[2] The game was invented in June 1981 in New Hampshire by Hayes Noel, a Wall Street stock trader, and Charles Gaines, an outdoorsman and writer.

Many initial public reactions to the game were negative, believing that hunting other humans with realistic but non-lethal guns was "sick", "macho", and "perverted".

In most areas where regulated play is offered, players are required to wear protective masks, use barrel-blocking safety equipment, and strictly enforce safe game rules.

Woodsball, or "Bushball", is a fairly recent term that refers to what was the original form of the game: teams competing in a wooded or natural environment, in which varying amounts of stealth and concealment tactics can offer an advantage.

With the advent of shaped projectiles, such as the First Strike, and the resulting development of magazine fed markers, a considerable increase in range, accuracy and MILSIM realism was gained.

In this style of play all markers must accept a magazine, greatly limiting paint capacities and creating a type of paintball much more similar to popular First Person Shooter video games.

[20] If a player is marked with paint, they will call them out, but competitors may also be expected to follow the honor code; a broken ball means elimination.

Urban scenarios and woodsball fields tend to be larger and with more cover, shortening firing lanes and requiring players to move more to get good shots against their opponent.

Some teamwork will be seen at the beginning of the games with brief discussions on tactics and strategy, such as distributing players between bunkers and assigning defenders that will stay back and cover attackers that advance.

However, mid to late game tactics tend to be limited to groups of players sticking together or doing isolated attacks rather than a coordinated sweep down the field.

Paintball is played at both commercial venues, which require paid admission, and private land, both of which may include multiple fields of varying size and layout.

Fields can be scattered with either natural or artificial terrain, and may also be themed to simulate a particular environment, such as a wooded or urban area, and may involve a historical context.

[citation needed] The use of plastic pipe tethered with stakes became common, as it allowed for relatively easy reconfiguration of fields and at least some impact-absorption, and was the precursor to the modern inflatable bunker (in fact, certain common features in inflatable fields, such as "can" and "snake" bunkers, were derived from similar features built with plastic drainage pipe).

Recreational fields still commonly use these older materials for their higher durability and novelty; inflatable bunkers are prone to bursting seams or otherwise developing holes and leaks.

[citation needed] Commercial venues may provide amenities such as bathrooms, picnic areas, lockers, equipment rentals, air refills and food service.

[31][32][33] Other times, FPO policies are in keeping with municipal laws for wastewater and runoff; paintballs contain food dyes, and some formulations have metallic flakes and/or cornstarch to make them more visible, all of which can pose problems in water reservoirs and treatment plants.

[35] Though less expensive and less structured than play at a commercial facility, the lack of safety protocols, instruction, and oversight can lead to higher incidence of injuries.

Leagues can be of various sizes (for example, regional, national or international) and offer organized tournaments and or games for professional, semi-professional, and amateur teams, sometimes with financial prizes.

In contrast to a casual game designed for fun, a tournament is much stricter and violations of rules may result in penalties for the players or entire teams.

In the past, unlawful groups and terrorists have been accused of using paintball for tactical training purposes in connection with the following incidents: Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte, two men arrested in June 2010 as they were bound for Somalia, and charged with terrorism and conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S., had simulated combat at an outdoor paintball facility in West Milford, New Jersey, according to the complaint against them.

[48][49][51][52][53][54] In 2006, Ali Asad Chandia of the Virginia Jihad Network was sentenced to 15 years in prison aiding the Pakistani terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba, including arranging a shipment of 50,000 paintballs from the U.S. to Pakistan.

[57][58] In 2007, paintball training was engaged in by five terrorists to prepare for an attack aimed at killing American soldiers in Fort Dix, New Jersey; they were later convicted.

In Canada in 2007, an eleven-year-old boy lifted his mask and was shot point blank in the eye by an adult playing on the same field,[68] leading to calls by the Montreal Children's Hospital to restrict the minimum age of paintball participants to 16 years.

In Australia, the sport attracted criticism when a 39-year-old man playing at a registered field in Victoria died of a suspected heart attack, after being struck in the chest.

In the United States in 1998, 14-year-old Jorel Lynn Travis was shot with a paintball gun while standing outside a Fort Collins, Colorado ice cream parlor – blinding her in one eye.

The process of buying one's own paintball marker is just as complicated, the buyer must have completed military service, have a clean police record and be over the age of 18 years.

[85] Tampering with the marker to increase muzzle velocity above 280 Paintballing is widely accepted as a recreational pastime in Ireland and is not directly subject to any governing regulations.

The minimum age to be in possession of a marker is 17, except in target shooting clubs or galleries, or on private property so long as projectiles are not fired beyond the premises.

TAG Paintball which was originally located in Downtown East shifted its operations to Orchid Country Club (Yishun) and remained there for almost a decade.

All tournaments were held in Red Dynasty Paintball Park which houses 2 internationally sized speedball fields with artificial turf grass.