Asomodai Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Site Name: Splatoon Paintball and Airsoft Contact details: 07724947300 Website Address: http://splatoon.co.uk/airsoft/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Splatoon-Airsoft-1659604544089555/ Site Address: Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD I visited Splatoon Airsoft on a Milsim/skirmish day on 20/10/2019. Set just outside of a village and down a busy road (With no path for a 100 metres) This is a site that I have heard about for the past year but scheduling conflicts meant that I was unable to go. Not much in the way of reviews online, it's one a series of recent Paintball sites that have started doing Airsoft on the side. As it was a Milsim day, the entire site was open to Airsofters. This is a site with three distinct areas, a trench section which was used as a staging point and little else, woodland section and the two level shipping container yard. All the sections are pretty small, there are some fairly long site lines in specific parts of the field so snipers might get some traction, but ultimately it is CQB for the vast majority of the day. This was reflected in the fact out of the 30 people on the day, no one brought a DMR or bolt action. The ground is pretty much flat in all the played in areas. As it happens @clumpyedge was also visiting Splatoon at the same time. Good: Playing Area: This is a fairly small site, about half the size of Red 1 Chislehurst, but it has quite the variety. This was the first time I have played in a shipping container filled area which was quite unique, it didn't have as much of the usual trappings of a CQB site like bottlenecks. The containers were stacked in some areas with stairs going up. Every container has windows and openings to fire out of. There were two burned out helicopters as well as standard buildings available as well as a ultra tight CQB bottleneck fort (Which I avoided and wasn't hugely in play during the day). The woodland was roughly the same size as the container field, most cover is provided by a large smattering of buildings and barriers, all sorts. Lots of places to hide in. lots of thorny bushes so watch your clothing if you want to force your way through some of the natural barriers onto the container field. Marshaling: Was pretty good most of the day, it is clear they come from a paintball background, but they had a good handle on the Airsoft side of things and understood what makes the difference in game play. They were watching carefully for people not taking hits especially in built up areas and calling people out. Toilets: Really quite decent, in a cabin, 6+ urinals that were clean, 3/4 sinks (One was out of order), 2 male stalls and separate female facilities. All very good. Mission Brief/style: Only one new player at the beginning of the day, so safety brief was very brief. Pretty much everything was covered without laboring the point. Some may have preferred something longer going more in depth, but I felt it was fine considering the amount of experienced players. They asked for questions at the end to clarify anything. Safe Zone: Small but reasonably formed. Everyone had a park bench with room for more if needed, most of the benches were under cover. The safe zone had 4 walls so wind was not a problem. There were 30 players on site which apparently was the biggest Airsoft turnout in Splatoons history (Just over 30 players) but there was still room available. Transport: When mentioning to the guy at reception I public transported to the site from Dagenham, he mentioned that he might be able to arrange transport from Romford in the future if needed. Which was a lovely offer and much appreciated. Average: Chrono: 350 FPS for AEG, 450 for Bolt action. Every gun was chronoed including pistols with users bb weight and all guns were tagged. So why just in average? A number of players and even a Marshall chronoing were not wearing eye protection during this time. (Good spot by @clumpyedge) Food: Standard Burger and hot dog affair. I didn't see any veggie option (Sorry I didn't ask if they had one, but it wasn't advertised.) The burgers were cooked sometime during the morning and was kept in a warmer for lunch, it was a cheap tasting burger with cheese, single is £3 and double is £4. Filled a hole. There was a large selection of bottled drinks in reception and there was free tea/coffee/orange juice. (Splatoon have since advised me they did have a veggie option and they are now advertising it (20/01/2020)). Parking: There was enough parking for everyone with plenty of space spare, its at the end of a gravel track path. Not in the good section purely as it was a little bit further from the safe zone then most places. Clientele: People were pretty friendly in the safe zone, I was sat next to some of the opposite team and we traded stories. On the field there was some tempers and grumbling about the opposing side though. Quite a few dead men talked about enemy positions as well. Value: £25, food not included. Its OK. I certainly didn't feel robbed, but Driver Wood in Crawley gives you a similar experience for the same money, but with larger and more varied zones. Mission variety: Was absolutely fine, nothing stunning, but nothing terrible. Black Hawk Down was pretty fun as was the protracted VIP game in the middle of the day. Bad: Shop: Non existent. The reception had some basic Mesh eyepro, M4 mags, Probably had some gas and bb's though i could see them. Hit taking: Was frankly god awful. In open woodland play it was reasonable, but when shooting into containers it was non existent. Numerous times I had sneaked up behind the enemy team and caught them through the window, they turned around and then fired back. It was almost like they thought it was friendly fire and just carried on. Although the marshals did catch people they were watching, its hard to identify non hit takers in containers. The Clientele need to start taking their hits. It did spoil the day and was my biggest complaint. Milsim?: This was advertised as a Milsim day, but I didn't see much in the way of Milsim elements, it felt like a standard skirmish so I am unsure what to expect on a standard skirmish day? I believe the main difference is that the entire site was opened up, but that was it. I definitely wouldn't have called it a Milsim and the site wouldn't be big enough to accommodate one. The Airsoft definition of Milsim would be one long open day with multiple objectives with no break. The number of people was right for the site at around 30 people. Conclusion: This was a mixed day, the site has a lot going for it in terms of how well built it is, clearly established. The site is varied and safe zone great. Time will tell how well it competes with Mayhem Airsoft based near Romford who also have a shipping container field. I imagine most London players would head there instead due to distance. Splatoon do Saturday skirmishes on occasion which is nice to see. I had a very bad day from a personal performance wise, but there were quite a few regulars playing which would probably explain it! Did I enjoy it? There were some good moments, but the non hit takers really ruined the day for me. @clumpyedge left at lunch because of it. It got slightly better in the Afternoon though. If the player base can have it instilled into them to call their hits regardless of where they came from then I would consider coming back. If you want to experience a purpose built playing area experience then Driver Wood in Crawley is the better site in most respects. However if travel distance is a problem then Splatoon might be worth a go. Bullpup Watch: A sea of M4's and 2 MP5's, one Evo. Very little variation I brought my two bullpups and that was it! I haven't been able to find an updated Satellite image with the container yard showing so this is the best I can do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert James Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Good review. Probably wont go to this one based on your review. Driver wood though, I've seen someone advertising it on FB recently and it does look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJC Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Same as above. Not too far from me, but possibly not worth the day out as it stands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albiscuit Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 10 hours ago, Asomodai said: Did I enjoy it? There were some good moments, but the non hit takers really ruined the day for me. @clumpyedge left at lunch because of it. It got slightly better in the Afternoon though. If the player base can have it instilled into them to call their hits regardless of where they came from then I would consider coming back. If you want to experience a purpose built playing area experience then Driver Wood in Crawley is the better site in most respects. However if travel distance is a problem then Splatoon might be worth a go. Sounds like the hit taking was all @clumpyedge s fault The site sounds interesting, shame I couldn’t come out to play!! I would like to try it, but wouldn’t expect much based on this!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PureSilver Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Gotta say I'll probably never play the majority of these sites, but these reviews are very much appreciated nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clumpyedge Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Albiscuit said: Sounds like the hit taking was all @clumpyedge s fault The site sounds interesting, shame I couldn’t come out to play!! I would like to try it, but wouldn’t expect much based on this!! 100% my fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tackle Posted October 21, 2019 Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2019 Non hit taking 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musica Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 7 minutes ago, Tackle said: Non hit taking 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clumpyedge Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 On 21/10/2019 at 10:50, Asomodai said: Bad: Hit taking: Was frankly god awful. In open woodland play it was reasonable, but when shooting into containers it was non existent. Numerous times I had sneaked up behind the enemy team and caught them through the window, they turned around and then fired back. It was almost like they thought it was friendly fire and just carried on. Although the marshals did catch people they were watching, its hard to identify non hit takers in containers. The Clientele need to start taking their hits. It did spoil the day and was my biggest complaint. It was actually kinda weird to play with a team of people who collectively all had the same experience with the same players on the opposite team, then when someone mentioned "the guy in the tan t-shirt" and "the guy in the black t-shirt" everyone looked at each other as if to say that's the same guy I had issues with. I had my own encounter with one of the guys where by I had shot him twice in the side as he went past me from no more than 3ft away but claimed he had shot me in the leg after the fact. Weirdly I didn't have a mark on my legs from which distance you'd expect at the very least welting. Another moment with said guy was when a player i was close to (a marshal was also there at that point) asked Tan guys mate to move because he wanted to throw his BFG and didn't want to hit him, guy refused essentially stalling for his mate who was just around the corner - poor sportsmanship in my opinion. That was the only two issues I was witness or part of, but all through the first two games of the day the rest of the yellow(?) team has mentioned the same two players yet I didn't notice the marshals speak to them, they may have but not to my knowledge. Quote Milsim?: This was advertised as a Milsim day, but I didn't see much in the way of Milsim elements, it felt like a standard skirmish so I am unsure what to expect on a standard skirmish day? I believe the main difference is that the entire site was opened up, but that was it. I definitely wouldn't have called it a Milsim and the site wouldn't be big enough to accommodate one. The Airsoft definition of Milsim would be one long open day with multiple objectives with no break. The number of people was right for the site at around 30 people. The only thing that even remotely gave it an air even an organized game was that they gave out three briefing sheets (between 30 odd players) about two games were told to read them, we weren't however told which one we were playing until the brief just before going out. No ammo limits enforced or mentioned, no rest of the day scenario, it was literally just a standard skirmish game of protect the VIP with medic rules....hardly ground breaking or "milsim".....again the term milsim is so washed out these days and is used more as an advertising tool to try and make a game day seem "cooler"? Quote Conclusion: This was a mixed day, the site has a lot going for it in terms of how well built it is, clearly established. The site is varied and safe zone great. Time will tell how well it competes with Mayhem Airsoft based near Romford who also have a shipping container field. I imagine most London players would head there instead due to distance. Splatoon do Saturday skirmishes on occasion which is nice to see. I had a very bad day from a personal performance wise, but there were quite a few regulars playing which would probably explain it! Did I enjoy it? There were some good moments, but the non hit takers really ruined the day for me. @clumpyedge left at lunch because of it. It got slightly better in the Afternoon though. If the player base can have it instilled into them to call their hits regardless of where they came from then I would consider coming back. If you want to experience a purpose built playing area experience then Driver Wood in Crawley is the better site in most respects. However if travel distance is a problem then Splatoon might be worth a go. Based on the things I saw (mentioned above) I decided to jack it in early and head back for a short shoot at my home site and have an early day before anything got too heated but glad the play got slightly better in the afternoon, maybe that was because tan and black t-shirt guys were spoken too? I doubt I would return again unless it was a private day run by someone else, as I really enjoyed playing in the container yard (bar the obvious issues). I found the marshalling while friendly enough didn't really have much gusto about them even after nearly a year of doing airsoft and were more being led by a player to do games they had devised them self. Free tea/coffee/good facilitates and friendly staff were about the only good things I took away from the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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