Airsoft Action 05 - Jan 2012 | Page 33

a new FilmSim scenario that involved a number of inter-linked objectives, each set in a different area of the site and each designed around that location. With the 30-odd players arrived and signed in Josh gave everyone a good briefing about how the weekend would play and emphasised that the games were more about tactics, teamwork and timing than expending an industrial amount of BBs. To that end, each man could only carry a maximum of 600 rounds and would have to return to a regen point to resupply. To make things more interesting the regen points were mobile, so if you didn’t keep on top of things you could return to a regen point only to find it on the missing list! Out on the site five areas had been given call-signs and identity codes, two of which were designated targets (although this latter piece of information was not shared with the players). The attacking team’s mission was to discover both the name and ID code for each area, which would then be radioed back to base. Only then would they be told if it was a designated target or not. If it wasn’t, then it was time to move on. If it was then it had to be destroyed with one of the two explosive packages they carried with them. Of course, all this had to be achieved against well dug-in defenders who often had the advantage of elevation or open fields of fire and, to make matters worse, the explosives had four-minute electronic timers that could be stopped at any time. If they left too soon it would only take one defender to make their way back and switch it off. With the defending team SITE REVIEW already out in the field, the attacking side moved off from the LZ to their first objective and it didn’t take long before the BBs were well and truly flying although, with the limit on ammo and a maximum two-second burst on full-auto (a rule introduced to prevent ‘hosing’), fire-fights tended to be very concentrated, accurate affairs. Hits came thick and fast and soon the woodland was filled with cries of “Medic!” and the screams of the wounded and dying (very loud in some cases). Some of you might frown at this ‘vocalisation’ but it added a very interesting dimension to the game and it was useful intel for both sides. With in-game medics and mobile regen points, play tended to ebb and flow as first one then the other team got the upper hand. The first two objectives were overrun but turned out not to be designated targets, and it was only after a very hard-fought battle that the attackers forced their way into the third, the remains of a metal Nissan hut set at the end of a valley. This was a target and they proceeded to blow it up with the first of the explosives. (Note to self: do not take photos of an exploding bomb inside a metal hut – it is very loud!) The second designated target was discovered and blown up shortly afterwards but this was not game over – Josh had put a sting in the tail: the team had to pull off a fighting withdrawal back to the LZ, with no regen allowed. The roles would be reversed in the afternoon and the winners would be the team that managed to get most players out alive. I won’t go into a blow-by-blow account of what happened in the afternoon but there were two things that really stood out to me. The first was something every single player should take note of – the second was just simply awesome to watch! www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 033