I love to find those hidden treasures - great paintball fields squirreled away off the beaten track (in other words - in the middle of nowhere, like most paintball fields). Since the scenario I had scheduled to attend today was canceled, I decided to hunt down a new place to play where people aren’t scared of temperatures in the 90s and humidity that feels like breathing water. I found a great field with a loyal local following and some big plans, Behind Enemy Lines, located just south of Gastonia, NC. Behind Enemy Lines, B.E.L. for short, came as a welcome surprise in so many ways. Ever heard about a field then took a trip down some country roads only to find a few pallets stuck in the woods behind someone’s barn? Ever played “speedball” around hay bales? Ever seen someone fill a CO2 tank “by ear?” Well, if you live in North or South Carolina you probably have, but for those lucky enough to call B.E.L. their home field, they’re used to living much higher on the hog.

Behind Enemy Lines has a nice little proshop stocked with some sweet woodsball guns and a few nice all-around pieces, like the Dangerous Power G3. They’re set up for 4500 air fills, and the paint they keep in stock ranges from pretty good to outright excellence. And for those of you who dread the sanitary conditions at most fields - they have real indoor restrooms, for men AND women. Women at a paintball field? If you build it, they will come.

The price is right at B.E.L. with a no-field-fee policy, but what makes this worth checking out is their woods. Designed by paintballers, the nearly seven acres of playable terrain showcases the features that veteran ‘ballers love. Their hilltop sandbag-and-trench fort dominates the woods with well-designed (and fun to attack) forts on either side of the woods. In between the cover ranges from thick brush near the creek to thick trees and more open lanes. They’ve stacked the perimeters with some nice log bunkers that make sneaky flanking moves a breeze, and the refs are open to running whatever sorts of games the players demand. On my visit we played everything from simple elimination to attack-and-defend to assimilation, protect the president, and a highlander game (you know, only head shots because “there can be only one”).

Even on a sauna-esque day, around 20 players showed up to duke it out through the heat haze, but the field owner says that when cooler weather hits, 80-100 players isn’t uncommon. The field can certainly hold that many in a game, and plans are in the works to expand further with another seven acres of woods and a netted and turfed airball field. I also got a chance to hang with a couple of hardcore scenario gunners, Tombs from Port City Militia and MGB from Team Boxer. If great squads like that hone their craft at B.E.L., it’s worth a try. Thanks to all the players and refs at Behind Enemy Lines for a great day of summer paintball.