Asomodai

I am not going to be baited down that rabbit path! I have plenty to say, but this is not the place to say it.
 

Just wanted to expand on it a little! Ultimately being poor is the most obvious route to crime. Unfortunately its obvious that having so many people in poverty is a political choice. Sadly we have had nearly 40 years of "business friendly" governments.
 

So not only are you trying to import without an easily provable valid defense, but you also want to commit Customs fraud? That wouldn't look great on the sport of Airsoft does it?

A valid UKARA needs to be written on the box of anything you import so that if customs find it in a random search, you can get it released easily. If you cant prove a valid defense the rifle can be destroyed and you in hot water legally. (Possible fine or sentence.)
 
UKARA is the one provable method of a defense that Border Force recognise and has a form of access to.
 
Read what happened to me and I was lucky enough to have a UKARA number on the box and could insist on them checking it as proof of my defense. 
 
https://airsoft-forums.uk/topic/47276-rs-t97-is-home/

So not only are you trying to import without an easily provable valid defense, but you also want to commit Customs fraud? That wouldn't look great on the sport of Airsoft does it?

A valid UKARA needs to be written on the box of anything you import so that if customs find it in a random search, you can get it released easily. If you cant prove a valid defense the rifle can be destroyed and you in hot water legally. (Possible fine or sentence.)
 
UKARA is the one provable method of a defense that Border Force recognise and has a form of access to.
 
Read what happened to me and I was lucky enough to have a UKARA number on the box and could insist on them checking it as proof of my defense. 
 
https://airsoft-forums.uk/topic/47276-rs-t97-is-home/

So not only are you trying to import without an easily provable valid defense, but you also want to commit Customs fraud? That wouldn't look great on the sport of Airsoft does it?

A valid UKARA needs to be written on the box of anything you import so that if customs find it in a random search, you can get it released easily. If you cant prove a valid defense the rifle can be destroyed and you in hot water legally. (Possible fine or sentence.)
 
UKARA is the one provable method of a defense that Border Force recognise and has a form of access to.
 
Read what happened to me and I was lucky enough to have a UKARA number on the box and could insist on them checking it as proof of my defense. 
 
https://airsoft-forums.uk/topic/47276-rs-t97-is-home/

So not only are you trying to import without an easily provable valid defense, but you also want to commit Customs fraud? That wouldn't look great on the sport of Airsoft does it?

A valid UKARA needs to be written on the box of anything you import so that if customs find it in a random search, you can get it released easily. If you cant prove a valid defense the rifle can be destroyed and you in hot water legally. (Possible fine or sentence.)
 
UKARA is the one provable method of a defense that Border Force recognise and has a form of access to.
 
Read what happened to me and I was lucky enough to have a UKARA number on the box and could insist on them checking it as proof of my defense. 
 
https://airsoft-forums.uk/topic/47276-rs-t97-is-home/

Yes and yes. There are still a few new stock plastic gearbox ones out there so need to be careful! 

Yes and yes. There are still a few new stock plastic gearbox ones out there so need to be careful! 

Reminds me of the terrible time I had as one of the first people to get the KWA/Umarex Gas Tavor. It just didnt work right out of the box. Venting gas all over the place, FPS was way too high. I cut my losses early on and sold at a fair loss. 
 
The Low end Umarex Sportline that I got after new for 80 euros was actually reasonable and since upgrading, one of my favourites. 

That is incorrect. The law states that a RIF or IF cannot be purchased by anyone under the age of 18. It does not matter if you have a defense. 
 
If your site says you can despite being under age then they are advising you wrong or you are interpreting what they say wrongly.

The only way you can get a black RIF is for someone who has a defense over the age of 18 gifts one to you. 

That is incorrect. The law states that a RIF or IF cannot be purchased by anyone under the age of 18. It does not matter if you have a defense. 
 
If your site says you can despite being under age then they are advising you wrong or you are interpreting what they say wrongly.

The only way you can get a black RIF is for someone who has a defense over the age of 18 gifts one to you. 

Site Name: Gunman Tuddenham
Contact details: 07711 774461
Website Address: https://www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GunmanTuddenham
Site Address: Cavenham Road, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds, IP28 6SE
 
This one is stretching the definition of SE Tour Review being that is so far north. But it was one of the first sites to advertise they were open for business due to Covid 19. I was joined by fellow AFUKer @Albiscuit to visit the site. We attended on 04/07/2020. 
 
You would be living under a rock if you haven't heard of the Gunman brand or sites. Well established and with a following. I had attended one of their events at Reforger last year, I was less then impressed of the running of the game that weekend, so was keen to see if that followed through onto one of their own sites. General reviews of Tuddenham are mixed, some going to far to say it was a bit bland. 
 
The site is a small mixed Urban/Woodland site in a relatively picturesque area, though the site itself is bordering on a massive pig farm. The site is in the middle of no where and is only really accessible by car. It is a site with some character, safe zone is in an old building based right next to the car park. It has a good mix of grassland, woodland and urban style CQB. There are a number of buildings on the south side called the village, the woodland and grassland was quite overgrown due to lack of use and had lots of Nettles/Stinging nettles. Elevation is minimal, though there is a gentle slope running up from the South and East to the safe zone. No water features. Short and medium distance engagement. 
 
Restricted numbers due to Covid 19. 
 
Good:
 
Marshalling: No complaints here. Marshalls were on it all day, made sure that people stuck to the rules and helped younger players out. Clearly a team who knew eachother quite well. 
 
Safety Brief: Quite a long safety brief, covered pretty much all aspects (Bar one that affected me, gunhits!) It was very comprehensive and included a COVID 19 section. 
 
 
Average: 
 
Play area: Whilst overgrown was quite varied. The urban aspect was interesting with multiple concrete buildings which are hidden amongst the undergrowth, multiple entrances and exits through windows and doorways. Adjacent to the Village was a set of storage containers, crates and barrels so you can flank around the buildings.
 
The woodland section was quite dense with low and high areas of vegetation. The grassland section was somewhat overgrown with long creepers and very mature nettles ready to sting! It was difficult to navigate some of the paths, but it did make things more interesting. 
 
Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in affect, however none of the guns were marked. AEG FPS limits are a 350FPS. DMR is a low 450FPS with 30m MED and a delayed follow up shot (Wait until the previous shot has landed before firing again) and Bolt actions are 500 with a 30m MED. Chronoing on whatever bb weight you brought. 
 
Value: £30 is a little steep for the site with no food, but not out of the ordinary. 
 
Shop: Had a small selection of pistols and rifles on display, a wide selection of BB weights (Geoffs) and gas. Perfectly fine, though nothing special. 
 
Parking/Safe zone: There was enough parking available for the 30 or so players that turned up. We were setting up out of the car due to COVID 19, could probably have held a few more cars had it been normal times. Parking was right next to the actual safe zone.
 
Clientele: Most people were quite friendly when playing. We bumped into AFUK stalwart @EvilMonkee after he asked after @Albiscuit's AFUK patch midway through the day. We stuck with him for a bit. There was a large team of MultiGlams on the site who got a bit frustrated, but otherwise no real problems with the clientele. Hit taking was average. Some good and some bad. 
 
Game modes: Were chosen to minimise contact, so were very simple games. We felt the second of the morning games didn't work quite so well, but the rest of the day went fine. 
 
Bad: 
 
Urban Rules: When playing in the buildings, if someone throws a grenade in one of the rooms, anyone who is in the building is dead. Even if you were in a completely different room altogether. It makes taking over buildings quite easy, removes the challenge and means there are very few firefights inside the buildings. We asked if this was because of Covid 19, but its a standard rule. We feel that nades should only kill whoever was in the room at that time. 
 
Conclusion: 
 
It was a fairly decent day, we had low expectations due to previous reviews and changes to the day because of Covid 19, but we had fun and came away with a smile on our faces. The site is overall fairly average with some nice bits. The biggest and easiest improvement that could be made is in the use of the buildings. If they can remove the current grenade rule we would definitely come back at least once more. 
 
Kudos to the Marshalling team for operating well in the COVID environment, we felt as safe as you can be during the day. 
 
This site is quite far for us as mentioned, it took about an hour and a half to get to from North London. (Not to mention the hour it takes me to get to North London from East London). There are other sites that does similar things better and for the same price. But if you live quite close to Tuddenham, it's definitely worth a visit for the urban section alone. 
 
Lovely to bump into @EvilMonkee as well! That was a surprise. 
 
Bullpup Watch: I do not recall seeing any at all. I didn't even bring any. 😕
 

 
 
 

Site Name: Dogtag Airsoft
Contact details: 01293 852131
Website Address: https://www.dogtagairsoft.co.uk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/airsoftdogtag/
Site Address: Holmbush Events, Faygate, West Sussex, RH12 4SE
 
@Albiscuit and I decided to do two weekends in a row! So on the hottest skirmish day of the year (09/08/2020) we trundled on down to Dogtag Airsoft in West Sussex. 
 
Dogtag Airsoft is a well established Airsoft site, based within a large section of beautiful Sussex Woodland surrounded by farmland. Its a mixed-use area in that they also host paintball and 4x4 experiences. The online reviews I found ahead of time were almost universally positive and looking at the website I was quite excited by what I saw. My expectations unlike many sites were quite high. Did it live up to the hype? Read on...
 
This is a Large woodland site, split into smaller sections. On occasion they will play whole site games, but today was a standard skirmish. The site has quite varied woodland terrain, lots of ground level ferns/bushes and tall trees giving excellent shade from the burning sun. There are pits, lots of good quality wooden structures and some more open areas. Short/Medium and some Long distance engagement here. 
 
Good:
 
Playing Area: As varied as you can get in woodland. There are multiple "Zones" (Though they weren't fenced off from each other like many paintball esq sites.) Started out in a small village going down a wooded hill with a dark high foliaged wood on one side and an area of thick bushes on the other with a road running through it. This then went into a large earth worked area with battlements, more buildings, pits and ended up in a heavily ferned open area with a large helicopter. This was just the morning. I did wish these sections early on was a bit wider in places as I found it difficult to get around the rear of the enemy without getting spotted. 

In the afternoon we headed out to the CQB area, which myself and Al can say with some certainty is the best bit out outdoor CQB we have seen in quite some time. Plenty of really good quality buildings, interesting sight lines. Lots of ferns inside the area and bushes around the outside to sneak in. It was very good fun. We ended the day in a fairly open area, low ferns, with high trees. More of a sniping field, but it also had a fort under construction and well vegetated tree cover at the sides.
 
What's more, we barely saw half the site, There were many more areas including an urban raid area, a castle area and they even open up the 4X4 track with ditches etc on whole site days. For the first time since sites started re-opening I didn't get stung or ripped to shred by nettles. It was remarkably clear of them. I would have liked to see are buildings with more then one level, sniper towers would be fantastic and I imagine they would be in the works at some point.
 
Professional: Everything was slathered in a professional run sheen, from the playing areas, safe zone, marshalling, social media and the website. 
 
Safe Zone(s): The Safe zone was quite big, All of the setup areas were covered and separated by "Pods". Each pod was for the most part walled off and were full of high tables. Not only was it good for shade it was also great for social distancing in the Covid 19 times. There was seating outside of the cover for most people to sit. The buildings were of good quality, chrono and a range were just a few steps away. There was an onsite tech who let me borrow some tools to fix my malfunctioning SRS.  A quality Safe Zone. 
 
Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. Guns were marked as to whether they were allowed in or not. AEGS (350fps) and DMRs (420fps) were checked with the sites own .2's The Marshals checked the guns themselves. BASRs were measured by joule ratings on .43's (2.3J). Very good chrono procedure and nice to see Joule checks on sniper rifles to prevent joule creep. Excellent.
 
Shop: 308 Sniper are here, They also supply Driver Wood and Battle Lakes. It was a reasonably stocked stall with lots of pistols and rifles. BBs, gas, tac gear. Good selection. We felt that things were a tad over priced, but the selection gives this a good rating.
 
Food: A hog roast and beef burgers were cooked fresh here. The Hog Roast was brought in by an outside company and smelt delicious (I miss eating pork). There was a selection of drinks and confectionary. AN ICE CREAM VAN SHOWED UP AT LUNCH TIME - An Airsoft first for me. I didn't see any vegetarian options sadly, but its worth enquiring ahead of time. Food was clearly quality, so gets a good. Water was provided free as it was such a hot day.
 
Safety Brief: Excellent. Covered everything in a not-too-long a time. No questions needed. Really well delivered.
 
Good Value: £25 for the day, whilst the price didn't include food, we felt that you got a lot of positives for your money. Well worth the money.
 
Game Modes: Were pretty good. There was one failed game which didn't quite work, but they did warn us ahead of time it was a new game. It was short and didn't impact a huge amount on the day. The fullback game at the beginning was really well run and difficult. The CQB game mode was really well done (Flags in Warehouse).
 
Average: 
 
Parking: Perfectly fine. Gravel/dirt based. Might get a bit muddy on the track leading up to parking. A bit worried that cars might be blocked in on busier days. Safe zone was right next to the parking area. 
 
Toilets: 3 Portaloos. A bit messy come the end of the day as you can imagine. At least you have two spare if one is blocked!
 
Turn around time: Was reasonable 10-15 minutes. I imagine it would be faster on a non hot day. We felt understandably knackered by the end.
 
Marshalling: Marshalling was reasonable and mostly hands off. Which is perfectly fine. Not so much in the way of walkie talkies like other sites. There was always a marshal around if needed. 
 
Hit taking: Was a mixed bag, I had very few issues with it, though the other side claimed we had a number of people not taking it on our side. I believe it got much better in the afternoon. 
 
Clientele: More casual players then I would have guessed. A fair few rentals and younger players. I felt a little long in the tooth in my mid 30's. There were quite a few loudmouths complaining in the morning, and a number of players left during lunch, but the ones that were left were friendly and much less grumbling overall. Had a number of chats with keen players in the playing area and safe zone which keeps this category out of the "Bad" rating. I imagine the heat was a contributing factor.
 
Bad: 
 
Nothing!
 
 
Conclusion: 
 
This day was amazing considering how hot it was. I am more of a woodland player and not a fan of CQB, @Albiscuit is the complete opposite, we both loved the site. It reminds me of a much larger Driver Wood. So if you have been there, you'll get a good idea of this site. There is no Unique Selling point to the site, but its more then made up by the overall experience and quality.
 
The pure woodland section was brilliant, well paced and well varied. I got few kills and had to work quite hard to get places but had plenty of fun. The CQB section was the crown jewel. It had loads of buildings on different levels of elevation. I remember Al and I both exclaimed how fun it looked when we set eyes on it, and it didn't disappoint. It could only be more fun if it was expanded more which we certainly hope the site owners do! I don't even like CQB and it was great. I racked up a huge amount of kills protecting the "Warehouse". The more open section at the end was nice for a bit of relaxing long range play to end a hot day. 
 
Talking to the organiser at the end of the day, there is more to come in terms of playing are investment. 
 
The ancillary parts of the site were very complete, everything oozed "Investment". This is a proper site, run by professional, passionate people. If it weren't too far away we would definitely make this a regular visit. Sadly its not quite Public transportable from London. 
 
To end. Best site I have visited for a very long time and can possibly knock off Airsoft Plantation from my end of year Awards. We will 100% be coming back to this on a more open day where the entire site is opened up. Ideal Mil Sim/Battle Sim territory. 
 
Bullpup Watch: SRS, T97 (Both mine) An L85 with no handguard and a non hunter scopes F2000. (Lovely to see)
 

Site Name: Red 1 Oblivion
Contact details: 01727846069
Website Address:  http://www.red1airsoft.co.uk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/red1jay/
Site Address: Berrybushes Farm Road, Kings Langley, WD4 8RN
 
@Albiscuit and I decided to go check out Red 1 Oblivion (02/08/2020). This site is relatively new, I only heard about it's existence late last year. It appears to be used once a month on a weekend where Red 1 The School isnt in play. I couldn't find any real substantive reviews of the place considering it's so new and host games somewhat irregularly. So we were going in blind with no expectations.
 
If you are an Airsofter in the Watford area, you are incredibly lucky to have three sites within a 15 minute walk of each-other. The triumvirate of Reforger, The School and Oblivion. Unfortunately much like the other two Watford sites, it can be very difficult to get their early enough on public transport from London and you will likely have to take a taxi from Watford station to stand a chance. Luckily @Albiscuit was on hand to negate that for me!
 
Oblivion is a small woodland site set on the edge of the M25 and farmers fields. There is a signpost on Langleybury Lane that will take you on a farmers track and round the edge of the field to a non descript clearing to park your car. 
 
 
The site itself is undulating throughout with very few flat areas, some parts valley (With an unused pit) and some parts hill, but always enclosed with trees. It does remind me somewhat of Dragons Lair in many respects with regards to it's many pallet style buildings. The building types are constructed mostly of the same material used at the Woodland section of The School. So fairly high quality with a black finish. There were plenty of vegetation types at all levels, high cover trees, trees/bushes with leaves to the ground as well as sections of fern. Stinging Nettles and normal nettles are plentiful outside of the cleared sections so be careful of those unprotected legs! 
 
There are two natural pathways leading throughout the majority of the site, branching off. The site is rather narrow, to the point where in many places you can easily see both the motorway and the woodland edge opposite standing in one place. Overall it appears to be the same size as Red 1 Chislehurst give or take a few meters. 
 
Short and Medium engagement distances were in play. There was too many obstructions for truly long range engagement. 
 
Good:
 
Man made buildings: You can tell ALOT of effort has been put into the man made buildings in terms of sheer quantity. There are two sections of interest, the village which has spaced out buildings which is good for a game of less lethal CQB and a very large two part killhouse in the centre of the site built on the only flat part of the site. Not a CQB player myself, but I can tell it was fun for the people who liked getting shot hard! The only thing negative is that there are no buildings with additional floors or substantive sniper towers. 
 
Hit Taking: For 99% of the time the hit taking was excellent. Throughout the day people called their hits in relatively good humour, even the somewhat frustrated ones! 
 
Marshalling: Outstanding. You could almost always find a marshal to talk to. Whether one wearing the iconic Red 1 Sweatshirt or a player marshal. They made sure you were in bounds and followed up on any complaints of hit taking (One of the 1% of non hit takers got a DMR shot straight into his helmet face on. Made a noise, bb bounced off and he kept on going) One word to the marshal and he radioed the closest marshal to speak and watch the player. 
 
Turn Around time: Turn around time for games was pretty rapid. People were encouraged to bring more BB's out with you beforehand so you don't have to back to the safe zone between rounds. 
 
Average:
 
Parking: A track right outside the safe zone with plenty of space for the numbers that turned up. I can see the parking and track leading up to the site getting quite muddy in the winter though. 
 
Game modes: A mixture of mostly simple fallback games and objective based play. It worked reasonably well.
 
Chrono: Was mandatory though nothing was tagged. Standard limits on the Facebook page were 350FPS for AEG, 450FPS for DMR and 500FPS for bolties. They chrono going by BB weight of whatever you have in the mag. 
 
Clientele: A mix, first time rentals, casuals and more serious players. Some approachable and friendly, some quite aloof and stayed away. 
 
Playing Area: Red 1 seem to be experts in getting as much as you can out of a small site and packing it out with man made cover. It is very compact, but with the undulating terrain and amount of cover available both man made and natural it doesn't feel as small as it is. Being right on top of the M25 there is constant road noise, which is a little distracting at times. (Don't wear hearing enhancements!) Despite the cover, I found it hard going staying hidden whilst moving due to the narrowness of the site. There is a nice pit area right outside the safe zone which was not in play. I feel this would be amazing little section to use if they could move the safe zone back away from it. 
 
Value for money: £25 is pretty good for the experience you get and cheaper then Reforger around the corner.
 
Shop: There was an onsite Surplus supply tent on site. It had some interesting American surplus gear, tactical equipment etc. The Sign in tent had some spare mags and consumables on hand. It was fine for a days airsofting. Would have liked to see some RIFS on display for the impulse buyers. 
 
Safe Zone: It was of a reasonable size for the numbers, the setup areas had tarps over the tables for rain cover. Due to the uneven terrain the tables were pretty wonky. No chairs to sit on. There was a range as well. I little work needs to be done in this area I think. 
 
Food: Standard burger, chocolate, crisps and pop. The burger was freshly cooked and only £5 for two with onions. A nice burger. I didn't ask about a vegetarian option and I couldn't see anything else on offer. Best message them ahead of time if you plan on eating there. Free Tea and Coffee throughout the day.
 
Bad:
 
Safety Brief: Short, I felt that some things were a little glossed over and felt it was catered toward experienced players, despite there being very young rental players on the day. I remember there wasn't anything about Grenade kill radius, needed to be prompted about whether gun hits counted. 
 
Late notice/Irregularity: One of the reasons I hadn't visited before now is that the games are announced with very little notice ahead of time on their Facebook page. In this case a Week before the skirmish. If a more regular schedule can be used with the Event pages created that would greatly reduce the confusion. 
 
Uneven teams: It became pretty obvious after the first couple of rounds that the skill level of the players were mismatched. One team had pretty much all the rentals, players in casual clothing and a player marshall. Where the other team had groups of people who knew each other and were in "Multiglam". As a consequence I believe the multiglammers won every round convincingly with the casuals losing heart and drive easily. The teams should have been changed about.
 
Toilets: A trench for 1's and a single portaloo for 2's. The portaloo was clean, though with little water. Need to have a second one for ladies or as use as backup to bring it up to an average rating. 
 
Conclusion: 
 
So comes to the end of the review. I hold my hands up. I had a very poor personal performance at Oblivion. Nothing quite worked out for me! My RIF's weren't quite up to scratch and I was setup for long range and sneaking where the site didn't really lend itself to that style of play. I was quite grumpy up until the last round where I finally got to grips with my issues. 
 
I admit didn't think much of the site initially, but come the end of the day looking back at it, the was pretty good in most aspects! The Playing area is varied for such a small site. The uneven terrain is good for a workout, but due to it's compact size, not exhausting. The organisation of it is very good, hit taking was fine for the most part. The criticisms I have made of the site above are easily rectified and would cost little to no money. 
 
So would I recommend the site? It has a lot of competition from it's sister site Red 1 The School though they are never played on the same weekend. I prefer the layout of the woodland part of the School more then Oblivions, however there is so much more going on at Oblivion in terms of everything else. Oblivion rewards players that are assault based, fit, Communicative, aggressive and push hard. I wouldn't recommend this for sneaky long range players as the road noise is a hindrance for tracking, and the site is too narrow to sneak despite all the cover available.

Alternatively put. If you need to pick between the three Watford sites.
 
Like outdoor CQB? Go to Oblivion.
Like long range? Go to Reforger.
Like a variation throughout the day? The School. 
 
So a good site, which has had some decent investment but with some caveats. Worth a visit. 
 
Bullpup Watch: Shocking. Just one, which was my SVU
 
 

 

They haven't reopened to  the usual skirmish games due to COVID. Only Private hire with small numbers available at the moment. I can only think of how claustrophobic the Safe zone would be with usual numbers! **Shudder**

Not purchased but given to me by my old Battlebuddy. 
 
3 Madbull and 1 unknown 40mm Moscart. One was leaking but a bit of lube fixed that up. Great considering I managed to fubar all 4 of my moscarts the other day! But if I can get those working again then surely an ICS MGL is on the cards?
Guarder Drop Leg left handed holster - I have the right handed version. So some Akimbo action?
Kombatuk tan drop leg. 
Lots of paracord. 
 
 

Agreed, was a great day and I can’t think of anything I didn’t like except maybe the distance from home. It’s just far enough away to be a pain but not so far to be a proper mission to get too.
if that makes sense.
 
The hit calling That “I” saw was fair, the main point was the cheat calling from the other team, they had 2 players which seem to feel they could hit anything the looked at. I was even called out myself bu some guy who was shredding the ferns above be effin and jeffing at me to call my hits whilst I’m lying on the ground putting shots into his chest (I had clear view of him but the mound I was behind stopped his view of me). He didn’t take the shots I got on him as he thought shredding the bushes was a guarantee of hitting me, it wasn’t! 
fair play to the site marshals they mentioned the hit taking after lunch, but strangely not the cheat calling.

The structures were the best I have seen for a woodland site. Wooden,  or a lot of gaps and well built, even the small barricades were well kept and all get safe, I have been to too many sites with pallets as walls, rotten logs and rotten wood, makeshift rubbish buildings. This place was WELL kept. You wouldn’t have known it has not been used in a few months either.
 
also the only site we have visited so far which was properly Covid ready and had things in place. 
 
Still a truly professionally run site and it showed and such a good day.
 

Site Name: Dogtag Airsoft
Contact details: 01293 852131
Website Address: https://www.dogtagairsoft.co.uk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/airsoftdogtag/
Site Address: Holmbush Events, Faygate, West Sussex, RH12 4SE
 
@Albiscuit and I decided to do two weekends in a row! So on the hottest skirmish day of the year (09/08/2020) we trundled on down to Dogtag Airsoft in West Sussex. 
 
Dogtag Airsoft is a well established Airsoft site, based within a large section of beautiful Sussex Woodland surrounded by farmland. Its a mixed-use area in that they also host paintball and 4x4 experiences. The online reviews I found ahead of time were almost universally positive and looking at the website I was quite excited by what I saw. My expectations unlike many sites were quite high. Did it live up to the hype? Read on...
 
This is a Large woodland site, split into smaller sections. On occasion they will play whole site games, but today was a standard skirmish. The site has quite varied woodland terrain, lots of ground level ferns/bushes and tall trees giving excellent shade from the burning sun. There are pits, lots of good quality wooden structures and some more open areas. Short/Medium and some Long distance engagement here. 
 
Good:
 
Playing Area: As varied as you can get in woodland. There are multiple "Zones" (Though they weren't fenced off from each other like many paintball esq sites.) Started out in a small village going down a wooded hill with a dark high foliaged wood on one side and an area of thick bushes on the other with a road running through it. This then went into a large earth worked area with battlements, more buildings, pits and ended up in a heavily ferned open area with a large helicopter. This was just the morning. I did wish these sections early on was a bit wider in places as I found it difficult to get around the rear of the enemy without getting spotted. 

In the afternoon we headed out to the CQB area, which myself and Al can say with some certainty is the best bit out outdoor CQB we have seen in quite some time. Plenty of really good quality buildings, interesting sight lines. Lots of ferns inside the area and bushes around the outside to sneak in. It was very good fun. We ended the day in a fairly open area, low ferns, with high trees. More of a sniping field, but it also had a fort under construction and well vegetated tree cover at the sides.
 
What's more, we barely saw half the site, There were many more areas including an urban raid area, a castle area and they even open up the 4X4 track with ditches etc on whole site days. For the first time since sites started re-opening I didn't get stung or ripped to shred by nettles. It was remarkably clear of them. I would have liked to see are buildings with more then one level, sniper towers would be fantastic and I imagine they would be in the works at some point.
 
Professional: Everything was slathered in a professional run sheen, from the playing areas, safe zone, marshalling, social media and the website. 
 
Safe Zone(s): The Safe zone was quite big, All of the setup areas were covered and separated by "Pods". Each pod was for the most part walled off and were full of high tables. Not only was it good for shade it was also great for social distancing in the Covid 19 times. There was seating outside of the cover for most people to sit. The buildings were of good quality, chrono and a range were just a few steps away. There was an onsite tech who let me borrow some tools to fix my malfunctioning SRS.  A quality Safe Zone. 
 
Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. Guns were marked as to whether they were allowed in or not. AEGS (350fps) and DMRs (420fps) were checked with the sites own .2's The Marshals checked the guns themselves. BASRs were measured by joule ratings on .43's (2.3J). Very good chrono procedure and nice to see Joule checks on sniper rifles to prevent joule creep. Excellent.
 
Shop: 308 Sniper are here, They also supply Driver Wood and Battle Lakes. It was a reasonably stocked stall with lots of pistols and rifles. BBs, gas, tac gear. Good selection. We felt that things were a tad over priced, but the selection gives this a good rating.
 
Food: A hog roast and beef burgers were cooked fresh here. The Hog Roast was brought in by an outside company and smelt delicious (I miss eating pork). There was a selection of drinks and confectionary. AN ICE CREAM VAN SHOWED UP AT LUNCH TIME - An Airsoft first for me. I didn't see any vegetarian options sadly, but its worth enquiring ahead of time. Food was clearly quality, so gets a good. Water was provided free as it was such a hot day.
 
Safety Brief: Excellent. Covered everything in a not-too-long a time. No questions needed. Really well delivered.
 
Good Value: £25 for the day, whilst the price didn't include food, we felt that you got a lot of positives for your money. Well worth the money.
 
Game Modes: Were pretty good. There was one failed game which didn't quite work, but they did warn us ahead of time it was a new game. It was short and didn't impact a huge amount on the day. The fullback game at the beginning was really well run and difficult. The CQB game mode was really well done (Flags in Warehouse).
 
Average: 
 
Parking: Perfectly fine. Gravel/dirt based. Might get a bit muddy on the track leading up to parking. A bit worried that cars might be blocked in on busier days. Safe zone was right next to the parking area. 
 
Toilets: 3 Portaloos. A bit messy come the end of the day as you can imagine. At least you have two spare if one is blocked!
 
Turn around time: Was reasonable 10-15 minutes. I imagine it would be faster on a non hot day. We felt understandably knackered by the end.
 
Marshalling: Marshalling was reasonable and mostly hands off. Which is perfectly fine. Not so much in the way of walkie talkies like other sites. There was always a marshal around if needed. 
 
Hit taking: Was a mixed bag, I had very few issues with it, though the other side claimed we had a number of people not taking it on our side. I believe it got much better in the afternoon. 
 
Clientele: More casual players then I would have guessed. A fair few rentals and younger players. I felt a little long in the tooth in my mid 30's. There were quite a few loudmouths complaining in the morning, and a number of players left during lunch, but the ones that were left were friendly and much less grumbling overall. Had a number of chats with keen players in the playing area and safe zone which keeps this category out of the "Bad" rating. I imagine the heat was a contributing factor.
 
Bad: 
 
Nothing!
 
 
Conclusion: 
 
This day was amazing considering how hot it was. I am more of a woodland player and not a fan of CQB, @Albiscuit is the complete opposite, we both loved the site. It reminds me of a much larger Driver Wood. So if you have been there, you'll get a good idea of this site. There is no Unique Selling point to the site, but its more then made up by the overall experience and quality.
 
The pure woodland section was brilliant, well paced and well varied. I got few kills and had to work quite hard to get places but had plenty of fun. The CQB section was the crown jewel. It had loads of buildings on different levels of elevation. I remember Al and I both exclaimed how fun it looked when we set eyes on it, and it didn't disappoint. It could only be more fun if it was expanded more which we certainly hope the site owners do! I don't even like CQB and it was great. I racked up a huge amount of kills protecting the "Warehouse". The more open section at the end was nice for a bit of relaxing long range play to end a hot day. 
 
Talking to the organiser at the end of the day, there is more to come in terms of playing are investment. 
 
The ancillary parts of the site were very complete, everything oozed "Investment". This is a proper site, run by professional, passionate people. If it weren't too far away we would definitely make this a regular visit. Sadly its not quite Public transportable from London. 
 
To end. Best site I have visited for a very long time and can possibly knock off Airsoft Plantation from my end of year Awards. We will 100% be coming back to this on a more open day where the entire site is opened up. Ideal Mil Sim/Battle Sim territory. 
 
Bullpup Watch: SRS, T97 (Both mine) An L85 with no handguard and a non hunter scopes F2000. (Lovely to see)
 

Site Name: Dogtag Airsoft
Contact details: 01293 852131
Website Address: https://www.dogtagairsoft.co.uk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/airsoftdogtag/
Site Address: Holmbush Events, Faygate, West Sussex, RH12 4SE
 
@Albiscuit and I decided to do two weekends in a row! So on the hottest skirmish day of the year (09/08/2020) we trundled on down to Dogtag Airsoft in West Sussex. 
 
Dogtag Airsoft is a well established Airsoft site, based within a large section of beautiful Sussex Woodland surrounded by farmland. Its a mixed-use area in that they also host paintball and 4x4 experiences. The online reviews I found ahead of time were almost universally positive and looking at the website I was quite excited by what I saw. My expectations unlike many sites were quite high. Did it live up to the hype? Read on...
 
This is a Large woodland site, split into smaller sections. On occasion they will play whole site games, but today was a standard skirmish. The site has quite varied woodland terrain, lots of ground level ferns/bushes and tall trees giving excellent shade from the burning sun. There are pits, lots of good quality wooden structures and some more open areas. Short/Medium and some Long distance engagement here. 
 
Good:
 
Playing Area: As varied as you can get in woodland. There are multiple "Zones" (Though they weren't fenced off from each other like many paintball esq sites.) Started out in a small village going down a wooded hill with a dark high foliaged wood on one side and an area of thick bushes on the other with a road running through it. This then went into a large earth worked area with battlements, more buildings, pits and ended up in a heavily ferned open area with a large helicopter. This was just the morning. I did wish these sections early on was a bit wider in places as I found it difficult to get around the rear of the enemy without getting spotted. 

In the afternoon we headed out to the CQB area, which myself and Al can say with some certainty is the best bit out outdoor CQB we have seen in quite some time. Plenty of really good quality buildings, interesting sight lines. Lots of ferns inside the area and bushes around the outside to sneak in. It was very good fun. We ended the day in a fairly open area, low ferns, with high trees. More of a sniping field, but it also had a fort under construction and well vegetated tree cover at the sides.
 
What's more, we barely saw half the site, There were many more areas including an urban raid area, a castle area and they even open up the 4X4 track with ditches etc on whole site days. For the first time since sites started re-opening I didn't get stung or ripped to shred by nettles. It was remarkably clear of them. I would have liked to see are buildings with more then one level, sniper towers would be fantastic and I imagine they would be in the works at some point.
 
Professional: Everything was slathered in a professional run sheen, from the playing areas, safe zone, marshalling, social media and the website. 
 
Safe Zone(s): The Safe zone was quite big, All of the setup areas were covered and separated by "Pods". Each pod was for the most part walled off and were full of high tables. Not only was it good for shade it was also great for social distancing in the Covid 19 times. There was seating outside of the cover for most people to sit. The buildings were of good quality, chrono and a range were just a few steps away. There was an onsite tech who let me borrow some tools to fix my malfunctioning SRS.  A quality Safe Zone. 
 
Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. Guns were marked as to whether they were allowed in or not. AEGS (350fps) and DMRs (420fps) were checked with the sites own .2's The Marshals checked the guns themselves. BASRs were measured by joule ratings on .43's (2.3J). Very good chrono procedure and nice to see Joule checks on sniper rifles to prevent joule creep. Excellent.
 
Shop: 308 Sniper are here, They also supply Driver Wood and Battle Lakes. It was a reasonably stocked stall with lots of pistols and rifles. BBs, gas, tac gear. Good selection. We felt that things were a tad over priced, but the selection gives this a good rating.
 
Food: A hog roast and beef burgers were cooked fresh here. The Hog Roast was brought in by an outside company and smelt delicious (I miss eating pork). There was a selection of drinks and confectionary. AN ICE CREAM VAN SHOWED UP AT LUNCH TIME - An Airsoft first for me. I didn't see any vegetarian options sadly, but its worth enquiring ahead of time. Food was clearly quality, so gets a good. Water was provided free as it was such a hot day.
 
Safety Brief: Excellent. Covered everything in a not-too-long a time. No questions needed. Really well delivered.
 
Good Value: £25 for the day, whilst the price didn't include food, we felt that you got a lot of positives for your money. Well worth the money.
 
Game Modes: Were pretty good. There was one failed game which didn't quite work, but they did warn us ahead of time it was a new game. It was short and didn't impact a huge amount on the day. The fullback game at the beginning was really well run and difficult. The CQB game mode was really well done (Flags in Warehouse).
 
Average: 
 
Parking: Perfectly fine. Gravel/dirt based. Might get a bit muddy on the track leading up to parking. A bit worried that cars might be blocked in on busier days. Safe zone was right next to the parking area. 
 
Toilets: 3 Portaloos. A bit messy come the end of the day as you can imagine. At least you have two spare if one is blocked!
 
Turn around time: Was reasonable 10-15 minutes. I imagine it would be faster on a non hot day. We felt understandably knackered by the end.
 
Marshalling: Marshalling was reasonable and mostly hands off. Which is perfectly fine. Not so much in the way of walkie talkies like other sites. There was always a marshal around if needed. 
 
Hit taking: Was a mixed bag, I had very few issues with it, though the other side claimed we had a number of people not taking it on our side. I believe it got much better in the afternoon. 
 
Clientele: More casual players then I would have guessed. A fair few rentals and younger players. I felt a little long in the tooth in my mid 30's. There were quite a few loudmouths complaining in the morning, and a number of players left during lunch, but the ones that were left were friendly and much less grumbling overall. Had a number of chats with keen players in the playing area and safe zone which keeps this category out of the "Bad" rating. I imagine the heat was a contributing factor.
 
Bad: 
 
Nothing!
 
 
Conclusion: 
 
This day was amazing considering how hot it was. I am more of a woodland player and not a fan of CQB, @Albiscuit is the complete opposite, we both loved the site. It reminds me of a much larger Driver Wood. So if you have been there, you'll get a good idea of this site. There is no Unique Selling point to the site, but its more then made up by the overall experience and quality.
 
The pure woodland section was brilliant, well paced and well varied. I got few kills and had to work quite hard to get places but had plenty of fun. The CQB section was the crown jewel. It had loads of buildings on different levels of elevation. I remember Al and I both exclaimed how fun it looked when we set eyes on it, and it didn't disappoint. It could only be more fun if it was expanded more which we certainly hope the site owners do! I don't even like CQB and it was great. I racked up a huge amount of kills protecting the "Warehouse". The more open section at the end was nice for a bit of relaxing long range play to end a hot day. 
 
Talking to the organiser at the end of the day, there is more to come in terms of playing are investment. 
 
The ancillary parts of the site were very complete, everything oozed "Investment". This is a proper site, run by professional, passionate people. If it weren't too far away we would definitely make this a regular visit. Sadly its not quite Public transportable from London. 
 
To end. Best site I have visited for a very long time and can possibly knock off Airsoft Plantation from my end of year Awards. We will 100% be coming back to this on a more open day where the entire site is opened up. Ideal Mil Sim/Battle Sim territory. 
 
Bullpup Watch: SRS, T97 (Both mine) An L85 with no handguard and a non hunter scopes F2000. (Lovely to see)
 

Its here its here!
 
Brand new SRS 16" Covert. Installed the fast hop and the 150% SRS spring and is currently at 449 FPS or 292 FPS on .48's. Not sure if thats normal or a little low, but pretty happy with this anyway! Its very solidly built. 
 
 

Mayhem airsoft near Abridge, Tactical near Croydon  (Though I dont recommend it), Sentinal in Dunstable and Driver Wood near Crawley. 

https://gunfire.com/en/parameters/specna-arms-core-tm-sa-249-18993.html
 
I had no idea these were coming out. Looks to be proper LMG gearbox as well. 
 
Decent price. 

My G&G RK74-E painted in Patrizan/SS Leto camo.
My first attempt with rattle/spray cans.
Used the Landscape-camo stencil kit. Unfortunately not an exact colour match to my chest rig.
The tan/sand colour is a little too light  but I'll dull it down and dirty it up to match and the green is slightly darker on the gun. But I'm happy with my first and only attempt at this sort of thing.
 
 

Red 1 Chislehurst. A direct bus from North Greenwich and a short walk. 
 
Tactical in Croydon and Mayhem East of Abridge is possible but difficult with multiple forms of transport required. 
 
Any other site you'll need to take the overground, C2C or National Rail services with 40 minute + walks or an Uber at the end such as Airsoft Plantation, Skirmish Billericay, Splatoon, Reforger, Red 1 School, Red 1 Oblivion, Skirmish Wycombe, Tech Brigade, Driver Wood, Mayhem South East, Dragons Lair and Ultimate Wargames. Please be aware that I have to wake up at the latest 5:00 AM to get to these sites for 8AM on public transport from Dagenham. 

Risk of sounding too political here. The police cuts whilst a major factor, Is not as big a factor to the increase in crime as the massive cuts made to the social safety net and crime prevention programs over the past decade. Public money has been directed away from crime prevention schemes and put into the lucrative punishment system (For private profit).
 
Prevention has always been more effective at cutting crime then increasing punishments. Prevention and support can help stop people turning to crime in the first place. If people are desperate enough to turn to crime to survive then an increase in the severity and length of punishment will not deter them ncommitting crime.
 
The cuts described in the first paragraph have affected the bottom rung of society first and worst, and there are still many poor and predominantly minority inhabited areas in London. Kids are turning to what is possibly the only way they see "out" of their situation through crime. (Again due to lack of services that could have encouraged otherwise; which have been cut to the bone or just plain no longer exist). 
 
 And like any job, people who commit crimes need tools to do that job; transport, weapons and exploitation of others on the same or lower rung of society. Hence mopeds, toy guns and lots of knives.
 
The crime we see reported in London starts and ends with those worse off, fighting over the few measly crumbs that are thrown to them.
 
Raise the security net, invest in prevention and crime will drop (eventually, it's not an instant transformation).