Baz JJ

A friend of mine in the business works for this maker. The Kite is well known in the military but I cant find if anybody makes anything resembling it, shape-wise ? I can only find the usual Aimpoints, EoTechs etc

I cant answer for this forum. Ive been involved in non-Airsoft forums which have branched out into FB and have found it increased the membership but polarised the members, Some people don't like Facebook so prefer a web based forum, Existing FB users on the other hand prefer FB access. Interestingly, we started a milsim community group and decided not to open a website, just relying on Facebook. It works for us and the medium is ideal for what we need.

Nice idea. I see you are using the same site as RIFT. How does this work? are you affiliated with RIFT or just hiring the same piece of ground from the landowner ?

The next game in the series, Operation Tailspin has gone up on the FB page. Not until April though.

Its very simple. You are not licencing the radio, you are buying a licence to operate on specific frequencies. As had already been said, if you buy a PMR446 radio which operates on the licence-free frequency allocations in the 446MHZ band, that's fine as long as the radio complies with the terms of that arrangement (i.e max 500mW power, etc). If you operate on other frequencies, you need some form of licence. A lot of airsoft sites have licences. We do for our milsims. Check with them to see if they cover your use of your Baofeng at their site.

Personally I wouldn't buy a Baofeng without a licence to cover it. Even at low power, it transmits at 900-1000mW which is nearly twice the permitted power on PMR446, Technically overpower. Worse, its very tempting in a game to just hit the high power selector and output a full 5W on those channels if you cant get through to teammates. IMHO Binatone PMR446 aren't very good. Motorola are quite good, but this is more from experience rather than quantification. Personally,I would go back to basics. Who do you want to talk to and over what distance. From that decide whether to go PMR446 or get an OFCOM licence. Then decide what kind of mic/speaker/headset you want to use for your loadout/needs and match that with the PTT and radio so everything talks together.

Lack of any military cohesion or teamwork is what put me off skirmishing. I have discovered what was missing, in Airsoft milsim. A lot of people who skirmish seem to form their own teams so they effectively ignore what the others are doing on their own side in a skirmish and focus on a game between their team and the opposing force in the skirmish.

Yeah we call them AEGs too. RIF is just a legal thing to differentiate from two tones. GBB is gaining in popularity it seems. A lot of UK players use GBB sidearms all year round but rifles are gaining now. I have a GBB SMG and its fine but I don't take it in mid winter when we get sub zero temps. The climate is very mild here compared to the states. There are lots of sites in those counties. Might be worth scoping our the nearest to you using the Airbana website and then checking out the reviews in the appropriate section here. Im sure you will feel at home here, The younger set already use bro, dude and bud ! lol

Remember its not necessary to have a UKARA to own RIFs. If you already have the airsoft weapons, you don't strictly need it. However, if you want to buy more, the seller will need you to have UKARA or similar to give them a defence to supply you, so it might be worthwhile if you play a few games. Welcome to the UK and this group.

Okto Eight Milsim https://www.facebook.com/groups/AirsoftSOFSIM/ https://www.facebook.com/Militaryandairsoftfairessex?fref=nf https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433200350283973/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Talk to Gunman NW - they sometimes hold milsims or themed games in the North West.

Stitch Me Up - they do a good job and can offer small quantities if you supply them with the artwork

We played up at Kings Langley near you a few weekends back. Depends what kind of Airsoft you are in to and how many games you have played and the dreaded defence. Most players start with an AEG rifle of some description.

Good review Zak. Glad you added the bit about you not plugging your headset in therefore missing the STARTEX ! lol Running back to the caravan for pizza makes one of your fellow MDF. a humongous cock womble, but what can you do with em ? Everybody else was digging into field rations at their bases.

The rule tweaks have already been made. Stocking up on props for the next one in April. The only problem with so many people coming back for the second game is that we need to get some new stuff to keep it on the edge ! lol

If anybody is interested in photos, there are some photos of the day on the Okto Eight Milsim Facebook page and a lot more on the Okto Eight Milsim Kill Club group on Facebook, which is the community group for the players.

To be honest, we had to hold some of the props back in the end on the Sunday otherwise it would just be too much and too confusing. We have some more interesting toys for the next game and we are always shopping for new things.

Thanks for a good review Clumpyedge. The inaugural game wasn't perfect and I guess things never are, but we have analysed all the feedback and made some changes for the next game. Regarding radios, there was somebody operating the radio net most of the time, but they were communicating with three teams and doing other stuff as well. In reality, radio traffic between SF and HQ would be minimal and its not unusual to have to call a few times on some sort of sched because of bad positioning or atmospherics. In that particular game, you were playing the sniper attached to a fireteam and if I recall for much of the time, you were remote from the main team doing what snipers do. The plan communicated in the SOF FB group was for you to be under the control of the 1IC in the SF fireteam and you had a radio link with them to coordinate activities. Leadership at milsims is always difficult. Some players don't lead naturally and some don't like to be led. In the real world, you do as you're told or at least in the SF, as agreed collectively in the plan but its harder to push this in a leisure activity where people pay money to enjoy themselves. Certainly, as an organiser we try to set up groups to promote this and we encourage and advice, but nobody can be forced to do as they are told. The good thing about milsims is that nobody gets killed permanently and next time round, you can put yourself forward to lead !! Regarding props, I know cos I queried it with you this morning that when you say props, you mean things like mortars. We actually had mortars in the game on the Sunday, but as you played on Saturday, you obviously weren't aware of this. We had a lot of props out in the field and I suspect because you were out in a sniping role and just played the one day, there were many you didn't see. For example, on Sunday, your team were dropped a British Army Mine Clearing Kit and they were doing EOD on landmines !! Regarding the confusing orders and tabbing, welcome to the army mate. There were a lot of sore legs in the SF when we extracted them on Sunday. My answer is "well you wanted to be special - thats why SF do selection and need incredible stamina" :-) All joking and banter aside, your team did well, even if we did have to help them out on the Sunday with a UAV !!

At the Okto Eight game this weekend just gone, we had a very good radio net in place and provided a 4W licenced set for every four men, with dedicated frequencies for each force. Correct RT procedure was maintained from the command side and it was interesting because originally there was a reluctance for people to become the radioman for their squad. However, in one case, we illustrated (not deliberately) that one team were at a disadvantage because they didn't know where the other half of their team were and people started to warm to radios. They started to see the benefit when used properly and they picked up the procedures and started to learn in the field what was useful and what wasnt.

Hi guys, after posting about the planning and execution of the inaugural game, I promised that I would give some sort of summary and review after it happened. I will try to be objective. The game was a Milsim held at Westwood Country Park in Kings Langley just off J20 on the M25. People could play for the day or weekend. The cost was 35 pounds for the day or 60 for the weekend for early bookings and free camping was available. People started to arrive from 1600 onwards on the Friday and the camping was on a large, secure flat field. There were a few horse pats here and there but they didn't cause any trouble provided you used a torch when moving around at night. The toilets were proper, flushing, ceramic bowl toilets situated in a brick building, although it was a long walk in the middle of the night. There was also a fresh water standpipe there although most players brought their own water with them. Some camped in tents and one pair of players even brought a touring caravan with them. The organisers office which was a caravan and a large tent was also in the camping field and they provided charging facilities and a shop selling BBs, gas and pyro. The game started at 0900 on Saturday and there were three forces in attendance as per the game advertisement. The principle of the Okto Eight games are eight hour games in the battlefield held over a weekend and with socialising in the evening after the cease fire at 1700. The Milsim nature of the game dictated no two tone weapons, a loadout guideline and prohibited use of highcaps. The organiser provided two vehicles; a Russian GAZ jeep for the rebels forces to use and a Ford Ranger 4x4 pick-up which was shared between the other two forces. Once the safety brief had been carried out, weapons were chrono'd and there was a brief explanation about the game itself. The number of players was quite low compared to a skimish, about 22-24 players, but it was an inaugural game and it worked quite well in the end. The government forces were able to walk to their base which was a large tented camp with a tower and flag as it was only a few hundred metres beyond the "Caution - Moldistan Border" sign which signified the start of the warzone. The rebels were driven to their secret village in their jeep which then stayed with them all day. The SF were inserted in the 4x4 and did what SF do. It has to be said that the site is huge. Reputed to be about 120 acres, it is woodland with no hard permanent buildings but has a mixture of terrain from woods to open fields with plenty of dips, hollows and long grass. There are vehicle tracks which provide 4x4 access to most of the bases and key features used. The organiser had constructed for the purpose of the game, the two bases, an abandoned village, a mine entrance and a checkpoint. Operation Skylight was set in the fictional eastern bloc country of Moldistan in modern times. The game had already started some six months previously on the Facebook page where the story and game prelim had spun up around a corrupt government and a Titanium mine. Players could log on to their secret team group so they could get to know their fellow team mates and discuss tactics long before the game weekend. Once in-country, everybody was allowed to settle in and there were three different radio nets being maintained and run by the organisers. Each force had the ability to call up a command centre for orders and advice. The main activity of Saturday revolved around the official opening of the mine. The government forces were assigned to escort the President to the mine for the opening and the rebels were instructed to assassinate him. The SF had different but mission related orders. The President was played by an actor and turned up with his bodyguard, another actor, in a bulletproof minivan and then a 4x4 for the last part of the journey. What was good is that you could shoot at the vehicles, even though they were "armoured". The rebels attacked and used an RPG which fired, but unfortunately, the attack was a little premature and the President escaped. The government troops did a great job of protecting him. The day was peppered with battles between the factions and the MPF rebels did eventually manage to take out an armed patrol with the RPG later. A rebel pointed the RPG, it fired with a bang and there was an even larger explosion from the car, which resulted in black smoke, bodies slumped, etc. Further adventures over the weekend included all forces hunting an American journalist through the wargame area (SF managed to locate him and exfil him by a car posing as a helicopter - not as silly as it seems in practice). There was also another attempt to open the mine where the opening was finally achieved but the President escaped again. This was followed by an all out attack on the rebel stronghold with mortars and the SF rescuing a stretcher bound hostage. All in all, a great weekend. The weather was brilliant for airsoft - dry, sunny but not too hot. Everybody played their chosen roles perfectly. There were no raised hands when hit, the rebels were dressed for the part and even talked with faked Russian accents. Some were camming up and the vehicles were fantastic. There is nothing quite like shooting at a car which is doing its best to evade you or better still a technical with armed guards firing back at you. At one point, there was a firefight between SF and rebels as they helicopter tried to evac the journalist and it was very much a hot extraction with the BBs flying around the helo, callsign HELO2. Good Points ========== There was enough players to let the game function and let everybody have hands on the props. Props included the already mentioned RPG, vehicles, working pyro landmines, dynamite and timer strapped to the silencer of one of the vehicles as a car bomb and much, much more. Attention to detail was superb. Even the mines which entered the game on the back of the GAZ were in a straw filled ammo box. A real mine clearing kit was provided to the SF at one point in one of their drops and there was even a defib kit for battlefield medics seen in one of the tents. The game was clear and communications flowed well. Some players had flat gun batteries in the afternoon and the organiser loaned them new ones whilst charging up their knackered ones for them. One player was loaned a PTT to enable his headset to talk to a Okto supplied radio (The Organiser supplied high power radios to all forces). There was a good social on Saturday night with people eating their supper around campfires and enjoying a beer and a smoke together. You could keep extra equipment and ammo at your field base - the SF received parachute drops of equipment. Bad Points ========= There was a bit of confusion about whether a vehicle was a moving car or flying helicopter at one point. One of the rental guns misbehaved even though it was nearly new, but this was exchanged for another identical weapon so the player was only inconvenienced for a short time. A few more players in the game would be good, but not too many. Okto advise max limit is 36-40 players depending on game details. Hopefully, this will be achieved in the next game. There already appears to be a loyal following keen to book for the April game. Bandages and morphine worked well, although there was some confliction between the published rules and the briefing as to how the morphine was to be used. The morphine jab certainly saved a long walk back to regen. A bit of confusion about respawn points. It was found that the hard points were a long way away and the legs ached after about the 10th time you died, so the organisers started using mobile ones to assist. This concept wasn't fully understood by some, so it could be explained better next time. A couple of players were a bit hit and miss on their hit taking on the Sunday but the marshal had a word and the problem cleared up. Some of the non-milsim experienced day players used a bit too much auto on the Sunday but its only milsim experience which prevents that and its easy to get carried away. The front gate sign on the approach road was a bit hard to spot. You really need to be a Facebook user to get the best out of Okto games - they don't have a website. There is only an Okto Eight game every six months...

End of Day 1 at Operation Skylight STOP PRESS - Operation Skylight 20th September - President Gretsky, who travelled to Gorazh to attend the opening of the new Moldistan Titanium Mine, was saved today by his loyal Moldistan Defence Force. Rebels from the Peoples Front of Moldistan pounced as the Presidents vehicle approached the mine. The MDF managed to suppress the attack and his close protection team spirited Gretsky away to safety. Tragically, some members of the Defence Force and the Presidents bodyguard were later killed when their vehicle was struck by an RPG rocket fired by the rebels in a retaliation killing. President Gretsky insists that the official opening is just delayed not cancelled. LONG LIVE GRETSKY

I think you've summed up the main difference between skirmishing and milsim. I think the mindset of skirmishers and simmers is very different. To the latter, an airsoft weapon is just a part of the experience; its another piece of equipment. The fun of milsim is more about the immersion of a scenario. Things like using vehicles, handling a range of military equipment and proper planning and execution. Neither is right or wrong, its just about what you enjoy as a recreational player.

We have our milsim this weekend. Many of the players have only skirmished before and this will be their introduction to milsim and the use of mid caps and restricted ammo. Some players are renting weapons. It will be interesting to see whether they enjoy a different style of play, The three principal forces which include a coalition special forces team have enough experienced milsimmers to demonstrate by example. Low caps are permissible but with an ammo allowance of 600 rounds, thats a lot of mags to buy. Most airsofters play to a budget.

It will be interesting to see how well its attended. IMHO there isn't room for two national shows. I know some of the trade are attending, but not sure how many.

Dont worry Ian, its a long way to travel without transport for a weekend.