Editing Commando One Paintball (section)

== History ==

=== Establishment ===

Commando One was established as a commercial paintball operation in the Auckland region under Rob Tapper.

The business was active before the late 1990s, although its original opening date has not been established from surviving contemporary records.

Its early operations took place in '''Penrose''', an industrial suburb of Auckland.

According to former employee Michael Earley, the original venue was an outdoor paintball field located within an industrial area.[2]

The Penrose operation provided recreational paintball at a time when commercial paintball in New Zealand was still developing and equipment was predominantly based on mechanical semi-automatic and pump-action markers.

Earley also recalls an early speedball playing area at the Penrose venue. The exact configuration and date of this field have not been independently documented.

Rob Tapper remained associated with the business during its subsequent relocation to Whangārata.

=== Penrose facility ===

The original Commando One playing field was located in Penrose, Auckland.

The venue provided organised paintball games and was used by recreational players during the development of commercial paintball in New Zealand.

New Zealand paintball player and equipment historian [[Grant Fraser]] worked at the Penrose facility before its relocation, according to Earley's recollections.[2]

Fraser was also involved in the wider Auckland paintball community, including employment at Dave Pellet's Tactics paintball operation.

His later contributions to paintball historian [[Daniel Bacci]] included photographs and information about early New Zealand-manufactured paintball markers.[3]

The precise street address of the original Penrose field and its opening and closing dates have not been established.

=== Relocation to Whangārata ===

Commando One subsequently relocated from Penrose to a rural site in '''Whangārata''', near Tuakau and Pukekohe, in the northern Waikato region.

The new facility was located on '''Hayward Road'''.

Earley recalls working at the Whangārata venue during approximately 1997–1999, establishing that the relocation had taken place by the late 1990s.[2]

The rural location provided wooded terrain suitable for recreational paintball.

The new facility continued operating under the Commando One name and remained associated with Rob Tapper.

==== Contemporary field listing ====

On '''12 April 2000''', Commando One was added to the international WARPIG Field Finder.[1]

The directory listed the business at:

'''Hayward Road, Whangārata, approximately ten minutes from Pukekohe.'''

The business's website was listed as:

'''www.commando.co.nz'''

The directory identified Rob Tapper as the field's contact.

It also recorded the availability of wooded playing fields, rental equipment, carbon dioxide filling facilities and walk-on participation.

The WARPIG entry provides contemporary evidence that Commando One was operating at Whangārata in 2000.