The 'How Did Your Airsoft Day Go? Thread

[Cannonfodder]

20 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

all the heating money squandered on running around the woods in fancy dress.

But when you're running around in fancy dress you're not at home running up your heating bills. Well thays the excuse I'm sticking with

[Madhouse]

Back at Zed again last night. Lots of fun as always and new game formats which keeps things fresh. Yeah our team wasn't the winning one but I don't think anyone really cared, we all had fun shooting people in the dark and that's all that matters.

Took a doozie of a hit to the forehead, other guy was coming up the escalator so his position meant my cap caught the BB and directed it to just above my eyebrow. Only noticed I was leaking when I got back to the safe zone and got that 'ooh that looks hurty' look from the other players and then a marshal appeared with a first aid kit 😂 Bit of a wipe and with the application of the worlds smallest plaster I was ready to go again. I look like I've popped a massive zit today though.

Worth noting that hit taking was on point all night, didn't hear a single grumble from anyone.

 

Also my rental battery went flat and while it was being changed a guy on our team handed my his MP7 and said 'fill yer boots' (or words to that effect) and I have to say that I could certainly be tempted!! Although I'd need a ton of mags 😁

 

Oh and one more thing ... I finally got my UKARA sorted!!!! There'll be a couple of deliveries next week ☺️

[Skullchewer]

Set up at one of Red Alert's semi regular car boots.

Made about £350
Traded some molle pouches and a couple of drop legs for a Mil-Tec ghillie suit, picked up a TM PX4 with three mags for a friend, and a TM MP5K High Cycle for another friend. Good day.

[Colin Allen]

This morning I wandered off to Tower Airsoft in Essex, which is one of my regular sites.  It is a small site with some good structures including a castle, a church, a village and a bridge.  It also seems to attract a good type of player.  Their game days are run very well by Miguel, who some may know from CAMO, a shop and CQB site on Canvey Island (home of the magnificent Dr. Feelgood).

I have been there when there were 100+ people, although the usual attendance is about 40 to 50.  On this cold morning, with a pretty grim weather forecast, 20 people turned up.

It really was cold and I was very pleased to have my French army heavyweight fleece for the pre-game time in the morning; it is the warmest item of clothing that I have ever owned.

Despite, or maybe because of, the lack of numbers, it was a very good day.  The games were well adapted to the low number of players and ran well, with good play from both sides.  Alongside "normal" airsoft games, there was a fun game of armed American Football, using the bus windows as goals.  Trying to score a field goal proved to be a somewhat perilous activity.  Perhaps it will catch on as a new sport.

Guns used:
LCT PP-19-01 "Is than an MP5?" 🤬
APS UAR, with King Arms AK style M4 mags, just to make it look even weirder. 😈

Milbro Classic CO2 M1911.

[Cannonfodder]

11 hours ago, Colin Allen said:

LCT PP-19-01 "Is than an MP5?" 

😂😂😂

[Impulse]

Absolute comedy of errors today. Still managed to have fun, but holy crap was it annoying.

1. I literally forgot my shirt. Not joking, I totally forgot to bring my MARPAT combat shirt so I had to play the whole day (as a ghillie sniper with a ghillie cape) in a black fleece instead. Good thing I practice like this during the summer, so I knew my camo and concealment fundamental skills are good and I knew what I could do and get away with having the entire front of my torso just not camo'd up at all!
2. First game started, I was really hyped to play as injury and gun issues have stifled my last few game days and we were playing a part of the site we never play, which I feel we need to play more because it's great. I spend 20 minutes fighting through thick, overgrown foliage (lots of stamping down on thorns to clear a path) getting into a stupid sneaky position with my HPA VSR, which I decided to run today because it was 5 degrees celcius so not the best weather for gas guns. Got into the position, could see the whole enemy team from a lovely elevated but still well concealed hide on the flank. Lined up my first shot, pulled the trigger aaaaaaaand... click. Solenoid activated and no air came out. Checked my tank and it was empty, so I have a leak somewhere.
3. Tested my hicapa back in the safe zone and one of the mags feed lips decided they didn't want to be there any more and sheared off, snapping and flying off somewhere. The spring and follower thankfully remained in the magazine, but need new feed lips for one of my hicapa mags now. Ugh!
4. Went back to the safe zone and sighted in my m700 that I also brought as a backup. I brought my 2J m700 build since the sight lines are longer at Worthing through the winter and as it was 2J on 144a in 11 degrees celcius, so I figured with more powerful gas it'd be fine at 5 celcius. Went to chrono it with the ASG ultraair I have (which is a little bit stronger than standard green gas, let alone 144a) and it was coming up between 0.9J at the lowest and 1.16J at the highest. Not what I wanted, but at least it was working, conveniently without any MED, and it was sailing the .48s out there so I went out to use that after lunch and had a LOT of fun. On a timed attack and defend game I was the only one who went around on one flank and kept about 10 people occupied by myself (and started picking them all off as they couldn't pinpoint or hit me). Was a lot of impact and I ran out of ammo (3x 28rd mags goes fast fighting 10 people, though I can usually make them last!)
5. Got back to the safe zone afterwards, packing stuff away aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... the AEP lipo in my mp7 tears the end off when I take it out, totally breaking the battery. I go to tape it up so I can battery bin it tomorrow (my local Lidl has a battery bin) and it starts sparking and burning through the tape. The site tech basically pulls the metal contacts off the wires inside so it no longer does that and I tape it all up for the battery bin tomorrow.

I can't think of much more that could've realistically gone wrong, but I still managed to get out there and have a bit of fun. Christmas game next game day, so I'm thinking of wearing some festive reindeer antlers and taking a bolt action rifle; usually reindeer are the hunted, so I'm going to turn that around and have the reindeer become the hunter 😈

Edited December 4, 2022 by Impulse

[Colin Allen]

1 hour ago, Impulse said:

Absolute comedy of errors today. Still managed to have fun, but holy crap was it annoying.

1. I literally forgot my shirt. Not joking, I totally forgot to bring my MARPAT combat shirt so I had to play the whole day (as a ghillie sniper with a ghillie cape) in a black fleece instead. Good thing I practice like this during the summer, so I knew my camo and concealment fundamental skills are good and I knew what I could do and get away with having the entire front of my torso just not camo'd up at all!
2. First game started, I was really hyped to play as injury and gun issues have stifled my last few game days and we were playing a part of the site we never play, which I feel we need to play more because it's great. I spend 20 minutes fighting through thick, overgrown foliage (lots of stamping down on thorns to clear a path) getting into a stupid sneaky position with my HPA VSR, which I decided to run today because it was 5 degrees celcius so not the best weather for gas guns. Got into the position, could see the whole enemy team from a lovely elevated but still well concealed hide on the flank. Lined up my first shot, pulled the trigger aaaaaaaand... click. Solenoid activated and no air came out. Checked my tank and it was empty, so I have a leak somewhere.
3. Tested my hicapa back in the safe zone and one of the mags feed lips decided they didn't want to be there any more and sheared off, snapping and flying off somewhere. The spring and follower thankfully remained in the magazine, but need new feed lips for one of my hicapa mags now. Ugh!
4. Went back to the safe zone and sighted in my m700 that I also brought as a backup. I brought my 2J m700 build since the sight lines are longer at Worthing through the winter and as it was 2J on 144a in 11 degrees celcius, so I figured with more powerful gas it'd be fine at 5 celcius. Went to chrono it with the ASG ultraair I have (which is a little bit stronger than standard green gas, let alone 144a) and it was coming up between 0.9J at the lowest and 1.16J at the highest. Not what I wanted, but at least it was working, conveniently without any MED, and it was sailing the .48s out there so I went out to use that after lunch and had a LOT of fun. On a timed attack and defend game I was the only one who went around on one flank and kept about 10 people occupied by myself (and started picking them all off as they couldn't pinpoint or hit me). Was a lot of impact and I ran out of ammo (3x 28rd mags goes fast fighting 10 people, though I can usually make them last!)
5. Got back to the safe zone afterwards, packing stuff away aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... the AEP lipo in my mp7 tears the end off when I take it out, totally breaking the battery. I go to tape it up so I can battery bin it tomorrow (my local Lidl has a battery bin) and it starts sparking and burning through the tape. The site tech basically pulls the metal contacts off the wires inside so it no longer does that and I tape it all up for the battery bin tomorrow.

I can't think of much more that could've realistically gone wrong, but I still managed to get out there and have a bit of fun. Christmas game next game day, so I'm thinking of wearing some festive reindeer antlers and taking a bolt action rifle; usually reindeer are the hunted, so I'm going to turn that around and have the reindeer become the hunter 😈

One of those days when the world conspires to stop you enjoying yourself but you still manage to.

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

5 hours ago, Impulse said:

Absolute comedy of errors today. Still managed to have fun, but holy crap was it annoying.

1. I literally forgot my shirt. Not joking,

The lad forgot to pack my rifle once.  Whole day with my £10 single shot 18BB magazine last resort spare DE shotgun that I keep in my gunbag.

 

Still had fun though.  

 

FWIW I always keep a spare set of DPM in the van JIC of unexpected downpour.  The smock may come in handy if you break down on a rainy/chilly night too.

[TheFull9]

I've probably been meaning to go to Ironsight for 8+ years or so if I'm remembering correctly and actually got around to it yesterday.

 

When I was walking in to chrono and saw a kid coming the other way wearing a Dye mask, beanie only partially on his head like a nipple and super short AR with a Supreme sticker on the stock I said in my head 'oh no' when I noticed the HPA filling stations right after.  Luckily with the large majority of the site not having a roof over it it's not actually conducive to try-hard sweats shooting their hoses from the hip at all, but it is the only site I've personally been to that has an air compressor setup available for all customers to use so it's only natural it'll attract HPA users (which don't all look like hype beats fortunately).

 

The things I really care about these days:

-Car park is really close to the road and not an off-road experience bundled in with the skirmish ticket 👍

-Toilet block one of the very best I've seen, clearly is actually maintained and cleaned and isn't 25 years old.

-Safe zone/s well covered with more table space than was even needed (no idea if player count was lower than normal admittedly), though a definite shortage of chairs to go along with the tables overall.

-Safety brief wasn't tooo long, just right really.  Game briefs were super quick which was nice in a way but maybe could be just a tad longer for some clarity.

-Unfortunately I didn't partake in the pizza that's on offer so I can't comment.  The shop is fairly nice inside, not a ton of actual airsoft product but I don't go to sites for that stuff anyway.  Seemed to have enough in terms of food/snacks, drinks and consumables which is the main thing.

 

Personally I only had good experiences with hit taking but I also heard the most shouting and arguing I think I've ever been witness to, though I get the feeling an awful lot of it was the result of less than 3-4 particularly large 40+ man-children (the one female playing and all the actual kids seemed really good).  It made me laugh (inside) when one routinely confrontational cheat caller proceeded to embarrass himself in play, then when shot walk back past me and whisper "psst, there's one right in xyz location" like what the actual fuck mate.. I've never been anywhere where dead men talking was allowed; the classically ironic hypocrisy of it 🙄

 

The first game split the site in to 3 areas with unlimited attackers and 1-life defenders; really good overall.  The game after lunch was a smidge stale-matey sometimes but I got to participate in some very fun attacks and holds of ground.  Unfortunately just before lunch we got basically spawn camped for around an hour, one of my more disappointing experiences.  Finished out with a pretty interesting little close range blast fest inside one of the tunnels and they even removed the block on automatic.  Generally pretty good staff overall, nice little site.

[Fatboy40]

@TheFull9 What colour were you? (I was a yellow, and there with my son)

 

Ironsight is my local, but I've not played there since the late summer. Yesterday was about 15 or so players down from their usual, so you probably played on a better day as when it's sold out you have almost too many players and get log jams + less seating + the car park can get chocka.

 

There was definitely one guy there yesterday, not a regular, who liked the sound of his own voice and moaned to the other players and marshals constantly about everything as loudly as he could 🙄

 

I think yesterday was only the second time they played the close range tunnel game, I've got so many bruises from the full auto at the end, bloody brilliant! 😁 (I get to role my sleeves up and pretend to be well 'ard at work)

 

Edit: They have the HPA primarily as they do a lot of paintball as well for corporate events, but it's definitely not a site that's full of speedy bois, you get a really good mix of play styles and loadouts.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Fatboy40

[TheFull9]

Yeah I was yellow too, I probably did see you at least I recall a father and son pair and the lad seemed to be playing right which is always a pleasure to watch compared to some of the drug-up little... annoyances, that get sent to games just so their parents don't have to deal with them for a day.

 

Don't know if we're talking about the exact same bloke, but a little while after he was blatantly cheating while talking to me he was wasting the time of 2 marshals complaining about a red player for something; it's always those types.

[leadly]

Got invited to a trial day at a new CQB site that's opening up in Long Eaton! UKFOB The Grow House! Top night, I'll definitely be spending a lot of time over there! My shotty on 6 shot worked wonders with my PCU tracer on!!

Edited December 6, 2022 by leadly

[Rogerborg]

I tried Players of War again today. Ehhhhhh.

 

Generally fair play, but it had all the usual airsoft foibles.  A site that's too big leading to low density play and long walks to respawns (generally ignored), voluntary chronoing, no chronoing or test shots in game, marshals standing in clumps bantering, player-marshals doing all playing and no marshalling, no advice or support for new players, briefings that turned into pointless lectures, poorly thought out and controlled games that were either grinding attrition matches or over in seconds, and too many Lord Flashheart wannabes among the regulars for my tastes.

 

Did I enjoy myself?  Sure, laughs were had.  Am I making allowances for it being their last game of the year, and a "school's out" attitude among the marshals?  A bit. Will I be back?  Doubtful.

[Skara]

Numbers are low these days, but we finally managed to have a day out shooting.

 

I managed to "fix" my AK, when I plugged the battery in, though, the nozzle decided to leak like crazy which made the gun unusable..

So back to ol' reliable (KA PDW).

 

Games went well, we had a few people who were trying out Airsoft for the first time and overall a fun, cold day.

Also had the chance to share some of my teching knowledge with a couple of people, so hopefully they won't make silly purchases based on YouTube reviews

 

[Cannonfodder]

First time visiting Ambush Airsoft yesterday and overall was a great day, despite the cold and missing the first game because I overslept. Hit taking was good with only a couple of questionable moments but no obvious cheating. 

Marshals did a good job too, making sure everyone knew what was going on, and I thought they managed to find a good balance between being close enough to keep an eye on the game but without getting in the way. 

 

All in all I'll definitely be back

 

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Cannonfodder

[Impulse]

Today managed to be awful. Absolute unadulterated awful. First game was great and I got a lot done (set up my m700 at 2.25J and it was firing amazingly, probably even better than my HPA VSR setup) and I really enjoyed it, however after the second game I called it a day. Called out exactly what the other team were going to do as I knew they would flank around a certain area and so I went and positioned for it, however by the time they got around everything was so wet from the downpour that had ramped up that my glasses had fogged and my scope had fogged so I couldn't see anything through it and therefore my m700 basically became useless. I was just watching the other team do their flank, another example like last game day of being in an amazing position where I could start picking them all off one by one and other factors just making it useless. Got hit as I was trying to get some of the moisture off my scope (it didn't help...) and so then I came back out with just a pistol. Got in behind their flanking push and got two in the back, who called it and started walking off as dead men as they didn't think anyone was around to medic them. They walked about 10m away and as they rounded the bush, I noticed them walk over to one of their team mates who then started medicing them, which is literally cheating once they have walked off from where they got shot. I shot at him as well and they just didn't call it at all, then I got shot by one of their friends who then decided to have a go at me for not taking my hits while his friends were blatantly cheating right in front of me as I had emptied 2 mk23 magazines full of .32s into them with a fairly straight shot and no foliage in the path; was watching the BBs hit them and nothing happening. I called it anyway and went back to respawn, but no idea if they did in the end. Came back out after respawning, got in behind another one of them, gun jammed and as I was fixing it I got friendly fired in the side of the head. I called it there as I was starting to get more than a bit perturbed and being soaked through wasn't helping the matter (torso was dry, but legs and feet were soaking wet). Won't have another skirmish day until a month's time as my local site cancelled their next one on account of it being on New Year's Day and everyone would be hung over (especially one of the site owners... 😂), so I'm really bummed out that this one was so damn frustrating.

 

Only good things, outside of the first game, was non-skirmish related stuff. I got a setup for my shorter m700 that allows me to go with either 1.1J or 2.3J depending on gas used, width of gas router and hammer spring adjustment, so that will be my bolt action of choice at both 1.1J and 2.3J games going forwards. I love the gas m700 platform; it's probably my favourite airsoft gun I've ever used and worked on in all 17 years of playing (and as it's just a regular m700 which was very much around in the 70s, GIs beware the farmer in pyjamas with an m700 and a ruger pistol at Vietnam games in 2023 ). Secondly, I got my two AEGs back from the tech I entrusted them to, as I can't do AEG gearboxes because they are techno-wizardry, and they're amazing and I'm so happy I just decided to pay someone to do the work on the everything-apart-from-hop-and-barrel. The m14 is firing at 1.05J consistently on .32s and slinging them out to where I need them to go, while also being lovely and snappy and pretty damn quiet for an AEG; fairly tight grouping even at 60m, so that's a useful, reliable backup gun (and again, GIs beware as it's also period accurate!). The SR-25 had a bit of an issue where the nozzle wasn't going far enough forward so the air seal was being crap and firing at 0.1J - 0.3J, but the guy fixed it there on the spot by filing away some material from the tappet plate (had already spoken to him as there were parts that I had that I needed to put in on the day before we could properly test it). With an m110 spring in it, it was firing at 0.775J incredibly consistently (lowest shot was 0.771J, highest was 0.775J), so I'm going to try an m120 or m130 to get it as close to 1.1J on .4s with the hop set as possible, so if I get it to slightly over 1.14J, I'll wait and see for next month when I get it set up and hop set on it as it will probably need a bit to lift those .4s at 1.1J. Quick change springs are wonderful things and the only reason I'm content to do that part myself!

 

Anyway, I've waffled on enough, but I'm angy and wanted to scream into the aether.

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

You'll have to get a lot of du ban GI in next year @Impulse!  

[EDcase]

Yep, fogging and cheating bastards will put a serious downer on a game.

Just remember, they can't all be great game days...

[Cr0-Magnon]

11 hours ago, Impulse said:

team mates who then started medicing them, which is literally cheating once they have walked off from where they got shot. I shot at him as well and they just didn't call it at all, then I got shot by one of their friends who then decided to have a go at me for not

 

 

This seems a fairly common occurrence. I've definitely experienced it more than once. I shot two guys with my DMR, they walked until they found a team mate, who I also shot as soon as he got the medic band in his hand, he then handed it to the guy he was supposed to be healing, who was apparently automatically back in the game to medic him back in. It took another five or so hits of this three person unit before they decided to concede.

 

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Impulse]

10 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

You'll have to get a lot of du ban GI in next year @Impulse!  

 

Gunman Namsoft is my favourite airsoft to do and the guy I get a lift with is no longer staff at Worthing, so no more of this only playing on the Saturday because we have to get back for Sunday skirmish! Looking forward to the 2023 season of it (I do wish I didn't have to wear the black PJs because it's awful camo, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make!)

 

29 minutes ago, EDcase said:

Yep, fogging and cheating bastards will put a serious downer on a game.

Just remember, they can't all be great game days...

 

Yeah, I've done this long enough to know that, but I've had a rough few months of game days so it stung extra as I was hoping to go out on a bang for 2022. First it was injury meaning I could only play half the day, had an inflamed nerve in my head for about a month that meant my head started hurting as soon as I started lightly jogging and then had an injured foot straight afterwards for another month, then after injury it was various gun issues (had a falling out with HPA after the disappointment of last game day's leak) and a large learning curve for the m700 setups, learning what setups work in what temperatures and what internals work best.

 

18 minutes ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

 

This seems a fairly common occurrence. I've definitely experienced it more than once. I shot two guys with my DMR, they walked until they found a team mate, who I also shot as soon as he got the medic band in his hand, he then handed it to the guy he was supposed to be healing, who was apparently automatically back in the game to medic him back in. It took another five or so hits of this three person unit before they decided to concede.

 

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

It's probably the rule I see broken the most outside of general non-hit taking, next to not going all the way back to. Either walking off to get mediced, or medicing someone and using them as a shield so the medicing player doesn't get hit (still cheating, if either player is hit at Worthing while being mediced, both are out)

[EDcase]

I haven't played a game with medics yet and I already prefer the simple respawn rule.  Most games I've played have a moving respawn with a marshal there to verify

[Cr0-Magnon]

I really like Invicta Battlefield in Tonbridge, Kent but all of their games have a two medic band rule. This effectively gives every player three lives at a time. This becomes especially frustrating when using a DMR/BASR, because a small team of five people behind some cover would take fifteen hits to be cleared. 

[Enid_Puceflange]

On 11/12/2022 at 17:32, Rogerborg said:

I tried Players of War again today. Ehhhhhh.

 

Generally fair play, but it had all the usual airsoft foibles.  A site that's too big leading to low density play and long walks to respawns (generally ignored), voluntary chronoing, no chronoing or test shots in game, marshals standing in clumps bantering, player-marshals doing all playing and no marshalling, no advice or support for new players, briefings that turned into pointless lectures, poorly thought out and controlled games that were either grinding attrition matches or over in seconds, and too many Lord Flashheart wannabes among the regulars for my tastes.

 

Did I enjoy myself?  Sure, laughs were had.  Am I making allowances for it being their last game of the year, and a "school's out" attitude among the marshals?  A bit. Will I be back?  Doubtful.

I’ve heard mixed things about the site

Despite them seeming to enjoy the whole WWII style of “re enactment “ one of our regular players was handed a ban from the site for wearing German WWII nazi collar insignia on his jacket

Now while this is questionable, and separate discussions have been had on this topic. 
I feel this is a bit stupid, seeing as they have a load of their regular players badges and ranked up to the max!

 

I’ve avoided the place like the plague

 

Apparently, one of the site operators likes to wear Lederhosen in her free time!

go figure 🤷🏼‍♂️

[AirSniper]

Played last game of the year at usual site.

 

Not impressed.

 

Cheaters Galore and some dirty play.

 

there were 4 players that never took their hits but continued to shoot and two or maybe three specifically targeting hands. Why you may wonder, simple, targeting hands means the person is less effective at shooting back and I have a minor fracture of my index finger on my right hand as a result. 

I overheard some *anker gloating about taking groin shots... Yeah I know, I got plenty of BB Bruises on the top of my legs.

 

*issed off about it that much that I left the game and I expect thats why several others left the game because of dirty play and cheaters. 

 

Then there was the overkill, despite calling out hit and signalling being hit, still got lit up, seems that some people don't look and see if the player is out or in the game and just shoot. I noted that the majority of cheaters were HPA users.

 

For a game that uses the honour system, it sure tells people alot about you as an individual if you ignore the rules. Think that the lesson is lost on these sorts.

 

Another trend I have seen are groups within a team, that when they get hit, only one goes back to tag in themselves and team mates as their teammates stay in the game and continue game play.

 

Even my lad who enjoys the sessions was *issed off, he never throws his guns and eyepro on the table but that game... 

 

What this sport needs is a full membership system that is linked across the country, a ban on one site is a ban on all sites. Clear out the trash and *sshole gamers.

 

 

[Impulse]

4 hours ago, AirSniper said:

I noted that the majority of cheaters were HPA users.

 

Normally I would chime in here and say "not all HPA users are bad" but I'm having a falling out with my own HPA systems at the moment because they're both being annoying to the point where I may sell them both and no longer be part of the club as I doubt I will go back to it because my gas systems are better and my AEGs are more reliable, sooooo...

 

Sucks to hear that your last game of the year was a bad one. Mine was as well. The idiots specifically targeting hands and groins are worse than the Kicking Mustangs who go for headshots; headshots sting, but hand shots and groin shots sting even worse, as as you said, the hand is fairly easy to fracture if they hit you in the right place with enough force. I only go for hand or groin shots if the person I'm shooting at hasn't taken their body shots and then also hasn't taken their headshots afterwards.