Colin Allen
Members
- Aug 27, 2022
- 2,435
- 3,243
Today, I took a rare trip down to deepest Kent for a FilmSim at Gunman's Battle Lakes, a site that I once played at regularly and where I also marshalled for a couple of years with the best marshalling team ever.
Checking in was quick and efficient and it was great to have a chat with Tony/Val, the site manager, who I had not seen for ages.
Chronoing was equally efficient and, after the usual entertaining safety brief and game brief, which was based on the film The Rock, which I have never seen, we set off for the morning's half of the game. This required us to gather items needed to produce VX missiles, transport them to our base and defend them from the other team, who wanted to prevent us doing so. The VX was represented by a number of water bombs, which had to be collected and stored together in a number of long tubular containers for transport. If one of the water bombs burst, everyone within a 5m radius was dead. There were a lot of other nuances, but that was the core of the game.
If you were hit, you could be regened by a colleague, who could also drag you out of the line of fire; you could also try to crawl away. However, doing either of these made you a viable target again. Once you had been hit, the next hit sent you back to your regen, of which there were two, a fixed one and a portable mobile one.
With around 40 or so players on a very large and very wooded site, this was always going to be a game with lots of encounters, firefights, surprises and changes of fortune and so it proved. As the first Duke of Wellington noted, "The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the greatest result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference to their value or importance."
My memories of the morning are of multiple memorable firefights won and lost, being surprised by the enemy, surprising the enemy, encountering Gary with blood streaming down his face, trying to work out if "those guys over there" were friendly or not, and of the heat; did I mention that it was really, really hot?
Unfortunately, a great morning of airsoft had to come to an end and we all adjourned to the safe zone for luncheon. At Battle Lakes, lunch can be ordered from the nearby cafe in the morning and is then delivered to the site; I took pizza.
The afternoon's game was based on us having secured enough VX for three missiles, which were located around the site. The enemy had to neutralise them; if they did so, we could reactivate them if someone with the appropriate card could get to one. At the start, the other team were all in the kill house with one life; after they were killed there, they left the structure and reverted to the normal regen rules. I did ask if this meant that we could just ignore them and spend the afternoon quietly guarding our missiles, but we had to fight them there. Some of our team went straight for the kill house while the rest of us went to defend the missiles; I headed for the fuel dump because I like it there, and dug into a favourite position under a stunted tree/large bush. After a while of not a lot happening, the enemy began to attack us; we repulsed three attacks but, after the third one, I was the only defender left. Another attack came in, during which I hit three of them, but one of the remaining two took me out with a grenade.
At our regen, I met up with a team mate and we set off to see how much chaos we could create; the answer was quite a lot! We spent the rest of the afternoon ambushing groups of the enemy, getting into great firefights, walking to and from regen and generally enjoying ourselves until the game ended.
I have no idea who won and don't really care.
It was an excellent and fun day of airsoft. With low numbers on a large site, it was very different from the average skirmish day and made a nice change. I think both Gary and Sam would happily go back, even though it is a long journey for them, so I am sure we will return. The day was very well organised, well structured and was played in a very good spirit. Many thanks to Tony/Val for putting it together and for still providing the best briefings in airsoft.
Weapons used
MPiKM
MPiKMS
ASG XP18 Commander (CO2)
Checking in was quick and efficient and it was great to have a chat with Tony/Val, the site manager, who I had not seen for ages.
Chronoing was equally efficient and, after the usual entertaining safety brief and game brief, which was based on the film The Rock, which I have never seen, we set off for the morning's half of the game. This required us to gather items needed to produce VX missiles, transport them to our base and defend them from the other team, who wanted to prevent us doing so. The VX was represented by a number of water bombs, which had to be collected and stored together in a number of long tubular containers for transport. If one of the water bombs burst, everyone within a 5m radius was dead. There were a lot of other nuances, but that was the core of the game.
If you were hit, you could be regened by a colleague, who could also drag you out of the line of fire; you could also try to crawl away. However, doing either of these made you a viable target again. Once you had been hit, the next hit sent you back to your regen, of which there were two, a fixed one and a portable mobile one.
With around 40 or so players on a very large and very wooded site, this was always going to be a game with lots of encounters, firefights, surprises and changes of fortune and so it proved. As the first Duke of Wellington noted, "The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the greatest result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference to their value or importance."
My memories of the morning are of multiple memorable firefights won and lost, being surprised by the enemy, surprising the enemy, encountering Gary with blood streaming down his face, trying to work out if "those guys over there" were friendly or not, and of the heat; did I mention that it was really, really hot?
Unfortunately, a great morning of airsoft had to come to an end and we all adjourned to the safe zone for luncheon. At Battle Lakes, lunch can be ordered from the nearby cafe in the morning and is then delivered to the site; I took pizza.
The afternoon's game was based on us having secured enough VX for three missiles, which were located around the site. The enemy had to neutralise them; if they did so, we could reactivate them if someone with the appropriate card could get to one. At the start, the other team were all in the kill house with one life; after they were killed there, they left the structure and reverted to the normal regen rules. I did ask if this meant that we could just ignore them and spend the afternoon quietly guarding our missiles, but we had to fight them there. Some of our team went straight for the kill house while the rest of us went to defend the missiles; I headed for the fuel dump because I like it there, and dug into a favourite position under a stunted tree/large bush. After a while of not a lot happening, the enemy began to attack us; we repulsed three attacks but, after the third one, I was the only defender left. Another attack came in, during which I hit three of them, but one of the remaining two took me out with a grenade.
At our regen, I met up with a team mate and we set off to see how much chaos we could create; the answer was quite a lot! We spent the rest of the afternoon ambushing groups of the enemy, getting into great firefights, walking to and from regen and generally enjoying ourselves until the game ended.
I have no idea who won and don't really care.
It was an excellent and fun day of airsoft. With low numbers on a large site, it was very different from the average skirmish day and made a nice change. I think both Gary and Sam would happily go back, even though it is a long journey for them, so I am sure we will return. The day was very well organised, well structured and was played in a very good spirit. Many thanks to Tony/Val for putting it together and for still providing the best briefings in airsoft.
Weapons used
MPiKM
MPiKMS
ASG XP18 Commander (CO2)
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