Now, although it may seem like everyone knows what the element of surprise is, I've seen people totally misunderstand it. I've played on a field only twice. Yes, im a complete newbie. But Just listen to ths short story and you will get my point.

I'm playing deep in this 2-4 square mile area. A tall corn field in the middle with forest surronding it. Me and my small fireteam spot a small enemy squad about to pass us. We get down and I tell my teammates to "use the element of surprise. don't fire untill your sure you'll get a -" I'm cut off from our support lifting his m4a1(with box mag) over his head blazing in the enemy's direction. None of the enemy were hit, and they knew exactly where we were. They opened up and took us all out with but 2 casualties.

So. I know it was one person, but I noticed more later on.

Im here to write about the advanages of having the EOS.

Ok, lets say your holding a TM m4 s-system with red dot scope. You spot a single enemy trying to find his way back to his OP. He doesn't notice you, but he's walking your way. In between you and him, a log and plants lay on the ground, which would conceal about 7/8 of your body. To your right you see a patch of 5 foot grass that would completely conceal you, but you'd have to wait untill the enemy troop got close for you to have a shot. you have 2 choices:


A: Go to the log and plants and wait 10 seconds for him to get within medium range.

B: Go to the patch of tall grass and wait for him to get close.

If you chose A, this would probably happen:

You wait for the troop to get withing medim range and fire. He avoids the BB's and gets cover. He now knows exactly where you are and you break out into a firefight. There a 50/50 chance now that you'll kill or be killed.


B: You wait for th enemy to get close. You fire a burst and nearly nail him. He scrambles for cover, thinking you're somewhere else. His cover is sloppy. He is confused. He's panicing. He has no idea where you are, but you're still lettin' off BB's. Your chances of killing him are now 85/100.

So, would you rather pop up and surprise your enemy, but let him know where you are? Or would like to surprise him, but have him virtually clueless to your position?

It's your choice.

The element of surprise is truely not popping up, scaring the living crap out of the enemy, but letting him know here you are. It's having him a position so dazed he panics and makes decisions so stupid its almost laughable.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed reading the article.

good point, my friends do that to me a lot, you know, ruining the plan because they don't think ahead of time and just try to shoot people.

be sure you don't leave any tracks it the grass.
by the way, you don't have to wait untill you see an enemy to hide, just set up an ambush to begin with, its my favorite strategy, and the ticks get a meal when I go into deep brush to hide (doesnt discourage me though, I guess im an idiot)

One of the most fun games I ever played in airsoft was against someone with a CA 36(mine actually, they were borrowing it.) I had a spring powered KWC M92FS, he chased me firing on full auto and eventually I outran him, hid, and ambushed him while he was blinded by his zeal to pursue me. Clearly, there is something to be learned from this example. Don't loan the better D**M gun to your opponent ;)

I like to hide in the bushes to ambush others.
I always make sure it conceals my whole body.
When the get close enouph I try to unload my
whole magazine in his face (not literaly but enough
to make him pissed off) Whats important about ambushing is
that you have to be carefull and not allow tunnel
vision to accur. Tunnel Vision is a term for paintballing
when you look only at one thing at a time. If you see
an opponent that doesn't see you make sure he's alone.
unless you think you can take on more than one person at a
time. IT IS NOT THAT EASY. When you try to kill one person
the other kills you, so be careful. A tactic for killing more than
1 person at a time is making them panic when they see their
friend killed. When they panic they get confused and don't shoot,
they also may run away.

If you have any more questions please contact me.

There are times when I'll let them get almost on top of me before I fire. I've taken down a several people at once using this tactic.


My best kills were against an enemy patrol. I was the only enemy in the general area. I was lying prone in some brush aprox 30 feet from them. I could hear them talking quietly, so I knew where they were at. I stayed where I was, and waited at least 15 minutes for them to move. They moved only a few feet, but it was enough for me to see them lightly through the brush.

I waited another minute, and then I fired.I killed 2 of them, the other one tried to run, but I caught him in the back. They never saw me, and never saw it coming.

lol I never want to play with you

The element of surprise is a very powerful weapon.

In fact, I once waited in the woods for a whole match, about an hour. With about 5 minutes left, I ran out of the woods, shot half of the other team, grabbed the hostage and ran like heck.

my friend is great at using the element of suprise. We were playing in my other friends yard and there were a few areas were there was leaves (in small groups). At the begging of the game he hid under the leaves,layed his gun flat, and covered it with leaves, then waited. it was a 2 on 2 match and we rushed and killed the other person. we were walking around looking for him when I heard a gunshot go off , my teamate said "hit" the I looked around for him ( I got that feeling you get when you know someones going to kill you in half a second, but you don't know where they are. ). My friend that was under the leaves jumped up and scared me half to death.he got off three shots (he was using a spring rifle) before I could even shoot.

The EoF is one of the most important factor of a well planned strategy for an ambush, it gives a great advantage in the initiative and it is also a great resource also in real-military tactics.
I think that most people starting playing airsoft (without basic military skills) need to learn the importance of these primary tactics in order to have chances for success when confronting an opponent.
Generally when I plan an attack with a small group I make sure that the boys can move in a fast, smooth way with coordination, resulting in an aggressive-perceived attack from the defence. The resulting surprise breaks every type of action and you can defeat with relative ease every counter-action.

This thread has been very useful for me. I've learned to wait until I can see the whites of their eyes before I fire.
my best use of the EOS was one time when I was play ing in some woodland area, I saw a group of enemies sitting in their base, then, I signaled a guy on my team to get the enemies attention while I snuck around to the side of them. they didn't even know I was there until I started spraying them on full auto! it was hilarious

I have one quick question: what is the best way too hide in grass/small brush? I can never seem to stay hidden. Any info is greatly appreciated.