Scorpion Airsoft review

[ghostwalker]

So this last Sunday (17/11/19) myself and 5 other friends went along to Scorpion Airsoft at the Old Hospital at West Raynham airfield.

 

The cost was £25 per player with a fiver of that a booking deposit.

The game day was limited to 20 players which seems low but soon becomes apparent why.

 

Directions to the site a little sketchy due to the post code applying to a couple of residential roads nearby. Fortunately a bit of pre planning helped to avoid any major fubars and we arrived slightly before the '9am gates open' time slot. The entrance was fairly well signed up but we drove straight through the car park and pretty much into the game zone trying to find the booking area.

After about 10 minutes and beginning to fear the start of the zombie apocalypse, we found the site owner and was directed where to park up.

 

The car park is about 20 meters from the game field and there is only some natural cover (bushes and trees) between the edge of the field and cars. This explained the comments we had heard prior to the day telling us to have eye pro on if we turned up late.

The booking in area is a couple of rooms just inside the main 2 story hospital building with a kettle and some basic supplies, a few table and places to sit.

Staff were all friendly, but due to the restricted space we kitted up by our cars for ease.

As it turned out there was only 1 regular to the site booked in that day so we were all in the same boat in relation to finding the location and knowing what to do.

 

After a bit of time waiting for everyone to sign in and get sorted we met outside the main hospital for the briefing. Due to the high percentage of new players to the site this involved an initial tour of the sites Bunker complex that was formerly command and control for cold war era missiles and prior to that used by the raf as a control center during ww2. The bunker is made comprised of several rooms all in pitch darkness.

Outside the bunker is a small grass area about 30-40 meters with some good old fashioned airsoft cover (tire piles, pallets etc) to give some protection from fire from within the hospital.

The hospital itself is a larger complex with several entrance. One on the front, 2 main side doors, a small ladder/bridge/balcony como to get to the upper floor from outside and rear side entrance through the airlock (2 heavy doors) into the rear hospital area.

The lower level has the 3 safe zone rooms and a good dozen or more other rooms to the front and back. Some are blocked off for various reasons. The rear most rooms, receiving, airlock, decontamination and a medical bay are all in total darkness. The front side rooms are all well lit with the windows covered to prevent too much of a forward dominance. There are a couple of side windows with glass removed to allow defenders to protect the left side entrance. This is offset by some heavy bushes and trees on the approach.

There are 2 corridors to the front, both are blocked with substantial doors to make fighting through a level a little bit tougher.

Moving up the stairs onto the second floor there is a small landing with doors at each end. Defenders cannot hold this small landing to prevent the stairs becoming a open killing area. But the doors can be opened to engage people on the stairwell.

To the right side through the door there are several rooms including 3 with views down towards the grassy area and bunker. This side also includes a pair of interconnecting rooms referred to as the Alamo as its a decent last stand position for defenders.

TO the left of the stairs there are another 4 or 5 rooms including a couple of smallish bathrooms and 3 more rooms with views of the bunker complex. At the end of the series of rooms is a small balcony that gives a good vantage point over the bunker complex.

 

General rules of engagement are

Single fire within buildings.

No shooting out the remaining glass in the windows (there isn't much as any useful level)

3 meter kill radius on grenades unless its in a  room in which case the room is cleared.

No shooting at or from the couple of ladders on site. This is to prevent any unfortunate hit calls that result in someone falling off.

There is a line of 3 red oil drums about 15-20 foot from the front of the hospital complex. Anyone within the upper floor cannot shoot down on you if you are between the hospital and thr drums to prevent top of the head shots at close range.

 

Once we were all familiar with the hazards and rules we quickly chronographed and got on with the day.

 

The first game was a quick get to know you affair. 3 lives each battle royal with a 15 minute time limit.

 

Once the teams were split we set about the games proper.

 

Game one was Novochok.

 

6 fuel cans with Novochok were hidden by the defenders within the hospital building. Defenders had 3 lives and attackers had 8 a piece. The game would be reversed after the first run.

We were on the assault team and after some fierce fighting to clear the lower level starting from the west side entrance we moved up the stairs to clear the 2nd floor. It became clear that pyro made a big difference during the day as out team had several trmr grenades and a couple of timed bfg's where as the other team seemed to rely on paper pyro. The site operators also provided 3 riot shields that you had to find within the hospital to make use of.

Both games lasted around 45 minutes. Though my team won, more through our ingenious hiding of the novochok canisters than skill. Though we did get complimented by the owner on how methodically we cleared the hospital in our search.

 

Game 3 was a domination game

4 laptops were hidden within the hospital and bunker complex. Out team had to open them and the others had to close them.. One team started to the east of the hospital and the other the west. 20 minute time limit and who held most won.

Once again use of grenades helped us clear the main hospital whilst a small group of players quickly rushed the bunker and held it in lock down. By now it was becoming clear how much pyro and a good chunk of aggressive team work was having an effect.

 

After this was lunch. There was a little confusion as we thought there was a bookable lunch on the day but that wasn't available. With the Nearest shops being about a 15 minute drive away, a packed lunch should definitely be taken.

 

After lunch we went for a longer game that involved having to firstly clear the defenders out from the bunker complex (1 life each) then having to cross to the hospital and deliver a prop satchel charge to the central front upstairs room. Once the defenders were within the hospital they had 2 fresh lives. Attackers once again had 8 each.

A little confusion ran amok in this game as we cleared the bunker complex in short order and moved to engage the hospital. At this point it emerged that what we thought were well hidden defenders was in fact several players holed up in the small tree/bush area to the left of the hospital. Once it became clear the marshal moved them on and the game carried on. A mix of cold, hunger and tiredness seemed to slow this game down and we became locked in on trying to clear a corridor on the lower right side. It wasn't until a friend of mine pointed out we only needed to take the top floor right side that we broke the game as there was only 1 defender up there.

 

Game done we took a 5 minute breather, At this point the general consensus was to call it a day. Some tempers were flaring due to a mix of tiredness and people getting point blank shot repeatedly (myself included 5 times at about 6 inches with a pistol in the lower back wasn't a happy bunny). It was also pushing on for 4pm, getting dark and most of faced a good hour or so drive back across Norfolk.

 

In conclusion.

 

The bad stuff first.

Chrono. None of us were asked our bb weights and a simple fps measure was taken over 3 rounds on chrono. Now obviously there are no snipers on site. But a little niggle as my 267 267 268 reading could have been on anything from the .28's i was using through to .4's or more. I understand trust but as i say just a little niggle.

 

Marshaling. There was the owner and his 2 daughters (im guessing) with the owner being the primary marshal. Obviously one man can be everywhere and the daughters stuck to the outside. This meant that when issues arose it was a case of mostly back and forth between the players. In general everyone on the day played mostly fair. But we know there are some folk out there that it wouldn't apply to.

 

Parking. Being so close to the field if you turn up late you better have your eye pro on as the car park is within easy range of any half decent aeg and so are your precious cars.

 

Middle of the road stuff.

Organization. Some of this was top notch. The tour was a mix of highlighting hazards and providing a quick history of the location whilst giving you an idea of the layout.

But some of it was not so great. It took about 90 minutes from arriving and booking in through to getting our 1st game going. There was a bit of a lull between games and lunch kind of came as a ' oh is it lunchtime conversation, rather than any real indication)

 

The site itself.

Now the owner has tried to keep it all as original as he could. Only the occasional additional corrugated iron door has been added to aid in game play. This leads to a feeling of it being really atmospheric. But that atmosphere comes at a cost especially in the dark areas. There are a multitude of hazards. Pipes, wood beams on the floor, metal bars sticking out of walls all sorts. The ladder sections are not fastened to the walls on the outside area and where some windows have been broken there is still piles of broken glass and god only knows what on the floor etc. Much of this is highlighted on the tour but you really have to bear it in mind when moving around the dark area and a torch is a must.

 

The positives.

The owner really knew the site, was informative and really friendly. Tried to deal with any issues that arose and tried to keep the day interesting.

Games were challenging and saw some really intense fighting for small rooms and corridors.

The provision of a few small riot shields helped to keep the attacked engaged in what would otherwise become a massacre in many place.

 

Overall though it was an enjoyable day and we all have our stories and welts to show for it.

Our group has said we would probably revisit it a couple of times a year, though due to its size and nature probably not more than that. It is friendly, atmospheric and probably haunted by a good few ghosties if your into that sort of thing.

 

 

[Albiscuit]

Sounds interesting, not liking the cars being so close to the game zone. Some hoarding or similar to protect cars and players should be put up at the least!

[ghostwalker]

In fairness to the site. None of the cars appeared to have taken any dings. But yes there is that risk especially if someone is dig into the small stand of Trees and bushes and you attacked that point hard. 

[Albiscuit]

Actually I looked at this site before, its 2 1/2 hours from me.. And for that reason im out