Mercenaries Paintball

Mercenaries Paintball The Mercenaries are a long standing team of Paintball players at Hell Survivors Paintball, Michigan Really, the Mercenaries are about the people.

The Mercenaries were originally started by field owners Dave Massey and Ed Stapleton in 1990 as a loose group of high level players used as a field prop in large scenario games at the Hell Survivors Paintball Playfield in Pinckney, Michigan. Opposing teams could use the scenario game currency to purchase the Mercenaries to achieve strategic objectives on the field. By 1995, Mike Myers and Jarred M

itchell, accomplished players themselves, had become regulars at these scenario games as Mercenaries. They began to grow the Mercenary ranks by inviting outstanding paintball players that displayed integrity, teamwork, and a passion for paintball on and off the field. The Mercenaries have provided support for the big scenario games at Hell Survivors ever since. Along with dedicated support for Hell Survivors Paintball Playfield, Mercenaries have played on fields far and wide promoting our core values: sportsmanship, resilience, teamwork, leadership, and a passion for Paintball. From the Sky Dome in Canada to Florida and points all over the United States playing in numerous scenario games, local events, national tournaments, and charity games. Some of us have been with the Mercenaries for more than 30 years. Many of our members, literally, grew up in the Mercenaries starting out as kids and continue to play years later having grown (surprisingly in some cases) into productive citizens. Our younger ‘ballers are the most important and valued members of our team. We believe paintball teaches outstanding character not in theory, but the hard way, to young and old alike. It’s a sport where the consequences are immediate, and the impact of the paintball is the moment of the lesson. Mentoring and coaching are the top priorities for our adult players. We focus on passing down not just what to do, but why we do it – how to think strategically, how to communicate under pressure, and how to adapt to rapidly changing situations. Today, the Mercenaries remain all about the people. We accept only the best people who happen to be great Paintball players. We are about promoting the great sport of Paintball whenever and wherever. We are about sportsmanship, teamwork, and leadership on and off the field. We are about looking out for each other and making every game the best it can be. And, we are about having a whole lot of fun while doing all of that. Collegiate Paintball is a focus for the Mercenaries with overwhelming support provided to the Michigan State University Paintball Club and most any Collegiate club that reaches out. There is not a better sport for a young person (or any person, really) to learn teamwork, communication, leadership, sound strategy, and rapid adaptability.. In 2024 Dave and Ed passed field ownership of Hell Survivors Paintball on to Marie and Byron Butler. Their energy, vision, and passion for paintball has been spectacular and we couldn’t be happier with the new owners and our biggest supporters!

WELCOME FIGHT FANS to the 2026 Iron Mitten Series right here at the legendary Hell Survivors! Speedball is BACK at this...
08/30/2026

WELCOME FIGHT FANS to the 2026 Iron Mitten Series right here at the legendary Hell Survivors! Speedball is BACK at this iconic venue, ladies and gentlemen! The morning rain couldn't dampen this crowd, fueled by the legendary MC RicK from TC Paintball, GR on the mic and the absolute heavyweight champion of BBQ, Messy Ace's Ribshack, keeping the masses fed!

Before we get to the marquee matchup, let's give it up for the Grinder Goblins! This Hell Survivors pick-up squad fought through the trenches. You might see a video floating around of a tough point for them, but don't let that fool you—these warriors battled their way to an incredible 4th place overall!

But you all know why we’re here. IT’S TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING! A 1v1 Grudge Match for the ages! The owners of the very ground we stand on: BYRON vs. MARIE! Best two-out-of-three takes the crown!

ROUND ONE! We've got a little confusion at the starting line—a silent countdown with no buzzer throws off the rhythm! It's a slow burn off the break. Byron tries to play the predator, stalking right up the gut. But out of nowhere—BAM! Marie unleashes an absolute laser from home base and smokes him right out of his boots! What a shot! ONE-ZERO, MARIE!

ROUND TWO! No hesitation this time! They explode off the line! Marie takes the right tape, locking into the #2 Dorito. We’re seeing an absolute snapping clinic here, folks. She sees an opening, makes a hyper-aggressive push—but she gets snagged in the crossfire on the move! Byron capitalizes and ties it up! ONE TO ONE!

ROUND THREE! WINNER TAKES ALL! Off the break, Marie dives deep into the mid-snake! But Byron is playing chess out here, ghosting up the center and catching her right in the act! It's over! BYRON TAKES THE MATCH!

She may have taken the loss on the field, but Marie is still the undisputed champion in Byron's book. What an incredible return for the Iron Mitten Series! Official scoring will be posted by someone far more responsible than us. We cannot wait for next year.

Hell Survivors Ugly Paintball

A smattering of Mercs + our fav Airsofter.
08/26/2026

A smattering of Mercs + our fav Airsofter.

08/25/2026

The return of Speedball is near. Stay tuned for further updates.- this is just a photo as we are setting up as these also aren’t even filled 100% correct layout will be in play but it was a cool photo with the sky. So enjoy.

The 2026 SuperGame Michigan (recently re-branded to “central”) was a great success. Over 200 players battled it out on ...
08/24/2026

The 2026 SuperGame Michigan (recently re-branded to “central”) was a great success. Over 200 players battled it out on the 180 acres of the legendary Hell Survivors field. Lot’s of tank action (thanks to the Goblin tank and Narf!), lots of helicopter action (thanks to Preacher, lol), and a ton of great skirmishes. We had a blast shooting up the tank (mostly with Marie in it) and tearing up the Grinder. This scenario is always well written with straight forward missions and scoring. The Mercenaries did our guns-for-hire thing and the Game Boss tagged us up with Blue Team and our pal Lefty from Rage In Paint Scenario Paintball Team. Even with the Mercs, Blue Team was still down in numbers compared to Red Team, but we call that a target-rich-environment.

Big congrats to Red Team for the final win. Zeke and Preacher always lead a good game. Red Team took the win by a fair margin.

It was great seeing all the teams that could make it out to play. Seal Team Rick’s , Soldiers of Chaos, Otter Chaos, Apex Predators Paintball Team, Five Zero Freaks, Rag Tag Paintball, Venomous Ducks Paintball, and a dozen other great teams. It was also cool to see PB Sports onsite as well as Inception Designs and other vendors I’m sure I missed.

Rental players frequently come and play alongside the Mercs when they drop in just for Open Play. I didn’t get pics of most of them, but man did they have a treat. They show up for a pick up game and get dropped into a huge scenario game with some wild firefights. There were 10 or so total and they all had an absolute blast.

A notable pick-up was Christoph who came all the way from Austria to play paintball for the first time. Better known to the Airsoft world as NOVRITSCH. Watching a YouTube heavyweight step away from his familiar Airsoft platform and dive headfirst into a brutal scenario big-game was a trip.

We learned a ton about Airsoft. For safety, paintball uses feet-per-second as a safety standard that is capped at around 280 fps. Airsoft uses joules as various types of Airsoft ammo have different weights and speeds depending on the type of Airsoft equipment used (i.e. a rifle, pistol, sniper, etc.). Joules measuring 1 to 3’ish. For fun, a paintball has roughly 11 joules. Though this is spread over an area 8.3 times greater than the 6mm point of an Airsoft BB. Shout out to Gemini AI for that math.

Does Paintball hurt more? Nah, it’s a blob of paint that breaks on impact, dispersing the energy. Does it bruise? Sure, a reminder of your lesson to stay tucked in or move faster. Is it more satisfying to see your paint break on the other guys mask? Absolutely.

With Airsoft you get shooting realism with flat ballistics and range. Combine that with mil-sim, tactical gear and some tactical stalking scenarios and you have a pretty immersive military environment. The cost of the ammo is less, and you can carry thousands of rounds on you through a game that is literally cleaner than Paintball. The gap narrows a bit with mag-fed markers and First Strike Rounds that bring some of that flat-trajectory realism into traditional Paintball.

Paintball is complete adrenaline and sensory chaos. Undeniable, visceral hit confirmation with broken paint. Volume of fire, lane control, suppression, and movement make Paintball a really fast game of remote-tag. This includes some great scenario theatrics with brightly colored gear (camo guys, we can still see you, just fyi…) and fantastic game props. Paintball, especially Speedball, moves far faster than most any Airsoft game.

It’s all time behind the trigger. The fundamentals of reading terrain, battlefield/situational awareness, understanding angles, moving under fire, and small unit communication are identical. When a guy like Christoph jumps from Airsoft sniper into the s**t-storm of a Paintball Big-Game, he is taking these same fundamentals and adapting them to new physics and a faster pace. Big respect to those looking to cross the aisle in either direction - it proves you can fight, regardless of what you are shooting.

The real Photographers will be pushing pics of this game out soon. I have some pics from our in-house, s**t photogs attached here. Check out the captions in the comments.

Hell Survivors Ugly Paintball

08/02/2026

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Pinckney, MI

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