Sw Tour Review: Bristol Airsoft - Courthouse (Bristol)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: Bristol Airsoft - Courthouse

Contact details: 07776 288826

Website Address: https://bristolairsoft.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Strikeforce-Airsoft-retail-145953958794206/

Site Address: Old Crown Courts, Bridewell Street, Bristol, BS1 2HQ

 

SE Tour Reviews are now in the South West! Decided to visit some family in Bristol so went on three skirmishes in three days. 

 

I attended Bristol Airsoft on 11/09/20 on a Friday night. Located slap bang in the centre of Bristol. I am quite familiar with the area being that it is my home town. Just over the road is the old fire station and long standing Laser quest arena.  Existing online reviews are mostly from casual/non airsofters. What reviews are online are fairly mixed. 

 

This is a small indoor CQB site based inside the old Bristol Crown Court. Split over the ground floor and the basement where the holding cells are. This is a very dark building with almost no natural light apart from the stained glass windows. The Courtrooms have been stripped of almost all their features barring some of the original oak/mahogany features. It is a very tight American kill house style CQB area with very few open areas.

 

Good:

 

Unique setting: It is a small building, but playing in an old courthouse with at least 3 hearing rooms as well as holding cells downstairs is pretty unique! Almost the whole building is in play with multiple stairwells up and down. Each Hearing room has been decked out in American Kill house style plywood with elevation. The stairwells are tight and curve downwards. A real Atmosphere here!

 

Shop: A fairly well stocked shop with some pistols and rifles as well as the usual gas and bbs. 

 

Safety Brief: Covered everything in a not-too-long a time. Cant complain about it.

 

Turn around time: I definitely got my moneys worth with a pretty quick turnaround time between games. 

 

Great Value: If you book online you can play from 7 til' 11pm for just £12:50 which is ludicrously cheap. 

 

Game Modes: Games modes were pretty fair, usual push games and domination. 

 

Multiple days a week: The courtrooms are in action EVERY DAY of the week with themes during the week, beginners and mixed days as well as private hire on Saturdays. I do not know of any other site that is open every night.

 

Average: 

 

Marshals: The Marshals were no nonsense and a little terse, but they did follow up on multiple incidences. 

 

Safe Zone(s): Two safe zones which are in the middle of the ground floor. You need to walk through the playing area to get to them. If you need to leave early, you have to wait until a break in games. Tables for everyone, though only a couple of seats available. One of the safe zones are in the main court room. 

 

Parking: None on site, but there are multi storey car parks all around and only a short walk.

 

Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. 340 FPS for any rifle regardless of what it is. None of the guns were tagged however. 

 

Playing Area: Whilst I love the setting of the site, the play area was limited by how close everything was, with very few corridors. Confusion reigns trying to work out who is on what side. I am not sure if there is much more potential in the site due to its listed status.

 

Bad: 

 

Hit taking: Was very poor all night long, lots of complaints and mini arguments. It is very difficult to tell who hit who first. I don't think I cleanly hit anyone without it being a 50:50 all night. A tracer does help a little bit with hit detection. 

 

Food: Apart from sweets and drink sold in the shop, you have to get your food in one of the many establishments. 

 

Clientele: Kept themselves to themselves in the safe zone and there was a lot of ragging and shouting at fellow team mates. 

 

Conclusion: 

 

As usual, I will preface my conclusion stating I am not a fan of CQB. Especially ultra tight CQB.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the courthouse experience. It was the tightest bit of CQB I have every played and I wish it were a bit more open to have a breather! Like most CQB Sites, you get out what you put into it and I gave up having a decent time an hour before the end and left. I left bleeding and bruised and a bit down hearted at the fellow players. The Clientele and the poor hit taking can really put a dampener on a CQB night and this is no exception.

 

I would love to hire out the place with fewer players that I knew personally, as there is a good site in here somewhere as long as you are prepared to get hurt! 

 

If you like ultra tight CQB and can play aggressive and fast then I DO recommend the site, especially considering the good value. If you aren't a CQB player, I would avoid. 

 

Bullpup Watch: Just the Tavor... I think. I cant quite remember!

 

The Diagram below is best guess.