English
This year we were guests again at the United Big Game in Mahlwinkel . After its resurrection around four years ago and a few initial difficulties, this is now by far the largest paintball event on German soil. We wanted to see for ourselves how the UBG crew was doing this year and were there not only with a large paintball sports stand, but also with photo and video cameras. Here is our report from this year's UBG…
When the United Big Game took place for the first time four years ago, as the successor to the legendary Euro Big Game, there were only around 200 players on site. In the second year there were already around 750 players and in the third year the number was approaching the 1000 player mark. However, this rapid growth also had its price. The first event was the test run, the second was an absolute highlight and the third was unfortunately a bit of a flop due to the large number of participants, as many players will probably remember from last year.
The UBG crew then sat down after the 2023 event, reviewed the situation and critically analyzed it. The result was a complete restructuring of the UBG crew's management team. Some had to resign, new, motivated people came in. Together they announced the big goal. They wanted to increase visitor numbers again and correct all the mistakes from the previous year. They wanted to put together the best United Big Game of all time. An ambitious project into which the crew put over six months of hard work. But this hard work would ultimately pay off …
If you look back at this year's UBG and look at the faces of the players on site, you can see happy faces and lots of fun playing paintball. On the other side, namely the organizers, you can see relaxed faces who were also satisfied. The reason was that everything went really smoothly. Our regular readers will have read the report from last year, in which we openly and honestly addressed the problems of the event. This year we can tell you first-hand that everything that was problematic last year has been 100% resolved. The entire event went so smoothly that even the organization crew was surprised. "I'm actually waiting for something to happen at any moment. It's actually going too well…" Robert, one of the managing directors of the UBG, tells us when we meet him for a short interview on Saturday afternoon.
In the end, nothing else happened and the event ran smoothly from start to finish. The core problems of paint, air and sanitation were not only off the table, but were also taken to a new level in terms of quality and are now hopefully a thing of the past once and for all. The paint supplied by ProShar, which the colleagues from 2Die4 Sports had laboriously transported to Mahlwinkel in their refrigerated truck, ran excellently all weekend. How could it be otherwise? 2Die4 Sports managing director Stefan Maiwald has been one of the most experienced big players in the paintball scene for two decades when it comes to high-quality paintballs and he has shown once again that he knows his craft.
When it came to air, everything was turned upside down and there were almost twice as many filling stations as last year, as well as a new, more powerful compressor. For three days, 300 bar of air could be drawn across the entire site. – That's how it should be! Last but not least, our colleagues from Airsoft Heroes or the "Straw Hat Company". They organized the Dark Emergency Event at the same location a week before the UBG, making it by far the largest airsoft event in the world. This time they took over the patronage of the shower and sanitary facilities. These guys are used to well over 3,000 guests and so they had no problems with the approximately 1,100 UBG visitors, which was extremely well received by the visitors. By the way, you just read that correctly, there were over 1,100 players at this year's United Big Game. That's a new UBG visitor record. Things were all the more hectic on the field. The new game leader (Arthur) had the processes, the missions and both teams under excellent control. Regardless of whether they were on team red or team blue, everyone was fully motivated and no matter who you asked, everyone thought the new missions and the gameplay were great. The marshalling was also much better this year. Although the marshall crew was relatively thin with only around 40 men, there was always someone on the field, especially at the points where things were really going crazy. Clear commands and a good overview from the referees ensured that it was an extremely fair game, with both the winners and the losers being equally satisfied. This year, too, the players were able to experience up to four days of paintball action. The first event highlights started on Wednesday evening. For example, a tank tour of the grounds was on the agenda. Anyone who had bought a 3-day ticket could start the open game day from 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. The two main game days followed on Friday and Saturday with the storyline and exciting individual missions to complete. After the award ceremony on Saturday evening, the official UBG game was over, but anyone who still hadn't had enough could try their luck in free play on the open playing field until early afternoon and continue to spread color in the air.
Finally, let's take a look at the trade show and the supporting program of this year's UBG. As always, everything was taken care of on site. The catering with a wide selection of burgers, fries, kebabs and delicious breakfast, as well as various coffee creations, ice cream and cold drinks left nothing to be desired. In the evening there were various show acts. From a chilli eating contest to a live band, a strip show and a cool DJ session on Saturday evening, there was always something going on in the market square and people could party until late in the evening. Anyone who wanted to shop for paintball equipment could do so either at the 2Die4 stand, where the paint, first strikes and smoke bombs for the event were also available, or alternatively at our large paintball sports stand. Our colleagues from Capital City Shooters were also there with a large stand for custom running socks, headbands and other accessories and had lots of cool products with them. In terms of trade shows, the event wants to up the ante again next year. But not only there, as Ken from the organization team told us at the end.
Ken: "The UBG should continue to grow. We had a mega event this year and the feedback from the players motivated us. Many people are now asking us: What's next? – Our modest but entirely realistic wish is that Europe's largest paintball event returns to its former size. 1,500 players and more is our stated target for 2025. That's what we're fighting for and we'll do everything we can on the part of the organization to make the United Big Game here in Mahlwinkel even better and bigger next year. I think we've shown this year that we can do better than last year. A lot went wrong, but we promised that we would put these problems behind us and we did it. I'm incredibly proud of our entire crew and also grateful that so many teams and players have remained loyal to the event despite all the ups and downs. Now we want to look forward together and take the next big step next year.
The motivation of those responsible for the UBG is definitely still high. We wish them every success in the implementation and are already looking forward to next year's event. If the guys implement their promises from this year as meticulously as they did last year, then 2025 is definitely going to be an absolute highlight. We are excited and will of course continue to report to you as soon as there is news about the United Big Game.
As already announced in the introduction to this article, this time we were there with the video camera for our YouTube channel and put together a video of the event for you in which we want to explain what the UBG is and give you a few impressions of the grounds, the playing field and the trade show. Our colleagues from the Weekend Warrior Shop, whose YouTube channel is currently probably the strongest German-language paintball channel, were also there and accompanied the event. We don't want to withhold their video from you either.
