Sites worth travelling to.......

[Emergencychimps]

Hi all, 

We have probably all seen the news about the Gaol with great sadness and one of the comments was about regret for not attending sites before they closed.......so on that thought. 

Which sites are worth travelling to because they are so amazing/awesome/different or because the game play there is just so good? What sites will we be talking about next year or the year after along the lines of "wish I had gone to imperium/Warzone etc, while it was still open.....". 

I have done loads of sites in my time, but am finding it hard to justify a 2 hour trek across the country when my local is pretty good (it's good, but is their skirmish day worth travelling for?!? probably not). 

What site would you recommend and why? Stories, reasons, opinions etc are essential. An answer along the lines of "splatoon". isn't enough - whats so awesome about this site that I should get out of bed an extra 90 minutes for?!?

I am asking for me (based in Cambridgeshire) but also for everyone to really praise the site they think is awesome, even if it's in Scotland/cornwall etc. 

 

[Gunboat Diplomat]

This is a good one, I’ve only ever played my local sites and the Gaol thread has prompted me to book there next month. Its been on my list but ironically its potential closure is the thing that has gotten me off my arse to actually plan a visit. 

 

[GeorgePlaysAirsoft]

Not the most specific answer but at this point in time I would say any site which isn't a woodland/field/paintball site is worth a visit, start with the closest one and work outwards.  On my list:

UCAP dover

Drake Island

F&O anzio

Blackstone cqb 

I am lucky to have some decent locals (inc SCCQB which is due to close at any time) and whilst I mostly play 24h games now the money spent getting to cool sites (inc airbnb) has been worth it. 

 

[Impulse]

I'll echo F&O Anzio. Great site, but way too far for me to go on the regular

I'll be watching this thread though. Hopefully will pass my driving test in December which will free me up to go to any site I really want to. Until then, my experiences are pretty limited.

 

[Emergencychimps]

I am going to answer my own thread - because nerd. 

1. Catterick with Stirling airsoft. But I'd be very specific as to what you book onto. I think their Themed games at Catterick are an excellent transition for anyone that wants more structure, but is apprehensive about diving into a "milsim". The themed games are 11:00am to 11:00pm on Saturday and like 7:30 am to 11:00am Sunday. They're a thinking mans skirmish, lots of cqb, changing respawn points (there are 2 but they switch), objectives every hour which really help to focus where the fight is. Also you can sleep in the admin block in a bed or in the barn on a camp bed/mat. I think the per cost per hour of gameplay is excellent. Don't worry about gear snobbery, night vision etc. It's the place all our soldier train at.....how cool is that! 

2. Eversley with Gunman Airsoft, again specifically their Alpha site. The sportsmanship any time I have been has been great, but the terrain is undulating (great for airsoft), it's not too extreme and some of the areas they have done (vietnam machine gun post for example) is pretty awesome. It's got a super cool feel to it and Yes it's a woodland site......but it's one of the few woodland site I have really enjoyed. 

UCAP dover

Drake Island

F&O anzio

Blackstone cqb 

Why these 4 - can you give an overview of what it is about them that has made them great for you? 

 

[Mtemprell]

This is a good one, I’ve only ever played my local sites and the Gaol thread has prompted me to book there next month. Its been on my list but ironically its potential closure is the thing that has gotten me off my arse to actually plan a visit. 

I'm planning a game there next month too. When are you going? 

 

[EvilMonkee]

Eversley Alpha is a great site.  

 

[Mtemprell]

Blackstone cqb 

I'll second this. They have a great indoor set up. Build inside a warehouse unit with a scratch built village setting inside. They have the ability to add visual and sound effects to the environment to simulate thunder, vehicle movement, aircraft and gun fire and much more. The staff are great and friendly and marshaled really well, they issue out a number arm band at the start of the day and if they need to deal with one player they can track it via CCTV and call out that one player. 

 

[GeorgePlaysAirsoft]

Why these 4 - can you give an overview of what it is about them that has made them great for you? 

sorry I was going to edit my post but then something came up. I haven't been. These are on my list to go to. Because they meet my criteria of not being a woodland or paintball site haha. But more specifically:

- Drake Island (because its an island)

- UCAP dover (I remember looking at the Savills brocher for the site and thinking how cool it would be if it was an airsoft site. Now it is)

- F&O anzio - I believe this will be the last former-MOD urban site in the UK?

- Blackstone - just looks cool, also have family nearby.

Unless something has universal bad reviews ala bunker 51 I prefer to make up my own mind about places. 

 

[Impulse]

2. Eversley with Gunman Airsoft, again specifically their Alpha site. The sportsmanship any time I have been has been great, but the terrain is undulating (great for airsoft), it's not too extreme and some of the areas they have done (vietnam machine gun post for example) is pretty awesome. It's got a super cool feel to it and Yes it's a woodland site......but it's one of the few woodland site I have really enjoyed. 

I'll double up on this and say that particularly their filmsim events are great. Everyone should give different ways of playing a chance so they can see what they enjoy the most (I love filmsim but I hate milsim, having tried both)

And F&O Anzio, at least in my opinion, is a great site due to the varied terrain. Urban airsoft is my favourite way of playing airsoft, and Anzio does scratch that itch. There's a lot of buildings to fight through, from and over, but it's not a "CQB" site and there's plenty of space outside the buildings too. One of my favourite experiences playing sniper in the UK was at Anzio. My gameplay was entirely outside the buildings, not because I didn't want to, but because I was on blood thinners and didn't want to risk getting a bleeder that would've taken a while to clot by getting shot up close. I really wanted to follow my team into some of the buildings and then provide overwatch from windows, but alas... heart needed fixing, and I had to be on blood thinners leading up to that surgery. Still a great site though for sure and I'm gutted it's so far from me so I can't go there more regularly.

 

[Cannonfodder]

For me it's Blackstone for the reasons already mentioned, but also good for those of us using public transport being only 20 minutes walk from the station.

Another site I'd recommend is South Herts Airsoft near Kings Langley. While facilities are a bit sparse the atmosphere is always friendly, the owners do listen to feedback (both positive and negative) and are regularly working on the site to keep things fresh. To me the only negative is that it's difficult to get to and I'd definitely go there more often if it wasn't.

Unless something has universal bad reviews ala bunker 51 I prefer to make up my own mind about places. 

This. There's been quite a few times where I've had great days and supposedly bad sites and there's some sites with excellent reps which I wouldn't return to if I was paid

 

[Mtemprell]

Unless something has universal bad reviews ala bunker 51 I prefer to make up my own mind about places.

That's my view too. I even bit the bullet and decided to try a site alot complain about, phoenix Airsoft. Not a bad site in its self but wasn't a fan of some people there.

Tac house the Stan in Sheffield isn't a bad site at all, nicely laid out over 3 floors of old factory, some of it I feel is perfect for people who love fast play. The owners are decent and run it well as they did in their old site in chesterfield. 

In November I'm travelling to Gloucester to try the prison cqb site there, hopefully from what I've heard it's a good site and ran well. No idea how I managed to convince the Missus that while we are on holiday that way that I can play a game. But she agreed and allowed me to book on, I'm sure she'll enjoy herself with the dogs for the day. 

 

[EvilMonkee]

The two best sites are no longer with us Urban Assault and the Mall.  Going to Blackstone for first time on Sunday - say hi if you are there @Cannonfodder 

 

[Gunboat Diplomat]

When are you going

Nov 2nd me and the boy will be there. 

 

[Colin Allen]

Unless something has universal bad reviews ala bunker 51 I prefer to make up my own mind about places. 

It is always best to.  The lad and I went to a couple of sites in the Midlands that have great reviews and attract large numbers of players.  We left one after a boring and badly designed morning on somewhat unsuitable terrain, which threatened to get even worse in the afternoon; the second one was a great site physically, but the marshalling and game design were very poor.

However, there are some sites that are just awful; Tactical Warfare Airsoft is my prime example of that.

 

[Galvatron]

I'll say Blackstone CQB for the reasons mentioned above. It also has vending machines along with free tea & coffee plus the fact that the setup area/safe zone includes the White Sphere shop and a 20m shooting range.

In addition to CCTV, the games are streamed on Twitch with a slight time delay. The play area has also had changes since it opened that have mixed up game play. Hot food may not be sold on site but you have McDonalds, Burger King, Nandos, Greggs, Wendys and a large Tesco store among other places to get food within a 5-minute drive of the site. The site has decent toilets also. As you book and pay in advance (to discourage no-shows when the head count at the site is already low), you just need to confirm you have read the disclaimer so you're not queuing for long at the start.

I would also vouch for UCAP Dover/Vanquish. The Citadel is a good site to play at as you have so much variation of buildings to navigate through when pushing to complete objectives. When the weather's nice, you get a stunning view of the Dover Strait from the south of the site and from the car park. They only make food to order so you need to get your order in early as you won't be able to decide you want something hot during the lunch break. You just have to bear in mind that they don't allow two-tone and if you have smoke pyro that has any red colour base to it, you can't use it for the risk of mistakenly alerting the coastguard. Considering the nature of the Citadel having been a detention centre, prison, borstal, barracks and other things, you'd think it would have a decent setup area and it does. The entrance to the setup area is a little clumsy though as walk-on players get in the way first thing in the morning.

COMS-3 near Chipping Warden was a brilliant site and I'm confident it will still be when it is expected to reopen by this time next year. The site has a bunker, trenches and lots of areas to attack from or defend. The site is going to change a little bit because of some land loss caused by HS2 but new land will see new features being added. It will have the same marshals at Blackstone being rotated so you will be fairly treated.

 

[Jaylordofwaargh]

Goal- self explanatory for those that haven't been, for those that haven't try to get there, the hype is real

I do like war zone, near Coventry, the days I have been its been good fun, the urban sprawl is fun to fight over (less so trying to break the tree line) 

But if we are talking of travelling - Thunder Park Cornwall, great site killer on the legs though, lots of fun, sword base is an excellent focal point.

Filmsim at Gunman is something I would also highly encourage.

And for those that have the option of being close to the m4, Red Alert. The marshal team and owners are amazing, site is varied, games are changeable. Lunch is hot and cookies from Vanillo add a touch of class.