I’ve decided to expand Cobalt Consulting to include airsoft. I already own a full steel M9 but I recently purchased a JG Bar 10. Ill have breakdowns on both of those weapons as soon as the rifle comes in the mail. I have big plans for the Bar.

Got out to play some open games with my fellow Hellions today. Nothing special, just a good way to shake the dust off and get ready for the 2010 season. We had seven players today, two with semi auto Tippmanns’, three using the TPX pistols[including my self] and two players using pumps. The staff at CPX put us against a team of 13 walk on players. Read more for a break down of the games we played today along with a detailed breakdown of tactics in action.

1) Ridge
Round one: win
Kills:0
Deaths:0
Comments: Good flanking due to the nature of the field.
Round two: win
Kills: 3
Deaths:o
Comments: Honu gave covering fire which allowed me to make a 20 yard  dash onto the opposite side of an enemy bunker[5'x5' box]. I eliminated the three players shooting on the other side of the box.

2) Wastelands
Round one:Draw
Kills:3
Deaths:0
Comments: I was the last player on the field for my team.
Round two: win
Kills: 3
Deaths:0
Comments:Tactics played a HUGE role in this game. I was able to low crawl about 50 yards and eliminate 3 enemy players with out them ever knowing i was there. Until it was too late. Read on to view a more in-depth description and image of this game.

3) Mounds
Round one: loss
Kills:0
Deaths:0
Comments:
Round two: win
Kills: 8
Deaths:0
Comments: I was able to feign my way around the enemy and eliminate eight of their team, getting two to surrender once I was out of ammunition.

CCI is a theory based team. Actually sitting down and running coordinated and preplanned tactics and procedures isn’t something that I’ve observed most teams do. Scenario teams run largely off the cuff and do not run shooting drills, or practice laying ambushes. I’m operating on the thought process that true ‘outside of the box’ thinking and a large amount of applicable training is what will make a team unstoppable. Along with those two [extremely general and cliché] principles, true unit cohesion is also essential. With out any of those three pillars, CCI is just another paintball team.

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Game #2: Wastelands
Red are enemy, blue are friendly. I am highlighted pink. All positions above the center line of the field are approximated, based on team discussion after the game.

The plan was to send two pumps to the right[top] of the field,  my self and a semi auto member  to the left[bottom] and the remaining players to the center to provide covering fire. Kash and my self were tasked to feign a left assault. We planned to rush our side of the field, engage the enemy and return to protect the flanks of our center players.

Kash and I successfully moved up the bottom half of the field and began to engage the enemy.

One team member and one enemy were eliminated. Largely out gunned, Kash and I pulled back from our position[box] and requested covering fire from our team members positioned in the center of the field. The enemy who were formerly focused on us were now committed to engaging in a longball shooting match. Kash stayed in the center of the field to assist.

With the enemy’s focus elsewhere I went prone and low crawled from my blocking position[circle] to directly behind the enemy’s position. While this is happening, the enemy’s top flank collapses and the Hellions push their remaining players. Once I am in position I wait untill the enemy decides to advance up the left flank. Once they do, I rose into a squat and eliminated the three nearest players. Soon after this, the rest of the hellions were able to shoot out whomever was left of the field.

As of 02/05/2010 Cobalt Consulting International has green-lit its teams for full operational deployment in the 2010 season. Read more for a description of the services that CCI can provide for your scenario.

Each operator employed by Cobalt Consulting has been chosen from top talent pools and retrained in the most modern and effective techniques. All of our teams are not only experts in offensive and defensive shooting but offer specialty services such as:

High Value Asset Protection
Special Reconnaissance
Anti-Armor
Infiltration
Interjection/Disruption
Real-time Combat Instruction
Unconventional Warfare
Damage Control

These abilities are only a small sample of a greater suite of services Cobalt Consulting International can provide. Contact CCJackal@gmail.com to contract one of our teams.

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Description: 8″ Converse Combat boots in desert tan. The boots are secured with zippers on the inside and laces up the front. The boots are breathable in summer and can survive winter with a good coat of water proofing spray. The heel and toe of the boots are reinforced with composite plastic for protection. They are also slip resistant.

Pros: Solid construction, slip resistance, extremely comfortable and a $100 price tag.

Cons: They take a few solid games to break in.

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Description: UR Tactical’s Crye Combat Pants[extremely dirty edition] are fantastic. The main fabric is genuine multicam from Crye Precision, while the rest of the construction includes high grade plastics and 1000 denier Cordura.  There are more pockets, zippers and magazine holders crafted into these pants than one could possibly count. The best feature of these pants are by far the integrated knee pads. These knee pads are life savers; not only do they stay in place, they do not use any form of Velcro straps that cut into your legs.

Pros: Flawless construction, integrated knee pads, integrated magazine pouches, internal adjustment system.

Cons: $180 price tag.

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Description: UR Tactical’s Crye Combat shirt. The quality of the sewing and fabric is just as good as their combat pants. The integrated elbow pads are a wonderful addition as are the Velcro sections. Keeping tradition again with the pants, there are an insane number of pockets tucked into the sleeves. The center portion of the shirt is wicking material. The collar is a bit awkward.

Pros: Elbow pads, wicking, eight pockets.

Cons: $85 price tag, awkward collar.

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Description: EbayBanned “Multisham” range vest. This vest is used more as an additional layer for warmth or for other gear. The fabric is good but the build quality is poor, the stitching is easily frayed and the zipper is a nightmare.

Pros: Good looks

Cons: Overall quality of materials and construction

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Description: Ebay Banned “Multisham” backpack and custom made Multicam Pistol rig. This is one of my favorite setups for open games or for playing Medic in a Scenario. The system consists of a backpack that has been combined with a holster for the TPX pistol and a single 100 round pod. The back pack is used to hold hydration systems, radios and extra ammunition. The quality of the backpack is decent although the zippers are a bit sticky. The pistol rig has yet to show a mentionable flaw.

Pros: Tight fitting, well built, barebones setup.

Cons: I didn’t use this before

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Description: Custom made battle belt. The fabric is Genuine Crye Multicam combined with 1000 denier Cordura and nonslip internal fabric. The belt has mollee strips to allow the user to customize his gear. The current setup has three 100 round pods, a slot for a holster and a 115 cubic inch, 4500 psi HPA tank attached to the back. The tank has two hoses, one to connect to a marker and another for refilling. In the bottom right photograph you can see the fill hose.

Pros: Modular design, Genuine Multicam, enough compressed air for three people.

Cons: Unless attached to a vest the weight of the cylinder will pull the belt in an awkward position. Due to its weight and design, this belt is best used for very specific engagements such as urban combat.

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Description: Custom made hard shell vest in Genuine Multicam. This vest is comprised of four sections; two sapi plates and two semi hard side plates. The vest opens up like a door for easy on and off while the pull cords in the shoulders can break the vest apart in case of ‘emergency’. The entire outer surface of the shell is covered in molle to allow for full customization as well as pullcords to tighten or loosed the vest. The rigid design allows for a large amount of airflow while not compromising the fit of the vest.

Pros: Modular construction, air flow, Multicam

Cons: The shell can over encumber you depending on the type of game you are playing.

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Description: Under Armour hat. Good quality, matching color and very breathable. It protects the back of my neck from being annihilated.

Pros: Neck protection

Cons: Could be any hat, large insignia.

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Description: VHF 2 watt, 2 channel, multi-band, programmable and encrypted radio with EbayBanned Head set. The Kenwood radio is of good quality although due to the low wattage its distance can be limited in thick woods. The head set is very comfortable but the volume seems to be unreasonably high. This is the most important piece of my gear.

Pros: Communication is the diffirence between winning and losing

Cons: The volume is unreasonably loud through this particular headset.

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Description: V-Force Grillz tan and green color. The Grillz model is a very good mask. The foam padding doesn’t peel off and the lenses do a good job for keeping fog at bay. The cut of the chin leaves you open for a few neck shots but it offers more mobility.

Pros: Extremly tight fit, anti fog and good color options.

Cons: Low cut jaw line leaves you open for neck shots, only comes with one lens.

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Description: Hydration bladders are essential for scenarios in the summer. I’ve seen players be carted away in ambulances from going into heat stroke. This model from Camlebak fits nicely into my backpack or vest. The hose is covered in a RangerGreen sleeve to prevent that bright blue form showing.

Pros: Staying alive.

Cons: Weight.

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Description: Tippmann TPX. Its small, accurate and fun as hell to use. It is my preferred tool of destruction. During the summer I played open games at CPX sports every weekend using only the TPX. It was fantastic.

Pros: Accurate, magazine fed.

Cons: Can be finicky out of the box

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The X7 Phenom is Tippmann’s new flagship marker.  It’s lengthy design process was heavily influenced by player input and field-testing. Improving upon the original X7′s design, the Phenom was reduced in weight, increased in efficiency and is extremely easy to use. There has been a trade of customizable parts to make room for further innovations, but I fully support that sacrifice.

This will be a rather lengthy and in depth review of  the marker. I will start with a tear down of the body and progress to its ‘out of box’ performance and viability as a main stay weapon. Click Images to view in a larger size.

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Body and Initial Impressions:

The first thing I noticed about the Phenom was its unique design. At first glance it  appears to be an X7 but upon closer inspection it’s quite different. The magazine well is a solid part of the frame and the top rail system has been altered. After further inspection and, much to my satisfaction,  was the awareness that the gas line running from the tank adapter to the marker is no longer present and the entire trigger frame seemed to have been redesigned. The front grip has been changed and there have been other size alterations. In keeping with Tippmann’s tradition of reliability, the overall build quality of the phenom is superb.

Superficially the Phenom breaks down into the same parts as the X7. With out having to do any major disassembly, the barrel, fore-grip, pushpins and magazine are all detachable with out the use of tools. The barrel is a slightly different shape and the hand guard is shorter. Disassembly is less complicated due to the air-line being internal as well as the lack of a cocking handle. The magazine can be used as storage much like the normal X7 mag. Unfortunately the magazine does seem to sit a bit loose in the well but overall,  isn’t a large issue.

The cyclone has also undergone many positive changes. The paddles on the Phenom are soft, negating many ball breaking issues formerly associated with the cyclone system. The ratchet has been strengthened to prevent players from having to tackle the daunting task of disassembling the cyclone.  The color of the stock paddles has been changed from black to green.

The trigger assembly of the X7 Phenom is a work of art. Not only does it come stock with an electronic board that can accept programmable firing modes, it also houses a mechanical trigger and air intake. The back of the grip has a door for easy battery removal and replacement.

One of the most drastic changes is the addition of the velocity adjustment wheel. This makes changing your velocity as easy as it could be. To adjust the velocity all one needs to do is insert a hex key and turn the wheel accordingly. It’s not overly sensitive and the time it takes to perform the adjustment has been reduced several times over.

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Internals:

The internals of the X7 Phenom look nothing like those of its predecessor. The Phenom uses a sear-less design that provides for many improvements such as  low- pressure functionality, the internalized air-hose and several forward thinking design prospects. The entire bolt assembly is one solid piece and slides out after the removal of a single pin[located in the center of the full disassembly photo ]. Because the entire assembly can be essentially ‘dropped’ into the Phenom, it can be ‘dropped’ into anything. This means that the possibilities for body modifications are endless. As long as a proper internal housing can be crafted, the Phenom can take almost any form.

Another design change is the size of the screws. With the exception of the large screw that holds the cyclone in place, all the screws are of a uniform size. This is just another idea that makes the Phenom that much better.

Features and Combat Impressions:

I initially received the X7 Phenom the morning of a 24 hour scenario game at Sherwood Forest. They came stock but I attached my 3 position carbine stock for good measure. When I removed the end cap I was pleased to find out there was no spring and ramrod being forcefully ejected from the marker and reluctantly lost. Attaching the stock is easier than on the regular X7. While playing in extremely cold weather makes the paint extremely brittle and different parts of the Phenom handle the paint differently.

Trigger:  The trigger is perhaps my favorite part of the marker. Dismissing the fact that the board is fully programmable, it is still my favorite trigger assembly featured on any marker, ever. Not only can you change the fire selector to Safe[Full]Auto and hammer away at 15 bps, you can switch it to a dedicated single fire mode that operates independently of the board and battery. If you run out of battery, you are no longer out of the fight. When switching from manual to electronic, there is an extremely short delay as the board is powered up. This lag time never affected me in a game but could be a problem in certain situations.

Barrel: The stock barrel I received was terrible. Despite being free of burrs or any other discernible flaw, I was not able to engage targets effectively. My paint would not only fall short but seemed to have an unusual amount of drift. The barrel was the only negative experience I have had with the marker and;  an aftermarket barrel is a must.

Low Pressure: During scenario games, I carry a 110 cubic inch 4500 psi HPA tank; obviously, air is never an issue for me. However, the Phenom operates below 300 psi so running out of air was completely out of mind for me. Tippmanns’ are notoriously gas hogs but this is a step in the right direction and a massive improvement over its previous markers.

Cyclone: The stock cyclone performed perfectly out of the box, even in the cold temperatures. After putting several thousand rounds trough the marker, I have yet to chop a round because of a cyclone malfunction.

Ergonomics: The Phenom is very light and a lot smaller than its older brother. It allows for a lot better handling while playing paintball. The magazine release is not reachable by your trigger hand but this should not be an issue in game.

Overall the Tippmann X7 Phenom is the gun the X7 perhaps should have been. While its not with out its flaws, it is everything its cracked up to be. I would happily trade the looks of the x7 for the functionality of the Phenom.