They asked me to marshal

[Herrgh]

My beloved long time airsoft site must have been well impressed by that sick flank I did (by accident cos I got lost) on Sunday, because they pulled me over and asked if I would be interested in becoming a marshal. I was incredibly flattered.

 

I am seriously considering taking them up on the offer, but I'm nervous that any initial keenness on my part will wane, and I'll end up letting them down by not being available more and more until I disappear for good (out of laziness or whatever).

 

Putting that to one side, however, I'd love to hear the forum's take on what makes a good marshal. I don't think the topic of marshalling as a concept in it's own right comes up very often. Any tips, advice, pleasant tales or horror stories, let me have them.

 

Is it spelt with one "L" or two?

[Colin Allen]

I marshalled at two sites over a few years; it nearly put me off airsoft so I went back to playing.

[Nick G]

I've done it a few times and run some themed days. Marshalls deserve a bloody medal ! 

 

As a group airsofters have the attention span and memory retention of an average 1 year old , and organising them is like hearding cats.

 

Playing is much more fun 

[Tommikka]

I have marshalled to a degree.

I wouldn’t fancy being a site marshal - dealing with the weekends players who might be regulars, might be a one off etc

 

A good marshal can make a game, when it’s a marshal running a rental game it works well to have one on each side who knows how to motivate different types of players in different types of games, putting in a bit of competitiveness up against their opposing marshal

 

I do like to run an experience, and to run an event.  Putting players through their paces.

The core events that we have run were born in the era of events run by players for players. I went to other peoples events, aspiring to do the same, and ‘knowing’ what I/we could do better.

The scary moment was the day before our first event once the site owner had relented to give us his site for the day and all the other teams supported us and booked in.

 

We ran our first games in collaboration, and prefer to do that.  True marshalling conducted by site staff, and ‘game management’ marshalling by us. 

A marshals role is to do 3 things

1) Keep everyone safe

2) Deal with an emergency 

3) Ensure players have a good experience 

Checking for hits is somewhere in there

 

1) Has to happen all of the time 

2) Has to happen when needed, ideally minimised by (1)

3) Should appear to be the active thing being done 

 

For our collaborative events site marshals ought to be focused on 1 & 2 and our game marshals doing 3 whilst having an eye on 1 & 2

We would direct missions, depending on event take part as characters, and make the game/rule decisions 

Site marshals giving a safety overwatch, calling out a hit that’s not been taken, look out for players not behaving

Though a marshal shouldn’t be in the way, and shouldn’t be standing in hi vis staring at a ghillie sniper in a bush, they should be ready to walk straight into the line of fire to pull someone out of a game or in a worst case scenario getting their body physically in the way whilst setting the alarm to stop play.

 

Even with just occasional marshalling / running it can take away actually playing - partially in a good way when having more fun watching people try and play the mission you came up with (and how they interpret it) but also at risk of taking away the fun of getting out and shooting people

 

You could find that you thrive in marshalling, it gets you in the game, as close to the action as you like and you don’t have to keep walking out to respawn on elimination 

[Tackle]

I've marshalled previously, well player marshalled to be precise, essentially the site "owner", who managed a number of locations at the time, was also a member of the team I played with, & as a team we prided ourselves on honesty & fair play, so if ever any of us attended his sites, it wasn't unusual to be asked to bolster the staff numbers.

Being a player Marshall was a good compromise, I got to play for nothing, but also did my best to ensure everybody got the kind of gameplay they were entitled to, which is essentially what we all want isnt it ?.

Dunno if I'd want to do a dedicated hi viz Marshall , i enjoy playing too much.

[Colin Allen]

As for what a marshal is supposed to do, my take is:

1. As much as is possible, ensure safety.
2. As much as is possible, ensure that everyone has a good time.
3. As much as is possible, ensure that everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.
4. As much as is possible, ensure that everyone knows the rules and follows them.
5. Deal with situations that arise in a calm and effective manner.
6. Remember that players are customers.

The biggest challenge that I found as a marshal was that some players are absolute dickheads.

[Egon_247]

I marshalled a few times, i think as i was quite sensible and had my head screwed on.

You need to know the site very well, as you'll get the same question about 90 times "where's respawn?"

Agree with the memory and attention span thing, yup, the game brief was for them to be listening, not looking at daves new NGRS/HPA whatever.

You need to be able to have a laugh too. Dont get too chummy with the regulars, that can be seen as favouritism and be prepared to get shot. A LOT....  

Hi-viz=easy target!!  

Have the confidence to talk on a radio. Some people are shit scared of them.

 

If you can get people to enjoy it, whilst not being bell ends (and we've had a few super special ones at my usual site--the guy who wasnt hit calling turning his M4 into a cricket bat and swinging at a 12 year old kid--was kinda the pinnacle of knobheadism, if you can keep your cool then you'll love it.

Its certainly a different angle to the usual playday. 

Enjoy it if you do it. Its a laugh. 

[Rogerborg]

I'd ponder on whether you're being invited to do something that's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the thing that you enjoy being good at.

 

[Herrgh]

1 hour ago, Rogerborg said:

I'd ponder on whether you're being invited to do something that's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the thing that you enjoy being good at.

 

 

That was just a little joke at my own expense.

 

I like the site and the people who run it.

[Skullchewer]

I would expect (hope) that you were asked because, as you've been playing there a long time, they have had the opportunity to experience your temperament and disposition, and feel you have the right kind of personality to be a marshal, and unless the site is a shitshow (playing there for a long time suggests its not), then that's a compliment. 

 

As well as being able to watch over the players in terms of safety, cheating etc,  a very important part of being a good marshal is being able to deal with people. 

You need a level head and a calm manner. 

You need to be able to confront people, in a professional, civil way. Not aggressively, but firmly. 

You need to be able to deal with an angry, or upset, or simply over excited players confronting you about something they feel passionate about. 

 

We've all seen the angry dickhead marshals.

The marshals that seem dismissive or uninterested.

They escalate situations, and reflect very poorly on the site they work at. 

A marshal shouldn't be shouting at players, unless the player in question is about to do something stupid and/or dangerous. 

 

How would you deal with a player reporting another player for non hit taking?

Or those two players getting in each others faces?

How are you with emergencies? Say someone has sustained a nasty injury, are you calm in those situations? How do you feel about the sight of blood?

 

Can you stay attentive to the game day when you're not playing? Or are you going to sit on a log looking at your phone, or chatting to a pretty girl?

 

And while not a neccesity for a marshal, to me a great marshal is one that interacts with the players as a team.

Can you remain enthusiastic and encouraging for the players all day?

You've been assigned the red team for a skirmish day, and they are losing every game so far. Could you rouse them up? 

 

I work at an Airsoft site, and before that I was a volunteer marshal at the same site, and we still have a lot of volunteer marshals. 

They don't all encompass all of the qualities above, but they have at least the important parts. 

All of them still play. Some play roughly every other weekend, using the marshaling day to accrue a free game day, while others play a lot less often. 

The less often ones, however, are loooong time airsoft players, and they still enjoy the hobby but feel the need to play less. 

 

I play less these days, but when I do I'm a better player for the marshaling experience, and I appreciate my play time more.

 

I really enjoy marshaling, I'm glad I started. Mind you, I'm a bit weird 😁

 

Try it, see how you like it. You say you love the site, this gives you an opportunity to pay back the fun you've had and possibly even make suggestions for improvements. 

But one piece of advice; don't let it go to your head. You're just a guy herding toy soldiers.

And if you don't have your high viz on you're just a guy. 

There was a guy at a different site we went to play at the other week, who was shooting medic state players on our team. When questioned about it the conversation lead to an angry "I'm a marshal!"

Get in the fucking sea, ya prick.

 

Have fun!

19 hours ago, Nick G said:

As a group airsofters have the attention span and memory retention of an average 1 year old , and organising them is like hearding cats.

All the replies here have good points, but this one is worth highlighting 😉

 

Airsofters leave their brains at home when they pack their kit for a game day. 

You WILL have to deal with absolute mongs, macho dickheads and all kinds of stupid questions (oh god, the ones that think they're funny....).

You need a lot of patience.

[Skullchewer]

This reminds me of a chat myself and other marshals had about dumb responses to asking players what weight bb they're running at chrono, the best one being:

 

Player steps up to chrono

Marshal: "What weight?"

Player: "Ummm"

Player hefts RIF

Player: "About 4 kg?"

[Fatboy40]

2 hours ago, Skullchewer said:

You WILL have to deal with...  macho dickheads

 

The worst one for me, just because a marshal questions your hit taking you don't have to chest bump them and ask them to come out to the car park 🙄

[Colin Allen]

14 minutes ago, Fatboy40 said:

 

The worst one for me, just because a marshal questions your hit taking you don't have to chest bump them and ask them to come out to the car park 🙄

You do if your shoe size is higher than your IQ.

[Rory]

I marshalled at SPC in Shotts and then managed/ran the Wargames Centre in Ayrshire for 4 years for the owner.  It’s not easy, you try to be fair, make sure the game brief is understood, make sure everyone is safe and deal with real issues, and as long as the marshal team pay attention (not staring at phones), everything else is really up to the players. 
You’ll never please all of the people all of the time. Some folk thing they are Jonny Concrete with laser shots, others can start the quiet rumours that someone isn’t taking hits, then it spreads like the flu and you need to get right into the skirmish, which hurts, to ensure everyone is playing fair. It did sour my view of some players, but also there are many moments where your faith in humanity is restored..to a degree 😂, when you get a genuine ouchy or safety issue or just congratulations for great shooting or gamesmanship. 

There’s generally many more good guys than dickheads, and you just need to keep a level head. 

[Skullchewer]

12 hours ago, Rory said:

others can start the quiet rumours that someone isn’t taking hits, then it spreads like the flu

 

Ain't that the truth. 

One guy gripes to a friend about someone he's absolutely sure he hit, his friend gripes to someone else, and suddenly there's a witch hunt. 

And 9 times out of 10 the player in question IS calling hits, it's just the griping player doesn't understand that he's not shooting lasers.

[Rogerborg]

I like to act as a firebreak for those by saying "It's airsoft, he's probably saying the same about you."

[Colin Allen]

On one occasion, one of the other marshals was playing for the day and, armed with my MP5K, was prone on a track that led along one side of half of the site.  He was picking off opposing players on the track who were certain that they were hitting him.  I walked up to where he was and observed that their BBs were falling about 4m short of his position.  I shouted to them confirming that they were not hitting him.  They stated that they must be, so I called a ceasefire in that area, told one of them to go and stand next to him and then told the rest to try to shoot him.  That finally convinced them that they were not ranging him.

 

They had the grace to apologise.

[Skullchewer]

Player: "I was shooting that guy behind that bush!!"

Me: "Which bush?"

Player: "There!" *pointing at thick foliage about 30 metres away*

Me: *deep sigh* "What weight BBs are you using?"

Player: ".2s, why?"

Me: *internal even deeper sigh* "Okay, so......"

[Colin Allen]

48 minutes ago, Skullchewer said:

Player: "I was shooting that guy behind that bush!!"

Me: "Which bush?"

Player: "There!" *pointing at thick foliage about 30 metres away*

Me: *deep sigh* "What weight BBs are you using?"

Player: ".2s, why?"

Me: *internal even deeper sigh* "Okay, so......"

I seem to have those conversations with other players far too often.😟

[Herrgh]

On 26/06/2024 at 16:42, Skullchewer said:

I would expect (hope) that you were asked because, as you've been playing there a long time, they have had the opportunity to experience your temperament and disposition, and feel you have the right kind of personality to be a marshal, and unless the site is a shitshow (playing there for a long time suggests its not), then that's a compliment. 

 

This was pretty much what they said.

 

Thanks for the advice, this is really what I was after. Top tier post. Going to hopefully try it out next Sunday, see if I fit in and fit the job. If it's a no, it's no loss, I'll just happily keep playing.

[Cannonfodder]

I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here.

 

What are they offering for your time? If nothing then I'd say no as you'd be giving them free labour while missing out on playing time. Also beware that once every so often doesn't slowly turn into every weekend 

[Herrgh]

2 hours ago, Cannonfodder said:

I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here.

 

What are they offering for your time?

 

I'm paid for my time, plus I don't pay to play (one day marshalling = one free game day if I understand correctly), and invites to private events.

[Cannonfodder]

24 minutes ago, Herrgh said:

 

I'm paid for my time, plus I don't pay to play (one day marshalling = one free game day if I understand correctly), and invites to private events.

Good to hear. Unfortunately I've seen it happen before where people have started off just helping out and soon ended up basically running the site while the owner sat around doing fuck all

[Rogerborg]

16 hours ago, Cannonfodder said:

the owner sat around doing fuck all

 

I like to think of it as "holding court".