Emergencychimps

The gunman Tuddenham halloween game last year and the year before were awesome! There was a great balance between it being larp/special in that they had a drone that blew stuff up, 7ft terminators that fired bbs due to motion sensors, marshalls doing "cut scenes", xenomorphs, predators, a strangely erotic Sarah Connor (was it a dude?) Skeletons hanging from trees (as per the predator movies!) then there was also games happening, with different (but similar) objectives and the game play was great. Normally, yes, most zombie games or Halloween games are meh - however extra special effort was done and it paid off - unfortunately a change in head marshall means I suspect it won't be as good.

Get a reusable grenade - but understand their weaknesses. Over the years I have got through at least 6 boxes of the .209 primers (100 per box) and at least 2 boxes of 9mm blanks (50 per box). If I had done the same number of throws with £2.50 disposable pyro, I'd have spent over £1750 (if I could have got them at £2.50 each!). I now carry 2 on me all the time (used to carry 3!) and only use them per life - so once used I don't collect and re use, I only reload it when respawning. As it is, I have spent about £150 on grenades and about £75 more on blanks......I still have 2 ohshibooms I can sell on at probably £100 all in, so my true "cost" is around £125 vs a estimated £1750 it would have cost in disposable pyro and these are conservative estimates! I haven't had any problems with ohshibooms, but I (99.9% of the time) only use them on concrete inside buildings. The only issues I have had with them have been due to me not doing the base up enough. I had a trmr and really struggled to get it to work. I also had a dynatec time delayed one which was awesome as it could be skidded along floors etc. if you play woodland sites exclusively, I wouldn't bother. Using them outside is a nightmare - they're heavy so they seem to find the best hiding spaces, even moderately long grass can make you struggle to find it. They also seem to defy logic on where they go, get kicked etc so often aren't where you would expect. I have only had 1 case of where it went "missing" due to people and the reaction of the marshalls saved the day and it was found on a barrel, outside around 20 metres away from the building I had used it in. With the trmr I used both the original base and multi shot base and had problems with both - the main trouble was remembering if I had a live one in the chamber, there were several throws while a used blank was in the firing spot and you can't exactly retrieve it mid firefight. it was also bigger and heavier. The original base was frequently not screwed on enough, I don't know if this was me, coming lose while moving around, coming loose while arming it for throwing etc. but I found l preferred the simplicity of a pin, the simple 1 bang, 1 use, reload - if the pin is in, it's live and the fact the ohshiboom is lighter. IF I were buying new now, the Frag C would have my money.

Some of this guys stuff is great and so on point for this thread! Thanks

I'd probably say don't over complicate it, get some practice in changing mags so you're comfortable with your kit and doing it so you can change mags without watching what you're doing and it's fairly quick. If you use radios, practice using them, make sure you don't hot mic etc. Maybe some snap shooting practice, hitting with your first shot vs your 10th can make a difference. If you do CQB, I think the limited penetration or "Israeli method" is the way to go, which is basically a fancy way of saying slow down and fight from the doorway/window, learn about slicing the pie and understanding the principles of a section attack and that this can be applied a lot will take you a long way.

I'm quite a fan of airsoft Alfonse. When you say tactics, do you mean squad level or an individual level? While I'm not a fanboi, the gbrs YouTube has some bits of interest, dirty civilian and garand thumb also have some nuggets in there. A lot of it is real tactics and they arent always relatable or that transferable, but they can give a chain of thought

You're so cringe...... Actually, that sounds like a really hard way to live - well done for still attending even with the struggles you have.

I find people who criticize others for blanking their faces in pictures cringe. Having spent a long time in in house recruitment for some pretty massive and well known companies, you'd be amazed at the things I've seen used for not hiring someone, so a picture of them holding a "gun" isn't something id want to be tracked back to me. I like the pics etc, I just don't want them tracking back to me. Likewise sometimes it's a great picture and I'm just pulling a derp face that ruins it. I mean, how ridiculous would it be to have my career derailed and earnings reduced just so that my face can be in pictures from when I'm playing toy soldiers. Also, people who are so "not competitive" that they actively do things to be not competitive, like bright gun/gear or talking down people who do put effort in, especially when they aren't effective players themselves. I'm there to have fun and my version of fun isn't being a moving target,

Unfortunately (as a former suffolk resident) you're in a bit of a black hole for that sort of stuff. My advice would be to send it away or don't bother, as any changes are unlikely to actually improve things.

As others have said, turn the belt around. Drop the height of the plate carrier a touch and Look into dangler style pouches, some of them are rather larger and/or groin protectors which hang down from the front of the plate carrier. As a "larger" man myself I've found 2 options. 1. Dangler pouches on the front. 2. Wearing field shirts rather than ubacs/combat shirts. They're a little less fitted/tight around the belly. Personally, I find those belts too big to be comfortable, so I prefer the inner belt with a small outer molle on. However clones of cryes mrb are a good compromise. If you are going to stick with that belt, I'd suggest a set of braces/shoulder harness for it that would go under your plate carrier. It doesn't look like you have anything attached to that belt.....so if be inclined to ditch it altogether. As it looks like you're a righty, I'd probably move the mag pouch from under your right arm to as far forward on your left side as I could. My experience is both looks based and I'm not a fan of those stinging belly shots.

Always had great customer service from them in the past.

I don't see speedy bois as a bad thing or that it's just the sliding around on the floor stuff, it's the general hpa pistols with suppressors tracers, high cap m4 mags stuck on, big bright masks etc all the stuff you'd not normally associate with people doing the typical camo and skirmishing from back in the day. My reference to tactics being hard to apply was along the lines of, "I have made contact with the enemy, so I am going to go this way to flank them" only for the maze to take me somewhere nowhere near the enemy. For the size of the site I can completely understand why they have added loads of bits as they have and have a complex layout. I can't imagine it would be that fun or interesting to play again and again as a regular if it was too standard. I won't be returning to blackstone, I'd like to say (again) that the site and staff were great, me not returning isn't a reflection of them or their service. My comments on changes were just me thinking aloud (is that a thing when typing online?!) , great to hear they're already doing stuff and have run trials etc. I am sure they're working hard to provide the best experience they can for their customers. I don't think you have rubbished my experience at all, everything seems very civil. I only added in my experience because it's a post from someone saying "this is amazing" yet they haven't actually played there and for anyone reading to at least consider why it might not be for them.

I don't think it was designed for speedy bois, to be honest I'd like a site or 2 that was, just so they have somewhere to go that's not a run of the mill skirmish site. Id like more variety in the sport so that people have what appeals to them. The trouble I think is that it was designed to have "cool features" and jam loads of stuff in a small space, but it's too much in too small a space and it actually doesn't work as a fun Airsoft site as its a similar experience with every firefight. The garage which is a respawn is almost entirely wasted as fighting around a spawn is dodgy, so all this cool stuff is ignored and never fought around. Kind of like they went, this 2 acre site has x number of points of interest, x number of routes, turns etc and we need the same number, but squished into 1/4 of an acre. I found that it led to similar experiences for the whole time I was there, peeking corners, snap shooting and getting lost. Any attempt to flank left me lost and away from the fight. Sites like the mall, the gaol, urban assault , Anzio etc all have cool features but you can sort of predict where routes go, how you can flank etc even if you don't know the site. They're natural buildings. I feel like I'm slagging the site off and that isn't deserved, if this level of closeness, tight and fast cqb is your thing then there isn't a site like it, it's just such a juxtaposition, great for speedy bois but rules say you can't, they want tactics but it's a maze where tactics can't be applied. They have spent a fortune, the shop is great, the professionalism of the staff is really up there, the look and feel of the site is amazing but it just doesn't have the magic ingredient it needs to be amazing and I think that can be achieved when purpose built. I'd suggest a few tweaks, simple things like arrows on the floor back to respawn for that level. Maybe ditch the firing range and have that extra space for game zone (do the chrono at the start of the game zone), maybe dedicate 1 set of stairs to each side for a game. Maybe some different respawn points, even if rarely used or only on the ground floor, both could start on the ground floor and fight over objectives upstairs etc.

No doubt added to my confusion levels! Was getting frustrated towards the end. It just wasn't my style, I feared it might not be before going but it looks so special I wanted to give it a go. Absolutely no fault of the organisation etc of the day, the site is just what it is, for the good and bad that entails.

I did a game here earlier this year (very early this year) and while it was well run, it just isn't the style I like. The site is impressive and almost designed for speedy bois, yet they say they don't want that. Unfortunately that style works at the site, so players running pistols with high capacity mags do rule. Also it's a maze, I couldn't get from one side to the other without getting lost, even at the end of the (1/2) day. This also means regulars (or anyone who has been 2/3 times) have a massive advantage as the race to the stairs at the start of every game is then quite unbalanced. The stairs are a massive choke point, regardless of the rules, the rules on their spiral staircase led to many almost comical moments of "oh I'm on the last step so you can't shoot me and I can't shoot you, so I'll just turn around and go back up etc". The longest shot possible is 8 metres, every shot hurts so anytime you're shot more than once, it's a mother trucker. (Thankfully this didn't happen much). There was great sportsmanship on site, the shop is great, the staff professional, other players seemed friendly and I honestly feel bad saying things which aren't positive as they have spent loads building what should be an Airsoft experience like no other (which it is), but it's just a bit too squashed in for me to find it fun. Too many painful shots and getting owned again and again by players who know the layout just isn't fun. I fear that this sort of day, recent promotions, extra marketing etc is because they aren't getting the numbers needed for it to be viable. It's a niche site and if that's your thing, it's a must visit. But honestly I suspect most players will visit, go oh that's novel and then not actually enjoy it enough to return again and again. Maybe if people stick the 2 or 3 day learning curve to learn the layout they will have loads of fun, being the people who know the routes and angles.

You're using the stock, 8.4 nimah batteries? If so, that , slightly discharged batteries and not enough of a trigger pull is the combo you're getting , it's pretty well known for stock tm recoils. I suspect if you switch it to full auto rather than smacking it then it'll start as well. Essentially what you have is exactly what you're describing, not enough juice is getting to the motor to turn the gears enough and it's stopping just before firing (used to be referred to as lock up). Normally, you're absolutely right to run it stock, a TM especially however this is one of those things that are just crap. The stock batteries are crap and there is no recouping your money for them. My advice would be to buy some 7.4 lipos and use those, You'll either need to convert the rif or buy a converter. IF you can solder 2 bits of wire together, convert it yourself, there are videos (probably from eagle6) on how to do this on youtube. It's easy if you can solder. If you can't solder or are too intimidated to, then some retailers (I think fire support do) that sell a converter. There are other methods to solve this. You can try really hard to give the trigger a good pull every time, however the batteries likely aren't up to the job, they were probably sitting in the retailers inventory for years, so while they might be new to you, they could be 5-10 years old. You can fit or have fitted a mosfet, the Gate Titan is the current one, this is somewhere in the region of £100-£170 (depending on model) plus labour (been a while since I looked), but it is pretty awesome. If you're doing this and paying someone to, then I'd consider a spring upgrade too, even if just an m95 or m100 as this is a gearbox open job. Where abouts are you based?

What batteries were you using? Have you installed a MOSFET? There is a known issue if people don't go "full" trigger pulls where it can lock up. Typically a low battery charge won't help etc. If also suggest double checking the motor connections, ensure they are really on, sometimes they can come off and sit over the bit in the motor, looks like it's connected but it's not.

Check which generation mags they are (assuming they're tm stanags). The ones I had (generation 3) were picky about which gas nozzle I could load from, plastic worked but certain metal ones didn't. Is the MWS stock? Is it brand new?

The issue is that genuine encrypted comms are so CM very expensive to get hold off and a real effort to set up and for airsoft, encrypted comms just isn't realistically an option, so I'm against eavesdropping on comms....unless this is an element that is written into the rules of the game.

Honestly?! Id just buy a basic specna arms type aeg. There has been a massive improvement in the quality of kit available in 10 years. Now, you could regrease everything, swap hop rubbers over and buy new batteries, and it'd cost less but the aim of the game is to have fun. If you dropped out previously it's because you didn't find it fun enough and I'd advise to do the thing that's most fun. Ruining a couple of games days as you do some maintenance and realize it needs more of this or that isn't worth the savings you'll make or the feeling you're being out performed. This route might cost you the love of the hobby. Personally if I was determined to fix up what I had, new hop rubbers, new 7.4 lipo batteries and a barrel clean. If opening the gearbox and greasing is needed.....well then id just buy a new one.

So true!

Because they (often) just let anyone in, there's no process so it's just a bunch of randoms with mixed knowledge, skills, commitment, kit, motivation and willingness to work together. Often worse they say they're one thing (such as regularly attend big events) and then be something else (the definition of regular becomes once a year.....or less). It's worse than herding cats. At least when you meet people who attend they're all motivated enough to attend, travel whatever is required etc and if they're doing that, they're often the type who will go the extra mile, learn some team tactics and work as a team member and not lone wolf it. Their kit will be a bit more squared away (from experience and motivation), in line with rules and uniform requirements etc.

A point very well made

The only place you will meet the people you're interested in is by attending the events and getting to know people there. As someone who has played lots of big weekend events and tried countless times to herd supposedly willing skirmishers to events, don't waste your energy. Attend the events that would interest you, chat to people who are also motivated to attend and then follow up with them. Within a few events you'll have a better understanding of what you like and you'll know people who also attend. The level your talking about is generally too niche to be lucky enough to find local people and those that are....have been through loads of people saying they're keen, motivated etc who just flake, so they don't bother. They bother with people who attend multiple times. Attend events with Stirling, defiant events or one of the newer ones like Johnny big guns or bad wolf. This will mean traveling long distances.....but if you're motivated enough, you'll do it.

Huge loss to the community. Thank you for sharing with us. Thinking of all his friends and family at this time.