new to airsoft from manchester

[crazyirish95]

hi im gunna go to my first event in about 8 weeks i take fitness and hobbies very seriously so will be going into this very realistic any tips for a rookie thanks by the way names david and originally irish

[Mack]

If in doubt, call it out

 

and welcome.

[crazyirish95]

thanks for the welcome mate really geared up for the event gunna be first and only anyone got any ideas on their sites

[Airsoft_Mr B]

F&O are generally alright I think. Manchester Woodland is supposed to be good which is the one I'm presuming you'll be off to. Need to go sometime myself as haven't been to a proper outdoor skirmish in years, and the other one which is close to me (Alpha One) only does a day up til like 2 or something so you only really get 3-4 hours, whereas everywhere else is more like 6.

I have heard bad things about The Works in Halifax though

[Chock]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

 

I'm also from Manchester (Stockport), so I will no doubt see you at some point at a skirmish.

 

With regard to First and Only, as I'm sure you noticed, they have a lot of sites around the NW, and if you are in Manchester or the surrounding area, it means there's a lot of scope, but some of their sites sort of stretch the notion that they are in Manchester, for example, their Manchester Woodland site is actually out past Bolton up in the Hills next to Delph Reservoir, and two of their other sites are in Swinton. The only one that I would say genuinely is near the centre of what I would regard as Manchester, is their indoor CQB site at Middleton. Of course if you have a car, then it's not a big deal. The site in Middleton incidentally, has midweek evening skirmishes, so is convenient for fitting in a bit of fun after work.

 

I went to the First and Only Manchester Woodland Site on the Sunday after Christmas (think it was December 27th), when it was snowing and pretty cold, but even though it was right in the hangover period right after Christmas, and a cold day, I estimate that there were 50-60 people there, many of whom were regulars (many F&O patches on uniforms were in evidence). That gives you an indication of the loyalty of F&O's regular attendees, which is always a good sign. The organisation of the event was top notch, very professional (you can usually tell that from the safety briefing at the start of the day). They took particular care to ensure that any sniper rifles and DMRs running air tanks were competition locked to site power limits (which is another sign of a professionally run site). New players who were renting gear were well looked after, which is always nice to see, and it was obvious that care was being taken to ensure they felt included, and they were given very thorough briefings on how to get the best out of their hired G36 assault rifles. There was a shop on site, set up in a tent, where you could buy everything from weapons to protective clothing, dinner was included, free tea and coffee was available, toilet facilities were good. It's also worth noting that the staff were ready to help people who had any issues with their gear, for example, one of my M4 rifles had the rear stock come loose, and they helped me to sort it out, even though I actually ended up using my other M4 anyway.

 

Battles were good too, quite varied and always with an eye on keep the action going. That woodland site is very muddy in places and a large amount of fallen trees mean that it can be quite arduous to get from one place to another (which is good, especially in terms of available cover). But because of that, it is worth being aware that if you spend all day at a woodland site at this time of year, to make sure you wrap up warm and dry, and unless you are fit and healthy, you will probably end up knackered by the end of the day, so it's a great way to keep fit. The shower you have when you get home will probably feel like the best shower you have ever had lol.

 

Your other option for skirmish sites in and around Manchester, is Trojan Airsoft, who have an indoor CQB its in a six storey mill in Stockport town centre, literally spitting distance from the Bus Station and about a three minute walk from the railway station, so if you are without transport, that one is dead easy to get to and from, and they too have midweek evening skirmishes, which I often go to. Much of that takes place in very low light conditions, with battles ranging across all six storeys of the mill. CQB like that is not everyone's cup of tea of course, since if often ends up with grenade and pistol battles around the stairways, as opposed to fights at woodland sites, where there's more sniper and assault rifle action. Because of that, Trojan also have a woodland site out near Macclesfield, which is okay (not as good as the F&O one, but still pretty good), but it is kind of hard to find and, like quite a few woodland skirmish sites, not easy to get to if you don't have a car. Trojan's mill site has a pretty decent shop (although it was in fact broken into earlier this week, so stock might be a bit ropey at the moment), their woodland site usually sells ammo and a few bits and pieces too, although unlike at F&O, you'd be well advised to take what you need.

[crazyirish95]

thanks for the info chock great help i checked out trojan seems like a pretty good battleground at the olympuis cqb just looking for the most beginner friendly since ill be going alone most of my friends are paintball followers haha

[Chock]

Gimme a shout if you are going to Trojan CQB. I go there pretty often.

[crazyirish95]

thanks mate should be in the next couple of weeks ill hit you up when time comes be good to have some company