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SE Tour Awards and write-up 2019.


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Hello all! 

 

Alas another year has passed and another 12 sites visited since the last end of year awards! It's been a somewhat sobering year in Airsoft. Sites have been closed down, sites announced but not open and the general standard hasn't been great. There have been fewer truly great sites reviewed, the loss of my regular Battlebuddy has also made it fairly difficult to get to different places. Doomsday and Erebor have both closed in the SE area. Doomsday is a great loss as it had some potential and could have taken away the inside M25 crown that Chislehurst has. Erebor never really got off the ground but was incredibly unique. 

 

However there are some positives, Echelon with any luck will be coming in soon with a 9 Story office block and large school in Hextable. UCAP will be opening up Vengeance soon and EAG re-opened the Epsom Tunnels which will be worth a visit! 

 

As mentioned many times before, the reviews will be drawing to a close by the end of 2020 as I am starting a family and will not be playing for at least a year thereafter. 

 

This year I have had to rely more on members of AFUK to get around to different sites for which I thank them wholeheartedly! @Albiscuit @GeorgePlaysAirsoft and @Robert James; Take a bow. 

 

As before I am looking for new suggestions for sites to visit. There are very few left to go and unfortunately I have lost my regular ride so will be difficult to visit some that have been on the list for sometime. I am planning to do a South West Triple header weekender sometime (Strike Force in Gloucester, Bristol Courthouse and Black ops Cribbs Causeway)

 

Sites I hope to visit by the end of 2020 are:

 

Reforger (I did play here as part of the Gunman Weekender but didn't think it fair to post as I had reservations on the organisation of the day and the actual site is run by different people), Dragons Lair, 1066 Hastings, South Coast CQB, Invicta, Battlezone, Epsom Tunnels etc. 

 

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So without further ado, here is the SE Tour Awards for 2018/2019. 12 sites were visited in this time, though they will also be up against the previous 15. 

 

Best Overall Site – This is the award to the best overall site in terms of everything.

 

1)      Airsoft Plantation (Essex)

2)      Driver Wood Paintball and Airsoft (West Sussex)

3)      Sentinel Airsoft (The Outpost) (Buckinghamshire)

 

AP: Retains the top spot for the second year running. It has been improved in terms of Safe Zone recently and ran a successful night game. However in my last two visits it has become a victim of its own success and a cap of numbers is really needed as my enjoyment has been effected in the last two visits. 

Driver Wood: Is a new entry this year. Driver wood has excellent facilities, the zones are very varied and is well worth a visit! 

Sentinel Airsoft: Is another new entry. This is a small and relatively simple site, but has a lot going for it in terms of indoor and outdoor play. Safe zone is reasonable and had quite a bit of fun. There were many sites that could have taken this spot though!

 

Best Medium/Long range Playing area – Variety and/or quality of the playing area.

 

1)      Airsoft Plantation (Essex)

2)      Apocalypse Airsoft (Kent)

3)      Tech Brigade (Herts)

 

AP: Retains the top spot again and has the largest variety in terms out outdoor playing area, whilst it is mostly flat and with few water features, the sheer changeability of the terrain and vegetation, interspersed with manmade obstacles. 

Apocalypse Airsoft: Has climbed one spot because of recent improvements. Surprised us in its decent size, huge variety of woodland sections and best of all the variety and scale of the buildings used.

Tech Brigade: The purest Long range field you will find. Not much in terms of manmade structures, but there is a large variety of vegetation and very long sight lines if required. BASR and DMR Dream. 

 

Best CQB playing area – Variety  and/or quality of the playing area.

 

1)     Reaper Ops The Fort Borstal (Kent)

2)     Longmoor Camp (Hampshire)

3)     Erebor (Surrey) (Closed)

 

Reaper ops: The Fort is a really interesting era Fort, A moat section, plenty of elevation, tunnels and turrets. A really unique site with really good views over the Medway. Since the downfall of the Mall this has now essentially replaced it at the top.

Longmoor: Creme de la creme for CQB. Only loses out on the fort because as its not as unique. But playing in a perfectly recreated suburb is fantastic. I would love to go back again during the day. 

Erebor: Shone brightly for the few games it was open. It was very unique, lovely indoor safe zone. Whilst I didn't like it massively due to its poor sight lines, an experience like this will likely not be seen again. 

 

 

Best purpose built buildings – This means actually built for the site and not already existing.

 

1)      Apocalypse Airsoft (Kent)

2)      EAG Dorking (Surrey)

3)      Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft (Essex)

 

Apocalypse Airsoft: Deservedly takes the crown for this category for the 2nd year running, the sheer variety of buildings at play, well-spaced out, multiple tiers and well looked after means this is a great site for snipers and CQB assaults. The trench system is also worth a mention.

EAG Dorking: As described in another section has some great buildings, a little shabby in places, but really good for atmosphere and there is always something to hide in.

Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft: A very new entrant. The sheer amount of obstacles and buildings means this is worth an entry at number 3!

 

Best Safe Zone – Safe zone is classed as the setting up area. Enclosed? Felt Safe? Lots of space?

 

1)      Zoological Warfare/BPAA (East Sussex)

2)      Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft (Essex)

3)      Erebor  (Surrey) (Closed)

 

Zoololgical Warfare/BPAA: takes this one by a country mile, the safe zone was an actual heating building, two stories and can hold plenty of people, everyone has a table, storage space and chairs were available. The bathroom was 5 star.

Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft: Has a huge multi roomed indoor/outdoor safe zone. Heated inside and benches everywhere. Shop and Toilets were pretty good as well. 

Erebor: Was far too clean for a safe zone. Toilets were the best seen, the one time a shop was onsite was pretty good too. 

 

 

Best on-site shop – Shop selection.

 

1)      MPA Hockley Airsoft Arena (Essex)

2)      Battle Lakes (Kent)

3)      Airsoft Billericay (Essex)

   

MPA Hockley: is a new entrant and absolutely deserving. It's a full retail shop with a small skirmish area attached to it. Its well appointed even for an airsoft shop. I have my doubts they will ever be topped. 

Battle Lakes: Had a very large indoor shop with lots of interesting weapons and gear for sale, also sold second hand stuff.

Airsoft Billericay: Has a very large selection of gear is available at reasonable prices. It has gone slightly downhill recently but still claims 3rd spot.

 

 

Best Catering – Catering selection.

 

1)      Airsoft Plantation (Essex)

2)      Battle Lakes (Kent)

3)      Bush Valley Airsoft (Kent)

 

No Changes this year as the catering standard was not improved upon at the sites played this year!

 

AP: Has a proper burger van, all the sauces, reasonable prices and a vegetarian option. Tasted good as well.

Battle Lakes: Had home cooked chilli, hotdogs, vegetarian option and plenty of confectionary and sticky pop. Tasted very good and was homemade.

Bush Valley Airsoft: Had a standard fayre burger shack, but the taste was very good with a decent pop selection. The friendliest staff. (This third place could have been won by a few other sites as well)

 

Best Marshals – Marshals that made sure you had a good time, were friendly and weeded out troublemakers.

 

1)      Driver Wood Paintball and Airsoft (West Sussex)

2)      Airsoft Plantation (Essex)

3)      Battle Lakes (Kent)

 

Driver Wood Paintball and Airsoft: Best example of marshaling with small numbers that I have experienced. Always on the radios. Always hit checking, listened to peoples concerns, constantly urging teams along and quick turn around times. 

AP: Knocked off the top spot because of Driver Wood. But very willing to discuss how the day was going, the history of the site and future plans. They kept encouraging the teams to push forward and they changed things around if it got one sided. They were also hands off when needed to be.

Battle Lakes: Had very solid marshaling, the person running it was a hoot, things were explained clearly and all the mission briefs were concise. Much like the Mall, Zed Adventures really seem to get Marshalling right.

 

Site with the most potential – With some changes, these sites could be outstanding.

 

1)      Zoological Warfare (East Sussex)

2)      Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft (Essex)

3)      Bush Valley Airsoft (Kent)

 

Zoological Warfare/BPAA: Can be a really top site, in the past year it has been taken over by the much applauded Zed Adventures (Funnily enough the very same people I recommended to Battles organizers themselves on the test day).  As long the numbers keep coming, I cannot wait to see if the potential is realised. 

Mayhem: Are a new entrant. The playing site is already top notch, but the marshaling and organisation is really lacking. Change that and this will be the premiere M25/London site. 

Bush Valley Airsoft: Is a fully family run operation, they own the actual land that is being used, meaning they don’t have to get permission to change things around. Although lots needs to be done, we really felt welcomed at the site and feel that if they really make a go of it, could be the making of a must visit site.

 

 

Site that most surprised us (Good) – The site that simply surprised me most for whatever reason.

 

1)      Driver Wood and Paintball (West Sussex)

2)      Erebor (Surrey) (Closed)

3)      Red 1 The School (Herts)

 

Driver Wood: I had heard very mixed reviews at the time and even from my own Battlebuddy. But even he was surprised how fantastic it was under new ownership. There is almost nothing bad to say about this site and even accounting for personal taste. 

Erebor: Didn't see this site coming at all until I was invited on the preview day. So unique the likes of which will not be seen again. I remember the wow factor I had when I first walked in and saw it, incredulous it was to be used for Airsoft. Though it came as "no surprise" that it didn't last long at all. 

Red 1 The School: I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the site and how good the woodland section is, which is almost never mentioned in reviews. The School was actually a lot of fun as well as more levels of it was open then usual. 

 

Most unique site – Will we ever see the likes of these again if they closed down?

 

1)      Erebor (Surrey) (Closed)

2)      Reaper Ops: The Fort Borstal (Kent)

3)      Battle Paintball and Airsoft (East Sussex)

 

Erebor: Was a village inside a warehouse. Fully equipped and insane that it ever hosted Airsoft. Shame it closed. 

Reaper Ops: The Fort is a fort, I believe not the first ever for Airsoft in Kent, but the only one we are aware of in the South East at the moment.

Zoological Warfare/BPAA: it’s a freaking Victorian Zoo, though there isn’t much of it left. It’s a huge site though, which is unique in itself.

 

Site where I had the most fun – Might not have been the best sites, but definitely had the best experience.

 

1)      Driver Wood Paintball and Airsoft (West Sussex)

2)      MPA Hockley (Essex)

3)      Longmoor Camp (Hampshire)

 

Driver Wood: Had a tremendous amount of fun here due to the varied zones and overall personal performance. Loved it and well worth a repeat visit. 

MPA Hockley: Despite breaking my brand new phone screen, I came out of here smiling. Its so bloody small and I hate Tight CQB but I had a whale of a time here working on my angled game and getting lots of pistol kills. 

Longmoor Camp: Night game, that although ended far too early due to people leaving had a tense and atmospheric time in the village. Everyone has to try this at least once. 

 

Best site inside the M25:

 

1) Red 1 Chislehurst (Kent)

2) Doomsday Airsoft (Kent) (Closed)

3) Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft (Essex)

 

Red 1 Chislehurst: Retains the crown as the best site inside the M25. Steady improvements despite thieves taking away part of the safe zone. 

Doomsday Airsoft: Was SO close to taking this away from Chislehurst. Alas Doomsday closed down and couldn't quite reach it's early promise. A real shame.

Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft: A very new entry. Fantastic playing area, good variety, but poor organisation lets it down.

 

New Category: Most Disappointing site - For sites we had high hopes for but was a bit of a let down on the day.

 

1) AirsoftGB (Essex)

2) Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft

3) AWA Herts

 

AirsoftGB: Was the biggest let down for us. We heard many many good things about it. But when we got there just saw a bowl of grass with a bunch of structures in it. The Farmyard section was quite good, but the rest of the experience wasn't fantastic either. We didn't quite get the hype. 

Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft: The photos on the website didn't disappoint. But I didn't realise how quite bad organisation could get until I played here. 

AWA Herts: Considering the length of time the site has been open for, I was expecting something more then what I got. Rough around the edges and lack of investment. Not the worst site though. 

 

Site with Strictest Chrono:

 

Airsoft Billericay: I swear either uses an inaccurate chrono, or lighter then average .2's to test. So many people get turned away despite chronoing fine at other sites. Good or bad? You decide! Remember 350FPS is not a goal! 

 

Spray and “prey” award:

 

I still have nightmares of Tactical Warfare in Croydon. I just cant bring myself to go back due to the liberal usage of plastic death. Mayhem Paintball and Airsoft gets a special mention because I got through 5000 bbs in two half an hour games... I did have an LMG though so was totally worth it and allowed. 

 

Best moment:

 

Red 1 The School: Somehow getting through a bottle-necked part of the School unscathed and spearheaded an assault on the last few rooms. Took out at least 8 or 9 players single handed and won the game.

 

 

Here are all of the in-depth individual reviews for your viewing pleasure. 

 

 

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So overall, the good sites stayed on the board. 

 

AP has slipped a bit. A victim of its own success, it needs to expand ASAP to contain the numbers. One of the poorest days skirmishing was at the recent Christmas special event. Far too many people and had very little fun overall. But it still retains top spot because it is genuinely the best site. 

 

The site I most visited was Skirmish Billericay (3 times). Which I am starting to appreciate more as its very much a long range site and opening up the paintball section brings real variety. Though it doesn't quite edge into the awards as of yet. 

 

One surprising fact of 2019 is that Paintball sites have started really opening up to Airsoft in 2019. Driver Wood got it completely right and hit it out of the park, with Splatoon and Mayhem needing to play catch-up. 

 

Hopefully Mayhem's organisation will be sorted and there will be a real shift in Airsofting within the M25 this coming year. 

 

Roll on 2020!

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1 hour ago, Asomodai said:

One surprising fact of 2019 is that Paintball sites have started really opening up to Airsoft in 2019. 

 

Would love to see more sites embrace a dual use. NPF (National Paintball Field) near me does this and it is slowly growing more and more into it's own business on already established and presumably owned woodland.

 

Awesome write up though. Was disappointed to hear about your battle buddy hanging up his boots but I do hope you find a way to keep playing and providing these riveting reviews.

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Great writeup as usual.

 

Another site to consider for your SW visit is UCAP's Gloucester prison - pretty much right next to Strikeforce and they often run evening games on Saturday, which means you can get an airbnb somewhere then hit up Strikeforce the next day. Potentially hit another site nearby during the day on Saturday too!

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18 minutes ago, clumpyedge said:

Just a point, AWA is now under new ownership and as such development has now been planned and will be worked on throughout 2020 🤙

 

Sounds interesting! What plans have you got? :)

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2 minutes ago, clumpyedge said:

 

A fair bit of building to enable larger games and objectives... pretty much addressing the negatives that we can from your review.

 

Awesome! Would be good for a repeat visit sometime. 

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On 03/01/2020 at 00:23, Robert James said:

Let me know when you're looking to do the longer trips and I'll get organising.

 

 

Looking for a cheeky invite if possible ;) 

i would like to visit some of those sites that are not an easy drive too!!

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On 03/01/2020 at 00:23, Robert James said:

Let me know when you're looking to do the longer trips and I'll get organising.

 

Good write up, always a pleasure to play with you. 

 

Thanks mate! Well I should be available on the 19th this month! 

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3 hours ago, Asomodai said:

 

Thanks mate! Well I should be available on the 19th this month! 

 

3 hours ago, Albiscuit said:

 

Looking for a cheeky invite if possible ;) 

i would like to visit some of those sites that are not an easy drive too!!

I might need a bit more notice, I think I'm busy every weekend this month. And @Albiscuit of course, if I have room in the car you can jump in. Shouldn't be an issue though at all

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