If the Hundred Years' War had been fought with paintballs instead of rifles, it might still be happening, but it'd be so colorful that no one would mind. Experience your own vibrant battlefield with today's Groupon: for $40, you get all-day equipment rentals for two people, 500 paintballs, and two T-shirts (an $87 total value) at Skyline Paintball, which is less than an hour from the heart of DC in Strasburg. Rental equipment includes gun, goggles, air, and field access. Those who exhaust their initial supply of Pollock pellets can purchase more paint from Skyline ($17 for 500; $30 for 1,000; and $50 and up for a case of 2,000), saving players the trouble of having to harvest paintball eggs from wild neon hens. The facility boasts multiple fields, including the town field, castle field, frontier fort field, monolith field, mars attacks, mars just here for snacks, tunnel field, and more, open year-round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Reviews
PBreview.com reviewers have this to say about Skyline Paintball:
- The facilities are quite nice as well, with a fairly well equipped proshop on site, and a good bit of covered staging area with picnic tables to get set up in. I found all staff members that I talked with to be quite friendly and ready to help should they be needed – Hotshot33610
- The owner was a fantastic host, the refs were well trained and confident in there [sic] job, plenty of parking and covered picnic tables to relax between games. – Minion666
Skyline Paintball
Hidden among Strasburg's thicket of spindly trees, patchy grass, and dirt fields, castles and wooden forts stand strong while flying saucers hint of an alien invasion. This is all part of Skyline Paintball's battlefield landscape, which includes thirteen fields such as Mars Attacks and Frontier Fort. Before slinking through trenches and underground bunkers, players load up on fresh paintballs, sold by Skyline onsite. Refs oversee matches to ensure everyone understands the finer techniques of pointillism and that no one uses a marker that fires faster than 280 feet per second. Less experienced players who rent equipment play in separate games from more experienced players who own their equipment, helping ensure games are evenly matched. Players can walk on during open play each Saturday and Sunday during which up to 20 players can sling rainbows of paint throughout strategy-laden matches.