SE Tour Review: AWA Herts (Hertfordshire)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: AWA Herts

Contact details: 07732 184957

Website Address: http://www.awaherts.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AwaHerts/

Site Address: Matthams Wood, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM21 0LT

 

 

My battle buddy and I popped along to AWA Herts on Sunday (28/07/2019). The site has been going 16 years. Previous online reviews suggest it is a pretty good site. This one has been on my hit list for some time.

 

This is a Large sized Woodland only site. Little in the way of ascent and descent with some slopes and a earthen bunker section. There are some purpose built buildings which are of wooden construction typical of airsoft sites. Some water features though they weren't in play. Mostly medium engagement distances are the order of the day. It has some fairly dense woodland with some clearings. Entrance to the site is through a farm track. 

 

Good:

 

Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in affect and every rifle was marked. AEG FPS limits are a high 360FPS. DMR is 450 and Bolt actions are 500. Users own BB weight is used for testing. Gas pistols are usually not tested unless its C02. 

 

Fun Moments: Couldn't quite put our finger as to why, but we had some good moments during the day from a personal performance level. The Bunker defence game was a highlight for me, batting back people with my DMR was deeply satisfying. My battle buddy had possibly his best performance in airsoft. 

 

Clientele: Whilst not overly friendly (Not a huge amount of mingling between groups) everyone took their hits like a champ. I cant remember a time where people weren't calling them. Honest bunch. 

 

Average: 

 

Playing area: Standard woodland fare. It's a large site, but not massively varied. The amount of foliage around meant that long distance engagement was difficult. The Buildings were in fairly good order though looking a little tired. The bunker was an earth mound with brickwork tunnel running underneath. 

 

Food: A nice burger, with a veggie option. Chocolate and drinks available. We felt the burger price was a bit high at £5 for a double. 

 

Marshalling: Generally positive with a "but". The marshals were approachable, the safety brief was not overly long. They pushed the teams and gave help when needed. I reported an incident of one of my team giving out enemy positions after they called their hit. I reported it to a marshal who said they had already had a word with the player a couple of times and asked me if I could have a word with him? The marshals should have sat on him for it. 

 

Game modes: Pretty simple game modes, mostly attack this point with unlimited lives, defenders only have 2 lives. Timed game and then a turn around. The bunker game was pretty insane though and as stated before, a highlight. I think more variety here would be good, maybe a fall back game to take advantage of the large site. Despite the large site, short and fast games were played. We aren't sure this is the right choice though I guess this is a personal opinion! 

 

Parking: Was available on a long strip of tarmac. Can imagine it would be a little difficult to get past cars when busy, but there is plenty available. Get there early to get close to the safe zone. 

 

Safe Zone: Good size for the low numbers we had, but it was pretty tired in places. There was cover but not particularly effective, with rainwater collecting on top of a lot of them. Seats were made available. The tables were more like low wooden pallets (Though we did snag one of the few decent tables). Providing seats meant that this wasn't rated as "Bad" but it was a close thing. 

 

Bad: 

 

Shop: Limited selection of Smoke, Gas and BB's. Only .2's and .25's available. There was a very small selection of accessories and one RIF. 

 

Toilets: I recall a portacabin. I didn't need to go but kids setting up next to us refused to go in it due to the condition and/or smell. 

 

Conclusion: 

 

We had a reasonably good time at AWA. What we both came away with is that its a pretty average site, with no massive positives or negatives to take away from it. There is no obvious USP, but no massive red flags. My buddy put it best, "A local site for local people". We probably wont be back as there are closer sites to us that offer a bit more for a bit less money. 

 

I think for this site to attract people from further away minor improvements need to be made across the board. 

 

Bullpup Watch: Three, L85, Aug and UAR. (None mine). 

[Albiscuit]

Been here once ages ago, my pal turned his knee (he’s old, and falling apart) so we left after the first game. From what I remember your views are pretty much spot on from mine.  Nothing outstanding to draw me back as there are other places which are nearer I would rather play.

 

Although I do remember the one game I played was awesome and have never seen anything like it since.... was a convoy type game with large boxes/crates having to be carried by one team across the site and attacked by the other team, loads of random ambushes and counter attacks. Was great fun!

[THE CHIEF]

Nice review, I would encourage you to come again. The sight has been taken over by new owners and is being redeveloped. There are a few new game types and some older areas being used regularly like the old pillbox. They do run fall back games, and a fun one with many barrels around you have to get back to base. Or you can raid the enemy's stash if they're all out hunting. I like the sight as you can't play the whole place in one day. I have found everyone there are quite friendly

 

 

[Asomodai]

On 27/02/2021 at 16:04, THE CHIEF said:

Nice review, I would encourage you to come again. The sight has been taken over by new owners and is being redeveloped. There are a few new game types and some older areas being used regularly like the old pillbox. They do run fall back games, and a fun one with many barrels around you have to get back to base. Or you can raid the enemy's stash if they're all out hunting. I like the sight as you can't play the whole place in one day. I have found everyone there are quite friendly

 

 

 

I have been back since this review. Not much has changed though they have started using different areas of the site. It is slowly getting better, COVID pending. 

[Dany794]

My visit to AWA Herts left me thoroughly disappointed. Despite its promising woodland location, the experience fell far short of expectations. The staff's supposed friendliness was nowhere to be found, leaving a cold and unwelcoming atmosphere. Organizationally, it was a mess, with issues that hindered the enjoyment of the event. Regrettably, what should have been an exciting airsoft outing turned out to be a letdown. I had hoped for much more from AWA Herts, but my experience left me with a sour impression, making it difficult to recommend to others seeking a better airsoft adventure.

[Dan Robinson]

9 hours ago, Dany794 said:

My visit to AWA Herts left me thoroughly disappointed. Despite its promising woodland location, the experience fell far short of expectations. The staff's supposed friendliness was nowhere to be found, leaving a cold and unwelcoming atmosphere. Organizationally, it was a mess, with issues that hindered the enjoyment of the event. Regrettably, what should have been an exciting airsoft outing turned out to be a letdown. I had hoped for much more from AWA Herts, but my experience left me with a sour impression, making it difficult to recommend to others seeking a better airsoft adventure.

Have you any specific information?  I’ve been a regular there for over a year, and my only recent criticism is that they have shortened the day and upped the price of the pizza.

 

In my experience, the marshals are fine as long as people aren’t acting like genitals.  Although, granted, people can have off days.

 

Not saying you’re wrong, but your review is wildly different from my experience of the place.

[Jim_furness]

On 17/09/2023 at 14:26, Dany794 said:

My visit to AWA Herts left me thoroughly disappointed. Despite its promising woodland location, the experience fell far short of expectations. The staff's supposed friendliness was nowhere to be found, leaving a cold and unwelcoming atmosphere. Organizationally, it was a mess, with issues that hindered the enjoyment of the event. Regrettably, what should have been an exciting airsoft outing turned out to be a letdown. I had hoped for much more from AWA Herts, but my experience left me with a sour impression, making it difficult to recommend to others seeking a better airsoft adventure.

 

If this is the same person I think it might be I'd like to follow this up even though it is a few months ago. Sadly, we/I had to ask this person to leave site after the 2nd game due to them not being able to follow certain safety rules. The rule in question being eye protection being worn at all times outside of the safezone.

 

Our google reply was as follows:

"Hi Danu, I’m really, genuinely sorry that we had to end your day and send you home early, but we are very clear that safety is our primary concern at AWA, and we have to send repeat offenders home. You should never, ever, take your eye pro off in the gaming area. You were warned twice personally, and a party to two group warnings as well as the warning in the morning safety briefing. We realise that this opens us up to revenge reviews, but despite our differences, I’d rather send you home early with two working eyes and suffer the bad reviews than the alternative. It’s the number one rule in airsoft, please, if you continue to play in future, at any site, you must take it seriously, you only get one set of eyes Danu, and we want you to keep them."

[Cannonfodder]

Considering they posted that as their first and only post and haven't been back since then I think we can  take their review with more than just a pinch of salt