Se Tour Review: Invicta Battlefield (Kent)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: Invicta Battlefield

Contact details: 07876 263290

Website Address: www.invictabattlefield.co.uk

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

Site Address: Pook Hill Farm, Wilden Park Road, Staplehurst, Kent, TN12 0HP

 

I'm back!

 

After a brief stint visiting sites I had already reviewed, it was time to go to somewhere different! 

 

The latest site that @Albiscuit and I visited is Invicta Battlefield in Kent (06/12/2020). This site has been on my list of must visits for some time. It has glowing online reviews and a good community surrounding it. Due to its distance and difficulty in reaching the site, it had constantly been sent to the back of the visit queue, until today! The photos that I found of the playing area were few, but showed a large tower and bunker setup which looked very interesting. 

 

This is a small woodland site, which is incredibly undulating on the length of one side and a flattish road on the other. It being winter there was very little foliage around, though the area to the far right and on the Safe Zone side did still have some greenery. The ground was covered in leaves which hid large branches and holes, the ground was quite slippery throughout. There were many buildings through the site. Due to the thickness of the woodland and undulating terrain, sight lines were quite close and as such this is predominantly a short to medium engagement distance type of site, with some notable exceptions. 

 

Good:

 

Playing Area: Invicta has very good variety for a site as small as it is. It has pretty much everything you could want to wish for in terms of natural features. It's tough going, but rewarding if you can sneak around the back of the enemy. There were many buildings including a small valley with a large cabin/bunker building which is overlooked on all sides. Overlooking the bunker on two sides are a Checkpoint area and Bunker section. This area, whilst very tough on people trying to get to the Bunker, is very well executed.

 

The main attraction of "Invicta" is "Invicta", the name given to the large tower and village/barricade complex. This is an imposing structure overlooking a clearing in the woodland. It's a tricky complex to attack, which requires multiple attempts and angles. It's a great selling point to the site and we were slightly disappointed we didn't get to do small team CQB at the end of the day inside it!

 

Shop: Platoon stores run the shop on site and is very well stocked in Tac gear, rifles, pistols, gas and BBs. 

 

Food: As part of the £30 entry, you get a free breakfast, of which there are vegetarian options! Al opted for the Egg in a bun and a cup of tea. For me, not liking egg and not eating pork I was given a hash brown AND they managed to dig up a couple of veggie sausages for me! I had a very hearty breakfast. 

 

Lunch was more typical, with burgers, chips and what not, Al got essentially a box of filth (In a good way) full of food. It was a stomach stretching meal, though it was somewhat expensive. 

 

Safety Brief: Was pretty good and explained everything quite well. People listened, I had no queries or qualms and only a few site regulars interjected with poor jokes. So it's good! 

 

Clientele: Due to social distancing Al and I had an area to ourselves, so not the usual safe zone banter, but we did find some space at lunch to have a distanced natter. Lots of regulars who were on first name basis with the marshals. Its a real good community feel. We had roughly 30-35 players today, which apparently is quite a poor turn out. I heard very little to no moaning throughout the day. (Apart from Al and I!)

 

Safe Zone: The area was quite compact much like the site itself, it was right next the car park, the shop, marshall area, chrono station and set up areas were within a few seconds walk of each other. All of the set up areas had a roof, some had lights for when it got dark. It was almost full, so I think on a normal days turnout it would be overrun, so a possible expansion should be considered. 

 

Marshalling: SO MANY MARSHALS. it might have been the reduced player numbers, but there were marshals everywhere you looked! Loads in the safezone, at 4 in the field. They were professional, pushed the teams they were shadowing and dealt with any issues.

 

Average: 

 

 

Game Modes: Were fairly basic, mostly defend and attack games throughout the day. It worked quite well and probably takes the small size of the site into account, however it would have been nice to see some fall back games, maybe an escort mission etc. 

 

Value: £30 with Breakfast. Maybe slightly more expensive then average for the size of the site.

 

Chrono: A mandatory chrono was in play. Guns were NOT marked, but the FPS was noted against your registration number. I would prefer the guns to marked as anyone could switch out during the day without being noticed. AEGs 350fps, DMRs 450fps, Bolties 500fps and a 25 metre engagement distance was in play for the latter two. 

 

Turn around time: Was reasonable. 5 minute warnings to go back out turned into 10 minute warnings. About average. We didnt feel cheated out of our time.

 

Hit taking: There were some issues with hit taking during the day. There was one particular player at the end of the day in the CQB mini games that seemed to be made of teflon and he had to be told multiple times by marshals that he had been shot out (Tracers for the win!). BUT it really was not that bad from the vast majority of players. So putting this in "average". 

 

Car Park/Entrance: Quite muddy and a tight turn on the driveway up to the safezone. Reasonable sized Car park. 

 

Bad: 

 

Toilets: A single portaloo that I saw. Really needs more then one. I cant comment on the cleanliness as I didn't use it.

 

Conclusion: 

 

We came away from the day with slightly different experiences. I had quite a niggling day in terms of equipment and personal performance so I was feeling a little downhearted, but could definitely see the site was pretty good. @Albiscuit himself was very very pleased with what he saw and had a whale of a time. I had the most fun defending the checkpoint and the CQB centric games. 

 

So in conclusion. I was expecting a far larger site going by what I was hearing from other players and photos online, but It's a compact site that fills a lot in, it's hard going in the mud so you get a workout and the buildings are very good. I reckon it would be worthwhile returning to the site in the summer to see how the woodlands bloom!

 

Bullpup Watch: Only my PDR-C and F2000 😕 

 

 

[Albiscuit]

Cannot add anything other than I wish it was closer, and a little cheaper and there were two portaloos   

[Asomodai]

6 minutes ago, Albiscuit said:

I wish it was closer

Aye'. This happens all too often! We've visited some great sites this year. All a little bit too far for regular visits!

[SheriffHD]

19 hours ago, Asomodai said:

Aye'. This happens all too often! We've visited some great sites this year. All a little bit too far for regular visits!

it seems every site thats worth playing is at least an hours drive for me. wish I had a site like this on my door step.

[Rabspat41]

This site is on my doorstep which is why it will be my first time site. Thank you for the in depth review it really helped.