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THE BIG FIELD CHECK – WORLD OF PAINTBALL
In 2021 we will continue our Spielfeldcheck series of articles. We visit a field for you in every issue and make a detailed report for you in which we inform you about the key data of the fields and the special features of the individual systems. For the current issue, we went north for a field check, to the boys and girls from World of Paintball. They have been running their paintball park between Hamburg and Bremen since 2003 and, in addition to paintball and laser tag, also offer the opportunity to play airsoft.
It's Saturday morning. From Hanover we drive about one and a half hours to the field of World of Paintball – or WOP, as they say here in paintball circles. On site we meet Henner Wichern, who, befitting his rank, welcomes us with a North German “Hi, men”. My brother Kai founded the facility 18 years ago because we didn't have a field nearby to play paintball at the time, he tells us when we asked. During this time, the facility and the playing fields have grown just as much as the local community. World of Paintball is not only one of the long-established facilities in the north, but also has a long tradition. The WOP house team was once one of the strongest North German DPL teams. Later the picture changed a bit and you went to the scenario area. Today the Weekend Warrior Team is more at home in MagFed Paintball. The passion for the sport has been unbroken for years and the boys live it out on their field day after day. There are regular events such as MagFed Sunday and the playing fields are now more geared towards the MagFed theme and scenario than they were a few years ago.
You can tell that as soon as you arrive. – As a greeting, there is simply a real tank in front of the door. Ok cool, let's get into the good room. It looks nice in there! If there were no tanks in front of the door, one could think of the entrance of "something with media" rather than a paintball hall in the reception area. The guys have obviously made an effort and created a clean, structured and tidy entrance area with a modern counter and adjoining shop area. The first impression is convincing and always promises quality and attention to detail. As a customer, you immediately feel comfortable and in good hands here, so that you can, for example, dare to take your better half with you. At reception we receive all the important information about our current stay at the facility. The usual slips of paper are filled out, the procedure is explained to us and any remaining open questions are clarified. First of all, a delicious cup of coffee :D. The WOP team attaches particular importance to a family atmosphere on its facility. Anyone who plays here is part of a community and that's exactly what you experience from the very first minute.
With the black elixir of life in hand, let's take a look at the Weekend Warrior Shop. This is integrated directly next to the cash register in the reception area. Here, too, Henner is always on hand with help and advice and professionally answers all questions about the range. For my part, I still need an M4 pouch for my equipment and am looking for it. – "Wait a minute, I have something for you." Henner is already there. – We'll spare you the rest of the sales talk at this point, because the short purchase ended in a lot of paintball nerd talk and shoptalk. You immediately notice that there are experts at work here who have been with us for a very long time, know exactly what they are doing and, above all, don't want to sell you nonsense. We really liked that, because professional advice is more important today than ever. So if you're from the Hamburg or Bremen area and want to do some shopping in addition to a cool playing field, you should drop by WOP. The focus of the shop is more in the tactical area, but basically you get everything your paintball heart desires.
In the meantime, the rest of our group is ready to play, and a few guest players have even spontaneously joined us and come here regularly to play. This time we had to change in the staging area because the changing rooms and showers were unfortunately closed due to the corona virus. Normally, however, both are available to you at World of Paintball. There are even free, lockable lockers for valuables. But before it finally goes onto the field, there is a video safety briefing. Because also here at World of Paintball applies – Safety First! Clarissa is responsible for that. She leads us to our seats in the video area. Then it's off to the field. Those who, like us, have registered as a group in advance will even get their own place with a name tag. Totally cool and definitely not a matter of course. You feel right at home at the table. Our group's table is in the players' area, which is under the canopy, right next to the playing field. This way we can relax and watch the other teams play during the breaks, regardless of the weather. Now the last one here is hot as frying pan fat to finally be able to start gambling. So load markers and off to the fields! We start with the indoor playing field "King of the Hill". The point here is that one team has to defend a bunker while the other team has to capture the thing somehow. With the words "it's going to go wrong" we press the start buzzer. An air raid siren immediately howls, followed by a wild Battlefield meets Dubstep soundtrack. The light switches to combat mode. A fog machine goes off on the right and a few paintballs fly around our ears. Everyone seeks cover behind an old car and the remains of a wall. After the initial shock is over and we've sorted ourselves out again, we're slowly making up ground. We work our way forward bit by bit. Our goal is a group of oil barrels in front of the bunker in which a red target buzzer should be hidden. We push off together, but I get hit right on the mask while my buddy successfully presses the red buzzer. There is fanfare over loudspeakers and the game is won. We're not going to do a second half of the season with a change of sides today because we really want to try everything.
Next up is The Village field. This outdoor field contains a domination mode as known from numerous computer games. The playing field is set up like a small village with numerous houses, cars, etc. In this village there are five objectives (bar, oil tank, barn etc) that you have to conquer and hold. Each team has a large monitor at the starting point where the points are counted and the remaining playing time is displayed. In this field, we were told that the best way to play is with two respawn lives. Sounds great, so let's go! We press the start buzzer and spread out on the field. I occupy the church and target the opponents from above. The first points are occupied. Every time an objective is occupied, the "Domination" call, which you know from Unreal Tournament, rings out across the field and the flashing light of our team color indicates that the hut is ours. Suddenly I get hit and have to go back to the starting point. This time I go the other way forward and want to take the big oil tank, but I can't get through. The opponent occupies important positions and the air is slowly getting thin for us. Even if we end up losing the game, I've rarely had so much fun. The game mode ensures incredible dynamics. Especially the light and sound effects are unique. We have never experienced anything like this on any other paintball field. A whole new concept that plays very interesting.
Continue to "The Office" playing field. Clarissa told us beforehand that we shouldn't necessarily play the first round on this indoor playing field, and now I know what that means. It's a kind of open-plan office after a zombie apocalypse, which quickly turns out to be a genuine CQB urban warfare map. The games are correspondingly fast and aggressive. If the start buzzer is pressed, the whole map is bathed in a red light by flickering light and all-round lighting. Zombie sound, strobe lights and a smoke machine take care of the rest. We slowly feel our way forward, as there could be an enemy behind every door. Some of the experienced players pull out their HDR50 and Walther PPQ backup weapons here in order to be able to act even more flexibly at close range. A long corridor in front of us is being held by the enemy. My buddy and I go left flank and take out an opponent. – The way is free. Then we surprise the others with the cleared flank and reach the opponent's starting area. The red target buzzer is unguarded for a short moment, we press it and get the win. Done, the light goes on again, we won the game.
After the almost gloomy office field, we now want to fill up on a field with a little more space and a bit of sun. So get on the Desert Storm field. It is the newest field at the World of Paintball facility and just opened this summer. We reach the entrance where another group is already standing. We get together and play together. The theme of the field is Insurgents vs. Occupiers. On one side is a makeshift rebel camp. On the other hand there is a military camp with entrenchments and all the trimmings. Four sea containers stand on the flanks. In the middle is a real military truck with a big missile on a launch pad. In between all sorts of ruined houses made of stone, cars etc. The starting signal sounds! Fully motivated we defend our army base. The opponent is already at the right containers!
We make it from the anti-aircraft gun into the left container and put up a tough battle. In the end we manage to push back the enemy and hold the military base. What an exciting match. In this field you can see the attention to detail of the operator. The ruins are sprayed with graffiti, in the army camp there are original army electronics from earlier times and even behind the anti-aircraft gun there is a small 80s computer installed.
We need a break now. In the players' area there is a vending machine with cold drinks and two large gastro refrigerators in which visitors can cool their grilled food. "Actually, there are also free grills available to our guests," Henner tells me. But due to Corona, this is unfortunately not yet possible at the time of our visit in June 2021, but it should definitely come back soon as soon as the regulations allow it. But now back to the topic: One thing we noticed particularly positively and that was the cleanliness of the facility. I mean, of course, it is and will remain a paintball facility, but they have really laid clean artificial turf everywhere and seem to clean all fields and covers regularly. That is not something that can be taken for granted, especially when there is so much going on at the facilities as here at WOP.
We still have one last highlight ahead of us. I heard in advance of a genuine Search & Destroy mode that should await us here. As an old Counter-Strike fan, of course I don't need to be told twice and start in the team that has to place the bomb. But let's start at the beginning. Our last field of today is one of the largest in the World of Paintball facility and is called "DUST_3". The special thing about it is that the field is partly indoors and partly outdoors. The game is played over different parts of the building and an inner courtyard. One team must place the bomb. This can happen in two different places. The other team must also prevent this. Our team starts next to an old A-Team bus in the lower hall. We send some players of our team into the inner courtyard, they should hold the fort there and keep the enemy busy while we advance into the main hall. After tough resistance, we mark the players in the windows and, thanks to the fire protection, manage to place the bomb.
Now hold 60 seconds and we win the game! Suddenly the enemy comes around the corner with a shield and also throws a smoke grenade directly in front of the bomb site. I have to leave my cover to get a clear shot again. The others were just waiting for this, tag me and manage to defuse the bomb in time. I can only congratulate you, well played!
Our conclusion for today: We have already played on larger facilities, but I hardly know of any other facility where so much love was put into detail and where you can experience so much variety on the fields. You can tell that real paintballers are at work here, who have built their own favorite place over many years. The mission design of the fields is really fun and ensures multi-faceted games with lots of possibilities. The numerous game variants plus light and sound effects create a real atmosphere. The service around it with lockers, seat reservation and friendly staff ensures a smooth process. Thanks to the indoor and outdoor maps, floodlighting and covered lounge areas, you can visit the facility in any weather and at any time of the day or night and have a really pleasant time.
Finally, we chat a little with Henner and want to know what else you should know about your system. We learn that tomorrow is the last Sunday of the month. Traditionally, the so-called “MagFed Sunday” is held there, a special Magfed game day. But not only MagFed fans and self-suppliers are welcome here. The system is also aimed particularly at hobby and leisure players from the region who would like to experience the adventure of paintball for themselves. In addition, the WOP Team offers paintball for children and young people from the age of 14 and also organizes company celebrations and bachelor parties. A cozy tank camp for the cigarette afterwards, a new game mode for the Desert Storm field and the further expansion of the online shop weekend-warrior.shop are also currently planned. So it's far from over at World of Paintball. The playing field, the shop and everything around it is developed and improved by the team every day. We are excited to see what awaits us on our next visit. Completely exhausted, but with a big grin on our faces, we now start the journey home. We really felt at home today and have already arranged to meet up with one of the other teams on site to visit WOP again. There's still a rematch to come! 😉 If you visit the WOP facility, then best wishes to the team and have fun. Until the next field test,
Your team from Paintball Sports Magazine.
