https://www.airsoftfestival.com/
58 days to go!
I hope to last more than the first hour this year...
58 days to go!
I hope to last more than the first hour this year...
Booking ends at midnight....
- Thread starter AirSniper
- Start date
Speedbird_666
AF-UK patch owner
- Jul 28, 2014
- 1,719
- 1,327
Fuck that. It's a shit site with 200 players let alone 2000+. Don't get the love for it at all.
And I live only 20mins away.
And I live only 20mins away.
Fatboy40
Members
- Mar 25, 2021
- 598
- 444
It's an hours drive from me and I've always fancied at least playing on a normal Sunday, is it really that bad? What didn't you like about it?
Sneaky
AF-UK patch owner
- Sep 1, 2012
- 659
- 127
I would like to know more too. I have never been, too many people in one place for my liking
Rogerborg
Supporters
- Aug 22, 2017
- 9,190
- 6,048
Sounds like GearGrindr.
Nope, I pay to go to an airsoft site to play airsoft, not to talk about playing airsoft. I can do that here free and without travelling.
Still, I am grateful for their honesty that the actual play (if any breaks out) will be a completely chaotic whangfest.
Speedbird_666
AF-UK patch owner
- Jul 28, 2014
- 1,719
- 1,327
Well, I have a list....
- Rhododendron bushes, bottleneck-narrow tracks and the terrain (hills & bogs) stops game play completely dead at times. One kid with a box mag hiding under one of said bushes can stop 30 players on the other team with little to no effort effort. The bushes are so dense/dark - it's virtually impossible to see where they are hiding. If you are lucky enough to work out where they are camping, there's a low probability of actually hitting them due to the density. By the time you've managed to crawl through the fucking bushes and try to flank, the game is over (Saturday games) or the objective has moved on to it's new hourly location (Sunday games). You could argue this for any woodland site - but GZ takes it to a whole new level.
- Deadzones (Sunday games) are fucking miles from the action - you push an objective, get shot, you are out for 20mins or so walking either to or from a deadzone - and you get shot on the way back to the objective? You are back in the deadzone and another bunch of time lost. Games degenerate into flat out cheating because people can't be arsed to deal with the deadzone bollocks. You'll only get 1-2 attempts at an objective if you really want to play them (more later).
- Both teams use the same deadzones. So technically you could be lit up the second you step foot out of it by the other person/people you were occupying it with. Most of the time airsofters will do the honourable thing and not shoot each other while leaving until out of eye-shot, but I have witnessed a kiddy light up members of the other team for giggles the moment they stepped out from behind the net.
- Sunday games have no flow. It's a big free-for-all single game with hourly (moving) objectives. Might sound fun in theory, but it just degenerates into shooting random people wandering around miles from said objectives. Frankly, only a small percentage of the players actually 'play' the objectives. The others are quite content to set up shop somewhere and take pot shots at passers by or just 'marauding' aimlessly. I find it deeply unfulfilling as an Airsoft experience.
- Saturday games are significantly better IMO - they are 'structured' into ~6 traditional games in specific areas of the site rather than a single all-day game covering the whole site . If you want to experience GZ, I would recommend going on a Saturday first. You will only see a small percentage of the site's playing actual playing area on a Saturday though, but they focus the games around the key 'features' such as the village, the trenches, the airfield etc, which are relatively(!) close to the safe zone.
- Not a massive issue for me, but no hot-burning pyro on site. Smoke could be extremely useful as a game play tool for this place, but they cannot use at the landowners request - fair enough I suppose.
There are some good things:
- I've never had a problem with the staff
- Sunday games have a mini Z1 showroom on site. Saturday games not so much, mainly just BB's for the punters.
- The Shooting range to setup your guns is excellent - a two-storey wooden building that looks like a wild west saloon.
- There are some excellent 'features' like the Fort, Chapel or village areas. Just a shame they are fucking miles apart.
I've played there on average twice a year over the last 16 or so years mainly for site membership/UKARA. TBH, I have no desire to play there anymore whatsoever.
Planning to play Ironsite again a couple of times this year - a bit of a trek for me - but I much prefer playing there. Had great times when I've been before.
This x1000.
Fatboy40
Members
- Mar 25, 2021
- 598
- 444
Just a little short list ? It makes sense though, and it does sound like things could potentially end up being a bit aimless and unfulfilling there. I do fancy playing a BIG game though one day, and I think one at RIFT may be better for me and my son.
Ironsight is my local site, literally a five minute drive from home, and I'm there this weekend (it's nearly sold out so lots of targets for me and my 0.28g's ? ). I suppose the polar opposite of GZ being a compact'ish site with plenty of marshals for it's size and quick turnarounds of games.
Speedbird_666
AF-UK patch owner
- Jul 28, 2014
- 1,719
- 1,327
Bigger isn't necessarily better and Ironsight is a great example of doing a lot with the space available. I've played there a few times, and it's just over an hour's drive for me, it's just not a straightforward journey as I end up driving through narrow country lanes and little villages/hamlets to get there. But I really like the site.
Cannonfodder
Members
- Aug 10, 2020
- 3,468
- 5,420
I haven't been for 14 years and don't intend to for several reasons. The main ones being:
Cheating. The amount of people ignoring hits is rediculous, especially on the Sunday.
The "safe zone" didn't feel that safe. I saw hardly anyone clear their guns before leaving the game area and the number of people walking round with the safety off and a finger on the trigger I'm surprised there hasn't been an incident yet. Yes the mags were out, but that doesn't mean there isn't 1 up the spout.
Cost. 2 days of mediocre (at best) for double the cost of 2 normal skirmish days is a piss take
Camping. There's always at least one dickhead who won't keep the noise down or thinks it's funny to set off a bfg in the early hours of the morning.
As for their booking closing at midnight, both times I went they were supposedly fully booked but were still taking money and allowing players to just turn up.
Cheating. The amount of people ignoring hits is rediculous, especially on the Sunday.
The "safe zone" didn't feel that safe. I saw hardly anyone clear their guns before leaving the game area and the number of people walking round with the safety off and a finger on the trigger I'm surprised there hasn't been an incident yet. Yes the mags were out, but that doesn't mean there isn't 1 up the spout.
Cost. 2 days of mediocre (at best) for double the cost of 2 normal skirmish days is a piss take
Camping. There's always at least one dickhead who won't keep the noise down or thinks it's funny to set off a bfg in the early hours of the morning.
That, or a subtle admission that, despite all those years in the hobby, they're unwilling or unable to run a half decent game
As I understand it this is due to peat soils which can easily catch fire and spread underground
As for their booking closing at midnight, both times I went they were supposedly fully booked but were still taking money and allowing players to just turn up.
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D
DrAlexanderTobacco
Guest
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Druid799
Supporters
- Sep 9, 2015
- 4,695
- 2,403
Me and my best mate and various other friends used to go every year(obviously the pandemic put the mockers on that !) but we never went for the gameplay just for the social side and an excuse to act like kids again and decompress (we both have quite high stress jobs) , your NEVER going to have even a hint of control or mission effective planning with that many civvies ’playing war’ in the woods BUT did it really matter to us ? no not really , the huge numbers and the absolute cluster fuck those numbers caused was one of the very reasons we enjoyed going ! It is funny as hell when you’ve got two or three or even sometimes just one bloke holding up 10/20/30/+ players at a point for literally ages ! And to be honest we just played our own game we never followed the ‘game plan’ (hence we always play ‘others’)we had real satisfaction from spending our time slowly slowly making our way through the undergrowth to get as close as we could to an enemy objective or even their main base to try and pick off players who then act totally bemused when they get hit ! on more than one occasion we were found out not by the skill at arms of the other teams but by them hearing us giggling like a pair of school girls due to the confusion we just caused ! ?
?
it started loosing its appeal for me when they stopped bring the shop to the site , I do fully accept it must have been an absolute nightmare getting it their and set up and yes you can still order on line and they’ll deliver to you on site BUT for me personally and my mate the thing is there are no Airsoft shops even vaguely close to where I live so this used to be my only experience of a shop(and from talking to them it was the same for a lot of other players too)so it certainly was a ‘kid in a candy shop’ for us and we certainly did a lot of impulse buying due to the goods being their in front of me but equally there were a few things I’d wanted but no longer did after seeing them ‘in the flesh’ either .
So to finish my ramble all I’d say is if your thinking of going just do it and make your own mind up and don’t rely completely on others ‘opinions’ . Savvy ?
?it started loosing its appeal for me when they stopped bring the shop to the site , I do fully accept it must have been an absolute nightmare getting it their and set up and yes you can still order on line and they’ll deliver to you on site BUT for me personally and my mate the thing is there are no Airsoft shops even vaguely close to where I live so this used to be my only experience of a shop(and from talking to them it was the same for a lot of other players too)so it certainly was a ‘kid in a candy shop’ for us and we certainly did a lot of impulse buying due to the goods being their in front of me but equally there were a few things I’d wanted but no longer did after seeing them ‘in the flesh’ either .
So to finish my ramble all I’d say is if your thinking of going just do it and make your own mind up and don’t rely completely on others ‘opinions’ . Savvy ?
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I'm going with a group, joined Others for similar reasons stated above. It's a good laugh, especially if you play around the fringes and don't get in the bottlenecks. Just don't take it too serious... I.e. delta
Also, the food is good. Cannot recommend the Greek place enough. The food options are probably 40% why I wanna go again. Beyond hanging out, it's definately the main reason why the missus is happy to go even though they don't play.
Also, the food is good. Cannot recommend the Greek place enough. The food options are probably 40% why I wanna go again. Beyond hanging out, it's definately the main reason why the missus is happy to go even though they don't play.
Druid799
Supporters
- Sep 9, 2015
- 4,695
- 2,403
Oh man the chicken Souvlaki are the bomb ! ?
I also used to love the Burrito stall that used to be their too !
Rogerborg
Supporters
- Aug 22, 2017
- 9,190
- 6,048
Druid799
Supporters
- Sep 9, 2015
- 4,695
- 2,403
Wash your mouth out sir ! ? the creators of Souvlaki were debating the meaning of life when the kebab mongers were still arguing over who’s goat was the prettiest one !Shish kebab with extra marketing steps.
Tactical Pith Helmet
AF-UK patch owner
- Jul 5, 2016
- 1,040
- 2,576
Egyptian pre-dynastic civilisation 4300BCE
Greek post-Mycenaean civilisation 1200BCE
Thales of Miletus kicked off Greek philosophy and was born in 624BCE
Kebab was first used in a text by Kyssa-i Yusuf in 1377 to describe meat cooked on swords and knives.
Stone skewers dating from 1700BCE have been found on Santorini.
The word souvlaki itself is debated but is certainly 20th century.
Souvlaki is an Armenian kebab taken to Greece post Armenian genocide.
Never been to NAF.
Shamal
AF-UK patch owner
- Aug 2, 2020
- 2,830
- 2,878
Love the gyros and the beer tent. Lol.
Will be bravo again this year.
Just love sitting around a glowing fire pit and chilling out. Games are an added bonus.?
Regards
Come on down to Ringwood mate you will love it ?
Love the gyros and the beer tent. Lol.
Will be bravo again this year.
Just love sitting around a glowing fire pit and chilling out. Games are an added bonus.? az
Druid799
Supporters
- Sep 9, 2015
- 4,695
- 2,403
Shish Kebab a dish of Turkish origin made of skewered and grilled cubes of meat . A staple of Mediterranean cuisine similar to a dish called Shashlik which is found through the Caucasus region .
the term ‘Souvlaki’ is a variation of the Macedonian word ‘souvla’ which ment ‘skewer’ and was uniformly used throughout the Macedonian sphere of influence to describe any meat dish cooked over a heat source with the food ‘impaled’ on too bamboo/metal or wooden skewers .
No Egyptian input required ??
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