Speedball frontman
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Paintball frontman is a player position in speedball, a game type of the sport of paintball. Front players are responsible for general eliminations and taking key bunkers in games of speedball.
[edit] General
A front player's task is to perform the major movements and eliminations on the field during the early part of a speedball game. As the name suggests, this places the front man far forward on the speedball field, compared to the other positions. Front players stay low, firing comparatively little and making heavy use of snap shooting. Front players should know how to slide flawlessly to lower their center of gravity and keep a low profile.
Front players are usually divided into Snake fronts and Dorito fronts. Snake refers to the low long and usually connected bunkers on one side of the field. Dorito refers to the triangular three sided bunkers. D-Fronts as they are sometimes called often are called upon to make runs to the center 50 bunker, be it a spike in NPPL or X in NXL.
Fronts rely very heavily on the rest of the team to provide them with developments across the field. Fronts and back players are very closely related, and in most cases, a back player will be assigned to communicate with and cover a front player when the latter is in a critical position or attempting to maneuver. The back player usually corresponds with the corner they work on. For example snake front works with snake corner, Dorito front with Dorito corner and mid back if they go to the center 50.
[edit] Equipment
As with all speedball players, a higher-end electronic gun is almost a necessity for serious play. Any high-end electropneumatic marker will suffice for serious play tournament, and some older mechanical markers are used for recreational play only. They tend to use 45ci/4500psi and 70ci/4500psi "peanut" HPA tanks for the small form factor, and low pressure markers to increase gas efficiency. Short, compact markers are common, as squeezing into a bunker or a snake under fire is difficult with a large, long-barreled marker. Front players as a rule do not bother with carrying a tremendous amount of paint, as snap shooting is more appropriate for the situation that an unending stream of fire that would be expected of back players, however once again even frontman players can go through upwards of 600 rounds in one game.
Noise is not a large issue, however playing as a frontman will place you closer to the opposition. Screaming positions and firing lots of paint while in close proximity will give away a frontman's position. Being in a position that the other team does not know yet will give him a great benefit in the game. When in these positions the frontman will rely on his backman and teammates to tell him where the opposing team is.
More uniquely, the frontmen of teams such as Blowfish will utilize stock paintball markers. The general argument of this school of play is that the pump markers train players to seek better firing angles and concentrate on taking better shots.
