Ace Combat - Paddock Wood, Kent

[Dentonboy]

Last weekend was my first opportunity to skirmish this year.

 

Truth be told, I had lost an awful amount of desire to skirmish after bills kept rising, AEGs kept breaking and magazines kept leaking!

 

I scrambled together some kit that I knew was working: TM M4A1 MWS, TM M9A1 and TM L96 (a recent purchase and my first spring sniper rifle) as well as my tried and trusted Ranger Green kit.

 

Ace Combat has changed since I last played there, which was probably 2019. Ah, those pre- pandemic days...

 

The car park, safe zone and check-in areas have all changed location and it is now a long slog to haul kit to the safezone (located between field 1 and field 2). This slog was made even more tedious when my bag's zip failed and sent a lot of the contents into the mud. I was very close, dear reader, to turning around and going home!

 

I made it to the much improved safe zone and was glad to see the same Ace faces as were there years ago. The covered safezone now has ample room for everyone and there was a 3rd party shop selling the usual onsite-found range of entry to mid tier airsoft products at what looked like reasonable prices.

 

My main issue with Ace has always been the standing around and waiting between the action and is was still a factor that hasn't been improved upon, sadly. Another aspect that affected the day was the loss of using the open part of field 1. This, plus the relocated safezone has cut by about 1/3 the available space to play in, on an already compact site when compared to Battle Lakes and Dog Tag. 

 

The games were suitably Halloween themed and ran well. I don't think I heard a single accusation of 'Teflon armour' during the whole day and the atmosphere was fun and pretty chilled.

 

My MWS combined with a RS ACOG was almost like a cheat code. I ran .32s and probably scored the most 'kills' that day with it that I've ever done. The M9A1 also scored some hits and my lighter kit was as comfy as it has ever been. Rocking out an old school Adventure Tech Goretex jacket in night camo/DCU is something I've not done in airsoft for about 15 years! I didn't get to debut the L96 though, which was a shame.

 

The new CQB area in the woods by field 1 is a nice addition and overall it was a good day that left me and my two buddies wanting more out of airsoft for the first time in a long time.

 

It probably won't be at Ace again - for a while at least - as the usable site now is just so small compared to what it was. This is a real shame and for me represents a loss to the local airsoft scene. I hope that field 1 can be re-incorporated into usable space, but it didn't look promising. 

 

Thank you Ace for rekindling a dormant flame.

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Dentonboy

[Tackle]

Thanks for the review, the sites not too far from me but already I'm put off by the idea of a long slog from car park to safezone, that's kinda on me due to health stuff, but at the same time I have to question why this seems to be a "feature" at many sites, slogging through mud etc with ALL your kit isn't a great start or end of a day, & also rules out the option of working from a secure vehicle if your not entirely satisfied with the security of your very expensive kit left in the safezone area. 

[Dentonboy]

They were offering a kit shuttle service but it wasn't clear how it worked tbh.

 

Whereabouts are you Sir?

[Colin Allen]

Welcome back to playing.

When you say that the open part of field one has been lost, do you mean the part to the right (as you walk out onto the site) of the track or the area between the track and the woods?

Where have they moved the car park to?

[Dentonboy]

The main open field to the left of the track as you walk into the playable area. So north of the containers until the wood line. The car park is now in a field opposite where the old car park was. It is bigger though.

[Tackle]

48 minutes ago, Dentonboy said:

They were offering a kit shuttle service but it wasn't clear how it worked tbh.

 

Whereabouts are you Sir?

I'm down in greatstone/new Romney, whereabouts are you located ? 

[Dentonboy]

Uckfield way.

[Tackle]

31 minutes ago, Dentonboy said:

Uckfield way.

I know it, had a dog from the Kit Wilson Trust 🐕😁

[Colin Allen]

On 06/11/2022 at 12:29, Dentonboy said:

The main open field to the left of the track as you walk into the playable area. So north of the containers until the wood line. The car park is now in a field opposite where the old car park was. It is bigger though.

Blimey, that really is a reduction in size; I have rather fond memories of setting off rather large pyro charges in that area.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Colin Allen