GeorgePlaysAirsoft

"in my day...." 
*Insert old man vibes here*
 
This is a flippant comment due to starting work 10 minutes ago, however to the point
 
Any day where you go Airsofting and think - worth it, or tinker and get things 'just right', buy any kit or *that* piece of kit, new gun day, first day you bring your mate along, hell even good toy cleaning day is part of the golden age.
 
 

This is all so tragically jaded 😂. I've been playing for give or take about 20 years, and for the most part it's all about the same for me. The access to decent reliable GBBRs is a big win, as is my personal access to more disposable income and being able to transport myself pretty much where ever I like.
 
There have always been idiots, there will always be idiots. Social media is fine, its been a great way to meet like minded people to chat shit about what is, and likely always will be, a very niche hobby.
 
Biggest 'issue' I've seen creeping in more and more is how stand off-ish and 'clique-y' it's become. Everyone seemingly wants to find a reason to hate everyone else that isn't in the group they play with, and has an attitude going in to playing that it's going to be shit. Not that the latter is anything new, airsofters hating airsoft is a founding pillar of the hobby... for reasons unknown to me.
 
Edit: I guess I'm not shocked by the general concensus given we're in the land of the dinosaurs... a forum.

For me it's whenever the person gets their rose tinted glasses out. 
 
I remember being new to airsoft and hearing all these stories about amazing events that happened "just" before I got into the sport were.......cut to a few years later and I am hearing these amazing stories about events that I went to that I thought were shit but had nuggets of gold in them. The stories tellers made it seem like every game'/event was pure gold and it wasn't shit was a couple of good moments. 
 
Chat to people now about Tier one at Stanta and lots of people will reminisce with fond memories. At the time it was basically the same event 3 times in a row at stanta with almost no variation except for a decrease in the quality of the game play and event each time. They'll chat about CAG and their events at Otterburn.....that happened like twice. Or the sandpit and how amazing it was, despite the fact they used about 10% of the site (was amazing for big event games though!). 
 
 I'd always encourage people to just make the best of it now, what's happening now, what events/sites are there that exist now. Sparta closed recently (never went) and people were obviously upset to lose a great venue, well.....if it's so great -  go! Don't just settle for just going to your local week in week out - get out there, vote with your feet and do the stuff that looks interesting now, before you look back on whatever site/organiser it is, cause it's just a matter of time before they close down. 

I’m sure some bits will change around once it’s getting used in anger but the arrival of the can and sling sees this one just about there.
 

3D printed "FANTA" cover for the surefire can, I only had red filament left so the paint has come out a bit lighter on top but I think that looks pretty good

I think it's almost certainly down to the costs associated and the number of players needed to make it viable with using these venues and whether the venues are actually good for Airsoft. 
 
For anyone that did operation blue fox at the fire college, it looks like it should be awesome, crashed trains, planes, oil type platforms, industrial rigs, office buildings, replica motorways with cars etc. Play was awful due to the distances between each set area, all attack routes were via open fields with no cover, attacking areas with great cover, excellent sight lines etc.
 
A lot of existing Airsoft sites aren't actually big enough to host these sort of events (such as the sandpit, which is now closed). 
 
There's a few sites that I have the impression might be big enough but for whatever reason (probably financial) big events are being run there. Not every event provider wants to do more than provide skirmishing 

I think that's it. Only reason it's economically viable is because they get a few hundred players. That said, this one is going to be limited to only 300, down from the 400 of the recent events and the 500 from events years ago. The last two places (Citadel in Dover and the shopping centre in Rochdale) could not take 400 players which was what contributed to the gameplay being centred around meat grinder chokepoints (and the only way people pushed through during the Citadel at least was by charging through them in massed numbers with a few people blatantly not taking their hits).
 
I'm considering it because a lot of the staff from Worthing are thinking of going and are friends with the organisers (as some of them have been going to AI500 for over a decade) and I've enjoyed the previous two AIs I've been to, despite them being a bit of a shitshow, as I play differently to how most people at the events did and was able to make it enjoyable for myself. Still waiting to see the rules in full, but they say they'll be allowing bolt actions this time; I'll wait until the inevitable "only at 1.48J" they slapped on the Citadel event 😂

Did the Gunman Airsoft Night game at Tuddenham.......it was great, easily some of the most interesting events that are happening in airsoft in my opinion at the moment. 
 
It's their second attempt at running a night game (3 hours long) as one single game, it wasn't perfect but my god it's got potential and the site is very open to feedback. Previously their night games have been like skirmishes in a small, but interesting part of their site (the village if you know the site). These events take advantage of the whole site, extra buildings, dense woodland, open areas, tracks, ridgelines trench network etc.
 
Single shot only unless you have a genuine LMG/support weapon, relevant medic rules, mix of objectives, regen hikes weren't silly.  There was also really good use of additional lightning, a few big floodlights and lots of dark areas, the site is big enough to cope with what they are doing!
 
Objectives were provided, with a map and grid references with times that the objectives were open for. Marshalls were present when needed (generally around objectives) but didn't ruin the night team sneakiness when not. Hit taking was good (night games are tricky to enforce). It seemed like a lot of objectives were near each other at similar times, or in a way that you'd have to cross the route from their respawn to their objectives (which we didn't know) to get to your objectives. Much confusion around who is on your team etc. There was a command net and command element that gave out a couple of extra objectives throughout the evening.
 
It genuinely felt like the best bits of a mini milsim. Mix of players with and without night vision, thermal, some with torches and tracer units etc. Made it a really interesting evening. Some of the players had travelled from Derby and Watford for it. 
 
Every other night game they are doing is one of the more immersive types covered above, the others are basically skirmishes in the village. If you're looking to just shoot people in the dark, do the night skirmishes skirmishes, if you want that bit extra, do the more immersive ones. 
 
Very impressed with the management at Tuddenham, massive improvements to the site and the type of events they are running. Really upping the experience of what can be done and achieved, the sort of thing I am sure we all want from our sites. 
 
Re reading this, it sounds like an advert for the site but I am just a customer, albeit a very happy one. 

I meant to do Tudders this weekend, day and night.  I love night games there.  I had a memorable one were I lost both contact lenses and didn't notice until the marshals saved me from wandering around in the plantation chasing a marshal wearing a nightstick that I mistook for a torch...  Poor chap was most unimpressed that some idiot was potting him despite the hi-viz.  
 
What I did was wake up at 13:30 with a pounding hangover, a sense that the preceding evening had gone awry, and that a bit of rest was required.  Shame as several people have commented on how good it was.  

Entirely possible, with it being cerakoted I imagine the paint has a lot to do with variance in how tight thing are/aren't. Very impressed by the kit on the whole, just waiting on a can to arrive from HK to finish it. Did end up opting for the Inline Arisaka mount which arrived today. May well swap the sling out for a Trex Arms one, like the look of the AOR1 one but prefer the functionality of the Trex. Will post up some nicer photos once the can has arrived 👌
 

Colt M727 - A1, convertion from Marui M4 Next gen with real steel parts ( Stock and handguard) .
Upper is an E&C modded to fit the NGRS units.
Replica of the IDF rifle, original IDF sling. 
 
 

cheese and rice.. mount out of a molehill much?  Forums are really really dying guys, try being encouraging i.e. the oppposite of what this thread instantly descended in to with a clearly young bloke who's first language isn't English...

How its meant to look...🥰

Getting the new hammer to work was a lot harder than I was expecting 🤬

Sounds perfect! 😂

Some new, some used bits for the MWS. Just waiting on a new light as I managed to rip my last clone off in a door frame 😂
 
HAO rail is lovely, even used I can appreciate the quality, holy moly the fit is tingly good.
 
LWRC stock and short tube need fettling.
 
 

Apocalyptic sounds.
 
 

Last weekend was my first opportunity to skirmish this year.
 
Truth be told, I had lost an awful amount of desire to skirmish after bills kept rising, AEGs kept breaking and magazines kept leaking!
 
I scrambled together some kit that I knew was working: TM M4A1 MWS, TM M9A1 and TM L96 (a recent purchase and my first spring sniper rifle) as well as my tried and trusted Ranger Green kit.
 
Ace Combat has changed since I last played there, which was probably 2019. Ah, those pre- pandemic days...
 
The car park, safe zone and check-in areas have all changed location and it is now a long slog to haul kit to the safezone (located between field 1 and field 2). This slog was made even more tedious when my bag's zip failed and sent a lot of the contents into the mud. I was very close, dear reader, to turning around and going home!
 
I made it to the much improved safe zone and was glad to see the same Ace faces as were there years ago. The covered safezone now has ample room for everyone and there was a 3rd party shop selling the usual onsite-found range of entry to mid tier airsoft products at what looked like reasonable prices.
 
My main issue with Ace has always been the standing around and waiting between the action and is was still a factor that hasn't been improved upon, sadly. Another aspect that affected the day was the loss of using the open part of field 1. This, plus the relocated safezone has cut by about 1/3 the available space to play in, on an already compact site when compared to Battle Lakes and Dog Tag. 
 
The games were suitably Halloween themed and ran well. I don't think I heard a single accusation of 'Teflon armour' during the whole day and the atmosphere was fun and pretty chilled.
 
My MWS combined with a RS ACOG was almost like a cheat code. I ran .32s and probably scored the most 'kills' that day with it that I've ever done. The M9A1 also scored some hits and my lighter kit was as comfy as it has ever been. Rocking out an old school Adventure Tech Goretex jacket in night camo/DCU is something I've not done in airsoft for about 15 years! I didn't get to debut the L96 though, which was a shame.
 
The new CQB area in the woods by field 1 is a nice addition and overall it was a good day that left me and my two buddies wanting more out of airsoft for the first time in a long time.
 
It probably won't be at Ace again - for a while at least - as the usable site now is just so small compared to what it was. This is a real shame and for me represents a loss to the local airsoft scene. I hope that field 1 can be re-incorporated into usable space, but it didn't look promising. 
 
Thank you Ace for rekindling a dormant flame.
 

Kicking Mustang did WHAT!?

Gunman’s Namsoft series continued at Eversly Alpha with a one off objectives day to replace the sadly cancelled Cajun Chicken game.  The weekend consisted of short-ish limited objectives in the rhododendron forest that stretches over chalk stream laced hills of mixed solid and marshy land.  Part of the aim was to get the teams back into the team objective ethic.  I think that Josh was tiring of the cat herding exercise tbh.
 
Due to Covid a few players were down, and final team numbers were US 12, VC and PAVN 7.   
 
We were missing a couple of lipos for some reason, and I couldn’t use the support gun.  Back to the spare/loaner CYMA AK47 then. 
 
Saturday morning saw the usual high standard of brief complete with maps and an A4 handout that covered rules and safety etc.  We were issued our VC tunnel trapdoors.  These act as re-spawn bags, and can only be set up by the VC players (not PAVN).  We had to deploy three and stop them being found by the GIs.  This was a real ding-dong battle to wake us up, as I think that we underestimated the size of the playing area and distributed the doors in too small an area.  Luckily, we managed to distract the US team into a series of fights that led away from them.  By close of play though, only one remained undiscovered. 
 
Second objective was to take three boxes to a specified drop off point, where they would be safe.  A team of four took the boxes, two carrying and two on the flanks to guard them.  The remaining three of us formed a fire team to engage and distract the US team.  We did excel ourselves this time.  We must have pinned down about a dozen or so players continuously.  By rapidly moving, shooting and moving again, we fought for possession of the wall area of the site for what seemed forever, whilst the other squad sneaked two boxes through.  Not a bad result, and a huge amount of fun.  Absolute constant action and intelligent gameplay. 
 
After lunch, we had to defend the fort against the US players.  This went less well.  We were simply too small a force to hold a static objective.  WE were quickly overrun, although another player and I managed to leave the fort and intercept the other team as they attacked, shooting a fair few in the back.  In retrospect we were going to lose this from the start, but it was great fun ambushing the unsuspecting enemy players.  By now we were sweating buckets and the post lunch dip had been chased away by sheer hard work. 
 
The fourth section was the best.  For this, the US team had to push through a valley, which they were not allowed to leave, and take three objectives, whilst we occupied the sides/slopes.  We deployed three VC one side, four PAVN the other.  We really minced the US in this game.  We actually pinned them down to the point that the marshal decided to make us retreat to the next objective.  I was really impressed that no one threw a strop through frustration.  There was none of the ‘they must be cheating to beat us so badly’ bollox. 
 
The last big push of the day was hilarious.  As we had a radio, we asked for the next objective to be taken.  When we arrived we were alone, and radioed in that we were two to 30.  The reply was ‘do your best.’  In the event, the rest of the team had already deployed in front of us.  The US were told that they faced two players…  They sauntered up and got hammered.  I was well dug into a shallow pit at the top of a hill.  When we were finally pushed back, I lay undiscovered listening to my mate who was in charge; describe how the hill was basically clear, and that they had merely to rush it.
 
I could hear someone breath the other side of the mound of earth that I lay behind and as I readied myself to shoot them the second that they showed themselves the final whistle went.  The chap stood up and almost had a heart attack.  Despite slotting several players in the course of their advance, I’d been forgotten about.  I was perfectly placed to shoot the US team from the back if they had advanced. 
 
We went to our campfires feeling great with a lot of story swapping and I discovered that I had forgotten my bloody steak!  Luckily another attendee gave me their left over chili and some pitta bread.  We had a really decent talk around the camp fire as the rain drizzled.  A fair few beers were drunk.  A few new friends made and stories swapped.  The previous evening, we’d all shared an exquisite curry that someone had made.  We were eating and drinking like Gods all evening, and it was a bloody good laugh. 
 
Great bits:  the whole scenario was a great idea and really appreciated as a replacement for Cajun Chicken.  The gameplay was great, there was no arguing or bad sportsmanship.
 
Wearing pure black teaches you proper field craft.  There is no room for error when you stick out like a sore thumb.  I was soon festooned with fern and green from scrambling through trees. 
 
Poor bits:  the rain on Sunday led to mass departures.  I ended up being the only opfor player, and the game was cancelled.  I was asked if I wanted a glorified game of hide and seek, but Mrs TPH had developed a bug in the night and looked proper poorly, so I opted for an early bath.  We packed up and by 11 it was lovely and sunny, and we could have played for a few hours, even if you were unprepared for playing in England in October…  Seriously, throwing a poncho on is hardly hard work!
 
This was one of the absolute best games that I have ever played.  It really leaves skirmishes in the shade.  I got home after a nearly five hour drive and still felt energized.  Number 1 son slept the whole journey home through exhuastion; Mrs TPH was coughing but happy. Shame that people left so early and again the numbers were low.  We should have been playing Cajun Chicken too, which matches the rain perfectly.  This was cancelled due to low sales.  I wonder if fuel bills and inflation will kill a few games from now onwards.  Covid certainly kept a few away.  I hope that this is a lull and not a trend.
 
Given the quality of the event, a shame it had to end early.  It was well worth the effort and expense, and I am really looking forward to next year’s Nam season. 
 
Du ban GI!
 
 
 
 

Great weekend run by Gunman at Eversley Alpha.  The unusual feature of this event was that the VC and PAVN forces would have to stand and fight as a conventional unit.  Two man fire teams were possible, but both units would fight as groups.  Since both outfits tent to be harder to heard than cats, this promised an interesting weekend!
 
Friday night was the usual banter around a roaring fire, plenty of beers and the now traditional brandy and cigars.  Obviously one wishes to prepare oneself before a weekend of vigorous activity; and a few coronas and balloons of Courvoisier help tremendously.  These were enjoyed after a large helping of exquisite curry cooked by one of the players.  Just because we’re in tents doesn’t mean that we slum it.
 
Saturday morning saw a few regulars and several newcomers take to the field.  Being VC, our task was to kill and capture when possible GIs.  The PAVN faction had a whole set of objectives that our hit and run chaos was to aid.  We would tie the GIs up, whilst the PAVN did their thing.  This was really enjoyable as we formed a three man fire team and played havoc with tripwires and ambushes, occasionally posing as civilians in order to delay or divert the enemy.  Being equipped with explosives and an LSW, we had a fair bit of wallop when we did attack. 
 
A good feature of the site is the regular fly pasts by vintage aircraft.  The noise allowed for seriously rapid deployment in deep cover as the noise covered the sound of the movement.  In the area around the brewery section of the site, I played a blinder.  Being separated from my team as one player had become separated, and the other lost their rifle playing civilian, I attacked alone.  Seriously I was on the ball, and managed kill after kill with no hits to myself.  I was located at one point, but both grenades that were thrown failed to explode.  I must have trodden in some lucky shit I think.  For the first time I wished that I had kept count of the kill/death ratio.  Another team member claimed 18/3. 
 
My personal highlight was locating the enemy in a trench and earwigging their plans, radioing these to command and getting comfortable until they moved out twenty minutes later.  When I got eyes on, I realised that the players were two regulars and my son.  I laughed out loud as I took each one out.  The family that sprays together etc…
 
At close of play, we had given the GIs a good pasting as a team, with the PAVN having carried out all of their objectives.  The US players had recovered quickly after each attack and also done well, so good work all round.  For the first time ever at one of these games, someone mentioned hit taking, which I think shocked us all, but I think with hindsight that someone was playing less than switched on rather than taking the piss.  The heat was not too bad, but humidity was really high, and I can understand a bit of sloppy play at days end.  Everyone was seriously wilting. 
 
The night time was very relaxed after the day’s events.  The new bars were still full of singing idiots until late and we talked over the day’s game over steaks and scotch. 
 
Sunday was more objective based.  A series of escape routes had to be closed by the US and defended by the Vietnamese.  This went less well than Saturday.  Two Viet fireteams came across almost the whole US force, and not realising their error, stood and fought.  The outcome was inevitable and we lost all three citations and only hid our equipment box by luck.  We all went back to respawn well chastened.  Bollox!
 
Splitting our team into two we felt on more familiar ground.  As a team of four we re-entered the field and followed in the US’s path.  Doing this we retrieved our equipment and hid it ready for another opportunity.  We also managed to win a quick firefight with a recce squad that we bumped.  This cheered us up considerably. 
 
Close of play was frustrating.  We prepared a damn good all units ambush only for the US to rumble our plans and some fool to open fire all too soon.  We got a thorough drubbing and deserved it for the lack of fire discipline. 
 
One thing or so of note: The new players were not as switched on as the old hands.  I noticed that when we patrolled, the experienced players held their rifs at the ready whilst the newbies used the carry handles right into the objectives.  New players not only talked, but did so loudly, actually bickering about plans rather than confirming quietly via radio.  Loose buckles rattled, equipment thunked and twigs cracked like gunshots.  None knew any hand signals either.   It soon became an educational weekend too. 
 
Hits of the weekend:  I honestly played better than ever before Saturday.  The social was fantastic.  My wife played too, and is developing into a seriously good player.  She now wants a lightweight machine pistol.  What would anyone recommend?  We will try her with the lads Skorpion, but I expect that she’ll want her own 60’s rapid fire sidearm soon.  She also fancies a lightweight sniper rifle.  You can imagine how gutted I am at the thought of yet another gun.
 
Favourite bit:  chap shaking hands at the end of game stating that we were the sneakiest bastards that he’d ever played against.  This was especially generous as I aimed for his rucksack as he ran away… and all five/six shots hit him on the arse.  I did apologise. 
 
The heroes who got us a couple of gallons of water from Tesco deserve a mention too.  
 
Moans: where were we all?  The best games on the whole calendar IMHO and we were seriously depleted.  I would say that only a third of the expected players were there.  This did not affect the gameplay as such, which was great, but I did miss a few faces.  Seriously, playing this type of event once a month leaves our old bi-weekly skirmishing routine lacking. 
 
Anyhow, another great Gunman event, as expected.  I’ll do the next at the end of the month, and one in October.  I might just skirmish over the winter unless a Soviet themed game comes up, or possibly partisan based.  Whatever, it will be a blast.
 

I did about 5 years of doing weekend events every 3-4 weeks along with regular skirmishing. Lots and lots of weekend events - have quite a few cool stories from it but they are massively outnumbered by the "yeah, it was an ok event, nothing super special", thankfully they also outnumber the poor hit taking and the "I just want to quit and sell it all" moments. My last weekend event was around October 2021 (kids!)
 
For context 
 
get dropped off by a rhib in the dead of night to perform a tasking (stirling airsoft, the sandpit around 2015/2016), perform dawn raids on target buildings listening to chatter on the comms between the "apache pilot" and ground based aircraft controllers followed by pyro and lighting effects (tier one, stanta - around 2013), stayed awake for far too long on stag in woodlands with my mates ripping the piss out of each other (Stirling airsoft, the trees, the valley, the sandpit, caerwent, multiple times!), watched the sun come up over afghan style villages (Stirling Airsoft, stanta, around 2014), broken contact from far superior forces using appropriate tactics (Stirling Airsoft, Spain, around 2016/2017), set and executed a variety of ambushes (Stirling Airsoft, Sandpit, trees, caerwent, numerous times), crept through buildings trying to be super sneaky (Stirling airsoft, catterick loads of times, urban assault night games) taken out callsigns 3 times my squads size through little more than applying some grey matter (Stirling Airsoft, the trees around 2017).
 
There are a bunch of other highlights but
 
The more memorable ones really stick out because they aren't run of the mill, it's involved hours and hours of travelling (including to Spain) to sites and probably 100+ weekend events plus skirmishes. Getting to Catterick is an 8 hour round trip for me and I have probably done it 20-30 times and even then, you could do Catterick 5 times and not get any experiences that are stand out (like above) or aren't much different to a standard skirmish. Sadly some of these sites aren't even operating anymore. Ive done countless skirmish days that I now can't even recollect. I dread to think how much I have spent on this hobby.....

Kicking Mustang did WHAT!?

Kicking Mustang did WHAT!?

Agreed. I only provided links to the ebay seller as I have prior purchases from him (assume he sources from similar places) but is UK based so turn around is usually pretty rapid.

Wtf ...this still doing lol . I totally  forgot as currently in Croatia not giving a flying  fuck about Anzio camp ...