The 'How Did Your Airsoft Day Go? Thread

[LMKipper]

Had a fun weekend at Stirling this weekend. First Stirling in a few years and good fun. I was running solo but was lucky to be attached to 1 troop although the takings really were the same as any other callsign. Lots of patroling and recce to build up a target package before conducting strikes into the village.

It was really hard work as the tempo was high for a 36hr event and opfor fought incredibly hard with everywhere outside of the fob feeling like a hostile environment. If you have your admin on point and are comfortable being aggressive in a firefight then it really is worth giving it a try as they're really special events.

Run TF if you're into sprinting into battle and opfor if you're looking for a more relaxed attitude to the game. Either way you'll be looked after.

This is good to hear. I'd like to get back into milsims having restarted airsoft, but no longer have a regular group to go with. Thought rocking up to a Stirling/Defiant/An Other solo might be a bit crap but sounds alright.

 

[Crazy_Crystal]

This is good to hear. I'd like to get back into milsims having restarted airsoft, but no longer have a regular group to go with. Thought rocking up to a Stirling/Defiant/An Other solo might be a bit crap but sounds alright.

Yeah, it can be intimidating but actually most airsofters are a friendly bunch and you'll quickly meet new people. 

I did have an advantage of meeting a few people at a training event and having nods etc. I didn't run with them but I recognised a few faces around and having been doing milsims off and on for a good few years made it easier to slot in from the task force side of things. Tbh if I was getting back into it just enjoy causing chaos with opfor you'll definitely enjoy it ?

 

[GeorgePlaysAirsoft]

This is good to hear. I'd like to get back into milsims having restarted airsoft, but no longer have a regular group to go with. Thought rocking up to a Stirling/Defiant/An Other solo might be a bit crap but sounds alright.

Go for it you'll have a great time

 

[JinxDuh]

Went to Splatoon today, they'd changed the games around and started with the two longer fall back games in the morning before lunch which I think went amazingly well. Paired with the use of full auto allowed (Used to be semi only) it felt like the games were more competitive and quicker with both sides actually completing the objective (Fighting through four "zones", which defenders need to be cleared from. They have one life where as attackers have unlimited) before the 45 minute limit was reached. 

First time out with the PKM today and it absolutely shreds! AK-105 sadly still wants to fire upwards, even with a new hop unit etc which is very strange. Got out for the first two games but sadly the PKM had taken a toll on my scoliosis and rendered me almost useless after lunch, so missed out on the third game but still had heaps of fun in the morning!

 

[Colin Allen]

I had been undecided about where to go today, with the options being Splatoon and 501st Airsoft.  As I had been tweaking a couple of guns, Splatoon was the final choice as it has a well marked out 60m range.

Numbers were lower than usual, but higher than last time I was there, with around 60 being present at the start of the day.

Having set up and checked the two tweaked guns, which were both shooting at around 1J with the hop set, I set up my gear for the day and went through the ritual of chronoing, with is handled very efficiently at Splatoon.

The first game was the usual fallback, with us as the defenders; we had one life in each of four zones, while the attackers had infinite regens on a marshal.  In the first stage, I took up a position on the right and had great fun potting attackers until I took a gun hit and had to revert to my trusty sidearm.  I was soon hit and had to fall back to the next zone, where I again took a position on the right and had some delightful exchanges of plastic with enemy players, taking out many of them before one of them finally got me.  The next zone was the first half of the container village.  I decided to take up a position where I could pick off enemy players who were trying to break into the zone; this worked well for a while until I again had to switch to my pistol, which was not ideal in the circumstances.  Having been hit, back I went to the final zone, where I decided to fight on the left flank as usual.  As a team, we held up the enemy well, until they eventually reached the grey helicopter, which was their target.

After a break, this game was reversed; the fight in the first zone was tough, against a determined enemy, but we took it and moved on to the second zone; the Begadi hop in the MPiKm was proving to be worth its rather high price, with shots being very consistent and long ranged.  Having taken that zone, we attacked the first half of the container village, which we cleared reasonably quickly but suffered a 30 second time penalty as an opposing player was still alive in the pile of tyres when we called the zone clear.  Pushing on into the final zone, various attempts were made to reach the grey helicopter; none were successful until someone finally took out the enemy player who was in a perfect position to shoot anyone making a run for it.  

When the dust had settled, our time was around seven minutes faster; hoorah!

Lunch followed, during which a few players left; as a result of few of us were asked to switch to the red armband team.

The first game after lunch was a simple domination; each team had to set three spinners across the site to their colour at the end of the game to get points.  As usual, I headed to the lower field, eager to shoot my former colleagues.  This was a messy fight, with the spinner changing hands a couple of times, finally ending up showing the other team's colour.  One nice moment involved spotting an enemy sniper who was just getting into position on our flank and sending him back to regen with a couple of well aimed shots.  I have no idea who won the game overall!

After another break, we had to escort Geoffrey the Giraffe, who is actually a very large stuffed toy zebra, to either of the helicopters; we decided to take him to the grey one as it is harder to defend.  We had infinite regens on our start point and the defenders had three lives.  Pushing up rapidly, we reached the edge of the woods near the helicopter and stalled in the face of a very solid and active defence.  Having taken out a few defenders, I was hit and went back to regen; on my way back to the front, we heard the joyous news that Geoffrey had made it to the helicopter.  Hip Hurrah!

After another break, this game was reversed; I took up a position on the upper level of the container village and had a great time shooting enemy players as they tried to push into it.  At one point I spotted the shadows of some enemy players who were behind a container below me and to my flank.  A pyro took out two of them and I shot the other, who had reacted more quickly than his colleagues and ran around the corner of the container into my line of sight.

Geoffrey again made it to the helicopter, but in a time that was three minutes slower than when we took him there.

After this game, I decided to leave; the final game was a CQB one in the Kill House, which is not my bag, man!

Overall, it was a rather spiffingly good day of airsoft.  However,  I am still not convinced by the site now allowing full auto for all weapons, albeit with a 15m minimum engagement distance; I far prefer semi auto only games.

Weapons used:
CYMA MPiKM
JG/Golden Eagle AMD65
ASG XP18 Commander (CO2)



 

 

[JinxDuh]

I had been undecided about where to go today, with the options being Splatoon and 501st Airsoft.  As I had been tweaking a couple of guns, Splatoon was the final choice as it has a well marked out 60m range.

Numbers were lower than usual, but higher than last time I was there, with around 60 being present at the start of the day.

Having set up and checked the two tweaked guns, which were both shooting at around 1J with the hop set, I set up my gear for the day and went through the ritual of chronoing, with is handled very efficiently at Splatoon.

The first game was the usual fallback, with us as the defenders; we had one life in each of four zones, while the attackers had infinite regens on a marshal.  In the first stage, I took up a position on the right and had great fun potting attackers until I took a gun hit and had to revert to my trusty sidearm.  I was soon hit and had to fall back to the next zone, where I again took a position on the right and had some delightful exchanges of plastic with enemy players, taking out many of them before one of them finally got me.  The next zone was the first half of the container village.  I decided to take up a position where I could pick off enemy players who were trying to break into the zone; this worked well for a while until I again had to switch to my pistol, which was not ideal in the circumstances.  Having been hit, back I went to the final zone, where I decided to fight on the left flank as usual.  As a team, we held up the enemy well, until they eventually reached the grey helicopter, which was their target.

After a break, this game was reversed; the fight in the first zone was tough, against a determined enemy, but we took it and moved on to the second zone; the Begadi hop in the MPiKm was proving to be worth its rather high price, with shots being very consistent and long ranged.  Having taken that zone, we attacked the first half of the container village, which we cleared reasonably quickly but suffered a 30 second time penalty as an opposing player was still alive in the pile of tyres when we called the zone clear.  Pushing on into the final zone, various attempts were made to reach the grey helicopter; none were successful until someone finally took out the enemy player who was in a perfect position to shoot anyone making a run for it.  

When the dust had settled, our time was around seven minutes faster; hoorah!

Lunch followed, during which a few players left; as a result of few of us were asked to switch to the red armband team.

The first game after lunch was a simple domination; each team had to set three spinners across the site to their colour at the end of the game to get points.  As usual, I headed to the lower field, eager to shoot my former colleagues.  This was a messy fight, with the spinner changing hands a couple of times, finally ending up showing the other team's colour.  One nice moment involved spotting an enemy sniper who was just getting into position on our flank and sending him back to regen with a couple of well aimed shots.  I have no idea who won the game overall!

After another break, we had to escort Geoffrey the Giraffe, who is actually a very large stuffed toy zebra to either of the helicopters; we decided to take him to the grey one as it is harder to defend.  We had infinite regens on our start point and the defenders had three lives.  Pushing up rapidly, we reached the edge of the woods near the helicopter and stalled in the face of a very solid and active defence.  Having taken out a few defenders, I was hit and went back to regen; on my way back to the front, we heard the joyous news that Geoffrey had made it to the helicopter.  Hip Hurrah!

After another break, this game was reversed; I took up a position on the upper level of the container village and had a great time shooting enemy players as they tried to push into it.  At one point I spotted the shadows of some enemy players who were behind a container below me and to my flank.  A pyro took out two of them and I shot the other, who had reacted more quickly than his colleagues and ran around the corner of the container into my line of sight.

Geoffrey again made it to the helicopter, but in a time that was three minutes slower than when we took him there.

After this game, I decided to leave; the final game was a CQB one in the Kill House, which is not my bag, man!

Overall, it was a rather spiffingly good day of airsoft.  However,  I am still not convinced by the site now allowing full auto for all weapons, albeit with a 15m minimum engagement distance; I far prefer semi auto only games.

Weapons used:
CYMA MPiKM
JG/Golden Eagle AMD65
ASG XP18 Commander (CO2)



 

It was you! Haha, I was in the party room just behind where you guys was seated. Me and my friend kept looking at your MPiKM but every time I went to have a chat about it you wasn't around ?

The full auto does seem to be causing a few more arguments than normal, I think (And hope) as the marshals get used to it more it'll become less of an issue. The hit taking was a LOT better today than last month when I played and it was by far one of the best days I've had at splatoon in a long while!

 

[Colin Allen]

It was you! Haha, I was in the party room just behind where you guys was seated. Me and my friend kept looking at your MPiKM but every time I went to have a chat about it you wasn't around ?

The full auto does seem to be causing a few more arguments than normal, I think (And hope) as the marshals get used to it more it'll become less of an issue. The hit taking was a LOT better today than last month when I played and it was by far one of the best days I've had at splatoon in a long while!

Bugger!  We seem to be destined to miss each other.

I think part of the problem is that people have no idea how far 15m is, despite the handy visual guide in the safe zone.  Hit taking did seem ok today, although there were a few moans in the afternoon, which is pretty much par for the course.  It was a very good day overall, although they do need to reduce the length of the breaks, which did happen in the afternoon.

 

 

[Jacob Wright]

Popped along to Gunman Tuddenham for the first outing since April, mostly to test kit for the upcoming Defiant Battlesim in October.

A good day to be fair, much warmer and drier than I expected, gameplay really good from both sides and not sure I heard of any hit-taking/cheat calling issues. Marshals were professional and helped to keep the gameplay going.

 

[Emergencychimps]

Popped along to Gunman Tuddenham for the first outing since April, mostly to test kit for the upcoming Defiant Battlesim in October.

A good day to be fair, much warmer and drier than I expected, gameplay really good from both sides and not sure I heard of any hit-taking/cheat calling issues. Marshals were professional and helped to keep the gameplay going.

I guess you must have gone on Saturday then!

I went on Sunday and it was probably the worst I have seen at Tuddenham (or any site) for years. The Marshall team did a lot to try to tackle it, "motivational speeches", threats of overzealous marshalling etc. but unfortunately there seemed to be so many bad apples there it was basically impossible to adjust. 

Groups cheering when players finally took hits, terrible hit taking, over killing and shooting to yield, players gloating about the fact they'd hurt others through intentional head/face shots etc.

As a Tudds regular, it was very very surprising to even have it there as normally it's just not done. If anyone attended tuddenham on Sunday, please don't judge the site based on that day alone. It's not a reflection of the site or regular player base. 

 

[Jacob Wright]

@Emergencychimps yes I was there Saturday!

That's a real shame to hear, like you say that sounds completely out of character from what I expect of the site.

I wonder what caused it, there was a big group of players who had travelled up for the weekend from the South Coast, I had a good chat with them throughout the day but didn't experience any issues.

Normally I stick to their filmsim weekends, maybe I'll continue that way in the future!

 

[mrfoxhound]

I guess you must have gone on Saturday then!

I went on Sunday and it was probably the worst I have seen at Tuddenham (or any site) for years. The Marshall team did a lot to try to tackle it, "motivational speeches", threats of overzealous marshalling etc. but unfortunately there seemed to be so many bad apples there it was basically impossible to adjust. 

Groups cheering when players finally took hits, terrible hit taking, over killing and shooting to yield, players gloating about the fact they'd hurt others through intentional head/face shots etc.

As a Tudds regular, it was very very surprising to even have it there as normally it's just not done. If anyone attended tuddenham on Sunday, please don't judge the site based on that day alone. It's not a reflection of the site or regular player base. 

it was just as bad on Saturday , very elitist attitude asked a small group on my team where they were taking fire from and was ignored  ,blank ignored ... made me thing they didn't speak English or could understand me till they started talking to each other , lot of hpa abuse too , after lunch was single shot only but no one followed that 

 

[MrTea]

Not done one of these for a bit:

Armageddon Airsoft: The Woodland for the past two visits has been a fantastic site. My most recent visit was a great day with very balanced games and the site is constantly changing their game modes to suit player count and to keep things fresh which is a welcome change to other sites i've been to.

My L85 has been suffering with random power drops, range and accuracy issues. I swapped to my Mk18 after two games being fed up with the complete dice-roll accuracy of my L85. My Mk18 worked well for two games before it began to produce the same problem of firing once per two trigger pulls but it was intermittent enough that I battled through these issues until the end of the day but annoying nonetheless.

BBQ lunch was provided.

 

[Jacob Wright]

it was just as bad on Saturday , very elitist attitude asked a small group on my team where they were taking fire from and was ignored  ,blank ignored ... made me thing they didn't speak English or could understand me till they started talking to each other , lot of hpa abuse too , after lunch was single shot only but no one followed that 

I honestly didn't see any of that Saturday, maybe I was just lucky with the players around me!

 

[Colin Allen]

…the site is constantly changing their game modes to suit player count and to keep things fresh which is a welcome change to other sites i've been to.

That is good; too many sites repeat the same games time after time, which is why I drift around different sites.

 

[mrfoxhound]

I honestly didn't see any of that Saturday, maybe I was just lucky with the players around me!

what team where you on bands or non bands?

 

[Skara]

Last weekend we took part to the National Finals...

A 26h nonstop game that lasted from 8 AM on Saturday to 10 AM on Sunday. 1200-1700m above sea level elevation.

Overall performance wasn't the best but we didn't really care, we went for the experience, in any case we ended up 15th out of the 20 strongest teams in country..

Few things learned (kinda, some I already knew):

- the right clothing is crucial to not end up like a popsicle, in particular it got VERY cold Saturday night/early Sunday morning with temperatures just above 0°. I had packed a puffy jacket just in case and it turned out to be a lifesaver during pauses from marching/playing. Started with just my combat shirt on, added my thermal baselayer and windshirt at dusk and kept it this way throughout the night. A beanie was used too, whereas my gloves stayed in the backpack at all times.

- thermal sights are OP, in fact combat objectives went so much better at night than during the day.. NV would have been nice in some instances, but we made do without.

- I need a lighter poncho, the one I have is so heavy I left it in the car (took the gore-tex shell instead), on Saturday morning we had rain so heavy it felt like I had jumped in a pool in full kit  luckily it was windy too, so I dried up pretty quickly..

- with these temperatures I only drank 3 litres of water in total.

- Proper boots do make the difference, I don't think I would have been able to get to the end with my old Crispis... The new La Sportivas are much lighter, much softer on road/paths and definitely more breathable.

- I barely ate anything, just one energy bar and some dried fruit along with a hot dog at our own objective (sort of a one-use safe space)..

- New backpack is awesome, it's the right size for these events (15 litres) while being mega comfortable.

We still have plenty of room for improvement, should we qualify next time we'll try to be more motivated and more prepared, both physically and mentally.

 

[Jacob Wright]

what team where you on bands or non bands?

Bands ??

 

[LMKipper]

Nice day at Gunman Battle Lakes today - it was one of their 'filmsim' games, so slightly restricted ammo limits and semi only unless it's a support weapon. Lots of players were using GBBRs, so the whole day was low on the trigger spam/overshooting.

We played two domination games - raise the flags to your teams colour. Team with the most flags raised at endex wins the game. Gameplay both morning and afternoon was great. About half the site was in play, which was perfect for the numbers on the day (about 30). There was enough room to roam around/do sneaky stuff if you wanted to without wandering around for hours without seeing anyone. I had a few nice assaults and defends over the course of the day, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the few days where I ended up hitting more people than times I was hit. 

Two minor negatives - they didn't have enough bands for everyone to have one of a different colour, so it ended up being bands vs non-bands. This makes target ID really difficult if you're on the team with bands and I know a few times I saw half a player, waited and got hit before I could work out if they were on my team or not. It was also unfortunate that there were three ghillies, and all on the non-banded team, which resulted in some whinging later in the day. 

I also don't think their medic rule quite works; if you're hit you have to wait 30 seconds after which you can slowly shuffle to another play to get mediced. This caused a lot of confusion, some over shooting and a bit of cheat accusation. If the rule was standstill when shot unless a team member gets to you, it would make things a little simpler. 

I'm nitpicking here though. Game quality was excellent and I'd definitely return. 

 

[GiantKiwi]

Went and tried out Players of War today, as its actually easier for me to get to than S8. 

Entrance was a bit difficult to spot from one direction, but once in its got a decent proper hard standing with no dubious drops or quagmires to get stuck in.

Safezone is well cordoned with what must be close to 20ft high netting to prevent stray fliers entering it. Canteen was a nice surprise for me, but alas I'm on restricted diet, so kind of moot point. Sign in process for a first timer was nice and clear with segregated sections for sign in, the shop and chrono (other sites could really take note on this bit).

Game areas are similar vein to S8 (Only so much you can do with a planned forest after all) but a little less treacherous in places. Lots of multitiered cover, which is especially important for vertically challenged folk like myself. Once I got my bearings, the games were pretty good and there wasn't any point where I was dreading a long slog back to a spawn.

Critically the laying down the law on things in the safety brief, I saw no dubious play all day - which is a rarity these days - certainly wasn't any teflon warriors floating about. It's also the first site in a while where those with sniper rifles were actually consistently observing MED's well - probably because they don't let just anyone rock up with one immediately on day one, which was absolutely fantastic.

Definitely a site i'll be headed back to, as the vibe in general was excellent, and balancing of teams was done at sign in, so there wasn't any clique-y grouping up BS at the start of the day.

 

[Colin Allen]

Today, I went to Airsoft Plantation in deepest Essex, near the very strange town of Billericay.

Around 200 people were present, which meant that the safe zone was busy but not crowded.

After the usual rituals, we set off for the first game, which was a simple attack and defend.  The attackers (the dastardly blue team) had to break into the village, which we were defending, get two fuel cans to each Landrover and a large amount of money to the Town Hall.  They had infinite buddy regens while we had two lives with a 30m fallback after the first life.  I started at the front of the village with what was, to put it mildly, a target rich environment, taking out a number of enemies trying to break into one of the buildings before being hit.  Falling back, I deployed to the right flank of the village and took out a group of the enemy who were sneaking through the woods.  Redeploying, I was hit by a single shot from an unexpected angle; as I put my hand up and called the hit, the shooter apologised as he had thought I was a blue player.  Eventually, the blue team achieved their objectives after what seemed a very long time.

After a quick break to mag up, we set out for the reverse of the game; I took one of the fuel cans towards the left hand jeep, but was hit, so had to hand it over to the chap who buddy regened me; our assault seemed much more organised and aggressive, so it was no surprise that we completed the objective rather more rapidly than our opponents.

The next game was a bit different from the usual airsoft game.  Each team had three objectives to achieve across the very large playing area.  The catch was that we did not initially know what they were.  Regens were on on a buddy after a 30m fallback.  When the game began, we were handed an ammo box which contained a map showing our first objective; it was the bus in the mortar pits.  The team split into three groups and set off, the group that I was with flanking around the far right of the site; we had no idea what the blue team's objective was but we bumped into a few of them near and in the mortar pits.  In the bus was another ammo box, which contained another map informing us that our next objective was the high building in the village.  We pushed rapidly into the environs of the village, where a chaotic set of firefights ensued, with players from both sides moving around the same area and popping up in unexpected locations, including behind their opponents.  After a while, the blue team seemed to fade away and we secured our objective where we found, guess what, another ammo box, this one telling us that our final objective was the kill house in the woods.  However, the enemy had achieved their second objective well before we did and had already set off for their final objective, which was also in the woods, leaving a strong force to hold us off.  In a well organised assault with great comms, which drew praise from the marshals, we fought through the border area, which is really difficult to do in that direction, and stormed into the woods, pushing forward until we ran out of time.  It was a well earned victory for the blue team.

After lunch, which saw the catering team serve a vast number of players, we went to play in the mortar pits.  The attackers, who were the blue team in the first game, had to plant explosives in four designated vehicles; we had no idea which they were.  They could attack over a wide arc and had infinite regens on a marshal, while we had two lives with a 30m fallback..  A couple of us set up in the fort, which is very near the mortar pits, from where we had great fun picking off enemy players as they moved through the woods and open areas until we were eventually swarmed and went down in a hail of BBs.  Falling back, I took up a position inside the mortar pits; we fought off multiple attacks but were gradually whittled down.  Rather than going back to the safe zone when I was hit, I stayed in the "dead zone" behind the mortar pits watching the fun as our few remaining defenders held on for as long as they could.  One of our players used a minigun to great effect providing suppressive fire, while a handful of others fought hard.  Eventually, the blue team blew up the final vehicle.

This game was then reversed.  Again, our attack was well organised and aggressive, pushing into the mortar pits and blowing up our four target vehicles rather more rapidly than the blue team had managed.

With only a short time remaining, the last game was Last Man Standing in the village; as this did not appeal, I decided to leave after what was an excellent day of airsoft, with well designed games played in a good spirit and well marshalled.

I don't like the idea of having a "home site" but, if I had one, it would be AP.  The site is very large, has a wide variety of terrain, great structures and well designed and marshalled games.  It also seems to attract a good group of players.

Weapons used:

LCT PP-19-01 (shooting a bit low so will need opening up)
APS UAR
ASG XP18 Commander (CO2)