The Millennium Series season opener is around the corner and the European pro teams are making last minute adjustments to their rosters. Read on for the latest paintball news and rumors!

• Mikko Huttunen of the LA Ironmen has joined London Nexus for 2012. Nexus is a DYE team as well, so chances are Mikko will be floating back and forth.

• Ramstein Instinct has picked up Archie Montemayor of US pro team X-Factor for 2012 Millennium Series competition.

• Copenhaggen Ducks have picked up brothers Karl-Johan and Sebban Samuelsson. The Samuelsson brothers previously played with Joy Division. ProPaintball insiders indicate that this is a huge pick up for the Ducks.

• Frankfurt Syndicate picks up Kiril Prikhidnyy of Russian Legion and Alan Goulding from Amsterdam Heat for the Millennium Series. Last year Kiril played the Millennium Series with Art Chaos (primarily Russian Legion players).

• G.I. Sports Montreal is a new Millennium Series Pro team formed for the 2012 paintball season. Tampa Bay Damage, a U.S. pro paintball team, will be representing GI Sports and Dye Precision abroad this year. This will be damage’s European debut and it should be interesting to see how they cross over into the Millennium format.

Special thanks to Nick B. for his contributions to this article.

Paintball field over view: Grid Layout of French Riviera Cup 2012

As many of you will recall, Sup’Air released a field upgrade kit for 2012 for both the Millennium and PSP paintball leagues. The new Millennium Paintball field layout (seen below) features all new paintball bunkers for the snake side.

Paintball field over view: French Riviera Cup 2012

ProPaintball insiders expect to see alot of good competition in the Millennium series. During the 2011 off season, several teams and players made adjustments. The results of these changes will be exciting to witness first hand in St. Tropez-Cannes, France. The French Riviera Cup will be an opportunity to see what kind of changes the bunkers will do to the snake side. We are curious to see how or if the paintball games will change.

Paintball field side view: French Riviera Cup 2012

Many team will also be training at the fields the day before the event. According to sources, teams like Syndicate, Amsterdam Heat, Art Chaos, and the Ton Tons will be preparing early for the event and the practice schedule for the fields are nearly full.

If you enjoyed this paintball news and rumor reports,  please follow @ProPaintballCom on Twitter!

Jani Leskinen from Finland sent across this paintball video of Team Urho and Paintball Sissos. The footage features the new paintball snake by Sup’Air that we broke the news on (photos here). The field is setup in a Millennium Series style layout and features small pins as breaks between the beams. “Real sized” paintball players attempt to play the snake and everything is documented for your viewing pleasure.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are a ton of questions about the new snake and the playability. Does this video relieve or justify your feelings about the new paintball bunkers kit from Sup’Air?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Large crowds flock to the Millennium Series Paintball Events

The Millennium Series has unveiled a paintball video highlighting a ton of awesome paintball action from the 2011 season. Set up as a trailer, this action packed paintball video promotes the upcoming St Tropez Millennium Series opener.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Be sure to check the Millennium French Rivera Cup Paintball event out on March 23-25th in St Tropez, France.

Super 7 Paintball Series Australia

The Australia Super 7 Paintball Series has grown considerably in recent years. As the league has progressed, so has the caliber of players. The 2011 Series winners, Syndey SWAT, was a force to be reckoned with at the 2011 World Cup Asia and gave many teams a run for their money. Derder has spent considerable time in the land “down under”, and has published a ton of action packed paintball videos. Derder Paintball recently released the 2012 Australia Super 7 Paintball promo video. The video provides a great idea of what the rest of us are missing. Check it!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Super7 paintball series is preparing for the 2012 season. For 2012, several changes will be introduced for players and teams. Here is the latest information as well as the official schedule:

Format:
The format of the 2012 Super 7s series will be a “Race to” format with Millennium ramp (not PSP ramp).

Division 1 – Professional:
15bps race to 4 points - NEW
10 minute match
Entry $1400.00

Division 2 – Semi Pro:
13bps race to 3 points
7 minute match
Entry: $900.00

Division 3 – Amateur:
13bps race to 2 points
5 minute match
Entry: $700.00

Division 4 – Novice - NEW
Rental gun only – SW1 Semi Only mechanical marker
3 Man
4 minute match
One day event – saturday only.
Entry: $120.00

Dates:
Round 1: Feb 11th – 12th
Round 2: May 19th – 20th
Round 3: Aug 11th – 12th
Masters: Nov 23rd – 25th

Venue:
All rounds will be played at Action Paintball Games Sydney -
290-312 Annangrove Rd, Rouse Hill, NSW 2155

Visit the official website at Super7sPaintball.com

Ton Ton's from France win the Intercontinental Cup

The Millennium Series is pleased to announce its preliminary schedule for 2012. Although we are waiting on some contractual completion in order to confirm some details, we are confident that we can release the following schedule to you so as to facilitate early planning for all:
2012 Millennium Paintball Series Event Calendar (as of 19.11.2011)

1. March 23rd, 24th, 25th – The Millennium French Riviera Cup (St. Tropez-Cannes), France
2. May 25th, 26th, 27th – Bitburg, Germany
3. June 29th, 30th, July 1st – London, UK
4. October 12th, 13th, 14th – Millennium World Cup hosted at Disney Paris, France

The Millennium, as in 2011, will keep the Series to 4 events as we feel the prevailing economic situation in Europe does not warrant a return to 5 events next year. We will re-evaluate the situation once more at the end of the 2012 season.

Following a very successful 2011 Series which saw attendance grow against a backdrop of economic turmoil, The Millennium Series is determined to continue this trend throughout 2012 and to work closely with teams and traders to promote paintball and to encourage the sport and industry further still.

In 2012 we will introduce another new and exciting location and venue and following on from the 2011 success, will (in collaboration with the EPBF) once again give national teams the opportunity to compete for their country in EPBF International Cup competitions. Further information will be available in the coming weeks via The Millennium, EPBF and your National Federations.

As with the last couple of years we have been very careful when choosing venues to ensure the best possible value for teams, trying to keep additional costs to a minimum. Although this year we have spread slightly further afield with the addition of “The French Riviera”, there will be superb and very reasonably priced accommodation for all available, (details to follow shortly), making this a very cost effective event to attend with an atmosphere second to none. This event promises to be an all time classic.

In order to fine tune and improve the playing experience at Millennium events, we will shortly be sending out a questionnaire to all teams participating in 2011 to gain a good understanding of our customer needs and requirements and act on them accordingly.

We look forward to welcoming you to the 2012 Series! Further event information, including 2012 entry fees for open divisions will be available shortly.

The announcement of the 2012 Millennium Series dates is very helpful for teams and players that are looking to plan ahead for next year. The mention that the league intends to stay with 4 events in light of economic uncertainty is interesting as it is counter to what several of the United States based leagues are doing.

What do you think of the move to stay with 4 events for the 2012 paintball season? Do you think the Millennium Series made a wise move?

True to its name, Paintball World Cup Asia was a fierce battle between teams from over 32 countries from around the world. The World Cup Asia (referred to as WCA) hosted 1,810 paintball players hailing from 152 paintball teams. Teams competed in an indoor facility on astro-turf and millennium series bunkers. The layout itself lent to a defensive style of game play with 5 of the larger bunkers based in the back of the field. Paintball website View from the Deadbox had a spot on analysis of the game play.

The final match up for the PALS World Cup Asia was hosted last night in the beautiful Langkawi, Malaysia. Hailing from Iran, Team Datis retained their World Cup title in a match up against Reaper from South Africa (final score 4-1, Datis). Team Datis played a no-nonsense, methodical game of paintball throughout the event. The players remained focus and respectful throughout and were the clear winners.

Ton Ton's from France win the Intercontinental Cup

Intercontinental Cup

1. Ton Ton’s
2. Team USA (Ironmen)

Datis Paintball Team from Iran

Pro / Am Paintball Division

1. Datis (Iran)
2. Reaper (South Africa)
3. STK (Australia)
4. Infernal (Thailand)

Division 2 Paintball

1. Alien 11 (Thailand)
2. Hellbourne (Thailand)
3. Mamba (South Africa)
4. Massacre (UAE)

Division 3 Paintball

1. Diako (Iran)
2. Rogue Assassins (Australia)
3. Golden Dragons (The Philippines)
4. Tension (Australia)

Division 4 Paintball

1. Armada Shooter (Malaysia)
2. Vindicated (Malaysia
3. CMX Badai (Malaysia)
4. Jogja United (Indonesia)

Redza from Team Xtioneers XFOX Paintball Team

ProPaintball.com is currently in Malaysia and will follow up this story with information and final thoughts on the event, the country and paintball abroad. Stay tuned.

Special thanks to Dez from ResidentEvilChef.com for use of these awesome paintball photos.

ProPaintball is proudly attending, covering and competing in the PALS Paintball World Cup Asia event. The WCA is taking place this Wednesday through Sunday in Langkai, Malaysia. Players, teams and manufacturers are flying in from all over the world to participate in what will surely be one of, if not the, greatest events in the world.

If you are attending the event be sure to keep your eyes peeled for ProPaintball staff. We will be wearing our trademark shirts and should be easy to find.

ProPaintball’s very own Justin Mason will be playing alongside Markus Nielsen, Redza, Allan Phang and the rest of the Xtioneers in Pro/Am.

Coverage over the next 24 hours may be light due to long flights etc.

Stay tuned for event reports, video interviews and photographs live from the event.

Cheers!

Mats Helge and Torje Dreng put together a great film with great music by Carpark North, Blackmill, and Devil Sold His Soul. It has a little something in it for everybody. This video makes me want to buy a ticket to Europe and compete in the Millennium Series next year.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Be sure to check out their page on Facebook for more information.