Tried a new site, but by a regular host - RIFT: The Battery.
Numbers were fairly low - about 35ish on the Sunday, and the previous day was about 25-30 by all reports. So under half, but this really helped the gameplay. Only a couple of rentals, and only a handful of people who have been before, so a bulk of people were in the same boat.
It's an old Battery Hen house, so 4 large interconnecting hen houses in an H shape, with obstacles and props in the outdoors area. The site is CQB, but i like it as it's not all right angle turns and dark rooms (yes, there are portions of that) but there are also good lines of sight, multiple flanking positions and not just people stacking up on corners. No pyro, so you had to shoot your way out, and Single shot only, with a gentleman's agreement of no just shooting at a corner to pin people down or spamming the trigger, only shoot when you see them - this really helped people push up.
If you locked down a corridor or opening, there was opportunity for the opposition to fall back and find a path to sneak up behind you. Doors and paths changed with the games, which is a nice touch. Being young and fleet on foot was definitely an advantage, so everyone actually ran from the spawn points, rather than the usual of a few of them sprint off and the rest trundle up.
Blue team dominated the 1st game, so a few went to red to balance. Same story for the 2nd and 3rd, so by the afternoon, Reds had more bodies to try and make it competitive.
Staff, as always, were on it. Minimal no-calling hits, and only the odd "I got you, no you didn't", as the spawns were only a minute or so walk away, and everyone generally seemed in good spirits.
Overall a really good day, one of the best I had, thanks to the site. It had a nice balance of not being out ranged by snipers and DMR's, but not to close that you walked into someone around every bend and doorway.
Most of RIFTs site are based around Bucks/Beds/Oxon sort of area, so this one is a bit of a drive way in comparison out in central Essex, and even though it's not a financially viable, the lowish headcount really helped the gameplay and pushing up. I would need to see what it's like with a full compliment of 60 to see if it makes it better or worse.