Colin Allen

Many thanks for the entertaining write up. How many people typically turn up for these events? I recently played one of their days at Battle Lakes and was surprised by how few players were there; given the size of the safe zone, it did not seem that they were expecting many,

Having collected the lad from University on Friday, this morning we set off for Airsoft Plantation, equipped with water bottles laced with screech and, in the lad's case, a Camelback. Around 170 players were present on what was a very hot day. The first game required the attackers (us, being the blue team, in the first leg) to collect two smoke bombs from the DEA base and the new village and transport them to the village where one bomb had to be set off in each of the two double storey buildings. Our regen was on a marshal 30m behind us, while the defenders had one life in each of DEA base/new village/the firebreak/the village. Out attacks seemed to go rather slowly, with us eventually setting off both bombs in what seemed like a very long time. After a break for drinks and ice lollies, the game was switched around. Our defence of the DEA base and new village seemed to collapse really quickly due to some brilliant flanking moves by the red team. However, we held them at the firebreak in a series of extended engagements, during which the SLR once again proved that it is not the ideal weapon in dense undergrowth. Unfortunately, the lad was grenaded by fellow blue players, who were only 3m behind him; well done chaps! Eventually falling back from there, we fought an all round defence of the village until being overrun; to my surprise, the reds had taken longer to complete the mission than we had. After more drinks and ice lollies, we played a game which required both teams to transport their VIPs across the mortar pits to the safety of a marshal who would be located where the other team had started from. Each player except the VIPs had two lives, while the VIPs had infinite regens on the marshal where they started from. I am not sure what happened to the red team, but we pushed forward and got our VIPs to their objective, while they did not manage to do so. Following lunch, which involved more drinks and ice lollies, we played a domination game across most of the scrubland part of the site. This was a challenging game, partly due to the heat and partly due to the nature of the AP site, which lends itself to sneaky infiltration tactics, with groups of players popping up in unexpected places. The QBZ97 proved its worth in the scrubland, being much easier to manoeuvre than the SLR and more than capable of holding its own in the open. At the end of the game, we held two points, while the reds held three :(. There was another game after this but, along with quite a number of other players, we decided to leave due to the heat, especially as the lad was developing a headache. Despite that, it was a typically excellent AP day! Weapons used: Me: Ares SLR (morning) Real Sword QBZ97 (afternoon) Milbro M1911 Classic The Lad: LCT AS VAL (morning) JG BAR 10 (afternoon) ASG Commander XP18

Bloody hell! The wonders of enrichment. Thankfully, you were both ok.

Very unlikely in the UK; totalitarianism does not tend to happen in countries that do not take their politicians seriously and which recognise them for the incompetent, greedy, egomaniacal bastards that most of them are. We take the piss out of our politicians far too much for anyone to get into a position where they can create a totalitarian regime; Mosley was probably the biggest internal threat to our democracy in modern times and he failed in part because he was widely lampooned and derided, but mainly because we do not really 'do' totalitarianism. As for Covid, the response to that was probably basically correct, albeit with several mistakes, acts of stupidity (eat out to help out) and utter corruption and cronyism from the ruling party. Unfortunately, climate change is a real thing, regardless of whether individuals "believe" in it; we really do have to change the way we behave if we want to leave the planet in a reasonable state for future generations. As to whether they are going to "come for our guns" at some point, I suspect that they probably will eventually. I have always been somewhat surprised that owning RIFs is so easily tolerated in the UK and will be somewhat disappointed but not particularly surprised when they do.

Yes, but it has taken you until now to realise. 😈

It is amazing that any airsoft gun even works.

Well played! Sorting out a RIF is always satisfying. The lad is thinking of getting a 552 but midcaps are damned hard to find.

Indeed, monsieur.

I very definitely have an issue boots issue, and I don't care:). I have worn black tie with black issued German boots; nobody seemed to notice.

It would have been the traditional way: throwing blancmanges at each other from the baskets of hot air balloons. It is how I repeatedly duel with my mortal foe, Roger the Welshman (that isn't an instruction). I am pleased to hear about the boots. Go and play, and tell him what a brilliant day you had :). Hope he recovers rapidly.

Fair enough. I will be near Milton Keynes on Thursday; ask your second to contact mine to make the arrangements.

I did some quite extensive data analysis on South African crime rates a few years ago as part of a wider research project into violent crime in South Africa Generally accepted reasons for the high violent crime rates include: A failed policing criminal justice system that is under equipped, ineffective, inefficient, highly politicised and corrupt. Massively unequal wealth distribution. Zero prospects for advancement for a large percentage of the population. Disadvantaged young people being drawn into violent crime through a normalisation of violence, the growth of violent subcultures, poor parenting, poverty etc. Brutalisation of young people growing up in poverty, resulting in the above mentioned normalisation of violence. Large numbers of guns being readily available, often having been sold to gangs by police officers on an almost industrial scale; for example, Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo was convicted in 2016 of selling more than 2000 guns to criminal gangs. As well educated and skilled South Africans, predominantly white, leave the country in ever increasing numbers, with most giving the level of violent crime as their main motivation for doing so, it is unlikely that the situation is going to improve as their departure is negatively impacting business and the economy, leading to further reductions in opportunities for the underprivileged. As with the USA, it does look like South Africa may be well and truly fucked when it comes to violent crime and, in particular, murder.

I think they are a mixture of the two. Unfortunately, there will always be a percentage of people in this hobby who like to create controversy or are attracted to authoritarianism. There are also some who lack the intelligence or awareness to understand what wearing such insignia, be it Z, Wagner, SS or whatever, represents.. They are the same group who use the "It's just banter" defence. I have only seen two or three players wearing Z or Wagner patches. One was asked to remove a Z patch by a site owner, refused to do so and was told to leave. Maybe you need to find a different site; however, such people are spread across airsoft and you will encounter them at most sites. The best thing to do is to ignore them as much as possible, play your game and, if you do encounter them in the field, make sure it hurts.

To be fair, you deserved it and it was not written in anger.

Anger and self control issues; hopefully, he does not have a FAC.

Grow up, child. Either that, or stop posting when drunk.

Pull your head in, old boy; your angry man syndrome is showing. AI legislation and firearms legislation are two completely different situations. The former is a new and rapidly developing area and all governments are looking at its potential impact and how to prevent it growing out of control; it is not a case of "follow my leader". Do you really think that a US requirement to have markings on imitation firearms and some form of testing programme for the same is going to impact your right to own a firearm in the UK? I did NOT say that nobody needs a firearm; I said that, outside a few legitimate reasons, nobody in the UK needs a firearm; if you are going to argue with me, at least try to argue with what I have said. I stand by what I said; there are very few people in the UK who need a firearm. Your car argument is utterly infantile; cars serve a useful purpose in transporting people. As such, they are useful tools. In the UK, firearms are only useful tools for very, very few people. Comparing airsofters with Dietrich Bonhoeffer is utterly ridiculous and massively insulting to someone who had the guts to stand up to one of the most vile regimes in modern history. Give your head a shake.

I cannot quite see how US regulations regarding imitation firearms will impact shooting hobbies in the UK. I expect new legislation will make ownership and use of firearms more difficult; given that we still have incidents such as the ones that you describe, that is almost inevitable. To be honest, outside a few legitimate reasons, I cannot see why anyone in the UK needs to own a firearm.

That is neither a ban on imports nor a requirement for them to be either transparent plastic or non-real looking colours. A 6mm orange band on the muzzle meets the requirements. As for the testing regime, a "reasonable testing program" is required but what constitutes reasonable is not defined. It is up to the manufacturer or "private labeler" to certify that the product meets the requirement of having the required marking. This would probably not be an onerous requirement.

The part that I highlighted is incredibly simplistic; it is the classic argument that guns are not the problem and that "an armed society is a safe society". Guns may not be the whole of the problem but they are a very large part of it; having an armed society hasn't worked out particularly well for you, has it? Has it created a safer society? I don't think that there is anything that ordinary Joes like you can do; the situation has reached the point where you just have to accept that dead schoolchildren are the price you have to pay for an obsession with owning guns and a devotion to every word, comma, full stop etc of an outdated constitution that prevents people from accepting that the conditional clause of the second amendment is now obsolete, thus voiding the right to keep and bear arms.

Most of the developed world moved way beyond that incredibly simplistic view a long time ago. Unfortunately, I suspect that there are so many guns in circulation in the USA that you are truly fucked. You have created an armed, aggressive and fearful society with appallingly poor education and mental health provision, resulting in a situation where a reasonably large number of schoolchildren are going to be killed in mass shootings every year. But hey, that's a price worth paying for Billy Bob to own his penis extension.

Excellent! I have been wearing mine today. I only own one pair of shoes, which are for when I have to wear black tie. I own 17 pairs of issue boots.

1000 mile socks are great. As an alternative, I have been using these for walking, airsoft and everyday use for years and have covered an awful lot of miles in them: https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc141251954

Best desert boots: Iturri, by a very long way, but they are not good in the wet without sealskinz socks. Best patrol boots: Iturri. Light, comfortable and pretty much waterproof if treated properly with waterproofing wax.

Don’t! They are very old fashioned boots; awkward and uncomfortable when worn over any length of time. These are quite similar to the YDS boots; old fashioned, awkward and not particularly comfortable.