First Milsim

[steakandpotato]

So assuming I get the weekend off, I'll be going to my first milsim next month.

 

I know all the basics in terms of things to bring (by basics I mean standard day-kit, food, water, sleeping equipment, portable stoves etc) but was just wondering if you guys have any ideas on things that you should bring but are commonplace to forget?

 

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Gepard]

Socks. As many pairs as you can bring. 

An unjamming rod.

Extra batteries.

A spare gun (if you have one).

[Tackle]

Depends on a lot of factors, necessity vs weight is prob biggest issue, to that end you need to know do you have a base, either a secure safezone or some kinda fob to stash kit & supplies, if you don't then it's all gonna be on your back for the duration, which adds a great element of realism but can be a killer if you pack the kitchen sink lol.

water,2-3 litres minimum per day, dehydration will drop you even in a chilly uk climate.

food, ideally that can be eaten cold if necessary, & that doesn't need water added to it, that's more weight.

snivel kit, change of clothes/socks/pants, & some extra thin kit you can layer up, doesn't have to be 200 quid snugpaks etc.

also, have a look on eBay for a goretex bivi bag, mines an issue dpm, & is a lifesaver, even if you don't have a sleeping bag it's a godsend.

bog roll/tissues, baby wipes & antibacterial hand wash/gel, the squits will spoil your game.

a spare gun is a must, ideally taking same mags as Sod's law guarantees if you only take one it will break, even a bog standard springer shotty will get you out of trouble.

[Druid799]

Only thing I’d really really recommend would be a good sense of humor , your going to need it !

I’m afraid you’ll see the bellend count will go through the roof mate , don’t get me wrong you will meet a lot of experienced nice Airsofters there BUT unfortunately due to the very nature of the event you’ll get a lot of Uber leet ‘thread counters’ and keyboard experts warriors on ‘special farces’ there , it’s just the nature of the beast and who it’ll attract , and if you ask any ex or serving squaddies there opinion they’ll probably tell you it’ll bare no resemblance to a real combat simulation at all , but just try and enjoy it for what it is , a much more immersive scurmish .

[Crazy_Crystal]

definitely a +1 on what druid said. humour and a positive attitude as well as a willingness to work hard makes the whole experience really good fun. you get out what you put in.

 

in terms of stuff that you might forget.. hand sanitizer and baby wipes... it just makes things so much more comfortable 

[Rogerborg]

From a brief (and not at all obsessive) peruse of YouTube, it seems that the bigger and more totes tacticool the event, the more players you'll see toggling their God Mode on, at least in Murca and on the Continent.  Is that something that translates into UK practice?

 

I could see why, if so.  More don't-let-the-squad-down play, more long term objectives rather than just pew-and-forget games.

 

FWIW, I'm doing a one day milsim-lite in May.  I say milsim, it's camo commandos vs cartel.  Think "Pablo Irnbrubar", hideous shirts, I'm currently searching eBay for "fancy dress medallion".  Sense of humour fully engaged.

[Gepard]

I'd imagine you're right. The temptation to just walk a hundred metres back and continue playing must be be pretty strong for a lot of players. Who wants to spend however many minutes waiting for a medic or trudging it back to the nearest spawn point when you could duck around a corner for a few minutes and jump back into the fight? 

 

I don't know how bad cheating is in UK Milsims but I've also heard its pretty commonplace on the other side of the pond. I guess it just boils down whether or not the player can be arsed with following the rules. There's always going to be a few cheaters but even in large events I'd like to believe that the majority play fair and call their hits properly. 

 

 

[steakandpotato]

In terms of batteries - would 3 batteries be enough?

[Tackle]

Probably, if its in the true spirit of milsim, then lo or at a push mid caps, & objective driven gaming that shouldn't end up in a crazy hozefest, you'd be surprised how little ammo you get through.

[steakandpotato]

It's midcaps only - I'm hoping it doesn't end up in a hozefest. Interestingly enough (and probably naively) I'm looking forward to those few hours with not much really going on, but still having to keep an eye out for things.

[clumpyedge]

21 hours ago, steakandpotato said:

So assuming I get the weekend off, I'll be going to my first milsim next month.

 

I know all the basics in terms of things to bring (by basics I mean standard day-kit, food, water, sleeping equipment, portable stoves etc) but was just wondering if you guys have any ideas on things that you should bring but are commonplace to forget?

 

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

Have a look on the stirling airsoft page, they have a pretty good kit list for players for both warm and cold weather.

[Iceni]

Take kit from a non English speaking country. If you start to receive orders Just pretend you don't speak English.

Even better learn the correct phrase for "Do you speak XXXX" Then turn and continue your conversation in English. Rinse and repeat for every order. Milsim at it's finest.

[jcheeseright]

Depends entirely on what ‘level’ of milsim you’re attending, the d*ckhead factor generally I’ve found live at the bottom end of ‘seriousness’ with milsim.  

 

I went to a game run by war zone battle simulations about 18 months ago and the cheating douchebag Walter Mitty level was through the roof and it was essentially just a green vs tan skirmish in a nice location. 

 

On the flip side, a weekend long game with combat Airsoft group which on the face of it should have been the waltiest thing ever to happen turned out to be attended by a load of motivated people who were there to play the game and not to ‘win’. Cheating and gaming the rules just didn’t happen. 

 

Kit again depends on what the deal is, if I’m sleeping under a basha in the woods for 3 days I’ll take different kit than if I’m staying in a building with running water. 

[clumpyedge]

20 hours ago, jcheeseright said:

I went to a game run by war zone battle simulations about 18 months ago and the cheating douchebag Walter Mitty level was through the roof and it was essentially just a green vs tan skirmish in a nice location. 

 

 

I know EXACTLY what you mean by that....

[jcheeseright]

57 minutes ago, clumpyedge said:

 

 

I know EXACTLY what you mean by that....

 

Theyre ‘hardcore milsimmers tho bro’! Kinda guys that acknowledge everything with ‘roger’! 

[Guest pierce09]

On 20/03/2018 at 3:43 PM, Rogerborg said:

From a brief (and not at all obsessive) peruse of YouTube, it seems that the bigger and more totes tacticool the event, the more players you'll see toggling their God Mode on, at least in Murca and on the Continent.  Is that something that translates into UK practice?

 

On 20/03/2018 at 3:58 PM, Gepard said:

I'd imagine you're right. The temptation to just walk a hundred metres back and continue playing must be be pretty strong for a lot of players. Who wants to spend however many minutes waiting for a medic or trudging it back to the nearest spawn point when you could duck around a corner for a few minutes and jump back into the fight? 

 

So having spent the last 5 years attending milsim events all over the US and multiple different event companies, it all depends on the 'level' of milsim as to the level of cheating I've found. 

 

Operation Lion Claws or OLCMSS was pretty much an 'entry level' milsim weekend. It is more like 2 days of skirmishing with no high caps. I found 'no hits calling' to be rife at the couple of OLCMSS events I attended. 

 

American Milsim or AMS is definitely what I would call an 'intermediate level' milsim event. The medic rules are adhered to a bit more by players and in turn the players all seemed to buy in to the event a little more. Quite a bit of God mode but not so much that it ruins the event unlike above.

 

Milsim West or MSW is a full on LARP milsim that requires the player to fully immerse into any role taken on. The whole event is geared towards 40 hours non-stop and no returning to a car or hotel. Bashas are dug and sentries are posted all night. The use of NVDs is widespread so the event is for the full 40 hours, friday evening to sunday afternoon. BBs are limited initially to 300 per person (2000 to support wpns) which encourages them to be used in a more support role. The Insurgency format takes this a step further and airsoft almost takes a back seat. strong medic rules, the use of a sim tourniquet and no dead rags but acting injured (screaming "i'm hit!!, man down!" etc") makes casualties (and the medic role) more fun. 

 

Personally, I enjoyed some of the locations for OLCMSS events I attended (old paper mill complex for one) and loved the AMS events for the scale and size of event. but I attended far more MSW events (11 in 4 years) and certainly preferred the small details that sets MSW out from other promoters like the use of blank fire, the tourniquet, the expansive locations, the use of the cadre and the role players.

 

If anyone flies over to the US for an event, I can recommend AMS and MSW events for very different reasons.

 

Now to sample a ton of UK milsim events and see how they compare!

[clumpyedge]

22 hours ago, jcheeseright said:

 

Theyre ‘hardcore milsimmers tho bro’! Kinda guys that acknowledge everything with ‘roger’! 

 

One thing that really bothered me is that we went to their first event (at Copehill) at the end of the weekend they asked for honest feedback... when we gave it to them one of their mates that was there as some sort of marshal I guess kept interrupting and giving us sh*t for the feedback we were giving. I was a driver and was told i had to have a mandatory amount of sleep over the weekend which I thought was a good idea but the spunktrumpet of a leader/DS decided that our sleeping area was the best place to set up the comms area, not only that but when I did finally get to sleep when our FOB was attacked the prick literally kicked my feet shouting "stand to!" needless to say I don't think he wanted to do that again after the dressing down I gave him (this is also the same guy that when we attacked the enemy teams FOB threw a few hot pyros into the other teams sleeping quarters and almost set fire to a few peoples sleeping bags)

[Duff]

1 hour ago, clumpyedge said:

 

One thing that really bothered me is that we went to their first event (at Copehill) at the end of the weekend they asked for honest feedback... when we gave it to them one of their mates that was there as some sort of marshal I guess kept interrupting and giving us sh*t for the feedback we were giving. I was a driver and was told i had to have a mandatory amount of sleep over the weekend which I thought was a good idea but the spunktrumpet of a leader/DS decided that our sleeping area was the best place to set up the comms area, not only that but when I did finally get to sleep when our FOB was attacked the prick literally kicked my feet shouting "stand to!" needless to say I don't think he wanted to do that again after the dressing down I gave him (this is also the same guy that when we attacked the enemy teams FOB threw a few hot pyros into the other teams sleeping quarters and almost set fire to a few peoples sleeping bags)

 

Wow, and milsim is supposed to be fun? I'd be escorted off site for clumping someone if they did that to me.

[steakandpotato]

10 hours ago, pierce09 said:

 

 

So having spent the last 5 years attending milsim events all over the US and multiple different event companies, it all depends on the 'level' of milsim as to the level of cheating I've found. 

 

Operation Lion Claws or OLCMSS was pretty much an 'entry level' milsim weekend. It is more like 2 days of skirmishing with no high caps. I found 'no hits calling' to be rife at the couple of OLCMSS events I attended. 

 

American Milsim or AMS is definitely what I would call an 'intermediate level' milsim event. The medic rules are adhered to a bit more by players and in turn the players all seemed to buy in to the event a little more. Quite a bit of God mode but not so much that it ruins the event unlike above.

 

Milsim West or MSW is a full on LARP milsim that requires the player to fully immerse into any role taken on. The whole event is geared towards 40 hours non-stop and no returning to a car or hotel. Bashas are dug and sentries are posted all night. The use of NVDs is widespread so the event is for the full 40 hours, friday evening to sunday afternoon. BBs are limited initially to 300 per person (2000 to support wpns) which encourages them to be used in a more support role. The Insurgency format takes this a step further and airsoft almost takes a back seat. strong medic rules, the use of a sim tourniquet and no dead rags but acting injured (screaming "i'm hit!!, man down!" etc") makes casualties (and the medic role) more fun. 

 

Personally, I enjoyed some of the locations for OLCMSS events I attended (old paper mill complex for one) and loved the AMS events for the scale and size of event. but I attended far more MSW events (11 in 4 years) and certainly preferred the small details that sets MSW out from other promoters like the use of blank fire, the tourniquet, the expansive locations, the use of the cadre and the role players.

 

If anyone flies over to the US for an event, I can recommend AMS and MSW events for very different reasons.

 

Now to sample a ton of UK milsim events and see how they compare!

 

I'm hoping this event is at least decent enough to get the squad interested, as we've all decided if we enjoy the style of milsim, we will at some point go over to America to do a MSW event, which looks f*cking amazing

[jcheeseright]

6 hours ago, Duff said:

 

Wow, and milsim is supposed to be fun? I'd be escorted off site for clumping someone if they did that to me.

 

Warzone is NOT milsim, regardless of what they say on their website. 

[MikeMarden]

Good set of footwear that'll hold up to all elements as well as socks (already mentioned). My first Milsim I wore the wrong boots & my feet were soaked on the first of three days, did not make for a comfortable experience.

 

Next one for me is food & hydration, every chance you get ensure you keep well hydrated (keep an emergency drink on you at all times), you can be out on the ground for very long stints & over commit, you do not want to be dehydrated. Same goes for food, when you're back to FOB, get your food supplies in, plenty of sugary snacks, protein (jerky is a winner) & hot food, unbelievable morale booster.

 

Three good batteries should be more than enough for you

 

Enjoy!

[clumpyedge]

On 3/23/2018 at 9:57 AM, Duff said:

 

Wow, and milsim is supposed to be fun? I'd be escorted off site for clumping someone if they did that to me.

 

Lets just say he got the fear of god put into him after been almost pushed off a stairwell for that little stunt!

 

On 3/23/2018 at 4:12 PM, jcheeseright said:

 

Warzone is NOT milsim, regardless of what they say on their website. 

 

Thing is they had promise when we booked for that first event... within the first few hours it quickly turned into a mess and as I say when we tried to give constructive feedback we were met with almost abuse from people who were "helping" at the event and haven't been back with them since. I've heard all sorts of stories from the recent events they have done that a certain "airsoft celeb" went to where by they gave this person preferential treatment in the eyes of others, now I don't usually buy into rumor mills but when the information comes from multiple sources from the same event its kind of hard not to think there is some substance behind it.

 

In my eyes they are just another Airborne Airsoft just with longer games.