8000 Facebook Likes

08/04/2015

To celebrate Mayhem hitting 8,000 Facebook likes, we will be running a promotion until the 1st of May 2015.  Book any adult pre-pay package and use the promo code in the comments section '8000friends' when paying online here:  http://www.mayhem-paintball.co.uk/book or quote 'Facebook deal' if you're booking over the phone on 01708 688517.

The UKPSF what does it all mean

27/03/2015

The UKPSF what does it all mean?

The United Kingdom Paintball Sports Federation (UKPSF), has been headed, run and a passion of Steve Bull for 20 odd years. Now, the main goals for the UKPSF are to get sports recognition for paintball and to stop paintball being banned, which happens every time some crazy nutbag gets a gun and goes on a rampage like in Dumblane back in 1996. Now please forgive me as I was a bit hungover during the last, well all the conferences! but the UKPSF believes we can get sports recognition for paintball, which has alluded them for years, but I will get back to this later on and the benefits of paintballing being a sports (tax breaks and lottery / sports funding for teams).

Last year, Steve stepped down as being mainly a one man band for 20 years from his role as the UKPSF chairman, and he handed over the reins. Up stepped Bob Schofield from Harrogate Paintball, the new UKPSF Chairman. After a trial year Bob was finally elected as the UKPSF’s official chairmen on the 16th of March, 2015, along with the new committee which is made up of:

Don Logan, owner of Adrenalin Jungle and a regular player back in the day, and still plays a few time a year is in charge of site Membership. A night out with Don should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Ledz, a pioneer and legend of paintball who owns Planet Eclipse, played for Banzai and Nexus, and now the Sandbaggers who is in charge of trade, and was my nemesis for many a year, that a side, he’s a top bloke.

Kayleigh Stanton, the secretary for the UKPSF and organiser of player memberships, and surrently plays for Ultra Violet and her dad is Mike Stanton who owns a couple of very good paintball sites near Bristol along with Jock McCracken. Kayleigh was born in to paintball, and is the kind of person we need on the committee, young and plays for GB’s female team.

Jock McCracken another legend and top bloke, owns Skirmish Bristol with Mike Stanton. I first met Jock back in 1998 at the Mayhem Masters where we were refereeing the same field. The Treasurer for the UKPSF.

James Gregory from Phoenix, going to be honest no idea who he is but I hear good things, and Craig Pattison from the Scottish Warriors paintball team and you will see him playing lots of scenario and big game events, although hopefully not in a kilt, are jointly in charge of players membership. Join the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UKPSF

Don Logan and Ainsley from CPPS are in charge of site membership.

Jock and Kayleigh also are the UKPSF call centre.

Support (not sure what this means) but, Jamie Paggett is another top bloke, John Evans from Outpost Paintball, Scott Rathbone is apparently the man to go for any technical questions, and that guy who you see everywhere Erik Anthony, you will have seen him if you have been to any paintball event one of the biggest characters around often taking photos and laughing.

Steve Bull, is now honourary president of the UKPSF, and I can’t speak highly enough of this gentle northern warrior, a genuinely great bloke who has sacrificed his own business and personal gain for the good of paintball.

Coming soon to the UKPSF will be a membership management system so you can become members, ho help get paintball recognised as a sport, and that then opens up the possibility of sport funding from the lottery and local government. There will be 2 types of membership available, one will be free (light membership) and one you will need to pay for (full membership and includes player’s insurance).

Membership will get you discounts with a variety of suppliers including Warped, BZ, Skirmish Bristol, Mayhem and many more.

I have seen a lot of negativity on Facebook regarding the UKPSF, now I don’t want to get into politics, especially on first strike, but I like to see every side of the coin. What people need to consider is the UKPSF is there to protect paintball, every time a nutter goes on a shooting rampage like Dumblane, it’s Steve Bull who has come to the rescue, and he is the first port of call for the Home Office and believe me if it was not for Steve, paintball would very likely have been banned. This role will now pass onto the UKPSF committee. Steve has given 20 years of his life to the UKPSF and has brought the industry a lot closer together, probably without even realising it. The annual conference gets the traders and sites together, talking and sharing ideas and does help paintball. 

What people have to remember is he only one man, and one man and Tracey who cannot be forgotten who has put his business and own personal gain a side thanklessly over the years. The UKPSF has tried hard to get paintball to become a sport and this is one of the goals. If it happens it will bring a lot of benefits which we can discuss another time.

I see a different side as I have grown up in paintball, travelled the world playing literally lived and breathed it all my life. I actually have lived most of my life on a paintball site. I know it’s hard for people to see from the outside what the UKPSF does but I think you have to remember it has really been one man with a few helpers here and there till this year.

Paintball Manager Is Trigger Happy, Insuring His Finger For £100,000

26/03/2015

The Manager of the Essex-based paintball range, Mayhem Paintball, has recently insured his trigger finger for no less than £100,000, to ensure that he can continue paintballing for the rest of his life. Ronnie Hollington is not the first person to insure their most important body part – celebrities have been doing it left, right, and centre recently, including Daniel Craig, who has insured his whole body for $9.5 million.

The paintball business was started on the Hollington family farm when Ronnie was 7 years old. What started out as a fun side project expanded into one of the largest and most thrilling paintball ranges in the UK.

But it was when he left university and started working at Mayhem Paintball full time that Ronnie’s personal paintball career really took off. He played competitively from the young age of 16, and spent much of his time touring around Europe and America playing with his team. They qualified for the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) pro bracket in America, and were offered £250,000 in 2005 for their spot in this prestigious group. With his trigger finger being such an important asset for both his favourite hobby and his livelihood, insuring his most essential body part was an important step to take to ensure he can continue both his biggest passion in life and his company.

“The adrenalin rush when people are shooting back at you and paintballs are hitting the woodwork is amazing. I love team sports, and paintball particularly is one where you need to work together, or you will lose,” said Hollington, when asked what he loves most about playing this increasingly popular sport.

Hollington plans to keep playing around the county, for the time being, and is looking out for new, fresh ideas to improve Mayhem Paintball further. At least Hollington can continue playing, assured that his trigger finger is in safe hands.

About the company: Mayhem Paintball is situated in Essex and has a variety of themed courses, including a Call of Duty range.

Dye Rotor 2 Preview

16/03/2015

Dye Rotor 2 - First Look

At the Dye Tech course in Offenburg, Germany, Mayhem was the only site from the UK to get our hands on the new Dye Rotor 2 paintball hopper.  Time was short so the video was a bit rushed but the new hopper is set to be the hottest addition to all players set-up.  We got our hands on one of the prototypes and has some exciting new features:

• Adjustable height/size function
• Light on/off settings (ideal for those playing at night or who want to remain incognito)
• Low paint sound notification (this can also be turned on/off)
• Anti-Jam fin on internals
• Super quick change from lid to speedfeed (Really, really quick.  Maybe 3 seconds!)
• Lighter than previous Rotor
• Larger, more ergonomic hole for lid/speedfeed

Price on the Rotor 2 is still yet to be confirmed, but you can reserve yours with just a £50 deposit and be one the first in the UK to get your hands one!  To pre-order, please give us a call on 01708  688517 between 9am - 5pm,  7 days a week.

Mayhem Tactical: 2nd of February

02/02/2015

Mag-fed is something that's definitely up and coming in the world of paintball, and with some awesome event organiser's in the UK such as Warfighters, Magfed PBUK, Miltac at NPF and Nextgen, Mayhem's second tactical event was my first ever mag-fed event.  Here's my Review:

Mayhem Tactical:  2nd of February by David Hodder

On the 2nd of February 2015, after playing paintball for 14 years I played my first ever mag-fed event, technically it was mag-fed, tac caps and limited loaders, but I only noticed one chap with a small hopper on a luxe, everyone else was running true Mag-Fed.  I used one of the Dye DAM rentals from Mayhem, and had 6 x spare magazines so 7 in total.  So I was carrying around the 100 paintballs per game mark, compared to the usual loader (160) and 5 x 140 pots, I felt seriously under-armed when I walked out onto the first field, Missile Command.  

Missile Command

Missile Command is a big map, probably the size and a half of a football pitch, and has some impressive features including a helicopter, missile lorry, Saracen APC and loads of sheds, brush piles and built up compound style bases.  We started down the missile lorry end of the field, and I broke out to the right hand side of the field and bumped up through some of the sheds on the right hand side of the field.  I quickly realised that first strike is an absolute game changer.  The guys we were playing with and against, was a real mix of players from first-timers to the magfed realm, like myself, all the way through to hardcore Magfed regulars.  When you had someone shooting at you with first strike, boy you know about it.  The range is unbelievably longer, and the accuracy they were getting at range is also scarily high.  Instead of attempting to make a bump up over the kill zone infront of me, I decided to try the other side of the field, which as it turned out was definitely the move to make.  I got over the other side of the field pretty easily, it's definitely easier to move on the field.  I then made an in-field bumb (thanks to Dave for covering me!) and got a couple of kills before getting mowed down!  I later learned in the safe area, the guy who took me out (you know who you are!) had only just moved up, I should have made the move that little bit earlier!  Could have been the game changer.

Aeroplane Wood

COD Map:  Bog

I then missed the 2nd game on Missile Command as I got pulled onto a group, but I was back for the next games on Aeroplane Wood.  Aeroplane Wood is large woodland field, with a big crashed passenger aircraft in the middle of the field, and a huge ridge on one side of the field.  I broke to the plane on the first game, and threw the flag back to a team mate.  I then continued in my crazy moves up the field, and got shot out on the move.  Not before getting a few kills though :-)  On the second game, we waited around for 10 minutes so people could get more paint and air, and the game started with the blues (Other team) being down on numbers.  We managed to take the ridge and then we just picked off their numbers.

After the woodland games we stopped for lunch, before returning out onto the COD replica map, Bog.  This map is something really special, it's a copy of the map Bog from the computer game Call of Duty 4:  Modern Warfare and features a T55 tank, buildings, containers, bus, bulldozer and much, much more!  For this game, the marshals introduced respawns for the first 5 or 10 minutes, which allowed me to make some more of my crazy moves.  I got straight into the bus from the top end (quite an achievement) and ran in there to come face to face with another player and managed to get the first shot in!  I then had probably the most intense 5 minutes of paintball, being surrounded in the bus and being goaded my the opposition who could see me, but not shot me and vice versea.  One of their players managed to get behind me through the driver's door of the bus and put a couple in my back so I was off back to my base to respawn.  I then switched sides of the field and managed to get to the IBC's next to the buildings, but as I made the move to the buildings, I ran into a wall of paint.  I definitely felt that one.  Had a very similar game the next one, but we lost one side of the field and got shot in the back :-(

The Urban

My last games of the day was in my favourite map, the Urban.  First end we started at the top, and rushed up against the barn in the Urban.  Got a few kills, but they pushed through the barn and I got blown away once they took the barn.  On the second game, we pushed into the barn straight away, and the reverse happened.  We played well and managed to get the win by pushing through the barn and shooting their back players in the side :-)

Final Thoughts

I think the Mayhem Tactical days are still in their infancy, and there is still much room for improvement:

• Paint:  Will definitely be addressed for next month.
• First Strike:  Sold out before the first game, will definitely get more for next time.
• Breaks in-between games:  Some sort of paint and air on the field.

We had an impressive 35 players, so a big big thank you to everyone who came and helped to promote the event.  

I had a great day, and it was good to get out and play for a change!  I think I'm going to have to invest in a magfed marker and get out and play some more of this up and coming format of the game, if you haven't already tried it.  DO IT!

The feedback we've had already has been fantastic and we will, as ever, be looking to constantly improve our events.

Sunday 1st of March is our next event, and details will be posted up shortly.

Hope to see you there.

David Hodder

Mayhem Tactical: Mag-Fed, tac-caps and 50 shot hoppers

28/01/2015

Mayhem Tactical:  2nd of February 2015

Mayhem will be holding our 1st Mayhem Tactical event of 2015 on Sunday the 2nd of February.  

If you haven't played here at Mayhem Abridge before, it is a fantastic, 1st rate paintballing venue with indoor kitting up areas, dozens of varied army vehicles such as tanks, helicopters, planes, etc, brick built showers and toilets, safe areas on every playing field with drinking water, on-site well stocked shop and much, much more.

Pricing is £40 including 500 paintballs if you pre-pay, or £45 if you pay on the day.  Additional paint will be available on the day at competitive prices. First strike will also be available to purchase on the day.  If you'd like just first strike instead of the 500 paintballs, 30 FS rounds will be included instead of the 500 paintballs.

Mayhem is a site-only paint venue.

The paint we will be using on the day is a Sterling Claymore ball, specially designed for Mag-Fed paintball, is perfect for the current climate conditions and is made here in the UK.

No pyrotechnics are to be used by players, although we will be using pyrotechnics as part of missions. This will be explained to players on the day.

If you would like to rent equipment, it will be an additional £10 and will include overalls, thermal double glazed goggles and a TPX pistol.  Dye DAM's are also available to rent for an extra £10 (£20 in total).

Bookings in advance can be done over the phone on 01708 688517 or booked online by clicking here  

Anthony Joshua at Mayhem

03/12/2014

It's always a pleasure to see Anthony Joshua at Mayhem it feels like Anthony, Leon Skinner and the boys from Pure Antics are part of the furniture at Mayhem London,  we were chatting away in the mini bus with Leon and he said 'It's been 7 years now that Pure Antics have been coming to Mayhem, 3 times each year and it's always an excellent day'.  Pure Antics are a event organiser and ofter bring with them celebs, olympians and a great group of people.   

Mayhem Mag Fed

25/11/2014

Our first attempt at a Magfed game (the paintball gun has a magazine rather than a normal big hopper/loader), or really a limited loader game, i am not sure if there is a walk-on market just yet for mafed guns but i think there could be in the future and there definatly is for a limited loader game.  Why play limited loaders or Magfed you are proberly thinking, and i kind of agree dont fix what is broken and lots of people over the years have tried limited paint and its not really taken off.  But there are a few people really pushing for Magfed games, NPF run miltac which is limited loader (50 shots) and Laurence Coetser from Magfed Paintball Uk and Dave Thatcher from Warfights are starting to change things by running good Mag fed games.  

Personally i think its a tricky one as its very niche, and i know Alex Munrow has 30 magfed guns he can take to an event but it limits the amount of people who can play, and to be honest there are not many good magfed guns on the market, there must be a market though appearing as Tippmann are investing heavily with the TRC which looks pretty sexy and also selling conversion kits for the 98.

Back to the game its self in sunny London it was a beautiful day and we had marketed pretty hard and i thought i quite fancy playing so i found a friend and we borrowed a dye dam each from the very kind Ash Chaplin at Dye.  There was an air of uncertaintity in the air as we were not quite sure what to expect and having 5-10 shots before you need to reload is a whole new experimnce.   I like the idea of the game being more about resource management rather than jsut shooting a lot of paintballs.  I think this is one side of magfed which could make stand out, i like the idea of having to go get mags, being able to find first strike to get an advange.  We tried to have a mix of ideas in the missions and i think it did work really well.  

I was excited because I thought it would be like real life call of duty! With 20 players, it has a great atmosphere and it was quite an intimate affair with a good mix of ages and ability. The first game of the day, was on Missile Command and Bridge Wood as a combination field. The objective of the game was to get some fuel containers from the missile lorry, and get one into the fort complex, and with such a vast area for the amount of players it was great for sneaking around. Playing with only 6-10 shots before you have to reload is a real leveller on the field, as you’re never too sure how many shots you have left in your magazine!

Next field was Bog, the call of duty replica map. In this game, there were crates with mags with first strike and smoke, and other ordance to get i liked Resource management game i like the idea of limiting the amount of paint and you have to go get it.

I had a really good time and playing Bog our call of duty map and the Urban mag fed was a really good laugh i would definately play again but i think although we had 18-20 players we need to be able to attact a consistant 20 players each month so we could make the barriers to entry a bit more flexible so people can use tac caps and 50 ball loaders.  We have invested and do have a good 20-25 mag fed guns now so Mayhem is ready for a Mag fed / Limited loader walk on once a month.

Paintfest

25/11/2014

Clash of Clans

25/11/2014