GRIP: Last year Infamous won the first event but the rest of the year was a nightmare. Do you think there are still ghosts in the team?AG: No, those things happen. Paintball is a mental game. We just need to continue playing with confidence and everything else will go as planned.

GRIP: You are saying paintball is a mental game. How was your morale knowing

34 interview

before Dallas when you haven’t won a tournament in four years?AG: You can’t let that effect you. Paintball is also a team sport. Throughout those four years of not winning I was still playing some great paintball regardless. And for what it matters, I wasn’t winning in PSP but I was still winning in other leagues.

GRIP: After the first experience what do you have to say about the true-semi rule and no coaching at PSP?

AG: Honestly I like both rules. I think they both play into my favour. With the no coaching it gives you a higher reward for unseen moves and that is what I am all about! The true-semi is good for me because I usually run a spot off the break and I think it is more difficult now to lane someone off the break with the true-semi and also harder to hold a lane on a spot to keep someone out of it so they both work in my favour.

GRIP: Some time ago you said that you

35interview

«No coaching gives you higher reward for unseen moves and that is what I am all about!»

tend to make bad calls when you decide to change teams. Have you done the right choice?AG: I don’t agree with that statement right now. I have no regrets and yes I have for sure made the right choice this year.

GRIP: But you feel you made some bad calls in the past? Any regrets?AG: That’s what I meant, looking back on it now I don’t think I made any «bad calls». I have no regrets.

GRIP: When you returned the second time to Aftermath you said that you went to the team to win the World Cup title. Were you serious about these intentions?AG: Of course, I always plan on winning!

GRIP: But you ended up playing with Vicious. What happened?AG: No I only played World Cup with Vicious and we won by the way. Mike Hinman decided we were not going to play World Cup that year for whatever reason.

GRIP: Since we are talking about World Cups, you left from Dynasty to Damage before the World Cup of 2012. It seems a little sudden, why did you leave Dynasty?AG: It was a frustrating year for myself and the team [Dynasty]. I wasn’t having fun so I wanted to make a change. Looking back I think the right thing to have done would have been to at least finish the year with the team but I made a choice and moved on.

GRIP: After that Oliver Lang and you exchanged some words through the media… any problems between you and him at the time?AG: I would have been upset at me for leaving as well. I think now we have a better understanding of each other and mutual respect. Oliver is a great paintball player, one of the best still.

GRIP: After leaving for Damage you were supposed to play with them in 2013

36

but you went to Ironmen for the second time. What made you change your mind?AG: Mike Hinman ended up becoming the head coach of the Ironmen and he was my first coach in paintball and to this day one of my best friends so it was an easy decision.

GRIP: Last year you and Margott helped Hulk Kiev to be promoted to CPL but surprisingly the team ended. What happened?AG: The owner used his money to support Ukraine’s army in the war that is going on. The owner and the rest of Hulk were very proud and humble and they love their country.

GRIP: If they continue this year, will you

be with them?AG: Not sure if it would have worked out now that I am not a DYE sponsored player but I would have loved to continue playing with the team and I know Marcello would have as well.

GRIP: Hulk were doing an amazing year with two first places, one second and in Paris you «ruined» everything only getting 17th place. Overconfidence?AG: Possibly. It was just one of those tournaments that everything that could go wrong, did. Still a strong year for the team.GRIP: This year you are playing with Syndicate. How did this happen?AG: I didn’t even think I was going to play

interview

« I have no regrets.»

37

Millennium this year just because I couldn’t find a team to get in contact with. Luckily last minute Patrick from the team had emailed me and everything worked out.

GRIP: Syndicate were always a team from the middle of the standings. Never too good, but never too bad. How will you change this mentality in the team for it to become a top team?AG: I kept stressing to them throughout this first event: play with confidence and always communicate on the field.

GRIP: How many times do you train with the team?AG: I was only able to practice with the team for two hours the day before the event.

GRIP: Are you expecting to train more in the rest of the year?AG: Yes I will probably fly in a little earlier so we have more time to train before the events.

GRIP: They play in DPL too. Will you make some appearance in Germany league too?AG: No, I don’t think I will be playing any of those events this year.

GRIP: Why not? Schedule problems?AG: No particular reason. It was just never brought up in the conversation at the beginning of this year.

GRIP: I remember one interview, where you were still a kid and would say: «I

« Now Lang and I have a better understanding of each other and mutual respect.»

interview

38 interview

« I always wanted to play with my favourites like Fedorov, Mishka and Maloy.»

have a leading role, I like the pressure». After so many years, how do you see yourself as a player?AG: Well I think I play two different roles. With Infamous, the game planning and calls on the field are mostly done by our coach so I just focus on my job and shooting people. With Syndicate we have some younger players on the team and I feel most of the team looks at me as a leader in a way so I try to take on that “captain” role and give advice.

GRIP: In that same interview you said that if you were playing badly you will go

to the bench. How many times has that really happened?AG: With my game and style I really try to focus on being consistent. I’ve always said anyone can have a good point but having good games and tournaments is what takes you to the next level. I haven’t had to sit on the bench especially at clutch times during a game, fortunately.

GRIP: But today, if you have to sit on the bench will you see it with good eyes?AG: I’m very competitive and I wouldn’t be happy but that usually indicates that you are having a bad day but I’ve matured

39

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and learned that the bigger picture is that it is a team sport and the goal is to win tournaments. So yes, I would still remain positive, whatever it takes for my team to win tournaments.

GRIP: When you were a kid you were a small guy. Now you are a giant. What have you been eating?AG: All day, every day!

GRIP: With this size does your nickname (Mouse) still makes sense?AG: I’ve outgrown the name – literally - but it has still carried on because that was the name most people knew me by. Either way I don’t mind. Alex, Mouse, Goldman, AG89, doesn’t matter to me.

GRIP: You’ve already played in the best teams of the World. Which team is missing?AG: I’ve always wanted to play on the same team with some of my favourites like Fedorov, Mishka and Maloy. But I am happy with where I am at right now but who knows what the future holds.

GRIP: Are you flirting with Houston Heat?AG: Again I don’t plan on switching teams but there are also no guarantees.

GRIP: What is missing in your career?AG: Good question. Every goal I have set out to do in paintball I have accomplished. Now I think I just continue to try and rack up as many wins and titles before my time with paintball is finished. •

40 gallery40

By Siegie Kelly

4242 gallery

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4444 gallery

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DRONE 2

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4848 millennium

PUGET SUR ARGENS

49

New season, new chances. Millennium Series’ opening event in Puget-sur-Argens is the beginning

of Europe‘s biggest annual Paintball tournament. GRIP was there for you where everyone was anxious

to find out what the new season might bring.Text: Vanessa Rauscher

PUGET SUR ARGENS

50

The first Millennium event in 2015 started off with the nicest weather you could imagine for playing a long and successful paintball tournament. Especially if you come from rainy Germany, UK or Netherlands.

Here we have the first of several characteristics that makes the Millennium Series that special event which it is. In Puget you meet different people all over the venue who you haven’t seen for months and also been missing a little bit after the long winter break. And your mood immediately changes from «depressingly-winter-marked» to «shoot’em-all-summer-long».

millennium

Every year there are four tournaments starting with Puget, heading to Bitburg, London and ending up with Chantilly.

From the first Millennium Series ever in the year 2001 until 2010 it even used to be five or more tournaments.

This year we have in addition to the old Divisions CPL, SPL1 + SPL2 and the Open Divsions 1 + 2, the brand new Open Division 3 will make it much easier to foster competitiveness in the tournament for new teams.

Also brand new this year: the M500-format test tournament. As the Millennium

51millennium

actually marking a single player.To my mind it actually looked like they

were playing like they always did but without shooting. With more waiting and more doing nothing.

I talked to Nic Rippel who joined the tournament with Frankfurt

Syndicate to find out what it really felt like to play with a restricted amount of balls. He told me that my first feeling was right: They have

not changed their game plan. Nevertheless Nic said he quite

liked the new format. It made the game faster and more difficult for the backline to stop people from running where they wanted to. For all attackers

Series is planning to restrict the amount of paint the player/the team as a whole unit is allowed to carry to the field for each point, they wanted to have this tested out before to see if there’s demand for it.

When I first heard of that I was quite astonished about the fact that somebody wanted to help paintball players save money instead of ripping it out of their pocket. I also thought that it might help to make the game faster and more aggressive because this format removes the choice to make your opponent walk right into a lane that you are shooting for the whole game until your 1500 balls are spilled all over the place without

Your mood

changes from «depressingly-

winter-marked» to «shoot’em-all-summer-long»

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it was much easier now to accelerate the game, because they were now able to change bunkers frequently. The windows for them were much bigger and lasted for much longer in comparison to an unrestricted paint game. Nic thinks that it is a question of personal opinion to decide which format is better, but for all attackers he is quite sure that it will be a great advance to increase the value of the game.

So let’s continue with the old and established features that make each event of the Millennium Series as special as it is.

Walking over the venue with all your teammates or friends who you haven’t seen for months, with the last time probably being in

Chantilly last year, you enjoy the sun, the cold beer, the slight smell of two-stroke mixture and paint mixed with

fries. Sometimes getting hit by a ball because of the DYE boys and girls

playing volleyball in the middle of the venue where they just put up a net. Your wallet is well filled in your pocket and somehow you feel like this

won’t last for long. Of course you heard of all the new things

they brought up in this paintball extravaganza and you can’t wait to see

them all in the booths, can’t wait to have them. Everybody knows they make special prices at the Millennium and you came to shoot and buy.

Don’t worry that’s alright. Everybody feels like that. I packed my suitcase five

Brand new this year: the

M500-format test tournament

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kg under the airlines maximum weight as I knew I would need that headroom. And I did. It’s the weather and the beautifully arranged boothes that make us forget ourselves. That make us let out our inner girl, that can’t have enough shoes, or in this case enough paintball stuff.

And you know it is so hard not to spend money. GI Sportz has a great new line

of bags and cases with specially fitting jackets, ain’t that gorgeous?! Eclipse as I was told has had a new designer for some years now and you really can see that, as I couldn’t resist that feeling of just wanting another hoodie (which actually goes very well with your new GI Sportz Jacket). So what else do you need?? You don’t have a shirt yet so go to HK grab a new one.

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You need a cap?! Anthrax sells caps and you need one. If you are in a team with any sponsorship you still have the same problems. Just because you don’t shop at all booths you still spend all your money on great new stuff from your own sponsor.

Of course all your friends at home wrote down never ending lists of stuff they needed and which you should get for them for the very special prices nobody ever gets at home or on the internet. Most of the time your money is spent before you even thought of them.

But there is one thing we never think about: how come everything looks so perfect? Where does all the paint come from? How can there always be someone to fix my gun, loader or tank? To find out all the background vendor stuff I met Sebastian Kullmann from Maxs and he told me that it takes between two and four weeks to prepare for an event depending on the size they are planning for their booths. Besides the size and the setting of the booth they also have to consider logistics as buses and trucks are needed to carry all the products and store

the paint; they also need to decide which vehicles will be taken to the event. They must also decide which products to take with them, and this is a very important step to ensure full representation of all vendors; they must determine the amount of products they need to take and generate the shipping order afterwards. The average time this usually takes is two days and

there are two to six staff members occupied with this task. At the

event there are about six staff members around, occupied with distributing paint, general guidance and selling products.As Maxs has their own

sponsorship program for their teams, everyone is supplied with all

the stuff they need. Maxs carries all the stuff with them and even offers space for their teams where they can park their gear, drink and anything else between the games. They also provide an all-day barbecue so that the players don’t lack anything.

As Sebastian has been playing paintball for years I wanted to know about the difference of being a player and being

Someone wanted to

help paintball players save

money instead of ripping it out of their pockets

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a vendor. One of the most remarkable differences he tells me is the free time activities. As the players could use the non-playing time in the morning or the afternoon for sightseeing or watching games, he is the one who is on the field before all players to test the paint, refill products or clean up the booth and is the last to go home. For him personally this isn’t always negative because he says that he enjoys meeting new people from all over the world no matter whether it is an American pro player or a rookie who is excited for his first big tournament. Of course it makes a vendor proud if the team they are supporting makes it to the podium, because the vendor is part of it and has put a lot of time in that team.

As player concentration and performance

is wholly focused on the games, the vendor has to be concentrated all day. But now that their team is working together for so many events, everybody is able to help each other

and give each other space to breathe. And even though it might be stressful

and hard to solve everyone’s problems 24 hours a day, as a vendor you have to be friendly to all the guests and players that come to you with their issues from CPL to OD3.So now let’s have look at all

new Division OD3 that was won by the German team Berlin Damage

who have been launched this year with players from several different teams in Berlin. They are now about to play the Regional league in the DPL this year. They are followed by Italian Gladiatori Unicusano who are also a brand new team launched

Enjoy the sun, the cold

beer, the slight smell of two-

stroke mixture and paint mixed

with fries

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this year and plan to play the whole Series and also the CPS together. But as the Open Divisions are often played as single events or with teams consisting of players of many different teams of national leagues this isn’t as surprising as it seems. Despite all the fun the teams in OD3 have altogether, something sad happened this year in France: 26-year old player Andy Canevet from Toulouse Phoenix died of a heart attack Saturday night in his hotel. To show respect to the team, affected families and of course the late player, the Millennium Series stopped all activities and music for a minute

at half past twelve on Saturday. They asked all participants and guest to stay silent for a minute. Everybody was shocked when they heard about what happened but the show must go on and so with this player in everyone’s hearts, everybody kept on doing what they had to do.

OD2 and OD1 are both known for their unpredictability. In the lower Division two French teams made it: Toulouse Dagnir Dae, formerly a SPL-Team and in 2010 they even played the CPL; Family St. Tropez who are playing the first together under that name. Of course Dagnir Dae could be the all-

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series favourites but let’s just see if they have the power to stay on top. In the higher division Headshot Moscow who paused for two years and Elite Ile d Oleron who didn’t performance very well these past years made it. Our beloved boys from Assala Libreville didn’t play very well unfortunately. They only reached 11th place in OD2 and 16th in OD1. Also the girls from Poison Ivy let us down and landed on 19th. But as we know from the last years, nothing’s lost until it’s lost. Especially in the Open Divisions we are overtaken by inconsistent performances every year, when the teams win and lose against each other without clear favourites in each group.

In SPL everything appears a little different. SPL2 winners went straight through the competition. The French team

Dynamix Metz did not lose any game and there was only one game against Rebels Borgeskogen where they had to fight hard and still won 4:3. Although they did not perform remarkably well in the last years, this year they bulldozed through

competition, where even second place team Druid Celtic Saulx Les

Chartreux wasn’t a real threat. Right after the Druids we had last years promoted team FiveStar Lleida2 whose big brother got placed second in

SPL1 this event. FiveStar Lleida is playing the SPL for the 5th

season now and hasn’t reached the top yet. Always an average team, they brought a good performance last year for the first time when they placed 4th overall. Again, a promoted team surprised us with a good performance when they won SPL1: Vienna United won all their games except against

A brand takes between two and

four weeks to prepare for

an event

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FiveStar in the prelims but were able to get the points back the finals. So I would really like to say that they deserve first place.

But the real team to keep an eye are Scorpions Milano simply due to the fact that half of the team are former players of the well famous Joy Division team. As expected they won almost every game except against FiveStar. Will we see a new Joy Division in CPL in 2016? Bitburg will be thrilling for both SPL Divisions as in SPL2 Rain of Fire Nürnberg received 100 points for reffing. They are playing in the first national league in Germany this year, and

will prove to be serious competition.Every event has its own European

National Championship and we were pleased to see the veterans play for that title in Puget. Let me spoil it a little bit: last year’s champion France won it all again. And as Denmark did not show up this year, Great Britain became second. But all the teams brought their old national stars: Netherlands with Perrie van Maasacker whose son became legendary for beating some pro players in a 1 on 1 championship last year. Russia had Dmitry Berdnikov who has already made a name for himself. I

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Most of the Veterans

have been playing for longer

than I have existed

could list names forever just so you can understand the quality of the competition. They know what paintball is about. Most of them have been playing for longer than you have existed, so a salute to those guys, no matter how they were placed.

So now that the Millennium Series starts on Thursday, I started to watch some training sessions in the afternoon. And as I watched the Tontons playing very straight and aggressive, it came to my mind that maybe they could be favourites for the tournament. And as the days went by they really looked good and did as expected, winning the event. The nostalgia comes to mind when we see

Tonton playing with Axel Gaudin, this time paired with his brother who is becoming a new European star. One event, one win.

Will they be capable of continuing this winning streak and beat their

own 2014 record and become European Champions for the third time?

But as we know from any other sports event it is easier

to get to the top than to stay there. As Impact and Heat, the

Houston one, are right behind them, it will be a thrilling tournament in the next events. The French are still favourites and everybody has to struggle to reach their level. So let’s stay curious about the upcoming events.•

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Model: Agna Oriana | Photographer: Carlos Rodrigues | Makeup & Hair: Silvia Ferreira

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Model: Agna Oriana | Photographer: Carlos Rodrigues | Makeup & Hair: Silvia Ferreira

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T H E A R T O F W I N N I N G T M

D Y E P A I N T B A L L . C O M

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GRIP interviewed the masterminds behind a curious series of events called Advanced Scenario Campaign (ASC), held in Czech Republic as well as in French

venues since 2011. Just take a look.Text: André Faria | Photos: Kurt Krämer

Advanced Scenario Campaign

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Team Tactics from Germany was founded by a group of friends and they quickly grew due to their presence in several Big Games, reaching their current number of about 20 team members. Well known in Europe for participating in scenario events and Big Games in Belgium, U.K. and Croatia, they recall some of those as their favourite events, like the one held in Sennybridge - Wales on a military training ground, one of the best paintball sites in Europe.

Other highlights have been the games in France at Fort Paint, which is a historic Napoleonic Fort with a huge area of dense forest surrounding it, and the Citadel or Charlemont Fort, with more than 400 years of existence, and many

awesome places to play Paintball.After many games the team realized

that something was missing: the games were mainly a standard elimination match, not even trying to fulfil the goals of the scenario. As Peach reveals:

«Timo and Denis came up with the idea to create our own scenario event to address the issues we have identified in other events. They brainstormed how an interesting scenario game should be set up and the very first ASC event was the result of this joint effort».

Keeping it simple, their first ASC had 20

The magfed community is growing. More players, more events.

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main goal is to host a competitive but fair event. Both teams should have the same chances to win the event. We are carefully watching equipment, team strength, etc. to deliver the most fun to our players».

It takes place in a fictional future and every event gets its own backstory

with several incidences that lead to the operation. The aim is to produce a thrilling atmosphere for players to improve the game experience.

How did the ASC influence the European Scenario Scene? Peach answers: «Before the ASC there wasn’t an active LowCap

scenario

players, easy missions and no role playing. From there nine more were organized, usually with an 80 player cap, most of them already having participated in an earlier ASC, so the atmosphere couldn’t be better. And that is a major advantage as the need for refs is very low, just about three, giving the chance to introduce role playing characters to create a special atmosphere and bringing the missions to life.

ASC is a one day event with six or seven missions. Each team switches sides after each mission so there are about 12 to 14 engagements. Each engagement takes approximately 20 minutes of time and your ammunition is limited to 500 paintballs for the whole day. As Peach says: «Our

Before the ASC there wasn’t an active LowCap Scenario Scene in German.

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Scenario Scene in Germany. After starting ASC and getting the word around in the Paintball scene we recognized more events and fields trying to put more efforts in issues like mission design, team briefings, communication on and off the field as well as assigning special roles to players to ensure that the players are really trying to solve the mission rather than just trying to eliminate the opposing team. In 2014 we reached a point that some of our ASC participants started to host their own Magfed Scenario Events. This makes us extremely happy and proud».

Role play has a central role in the chosen scenarios, like the mission that could be solved without guns…A sniper team had to observe a diplomat and identify his contact person which was surrounded by many players in a yard, some of them in civil clothes. Besides the security made by the opposite team, there was also the «press» and «civilians» who wanted to get in touch with him. The Diplomat arrived by car, took his briefcase out of the trunk and the sniper team went crazy eliminating nearly the whole yard, including the diplomat. The result was mission lost, zero points, but those who

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attended will never forget this moment.Or in the zombie night game at ASC

7, with the mission of getting the mad scientist at night, in a Napoleonic fort, lit only with candles and light sticks, with the music of a scratching gramophone… All Team Tactics members were dressed as Zombies and the players didn’t know it. They only got 10 paintballs per person and were separated in small groups. As they started their mission they were surprised with signal flares in a pitch black tunnel, something the players will never forget and neither will their underwear!

The organization also rewards loyal players of the ASC format with an

«Advanced Warfighter» patch in tan, brass, silver and gold. Depending on the number of participations, the player gets the tan patch after one participation, the brass patch with three, the silver patch with six and the golden patch with 10 participations.

And this year what is Team Tactics up to? «For ASC 10 on the 27th of June, we are back in Czech Republic but on a new field with some new ideas. Those who know us, know there is always something new, maybe more female role players. But as always, we bring medics, smoke, lethal gas, flashbangs, vehicles and night games back into the event».

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On a different note, GRIP asked what changes did Team Tactics see in our sport in the last five years, and their answer is difficult as expected: «I think it has to be divided between complete paintball and our small sub-group (magfed). In complete paintball there is not much that has changed. There are almost no innovations, some manufacturers surrender or get overtaken. This is a pity but not a critical fault. On the whole, paintballers are a small tribe and stand together.

In scenario and magfed there are huge changes. Scenario and magfed want to be taken serious. No longer freaks that we’ve seen as a few years ago. Other paintballers

don’t look upset anymore when you tell them that you play speedball and magfed.

The magfed community is growing. More players, more events. Vendors and manufacturers recognized the change. They offer a wide range of markers and

accessories. No shadowy existence anymore. The scene has recognized that we are just as freaky as the average paintballers».

As a final word for our readers, Team Tactics shouts out: «Try magfed! (and stay the way you are)». •

«We will bring medics, smoke, lethal gas, flashbangs, vehicles and night

games back into the game»

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The rotor’s oldest brother is fresh on the market. Is it good enough to replace its predecessor? We think it can, read on to know why!

R2

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We had access to DYE’s new loader and we have to admit we were very surprised. You already know how crazy we are for any kind of innovation in our sport, but we were very much caught off guard with this new loader.

Behind the biggest change there are some small yet luxurious modifications that have been made, on the loader that will most likely be the most sold on the market for the next few years.

The ability to increase paintball capacity from 200 to 260 will prove to be useful for transitions from more defensive, lane-shooting playing styles to more aggressive and faster games.

For those that haven’t seen the R2 you must be asking: «Isn’t this the same as

before?» Yes and no. Yes it is the same. No it’s not because you previously needed to substitute the top shell for a larger one. With the R2 it’s just a question of adjusting the size of the loader in a few seconds to use both versions. We feel that any player could make this change in the middle of the game if needed.

This innovation has become more important since the Millennium Series has announced their new playing format, where players are limited in the number of paintballs they can carry (2 pods of 140 and a loader).

The design has remained practically identical to the previous model, the same that created a legion of fans that say it’s the best that has been ever made. But

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it’s in the design that we notice its faults. Firstly we have returned to the early Rotor years, with basic black shells and simple colours with no added flair. The grooves that allow for the rotor’s shell to be expanded are exposed and although they are at the back of the loader we would hate getting shot there. However that same design has an advantage, which is the central plastic piece which allows us to see the amount of paintballs inside the loader, something that the previous model failed at properly introducing.

For some brands this amount of innovation would be enough but DYE has added a series of other features.

The one that we notice at the start is the button on the lid to quickly and easily remove or put in a speedfeed, or put the lid on when it’s raining. It’s these small details that make it an excellent product, as this is worth its weight in goal for a player that has to face both weather extremes during a day of paintball. And we never take out the speedfeed to put in the lid during a tournament.

There is also an alarm installed that will warn you if you are low on paint. It’s another genius idea… How many of us don’t have paintballs in crucial moments?

DYE has also announced that this loader is the fastest paintball feeder on the market. Although this is a plus we do not consider this a game changer, unless you’re still playing with a VL200.

The loader has also maintained its ability to be taken apart and put back together without the need for tools.

The feed neck is also larger than the usual for the pod to fit better and waste less paintballs.

Without any doubt this is an excellent product made from a very good brand. We are sure it will be a success despite its high price tag. The fact that you can go from 200 to 260 balls in a matter of seconds might create a new trend in paintball for more reduced profiles when playing tight bunkers or having more paint to throw at your opponents at the breakout. •

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Most people playing paintball today have heard of Anthrax before. The same couldn’t be said three years ago, and their growth came as a surprise to all of us.

They appeared with many products that other brands already made – jerseys, t-shirts, headbands – but with a mentality of achieving perfection and total customization gave this brand an edge over others.

Their advantage was no minimum quantity to order, 100% customization and 12 working days production capability.

They have grown so much they are the current sponsors of one of the biggest

teams out there – Houston Heat. This sponsorship has allowed for Anthrax to go back to the drawing board with their jerseys and raise the standard to a level never seen before.

This new range of products is called Ultra Pro – Low Gravity Edition.

The first time you look at the jersey you can clearly see you’re dealing with a high quality product. And when you touch it for the first time, you’re immediately sold. Instead of an ultra-thin jersey like other brands, Anthrax has invested in padding in specific areas to increase the bounce and

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ULTRA PROLow Gravity

JerseyWe don’t like reviewing clothes because they are generally all the same. But when we saw Anthrax’s

jersey we had to make an exception.

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give players that second chance. With a focus on uniqueness this jersey

is made from eight different materials and can be produced in twelve different sizes, from XS to 8XL.

The big differences from other jerseys in the market are the removal of chest padding, increasing comfort and reducing weight. However they have kept their

Heavy Duty Fabric to maintain a high level of resistance, especially when diving and crawling. The shoulder fabric is lighter and stretches far more than its predecessor, also reducing the overall weight but still keeping the padding due to the shoulders being a critical impact area. OptiMesh, a material that is half as heavy than what is regularly used, is breathable and allows

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for greater comfort when sweating or playing in the heat. A similar but tougher material named MicroMesh has been used for the back of the jersey. The elbow padding has remained untouched and, if desired, can accommodate for an extra centimetre of padding for greater protection.

Although not entirely new, the incorporated finger sleeves is a feature we love on Anthrax’s products. It isn’t just an extra piece of cloth, as it is thicker than many gloves on the market and allows for an extra aspect of customization.

It’s interesting to see that Anthrax has strayed from the trend and attempted to be unique. Their brand is slowly building up their legion of fans through reliable products and dedicated workers. This jersey model is the perfect combination of weight and protection, ideal for a player that wants to stay on top of the game. •

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grip nº13

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