“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