Field Review - Battlefront Paintball

[SN toter]

EDIT 6.6.09 - Updated review by Jake after our most recent outing on 6.6.09

UPDATE 6/6/2009

This is an updated review of Battlefront Paintball in Hubbard, OH.

Our first visit to BFP (Battlefront Paintball) was great, but our second visit wasn't so spectacular. However, this review will showcase our third visit that occured on 6/6/2009. Third time is a charm right? Plus everyone warrants a second chance in my opinion.

Field/Terrain:

The field is and probably will always be one of the most unique fields in our area. It's great to play there because there is plenty of terrain to cover, and there are many structures to play in and around. The buildings really set this field apart from other fields. I think this field has character and still has potential to be one of the better fields in our area.

The terrain on the other hand is not so great on some parts of the field. There are certain sections of the field that still need attention. Over and around the satellite dish you have got to becareful because the ground is rich with broken glass. I also spotted glass on the other side of the city down towards the U.S. Command Post. This area was extremely B A D for glass. Right in front of the CP there was a section of ground that looked to have several cases of broken glass. This was also the staging grounds for the respawn. So if anyone came running out of the respawn they had the chance of slipping and falling on this glass. Very scary in my opinion. Honestly I really don't know what can be done about this glass situation because there is so much of it that you would almost have to resurface entire sections of the field. Maybe bring in fresh fill to cover up the glass? This may fix the problem because the glass only seems to be in certain sections of the field.

The buildings are GREAT to play in, but I did notice that some of the ramparts and stairways have been neglected recently. There were some missing steps on some of the stairways which could result in a nasty spill/fall.

Another note on the field was that there was escentially no boundary markers. The last time we played here there was yellow boundary tape. This time I spotted no boundary tape so people could pretty much flank you from any place on the field. Was this a bad thing? I don't know because honestly I didn't see too many people taking long walks out and around to flank the opposing team.

Reffing:

From what I saw the reffing was handled in a professional manner. I did not see refs grouped up chatting with each other or ignoring problems on the field. However, I think for the amount of players on the field there were not enough refs. There were a handful of times where I needed a ref, but the refs were either too far away from me or they were busy with another player. My suggestion would be to just double up the amount of refs on the field when you have a big event like this.

Event Production:

Honestly I think the production was handled in a structured manner. There was plenty of action on the field and objectives to complete. Not much slow down in play, and the production staff kept the teams rolling with missions. My only suggestion would be to implement at least one half hour break during the day because I felt bad coming off the field to eat or get resupplied.

Facilities:

The facilities are great. Two seperate buildings house a snack bar (with hot/cold foods/drinks), bathrooms, air, paint, and pro-shop needs. BFP has a very nice setup in this area, and I'm not sure I'd change much because I didn't have a problem getting air, paint, or anything else that I needed. My only complaint would be to have more garbage cans throughout the stagging/parking area. I did not see any garbage cans and this made it all too easy for people to just leave garbage laying every where after the event was done.

Price:

Not much to say here gang. This is probably one of the most economical fields in our area. Event prices are fair, and the paint prices are just as good. If you're on a budget BFP should definitely be on your list.

Conclusion:

Well this was our team's third trip to BFP, and I do believe the third time was a charm. The field/terrain is great, but does still needs some work (broken glass). The reffing really made this event enjoyable. The production was really well thought out and effectively executed. The facilities are accomodating, but need more waste disposal cans, and the price is good for our area. However, I don't believe BFP totally redeemed themselves from our prior visit, but they definitely seemed to be trying to make things right.

I give this field 3.5 stars outta 5 only because there is still room for improvement.

Our team will definitely be returning to this field either later this year or early next year.

A BIG thanks goes out to the BFP staff, refs, and the event production crew. Band of Brothers really enjoyed ourselves, and we can't wait for a return trip.

Thanks,
Jake

-----------------------------

My original review of BFP based off of 2 scenarios played there in 2007 -

Pro shop - BFP has no internal proshop. For big events they have a proshop 'Trailer'. It comes and opens up shop and has some popular products like masks, markers, and upgrades - but not the selection I'd like to see at a field. Prices are fair though.

Versatility - Last I was there BFP was one huge scenario field. There is no airball field thus far that I am aware of. Good for woodsball and scenario ballers, sorry speedballers.

Price - Pricing is fair and you can get descent paint for about $55/case. Entrance is also reasonable, I believe it was around $20 for both events I attended. As mentioned above the pro shop pricing isn't badly inflated from what I saw.

Reffing - Mixed bag here. The first event I went to was great. There were a lot of refs and they were on the ball. I was pleased with it. The second event I atended was aweful. I could never find a ref who was actually paying attention and they missed a TON of calls, plus they were severely understaffed. I later found that it was not BFP staff reffing the game but a sponsored team. Didn't really make me feel better as this was after I wasted my money for that day.

Player accomodation/anemities - There isn't really a staging area, you stage out of your car in the parking lot, which is a descent size. They have nice bathrooms for a field and a large screened in chrono station. They have a small nice concession setup in the lounge building where you can buy hot dogs, drinks, and the like.

Safety - My biggest concern here. I can overlook the bad reffing for one game, I know it wasn't their staff...but this...Where to start??? They are not a semi only field, so you have all kinds of loons blasting 20+ bps FA. They don't(as far as I saw) enforce an FPS limit on the field. The field itself, while cool as hell with all the building shells, is rediculously unsafe. There are bricks and glass and god knows what else just sitting under the dirt and leaves waiting for someone to hurt themselves on. In one day Dane jacked up her ankle and I ripped the skin off my shin thanks to a hidden brick. Until they make noticable strides to clean up the field, I won't risk my health there.

All in all? It's a real cool place to play with the objects and buildings and it is affordable. It's also unsafe. Until I hear they make an effort to change that I'll spend my money elsewhere.

[Rend]

Good review Jason. I really think you approached in an unbiased way. Yes, the first time we went there it was reffed by BFP, but the 2nd time we went it was a completely joke. Combine that with the hazards on the field, and you're guaranteed to have a bad time.

Pricing was good for a local field so I can't complain about it.

As for me I will not be returning to BFP until the field is cleaned up of all debris, and reffing or game organization is done by the field, and not by a sponsored team.

If you want to see a vid of the field check this one out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDB6_ab8FFI

[Ion_Mike]

Yeah, I gotta agree pricing was decent considering the distance we drove to get there. Not sure I'd make the trip with gas prices now. The field concept was incredible and I was very anxious to play there, but the cluster duck that was called a scenario and the field hazards really took away from me enjoying the urban combat potential.

There were a couple really great moments, but they were overshadowed by the injuries, wiping, total chaos and lack of communication that was the other 90% of the day.

My advice would be clean up the field and bring in a real scenario events group like MISSION MASTERS. BHD woulda rocked on that field, lol.

[SN toter]

Giving it a 2nd chance on June 6th, I'll update my review then...heard they did a bit of cleanup so we'll see.

[Rend]

UPDATE 6/6/2009

This is an updated review of Battlefront Paintball in Hubbard, OH.

Our first visit to BFP (Battlefront Paintball) was great, but our second visit wasn't so spectacular. However, this review will showcase our third visit that occured on 6/6/2009. Third time is a charm right? Plus everyone warrants a second chance in my opinion.

Field/Terrain:

The field is and probably will always be one of the most unique fields in our area. It's great to play there because there is plenty of terrain to cover, and there are many structures to play in and around. The buildings really set this field apart from other fields. I think this field has character and still has potential to be one of the better fields in our area.

The terrain on the other hand is not so great on some parts of the field. There are certain sections of the field that still need attention. Over and around the satellite dish you have got to becareful because the ground is rich with broken glass. I also spotted glass on the other side of the city down towards the U.S. Command Post. This area was extremely B A D for glass. Right in front of the CP there was a section of ground that looked to have several cases of broken glass. This was also the staging grounds for the respawn. So if anyone came running out of the respawn they had the chance of slipping and falling on this glass. Very scary in my opinion. Honestly I really don't know what can be done about this glass situation because there is so much of it that you would almost have to resurface entire sections of the field. Maybe bring in fresh fill to cover up the glass? This may fix the problem because the glass only seems to be in certain sections of the field.

The buildings are GREAT to play in, but I did notice that some of the ramparts and stairways have been neglected recently. There were some missing steps on some of the stairways which could result in a nasty spill/fall.

Another note on the field was that there was escentially no boundary markers. The last time we played here there was yellow boundary tape. This time I spotted no boundary tape so people could pretty much flank you from any place on the field. Was this a bad thing? I don't know because honestly I didn't see too many people taking long walks out and around to flank the opposing team.

Reffing:

From what I saw the reffing was handled in a professional manner. I did not see refs grouped up chatting with each other or ignoring problems on the field. However, I think for the amount of players on the field there were not enough refs. There were a handful of times where I needed a ref, but the refs were either too far away from me or they were busy with another player. My suggestion would be to just double up the amount of refs on the field when you have a big event like this.

Event Production:

Honestly I think the production was handled in a structured manner. There was plenty of action on the field and objectives to complete. Not much slow down in play, and the production staff kept the teams rolling with missions. My only suggestion would be to implement at least one half hour break during the day because I felt bad coming off the field to eat or get resupplied.

Facilities:

The facilities are great. Two seperate buildings house a snack bar (with hot/cold foods/drinks), bathrooms, air, paint, and pro-shop needs. BFP has a very nice setup in this area, and I'm not sure I'd change much because I didn't have a problem getting air, paint, or anything else that I needed. My only complaint would be to have more garbage cans throughout the stagging/parking area. I did not see any garbage cans and this made it all too easy for people to just leave garbage laying every where after the event was done.

Price:

Not much to say here gang. This is probably one of the most economical fields in our area. Event prices are fair, and the paint prices are just as good. If you're on a budget BFP should definitely be on your list.

Conclusion:

Well this was our team's third trip to BFP, and I do believe the third time was a charm. The field/terrain is great, but does still needs some work (broken glass). The reffing really made this event enjoyable. The production was really well thought out and effectively executed. The facilities are accomodating, but need more waste disposal cans, and the price is good for our area. However, I don't believe BFP totally redeemed themselves from our prior visit, but they definitely seemed to be trying to make things right.

I give this field 3.5 stars outta 5 only because there is still room for improvement.

Our team will definitely be returning to this field either later this year or early next year.

A BIG thanks goes out to the BFP staff, refs, and the event production crew. Band of Brothers really enjoyed ourselves, and we can't wait for a return trip.

Thanks,
Jake

[InZaneFlea]

I agree with pretty much everything Jake said. The only issue I had was the glass, which really was all over the place. However, I don't remember seeing any glass near our staging area until later in the day, and it may be a case that THAT many people sprinting over the ground moved the Earth around to reveal it once more. I know they said they pretty much put new fill over a large majority of the field to cover it up.

However, I didn't hear or see anyone actually hurting themselves as most people were aware of this problem. With the extreme awesomeness that was the 'town' and the great woodsball play crawing through brush full of slugs, I absolutely loved the field and would go back in a heartbeat. The prices didn't hurt either!

Because of the glass, I'd have to give it a 4/5, but I'm not sure what they can do to fix that. No matter how much you cover it up, it's still there and can still be uncovered by a good rain or a lot of play. Besides unearthing the entire field down probably at least a couple feet, I'm not sure what they can do.

[paintfreak363]

The field itself was very big, having said that they did a pretty good job of varying the terrain but they could use some more work on all the overgrown grass and stuff other than simply putting a plastic table in for cover.

Other than that there were only a few things they could've done to tweak the "city" area, like working on the buildings a bit more. But all in all i give them a 4 out of 5.

I had a ton of fun there and hope we can make it out to another one of their big games in the future.

[Havoczui1]

Field was awesome. Everything was the best but the glass was insane. Other than that everything was on point.. more refs wouldve been awesome. But the ones out there were doing what they could.

[Riddler]

Guess I'll throw in my 2 cents...

Gameplay
I enjoy the gameplay at BFP scenario events. Games are generally well-structured, teams close to balanced, and rules/objectives tend to be pretty straightforward. There's a pretty good 'fun' factor. Respawn times are fair, and event staff will often accelerate the timer when they notice a higher-than-average amount of players waiting in the deadbox.

Safety and Reffing
Unfortunately, I've noticed that refs can be few and far between during the games, and sometimes not even present at major game-changing objectives, which can cause massive mid-game frustration. I've also seen refs huddle up and chitchat on the field when they should have been out among the action. Chronoing is not strictly enforced. Though they put colored zip ties on markers that have been chronoed, nobody checks for them. I usually change markers over the course of the day, and am on the honor system to check each before entering the field of play. Fortunately, I haven't been aware of any cases where this 'honor system' has been abused, though I'm sure it happens. For the most part, the player base at BFP is pretty respectful, which leads me to...

The player base
You get a wide range of player types, and markers aren't just the typical Tippmanns and electros you generally see at TRP. I've seen more mags, 'cockers and pumps during the last 2 events at BFP than the entire last season's MM games. That kind of thing makes me happy. As mentioned above, the players tend to be mature and respectful for the most part. Like anywhere else, you get your wipers and attitudes, but it's pretty minimal.

The Field
In general, I find the field very enjoyable due to the wide variety of terrain it offers. It has everything: open areas, buildings, and woods. The field does have its flaws, however. During warm-weather games, you absolutely have to watch for broken glass in certain sections of the field. When the field is snow-covered, it's less of a concern, but still something to be aware of. There was a section of stairs missing inside one of the buildings at D-Day last year, but I admit I didn't check recently to see if it had been replaced.

Final thoughts
All in all, scenario events at BFP are great. Prices are reasonable - they even offer discounts for pre-registration, the staff is pleasant, they offer food during lunch breaks, gameplay is fun, and the player base is diverse. As an added bonus, it's just a short drive away.