Airsoft Action 05 - Jan 2012 | Page 70

“Calling for cover fire I surged forward, only to misjudge the terrain and go thigh deep into boggy mud. I was trapped as the first salvo of BBs ripped through the reeds” a good way to their respawn area. With the device found the Reds had to hold the area for just five minutes while the engineer disarmed the bomb. They had the numbers in position to make sure there could only be one outcome – a Red win. Lunch provided an opportunity to throng around FAO’s mobile shop and top up on essential (and non-essentialbut -sod-it-I’m-having-it) purchases. The afternoon games started with what should have been an exercise 070 January 2012 in close protection; a visiting General had to be escorted around various bases without being captured. I say that it should have been an exercise in CP because before we’d even had a chance to plan the route we could see the enemy moving through the forestry blocks towards us. A group tried to get our Winchester-wielding General (can you guess who it is yet?) away to the first base as the rest tried to counter attack the aggressors. I was part of a small group of four of that quickly developed into a fire team and provided an aggressive skirmishing forward movement. We reached the edge of a boggy part of the site and I thought I could get down behind the reeds and flank the attackers. Calling for cover fire I surged forward, only to misjudge the terrain and go thigh deep into boggy mud. I was trapped as the first salvo of BBs ripped through the reeds. Although I was hit and shouted it I couldn’t stand up and was consequently raked again. I think the enemy got the message and probably had a good laugh as I tried to extricate myself from the ooze – nice. The dignitary was captured and escaped a couple of times during the game, but the Blue forces held him for more time than we had protected him so it was their game. Our last game involved the enemy trying to locate three packages that had been hidden on our side of a stream that runs roughly across the middle of the site. The enemy were tasked with locating and recovering them. Although this was a reasonably hard task for the enemy they did have the advantage of the high ground. This was a real opportunity for the sneaky-beaky player to cross the stream at the non-obvious spots that were more lightly defended. We had a number of long range (50-60yd) exchanges with shadowy figures on the high ground, while at the flanks there was a pretty constant engagement punctuated with the sound of flash bang and grenades. The game was really close as the light started to fade and the marshals decided on a one-hit-and-out rule for the defenders. With this in place our team was depleted in drips and drabs as players trooped back to the Safe Zone when hit. Fortunately there were enough of us to ensure that the attackers couldn’t cross with enough numbers to begin a search. As End-Ex was called they had crossed the stream but not located the elusive packages, so our Red team had its payback. As everyone trooped back to their cars in the twilight the air was heavy with frozen breath and the sounds of satisfaction echoing up and down the lane. The day had been extremely well run; good tactical game-play, rolling scenarios and a great location all paid off. If this is what you can expect from all First and Only sites then I look forward to trying their other sites in the future. ■ FIRST AND ONLY AIRSOFT Manchester Woodland Site, Longworth Road, Egerton, Bolton, BL7 9TS Site type: Woodland Non-members: £25 Members: £20 Rifle hire: starts from £15 Contact: John, 07862 288359 / Jamie, 07786 075129 www.firstandonlyevents.co.uk