The 'How Did Your Airsoft Day Go? Thread

[gavinkempsell]

At My local site Players of War Airsoft I'm sure all snipers are bolt action only, everything else whether single shot or not is max 360fps. I beleve new snipers are monitored by a marshall until allowed to go out alone (usual med applies too).

Don't think there are any gillie rules.

 

[Colin Allen]

This morning, the lad and I went to one of our regular sites, Airsoft Plantation, over in Essex, along with 228 other players.  Fortunately, the safe zone and the site are big enough to cope with such a large number of players and the marshals ensured that turn around times between games were as short as possible.

We started off with an extraction game.  The other team (Blue) had 14 forward operatives in seven vehicles in the mortar pits; they had to extract as many of them as possible and get them back to their start point on the edge of the village, which was also their regen point.  We (Red) had to prevent them doing so by shooting the forward operatives and generally delaying the Blues.  Our start point and regen were at the DEA Base.  This was a fast and furious game with engagements all through the scrubland and across the mortar pits, with the initiative swinging to and fro.  Eventually, the Blues managed to get eight live forward operatives back to their regen, with six being killed.

After a short break to refill mags, the game was turned around, with us taking our turn to try to extract 14 forward operatives, one of whom was the lad, who was in the back of the Bedford; he died very quickly and regened as a regular player, while I was fighting in the scrubland with a group who were trying to cut the Blues' route between the DEA Base and the mortar pits.  We got news that seven of our forward operatives had made it to the village, along with six dead ones; one was still in play and, if we could get him out in time, we would win.  He was successfully extracted and made it back to the village in a time that was four minutes and thirty six seconds shorter than the blues had managed for the same number of live operatives; victory!

After another short break, we headed into the woods to start a fallback came; as defenders, we had two lives in the woods, two in and around the village and two in the scrubland.  The enemy had infinite regens on a marshal and had to get one of 14 players with yellow armbands into the plane in the DEA Base.  I took up a position on the left of our first defensive position and we had a super fight with the enemy, holding them up for a very long time before finally being overrun and pushed back to a second defensive position where we did the same thing again.  Being hit again there, I, along with many of my colleagues, fell back to the village, where we held up the enemy until the game ended with them far from achieving their objective.

After lunch, we played a game where we, as the attackers, had to fight our way into the village from the firebreak, capture 14 players with yellow armbands (is anyone seeing a pattern here?) and get them back to our our marshal on the firebreak within a specified time.  I missed the beginning of this game due to a couple of annoying but minor gun issues and only managed to join in while we were pushing into the village.  After a hard fight, the 14 players were captured and delivered within the specified time.  Victory again!

Then came the reverse of the fallback game; we soon discovered how difficult it was to push through such a large enemy force and found ourselves bogged down.  The lad and I joined a group on our far right and, massively assisted by the lad's controlled aggression and training, forced our way forward along the site boundary, opening up the enemy's flank and helping push them back to the environs of the village, where our attack stalled somewhat and we ran out of time, as had the Blues earlier.

Thus, fallback ended as a draw.

Overall, it was one of the best days that we have had at Airsoft Plantation, with the games being played hard but fairly, with some great play on both sides.

Weapons used:

Me:
Ares L1A1
Real Sword QBZ97
ASG Commander XP18 (CO2)

The lad:
LCT AKMS
G&G AK47/AKM hybrid
ASG Commander XP18 (CO2)
Dynatex grenade (x2)
 

 

[Davet]

Been a few months due to work, school exams, date conflicts, etc, but finally got a day at Adrenalin North Yorks with the boy.

A torrential downpour half an hour before start didn’t put the good turnout off, as the sun came out and the winds dried everything bar some of the usual soggy bits fairly quickly and it warmed up nicely.

Of all the sites we’ve visited, I really like Adrenalin because of its size (127 acres) and the well developed infrastructure, even when the games are area specific, it doesn’t feel like you’re hemmed in and there’s scope to be sneaky and try to flank.

Warm up was a simple clear the village against the clock. Bands (us) went first with no-bands putting up a spirited but ultimately futile defence. A quick swap and no-bands were on the offensive but, again, they were held well by the bands. 22 minutes to clear for no-bands, 14 minutes for bands. One - nil to bands…

Next game was Rendition - TF capture the terrorist leader from the baddies and get them “to ze chopper”. Bands first and it was a lot closer this time, two lads from no-bands with a mortar trying to flank the village focussed a lot of the bands on trying to prevent the break-in while another group tried to get the bad dude out. Swap over after hot dogs for lunch, rebalance teams as some folk had to head home, and it was more of the same, but with bands as the baddies this time. We’d finally rectified radio issues so the boy and I were able to coordinate a couple of small groups from different points of the village. Not sure how this one ended up to be fair!

Last game, Suicide Bomber - escort the bomber and get them into the fort. Bands as the baddies first, using the whole width of the site to draw fire and TF out of the fort onto the flanks meant the bomber got to the fort fairly quickly and, with a helping leg up, over the perimeter and into the objective. Swapsies time and bands became TF, same again, using the width of the site by the no-bands but a very patient few of us anticipated their route, laid up in depth and ambushed them repeatedly as they tried to push the flank - no joy for them in the end. Bands win, two - nil (I think!) to bands on the day.

A great day, well marshalled and good sportsmanship from everybody, on a really good site. It’s a decent drive for us - hour plus, and an early start for the teenager, but well worth it.

 

[LMKipper]

I believe that Imperium have gone even further with only bolt action wielding snipers being allowed to wear ghillie suits and DMR users being restricted to a snood.

I agree that it is a good rule.

Ah that is interesting. I've started playing again after a fairly long hiatus and I've certainly noticed a lot more folks in ghillies generally compared to when I used to play. They seemed quite rare at the time, whereas the last couple of games I've been to there have been five or six out of 100 players - only two of those had bolties. I did wonder if the success of a few ghillie wearing YouTubers had something to do with it.

 

[Badgerlicious]

I did wonder if the success of a few ghillie wearing YouTubers had something to do with it.

Likely. It's also much easier to buy a good quality ghillie and materials these days. Crafting and field craft still take work, but it's a lot easier than building a full custom ghillie with BDUs and netting, and having to dye your own materials. 

 

[LMKipper]

Likely. It's also much easier to buy a good quality ghillie and materials these days. 

Ah very true. I remember it taking days cutting up hessian sacks, dyeing them then stitching it to an oversuit… 

 

[Nick G]

Had a fun day yesterday. Numbers were low , mainly due to the weather warning I suspect, but fast ,punchy games including a couple of 30 minute back to back ones . So lots of fast tactical play, all very good natured and a total blast all round.

Gave my new Golden eagle polymer 417 an outing, it's going to end up as a DMR , but wanted to give it a run as is to try and got some good kills with it. And my GBB L119 got its usual run out .

 

[Davet]

Likely. It's also much easier to buy a good quality ghillie and materials these days. Crafting and field craft still take work, but it's a lot easier than building a full custom ghillie with BDUs and netting, and having to dye your own materials. 

Although some people expect ghillies to make you instantly invisible, as opposed to simple, good fieldcraft - I was wearing nothing other than normal combats and a helmet and, with careful fieldcraft and patience, managed to ambush groups regularly, they were getting within 10 metres and not seeing me…

 

[Badgerlicious]

Although some people expect ghillies to make you instantly invisible, as opposed to simple, good fieldcraft - I was wearing nothing other than normal combats and a helmet and, with careful fieldcraft and patience, managed to ambush groups regularly, they were getting within 10 metres and not seeing me…

Yup, you can get away with a lot by keeping low and staying still. I've gone unnoticed in a hawaiian shirt, apparently blending in with the local flamingos ? Though my favourite thing with a ghillie is to hide in some silly, obvious places, with the enemy sometimes literally standing on you. I view them as a multiplier for your level of visibility. 

 

[Hatchet]

Did not play as I had non-airsoft plans (surely not!) and was mildly annoyed that the first sunny day is the one that I'm not free. Then remembered that my leg is buggered anyway so it would have made no difference.

The Ghillie discussion is probably one for another topic, since there's bound to be quite a lot of opinion on it. I have to say I'd be in favour of fewer of them and this comes purely from personal gameplay observations.

1 - Many ghillies with HPA M4's where you can no longer see or hear your opponent can lead to an awful lot of stalemates where nobody can advance (depending on the site layout/games). Like many things, it's hilarious when *you're* lying invisibly in a bush silently murdering everyone, but gets a lot less entertaining when everyone's doing it.

2 - Hit taking. Normally when having issues with hit taking the standard process is "This player, wearing this camo, with this rig and this type of helmet, using this gun - I believe was not taking his hits". This now becomes "Someone in a ghillie", which makes it a lot harder to resolve issues when there's 10 of them.

But, we'll see how it plays out. Probably still plenty of sites there that don't mind you doing it whilst you wear your armbands on your feet, etc. if that's your thing.

 

[Tackle]

Did not play as I had non-airsoft plans (surely not!) and was mildly annoyed that the first sunny day is the one that I'm not free. Then remembered that my leg is buggered anyway so it would have made no difference.

The Ghillie discussion is probably one for another topic, since there's bound to be quite a lot of opinion on it. I have to say I'd be in favour of fewer of them and this comes purely from personal gameplay observations.

1 - Many ghillies with HPA M4's where you can no longer see or hear your opponent can lead to an awful lot of stalemates where nobody can advance (depending on the site layout/games). Like many things, it's hilarious when *you're* lying invisibly in a bush silently murdering everyone, but gets a lot less entertaining when everyone's doing it.

Seem to remember either imperium or invicta battlefield, both in Kent, have a rule that limits the number of gillies per side AND can only be used in conjunction with a basr. 

https://imperiumairsoft.com/airsoft-rules/

 

[Impulse]

Although some people expect ghillies to make you instantly invisible, as opposed to simple, good fieldcraft - I was wearing nothing other than normal combats and a helmet and, with careful fieldcraft and patience, managed to ambush groups regularly, they were getting within 10 metres and not seeing me…

Playing Vietnam airsoft really forces you to have good fieldcraft. Ambushing GIs in all black, which doesn't blend in well in a woodland at all, requires good fieldcraft for sure. Saying that, I'm putting a bit more olive into my VC kit...

EDIT: I've made another thread to continue the ghillie discussion, so we don't take over this thread

 

[Skullchewer]

Bit bloody windy yesterday, but still a good turn out. However, even though it was pointed out in the brief that the wind would affect accuracy, there was a lot of claims about hit taking, and for the most part it was just the usual cases of people thinking they're better shots than they are. 

One guy was talked to about hit taking, and after that he was definitely playing fair. 

Put a lot of miles on the clock, and really feeling it today. 

And remember, your friends dump pouch always works as a bin. 

View attachment 127115

 

[SheriffHD]

Had a disappointing day over at Gunman's Battle Lakes but still enjoyed myself.

I'll start with what I liked - the marshalls were great, friendly and quick to reply to any questions I had prior to the day. The guys playing were grey guys. Only one concern with hit taken which was handled well. No over shooting and no excessive face shots. People seem to PID alot here and it makes for a better day. (Unlike other sites where people will full auto a bush and traumatise a poor squirrel if it rattles too suspiciously) 

Arriving at the site it has a good sized car park but the (un)safezone had concerns. You'll see a nice building which has heated toilets but quickly informed that they no longer have access to the building so players are forced in an uncovered garden which had one small canvas tent housing 4 people. Luckily it didn't rain as it'll mean all your gear getting soaked with no cover. And not alot of seating available either so if it's a busy day probably better to load out at your car instead.

And instead of a shooting range told to stand by the entrance of the safezone and shoot at target in the field between car park and the safezone with no barriers of protection from any accidental misfires in the wrong direction. 

Anyway. The day it self. They operate filmsim rules so there's an element of roleplay. Also use classes with ammo limits which I'd like to see at more sites (no full auto unless you're a HMG for bursts only) and only basr allowed to ghilly up.

Games had several elements to them and sub objectives to complete which if there were more numbers would of been great but as we had about 16 a side on such a good size map it made for slow fighting. Respawns were a movable flag moved by each team so talking to each other to know where we could respawn was a good idea to keep teams together with a main fixed spawn further back.

Gameplay involved a nuke to recover and several drones around the map to retrieve. And to access the nuke we had to find letter around the map and solve the codeword to release the nuke for moving. I think because the class roles they implement here it meant there was very little overshooting and people were amazing at positive IDing targets before shooting. Why is that so uncommon now days I don't know but it's nice to see. 

I managed to get a good few rushes and get a few guys out which I was happy with.

The day ended on a very disappointing note though. Got to about 3pm and it just seemed like there were no-one pushing the objectives. So mate an I roamed the entire map and didn't see a single person and that was sticking to the main choke points too. Turned out all but 2 guys on the enemy team decided to call it quits and normally when stuff like that happens the marshalls intervene and make changes but no such luck on this day so everyone iust waddled back and called it a day.

I've always heard good things about battle lakes but based on that experience, while there was positives. The disappointment is hard to shake so wouldn't visit there again.

 

[Colin Allen]

Had a disappointing day over at Gunman's Battle Lakes but still enjoyed myself.

I'll start with what I liked - the marshalls were great, friendly and quick to reply to any questions I had prior to the day. The guys playing were grey guys. Only one concern with hit taken which was handled well. No over shooting and no excessive face shots. People seem to PID alot here and it makes for a better day. (Unlike other sites where people will full auto a bush and traumatise a poor squirrel if it rattles too suspiciously) 

Arriving at the site it has a good sized car park but the (un)safezone had concerns. You'll see a nice building which has heated toilets but quickly informed that they no longer have access to the building so players are forced in an uncovered garden which had one small canvas tent housing 4 people. Luckily it didn't rain as it'll mean all your gear getting soaked with no cover. And not alot of seating available either so if it's a busy day probably better to load out at your car instead.

And instead of a shooting range told to stand by the entrance of the safezone and shoot at target in the field between car park and the safezone with no barriers of protection from any accidental misfires in the wrong direction. 

Anyway. The day it self. They operate filmsim rules so there's an element of roleplay. Also use classes with ammo limits which I'd like to see at more sites (no full auto unless you're a HMG for bursts only) and only basr allowed to ghilly up.

Games had several elements to them and sub objectives to complete which if there were more numbers would of been great but as we had about 16 a side on such a good size map it made for slow fighting. Respawns were a movable flag moved by each team so talking to each other to know where we could respawn was a good idea to keep teams together with a main fixed spawn further back.

Gameplay involved a nuke to recover and several drones around the map to retrieve. And to access the nuke we had to find letter around the map and solve the codeword to release the nuke for moving. I think because the class roles they implement here it meant there was very little overshooting and people were amazing at positive IDing targets before shooting. Why is that so uncommon now days I don't know but it's nice to see. 

I managed to get a good few rushes and get a few guys out which I was happy with.

The day ended on a very disappointing note though. Got to about 3pm and it just seemed like there were no-one pushing the objectives. So mate an I roamed the entire map and didn't see a single person and that was sticking to the main choke points too. Turned out all but 2 guys on the enemy team decided to call it quits and normally when stuff like that happens the marshalls intervene and make changes but no such luck on this day so everyone iust waddled back and called it a day.

I've always heard good things about battle lakes but based on that experience, while there was positives. The disappointment is hard to shake so wouldn't visit there again.

It is a strange site.  I used to play and marshal there at one time; while it has some great terrain, with large numbers it becomes massively channeled, while with small numbers if turns into hiking with guns.

The old safe zone was great, with the interior and exterior space in use and much larger marquees outside.  However, as a marshal, clearing up all the mud and crap indoors after everyone had gone home was a pain.  I went there a couple of years ago and was somewhat disappointed by the safezone and the gameplay.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Sunday at Special Ops "The Fireplace"

My second trip to Carlos's new CQB site, and this one went better - I didn't get lost on the way, I didn't forget anything, I took less stuff (maybe connected to the previous point), and I had some better idea what to expect

Considering my knee is knackered at the moment, I went a bit brave and booked in for the full day - £35 for 9:30 - 18:00

I'm a bit crap at remembering and describing actual gameplay so I'll just throw some thoughts at ya...

• Carlos has put together a decent playbook of games already
  
• He's put together a mildly amusing briefing video that gets all his usual info across in a nippy 10 minutes
  
• The helicopter helps block some of the line of sight to the first spawn, but it's still eminently 'trappable' by a good team
  
• 'Chopper' jokes might get old when everyone is doing them 
  
• Grenades are fun    Except when it doesn't go off, and you have to make The Walk Of Shame to retrieve it!
  
• A full day is a long time if you forget to take a packed lunch (only 'food' available: crisps, choccies and Pot Noodles)
  
• The 4-a-side mini tournament at the end of the day was great fun whilst you're playing, but the winner-stays-on style means there's a fair bit of waiting around.   Some people bailed out, I was tempted myself as I could barely get up off the floor where I'd been resting.
  
• There were some long delays - Jet (for it that is his appellation) got his miniature scales out and checked everyone's BB's to make sure no-one was exceeding the 0.25 limit.  The lunchtime changeover dragged on a bit due to stragglers, as did some end-of-game bomb-ups.  Still, by lunchtime I was already grateful for the breathers, but others might have been annoyed.
  
• Hit-taking was mostly good, but a couple of annoying instances of having to pump multiple shots at people to make them "admit to the hit".
  

This 'ere fat bloke running with a brick of Colombia's Finest Marching Powder, retrieved from that there heli-chopper

https://www.facebook.com/100060685493832/videos/pcb.933626975336810/7277546335698561

This chap sitting In Da Chopppppppaaa pinned us down for a while.   I made a run and chucked my grenade perfectly in and got him

https://www.facebook.com/100060685493832/videos/pcb.933626975336810/435840382287286

"Consult the Book Of Armaments"

The main thing is I went with the strongest possible intention to run my Tippmann for it's first proper game (I've had it 2 years already) - and it worked (in every sense!)

Yay!  

This was my first experience of running an HPA system, and the tank and line weren't nearly as troubling as I suspected they might be - once I'd fed the line through my shoulder straps to keep it closer to my body.  And swapped the tank from a belt pouch that wasn't designed for such a bulky / heavy item to a lightweight rucksack.
The Tippmann was great - plenty of 'bang' with every shot, it really is the next best thing to a proper GBBR. 
It was also my first game with a tracer unit.   Carlos is selling 2000x0.25g Bio tracers for £13 which seemed a pretty decent price, considering.  I did get through ~3000 during the day (I took some Vorsk ones I'd already bought from Amazon, they were fine).   Tracers proved damned useful in the dim lighting for getting the hop and sights sorted out (or allowing you to still hit stuff even when they're not!), and when Carlos dimmed the lights further in the late afternoon, those green streaks of light sure looked purdy

I also took along my proven faves - the VFC HK416 GBBR (every shot remains a joyful experience), which I used until I exhausted my gas can.  And of course the DE M906C Old Faithful (which in comparison to the other gats really showed it shoots like a frickin' laser beam - especially impressive with the tracers).  Shame the thing currently screeches like a cat being run over by a steamroller, even after my attempts at adjusting the motor height.  No wonder the motor got a little toasty again.   I need Luke to fix it up for me.  

The HPA experience means I'm really quite likely to buy an Airtac adapter for my '416 now... the realistic gas mag changes are fun, but my 'speedloader' didn't exactly live up to its name (it's getting very graunchy), and with only 3 working mags I wasn't quite on it.   I think the adapter plus a bunch of (relatively dirt-cheap) mid-caps instead will be a decent compromise.  

All in all a very good day

 

[Dan Robinson]

Chopper' jokes might get old when everyone is doing them

The struggle was real I have to admit.  Nice to hear they're experimenting with the lights.  I won't be able to go for at least 3 weeks now sadly due to travelling.... hopefully by then though, lunches will be resumed or the woodland site back open.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

The struggle was real I have to admit.  Nice to hear they're experimenting with the lights.  I won't be able to go for at least 3 weeks now sadly due to travelling.... hopefully by then though, lunches will be resumed or the woodland site back open.

Well, the exciting news that I forgot to mention is that 

1. The woodland site resembles a sea more than a wood.  So that won't be usable until the sun's out for a good long period to dry it out

2. But Carlos is opening a new woodland site (as an addition!), and it's next to the CQB site - sharing the same safe zone.   So if you want to mix up CQB and a bit of full-auto or sniping, it'll be do-able!

3.  And the CQB site will be doing sensor targets, room clearances, and maybe some fun nerf / gel blaster / pistol / shotgun things too

 

[Dan Robinson]

But Carlos is opening a new woodland site (as an addition!), and it's next to the CQB site - sharing the same safe zone.   So if you want to mix up CQB and a bit of full-auto or sniping, it'll be do-able

I remember that being discussed a while a go so that's good news.  I wonder if we'll be able to commandeer a horse for some high speed charges.

 

[The_Lord_Poncho]

Superb evening last night at Invicta Blacksite (CQB). The changes they have made in the past few months to the layouts, including knocking more crawl holes through walls etc have really helped ease choke points and allow some sneaky indoor flanks! Great fun, good game play, and as ever, easy to strike up a conversation and rapport with the regulars and newbies alike. Cracking way to spend a Wednesday evening which would otherwise have been alternatively spent inevitably falling asleep in front of youtube nonsense. But my god those finger and neck hits still hurt today!