Tactical Pith Helmet

At risk of seeming pedantic, the logic of the saying is apparent when one remembers that 'prove' and 'test' are synonyms e.g. proving ground/test ground meaning the same thing.

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Give a man a poisonous fish, and he eats for a lifetime!

Now that would have bloody funny!

Jeans and shirt were clever. I expect that a lot of Tet Offensive VC dressed similar. Black cargoes and hoody are definitely not 70s though.

The first iteration of canvas Nam boot was canvas plus shaped leather toe and heel for rigidity. The leather eyelets, leather foot box, and thick heel to bridge strap was added for ankle support and to avoid foot fatigue. In modern boots the 'canvas' is polyester or similar and quick dry and wicking. The leather adds strength and shape. I succumbed to a pair of German jungle boots after finding a pair in my weird size. They are crap on a bike though. Your feet would be eaten by the road in a spill.

I think that the best load out was the civilian in jeans and plain blue shirt. I expect that is how millions of urban Vietnamese dressed in the 1970s! See you the weekend (until the game starts and you disappear...)

Sierra Bravo Airsoft - Op Yarra 3-4/6/23 Ultimate Wargames Kent Another in the Namsoft series of games, this one has a difference in that the game revolves around Australian involvement in Vietnam. Teams were therefore Australian SAS, Australian Infantry and a pair of New Zealanders versus the usual array of VC and PAVN players. A few civilians hung around the village too, and play an increasingly important role in the games too. The site is a woodland site with some well-constructed buildings, and a CQB area that comprises of steel fencing dumped old crap cars etc. The safe zone is central and splits the site in two. The main half is very pleasant, the CQB side less so, but a good game space none the less. We arrived to the first shock, which was that bugger all people were there. Our usual group of lunatics number about a dozen or so, only three of us made the trip this time. Mrs TPH was ill, so it would have been four. I think that this was due to the game next week at Gunman being so close. Personally, I’ll keep the gear in the car and just charge the batteries up again. The teams were fifteen a side booked on, slightly less in attendance. Friday night was a good laugh, very laid back and I ended up reading for half an hour before bed. Mao on rural warfare was a good primer for the morning I thought. Briefing was brief, informal and stuck to the basics. Each rif chronoed was recorded. Any late changes and I doubt that you’d be covered by site insurance. Quite right to. With regular players in attendance, only the basics needed saying. Most players were on first name terms. Saturday started with a simple game setting out boxes to respawn with. These had to be hidden well and intelligently. We manged to set out five or so out of a minimum of eleven, avoiding the enemy all of the time. Each had to be guarded for ten minutes after placement and this was achieved, the coordinates marked and relayed to control. After years of playing together we're finally getting our basic act together re: comms and maps - hurrah. Next up, we fancied some trigger time. We set off in what we guessed was the location of the enemy only to blunder into them. They got the drop, we ran away like schoolgirls, except myself, who manfully hid in a holly bush after a strategic retreat of thirty yards (I wasn’t awake enough to run…) I waited to cover the retreating VC only to hear them blunder into another patrol that must have been following us! I sat tight and the pursuing SAS team made straight along the main track in a huddle. Ho ho ho Chi Minh… I let rip with the RPK and sent them legging it in turn. By this time, someone had the presence of mind to order us all back into the centre of the site out of the Australian pincer. Final score two VC wounded for several Aus dead according to our radio. Next up we set up two boxes of high value in the CQB zone and waited. And waited. For almost an hour nothing happened. I then decided that the only part of the site not covered must hold the other team, so I set off, collecting someone with the same vague intention as myself. We soon bumped the Aus squad, and exchanged fire, radioing in our position. We were told to pull out and so did, firing as we went. The time was up for the Aus to attack and so we legged it with both boxes intact and a second leg won. Third game was an attack on the Vietnamese village that we had to repulse. This went well, we decided to defend a few small strong points rather than randomly defend a few. I set up in the upstairs of the corner building along with three other players. One covered the stairs. After a while we heard someone enter downstairs. They could have easily shot a sentry so our plan was a good one. Then things got strange. Our comrade fired a shot that followed by a blood curdling scream and a loud series of thuds. Someone shouted ‘cease fire.’ A civilian player ran over with a chair, fearing a broken lower limb from the stair fally noises. We looked over the banisters to see someone holding their head and shaking. They suddenly exploded into a series of shouts that they had been badly hosed with BBs and that they were in great pain. FFS, they’d been hit with a single BB… With much effort we didn’t laugh but consoled the person that they had been hit with a single BB and advised that they go and lay down which they and the rest of the SAS squad did. The ASAS reenactors are a decent bunch, but they do miss the point sometimes. The next minute, the police station exploded with noise as a mammoth pyro battle ensued. I ran out of bangs and feared that I’d run out of BBs for the first time ever. It was one intense set to, and to be honest, I was glad that I was watching the noise from another building. One of the civvies had a blank firing MP40 and was adding to the noise and confusion with 9mm blanks. The ‘nade throwing was pretty accurate and we out threw the Aus team in the end. Much ear rubbing ensued. We then all sat down and swapped fags, drank water, and did a post-mortem on the stairs incident in case any of us were dreaming. We rebalanced sides with a couple of ‘picked volunteers.’ Next up was an attack on the main Aus base. This was important as it was the last game of a hot and long days airsofting. Luckily, our spawn boxes were all unfound at that end of the site, so we had little distance to run, although we still had the five minute bleed out time. We really threw ourselves at the fort. I set up in decent cover and really did suppress the oppo side. A pal with a DMR set up to my left, swearing that I drew too much attention with my timed bursts. They shot really well tbh. I did keep a few heads down. A few brave souls charged as we suppressed and did very well, getting into a few feet of range before engaging. We rolled the position up after a hell of a time though. It was really back and forth. I was about dry when we finally took the position. Sunday dawned warm and clear and we started late. The SAS team went home. We were down to six ANZACs versus eight VC. Three VC had to leave early so we left it at that. This was a fall back game with the Vietnamese chasing the Aus team from the fort. I can honestly say that this was some of my most memorable airsoft ever. We blundered into the Aus side at first, in a repeat of Saturday. Third game in a row that I’ve fucked up Sunday morning! I’ll change my brand of isotonic sports scotch I think… Next attempt we really tightened things up. I set up a spot to suppress from, the DMR guy held an overview at 45 degrees and we sent our rifleman in to draw fire, respawn and try again. Third attempt we got the two groups of two as they tried to do their fall back in rushes bit. Shot our son for the second time that weekend. Well satisfied. The next fall back was an attack on two blockhouses. This was classic airsoft too. I sneaked around the back and got to within feet of the window before being spotted and shot. The next attempt I took two others and we aced it. I was the only one un-hit , and managed to slide into blockhouse one through a window. I set up and listed as the second blockhouse put up a good fight. I laid down fire to have it returned well passed my position. They had not realised that the first blockhouse was in our possession. In time my BBs found their mark. The whole fight had taken so long that we decided to wrap up with one last scrap over the main base. I’ll leave it there (before we got beat) to say that it was truly classic airsoft, and one of my favourite days ever. Why drive four plus hours and camp just to play games that are not 100% different from normal if themed? Well… the gameplay was excellent. No cheat calling, no arguing (bizarre bollox on this occasion excepted), good hit taking, great atmosphere, fun social in the evening, nice food and company and a meet up with old friends. I much prefer doing a couple or one of these games a month March to November than skirmish silliness every couple of weeks, much as I loved my last skirmish game. I came home after little sleep and a lot of booze and exercise feeling refreshed and very mellow. The lad agreed that this was a very good game indeed. Mrs TPH well pissed off at missing things. No worries as next week we will roast the lick-spittle running dogs of the comprador capitalist class all over again on a different site. Cheers: just about everything. Best airsoft games ever AFAIK. Moans: getting a bit too loose on the loadout front. Get yourself some proper black PJs people. I’ve had mine for 17 years and trained kung fu in them thrice a week for twelve. They’re in a state tbh but they do look authentic. Likewise, leave the scrim wrapped M4 at home and borrow a gun if need be. A non-tactical AK74 will pass, we’re not stitch counters but make an effort. Du ban GI!

I spent the whole morning building a time machine – that’s four hours of my life I’m definitely getting back.

With your weird feet being the opposite in width to length scale to my weird feet, I'd go German in xx-wide.

My son destroys a pair in three years daily use with absolutely no care at all. The leather dries out and cracks in the end. The German jungle boots come in a HUGE range of widths and are the Rolls Royce of jungle boots. I use extra extra narrow 9s! About £50.

Welco Paruana are £28 new at Preppers Shop at the moment.

I heard a rumour that Cadbury's is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa.

Got a new job at the wheel factory. Got elected as the shop steward too. I'm now the official spokesperson.

I would think thrice before buying from anywhere with 'BB guns' in the title. I was extremely hacked off with their customer 'service.' Google them and see what comes up...

I've half a dozen of the things. My folding AK47 is beaten but still straight shooting. My full stock AK47 has been loaned to various friends of my son forever and still performs well. My metal bodied series are 100% A OK and Mrs TPH loves her AK74SU. I really rate them. The lad's CM.048 has been mistaken for an E&L or LCT more than once.

Bought one of those Welsh motorbikes today. It's a Rhondda 500.

My friends and I are having a competition between us, to see who can steal the most from our local pet shop. This week I managed to take the lead.

To err is human. To blame others shows management potential.

Depends on the type of game. I use a 1000mah over a whole weekend milsim/filmsim. CQB sees a 1500mah minimum in the rif and a spare in the pouch. I have a 2400mah for my support gun. I've never had to change a battery mid game.

My wife told me that the cat needed to be chipped. I only had a nine iron, but I still got it over the shed.

What with this and the scammer thread, it's turning into Agatha bloody Christie on here!

'Stop trying to scam people and get a job Moriarty, you lazy cunt.' The Hound of the Baskervilles - Conan Doyle Seriously mate, top job!

I've been meditating in the garden. I'm no fortune teller but my fuchsia looks bright.

My mate draws sketches of escaped prisoners for the police. He's a con artist.