Sw Tour Review: Bristol Black Ops - Portishead (Somerset)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: Bristol Black Ops - Portishead

Contact details: 0117 935 3388

Website Address: https://www.blackopsbristol.co.uk/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Blackopsairsoftbristol

Site Address: Bristol Activity Centre, Down/Coast Road ,Portishead, North Somerset BS20 8JX

 

The last of the three skirmishes in three days on my brief sojourn to the South West. 

 

I attended Black Ops Portishead on 12/09/20 for the Saturday. Located on the edge of the Severn Estuary with stunning views from just outside the safe zone. Despite living in Bristol for most of my life I had never visited Portishead. The site is at the end of a farm track on the extreme outskirts of Portishead (The pedestrian path ends just before the entrance). I couldn't find much in the way of reviews for the Portishead site, though a number of it's sister site at Cribbs Causeway. Talking to the players at this skirmish, it's regarded that the Portishead site is better. 

 

This is a small Woodland/Grassland site. It has three large buildings, rusted out vehicle convoy, an overgrown Cowboy town and a barrel field. The woodland is within a slight valley that gets steeper towards the Cowboy town, getting more overgrown the more downhill you go. The Cowboy town is full of nettles and stinging plants which is a no go for people with shorts or thin trousers. The barrel field is not as badly overgrown. No water features. The same skirmish areas are also used by paintballers. The Bristol Activity centre also has Clay Pigeon shooting and Off-road Karting next to the safe zone. 

 

Short and Medium Engagement distances in play.

 

Good:

 

Playing Area Variety: The woodland is pretty small, but lots of variety. Plenty of elevation, a well built if slightly rundown 3 storey castle and a bridge with two 2 storey buildings either end. A Cowboy village and barrel field. There is a rusty vehicle convoy which was used in a number of games. 

 

Turn around time: Was pretty good like the other Bristol sites. I was knackered by the end of day and had to sit out the last one. 

 

Safe Zone: The safe zone was based in a single enclosed area, the shop, food hut and tiolets were based within the zone. Every table had chairs a bin and undercover. It could do with a lick of paint, but is still perfectly valid. The toilets were a bit dirty, but at least it was porcelain/ceramic. 

 

Game Modes: I liked the objective based games, especially the drug run. The push back game was very hard going. Despite the size of the site, they made good use of what was available. 

 

Saturdays: The Portishead site is currently open on Saturdays which is always a good thing! I believe they also open Sundays on occasion. 

 

Food: A good selection of hot food which you could choose ahead of time as a pre order. Good drink and sweet/crisp choices. A tad expensive for what it was. 

 

Average: 

 

Marshals: A varied performance, one had a lackadaisical approach, the other one seemed to be more in tune with what was going on. I had a particular complaint about a regular who was spoken to. Stepped in when needed.

 

Value: £25 which is about average considering what you get and the size of the site.

 

Parking: Based on Gravel and mud about 50 metres away from the safe zone.

 

Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. 350FPS for AEG and DMRs. 450FPS for Bolt Action Rifles. 

 

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

 

Clientele: In and out of the safe zone, were all very friendly and seemed to be regulars to the site. had nice chats with them throughout the day. Unfortunately one of the more experienced regulars kept bending the rules a little bit to their advantage and had a slap on the wrist. Spoilt the day a little bit. 

 

Hit taking: I had no issues with hit taking throughout the day, however the marshals did bring up poor hit taking in the morning multiple times. There was clearly a problem, but I didn't experience it. 

 

Bad: 

 

Head Shots: I didn't play amazingly well on the day. But I was surprised about how many times I was hit in the head. As in I don't remember being hit anywhere else on my body. Even when out of cover. 

 

Shop: No rifles or Pistols I could see. Some BBs and gas and that was about it. More geared towards paintball.

 

Scope for improvement: As mentioned before, they do a lot in such a compact site, but I do fear that there is little scope for improvement. I did get a bit bored come the end of the day playing over the same areas. 

 

Conclusion: 

 

It was a perfectly fine site, Good for local people, but not worth a long trip for. Its a nice site if you just want to get into the action straight away without walking around too much. Just pretty average overall. My own personal performance was poor, I enjoyed the site in the morning, but my patience and good impression ran down come the end of the day.

 

It was quite low numbers on the day (19 players) which seemed a reasonable amount for the size. 

 

The Castle area and convoy is the main attraction of the site. If some time was spent just tidying up the safe zone, mowing some of the overgrown bits down, then it would have been a slightly better experience. 

 

Bullpup Watch: Plenty! My Tavor and PDRC, An F2000 and 2 P90s.

 

The Diagram below is best guess.