Tag War Games

Tag War Games, also known as Tag Wargames and Tag Paintball, was a commercial paintball business operating outdoor playing fields in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Its facilities included a playing area at Caribbean Drive Reserve in Grenada North.

The business was operating by 2001 and was subsequently associated with Tag Wargames Limited, a company incorporated in February 2002.

In 2008, Martin Dannefaerd acquired the business, which continued operating through P8NT Limited. The Grenada North site remained in use for paintball during the following years.

A later business operating under the Tag Paintball name was acquired by Paintball Corp, which took over outdoor facilities in Grenada North and Pomare.

History

Early operations

Tag War Games operated outdoor recreational paintball facilities in the northern Wellington region.

One of its earliest documented locations was near Grenada North.

A tramping report describing an excursion on 11 February 2001 recorded walkers passing the Tag Wargames site near the Grenada North sports fields. The account was published in the Tararua Tramper in August 2001. [1]

This establishes the existence of the playing facility before the incorporation of Tag Wargames Limited in 2002.

Tag Wargames Limited

Tag Wargames Limited was registered as a New Zealand limited company on 21 February 2002, under company number 1185627. [2]

The company operated in the recreational paintball industry and held a ground lease from Wellington City Council for land at Caribbean Drive Reserve in Grenada North.

A later Wellington City Council report confirmed that the site had been leased to Tag Wargames Limited for a five-year period before its occupation by P8NT Limited. [3]

The available records do not establish the precise opening date of the original business or the full history of its ownership.

Acquisition by Martin Dannefaerd

In 2008, Martin Dannefaerd, a New Zealand tournament paintball player and former president of the New Zealand Paintball Players Association, acquired the Tag War Games business.

A Wellington City Council report dated 13 May 2009 confirmed that the previous operator had sold the business to Dannefaerd in 2008. [4]

The business subsequently operated through P8NT Limited.

The acquisition marked a change in the operation of the existing paintball facility rather than the establishment of a new playing site.

P8NT Limited

P8NT Limited continued operating the paintball facility at Caribbean Drive Reserve.

According to Wellington City Council, the company occupied the site from 2009.

A council report presented on 16 September 2015 confirmed that the business was continuing to use the land under a month-to-month arrangement following the expiry of its previous lease on 19 June 2012. [3]

The report considered granting P8NT Limited a further three-year ground lease.

Council officers recommended a shorter lease term because of the reserve's potential future importance for scenic and environmental purposes as surrounding development increased.

The report also documented the use of biodegradable paintballs at the facility.

Playing facilities

Grenada North

Tag War Games operated a playing area at Caribbean Drive Reserve in Grenada North, Wellington.

The site was situated near recreational sports fields and the northern Wellington open-space network.

Its use for paintball is documented from at least February 2001.

The facility was located on land administered by Wellington City Council and subsequently occupied by P8NT Limited after the 2008 business acquisition. [1][3]

The location later became associated with a playing field known as Isolation Hill.

Pomare

A later business operating as Tag Paintball also maintained a paintball playing area in Pomare, Lower Hutt.

The field was known as Hostility Creek.

The site occupied a valley setting, contrasting with the exposed ridge-top environment of Isolation Hill in Grenada North.

Both facilities were later described in the published history of Paintball Corp. [5]

Acquisition by Paintball Corp

Paintball Corp was established in Wellington by Richard Renfrew and Ratu Mataira, opening an indoor paintball facility on Willis Street in June 2012.

The company's published business history records that Renfrew and Mataira subsequently acquired a competing operation known as Tag Paintball.

At the time of the acquisition, Tag Paintball operated two outdoor playing fields:

Hostility Creek, Pomare
Isolation Hill, Grenada North

Paintball Corp reported that both sites required extensive maintenance and refurbishment.

The company described restoring the playing areas and repairing or replacing equipment inherited through the acquisition. [5]

Following the closure of Paintball Corp's Willis Street indoor field in late 2015, the business concentrated its operations on the two outdoor locations.

Paintball Corp subsequently continued developing the facilities under its own brand.

The available business history does not identify the exact date of the Tag Paintball acquisition or establish the legal relationship between the later Tag Paintball operation, Tag Wargames Limited and P8NT Limited.

Company status

Although the Tag War Games business had changed operators, Tag Wargames Limited remained on the New Zealand Companies Register for several years.

The company was removed from the register on 29 September 2022.

Its removal is documented in a subsequent New Zealand Treasury notice concerning property vested in the Crown following company deregistration. [6]

The company's removal date should not be interpreted as the date on which paintball activities ended at the former Tag War Games locations, which had subsequently been operated by other businesses.

References

Tararua Tramping Club. "Takapu Road - Outer Town Belt - Korokoro Stream." 11 February 2001. Contemporary account published in the Tararua Tramper, August 2001, identifying the Tag Wargames site at Grenada North.
InfoProff. "New Zealand companies registered on 21 February 2002." Historical registration listing identifying Tag Wargames Limited, company number 1185627.
Wellington City Council. "Community, Sport and Recreation Committee Agenda." 16 September 2015, item 2.1. Documents P8NT Limited's occupation of Caribbean Drive Reserve from 2009, the preceding Tag Wargames Limited lease and proposals for a new ground lease.
Wellington City Council. "Granting of a New Ground Lease to P8NT Limited." 13 May 2009. Records Martin Dannefaerd's acquisition of the former Tag War Games business in 2008.
Paintball Corp. "Paintball Corp Biography." Historical account describing the acquisition of Tag Paintball by Richard Renfrew and Ratu Mataira, the Hostility Creek and Isolation Hill fields, and their subsequent refurbishment.
New Zealand Treasury. "Notice of Vesting of Property Under Section 324 of the Companies Act 1993." 22 December 2025. Identifies Tag Wargames Limited, company number 1185627, as removed on 29 September 2022.

External links