What is it?

It is a rookie tournament we started back in 2003, we wanted to encourage recreational paintballers to try tournament paintball. Usually a player tries rec ball, loves it, comes again a couple of times, and then start buying their own equipment, initially this maybe a goggle system or mask, and then a hopper and beginner marker. Some may attend regularly with a group of friends and went to put a team together to take it to another level, this is where King of the Hill or KOTH comes in.

It is tournament for rookie, beginner players, a team is allowed one experienced player if they wish to assist them on and off the field. Tournament paintball is not played in the woods at our events, all tournaments are played on Sup’air fields, where barricades can be any shape or size, and are inflated, similar to bouncy castles, but naturally a lot smaller in size.

You need 5 players, all with own equipment, which should consist of mask, hopper, and marker on Co2 or air, (check out the links on our home page for the variety of paintball suppliers that sponsor our event) some may have battle packs and pots or even some playing gear, although these are not essential. The point being that you can try tournament level paintball without having to buy expensive equipment, if you don’t enjoy it then you haven’t lost out financially, if you do enjoy then you can spend money on better equipment and more playing gear .

So what do you do now?

Right you have your 5 team mates who are ready to play, they all have the necessary equipment, now to decide on a team name, you can not have the same name as any other team, or a name with profanities in it, if you are unsure, contact the UK Masters via email and they will help you here.

Choose a captain, someone with good organisational qualities is helpful. The captain will be responsible for any queries on or off the field, so the organisers have one point of contact, captains can be changed at the discretion of the team.

KOTH runs over 8 months with 8 rounds, so you and your team can choose how many tournaments they wish to attend. Once you have chosen which tournament/s your team is going to play, assuming you have all booked time off work, decide then whether you are going to camp, or stay in a hotel or travel lodge, rooms will need to be booked in advance to avoid disappointment.

How much does it cost?

It is £175 per 5 man team, which is £35 per player, for this you will play anything from 7 to 9 games, depending on how many teams book into the event, you will also have an unlimited supply of air to 4500psi and Co2.

It is a limited paint event, this means that each member of your team is allowed a hopper full of paint, then the captain has 3 x 140 shot pots, he/she decides whom on the team has a pot, usually the pots are allocated to players at the back of the field, who are likely to shoot more paint. If you do run out of paint, you can still play the game.

Safety

Your marker must have a sock/barrel condom on it at ALL times, the only time it will be removed is when you are safely inside the chronie station or you are on the game field.

You must also keep your mask on when you enter the game field, and only take it off when you are in a safe area.

Your day from start to finish

The fields are set up for Saturday afternoon, so that teams can come along early and decide their plan of action for games the following day, don’t worry if you are unable to do this, as a lot of teams come earlier on the Sunday morning to plan their game.

You arrive on site 6.30am to 7.00am and find a table to set up on, one table per team, you will either get your kit ready them or peruse the fields and decide your game plans, you then approach one of the paint suppliers that attend our events, unless of course you have brought your own paint, to purchase paint, the price of paint can vary from as little as £20 per box to £50 per box, depending on the quality of paint you want to use.

You now have paint, you all fill your pots for the first game, and your hopper. All markers have to be chronographed before your first game, the velocity should be set no higher than 280 feet per second, if you are unsure on how to chronograph your marker, check your manual, or just ask any of the ballers around you they will be more than happy to assist you, every event their will be a chronie station where you can check your velocity as often as you like, masks will be worn at all times in these areas.

Captains meeting is around 8.00am, and will be announced via the PA system. Here the rules will be announced and you will be advised how the points system works, if you have any questions, you will save them till the end of the brief, and they will be answered then. If you have any queries at all thru the course of the day, see the girls on admin and they will assist you anyway they can.

First game starts at 9.00am, to find out your game times, your captain will collect your game fees from you and take it to admin, where the girls will give you a disclaimer that will need to be completed by the whole team, you will then be issued with your roster, which is usually highlighted to indicate the times and field numbers you will be playing your games on.

So now you have walked the fields, decided who you are sending where, prepared your kit, set your velocity to no more than 280fps, paid your game fee, and are ready for your first game.

The Game

The field is around 40metres length x 20 metres width, with anything up to 25 barricades on a field, five or six marshals will be on each field to enforce the rules, there is also a field ultimate, if you have any problems during the game you will speak directly to the ultimate after the game and he will resolve the issue for you. There is a boundary around each field, during play you will not cross this boundary tape or you will be eliminated from the game.

As you walk onto the field to play your game, one of the marshals will approach you to chronograph your marker, to make sure that it is not firing more than 280fps, he/she will also check for bouncing triggers and that it is set to semi-automatic only, if any of these occur your marker will be taken from you and you will play the game without it. After your markers have been checked, your captain will then be called to the field ultimate, you will meet the captain of the team your playing against and ends will be decided by coin toss, if you win you will decide which end of the field you would prefer (i.e the sun might be shining onto one end of the field, so you would chose the end where the sun won’t shine into your eyes).

At each end of the field there is a start gate, your team will start in front, the field ultimate will tell you when to remove your barrel condom/sock, he will tell you to have your barrel touching the start gate, he will then call 10 seconds, after 10 seconds he will then call game on, as soon as he does this you will face your markers forward and fire at your opposition or chose to run into your chosen barricade as per your pre arranged game plan. The game will last anything from 6 to 8 minutes, the time will be given to you at the captains meeting.

The flag is in the centre of the field, the object of the game is to get the flag first, eliminate all 5 opposition players and hang the flag over their start gate, points are awarded accordingly.

The Scoring System

Based on an 8 minute game:

25 points for First Flag Grab

50 points if you hang the flag in your opponents base under 6 minutes

40 points if you hang the flag in your opponents base over 6 minutes

15 points if you have the flag in transit at game over

5 points for each opposition player you eliminate

-1 for each member of your team eliminated

The maximum points awarded is 100 known as a Max.