THE ZONE

March 28, 2026
Wayne’s World of Paintball

$40 Online Registration (closes 0800E March 27)
$50 Onsite Registration

Players Pack Download

Map Download

Online Waiver

The Zone is a unique airsoft experience drawn from the STALKER videogame series, inspired by the Russian film of the same name and the novel Roadside Picnic. For fans of the STALKER games, we have elected to use the “classic” STALKER setting of the first games circa 2008-2009.

Set in the contaminated wastelands of the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, Ukrainian troops, paramilitary factions and lone stalkers fight to control or reveal the secrets of The Zone. Some follow orders of the government, with little knowledge or understanding of what they are guarding, others seek fortune through scavenging scraps of classified technology and strange, unearthly artifacts. The Zone is a grim and deadly place, full of radioactive pockets, unexplained anomalies, mutated horrors and ruthless killers. But it is said that within a man can find treasure beyond his wildest dreams…

Welcome to the Zone

It is so quiet out here; it is the quietest place in the world. —-Stalker

On 26 April 1986 at 01:23am, reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant, near Pripyat in the Ukrainian SSR, exploded. Further explosions and fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The plume drifted over the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and eastern North America. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people.

The Zone of Alienation was established soon after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, to prevent people from entering the heavily contaminated territory. The site of the disaster was divided into 4 concentric zones, amongst them the fourth (the nearest, within a radius of 30 km/19 mi) being the most dangerous. In the following years, the Soviet Union established a series of highly classified, experimental research stations within The Zone. The Soviet, and later the Ukranian military, gained valuable experience operating within a highly contaminated landscape. For the scientists, The Zone provided a vast area of utter seclusion for advanced, theoretical scientific far from prying eyes.

The full range of experiments taking place within The Zone remains unknown. Recovered journals and disjointed reports indicate research was conducted into alternative energy sources, remote mind control, proto-matter and other bleeding-edge science. No one knows what triggered the second incident, but the results were far more startling.

The Zone wants to be respected. Otherwise, it will punish. —Stalker

The Second Incident

On April 13, 2006, 04:13 a.m., the area around Chernobyl was lit by a blinding light, painting the area with a red glow and sending out a rolling, roaring emission of noise and energy that ended all communication with the research stations. The Ukranian government ordered an immediate quarantine of the area, the military shooting any violators on sight. 24/7 patrols of the perimeter became necessary.

Something changed inside The Zone… affecting the fundamental structure of space and time itself. Strange mutants were reported by patrols, that could not be accounted for simply by the effects of radiation on animal and human DNA. Pockets were discovered where physics behaved in strange and dangerous ways. These “anomalies” spawn strange otherworldly artifacts. Rare and incredibly valuable items of unknown origin, with powers inexplicable to science but offering keys to new understandings of the universe. These artifacts and the riches they fetch from scientists and collectors draw the Stalkers… who brave the dangers of The Zone to retrieve these artifacts.

Key Event Details

• We strongly recommend you take a look at the players pack, especially the background story and faction information before making your registration selections. Please be sure you familiarize yourself with the game rules before the event. There are some special game elements in effect that are different than at many airsoft games.
• Mission rewards provide “Ukranian Rubles” that may be used to purchase items for use in game and to purchase additional raffle tickets. The better you and your faction perform in game… the better your chance of winning loot at the raffle!
• Specific Uniforms – If you want to play with your buddies, plan out your uniform and faction selections.
  • Ukranian Military – Multicam, ATACS, Flora, EMR, Berezka
  • Duty – Black (crimson accents suggested)
  • Freedom – Woodland, Flecktarn, Woodland MARPAT, Alpenflage
  • Bandits – Mixed civilian gear with limited uniform pieces. Mixed tops and bottoms. Striped tracksuits are awesome
  • Neutral Stalkers – Olive drab, or mixed civilian gear with limited uniform pieces.
  • Monolith (NPC faction) – Urban camouflage
• Consider bringing your phones on the field as PDAs to tap into the general coms and faction Discord networks that will be used in-game.
• Please NO FallOut cosplay for The Zone. The Stalker game has a very different vibe; darker, with an eastern European aesthetic.
• Be sure to bring dead rags and at least two Ace bandages/milsim tourniquets.
• Radios encouraged!