Issue 30 - Xmas 2013

THE Airsoft Magazine

AIRSOFT ACTION

WIN

WO ONE OF T IFLES R X UMARE WORTH

£300

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O-TONES W T X E R A g UM L RIFLE L A B P & G g K 1911 W A H T H G I g RWL N

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WWII AIRSOFT AT FIREBALL SQUADRON

HOW TO GIVE YOUR RIF THAT RUGGED, BATTLE-WORN LOOK

DEBATE: LOADOUT ETHICS | COLD WAR WARRIOR: KOREA | WINTER SURVIVAL | SNIPER SKILLS AA_001_Cover_Rev2_MH.indd 1

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WORKSHOP: AGEING YOUR RIF

CHRISTMAS 2013 - £4.50

CHRISTMAS 2013

THE LATEST GAME IN GUNMAN’S COLD WAR SAGA

THE ROAD TO AVELLINO

9 772047 348032

OPERATION HOCKWERK

HOOTING

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E SHARP-S H T N O T R O P E R WE MENT PISTOL TOURNA

11/11/2013 12:23

52 Editor: Nigel Streeter Assistant editor: Mike Hine Graphic design: Steve Dawson Ad design: Matt Smith, Katherine McArdle Advertising: Hannah Benson Operations director: James Folkard Assistant publisher: Ruth Burgess Publisher: Wesley Stanton Cover Photograph: H Photography

(Please note: The cover photo was taken under controlled conditions. Always ensure you wear the correct eye protection when playing airsoft.)

Full UK 12-issue subscription rate: £66 For overseas prices visit: www.airsoftactionmagazine.com

Lawrence House, Morrell Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 5SZ Tel: 01926 339808 Fax: 01926 470400 W: www.blazepublishing.co.uk © Blaze Publishing Limited, 2013 Distribution: Distributed to the newstrade

by Comag Magazine Marketing, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE T: 01895 433 800 Copyright © Blaze Publishing Limited 2013. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the publishers in writing. The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions prior to print.

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Letter, idea or question?

Got something to say? A question for our experts? An article, or article idea? Drop us a line and let us know. Either email the editor (nigels@blazepublishing.co.uk), send us a letter at the Blaze Publishing address above – or talk to us on Twitter or Facebook.

I

t doesn’t seem like four weeks since I sat down to write last issue’s leader (which is what this bit of

the mag is called); so much has happened since then. First of all, if you don’t already know, Airsoft Action has a new owner – me! Just like Victor Kiam (ask your dad if you don’t who he was), I liked the magazine so much I bought it.

I am really chuffed that Gareth ‘Gadge’ Harvey has agreed to be my assistant editor and we are looking forward to taking Airsoft Action to even greater heights. We’ve got some big plans for 2014, which we’ll let you know about just as soon as they get finalised.

In the last leader I talked about a real old-school hero, Sokonaia Takavesi, and earlier this month I had the great pleasure to meet a later generation hero from the same mould, in the form of Mr Andy McNab. Andy got together with the guys at Johnsons of Leeds to create an airsoft weapon that he is happy to put his name to. I know some might say it’s ‘just another M4 derivative’, but that is missing the point. The point is that when someone as well known and in the public eye as Andy McNab takes an interest in our game, you had better believe that airsoft is on a roll!

Okay, here are some dates for your diary: 14, 15 and 16 February. This is when the next British Airsoft Show takes place at Stoneleigh Park, in Warwickshire and, of course we will be there. This year’s show was a huge success and next year’s looks as though it is going to be even bigger and better, so make sure you get your tickets sorted in plenty of time.

Hope to see you there.

Nige

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11/11/2013 16:54

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

AIRSOFT ACTION – CHRISTMAS 2013

54

DECEMBER 2013

6

AIRSOFT NEWS

8

READERS’ GALLERY

The latest developments in the airsoft world Cool photos taken by Airsoft Action readers

12 RIFLE: G&P BALL

New M4 offering from the Hong Kong brand reviewed

16 SITE: CERBERUS, THE WORKS

Our verdict on the latest addition to Cerberus’ UK sites

20 RIFLES: UMAREX H&K UMP AND G36C We put this pair of two-tone AEGs to the test

25 SKILLS ROOM: COLD WEATHER OPERATIONS Top survival tips for fieldwork in cold climes

29 COLD WAR WARRIOR: BRITISH INFANTRY, KOREA, WINTER 1951

The loadout of the British Infantryman of the Korean War

32 EVENT: THE ROAD TO AVELLINO

Frontline reports from Fireball Squadron’s WWII game

36 CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

Stocking filler and present ideas on the AA team’s Christmas list

43 BIG BOYZ TOYZ: DH MOSQUITO

Part two of our history of the famous aircraft

47 KIT BAG: LEG RIGS

We look at a trio of leg rigs on the market

50 COMPETITION: UMAREX RIFLES

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Win one of two Umarex rifles worth a combined £300

52 KIT REVIEW: BLANK-FIRING GRENADES

We test out a pair of blank-firing grenades from SWAT Training Devices

54 EVENT: PRACTICAL AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIP The editor reports back from the first Airsoft Surgeon Practical Pistol Championship, held at the Grange

60 STUDENT ‘SOFT: BANGOR AIRSOFT SOCIETY

We throw the spotlight on an ace university airsoft club

62 WORKSHOP: AGEING YOUR RIF

How to give your RIF that ragged, field-worn look

66 SKILLS ROOM: URBAN SNIPING Tips for airsoft snipers in FIBUA games

68 SUBSCRIBE

Get AA delivered direct to your door

69 PISTOL: RWL NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM 1911

We test this 1911 replica, produced under licence by RedWolf Airsoft

72 BOOK SHOP

Find a good book to read over Christmas

75 DEBATE: AIRSOFT ETHICS

The pros and cons of controversial loadouts

76 SKILLS ROOM: POINT SHOOTING

It’s back to basics, as we look at point shooting

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80 EVENT: OPERATION HOCKWERK Cold War airsoft on a massive scale

85 BOOK REVIEW: LONE SURVIVOR

Our verdict on this Navy SEALs autobiography

86 SITE DIRECTORY

Find somewhere to be this weekend

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11/11/2013 16:54

AIRSOFT NEWS ANDY MCNAB LAUNCHES NEW AEG SAS hero and best-selling author of Bravo Two Zero, Andy McNab has launched his first airsoft weapon – a limited edition, signature M4 called the AM22. Working with Johnsons of Leeds and Leeds Airsoft, Andy has created an airsoft weapon that he is proud to put his name to – so proud that his signature is etched on the outside of the magwell.

“When the guys first showed me an airsoft rifle I was very surprised at the level of realism,” McNab told Airsoft Action in a recent interview. “The whole look and feel was very close to the type of thing I used to use and we decided to see if we could create a gun that I would be happy to call my own.”

The AM22 is a close collaboration between Johnsons of Leeds and VFC in Taiwan, who produced a series of weapons as the guys worked towards getting it “just right.”

G&G WORLD CUP

G&G are running a CQB target-shooting competition, with qualification rounds currently on-going prior to their 2014 World Cup. At the time of press, G&G has just announced details of the final pre-competition round, held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with prize money of $1,000USD on offer.

The target-shooting competitions take the form of a timed ‘killhouse’ where individuals or teams must move through and eliminate all of the G&G MET electronic targets set up. The success of this South-East Asian competition, and the prize money on offer, is certainly impressive to see, and we’ll be watching with interest to see whether the format makes it over to Europe. Visit www.guay2.com for more information.

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Stuart Johnson told us: “This is our first move into producing an AEG and we wanted to make sure it was the best it could be. Andy’s involvement has meant we can be sure the detail, look, overall weight, and balance are all spot on. Having someone like Andy on the team has kept the project moving and we are immensely proud to be associated with someone of his calibre.”

At the time of writing, the first delivery is due to arrive towards the end of November, and the AM22 is expected to retail for under £500. Airsoft Action will be reviewing the AM22 in the next issue, and watch out for details of an awesome competition with questions set by Mr McNab himself!

For more information, contact Johnsons of Leeds on 0113 277 5237, or visit their website: www.johnsonsofleeds.co.uk

NEWS THE LATEST AIRSOFT HEADLINES

THE AIRBASE OPENS London-based Firefight Combat Simulations (FCS) has opened a new airsoft site in association with Total Team Solutions. The new site is called The Airbase, and is set on over 1,000 acres of mixed woodland with numerous building compounds, including a British Army-style FOB, a two-storey ‘killhouse’, and a large FIBUA compound.

The Airbase’s ops centre is kitted out with offices, a rec-room/canteen, and overnight accommodation for up to 40 people. There are mini-buses on site to taxi players around, and plans are currently in motion for FCS to introduce 4x4 vehicles and ‘fast attack vehicles’ for rapidly inserting teams into the field during play.

The next event is planned for the weekend spanning 30 November to 1 December.

For more information, visit www.firefight.co.uk

WAR AND PEACE PEVIVAL RETURNS Dates have been set for the 2014 instalment of the War and Peace Revival, which will be held from Wednesday 16 to Sunday 20 July 2014. The show will return to its 2013 venue, RAF Westenhanger, at Folkestone Racecourse in Kent. The show is the world’s largest expo of military vehicles, and also features re-enactments, living history, vintage entertainment, shopping and a fun fair. For more information, visit www.thewarandpeacerevival.co.uk

WE HAVE A WINNER Congratulations to Matt Burns of Basildon who has been selected as the winner of the competition prize from our November issue – an ASG M15A4 worth £150. This issue, the folks from Armex have kindly agreed to let us give away two Umarex two-tone rifles from their Sportsline range – a UMP and G36C – worth a combined £300. To be in with a chance to win one, turn to page 50.

NEWS

The end of the year is nearly upon us, so I can only assume you’re all compiling a list a mile long of airsoft goodies you’d like to find in your pile of Christmas presents, or maybe putting money aside for some of the new releases due out in 2014. Either way, don’t forget to get out there and play even though the weather has gone decidedly chilly and wet of late!

At UKAPU we are gearing up for our AGM at the beginning of December, and as such this will be my last column as chairman, for I am stepping down after a rather interesting 12 months. There have been high points and lows and a steady increase in members. I didn’t achieve all I wanted to, but I have had a blast doing it and met some fantastic people along the way.

I’m afraid you’re not free of me, though, because although I won’t be chairman any longer, I have put myself up for election as press officer, so if I am elected then I will still be writing here – and on our social media outlets and website.

Remember that you too can get involved in UKAPU and help to shape the future of UK airsoft, even at a regional level to help bring together local teams and players. We are always on the lookout for fresh faces to come on board throughout the year so that we can increase our attendance at different events across the country and also garner feedback from different groups of players on how they would like UKAPU to represent them best.

Take a moment to visit our website at www.ukapu.org.uk to find out more, or to join if you haven’t already.

Phil Bucknall Chairman, UKAPU www.ukapu.org.uk

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READERS’ GALLERY SEND YOUR PICS TO NIGELS@BLAZEPUBLISHING.CO.UK

READERS’ GALLERY

AIRSOFT ACTION READERS SEND IN THEIR PERSONAL SNAPSHOTS FROM SKIRMISHES ACROSS THE UK AND FURTHER AFIELD… Sam Hains at EAG Badlands Skirmish

Taskforce E16 at UCA P’s Sandpit, s ent in

by Lewis P earce

with his Phil Crate , excelling e i l l i h g e d homema er role in the snip

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A player em erges from the heat of battle at Reforger Airsoft.

Sent in by Joao Rafael

READERS’ GALLERY SEND YOUR PICS TO NIGELS@BLAZEPUBLISHING.CO.UK

First & Kris Kennedy at Glasgow Only: The Depot,

Michael Round moves stealthily through a woodland site

Davin Bradley in action at EAG Badlands

Kevin Crowl sent in thes e shots from S urvival Airs oft

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WRECKI N G BALL AFTER THE FALL OF MAGPUL PTS COMES THE G&P BALL – A NEW M4 FROM THE HONG KONG BRAND. SCOTT ALLAN FINDS OUT WHETHER IT’S A WORTHY ADDITION TO THEIR RANGE

T

SCOTT ALLAN

Scott has worked in airsoft retail for many years – and played airsoft long before that. He likes big, heavy guns, loud explosions and MilSim games in particular

he new G&P Ball Rifle or GP-AEG065 is one of the first G&P rifles we have seen since the untimely demise of the Magpul PTS range. G&P have persisted, seeking new inspiration with the Ball Rifle.

G&P are based out in Hong Kong, and while their background is firmly set in the M4 market, they do make some outrageously lovely M249s and MK23 Stoner rifles, too. Several years ago they only made extras to enhance the Tokyo Marui replicas, but in more recent years they have begun to offer complete packages. As we reach the end of 2013 we have seen a large number of their M870 shotguns, which are stunning but still only a single-shot item. So the M4 end has become a little dull unfortunately.

Why is this called a Ball Rifle? Really I have no idea, although it did amuse me, which is important. The best thing about it really is the price. I decided to have a look at the black and the sand versions – so with both Balls in hand I got to work (Careful, now! – Ed).

REAL STEEL M4s are like MPs: they are everywhere, and while they are necessary you’d rather not have them. You can tart it up with a variety of bling but at the end of the day it is still an M4. M4 really is just a generic term these days for the 5.56mm platform

012 Christmas 2013

that is readily available for the entire worldwide market. Manufacturers such as Colt, Stag Arms, Stoner, Mega Arms, Heckler & Koch and Armalite are all M4 producers in one form or another. Most essentially play around the same design with a few tweaks or material changes.

The operation of the rifle remains the same pretty much from the first issued versions back in the 1960s.

That is an impressive achievement only rivalled by the ‘more common than rats’ AK-47. The 5.56mm NATO round is still the favourite round issued to Western troops from SWAT teams to Afghanistan. Its lightweight design means troops can carry sufficient ammunition without weighing themselves down too much, and its limited penetration power means you should only be damaging the target that you aim at, which is beneficial when there are civilians mixed in with your targets.

There are often claims that the 5.56mm round is not heavy enough and this is why we also see a 7.62mm version of the M4 platform: the SR25, HK 417 and British Army L129 rifle made by Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT).

THE REPLICA G&P always make a great-looking, full metal rifle and this version is no

THE ARMOURY G&P BALL RIFLE

“An 11.1V LiPo battery in a G&P gives a frightening rate of fire and a quick trigger response”

exception. A Knight URX-style front rail makes sure your front end is rock solid.

I would have preferred the dedicated A-sight to be a flip up type to match the rear sight, as this keeps it out of the way with optics. The Seal Team 6 metal body looks nice with clear, crisp markings. The front rail comes with three rubberised rail covers which look Knights-inspired with the texture, and feel good to grip – certainly a nice change from the standard rail coverings we’ve seen in recent years.

But what about the important stuff?

G&P always make a high-end rifle, but what really gets the blood pumping is the M120 high-speed motors that are fitted

lM4s are never going to set the world alight – but this offering from G&P does tick a lot of boxes jThe Ball Rifle has a full metal construction, including a Knight URX-style front rail

as standard. G&P are by far the fastest out-of-the-box rifles on the planet. Nothing else even comes remotely close. Internally, they have an 8mm bearing gearbox so they can withstand you tinkering types with upgrades. Out of the box most G&P rifles are on the warm side, anywhere from 350 up to 420fps – although most respectable companies will downgrade these for free if required.

The inner barrel is the bog standard 6.08mm, the same as TM and ICS. With companies such as G&G shipping some rifles with a 6.03, the standard brass barrel of a G&P is always something I would change as quickly as possible for either an Ultimate or Prometheus 6.03. While it is not necessary, the rifle will often easily run an 11.1V LiPo, albeit at an outrageous 1,200-1,300 rounds per minute. Always best to check with your warranty provider before doing this.

When you break this rifle down to its basic parts it is a good deal. Okay, the polymer magazine isn’t a PMAG but then they aren’t available now anyway. It does have the skull frog marking which is a nice touch and it is a similar PMAG material. All this says to me that G&P are adapting to the market situation. The stock, grip, rail covers and magazine all sport the same texturised pattern – known as Ball. It looks strange at first but then it does work and at the same price as a very average metal rifle you are getting G&P quality.

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THE ARMOURY G&P BALL RIFLE

Like many players out there, I look at my upgrade options on any rifle I buy. This is just gagging to have to the new Gen 3+ ASCU fitted. With plenty of stock space you wont be short on battery life, either. Tight-bore barrels are always worth a look at, too, especially the Ultimate 6.03mm or Madbull 6.03mm which are good value and performers.

If you have more money to splash have a look for a Prometheus 6.03mm. The gearbox itself is pretty sound, and you shouldn’t really have to change anything there unless you are going for a dedicated high-speed set up.

INFORMATION G&P BALL RIFLE Length: 800mm-880mm Weight: 2.74kg Power: 350fps with Blaster 0.20g Magazine Capacity: 130 rounds Build Material: Metal, ABS, and PA Inner Barrel Length: 14.5” Gearbox: 8mm Bearing Motor: G&P M120 High-Speed Battery: 7.2V LiPo or 8.4V NiMH Price: £249.99

IN USE A lightweight and very easy-to-use rifle, with its 14.5” barrel it is equally well-suited to indoors and outdoors, as it doesn’t get caught up in everything. Personally I would have some form of front grip fitted to help my aiming out and realistically I wouldn’t use the rail covers, as much as I do like them. The adjustable stock does have position markers, which is a nice little touch and the Ball marking on the pistol grip does sit nicely. I do personally like an 11.1V LiPo battery in a G&P, which gives a frightening rate of fire and a quick trigger response. It is not that I want to hose endlessly but I do always like the quick three- to four-round bursts to ensure my target takes the hit quickly and without fuss.

CONCLUSION So yes, this is yet another G&P M4 – which is about their millionth design – but then look at Porsche. The 911 still looks like the great model from decades ago and it is much the same with the M4 and G&P as a whole. They keep ticking the boxes so they keep doing slight design tweaks and variation tweaks which keeps the format fresh. The reliability and build quality of G&P is hard to surpass. They may not have all the internal bells and whistles that the new G&G Gen 3 rifles have, but then at this price it is not a massive surprise either. Given a standard front rail can easily cost £90-100 for a quality product (I do not consider ACM, DBOYS or JG to be at the high end of rail manufacturing) then this rifle really is very good value. So if you are looking for a good offering from G&P it will not get much better than this.

Cerberus Airsoft:

THE WORKS THE WORKS IS THE LATEST SITE IN CERBERUS AIRSOFT’S PORTFOLIO OF GREAT LOCATIONS IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. RON MAHONEY INVESTIGATES

I RON MAHONEY

Ron has been involved in fieldcraft, shooting and outdoor pursuits for over 30 years. His real passion is the ‘sneaky-beaky’ style of airsoft game

016 Christmas 2013

don’t mind organising the games for our little team; in fact, it works well most of the time. Writing reviews for Airsoft Action, we’re always looking to bring new sites to our readers’ attention, so our team gets to visit lots of different sites, allowing me to get feedback of how the site played from a few different perspectives – all good news.

However, there is a downside to organising the team, and it generally starts with the words, ‘so how do I get there again?’

Cerberus had put some pretty straightforward directions to the site on their Facebook page where we had logged in for the event.

One thing had been made clear, though: if you put both ‘Badger Lane’ and ‘HX3 8PW’ into your sat-nav you were brought right to the site; if you put in the postcode only you could end up miles

away. Having made sure the team were aware of this, I carried on packing kit for our Sunday morning round of fun.

I knew the site was not far from the M62, but as we turned off the junction at Brighouse I was a bit surprised that the sat-nav read only 8 minutes to destination. It was a quick hop skip and a jump straight through Brighouse and, as the reassuring voice of the lady in the sat-nav spoke those definitive words, “in 300 yards, turn left and you will reach your destination,” we spotted the first people clad in MTP. The Works is Cerberus Airsoft’s latest in a long list of locations that have become iconic for players in the north of England. The Sandpit near Bradford is renowned as one of the best places to get that feeling of desert terrain, especially in hot dry conditions.

SITE REVIEW CERBERUS AIRSOFT: THE WORKS

“The sneaky beaky, covert style of player will enjoy the amount of cover the numerous buildings offer to sneak through.

For snipers and support gunners,dominate there arethegreat areas to ground from”

;Players emerge from the debris of a ruined bulding – one of many on site at The Works

Last year they brought us The Valley at Lightwater Valley Theme Park near Ripon, and now they have created a site at a disused factory complex that looks something like you’d expect to see in a war-torn European environment.

The smell of the free bacon butties wafted around the safe zone as we signed in and our merry little band of brothers started to assemble. “Got lost and went to the other site,” was one comment. “Yeah I was doing the same till I spotted a woman on her horse and she pointed me in the right direction.” Interestingly, the two ex-forces team members arrived no problem!

Signing in and making myself known to Cerberus’ Andy Knox, I could see that we weren’t the only team or group on site that day, as there were several players with patches or loadouts that identified them as team players. “It’ll be a big group today” Andy told me “we could have about 100 players; main thing is this place can accommodate them.”

The site itself started out as a brick works with several large production units, offices and a transport area. In later years,

the site was producing plastics and resins as can still be seen by some of the large resin blocks lying around the site. In recent times The Works suffered a number of fires and then fell into disrepute as it was abandoned – but thankfully Cerberus has brought it back to life.

After the safety briefing we lined up to receive our plans for the morning session. The Cerberus guys had thought of quite an original idea to allow the morning game to run right through and not be stop-start all the time. Each of the two teams had to collect playing cards that had been placed around the site. We were to collect all the black suited cards; the opposition had to collect reds. If we came across a card belonging to the other team we couldn’t touch or interfere with it, but we could defend it and stop them collecting it. With a total of 26 cards for each side to collect there would be plenty of opportunity to keep the game flowing well up until the lunch-time break. Our team was to start at the far end of the site, so it gave me a first chance to see the layout beyond the safe zone.

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We passed through some of the old large production buildings that are now a mere shell, but the steel and concrete structures reveal they had once held large steel production lines. Towards the south end of the site it opens out onto some clear ground surrounded by raised banks of trees along two sides that form a large ‘L’ shape. From the tree line to the open ground and nearest hard cover is between 40-50 yards and it forms perfect territory for snipers or support gunners to take up an over-watch position protected by mounds of earth and rubble. I really wished that I had brought my bolt action as we could have done with someone in that area – as we were soon to find out!

As ‘game on’ was called my team moved swiftly across to the nearest complex of buildings and started a slow methodical clearance as we moved deeper into them.

However, the next thing we knew we were getting peppered from our rear. “Whoa, friendly forces – blue on blue” was shouted at the those firing, but then a shout of, “Unlucky fellas, we’re enemy” greeted another hail of BBs and we were all out very quickly.

Back at regen, it was clear that the cunning enemy forces had taken a rather less stealthy approach and gone hell-for-leather, sprinting through the open ground that our side hadn’t been covering. They now held positions close to our regen and we were being deprived space to operate in. This was also giving our opponents time to locate their own cards and deny us the chance to reach ours. A little bit of planning was needed to prevent this becoming a one-sided affair.

One team concentrated on trying to stop them gaining any more ground among

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gThe disused factory setting resembles a wartorn European theatre of conflict kThe combination of open ground and hard cover makes for some tense firefights at The Works

the old factory buildings, while we would try and push them back along the high ground that runs along the eastern-side of the site. With a bit more organisation in place, we started to gradually win back the ground and the high woodland that overlooked the site.

We spent most of the morning fighting over this 50-metre strip of woodland and a couple of buildings. Both teams realised that, up there, you had a good over-watch of the central buildings and, although we would receive bursts of BBs coming through though the undergrowth from the buildings below, it was a relatively straightforward position to defend.

We had spotted a few of our opponents’ red playing cards as we had pushed through, so we knew that we needed to defend them as well as try and find some of our own. As we held

SITE REVIEW CERBERUS FIRST & AIRSOFT: ONLY: THETHE ARMOURY WORKS

the upper ground, our team-mates below were sweeping the buildings, clearing out our opponents, and locating a few more of our cards. Over the radio, the marshalling team stated that all cards recovered needed to be taken back to our regen position as we would be breaking for lunch. So we headed back to regen and lots of smiling faces and happy banter. In ‘football speak’ the morning had been a true game of two halves; we had started poorly but by the close of play we had really pushed the other team back into the buildings at the top end of the site. The marshals gathered in the cards and we trooped back to the safe zone for a plentiful lunch that was provided by Cerberus.

After everyone had refuelled body, soul and magazines, we heard the results of the morning game. Our team had recovered nine of our cards, but the other team had managed to recover 10 of theirs. Down by one card; what a bummer – however, this was made worse when one of our team suddenly remembered that he had a playing card in his top pocket! All was not lost though; the afternoon still gave us a chance to win if we could recover another couple of cards. However, our opponents just needed to stop us reaching the cards until end-ex was called and they would have the win. They didn’t have to recover any more cards, just deny us ours.

As we waited for game-on to be called we planned a quick strategy, having learned from the morning. We split the team into three; two small teams would make a flanking move on the east (high ground) and west (open ground) while the bulk of our squad would move through the buildings. We headed off at the double and went straight into a fire-fight with the same team that we’d been playing cat and mouse with before lunch.

In the late autumn sunshine, the long shadows and dark corners afforded by the buildings gave lots of decent positions for snipers, and one guy equipped with a springer was doing a really good job of keeping our heads down. There was little wind about, which worked in his favour – though we turned that around when about four smoke grenades were launched into the ground between us.

We had a slightly larger team though this time, and we knew we had to push through and find our remaining cards – so rather than just being content to sit and hold the high ground we pushed down into the buildings that we thought would be heavily defended. To our surprise, we met little opposition and fanned out. We now had full control of the eastern side of the site. One of our team remembered that he had seen a couple of our cards not far from the enemy regen point, which wasn’t that far away. In an audacious move, he then proceeded to walk right into the enemy territory and while they were concentrating on fighting our forces to their front, he located not only one but both of the cards right from behind their backs. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat!

As we were about halfway through the afternoon, we then played a few other scenarios that the staff at Cerberus had adapted to work perfectly. Even though there were over 100 players on site there was plenty of opportunity for all. The sneaky beaky, covert style of player will enjoy the amount of cover the numerous buildings offer to sneak through. For snipers and support gunners there are great areas to dominate the ground from – and especially for the snipers there are lots of dark spaces to tuck into and yet still have a decent view of the area. Finally, for those who just want to ‘tear it up’ – then you will have more than ample opportunity.

The guys at Cerberus know how to develop sites that tend to become iconic, and I certainly think The Works will be right up there before long. If you plan to go, just remember to put the right info into your sat-nav – what could be more easy!

INFORMATION CERBERUS AIRSOFT: THE WORKS Location: Allen Works, off Badger Lane, Hipperholme, Halifax, HX3 8PW Web: www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07891469492 or 07825950245 Price: £30 walk-on (lunch and hot drinks included); £45 with hire. Gas and pyros for sale on-site

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WHEN TWO TONES WAR go to

JAY SLATER TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO A PAIR OF BEGINNER’S TWO-TONE RIFLES – BUT CAN THEY DO BETTER THAN ‘CHEAP AND CHEERFUL’?

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JAY SLATER

Jay fell in love with airsoft not so long ago and has too many guns. An active member of the South London airsoft scene, Jay is also a publisher of military and history books

e all have to start somewhere. For me, it was the Tokyo Marui AK Beta Spetsnaz. Tough and durable, it was all very new to me, having made the welcome jump from paintball to airsoft. The tiny Spetsnaz packed a hardcore wallop, was reliable, well built and well constructed. It also boasted a huge 600-round magazine and impressive range for such a small package. My affinity with the airsoft killing fields was instantly forged as the Spetsnaz went to bloody work with deadly efficiency and performed flawlessly. With that being said, an efficient and top performing AEG for the beginner is essential. It must be cost effective, do the job, and be reliable.

Umarex has entered the arena fighting fit with their new Sportline range, paying homage to the popular German UMP and G36C submachine guns. What is more surprising about these two new models is that they are two-toned, well priced for a starter weapon at around £150 each, and make a decent platform for the beginner new to the world of airsoft.

REAL STEEL The Heckler & Koch UMP was the successor to the beloved MP5 submachine gun, made of the latest in advanced spaceage polymers. Heckler & Koch took a radical departure from the traditional 9mm round and chambered the UMP to take the man-stopping .40 S&W and .45 ACP round, making it one of the most powerful submachine guns in the world. Bristling with railings for attachments and a folding buttstock for close and personal engagements, the UMP also features ambidextrous controls, a quick connect muzzle and an oversized trigger assembly for gloved operators. For a small package, the UMP delivers plenty of firepower and destruction, making it an ideal choice for CQB combat.

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THE ARMOURY UMAREX H&K UMP AND G36C

COMPETITION Fancy bagging one of these two-tone rifles? Turn to page 50 where we give two lucky readers the chance to take home either a UMP or G36C, just by answering a laughably simple question. What are you waiting for?

Meanwhile, the Heckler & Koch G36 was designed in the early 1990s as a replacement for the G3 battle rifle. Marked into service in 1997 with the Bundeswehr (the German Army), the G36 feeds from a 30-round magazine or 100-round drum magazine and is light to operate. Fully ambidextrous, the G36 feels very solid for a plastic shooter with a very low recoil impulse. It shoots great with a crisp trigger assembly. However, the G36 suffers from terrible eye relief on the dual optics, making it a flawed winner.

THE REPLICAS The Umarex shooters are well packaged and first impressions are excellent. With ‘No Compromise’ emblazoned on the stylish box artwork with officially licensed Heckler

lWith their electric blue/black colour scheme, there’s no mistaking these Umarex rifles for top-end fare – but that doesn’t mean they can’t impress in their intended arena ;Both the UMP and G36C feature fire selectors, allowing you to choose between semi- and fully-automatic gThe foresight on the G36C has a built in notch element for better target acquisition

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THE ARMOURY UMAREX H&K UMP AND G36C

lBoth the G36C (left) and the UMP (right) are fully-licensed replicas from Umarex, bearing official H&K inscriptions

INFORMATION UMAREX H&K G36C SPORTLINE Length: 711mm Barrel length: 245mm Weight: 2.8kg Battery: 8.4V NiMH Firing Modes: Semi/fully-automatic Mag Capacity: 470 rounds Price: £150

& Koch trademarks, each weapon is tightly packaged and secured within. (Asian airsoft manufacturers take note.) Within lie the UMP/G36C, a two-pin charger, chunky magazine and glossy and well-versed instructor’s manual in good English.

Indeed, early thoughts on the Umarex packaging are extremely positive, and some of the very best we have yet seen from high-end manufacturers. Initial thoughts on the UMP are less than stellar. It feels extremely light and… cheap. However, it is well made, solid and compact. The Umarex UMP is also fully compatible with the STAR UMP, so magazines made by STAR and Ares should fit this particular model.

The battery compartment extends into the cocking tube and can fit a 9.6V stick battery with ease. Also, the gearbox can take upgrades such as piston, cylinder and gear sets, and promises to send an avalanche of .20 BBs downrange in excess of 320fps at more than a pulverising 950 rounds a minute: that is some serious machine-gun cha cha cha from its meaty 420-round magazine.

While the UMP is intended primarily for CQB, such specifications make this particular model more than suitable for woodland terrain. However, there are some budgetary concerns that tarnish the aesthetics, such as a false charging handle and blemished magazine that has the ammunition visual counter cheaply altered.

Otherwise, despite its visual tackiness, the UMP is solid and appears practical.

Despite being a larger rifle, the G36C is practical for both CQB and woodland thanks to the folding stock. Like the UMP, the G36C features original Heckler & Koch trademarks, is made of plastic with a metal gearbox and is armed to the teeth with rails for peripherals such as grenade launchers and lasers. Like the UMP, the G36C features an enlarged trigger housing for gloved fingers and feels compact and robust in operation. The 470-round magazine offers some serious BB apocalypse and sturdy construction of the rifle offers to absorb battlefield punishment.

The battery is an 8.4V NiMH, although installation is somewhat difficult as the front end of the rifle has to be dismantled, making an issue of the fore-end and splint on assembly. Also, the top lever to engage the hop-up unit remains exposed, although the inferior and fragile plastic material involved in this airsoft incarnation beggars careful operation. Like the UMP and its impressive quality of two-tone – a startling bright electric blue that screams from the rooftops with vulgarity and a onefingered salute towards good taste – the G36C feels solid yet underwhelming in appearance.

INFORMATION UMAREX H&K UMP SPORTLINE Length: 450-680mm Weight: 1.8kg Battery: 8.4V NiMH Firing Modes: Semi/fully-automatic Mag Capacity: 420 rounds Price: £150

Upon the shooting test, both the UMP and G36C were armed with a selection of .20 and .25 Blaster Devil BBs; the firing range was 150 feet in length. Initial impressions remained curiously disheartening. The magazines were prone to malfunctions and feeding jams leading to sporadic and frustrating firing, although this improved through constant use. Also, range and performance – despite being just under the legal fps limits – lacked gusto and a crisp punch, although hitting and penetrating what was expected from a low-budget weapon. Also, both guns, despite their rock-solid construction and bad boy demeanours, have been simplified in terms of eyeball candy and functionality due to the low budgets that they command.

CONCLUSION These Umarex hooligans were never intended to impress the high demands of this reviewer. You have to start somewhere, and a newcomer to the sport could do a lot worse. Indeed, the two-tone UMP and G36C are therefore ideal if one is new to the sport of airsoft and does not want to wait for a UKARA licence. They are well priced for the market and light to wield and operate in the fire zone as well as absorbing internal and cosmetic punishment.

Ideal for the beginner and those with smaller hands, these Heckler & Koch submachine guns may not be high-end airsoft shooters, but we all have to start somewhere.

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SKILLS ROOM COLD WEATHER BILLY OPERATIONS BASICS

WINTER SURVIVAL IF YOU’RE THINKING OF SKIRMISHING OR ATTENDING LONGER GAMES OVER WINTER, YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED, SAYS PAUL YELLAND, AS HE PRESENTS SOME KEY TIPS FOR COLD WEATHER OPS

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PAUL YELLAND

With over 20 years’ experience in practising fieldcraft and survival techniques, Paul discovered airsoft in 2005. He especially likes the tactical side of the hobby

hen operating out in the field, you must be able to look after yourself. Failure to do so will have a massive effect on your tactical capability. This is true for all times of the year, but it is especially important when operating during cold weather. Even the most basic of physical tasks will seem exhausting. You will use up energy faster, and if you do not take cover and change into dry kit, you soon start to shiver. You become demotivated and lethargic and, as your condition deteriorates and you fail to take action, you fall asleep.

Your body temperature then drops even further. You become unconscious and, if not evacuated off, will die. Be warned, the onset of hypothermia can be very gradual, with the signs not being recognised until it is too late.

Exposure kills. When you stop, get out of the wind. The wind chill will drive straight

through you, cooling your body down very quickly. If you have stopped for the night then you need to choose a basha site that is safe and out of the wind. Put up your shelter so that you have protection from the wind and snow. Get inside it and then get out of your wet, sweaty clothes. Dry off and change into your dry combats and warm jacket. Stripping off in sub-zero temperatures may not appeal to you, but it is certainly the better of the two options.

Make sure you are properly insulated from the cold, damp ground. You will lose a lot of body heat if you lay in direct contact with the ground. Use a ground sheet and a foam roll mat. Your sleeping bag should be up to the job. It should be rated to four seasons use and have a suitable comfort temperature rating. If you are sleeping under a basha then you need to use a Gortex-type bivi bag to keep your sleeping bag dry.

CLOTHING When you are on the move and carrying a heavy load, you will sweat. It is very important that you try to limit this, as the sweat will lower your temperature quicker, or even freeze.

When moving, I normally wear a t-shirt underneath my smock and use my waterproof jacket as an outer windproof layer. When I stop for a long period of time, I wear a t-shirt, Norgie shirt, bivi coat, smock and a waterproof jacket.

It is important to remember your extremities. You will lose a lot of heat through your head, so wear a hat. Make sure that your boots are waterproof and are not laced up too tight: you need to allow good circulation to your feet. You should wear good quality socks that have a high wool content and waterproof gloves. Better still, wear mittens such as the issued ones with the waterproof outer: you can still fire your weapon while wearing them as there is a hole to poke your trigger finger through.

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A word of warning, though: do not lose your gloves. Make sure they are tied onto you with para cord. Without gloves, your hands will quickly become extremely painful and then numb. This will prevent you from doing basic tasks such as doing up an item of clothing, or striking a match. You will find it difficult to use your weapon, and risk developing frostbite.

FOOD The need for hot food and drink in cold weather is extremely important. As I mentioned earlier, you burn more calories in cold weather trying to stay warm, so it is important to eat and drink.

Foods such as chocolate are a good source of energy in the short term. What you really need to be eating is stodgy foods like stews and all-day breakfasts. You can get these meals in foil pouches from most outdoor shops. Being in a foil pouch means that they take up less room. You heat up the unopened foil pouch in boiling water, ending up with a hot meal and water for your brew. The best stoves to use for cooking in cold weather are the trangia types that use methylated spirit. Hexamine stoves are not too bad, either, but forget using camping gas as the basic gas stoves don’t like the cold.

GETTING AROUND Walking in deep snow is exhausting. Walking in deep snow in full kit is even harder, and you will not get very far before your leg

gA methylated trangia cooker such as this is ideal for cooking in cold weather kSnow shoes will make trekking through the wintry landscape more bearable

“Walking in deep snow inyoufullwillkit,not get very far before your leg muscles feel like they are about to explode” muscles feel like they are about to explode. To make things slightly easier, consider using skis or snowshoes. If the snow cover is only a few inches deep, or there is ice, then you are better using a set of ice grips strapped to your boots. Skis and snowshoes are bulky items of kit to carry, but the ice grips can just be rolled up and stored in your in bergen when not being used.

Now you have the kit to walk in deep snow, you need to know how to navigate your way to the objective. This is not as easy as it sounds. When the landscape is covered in snow all features seem to disappear. The only way you are going to navigate is with a map and compass, or GPS. Imagine that you are on your own, in the hills. There is snow on the ground and in the air, and it is dark. You are several miles away from your next checkpoint/objective. You have been laying up for a short while to get some hot food down you and have taken this

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SKILLS ROOM COLD WEATHER BILLY OPERATIONS BASICS

opportunity to check your route for the next section of your tab. Distances and bearings worked out, you pack your kit up, put on your bergen and set off into the night. You have your compass in your hand, and walk off on your first bearing.

You pace about 50 metres away from your laying up point. You turn around but cannot see it any more. In fact, you can’t make anything out at all. You may as well be walking on the moon. You start to feel a sense of panic and vuneralbility.

But then you take charge, you know your bearings are correct as you have double checked them. You put your trust in your equipment and training, and continue walking on the bearing towards the next check point. When you eventually reach the objective, you feel a sense of achievment and realise the importance of planning and preparation.

This was my first experience of a solo winter night tab across Dartmoor several years ago. I don’t advise anyone doing the above, as you really are putting

gGoggles protect against snowblindness, caused by the Sun’s rays reflecting off the blanket of snow kEnduring harsh conditions involves kitting up appropriately – white camouflage is a must for winter operations yourself at risk, but it does emphasise the importance of a map and compass. It also highlights the importance of planning when you are warm and comfortable, as you are less likely to make a mistake. I could have very easily allowed panic to take hold and walked off in the direction which I thought was correct. This would have been costly. I trusted my compass, which was pointing in the opposite direction to my gut instinct. The compass was right. It was a lot of trust to put into such a small piece of kit, but it was also the right thing to do.

CONCEALMENT The basic principles of fieldcraft are just as important in a snow covered environment as in any other climate, therefore camouflage and concealment still need to be addressed. Personal camouflage is achieved by wearing a white over-jacket and trousers. White insulation tape can be added to your weapon, and white camouflage nets can be added to shelters.

I hope I have managed to pass on some useful information to anyone who is thinking of skirmishing during cold weather. I am not claiming to be an expert. I just want to share my experiences – good and bad.

Stay safe.

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COLD WAR WARRIOR BRITISH INFANTRY, KOREA, WINTER 1951

KOREAN CONFLICT K IN THIS ISSUE’S INSTALMENT OF COLD WAR WARRIOR, GARETH ‘GADGE’ HARVEY EXAMINES THE LOADOUT OF THE BRITISH INFANTRYMAN OF THE KOREAN WAR

GARETH 'GADGE' HARVEY

Gadge is our resident history buff and FilmSim fanatic. He has a passion for WWII, Nam-soft and Cold War gaming – but still finds time to fit in an open-day skirmish

nown as Britain’s Forgotten War, the Korean War was possibly the biggest Cold War clash of so-called Free World and communist forces that British troops officially fought in – yet few know of this conflict, overshadowed by WWII. Fearing the Soviet Union (and communist China) would exert its influence on smaller countries to create communist governments, before moving on to the next and possibly bigger nation, the West set upon a policy of ‘containment’ of communism. Containment was an effort to prevent a ‘domino effect’ like in WWII, when more and more disenfranchised nations saw communism as a valid alternative to the capitalism they believed had led the world into war.

The uneasy alliance between East and West at the end of WWII had sown the seeds for the Korean War as early as 1945. After WWII the Allies split up Korea (previously controlled by Japan) between themselves, much as they

029

had done with Germany. North Korea was to be governed by a communist government supported by Moscow, while the ‘Free World’ would help administrate the South while attempts were made to organise an independent Korea. Unfortunately by the end of the 1940s attempts to hold democratic elections had largely failed and the country began to polarise into North and South Korea along the artificial dividing line – the 38th Parallel.

LIGHTNING INVASION In 1950, North Korea launched a lightning invasion of the South, and while the UN deplored this act of aggression and passed a resolution to send military aid to the South, the Russians stayed quiet and began to aid the North. As the war progressed, the Korean War became a ‘proxy war’ where both Washington (and her allies) and Moscow (with their allies too) fought the closest thing to WWIII that ever was – but in Asia rather than the expected warzone of Germany.

Communist forces initially did very well with the United Nations troops finding themselves in retreat and pushed back from the 38th Parallel. A bold landing at Inchon by US forces however

cut off the North Korean lead forces and allowed the recapture of the South Korean capital, Seoul. This textbook beach landing managed to stabilise the situation before allowing the ‘Free World’ to start to push into North Korean territory.

Realising they might well lose the war, the communist forces unleashed millions of men of the Chinese army against the UN in devastating attacks often comprising of ‘human wave’ assaults with horrific casualties to the attackers (and unsustainable casualties to the small elite allied forces). Britain and America fought a desperate war against seemingly unending numbers of Chinese soldiers with many regiments fighting desperate actions against impossible odds. One British Centurion tank squadron resorted to calling down airstrikes and artillery fire on top of their

kThemed Cold War games have seen players adopt the appearance of everything from Soviets to the Mujahidin

own positions when they were overrun by Chicom forces swarming over their vehicles.

After three years of war, and with no realistic end in sight, an armistice (that still stands to this day) was signed to divide North and South Korea by means of a demilitarised zone (DMZ) largely manned for some time by Swiss and Swedish peace keepers. Before the ceasefire a savage three year stalemate had ensued where British and American units distinguished themselves in savage combat and against an unrelenting foe – such as the Gloucestershire Regiment of the 29th Brigade, or the ‘Gloucesters’.

Four companies of Gloucesters fought a near suicidal battle at the Imjin river against vastly superior forces of the entire Chinese 63rd army; their tenacity and courage under fire allowed other UN forces to achieve strategic goals while they held the outnumbering enemy in position. For their bravery the Gloucesters were awarded a US Presidential Unit Citation, an honour rarely bestowed on units outside of the US Military.

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COLD WAR WARRIOR BRITISH INFANTRY, KOREA, WINTER 1951

EXTREME COLD WEATHER

jFor warmth, our warrior wears a windproof suit, with a base layer of cotton undershorts and shirt, with a wool shirt and khaki battle dress on top gThe 44 pattern webbing set contains this warrior’s supply of ammo and other accessories hOur warrior is armed with a WWII Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle – which was beginning to show its age in the 1950s!

Our Cold War Warrior this month represents one such soldier. Kitted out for the extreme cold of the North Korean winter this private is eerily familiar (as with many of our early Cold War impressions) to his WWII forebears and shares much of the same equipment.

The main outer layer consists of the WWII windproof camouflage suit (as seen worn by our Foreign Legion soldier in a previous issue). This lightweight, quick drying combat suit was the beginning of the British Army’s realisation that an ‘onion skin’ or layered system of clothing was more effective than heavy cumbersome greatcoats. Initially issued in the winter of 1943, the windproof suit is commonly mistaken as an SAS suit, but was in fact on general issue to any unit that needed it and entire divisions such as the 52nd Lowland (a specialist mountain warfare division) were equipped with it.

Under the windproof suit the soldier is kept warm with a base layer of cotton undershorts and shirt over which is worn a light brown warm wool shirt with long tails to prevent it becoming untucked when moving and fighting. Over the under-layer, a wool serge khaki battle dress, near identical to that issued in WWII, is worn. In our photographs you can just make out the cuffs of the battle dress blouse poking out from under the camouflage smock. The 1949 pattern of battledress was no great departure from its WWII predecessor, but was marginally better made, finer woven and slightly smarter. The trousers now had proper belt loops and an additional rear pocket and the large map pocket on the thigh was moved from the front to a more useful side position, and the previously largely unused first field dressing on the front deleted.

More obvious changes were made to the blouse which retained some aspects of the 37 Pattern blouse (pleated pockets) and some of the 40 Pattern garment (exposed buttons) but most noticeably was cut with open lapels that necessitated the wearing of a collared shirt (and tie in peacetime).

Keeping our soldiers head and hands warm are WWII era woollen ‘three finger’ mittens, ‘scrim’ net scarf/face veil and a knitted ‘cap comforter’ wool cap. While you may be reading this with the central heating fired up to the max I can assure you that this kit is very warm. The pictures here were taken during a July heat-wave in which three layers (two woolen) were ridiculously hot!

lGiven the enthusiasm of the ever-increasing number of participants, there seems to be plenty more to come from the Cold War scene kWhy not join the ranks of airsofters enjoying life as a Soviet conscript or grizzled paratrooper at weekends?

The last items in our warrior’s ‘cold wet weather’ uniform are a pair of ammo boots (which would have been worn over thick wool socks but in the interests of not sweating to death we cheated and wore thin cotton ones!) and a pair of web anklets to prevent stones and debris entering the boot tops and trouser bottoms snagging on foliage.

THE AGE OF THE SEMI-AUTOMATIC Our Gloucester is armed with a WWII vintage Lee Enfield No4 rifle (to be replaced with the 7.62 semi-automatic SLR five years later), a venerable and reliable rifle that was clearly beginning to show its age in the semi-automatic era of the 1950s. Ammunition for this rifle is carried in the excellently designed 44 Pattern webbing set worn by our Pte. While nominally a ‘jungle warfare’ webbing set, vast amounts of 44 Pattern webbing was issued to British troops in Korea and most photographs of the 29th brigade show it being worn. Our soldier carries ‘reduced order’ webbing of just ammunition pouches, the bayonet for his rifle, and water bottles, as he has stripped any non-essential items in preparation for a reconnaissance patrol through Chinese lines.

While this impression is largely one for the WWII buffs, with North Korea periodically flexing her muscles it has once again become a somewhat topical loadout. While many of our ‘early Cold War’ impressions have perhaps not been the most practical for the skirmish field, this one is perhaps the exception. As presented in this article it’s an excellent (and still relatively cheap as 49 Pattern BD is still out there at sensible prices) set of winter skirmish kit, especially for those who like to snipe with bolt action rifles (or perhaps assault with a Sten). If you omit the wool under-layer and battle in just the windproof suit it’s also a viable lightweight summer loadout as well. So there you go, topical, interesting and practical – something I’d never thought I’d see in a post war impression!

Next issue it’s back to the 80s, as we check out Soviet chemical defence recce troops.

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CHRIS WRAY REPORTS ON THE FIRST IN A PLANNED SERIES OF THEMED WWII GAMES SET IN 1943. PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD SOUTHALL-BROWN

THE ROAD AVELLI N O O CHRIS WRAY

Chris has been playing airsoft for five years and is a member of Fireball Squadron. He enjoys themed games, especially WWII and ‘Nam events

032 Christman December 2013

ctober 19 saw Fireball Squadron airsoft club going back in time to 1943 and the Italian campaign in WWII. This was the first game in a planned series set just after Operation Avalanche, when the main American forces landed on the beaches of Salerno. The Fireball campaign is designed to follow the path of the US 34th infantry through Italy, and this game was set just after the beach landings, on the road to Avellino.

Both sides had two main squads, a CO and a medic.

There was a 300-rounds-per-life rule and each player had two bandages per life. The Road to Avellino had 30 players brave the weather warnings after a week of rain. Thankfully we did not see a drop until the game had finished and we were packing away.

The German defenders had a slight numerical advantage, but the Allies had local site knowledge. My money was on the

gThe Germans had the numerical advantage in The Road to Avellino, but the Allies had local site knowledge

to site advantage paying off, but only time would tell. After the safety brief both sides deployed to their HQ for mission briefs. This is where the game became very different to most airsoft games I have played.

At the HQ we found a selection of written orders, each printed on a card with a map. To begin with, we had a set order to take certain objectives on site and set up defences. After that, there was a selection of over 20 missions to choose from, each having different war effort scores. The missions covered intel gathering, patrols, search and destroy, supply runs, and capture.

Game-on was called and our squad

EVENT REPORT THE ROAD TO AVELLINO

“The Germans had surrounded our HQ,mission as they ofhadtheir a capture own and I was the target�

moved out; our mission was to take the San Michele Chapel, clear any booby traps, raise the American flag, mine one of the entrances to the chapel, and hold for 15 minutes. If we had no enemy contact we were to return to HQ for further orders. After defusing a couple of booby traps we managed to carry out our orders with the only contact being a blue-on-blue from the other allied squad when they took out our CO! In their defence, they had just been engaged by a couple of German stragglers and were a bit jumpy. After patching up our CO and with no further contact, we moved back to HQ to select our next set of orders.

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We chose to do an intel mission which required us to get photographs of the enemy HQ and photos of the nearby village they controlled – this granted war effort points for completing the mission but also offered bonuses for completing in the morning, and completing without any enemy contact. We set off and after 10 minutes of sneaking around we managed to get quite close to the German HQ; after hearing voices nearby we were eventually able to crawl closer and take a couple of pictures before withdrawing without being detected. After another 10 minutes of stealthy progress we also managed to get photos of the village. Twice after, we heard German voices close by and had to go to ground until they passed. We gradually made our way back and, just as we started to go across some open ground, less than a minute away from our HQ, our luck ran out and a German patrol spotted us! After a brief exchange we managed to withdraw and get our intel back to HQ, but we had blown the no contact bonus.

Our next mission was set specifically for our squad. We had to retrieve some supplies which were held deep within enemy territory. On our way we managed to run into one of the German squads but after a fire-fight they retreated and we managed to continue to the location on the mission map. After a quick search of the area we located the supply tin and headed back to HQ, this time with no enemy contact.

Once back at HQ, the final part of the mission was to open the supply crate and share its contents. It contained a couple of smoke grenades, some Hershey chocolate, some sweet cigarettes and some BBs. After said photos, we set off again, trying to squeeze a patrol mission in before lunch. We quickly ran into the other allied squad who were under heavy fire from the Germans. After helping them hold their position it was time for lunch.

Two things I noticed at lunch time: there were a lot of smiley faces on both sides, and the Germans had completed a lot more missions than the Allies, but I was sure we would still pull it back and be ready to advance into Avellino in the next game. After swapping some of the morning war stories it was back out to finish the game.

After lunch our first mission was to clear a path through a minefield and hold an objective, but it turned out one of the German squads’ objective was the same as ours. We fought valiantly against higher numbers for 15 minutes and after being beaten back twice it was clear this was one objective we were not about to take. We regrouped at HQ and picked up a search and destroy mission. We had to travel around the site and destroy the damaged German armour (Land Rovers) with a bazooka, which used a small pyro when fired! We had to get close to the three objectives and ‘fire’ the bazooka, which we managed to achieve. When the bazooka goes off you certainly know about it, and it’s very cool seeing the man in front of you carrying such a weapon.

034 Christmas 2013

EVENT REPORT THE ROAD TO AVELLINO CHOKER

On our way back, we managed to make it into the trenches, (which had only been dug the day before) before coming into contact with the enemy once again. For me this was one of the best moments of the day, running through the trenches with Germans firing at and across us was amazing! It felt a little like an episode of Band of Brothers. But once again, the German greater numbers were winning the day and we were forced to retreat.

After a brief rest at HQ we realised the enemy medic had been seen close by and was alone. So we took the ‘capture the German medic’ mission and set off. It did not take us long to find him and though he tried to get away he was no match for our squad and was soon in our custody and taken back to HQ. As we celebrated this we noticed that the Germans had surrounded our HQ, as they had a capture mission of their own – and I was the target! Well, my top-secret gun was. After handing it over they retreated back to their HQ. By this time we were getting tired so we set out on one last mission to try and help stop the surge of German activity in the area. We managed to make it through the minefield again without setting off any mines, and completed a patrol mission with just a couple of small contacts with the enemy before end-ex, when we all headed to the safe zone. I am not ashamed to say it: I was shattered, but had a fantastic time.

I always get a buzz at a WWII games, seeing everyone make an effort to fit into the game.

One thing I was very wary of coming into this game was the mission idea, but it seemed to really work and both sides enjoyed them. Though we knew what our mission was, we never knew what the enemy’s objectives were, so contacts were

jAn Allied soldier emerges from the forest lHeavy support weapons add a touch of authenticity and excitement to themed WWII games hIf it weren’t for the safety goggles and little plastic balls, onlookers could be forgiven for thinking they’d gone back in time!

unpredictable and kept us on our toes.

A large selection of mission types to choose from kept the game varied from the start right to the end, and as I write this I can confirm the Germans edged the day and forced back the Allied advance to Avellino!

So will January bring a push from the Allies from a different point, or maybe a counter attack by the Germans? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I will be there and this time the Germans had better watch out…

INFORMATION FIREBALL SQUADRON Location: London Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, B75 5SA Web: www.fireballsquadron.com Tel: 07582 684533 Email: vcr@fireballsquadron.com Info: Woodland games first Saturday each month; see website for info on themed games.

Prices: £20 (woodland walk-on). Gun hire £15.

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The

AIRSOFT ACTION CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

‘TIS THE SEASON, AND WE’RE GETTING INTO THE FESTIVE SPIRIT HERE AT AIRSOFT ACTION BY DROOLING OVER THE KIT WE WANT SANTA TO BRING US. TO HELP GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS, WE’VE COMPILED A CHRISTMAS LIST CHOCK-FULL OF TOP ITEMS FOR AIRSOFTERS – SO IF YOU’RE AFTER SOME HINTS TO DROP TO THE FAMILY, OR NEED IDEAS ON WHAT TO GET YOUR MATES, LOOK NO FURTHER…

STOCKING FILLERS

RWA FIBRE-OPTIC SCOPE

Airsoft accessories come in all shapes and sizes – and for those of you who don’t want to splash out on a big item this Christmas, the good news is we’ve got plenty of ideas for little stocking fillers! Whether you’re a gear junkie or just a casual player, we airsofters love getting new bits of kit to enhance our loadouts or give us an edge in the field – so with that in mind, take a look at these bits and bobs to fill your dream stocking on the big day…

One for the airsoft sniper in your family – available in 1.5-6x24 and 3-9x40, with either a green or red illuminated reticle, this scope is a top option for long-range sharp-shooting on the airsoft field.

Price: £98.77 Web: www.redwolfairsoft.com

ENOLA GAYE ANTI-FOG LENS CLEANER

EPS DF1 LITE GOGGLE

ASG PROTECTIVE GLASSES

With three lens options, each made from 2.8mm ballistic polycarbonate, these goggles are scratch and fog proof, with a comfortable profile that allows you to wear them with headgear. Keep your eyes protected and look awesome at the same time.

These protective glasses have a cool, wraparound design, and are available with a variety of lens colours, including amber. Cheap, but certainly not shoddy, these would make a great gift for a player just starting out in airsoft.

Price: £59.99 Web: www.flecktarn.co.uk

036 Christmas 2013

Price: £7.99 Web: www.airsoftzone.co.uk

Prevent your goggles steaming up with this thin paste solution that you simply smear lightly onto the lens, then buff up with a lint-free cloth.

Particularly welcome in the cold winter months when things have a habit of getting steamy!

Price: £8.99 Web: www.wolfarmouries.co.uk

GIFT GUIDE STOCKING FILLINGS

SWAT VERSATILE TRAINING GRENADE

ENOLA GAYE PATCHES

Designed for military and law enforcement scenarios, and with great utility in airsoft, the VTG is a realistic blank-firing grenade with stainless steel internals and a high-grade, easy-grip polymer shell. It goes ‘bang’, too – need we say more?

Customise your loadout with these top-quality, Velcro-backed rubber patches from Enola Gaye. The sight of a bloodthirsty rabbit is sure to raise a smile at the Christmas dinner table!

Price: £95 Web: www.blankfiringgrenade.co.uk

Price: From £3.50 Web: www.enolagaye.com

GERBER CRUCIAL WITH STRAP CUTTER This top multitool features a halfserrated knife, a flat-head screwdriver, cross-head screwdriver, bottle opener, and strap cutter, making a great, low-cost all-rounder for fieldwork and MilSim games.

Price: £38.99 Web: www.patrolstore.com

OCTAVIOUS HUNT SMOKE GRENADE Available in red, white, yellow, and green, these devices have a minimum burn time of 90 seconds, producing a massive 125 cubic metres of smoke. Guaranteed to add drama to an airsoft game.

Prices: Single - £2.24; Pack of 5 - £10 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

OP ZULU TORCH BUNDLE This limited-time-only deal contains a 250-lumen Z5 pocket torch, a 50-lumen Z2 mini torch, and three AAA batteries.

Perfect for low-light operations, this is the ideal gift to brighten up an airsofter’s Christmas.

XCORTECH XT501 BB TRACER This fluorescent BB tracer illuminates your shots in low-light situations, and looks awesome in the process. It is effective with high rates over fire (over 1,700rpm), fits 14mm threads and takes four AAA batteries.

Price: £64.30 Web: www.xcortech.co.uk

COLD STEEL TRAINING TOMAHAWK This synthetic axe is made from high-grade polypropylene, which closely imitates the feel and weight of the real weapon – but without the risk of actually killing anyone! This is perfect for sneaky knife kills in airsoft.

Price: £19.99 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

Price: £36.99 Web: www.patrolstore.com

BOKER PLUS TACTICAL PEN This cool pen has a tough, sleek titanium body, and uses a highly functional bayonet mechanism, while its integrated clip means you can easily attach it to a belt. Hardwearing yet elegant, this is great both at home and in-game.

Prices: £74.95 Web: www.heinnie.com

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COOL CLOTHING Let’s face it, airsoft at times is as much about fashion as about shooting your mates and playing army – and Christmas is the best time to embrace that fact, as we all look to bolster our loadouts ready for another year of airsoft action. Here we take a look at the jackets, trousers, and boots on our wish list this year, which you may wish to add to your own airsofting wardrobe. We recommend leaving these pages open suggestively in front of your friends and family…

HELIKON-TEX CPU SHIRT AND TROUSERS (GREENZONE CAMO) The Helikon-Tex CPU – or Combat Patrol Uniform – is designed to Polish army specifications, and comes in a range of camo patterns, with PenCott GreenZone (pictured) being our personal favourite.

The jacket has a full-front, two-way zipper, multiple pockets, and great ventilation, while the trousers have plenty of reinforcement and padding, too. Perfect for woodland games, and you may go missing in front of the Christmas tree!

Price: £158 for both Web: www.helikon-tex.com

HELIKON-TEX GUNFIGHTER JACKET This lightweight jacket provides protection from wind, rain, and dirt, thanks to its Windblocker membrane and Teflon coating – and it includes a fleece lining, a foldable hood, and multiple pockets. Available in a range of block colours, this is equally suited to both skirmish field and high street.

Price: £99.40 Web: www.helikon-tex.com

5.11 TACTICAL DUTY KILT And now for something a little different! This unique and functional tactical kilt is made of a durable polyester/cotton blend, with interchangeable cargo pockets, oversized belt loops, a badge holder, D-rings, and heavy stitching for increased durability. It’s available in MultiCam, too!

MAGNUM COMMAND BOOTS These solid, affordable boots are modern, slick, and comfortable, with ballistic nylon and leather construction, and an 8-inch high ankle with plenty of padding and support. The breathable lining makes these perfect for use in both hot and cold climes, and you won’t find many better options at this price.

Price: £44.99 Web: www.patrolstore.com

038 Christmas 2013

Price: From £64.99 Web: www.military1st.co.uk

GIFT GUIDE STOCKINGCLOTHING FILLINGS

ROGGENWOLF WARG 5U JACKET AND TROUSERS Having teamed up with Australian camouflage designer Roggenwolf, East West Trading has launched this set of jacket and trousers just in time for the big day.

The Warg 5U pattern is distinctive, combining a large-scale macropattern with a small-scale micropattern to ensure maximum concealment in a range of operating environments, from sandy desert to urban CQB.

Price: £75 each Web: www.ew-trading.com

SURPLUS M65 REGIMENT JACKET This stylish number has an outer shell made from quality washed cotton, giving it that unmistakable vintage look that suits the skirmish field, as well as casual wear. It’s strongly water repellant, with a quilted fleece lining that can be used as a jacket on its own. A total of six pockets plus a concealed hood make this an all-round solid choice for when the snow starts to fall.

Price: £79.99 Web: www.military1st.co.uk

ARC’TERYX WRAITH JACKET

UNDER ARMOUR SPEED FREEK BOOTS

Designed to fit over armour or a soft shell, the Wraith features a fullystowable hood, compatible with helmets, as well as snow-shedding and moisture-resistant outer fabrics. It’s flexible and durable with Velcro cuffs, while its finish prevents any moisture retention.

It’s big bucks, but this is the real deal.

Shown here in MultiCam (black also available), the Speed Freek from Under Armour is a top choice when it comes to footwear – with a Gore-Tex construction, superior traction, high levels of support, speed lacing, and a toe cap for protection. Heavy duty and awesome to behold, what more could you want in an airsoft boot?

Price: From £120 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

Price: £240 Web: www.edgarbrothers.com

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GIFT GUIDE ACCESSORIES

ACCESSORIES You’re kitted up with clothing, pockets stuffed with stocking fillers, and it’s time to apply the finishing touches. Here are some gift ideas for accessories to round off your Crimbo combo as you pull on your gloves, strap on those kneepads, and step out into the snow-blanketed woods…

HWI COMBAT GLOVES These MultiCam gloves offer premium flexibility, feel and protection. The contour design and high quality materials give a comfortable fit, allowing dexterity for good weapon control. Sure to keep your hands warm, the HWI Combat Gloves also offer great protection with high-density foam knuckle and palm padding.

Price: £42.50 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

MAXPEDITION PISTOL CASE Transporting your pistol to your local site is made easy with this sleek, low profile case from Maxpedition – which also carries up to five mags. For security it has lockable dual-zipper slides, while there are carry handles included and D-rings for a shoulder strap (sold separately).

Price: £33.95 Web: www.heinnie.com

HWI NEXT GENERATION KNEEPADS

MAXPEDITION FATBOY VERSIPACK

An item no airsofter should leave home without, kneepads are a simple but necessary part of our loadout.

This offering from HWI has a pad made from high density foam, with a thick cap for protection and impact absorption.

Available in a range of colours (green khaki pictured), this ergonomic shoulder sling pack offers plenty of storage in a low profile format. There are multiple external pouches in addition to the main internal compartment, ensuring every item is kept safe, secure, and organised.

Price: £24.96 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

Price: £77.95 Web: www.military1st.co.uk

ROGGENWOLF WARG 5U HAT The perfect way to round off the Roggenwolf jacket and trousers (see page 39), this boonie hat, also in the Warg 5U pattern, is classic-looking and affordable, with one of the best modern camouflage designs going.

Price: £25 Web: www.ew-trading.com

5.11 RUSH 24-HR BACKPACK Ruggedly constructed from waterresistant nylon, the Rush 24-Hour backpack features flexible main storage compartments, internal dividers and compression straps, with heavyduty zippers and MOLLE-compatible webbing to take accessories. This will serve you well in the great outdoors, whether skirmishing or on a MilSim weekender.

Price: £94.50 Web: www.patrolstore.com

040 Christmas 2013

BIG BOYZ TOYZ DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO

HIGH-SPEED BOMBER, PART II L RATTY CONCLUDES HIS TWO-PART FEATURE ON ONE OF WWII’S UNSUNG HEROES, THE DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO

IAN ‘RATTY’ ARMITAGE

Ratty has been involved with airsoft since the mid-90s and has seen the sport grow over the past 20 years. He fondly remembers the prehealth and safety days

ast issue I began delving into the history of the de Havilland Mosquito – a multi-role aircraft whose involvement in WWII has been unfairly overlooked. I want to conclude this two-part feature with a look into some of the famous raids and air crew associated with this magnificent bomber.

FAMOUS RAIDS Oslo’s Victoria Terrasse building was the Gestapo’s HQ in Norway, and on 25 September 1942, four Mosquitos from 105 Squadron, each armed with four 500lb bombs, was were sent on the 1,100-mile round-trip to destroy it. Flying less than 100ft over the North Sea, despite being intercepted by two Focke Wulf FW190s,

at least four bombs hit their target. One failed to detonate, while three others passed clear through the building before detonating. Though one Mosquito was lost, this raid proved the capability and precision of the aircraft.

In 1943, six Mosquito squadrons were merged to form the 2nd Tactical Air Force, which was involved in two famous raids. Operation Jericho was a mission to break out 700 French Resistance and Allied prisoners from Amiens Prison. Two squadrons were tasked with blowing the walls off the prison and, with the aid of the French Resistance on the ground, enable prisoners to escape. On the morning of 18 February 1944, the Mosquitoes struck, fully destroying the prison walls and allowing 255 prisoners to escape, although 37 were killed trying to get out. Just one Mosquito was lost.

In April 1944, a raid was carried out on the Kunstzaal Kleizkamp Art Gallery in The Hague, where the Gestapo stored the Dutch Central Population Registry. 613 Squadron was tasked with the mission; the building was hit and most of the records destroyed.

Operation Carthage was a controversial raid in March 1945 to destroy the Shellhus, the Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen, used for the torture of civilians and storage of dossiers on the Danish population. Eighteen Mosquitoes took part, flying in three waves, along with 30 RAF Mustangs to act as protection and attack Flak gun positions. Flying low, one mile from their target, a Mosquito clipped a lamppost, causing it to crash into a local school. Although the mission achieved its goal, it was at a cost of four Mosquitoes and two Mustangs.

FILMS With their operational history, it is no wonder that films were produced to show the heroism of Mosquito crews. British film 633 Squadron (1964) followed a fictional squadron preparing and executing a daring raid in Norway. Bovingdon Airfield was chosen as

043

the fictional base. The plot was based on a few real-life Mosquito raids – and the flying sequences (shot from a converted B25 Mitchell bomber) were fantastically well done.

Indeed, the scenes of Mosquitoes flying down the fjord on their final bomb run inspired the ‘trench run’ sequence in Star Wars.

Mosquito Squadron (1969), another British film, follows the accounts of a few interlinked characters from one squadron. Based loosely on two real-life raids, the squadron has to destroy a V1 rocket factory housed under a French chateau, where RAF POWs are housed.

Some of the flying sequences were ‘borrowed’ from the earlier 633 Squadron.

FAMOUS AIRCREW On 16 October 2004, members of the Mosquito Aircrew Association, established in 1991, gathered for the last time at the RAF Museum at Hendon. Some names that are far from famous deserve a mention here.

Wing Commander Bransome ‘Branse’ Burbage, 93 this year was the RAF’s top night fighter pilot of WWII. He recorded 21 enemy kills in 10 months, four of which were in one night, three V1 bombs brought down, and flew 30 sorties over Germany, providing cover for British and Allied bombers. He was awarded The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Bar and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar. Air Vice-Marshal (formerly Wing Commander) Robert ‘Pinpoint’ Bateson, originally from Watford, won the DFC and two DSOs for his actions as a Mosquito pilot. These and 10 other decorations were auctioned to raise funds for the Battle of Britain Museum. Bateson was just 31 when he was awarded the DSO on 28 April 1944, after he led 613 Squadron’s raid on the Gestapo HQ in The Hague.

Stuart May of the City of Edmonton Mosquito Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, personally shot down five and a half V1 rockets (you only got half points if they had already crossed the Channel!) with the Squadron accumulating a tally of 79.5 kills in total. While on a raid over Czechoslovakia, he was hit and forced to crash land. For six months he and his

044 Christmas 2013

jA recovered Mosquito fuselage looking rather worse for wear ;A war-time photo depicting a 4 Sqn Mossie undergoing maintenance gFew flight-capable Mosquitoes survive today, but work is ongoing to restore more examples to their former glory

flight officer were on the run with Russian Partisans. After sustaining an arm injury and contracting pneumonia, Russian doctors saved his life and he was eventually flown back to Britain.

GUY GIBSON Guy Gibson is, without doubt, the most famous pilot from Bomber Command during WWII. After leading 617sqn on the ‘Dambuster’ raid in 1943, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for drawing fire away from other Lancasters in his squadron on their bomb runs. He was effectively retired from active duty by his superiors, being deemed too valuable for propaganda purposes. He toured America and Britain, but he constantly pleaded to fly and eventually he was allowed to. While returning from a mission over Europe in September 1944, Gibson’s Mosquito crashed and both he and his navigator, Jim Warwick, were killed.

For years, the official cause for the crash was met with great doubts. Two theories were that Gibson either ran out of fuel (forgetting to flick to auxiliary tanks) and crashed, or flew so low he was hit by

BIG BOYZ TOYZ DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO

ground fire. Both theories were flawed, and in October 2011, a new, more plausible explanation came to light.

Sergeant Bernard McCormack, a gunner in a Lancaster returning from a night raid over Germany, seemingly mistook Gibson’s Mosquito for Junkers 88. It would seem that his Lancaster was quite some distance off course, putting them in the vicinity of Gibson’s plane. Being night time and fatigued he gunned at the plane and watched it go down, bursting into flames and they saw target indicator flames ignite on impact too. Once McCormack was convinced of what he had done he stayed quiet, but before his death in 1992 he committed his theory to tape. Military historians recently searched the crash site and after digging 3m down they recovered various parts, including a big chunk of one of the superchargers.

located in Canada, both original Mosquito Merlins were found on their mounts, with all the accessories, in a car garage in Australia. Once shipped to California, they were completely stripped and rebuilt. After initial flights over New Zealand last year, this Mosquito has been shown at a few air shows across North America and Canada this year.

The good news is a complete set of new moulds and jigs were constructed for this restoration project, which will allow for a number of new Mosquitos to be produced in the future.

MOSQUITOES TODAY

SUMMARY

In 1996, disaster occurred at an air show at Barton, Manchester, when the only flying Mosquito crashed, killing both air crew.

This Mosquito was used in 633 Squadron. There are around 30 non-flying examples housed in various museums and collections around the world. Meanwhile, there are several undergoing a full restoration to become airworthy again.

In 2012, Mosquito FB.26 KA114, originally built in Canada in 1945, flew for the first time after being completely restored.

Built for Jerry Yagen, who runs his own military aviation museum at a private airport in Virginia Beach, the restoration took over 8 years and $4 million to complete. With a restorable fuselage

As a kid, I watched 633 Squadron countless times and the Mosquito grabbed my attention. Whle researching this article the Mosquito affirmed itself to me as the first true multi-role combat aircraft and the instigator of precision bombing. Still considered an underdog by many, a recent documentary described the Mosquito as the aircraft that saved Britain. I, for one, will certainly not argue with that.

INFORMATION DE HAVILLAND HERITAGE CENTRE Salisbury Hall, home of the de Havilland family from 1939-1947, is located just five minutes off Junction 22 of the M25. The museum itself (separate from the house) is housed on the site where the prototype Mosquitoes were constructed.

The museum is manned by volunteers and houses the largest collection of de Havilland aircraft, from early Tiger Moths up to Vampires and a Comet fuselage. There is also the largest remaining section of a Horsa Glider in the museum. The main attraction is W4050, the prototype Mosquito, along with an array of the weapons that the Mosquito variants were fitted with or carried. For a small entry fee, there is plenty to see and read to keep you there all day.

Open: First Sunday of March to last Sunday of October.

Opening times: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays: 1200-1700; Sundays and Bank Holidays: 1030-1700.

Web: www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk

045

KIT BAG

LEGGING IT I LEG RIGS

RICHARD BELL DELVES INTO THE WORLD OF LEG RIGS WITH A LOOK AT THREE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

RICHARD BELL

Richard sees airsoft as his calling in life, and likes to rise to the challenges it presents.

He is active as a student and trainer, and leads from the front

n this issue I want to discuss leg rigs, which seem to have taken the tactical world by storm over the past year, with a variety of new designs and materials coming to market.

I have been fortunate enough to have exposure to three very different styles of leg rig recently – but they all provide the same function. These are from High Speed Gear Industries, Flyye Industries and Extreme Gear Labs.

While doing these reviews on products that are available in the market I always like to do some historical fact-finding to understand the time line and development of the kit.

The earliest record I could come across, but was unable to confirm, was that ‘drop leg’ rigs were used in some forms by US paratroopers in WWII, especially towards the end of the war when their load requirement grew. From what I was able to piece together, they were homemade from leather and canvas. The history of leg rigs then jumps into the late 1980s-early 1990s with the British SAS CRW (Counter Revolutionary Warfare) Unit and their variant leg rigs, still made out of leather, designed to hold three MP5 magazines. It was not until the late 1990s/turn of the century that nylon and the

acronym ‘FSBE’ (Full Spectrum Battle Equipment) starts to come into play. MOLLE drop leg panels became more readily available circa 2003-2005.

Nowadays, the amount of choice available in drop legs is astonishing. Most manufacturers have their own offering for the market in a variety of styles, with the MOLLE system being favoured and available in most current camouflage patterns. More recently, we have seen a drop leg solution being constructed out of ‘Kydex’ and I am sure as gear builders progress and encompass new ways of working and alternate materials, the drop leg will evolve.

A drop leg is a platform that allows the user to ‘clear their armour’ and can allow them to negate other elements that would normally be on your main torso as well as a fighting belt order. They predominately hold weapon magazines but are versatile and can be used to secure other bits of kit that the user needs.

I hope that the three examples here provide you with a broader understanding of some of the products on the market. Each one is unique in their own right, but they all deliver the primary function of a leg rig.

EXTREME GEAR LABS CUSTOM RIG This is a custom leg rig from Extreme Gear Labs and the only one of three on test here that not available ‘off the shelf’. It is in the Kryptek Mandrake pattern and has similar features to the HSGI rig (see overleaf).

Due to the nature of the custom design and build I was able to incorporate a lot of features and really push the boundaries of the leg rig’s primary function. Having used the MOLLE-based platforms in the past and seen the HSGI offering I wanted to make some adaptations for my own personal use; this included the camouflage pattern.

It consists of two primary magazines, two 40mm shells (I will come back to that in the moment) and a general purpose (GP) pouch. The primary magazine pouches are sized to accommodate 20rnd 7.62 as standard, but will also accommodate 5.56 magazines, although you need to re-adjust the shock-cord. The 40mm pouches are very versatile; they can accommodate pistol, multitools, training smoke and pyrotechnics – and even chocolate bars!

The addition of a GP pouch (twice the depth of the primary mag pouches) means that I can easily add another two primary magazines should I require, or use it to store alternate basics (simple first aid), maps, BB pellet sack, cigarettes, and so on.

Due to the nature of my training style, and the weather conditions I normally find myself in, I did not want a completely open system and so the flaps can either be used as seen or folded into the pouches allowing that open system. Both the 40mm and the GP are secured with shock-cord, providing grip while loaded or compressed when empty. This falls in line with the ‘low profile, minimum snagging’ element of a leg rig.

I have had two leg straps included, both of which are detachable and will accept a 1.5-inch belt. Again, it leads back to versatility, meaning I have a total of four carry positions between belt and leg with no risk of movement.

Web: www.extremegearlabs.com

www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 047

KIT BAG LEG RIGS

HSGI COSTA LUDUS LEG RIG The HSGI (High Speed Gear Industries) Costa Ludus is the most distinctive in appearance of the three leg rigs that I’m covering here. It’s MultiCam, which is a pretty secure pattern for the foreseeable future, and incorporates the ‘taco’-style pouches that are becoming increasingly popular. It is well constructed and easily attached/detached.

The two primary magazine pouches can accommodate a wide variety of sizes quickly and easily due to the inserts and shock cord. I run 20rnd 7.62 styles and my friend runs 30rnd 5.56 style magazines and we did not need to adjust the pouches when passing them between us. I would recommend, though, that you do spend time in adjusting it to your specific needs.

The three pistol magazines are of a similar set up with shock-cord and inserts and can hold tools such as the ‘multitasker’ as well as the pistol magazines, but that’s its sensible limitations.

It has padding at the back and sits very comfortably on my top thigh. It is easy to adjust in height, compact in size, and well thought-out and constructed. It offers easy access to your magazines and with practice you can swap out very quickly when reloading. I found minimum movement when doing a variety of manoeuvres. The low profile construction also negates, as best as possible, any ‘snagging’ when moving through a variety of physical environments.

It is limited to what it can hold, although I think with some tinkering and removing the inserts it could be more flexible in kit size allowance. I also discovered that when prone, crawling, or pressing lower body against the ground, the open pouches liked to collect debris, which could easily cause a stoppage in magazines, hop units and barrels.

Price: £87 approx.

Web: www.highspeedgear.com

FLYYE INDUSTRIES MOLLE LEG RIG This leg rig is well-known, and the most adaptable of the three due to its adaptable MOLLE webbing set-up. A fellow airsofter I know is a big advocate of this system, so I asked him to explain its appeal: “The Flyye Industries MOLLE drop leg platform that has been performing a duel role for several months. I have two playing styles – assault and DMR/sniper, both of which require me to have two different airsoft rifles.

Having to swap out or create two vests started to become cumbersome and time consuming so after some research I felt a leg rig would be more appropriate. Pictured is my drop-leg, which will be set up with either a 7.62 or 5.56-style magazine pouches along with two Kydex-lined pistol pouches.

“After a recent visit to a Catterick MilSim event I really saw the benefits of this platform in its manoeuvrability, low profile, and minimum drag. I found it ideal for crawling through mouse holes and windows. Now that I have grown accustomed I will be looking at investing in a new one and will certainly be keeping my eye on what becomes available over the next three months. I would highly recommend that any player who is considering a review of their loadout looks into a drop leg set-up.”

Price: £60 Web: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

048 Christmas 2013

COMPETITION UMAREX SPORTLINE RIFLES

WIN Umarex

one of two

sportline rifles

C

ourtesy of major UK importer Armex, this issue we’ve got two Umarex Sportline rifles to give away – one each to two lucky readers! To find out more about the two-tone duo – the H&K UMP and G36C – head to page 20, where they get the review treatment from Jay Slater. Two-tone rifles are ideal for beginners and newcomers to airsoft, which means if you’re reading this magazine and thinking about getting into the great

WORTH

£300

hobby of airsoft, this is a must-enter competition for you! Seasoned airsofters might just fancy adding one of these to their arsenals, too – and at £150 a pop, each of these guns is worth a look. After all, entry to Airsoft Action competitions is totally free, so you’ve got nothing to lose!

To enter, simply send us your answer to this simple question, using either the paper slip, or via email address printed below.

UMAREX IS BASED IN WHICH COUNTRY?: A Hong Kong B Taiwan C Germany D Denmark Name __________________________________________________

Postcode ________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________

Telephone _______________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Email ___________________________________________________

Post your entry to: Umarex Sportline competition, Airsoft Action, Blaze Publishing, Lawrence House, Morrell Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 5SZ. Or, email your entries to competition@blazepublishing.co.uk, quoting ‘Umarex Sportline competition’ in the headline. Entries received after January 12 will not be valid. One entry per household. The winner will be the first name pulled from the editor’s hat.

Blaze Publishing would like to keep you informed of other offers and publications. Please tick here if you would NOT like to be contacted by post or email

082 Christmas 050 December 2013

n

IOAN ‘IGGY’ ROBERTS

Iggy spent eight years in the Royal Navy as a photographer, and still travels to various front lines. He’s been an airsofter for 15 years and loves the sport

SWATTING UP

IGGY ROBERTS TESTS A PAIR OF BLANK-FIRING GRANDES FROM SWAT TRAINING DEVICES

S

WAT Training Devices is a family business based in Merseyside, set up 28 years ago primarily as a paintball company, running sites across North Wales and Merseyside.

In 2000 SWAT turned their focus onto airsoft – and then around four years ago the company saw a chance to expand into the blank-firing grenade market.

Having adopted the ‘Training Devices’ moniker, the company developed equipment for law enforcement training scenarios that could also be used in airsoft and paintball. Their trademark product was the Versatile Training Grenade (VTG).

SWAT has continued to expand and improve this product into what you see today, as well as designing and manufacturing other blank-firers for various niche markets. They wanted to create products that limited detriment to the environment while still providing a grenade-style asset to skirmishers and training teams.

I got hold of the latest incarnation of the VTG, along with the BFGX M203 device, to see how these blank-firers performed on the skirmish field.

052 Christmas 2013 AA_052-053 Kit review – blank firers – DPS_rev2_MH.indd 52

11/11/2013 14:46

KIT REVIEW SWAT TRAINING DEVICES: BLANK-FIRING GRENADES

SWAT BFGX M203 The SWAT BFGX M203-style impact grenade has no external moving parts and custom stainless steel internals which deliver in terms of reliability and accuracy, with few misfires.

The BFGX is a good alternative to chemical burning and other hot-flame pyrotechnics in that it is a far safer option in terms of fire hazards.

The grenade is shaped like an M203 grenade but this is primarily for aesthetics and ease of carriage. The device will not fit or function in an M203 or similar launcher. It is primarily designed for use in an urban environment, requiring an impact onto a hard surface to activate. I would not recommend this product for forest or countryside sites which are soft under foot, because the ground may not be hard enough to detonate it.

That said, if the BFGX M203 is used in the environment it was designed for, be it indoor CQB or FIBUA, it works very well.

When it is not required the BFGX M203 can be stowed safely into most pouches, charged and ready for use. This is done safely by using a ring pin inserted into the grenade, preventing the firing pin from activating. When you want to use the BFGX M203, it’s simply a case of removing the pin and gently throwing it underarm onto a hard surface.

Recharging couldn’t be simpler. All you do is unscrew the nose of the device, remove the used blank and replace with a live one, then screw the nose back onto the main body. The BFGX M203 is then ready for you to use again, or replace the safety ring pin to stow back into your kit for use later.

It can also be used as a boobie trap, by resting it on either a door handle or slightly opened door. The enemy then sets the BFGX M203 off by causing it to fall to the ground.

Price: £65

SWAT VERSATILE TRAINING GRENADE (VTG) With the VTG, SWAT seeks to provide airsofters with a blank-firing grenade that has a massive, game-enhancing effect. A lot of time, research, effort and money has gone into the device, which has a unique, rubberised, pineapple grenadestyle coating that is available in a variety of block colours, and even pink! There is also a photo-luminescent version that is white by day and glows green in the dark. At the time of press, SWAT are preparing to release the VTG-X, which will feature an all-metal body available in aluminium or titanium along with some other adaptations.

They all feature the classic safety ring pin and lever of an actual grenade, making it look authentic. However, the real breakthrough comes in the working parts that enable the grenade to operate on a four second fuse – allowing the user time to place the grenade exactly where they want it for optimum devastation to the enemy.

The VTG safety ring pin has to be in place once the VTG is primed. To prime the VTG you need a specific tool that is sold with it. While testing it out, I found it best to tie the tool to the safety ring pin with some paracord to prevent the separate pieces going missing. Leaving slack in the paracord was a good idea to allow the pin to be put in place without obstruction.

The VTG can take 9mm or 12-gauge blanks, the latter enabling a much louder ‘bang.’ However most sites in the UK allow only 9mm blanks to be used, due to the dangerous level of decibels emitted by anything larger than the 9mm. SWAT are constantly developing their products to take various blank sizes to attract foreign markets worldwide.

Despite the fact that you have to carry the primer tool and prime the VTG each time, I found it very user friendly, and it does what it says on the tin. The great thing about the VTG is that it suits both urban and forest sites, making it a fantastic and diverse bit of kit.

Price: £95 (block colours); £96 (pink); £99 (photo-luminescent)

INFORMATION SWAT Training Devices distribute to various airsoft stores throughout the UK and various countries worldwide. They also have an online store at www. blankfiringgrenade.co.uk and a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/blitzvtg

053 AA_052-053 Kit review – blank firers – DPS_rev2_MH.indd 53

11/11/2013 14:46

NIGE TRAVELLED TO THE GRANGE FOR THE FIRST AIRSOFT SURGEON PRACTICAL AIRSOFT SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP TO SEE HOW THIS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE BRANCH OF AIRSOFT IS GROWING IN THE UK

PRACTICAL GUNSLINGERS E arlier this year I was very lucky to be able to spend a few days over in Nuremberg, at the IWA OutdoorClassics Exhibition – Europe’s largest exhibition for hunting, shooting and outdoor equipment. Of course, all the major airsoft manufacturers were there, as were a fair contingent of airsoft distributors and retailers, including RedWolf Airsoft with representatives from both the UK and Hong Kong. It was on their stand that I spent some time chatting with The Airsoft Surgeon, Clarence Lai, about the possibility of holding an airsoft practical pistol championship in the UK, and potentially making it a Europewide event.

That was in March, and less than eight months later I found myself standing inside a vast marquee, looking down a row of highly challenging practical shooting stages and waiting for the start of the tournament that had been just a dream those few months ago.

054 Christmas 2013

jEach course at the tournament tested the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately, and also to move through the stages quickly and effectively gShooters from all over the world flocked to The Grange for The Practical Airsoft Shooting Championship

For those of you that are wondering what ‘practical shooting’ is, it is a discipline that tests your ability to shoot both rapidly and accurately with a handgun, rifle or shotgun. Practical shooting can trace its roots back to ‘quick draw’ competitions in the USA, where contestants would emulate ‘wild west’ gunslingers, which eventually led to the formation of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) in 1984. Since then, practical shooting has become a worldwide phenomenon (except in the UK, of course) and many believe it to be the fastest growing international target shooting discipline.

The 1997 Firearms Act (Amendment)(N0.2) banned the private ownership of pistols (almost) completely in the UK and effectively destroyed a very active part of our shooting heritage – competitive pistol shooting – but it hasn’t stopped an ever-growing number of shooters using airsoft pistols instead. My first taste of practical pistol was when I was invited down to the East Barnet Shooting Club last year and watched Mark Hurding draw, aim

EVENT REPORT PRACTICAL AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIP

used as their range, with an additional small and large marquee alongside.

Eight stages would be shot on the Saturday, which would then be dismantled and a further eight erected for Sunday.

The shooters were broken down into eight squads and every shooter would shoot every stage over the course of the weekend and each would compete in one or more of five divisions: Open, Standard, Classic, Ladies’ and Junior. Although the tournament was not an officially-sanctioned IPSC event, it would be run under the IPSC Action Air Competition Rules (of which there are 64 pages), to ensure strict codes of conduct and safety.

Each of the 16 stages had been designed by Clarence to challenge not only the shooter’s ability to shoot

accurately and quickly, but also to recognise the most appropriate path to move through the stage. On some stages shooters would be required to negotiate obstacles such as tables (which they would have to shoot under), windows (which would have to opened to access the targets beyond) and targets partly obscured by a ‘no-hit’ panel that would attract penalty points if shot.

The majority of targets were IPSC-type Action Air targets with three scoring zones (A, C and D) surrounded by a 3mm-wide non-scoring zone. Just in case you were wondering why there is no ‘B’ scoring zone, this zone used to represent the ‘head’ of a figure and is not deemed appropriate for use by the IPSC. There were also a number of metal ‘popper’

and hit five individual targets in just a smidgeon over two seconds – and be upset as he normally did it in about 1.8! So you can imagine what I was looking forward to seeing at The Grange over the next couple of days.

Although hoping for about 35 to 40 entrants, the tournament proved to be an instant draw (if you’ll pardon the pun) to shooters from across Europe and entrance was closed when numbers reached 84 – with a large contingent from Poland and others from as far afield as Finland and Hong Kong, with the remainder from the UK. The tournament was held at The Grange, the home of the Airsoft Arms Fair, where I have already covered previous events. I have known Jim and Marie a little while now and know just how much effort they put into their events – but I have to say that they really pulled out all the stops on this one! The 16 stages of the competition would all be under cover, some in the hall but the majority in the vast marquee they had erected in the area usually

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targets at floor level which fall backwards when shot – although one or two of these were to prove problematic over the weekend.

As the shooters gathered in the Grange’s café in preparation for the off, I spotted Simon and the guys from Halo Mill/Patrol Base and also had chance to catch up with Mike Cripps from Elite Shooting Centre, while at opposite ends of the café two teams seemed to be competing for the ‘brightest shirts’ award, as both The Wildcats from the Isle of Wight and one of the Polish teams were looking good in their black, red and white liveries.

Following welcoming speeches from Jim Sefton, Clarence and Chris Kong from RedWolf Airsoft, the shooters all moved off to their designated stages and I tagged along to get as many action photos as I could. Those of you who have seen me out in the field with my camera, know that I am not adverse to getting right into the thick of the action to get the best shot (and believe me when I say that a high-vis vest is no barrier to multiple hits) but practical shooting is a very different kettle of fish.

As a shooter prepares to fire, the Range Officer will call “range hot!” and from this point everyone must remain behind a line to the rear, until the shooter has finished the stage and “range clear!” is called. You can imagine that this makes it, erm… ‘challenging’ to photograph and, to top it off, the use of flash is strictly forbidden as it could put the shooter off. Anyway, I hope the pictures here give you some idea of the action – however, what they will not do is convey the level of intensity of the competition, nor the sportsman-like atmosphere in which it was run.

As with all sports, not everyone wants (or can afford) to compete at the top level and the different divisions of this tournament reflected that. In Open Division, apart from a relaxed limit on the amount of rounds per magazine, pretty much anything else can be added to the gun, including sights, compensators, suppressors.

These are the ‘race guns’, fully tricked up, looking awesome and with the ability to knock a large hole in your bank balance. Open Division is considered to be the Formula One of practical airsoft shooting.

In Standard Division the guns are much more controlled, in that they must conform to certain size constraints, cannot have sights and other additions, have restricted magazine capacity and must be holstered completely behind the hip line. Using the motorsports analogy, I guess this would be the equivalent of the British Touring Car Championship.

Talking to some shooters about the variations between these two divisions, some felt that the Standard Division provided a greater level of competition, as the guns were all of an equivalent nature and capability.

Their point being that with similarly performing guns, success would come from the shooter’s skill, not their ability to spend money. However, they also conceded that a superb gun in the hands of an average Open Division shooter wouldn’t necessarily make them a good shooter. It is also interesting to note that, according to IPSC Rules, a Standard shooter who breaches certain rules would be ‘relegated to Open Division’.

The third of the main divisions at the tournament was ‘Classic’ and, as it sounds, this division is purely for guns based on a classic design, namely the 1911 genre. With constraints on size, 10-round, single stack magazines, and modifications prohibited, this is the smallest division but also one that tests the shooter’s skill to the limit. I was personally sad to note that, according to IPSC, this division is ‘under evaluation’ and unless extended, will expire at the end of 2014.

Two other divisions were being contested over the weekend: Ladies’ and Junior, with shooters from these divisions competing in the divisions above and then scored in their own as well. With seven Ladies’ and 12 Junior shooters taking part, both divisions were as fiercely competitive as the rest.

As a spectator, one of the things I really like about practical shooting is that you don’t know who has won until the tournament has finished. It’s not like a football match where the home team are 4-0 up by half time and the away supporters are already leaving the ground, or watching to see who is going to come second behind Sebastian Vettel. Sure, in practical shooting you might have an inkling that a particular shooter is doing well but, until that last shot is fired and the final “range clear!” is called, anything could happen – and this tournament was a perfect example of that.

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EVENT REPORT PRACTICAL AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIP

Because of the deteriorating weather and light conditions on the second day, it was decided to alter the order to ensure the final stages would be shot in the hall, where it was dry with plenty of lighting.

This proved to be an excellent decision as the heavens opened and dark clouds drastically reduced daylight; however, just as the final squad moved into the hall, the electricity went out!

It wasn’t too long before it was back but it meant the shooters had to start their pre-shoot preparation over again. When you consider the level of concentration they’d had to maintain to this point, you can understand how difficult it must have been to get it back again. Needless to say, they were all totally professional and I didn’t hear one grumble or bad thing said; they all just accepted it and got on with it.

With the final stages complete, all the shooters made their way back to the café to wait for the results (and maybe grab the odd beer or two at the same time, as drinking was forbidden during the tournament). I have got to say that the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant! I’ve been to events where the end has almost been an anti-climax, with nobody talking jOver 80 players registered for the event, which far surpassed expectations hTargets were positioned at a range of heights to test the shooters’ reactions gOne participant ducks under the table for a low shot

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EVENT REPORT PRACTICAL AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIP

FINAL RESULTS CLASSIC DIVISION: 1st - Roy Juurijoki 2nd - Jake Edwards 3rd - Herman Mok OPEN DIVISION: 1st - Rafal Tomanek 2nd - Maciej Piwowarski 3rd - Roy Juurijoki STANDARD - JUNIORS: 1st - Lai Pak Lam 2nd - Kamil Nowociel 3rd - Andrew Brett hThe Ladies’ trophy-winners with their prizes :The Airsoft Surgeon, Clarence Lai, with Juniors’ winner Lai Pak Lam

and people too busy packing their gear away to take part in anything going on around them. Here it was totally the opposite as shooters were busy chatting through the weekend and how it had gone for them. Brit, Pole, Fin, Filipino and Chinese shooters all talking about one common subject and, from those I spoke to, a universal response to being asked what they thought of the tournament… excellent!

The general hubbub was only quietened when Chris Kong climbed onto a chair to announce that all players had been entered into a free raffle and it was time to draw the prizes, starting with T-shirts and a selection of Airsoft Surgeon parts and accessories. It was then announced that both Mike Cripps and Clarence had donated pistols to the raffle and all the previously winning tickets were returned to the pot as the draw got underway again.

There were five pistols up for grabs, culminating in a fully-

058 Christmas 2013

prepared Airsoft Surgeon Race Gun, etched with the words ‘2013 Airsoft Surgeon European Championship’.

Needless to say, all the prize winners were suitably delighted, none more so than John Cortes of the Wildcats, who won the top prize (I wonder if he has stopped jumping up and down yet!)

It was then time for the real serious stuff as Jim signalled to Chris that the scores had arrived and the tournament’s winners could be announced. First up it was the Junior Division, won by Lai Pak Lam followed by the Ladies’ Division, which was won by Tiffany Lau. The Classic Division came next which was won by a highly delighted Roy

STANDARD - LADIES: 1st - Tiffany Lau 2nd - Katarzyna Rybarczyk 3rd - Paulina Wolyniec STANDARD - SENIORS: 1st - Jaakko Viitala 2nd - Mike Cripps 3rd - Curtis Yat Man Choi Juurijoki from Finland, while the Standard Division fell to his team mate Jaakko Viitala.

The final award was for the Open Division and went to Rafal Tomanek from Poland, who had performed almost faultlessly throughout the tournament.

And then it was all over and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Sure, practical shooting is not for everyone but, as is so often the case with airsoft, it shows just how broadly spread it has become and how much of a truly global sport it is.

In terms of the event, I think the best way I can sum it up is to quote Maciej Piwowarski, one of the Polish contingent who contacted me on Facebook after the event: “I most enjoyed the fraternal relationship between the players. The competition was organised very well. I hope that next year more players come from all over Europe. Only good publicity to attract more shooters. My colleagues from Poland are already gearing up for next year’s competition.”

All that remains is for me to add my congratulations to all the participants and winners. My thanks also to everyone at RedWolf Airsoft and The Grange for putting on such a successful event and to the man himself, Clarence Lai, Airsoft Surgeon, for making it happen.

IOAN ‘IGGY’ ROBERTS

Iggy spent eight years in the Royal Navy as a photographer, and still travels to various front lines. He’s been an airsofter for 15 years and loves the sport

BANGOR AIRSOFT SOCIETY

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heard through the grapevine that there was a group in North Wales going by the name of Bangor Airsoft Society (BAS), and that they were actively recruiting new students into airsoft. Naturally, I had to go along to investigate and find out more. I joined them on the fresher’s taster weekend.

This weekend was a week after fresher’s week, giving the students time to recover from their ‘social integrating,’ before stepping into the world of airsoft.

The students that attended the taster weekend all booked in by putting their names down on the BAS stall at the Serendipity at Bangor University. BAS members advertised their stall by wearing loadouts and having a selection of RIFs on display. Twenty-five new students put their names down to attend the taster weekend. The site BAS chose to use as its home site is Over The Top Adventures (OTT), reviewed in the September issue of Airsoft Action.

BAS has been around for four years. It was founded by a student named Liam Davies. Liam got hooked on the sport along with a few fellow students. As interest grew, he realised that together they could gather interested students by setting up a university society. Thanks to Liam BAS opened the door for students that beforehand were not able to attend any sites due to financial and transport restrictions.

Now due to university funding, there are minibus services for its members on game days. BAS arranges collectively to attend certain game days through its Facebook page. BAS is not an airsoft team as such. Members are encouraged to set up their own teams. However, BAS creates an opportunity for new players to meet different teams and members often find themselves headhunted into joining local teams that skirmish at OTT. Liam

060 Christmas 2013

IGGY ROBERTS PAYS A VISIT TO AN OPEN WEEKEND HOSTED BY AN AIRSOFT SOCIETY FORMED AND RUN BY BANGOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS himself was recruited by one of the teams and found himself skirmishing against other BAS members.

Away from the skirmishing, BAS is a group of likeminded individuals that share opinions, experiences and knowledge forming a support network to new, upand-coming players. BAS holds social meetings on a regular basis to bring members together for a good time and let off some steam away from their studies.

BAS has recently opened its doors to non-students. This means it can provide that support and stepping stone to people local to the area and expand the airsoft community in North Wales even more.

Liam has since graduated and handed the reins of BAS to Tom Day. Tom has been a member for one year and is fully up to speed with how the society works. He was elected in this year’s AGM. On his committee he has Simon Anderson as the secretary, Jack Rolfe as the treasurer, and Danny Newton as the social secretary. Between them, they have five years’ experience in airsoft. All of the members belong to various local teams and the competition between them provides for some good out-of-field banter.

This year BAS is looking to set up trips to some sites further afield, giving the members experience in other types of skirmish environments, such as FIBUA or CQB. There is also talk of purchasing society RIFs that new members could use until they find their own. The players that attended this fresher’s taster weekend were up against some experienced, well-organised teams such as the Dog Soldiers and Spartans.

STUDENT AIRSOFT BANGOR AIRSOFT SOCIETY

;BAS plays its games at Over The Top Adventures gUniversity is a great place to meet people and get involved in societies. If there isn’t an airsoft society at your uni, why not set one up? hBAS is formed of like-minded individuals who share a common love of airsoft

The games were objective-driven and the students had to work together to secure from the hands of the Spartans a ruined building that was manned and over-looked by a pillbox. If they managed to achieve this, they faced the mega fort, which was under the control of the Dog Soldiers. The mega fort is a well-fortified position, with a pillbox type tower in the centre looking over the battlefield at all angles.

These objectives would be a challenge for most well-practised and organised teams, let alone a group of people that have just met one another a week ago. As you have probably guessed, it was a blood bath. Students were shot to pieces all over the site.

What the game did do is provide a good stage for the local teams to choose who to invite to join their ranks in the future as potentials. Also, a few individuals joined together and started working as teams. Could this be the beginning of new teams forming in BAS?

The rest of the weekend involved mixing up the new members with different teams and undertaking various missions all over the site. This gave the students a chance to explore the site and get to grips with being part of a team.

All of the students that attended the taster weekend said they thoroughly enjoyed it and would come to future events. This looks to be a good year for the society. Liam must be proud looking at the BAS of today – only now it’s through his scope, as he is a key sniper for the Spartan team!

BAS is always recruiting and will hold another taster weekend just after January’s fresher’s week. Remember, you do not have to be a student in Bangor University to be a member of BAS. If you are from the North Wales area or attend one of the universities in that area, why not look them up on Facebook? If you are in university anywhere and wish to play airsoft why not go down the path of setting up your own university airsoft society? Just because you’re in uni does not mean you have to stop doing the sport you love.

I was really impressed with Liam Davies’ effort and determination in setting up BAS. I look forward to hearing how it continues to grow and inspire more young people into joining our airsoft community under the leadership of Tom Day and his committee.

INFORMATION BANGOR AIRSOFT SOCIETY If you’re interested in joining BAS, or just fancy a chat with like-minded airsofters in the North Wales area, head over to www.facebook. com/groups/BangorAirsoftSociety

061

Ageing and painting RON MAHONEY

Ron has been involved in fieldcraft, shooting and outdoor pursuits for over 30 years. His real passion is the ‘sneaky-beaky’ style of airsoft game

YOUR RIF

IN PART ONE OF AN ON-GOING SERIES, RON MAHONEY LOOKS AT HOW TO GIVE YOUR RIF A CUSTOMISED FINISH. FIRST UP, HE LOOKS AT AGEING AND PAINTING AN AIRSOFT RIFLE

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ver the next few issues of Airsoft Action I am going to demonstrate steps and tips that will allow you to give your airsoft weapon a customised finish. If you have an RIF that’s not looking or feeling quite as good as it should, you can modify it yourself fairly easily, as the skills required are not especially advanced.

I suppose the first question to address is why bother? For some, the unboxing of a new shiny, black gat is as good as it gets.

Keeping it clean, tidy and fully functioning is the right way for them. They may well feel that, down the line, they’d consider selling the gun and so modifying it is not an option.

Others, however, may want to have a gun that looks like it has been through a bit of

WHAT YOU’LL NEED Wet and dry paper (multiple grades) Wire wool (optional) Cold blue gun paste

062 Christmas 2013

action. They spend time and effort on a period loadout and the last thing they want is a shiny, plastic-looking rifle.

Whatever the arguments for and against, most players probably think about giving it a try. Some love the end results, some hate them; my aim is to give you the best advice to produce something that will resemble the better end of the customising spectrum. Although there are lots of videos available online, most are filmed by someone holding a camera in one hand while trying to carry out the work in the other, zooming in and out of focus with objects moving in and out of frame. At least by the end of this article you should have a better idea of what they were trying to show you!

Okay, let’s get the legal stuff out of the way right at the start. I’m talking about customising, painting or ageing an airsoft rifle that started out as a replica, in either black or gunmetal – a true Realistic Imitation Firearm (RIF), not a twotone gun. If you own a two-tone gun, are waiting for your site to validate your defence, or are underage, then by law you must leave your rifle in its current state.

Here I’m going to take two of the most popular airsoft assault rifles, the M4 Carbine and AK-47S, and take them through the process of ageing, staining, blueing and painting.

Before you start, remember that the real steel weapons that our replicas are based on have big, chunky, solid, metal moving parts that withstand violent shocks each time the trigger is squeezed. Ours have delicate wiring, switches, circuits and tiny pieces of rubber. These have little tolerance for dust, splinters, or an over-spray of paint.

If you know how to remove most of the brain and brawn of your rifle, then that is a bonus. If not, be very careful to protect areas like the hop unit and motor housing.

GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY The first phase of the process is ageing the metal components of the RIF. Before you jump in with the wet and dry paper, have a look at how you hold the rifle; think about the parts that receive the most wear and tear: the magwell housing, cocking handle, fire selection switches, sling swivels, body pins and so on. As a guide, I’d suggest that anything that is raised from the body of the receiver will, over time, receive more wear than the body. Also, parts that are recessed may still have their original colour after years of use. Try and find a few reference photos to give you an idea.

Removing the powder coating and paint that covers most dark metal is a filthy job, so make sure you have a good area to work in and cover it with newspaper. Start with a coarse grade of abrasion paper, something like 400-grit, and gently ‘wipe’ this across the body. Straight away you will notice areas that the paint comes away from. Again, these parts that are proud from the receiver will want plenty of work. You can then go to work in these areas with finer grades of paper, up to the likes of 1000-grit.

Taking your time, you will start to see the transformation of the metal parts from a shiny black to a more realistic combination of bare metal, areas of flaky paint and some

;The effects of artificial wear and tear lead to a really authentic-looking ‘aged’ gun gParts that stick proud from the receiver, such as pins, should have their paint removed ]This M4 now looks as if it’s seen some serious action hHere, bluing is starting to work on the delta ring, but not the bodywork

WORKSHOP AGEING AND PAINTING YOUR RIF

WOODEN FITTINGS

Assault or sniper rifles with wooden stocks can look stunning.

While there’s no doubt that synthetic stocks are more durable, a real wood stock is hard to beat. I’m sure many readers are into WWII loadouts and games where it would be a distinct advantage to have a weathered-looking rifle – but equally, considering the amount of wood used in post-war years from Warsaw Pact nations in the AK series and clones, then there is plenty of scope for use a deliberately-aged wooden stock, whatever type of game you play.

The wood used in our budget range airsoft guns isn’t likely to be built from collector’s grade walnut. They are made from cheaper woods such as beech, painted and lacquered. Of course, the whole point of this exercise is that we want to take that shiny, out untouched. Most of the RIFs that have been deliberately aged go no further than this ‘lived-in’ effect. However, there is another technique we can use to give us a more realistic look.

In the real world, when an assault rifle gets to look a bit battered and bruised, a process called ‘bluing’ is used on the action to give it a new lease of life. This is a chemical process and can be done either ‘hot’ or ‘cold’. The process of hot bluing involving baths of chemicals is far too difficult and complex to consider for an airsoft rifle. However, cold blue paste can be bought online for about £7 – and this is what we have used here. When bare metal is blued, you will see an instantaneous change, as the metal goes dark brown, then a deep purple/blue.

Sadly, bluing will only work on true steel parts – and with many of our receivers being stamped and constructed from alloys it will be very much hit and miss.

However, where it does work it will really enhance the look of your rifle.

of the box ‘orange wood’ and give it instant general wear and tear, scratches and dents. Start by sanding off the lacquer again using a coarser grade of sand paper. Once you have removed this think about where your hands fall. Where would the stock be getting the most wear?

These areas you can sand a little more to create a patchy-looking layer rather than a perfectly sanded finish.

Another thing about wooden ‘furniture’ on our RIFs is that it should reflect the knocks and dents that a real steel version would display. Once the wood is sanded, take a round-edged tool such as a wrench and give the wood a couple of glancing taps. There

jThe dings and dents on this wooden handgrip were made with round-edged tools

063

is no need to go to town trying to beat the living daylights out of your pistol grip – just a couple of gentle dings and dents will do the trick.

We are now going to put a bit of colour back into our stock and I recommend using a water-based stain rather than the thick, paint-on variety.

Use a sponge to apply this in several thin layers, building up the colour as you go.

Those dings and dents should now really start to stand out and you can see why you didn’t have to be over the top with your wrench. Allow this to dry fully and then we are ready for the final coat of oil to finish the wood and seal it from the elements. Most DIY stores will sell Danish Oil and you can apply protective shell this in several thin layers, allowing the stock to absorb it. The reason I suggest Danish Oil rather than a varnish is that when the stock has dried it will have a lovely sheen to it, rather than a bright shine.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED Wet and dry paper (multiple grades) Round-headed tools (like a wrench or hammer) Water-based wood stain Danish Oil

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jWorn and stained woodwork can really transform an AK’s appearance kAn AK with its wooden forestock sanded down in preparation for wood-stain application

“Remember that the real steel weapons that our repl i c as are based on have bi g , chunky, sol i d , metal movi n g parts that witimthstand vi o l e nt shocks each e the trigger is squeezed.”

WORKSHOP AGEING AND PAINTING YOUR RIF

STAY DUSTY

You’ll have seen many M4s with a ‘dusty’ Sandpit look to them. To achieve this, you will need a tin of sandy, light brown, khaki-coloured spray paint; some thinners or paint remover; a kitchen pan scrubber/sponge; a toothbrush; and a dry cloth. Give the gun a light coat of the paint. There is no need to be too heavy, as we are actually going to be removing about 95 per cent of the layer.

Make sure you wait the full recommended drying time – we don’t want to start removing the paint too quickly. Dab some of the thinners/whitespirit onto the pan scrubber sponge and then start to make small circular movements on the paint. The paint will start to thin out and be stripped from parts of the metal. Now you can rub the paint off with a cloth. Some of the paint will find its way into areas where sand and dust would gather and these will be areas that the cloth we use to remove the paint won’t easily reach.

Use a toothbrush to get into areas such as the RIS/RAS rails and sights and carry out the same process. Once you have done this you can turn the pan scrub over and use the more abrasive edge to remove paint from those areas we had highlighted during the ageing process (or if you are just spraying a gun from black follow the advice above).

Don’t forget the plastic parts to your rifle that we’ve left out so far, as the paint will bond to them more easily than the metal.

Once everything is dry, all that remains for you to have the ultimate veteran RIF is to get out there and use it – as nothing can quite help to age your kit better than constant use. Next time, we will look at how to spray up your RIF in both urban and woodland camo patterns.

Thanks to Paul from The Airsoft Shack in Buckley, North Wales, for providing the M4 Carbine used in this article: www.bbgun4fun.co.uk.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED Light brown spray paint Paint thinner Sponge or scrubber A toothbrush A dry cloth

065

URBAN SNIPER REAL-WORLD SHARPSHOOTER DAN MILLS PRESENTS A GUIDE TO SNIPING IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT FOR AIRSOFTERS WHO LIKE TO GO IT ALONE

DAN MILLS

A former army warrant officer, Dan served in the forces for 24 years, seeing service on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq

H

istory has shown that, in the urban environment, snipers can be deployed to great effect. In Stalingrad, Berlin, Baghdad and Sangin, the sniper has operated with surgical precision and is currently being used to devastating effect in Syria. The airsoft fraternity has seen a massive spike in players opting to purchase a sniper rifle and go it alone – so for this reason I have decided to focus here on operating as a sniper on the urban battlefield, bearing in mind the obvious limitations of the airsoft rifle, in particular the sort of distances they can fire. The following will help all those currently playing as snipers, or those considering the role.

THE ROLE OF THE SNIPER The role of the sniper is to disrupt the enemy command and control by day and by night, in all weather conditions – and to act as an observation post, providing additional battlefield information, and the capability to call in direct and indirect fire as and when required.

066 Christmas 2013

One of the sniper’s priority targets is the enemy sniper. Another is enemy command and control. Kill the command element from the enemy organisation and the control and co-ordination will crumble.

On the real-world battlefield, other important figures to take out include enemy forward air controllers, observation officers, and mortar fire coordinators, as these personnel have the ability to inflict heavy damage on your troops; they are battle-winning assets and must be destroyed. Naturally, some airsoft games, particularly themed weekenders, will have equivalent figures to these military personnel. These should be your targets.

Communications/signals personnel are also crucial targets, as without these, command and control will fail, be unorganised and fractured, and information flow will cease. Crew-served weapons, of course, can’t fire without crew members to use them; they are capable of inflicting heavy losses on personnel, equipment and vehicles, and so these should be targeted, too.

SNIPER TASKS (FIBUA) When fighting in built-up areas (FIBUA), as well as taking out key targets, snipers must engage in ‘counter sniping’. Always be on the look for any signs that enemy snipers are operating in your area; they are a game changer, and high up the list of priority targets.

Another important task is coverage of obstacles, both manmade and natural, with observation and, where necessary, fire.

Snipers should also provide flank and rear observation. This enables commanders the flexibility to deploy other troops elsewhere;

jSnipers can be deployed to great effect in the urban environment, picking off enemy personnel and diminishing morale ;Make use of hard cover – there should be plenty of it in FIBUA games gAlways recce your area, take into account wind direction and speed, and consider setting up dummy fire positions

SKILLS ROOM URBAN SNIPER

a good sniper pair will observe, log and report on any enemy activity to the flanks and rear, warn of any enemy infiltration, and destroy with indirect fire or precision weapons. Finally, by destroying and neutralising enemy observation posts, you can remove the enemy’s ability to observe, log and report on your movements.

THE SNIPER’S IMPACT A successful sniper will slow down enemy movement and tempo.

Enemy forces will have to think twice before going down that street or alley, more forces will be tied up in providing protection or searching for the snipers. Momentum breaks down. The fear a sniper instills forces the enemy to use caution. They make take twice as long to complete a mission.

Snipers force the enemy to remain in cover or underground. Keep the enemy heads down; you can then move in and destroy. You can use your status as a lone marksman to disrupt enemy decisionmaking and processes. Without a head, commanders cannot make decisions, the unit will crumble, and morale diminishes.

Imagine sitting and talking with your mates in an area you have been told is safe, relaxing from the battle, when suddenly out of nowhere the operator sat next to you is shot in the head or torso.

The psychological impact is massive, word spreads and panic takes over. You are safe nowhere; a sniper can hit you wherever you are.

One after one your friends are picked off. Who’s next?

EQUIPMENT AND CONDITIONS A helmet is a must-have bit of kit, as there are unlimited dangers lurking in the urban environment; protect your head from bumps and

“You are safe nowhere; a sniper can hit you wherever you are.

One after one your friends are picked off.

Who’s next?” scratches, and flying BBs! Gloves are needed to protect your hands from wear and tear, glass/wood splinters, and cuts – while camouflage/ local materials are required to cam up.

Always take water into the field, as urban ops are hot, dirty and dusty. Tools, and things like footholds, hooks, sandbags, rope are worth considering, too.

Areas of rubble are difficult to fight in, but provide good protection for bunkers on either side. Dust covers everything – weapons, equipment, and your throat. Urban environments have restricted fields of view and fire. Typical engagement distances are reduced, as are the amount of fire positions available – select the best ones. Opposition forces will be in close proximity – this restricts sniping in certain areas, making it more dangerous for the isolated conditions snipers operate in. Angles and arcs are vital; recce all positions before enemy arrives. Think about the effects of wind.

Before pulling the trigger, ensure you are well concealed and have a planned escape route. Hold the position after release; freeze. Don’t shoot without a screen and backdrop for concealment. Dummy fire Positions should be considered in all areas as a bluff. Think about flash – keep your weapon clean and this should not happen.

ROUTE SELECTION AND MOVEMENT Most movement outdoors will easily be picked up by a trained eye, so any movement must be kept to an absolute minimum. If possible, move from house to house, room to room, to avoid detection – use mouse holes. Consider vulnerable points: wide-open areas, windows, obvious crossing points, road junctions, bridges, and high places such as church towers.

Routes must be selected carefully prior to enemy arrival. Plan every point religiously; you should already know the angles in the built-up area from your reconnaissance; use all the points mentioned above to stealthily move about the environment stalking your prey. Move quietly to avoid echo, do not make enough noise to give away your position.

So there you have it, a quick run down of the kinds of things urban snipers need to be aware of. FIBUA in airsoft is great fun, and often leads to very atmospheric games. If you’re lucky enough to get to play at a site with good, realistic urban warfare conditions, then these tips should help you get in the mindset of the real-life sniper, and pick off the enemy one by one!

067

THE ARMOURY RWL NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM S&T TAR-21 1911

NIGHTHAWK Custom 1911

SCOTT ALLAN GETS TO GRIPS WITH A TOP HANDGUN PRODUCED UNDER LICENCE BY REDWOLF AIRSOFT

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SCOTT ALLAN

Scott has worked in airsoft retail for many years – and played airsoft long before that. He likes big, heavy guns, loud explosions and MilSim games in particular

he 1911 is a hundred-year-old icon with masses of variations – and the airsoft replica on test here is the Nighthawk Custom, produced under licence

by RedWolf and manufactured by KWC. This is also the same pistol that Chris Costa is often said to favour – and this might just be the best airsoft gas blowback ever. Why, you ask? Read on...

REAL STEEL Nighthawk never just say, ‘that’s good enough.’ In September 2012, they started using nothing but parts that they developed which are fully machined from solid billet. This includes very difficult-to-machine parts, such as the beavertail grip safety, thumb safety, magazine release, slide stop, hammers, and so on.

They have also switched to an extreme high cut under the trigger guard. This is very noticeable once you pick up the gun.

Even customers with large fingers may suddenly find that even an officer-size build will allow them to get all three fingers on the frame. So it boils down to them being very serious about their 45 ACP-touting 1911. The 45 round is far from new but it is still

very popular. It’s like firing a large brick at your target – and this is why still, to this day, it is equally loved by civilians and law enforcement alike – even the US military still love this pistol. So old doesn’t always have to mean out of date!

THE REPLICA 1911 pistols have one problem in airsoft – they generally suck a lot in the cold weather and, as you have no doubt noticed, we’re now in the cold season big time. There are two ways around this for me normally. Option 1, don’t use a pistol in winter; or option 2 (my favourite), buy a Walther P99 or Socom MK23 non-blowback. Players do seem to get humpy when a pistol is non-blowback yet have no issue with their rifle not having any – an odd observation.

The finish of the metalwork on this version is nice, very nice.

The balance and weight feel good and accurate, the finish on the paintwork is an even, flat black – but this definitely adds to the look. The grips are a black plastic and while they are okay I would be sorely tempted to bin them in favour of real Nighthawk versions as quickly as possible, which cost around £56 for the really nice styles. There are other real grips available for 1911s these days that are very cheap and plentiful. These will compliment the Nighthawk Custom markings on the top slide perfectly.

The trigger action is nice and smooth as you would expect

069

from any pistol. That aside it is not until the blowback cycle starts that the real fun begins! CO2-powered pistols have always provided a great blowback action but the rather large downside is the fact that they are often putting out a higher feet-per-second than your standard AEG! You could always generally expect a CO2 pistol to chronograph over 400fps with a 0.20 BB, and in lots of cases this would be even as high as 450fps. This is why, to date, you have not seen so many CO2 airsoft pistols actually being used. However, the Nighthawk Custom is designed with airsoft in mind – so fires at a less face-shattering 340fps with a Blaster 0.20g BBs. What this means for you is that you have a pistol that is less affected by

070 Christmas 2013

the cold and damp (also known as British summertime), that is site friendly and has a Biblical level of recoil. Oh, and the noise – don’t forget the ear-shattering crack as it cycles at 90 decibels.

So surely this is everything you will ever need from a pistol? It looks great, works all year round and you can fit whatever you need to the 20mm rail. Is there a catch? Well, there is always a slight catch. The magazines need a CO2 bulb which is a bit of a pain to change.

You certainly won’t do it in a hurry under pressure but then each mag will probably provide you with two full loads before it needs changing, and there is talk about a refillable air bulb that will be on the market at some point, but pricing for that is sketchy.

The prospect of free refills is pretty cool though and would certainly make the pistol much less hassle for many players.

Almost every 1911 I have ever used really did toil in the cold weather. Part of the issue with the GBB types is the thin magazine which just doesn’t hold enough gas. As the body and

THE ARMOURY RWL NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM S&T TAR-21 1911

lThe black plastic grips are nice enough, but many airsofters swap them for something more exciting hThe beavertail grip safety and thumb safety are well machined :This 1911’s trigger action is nice and smooth

magazine cools the compression falls from the gas expansion. This gives you sluggish and poor performance. CO2 does work better but you have the additional cost of bulbs, anywhere from 30-50p per bulb. But would you rather use your pistol all year round or not? Holster-wise the Nighthawk Custom will easily fit the real steel common holsters such as the SERPA. The range on the Night Hawk Custom is not to be sniffed at. I found that running Blaster 0.30s gave the best range but also upped the power slightly so you will have to be careful you don’t slip over your site limits. It’s also worth noting that the first two or three shots tend to be more powerful, so it’s always good to fire off a few shots dry before using it in-game with a fresh bulb.

There isn’t much you can really do with a pistol in terms of changing it up but I think if you had one of these, a nice LED flashlight, and a custom Kydex holster, you would be a happy man for a long time.

CONCLUSION So a pistol is something everyone loves and wants but so few of us ever get around to using. The sad fact is they are a little bit extra hassle and therefore not used as often.

Yet this works better in the cold weather, much better than a standard GBB, though you do have to take into consideration the 12g bulbs you will have to buy and keep a stock of until the wonder reusable bulb appears. Loading them into the magazines is an extra faff around but worth it. If I am honest I so often forget to even gas my magazines on my pistol. It’s just something else to do when you can be talking about the latest YouTube video on Sweep The Leg Drills. But if you can be bothered doing a little personal admin, the Nighthawk Custom will serve you well for those close encounters when the enemy are coming for you, and all you have left is your handgun.

INFORMATION RWL Nighthawk Custom 1911 Length: 220mm Weight: 908g Hop-up: Adjustable System: Gas blowback Propellant: CO2 (12g bulb) Construction: Full metal Velocity: 340fps with Blaster 0.20g BB Features: 20mm rail, Nighthawk Custom trademarks Price: £119.9

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DEBATE FITAIRSOFT FOR PURPOSE ETHICS

GARETH ‘GADGE’ HARVEY LOOKS INTO THE ETHICS OF CERTAIN MILITARY IMPRESSIONS IN AIRSOFT

LOADOUT ORDER M of

GARETH 'GADGE' HARVEY

Gadge is our resident history buff and FilmSim fanatic. He has a passion for WWII, Nam-soft and Cold War gaming – but still finds time to fit in an open-day skirmish

ost skirmishers in the UK don’t have a set impression or loadout, but some do. Quite often, it’s an emulation of high profile UK and US modern military units (and occasionally famous historical ones), but every now and then an outfit turns up on site that touches a raw nerve with some players – and so this issue we ask, are there ethics in airsoft impressions?

On several online forums and our Facebook page, we asked players whether ‘anything goes’ with regards to kit.

Some folk draw the line at dressing up as Nazis, but they see no issue with playing the Taliban at an Afghanistan game. Is there a time limit we impose on good taste before re-enacting a war? Why is a 1980s British Infantry Northern Ireland loadout considered okay, but an IRA Active Service Unit impression not? The results of our debate and the opinions expressed were, as ever, diverse but some key views cropped up with surprising regularity.

Almost overwhelmingly, most players feel that it is not worth reading too much into something what they consider ‘just a game’ – and very few, if any, really believe that players with ‘edgier’ impressions hold political views to match their webbing and combats. Another prevalent opinion is that impressions are really more about playing ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’. In this sense, many Airsoft Action readers see airsoft as more akin to a war film than a military simulation.

While most players do opt for ‘good guy’ loadouts such as SAS or Navy SEALs there is a perverse, slightly dark pleasure, it seems, in fielding for the ‘bad guys’ – especially those historically portrayed (by the victors we hasten to add) in Hollywood and computer games as ‘evil empires’, like WWII Nazis and communist Russians. Equally, in more modern themed games, playing ‘baddies’ like the Viet Cong, IRA or Taliban is seen as a necessary evil, as somebody has to play the enemy – and you can usually guarantee a place on the ‘bad guy’ side, as tickets to play the Western forces often sell out quickly.

Another commonly shared view is that, if a themed game is done with conviction and integrity, any impression is valid and reasonable if it fits the scenario, but choosing something controversial for either comedic reasons or to cause a reaction is ‘bad form’.

Many sites and players choose to bypass any chance of upset by creating their own fictional countries to do battle against UK and US forces or to make the opposition consist of generic ‘rebels’ or ‘pirates’ to avoid any undue unpleasantness. But as one player rightly pointed out, when you’re simulating war or battle, it’s all pretty inherently unpleasant anyway!

One thing most players did agree on is that cheating or being a bad sport on the skirmish field is a greater ‘crime’ than any questionable loadout!

READERS’ VIEWS

PAUL READ: “Re-enactors don’t seem to get stick for their choice of ‘dress up’ – and when you dig down, we’re all just playing dress up. Obviously, if it upsets a majority then maybe it needs a rethink, but why gloss over the nasty bits?”

DAVE RENNIKS: “In context, like at a WWII weekender or modern Afghan MilSim, I don’t have an issue. It’s when someone shows up in full death’s head regalia at a Sunday skirmish I start to wonder…”

SIMON FRIEND: “I think an Axis loadout is fine – after all, in a WWII game the Allies can’t really fight themselves can they? However, good sense and respect must prevail; there is no place for Nazi armbands and salutes.”

CHRIS SINCLAIR: “It becomes distasteful to dress up as any of those paramilitary organisations. If you pay attention to news in Belfast or any part of Northern Ireland you will know how bad that has hit us, and how bad they still can be.”

BILLY GUMBRELL: “Bearing in mind we all run around pretending to kill each other, I think wearing ‘bad guy’ historical kit is the least we need concern ourselves with!”

075

ANDY NIGHTINGALE

Andy has seen active service around the world – and now runs Pro-Tact, a not-for-profit group providing tactical training for the airsoft community and private security forces

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ANDY NIGHTINGALE INSTRUCTS US ON A QUICK AND TO-THE-POINT SHOOTING TECHNIQUE USED IN CLOSE-QUARTERS COMBAT

POINT SHOOT

ue to the modern shooting techniques that have dominated the world of tactical and defensive shooting, most of the old schools shooting drills have become obsolete over the years. But just because new skills and drills are invented it does not mean that the old tactics are useless. One skill that seems to have run its course is ‘point shooting’ – shooting without using the sights to aim. It wasn’t long ago that I offered some of my regular students a chance to sign up to a point shooting course and was met by a barrage of sniggering.

Now, I know I’m getting on a bit, but I’m not that old that I trained in point shooting as my SOP, but I have taken an interest in it, as it does serve its worth on the battlefield. I have studied many gunfights (with handguns) and found that no matter what type of training you have, when the brown stuff hits the fan instinctive body movement can and does take over.

A typical gunfight ranges between zero and seven feet – close-quarters fighting. If one extends the handgun out towards the

076 Christmas 2013

and

intended target at such close quarters, then it can easily be knocked or taken away from the shooter. One of the reasons we extend the handgun towards the target is to acquire sight alignment. But at such close quarters acquiring the sights is not so important. To be honest, if you can’t hit a man-size target at these distances you really should be questioning your shooting skills.

One of the techniques still used today is the ‘speed rock’. This requires the shooter to draw the handgun from the holster and simply rock it towards the target while arching his back at the same time.

This is okay if you have something like a vehicle bonnet to lean back on to steady the rock, but if you have no support you can be overrun in a close-quarters fight. The speed rock is a point shooting skill.

Point shooting has been around for an age, but it wasn’t until Colonel Rex Applegate took an interest that it became a recognised skill. Applegate was assigned to the military police corps at Fort Lewis Washington 3 Intelligence Division. At this point the US Army was still shooting combative handguns at bullseye targets. In 1942, Applegate was asked by Colonel Wild Bill Donovan to learn all that he could about how close-quarters shooting was being addressed both with and without weapons.

He was ordered by the US Army to form a combat section for the Military Intelligence Training Centre at Camp Ritchie, Maryland.

His duty was to train the personnel in all types of combat, ready for their deployment on special missions. He helped develop closequarters battle techniques recognised by the US Army and law enforcement agencies by late 1944. This interest prompted the US

SKILLS ROOM POINT SHOOTING

War Department to produce and develop a training film based on the Camp Ritchie Military Intelligence system for the training in the use of handguns in combat. The training film was called Film Bulletin 152 or FB152 – the only training film to be produced by the US Army about handgun training in CQB situations – and was not intended to be the final word in combative handgun shooting, but to set the standard by which all other development in this type of shooting should follow.

Since FB152 was made, point shooting has been restudied, refined and reworked due to the ever-changing development in training techniques, technology and the way we fight battles. Since WWII, the theatre of war has changed so much that, although the principles of point shooting are the same, the techniques have been redeveloped to allow us maximum advantage.

W E Fairbairn instructed his students to adopt the crouch position. This is an instinctive reaction when under stress. The knees bend slightly, the head lowers, and the shoulders raise and roll forwards. At the same time you drop your weight and tighten up the abdomen. In most cases the hands will raise to protect the head. Adopt this position but lower the shooting hand with the handgun grasped firmly with the correct grip on the weapon. Stand with the shoulders

“When time is not on our side, making fine adjustments to the sighted aim is not an option” jA typical point shooting starting stance – note the shoulder, leg, and hand positioning hSimplistic it may be, but point shooting is far from useless in close-quarters situations

square to the target and the weapon in the low ready position. The arm, elbow, and wrist should be locked tight with the wrist canted slightly to the right. This will bring the bore of the handgun in line with the centre of the body. The weak hand is used to aid balance and protect the head. From this position the handgun is raised to eye level and the handgun is superimposed onto the target.

Remember that the target will be at close distance. There may not be time during a gunfight to make these fine adjustments to the startle position during high stress situations, so Fairbairn suggested the threequarter hip position. This requires the shooter to raise the handgun up to chest level, with the elbow bent slightly, allowing the handgun to point more naturally at the centre mass of the target.

Point shooting was restructured around 1990. The idea of canting the wrist to the right was dropped. Students were now being instructed to grip the handgun so that the bore line of the weapon

077

SKILLS ROOM POINT SHOOTING

jWhen point shooting, there is no time to align the shot using the sights – shooters must instead act quickly and pull the trigger once the gun has been raised and aimed gThis shooter is holding his handgun in the low, ready position in the correct way

078 Christmas 2013

was in line with the shooing arm. This method was much easier to learn. Although the bore line of the weapon was not at centre line with the body, effective and acceptable hits on the target were achieved.

This method was limited to extreme close quarters fighting due to the angle of error. The further the target from the shooter, the more the shots travelled further to the left due to the weapon pointing across the centre line of the target. No matter which point-shooting position you chose to adopt, the weapon must be held in the low, ready position and then raised to the target and not pushed or cast out to the target, as this will cause the wrist to snap at the end of the movement, causing the weapon to dip and rounds to land below the intended point of impact. In some extreme cases, rounds have even ended up in the ground way in front of the target.

So why don’t we use the sights to aim the weapon if we bring the gun up to eye level? If we bring the gun up to eye level and concentrate on focusing on the sights we have to align the sights properly and then superimpose them on to the target before we can take the shot. This can take too long, especially at such close quarters that we may be overrun by the adversary before we can gain a correct sight picture. Using the sights means that we have to concentrate and focus on three different objects (rearsight, front sight, and target) at three different distances.

We can only physically focus on one object at a time. Even with plenty of practice, this can be too long a process for us to achieve in combative terms. When time is not on our side, making these fine adjustments to the sighted aim and producing a correct sight picture before we make that conscious decision to shoot is not an option.

In a close quarters gunfights we can simply bring the weapon up and superimpose the gun onto the target and shoot with the desired results. It’s that simple.

As with all new shooting positions and skills, start slowly and get it right first time every time. This is an old, time-served shooting skill that every serious shooter should learn.

GARETH ‘GADGE’ HARVEY REPORTS FROM THE LATEST INSTALMENT OF GUNMAN AIRSOFT’S COLD WAR CAMPAIGN. PHOTOGRAPHY: HARRY BRYCE AND SAM ASHCROFT

OPERATION HOCKWERK GARETH 'GADGE' HARVEY

Gadge is our resident history buff and FilmSim fanatic. He has a passion for WWII, Nam-soft and Cold War gaming – but still finds time to fit in an open-day skirmish

080 Christmas 2013

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he Cold War just got hot! It’s the end of 1983 and after a humiliating defeat in Poland, where its attempts to covertly support anti-Soviet movements met disaster, NATO is licking its wounds on the East/West German border. With tensions between the Warsaw Pact and NATO reaching epic levels and World War III looking inevitable, NATO has hatched a top-secret plan to recover a lethal chemical weapon known as ‘Hochwerk’ before it can be used in the coming war.

And so the scene was set for Gunman Airsoft’s latest instalment in its Cold War saga. Our hosts for this episode would be the fantastic chaps at Blue Streak Airsoft, a former British rocket warfare research site… in short absolutely perfect to represent a 1980s secret weapons research establishment!

I’d been asked to command elements of the NATO forces and I knew from the off I was in for a gruelling weekend. Play was set to start at 8pm on the Friday night and continue through until 2pm

jA support gunner takes his position, ready to mow down opposition troops gUS Rangers discuss their next plan of attack

on the Sunday with only 6 hours downtime each night for sleep and socialising.

While the truly hardcore might feel that you really need 24-hour, uninterrupted activity to be ‘totally immersed’, I think it’s more likely to see you ‘totally dead’ when you fall asleep behind the wheel on the way home.

So with the respective US, British, East German and Russian sides in their harbour areas, after a quick safety brief each side was given its objectives in a military-style ‘orders group’ appropriate for their nation. My Brits (comprised of elements of the Royal Union Rifles light infantry unit and a Royal Navy Gunnery Support forward observer unit) had a lot

EVENT REPORT OPERATION HOCKWERK

I felt slightly less awesome when several of our guys were captured within minutes – like a total idiot I had forgotten the map on the wall was not orientated the right way and sent one team straight into the enemy checkpoint! Luckily the navy lads saved the day (or night) mere minutes before the 2am end-of-ops when they returned with both the East German and Russian faction commanders as their captives! And so, feeling less of a total div, I sorted out my bunk, looked at the intelligence captured to date, and settled down for a few hours’ sleep before recommencing offensive ops.

HIGH-SPEED RAID Day two began with the team in good spirits. Unfortunately, we still didn’t have enough info or enough enemy uniforms to infiltrate the facility – and more importantly no idea where the scientists were who had been working on the NBC weapon and would be needed to disarm and move it! After several unsuccessful attempts to probe the enemy’s defences and scout out where the scientists were, we were lucky enough to find a gap in the Warsaw Pact’s armour.

A frantic radio call from our US Ranger allies revealed that they were in a real humdinger of a scrap with pretty much the majority of the enemy. We were too far away to help, but, by a twist of fate, pretty close to the now lightly-guarded facility.

Rallying the Brits we came up with a plan to launch a lightning raid and moved at the double to the camp’s office complex.

Once within view of any possible enemy we put in a classic ‘pepper pot’ attack with each section bursting ahead under covering fire before going to ground to fire and cover the first section’s next tactical bound.

Here I have to say that having a team of around 50 per cent ex-servicemen and doing substantial training in small unit tactics really paid off. Within seconds

on their plate, but first off we had to find out the lay of the land.

OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS Now I’ve been to Blue Streak before, but that was in daylight, and at night everything changes. I started the Brits’ adventure with a colossal error of judgement. After beginning the ‘O Group’ with a correctly orientated map, getting the guys to gather round, some bright spark suggested using the vintage 1960s giant 3D map of the site on the wall.

A great idea and we all felt really ‘warry’ as we pointed out recce objectives on the massive map-board and I sent my patrols out to capture Warsaw Pact sentries and gather intelligence.

www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 081

we were on the complex, grenades posted through the guardroom window, and each room cleared swiftly and professionally! Everything looking vaguely valuable or like useful ‘intel’ was stolen or photographed with polaroid cameras (I’m still not convinced the Playboy calendar was a valid military document though lads…) and before ‘bugging out’ we captured a few of the guards. It was textbook raid and we returned to our harbour area feeling justifiably smug!

So with oodles of communist documents, a brace of prisoners and a good idea of the layout of the complex we formulated the next part of the plan. ‘Operation Certain Death’ required two brave volunteers to infiltrate the base dressed in enemy uniforms with forged ID cards – what could possibly go wrong? Fluffy and Bob ‘volunteered’, and after taking some quick polaroids of them in East German kit, and snipping them down to size to go in the captured ID books, I briefed them on their mission to get into the complex on the pretext of being replacement staff and to try to get the captured scientists out.

All went well at first, the enemy commander had no ‘in-game’ reason not to believe them and so in the spirit of good roleplay let them wander around more or less at will and they soon found the scientists. The plan almost fell through; an enthusiastic but ill-timed attack by the US forces found them taking cover as BBs rained all around them!

But luckily I was able to radio the yanks to abort their mission before the lads copped it!

As my platoon hid out of sight from the complex we heard cries of ‘rifles covering fire!’ as Fluffy was seen bursting out of the office block with two white-coated scientists in tow, and a whole host of angry East Germans in hot pursuit. We rushed in to

082 Christmas 2013

provide support and managed to safely get the guys away with the loss of only one team member – that team member being Bob, or ‘Rifleman Beer’ as he’s known to the team. Fluffy informed us that with their cover close to being blown, Bob had attempted a ‘knife kill’ with a spatula (the only thing to hand) while Fluffy high-tailed it out of there with the scientists. We later learnt that the evil Warsaw Pact forces had shot Bob as a spy shortly afterwards and vowed not only to avenge him, but to give him some sort of ‘airsoft medal’ at the end of it all! ;Authentic loadouts are part and parcel of the Cold War airsoft experience gA Ranger falls to a wellplaced sniper’s shot kWarsaw Pact troops rush across open ground

DIRTY BOMBS Now, at this point I was sure that all we had to do was get the scientists to the main facility and steal the dirty bomb – but nothing is ever that simple. Over the radio NATO HQ told me that the lift in

EVENT REPORT OPERATION HOCKWERK

the facility to get to the lower level where the bomb was stored needed a key code; where was this, you ask? Back in the damn office block we’d just legged it from. There was no way the enemy would fall for the same ruse twice, so the US Rangers came up with a cunning plan. Suiting up in NBC ‘MOPS’ suits and respirators they would drive as close to the complex as they dared in their soft skin vehicles before deploying nerve gas to knock out the guards and then raid the offices. Audacious you might think, but fortune favours the brave and we Brits watched amazed as the orange smoke swirled around the complex and the suited up yanks swarmed from room to room; before too long the US commander returned jubilant (if a little sweaty) with the codes.

By now light was fading and we knew that we had only a short time to secure the facility and steal the bomb; annoyingly another plot twist had been thrown our way. Power to the facility would not be restored until 1900 hours and we’d have to hold the place for a good 45 minutes before the scientists could get in and do their techy stuff!

With little time to lose we doubled over to the facility and were amazed to find it unoccupied and unguarded – ever grateful for small mercies I dug in my fire teams in all-round defence, hid the scientists and waited. Within 20 minutes it was almost totally dark and a short while later with only 15 minutes to go until the power to the lift was restored, the enemy hit us, and they hit us hard!

An absolutely brutal and confusing fire-fight erupted, but eventually NATO prevailed and were able to get the research team safely into the bomb hanger. Had we been able to get them in while it was still even vaguely light they might have had more luck, as it was one of them made a fatal error and triggered an anti-tamper device setting the chemical device off and killing the scientists and the defenders close to the facility. With this savage twist in the fortunes of war, the second day ended and, dejected, the NATO forces headed back to base to re-spawn for the final day.

ARMOURED SUPPORT Day three saw us in a sub optimal position. Not only were the Warsaw Pact on full alert and sending a fresh couple of battalions our way to set us off, but we’d lost the very thing we’d come along to capture, and the guys who knew how to make a new one! The guys in charge of the scenario ruled that NATO would still try to fight

a holding action on the facility in the hope of a clean-up team being sent in to try to salvage something of the facility.

This would be represented by a linear scenario in which the Warsaw Pact had just four hours to take and hold five strongpoints on the way to (and including) the Hochwerk facility.

For the rest of the event, NATO forces would have just one hit and one chance to be bandaged before being ‘dead’ and moved on to guard the next strong point, whereas the enemy would be on constant re-spawn. To make matters worse, Tex had turned up with his Soviet BRDM2 NBC armoured car (a genuine Cold War relic!) to provide armoured support that we could only take out with our limited AT grenades and one heavy mortar.

Each strongpoint saw a unique battle worthy of a review of its own, but by 1340 hours and with 20 minutes to go the enemy had fought us to the ‘Alamo’ – our last stand would be the facility itself

www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 083

EVENT REPORT OPERATION HOCKWERK

and everyone, even though exhausted, threw everything into the scrap. The air constantly rang with the boom of pyro and the clatter of AEG fire. Time and time again the Soviets pressed in against the complex and were thrown back… with literally minutes to go nearly all the defenders seemed shot out but still the enemy couldn’t get a foothold inside the complex; some small resistance was

jGas masks add to the feel of a world on the brink of nuclear war kWith their mission objective secured, NATO forces move it back to base

holding them off with dogged tenacity.

As the whistle blew and an incredulous enemy wondered who on earth had held them off, the mystery was soon solved.

Emerging from the Stygian darkness, where he had concealed himself in an excellent sniper position, emerged Rifleman Beer: definitely the ‘man of the match’ as far as NATO was concerned.

With the battle done, all that was left

was to pack up and say our goodbyes.

We all felt that the guys at Blue Streak (Bill, Ratty and Banzai) had been outstanding hosts with witty banter and welcome, endless brews of tea and coffee, and the site was just about perfect. I couldn’t help feel that if you were to build the perfect airsoft site it would be something like Blue Streak – a perfect blend of urban and woodland (even the open spaces have enough long grass and ditches to cover you in a fire-fight) and with buildings close enough together to make gun battles between them an exciting challenge.

In short, a fine weekend on an excellent site. If you’ve not played a Cold War Game or not played at Blue Streak then you’ve really missed out. If you’ve not done either then what are you waiting for? Sign yourself up and get stuck in!

INFORMATION GUNMAN AIRSOFT Web: www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07854 277264 Email: enquiries@gunmanairsoft.co.uk Operation Hockwerk was held at Blue Streak Airsoft, Bucks. Info: www.bluestreak-airsoft.co.uk

084 Christmas 2013

BOOK REVIEW

KRIS ROBERTS

Formerly a member of the TA, Kris has over a decade’s worth of airsoft experience.

Not one to be swayed

by Gucci kit, his philosophy is ‘keep it simple, safe and fun’

LONE SURVIVOR

LONE SURVIVOR

KRIS ROBERTS DELIVERS HIS VERDICT ON A FIRST-HAND MILITARY ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY A US NAVY SEAL, THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF OPERATION REDWING objective was to hunt down the leader of a small Taliban force that operated in the area, with the goal to either capture or kill their prey. With a successful night insertion by helicopter, the team traversed the perilous peaks to reach their observation point before dawn.

The next morning the team was positioned on the mountainside overlooking the village where their target was believed to be. As they lay hidden, they were unaware that a chain of events was about to unfold, and by the time evening fell, three of the SEALs would be dead, and Luttrell would be alone with his life in the balance.

I read a lot of first-hand military accounts, and sadly find that I approach many American books with typical British cynicism. They are often infused with such a heavy dose of patriotism that I find it hard to stomach at times. This is not always the case, though, and I had high hopes that Lone Survivor would steer away

W

ith the upcoming cinematic release of Lone Survivor, and the inevitable attention it will gain among the airsoft community, I decided to check out the book on which it is based.

Written by Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor tells the story of his career with the US Navy SEALs. Beginning with his selection and training, Luttrell describes in detail the rigorous and often nightmarish conditions, whittling away at the recruits until only the strongest and most determined are left standing.

From passing selection, Luttrell then takes the reader on to the Middle East and life in active duty.

In June 2005, Luttrell took part in Operation Redwing, a four-man mission high in the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Their

from my preconceptions. This wasn’t to be, however, and after 40-or-so pages I was struggling to read on. Marcus Luttrell spends a huge amount of the opening pages making sure we know that he’s an American – better still, a Texan – and that he is a member of the best fighting force in the world. So the best of the best of the best, then, and as a reader you’re expected to accept this as law before he has even told you his story. My recommendation to the author: tell the story first, and then allow the reader to judge your worth and merits, and offer praise where it’s due.

The book thankfully picks up when Luttrell describes his SEAL training, and there are interesting and impressive moments throughout. Operation Redwing

reads like a movie script, and it’s easy to understand why Hollywood has snatched it up thanks to its riveting action scenes and heartbreaking moments of loss. I do not question the skill and courage of the men who fought on the mountain, nor of the men who tried to rescue them – but there are parts of the story I feel must be exaggerated. I have found out since finishing the book that Luttrell’s claim that the Taliban force was well over 100 strong has been contested many times, with counter claims arguing a figure of between 20 and 50 enemy fighters.

The saving grace is that Luttrell wears his heart on his sleeve, and despite the political, religious, and moral arguments that choke up its pages, this is a story about a man who lost his friends in battle, and who spent days being pursued across an unforgiving landscape by an unrelenting enemy.

After reading about the extreme tests that Luttrell endured it’s easier to understand his confidence and beliefs that, at the start of the book, prove so jarring and egotistical. This is, after all, a man who has faced trials that most of us couldn’t imagine, and survived when many others would have lost the will to go on.

If you can find your way past the book’s many frustrating moments, there is an interesting story here of a modern warrior battling for survival in a medieval land.

INFORMATION LONE SURVIVOR Author: Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson Publisher: Sphere (2008) RRP: £9.99

www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 085

SYMBOL KEY IS IT WOODLAND OR URBAN? CHECK THE KEY! UKARA

UKARA MEMBER UKASGB MEMBER WOODLAND

£

SHOP ONSITE BATTERY CHARGING URBAN PYROS ALLOWED REPAIR SERVICE DESERT

ATROOP AIRSOFT

Clocaenog Forest, LL16 4SP 07967 394976 www.atroop.co.uk

ABER AIRSOFT – THE BUNKER

Allt-lywd Wood Farm, outside Llanrhystud, nr. Aberystwyth, Wales.

07511554740 www.aberairsoft.co.uk

ABSOLUTE AIRSOFT

Maidenhead, SL6 3SS 07871 314951 www.absolute-airsoft.co.uk

ACE AIRSOFT WAR GAMES

Holbrook Coppice, Buidwas Bank (A4169), Buildwas, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 07786 192832 www.aceairsoft.co.uk

ACE COMBAT

Kent, TN12 7DG 01303 814803 www.acecombat.co.uk

086 Christmas 2013

Email nigels@blazepublishing.co.uk to add or change a site listing

AIRBORNE 101 AIRSOFT CLUB

ALL ARMS AIRSOFT

APOCALYPSE AIRSOFT

AIRSOFT ASYLUM

ALPHA ELITE GAMING

ARENA AIRSOFT

AMAZON EVENTS

AWA HERTS

AMBUSH ADVENTURES – CHOBHAM

BARNSLEY AIRSOFT

Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 07718 032541 robinsonm24@btinternet.com

North Lanarksire, ML7 5 www.airsoftasylum.webs.com

AIRSOFT COMMANDOS Sutton, near Ferrybridge 07723 061386 andyace@ntlworld.com

AIRSOFT KGB

Porkellis Moor near Helston, Cornwall, TR13 0 Chef1322@hotmail.com www.kgbairsoft.com

AIRSOFT SKIRMISH

Stoulton, WR7 4QW 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk

AIRSOFT SKIRMISH CQB

Studley, B80 7LY 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk

Near Trawden, BB8 8SN 07909 683464 www.allarmsairsoft.co.uk

Le Mont de Rozel, Jersey, JE3 5 01534 733697 www.aegairsoft.je

Hellingly, East Sussex, BN27 4HL 0844 2570433 www.amazonoutdoorevents.co.uk

Chobham, Surrey, GU24 8SL 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk

AMBUSH ADVENTURES – SOUTHAMPTON

New Forest National Park, SP5 2DW 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk

Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QP 07872 348 576 www.apocalypseairsoft.com

Grimsby, DN31 3JD 07752 404060 www.arenaairsoft.com

Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM23 4BJ 07732 184957 www.awaherts.com

Shafton, Barnsley, S72 8RE 07779 236166 www.barnsleypaintball.co.uk

BATTLETEC AIRSOFT

La Couture, Guernsey, GY1 2 07781 104068 www.battletec.co.uk

Huge thanks to our friends at Airbana (www.airsoftmap.net) for supplying data

SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

BETTER BATTLES

Ravenshead, Notts, NG15 9DH 07967 940043 www.better-battles.com

BLACKDAGGER AIRSOFT

Grasscroft Wood, Barlow Lees Lane, Dronfield, S18 7UR www.blackdagger-airsoft.co.uk

CERBERUS AIRSOFT - RIVOCK EDGE

DELTA TEAM 3

FIREFIGHT COMBAT SIMULATIONS

CERBERUS AIRSOFT SHEFFIELD WOODLAND

DOGS OF WAR

FIFE WARGAMES

Keighley, BD20 0LS 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

Sheffield, S6 6JE 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

BLUESTREAK AIRSOFT

Westcott Venture Park, Westcott, Aylesbury, HP18 0XB 01296 658600 www.bluestreak-airsoft.co.uk

BRAVO 2-2 AIRSOFT

Leisure Lakes, Mere Brow, Southport. PR46JX 07790 715059 www.bravo22airsoft.com

BRISTOL AIRSOFT

Bristol, BS1 2HQ 07776 288826 www.bristolairsoft.com

BRIT-TAC AIRSOFT

Sheffield, S2 5TR 07795 631331 www.brittacairsoft.com

BUNKER 51

Charlton, SE7 8NJ 0870 7549653 www.wolfarmouries.co.uk

C3 TACTICAL

Longhope, Gloucestershire, GL17 0PH 07597 938011 www.c3tactical.co.uk

Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4RP 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

CERBERUS AIRSOFT - THE SANDPIT

Bradford, BD2 1BQ 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

Houston, Renfrewshire, PA6 7BP 07853 195290 www.dow-airsoft.co.uk

Lewisham, SE13 5SU 07973 240177 www.firefight.co.uk

St Andrews, KY10 3XL info@fifewargames.co.uk www.fifewargames.com

DRAGON’S LAIR Brimington, Chesterfield, S43 1DQ www.cia-airsoft.co.uk

Brentwood, Essex, CM15 0LA 07703 530189 www.dragonslairairsoft.co.uk

FINMERE AIRSOFT

CHESTERFIELD IMPERIAL AIRSOFT

CLOSE ACTION AIRSOFT

DRAGON VALLEY AIRSOFT

FIREBALL SQUADRON

ELITE ACTION GAMES – GATWICK

FIRST AND ONLY – ANZIO CAMP

Corby, NN17 3BB 07740 165787 www.close-action.co.uk

COMBAT ACTION GAMES

Maryland, Norfolk, NR10 4 01328 711867 www.combatactiongames.co.uk

COMBAT SOUTH URBAN Portsmouth, PO6 3LS 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk

COMBAT SOUTH WOODLAND Fareham, PO17 5ND 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk

CONTACT! FIGHT SCHOOL

Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, CM14 5 01438 368177 www.thefightschool.demon.co.uk

COOL UNDER FIRE CERBERUS AIRSOFT - THE COMPLEX

Skelmersdale, Lancs WN8 8UT 07986 053076 www.deltateam3.co.uk

Doddington, Kent, ME9 0JS 07960 532613 www.coolunderfire.co.uk

CORNWALL AIRSOFT ASSAULT

Truro, Cornwall, TR2 07837 475012 www.cornwallairsoftassault.co.uk

CUMBRIA AIRSOFT

Dumfries, DG12 cumbria.airsoft@virgin.net www.cumbria-airsoft.com

Caerwent Training Area, South Wales, NP26 5XL 07921 336360 www.dragonvalley.co.uk

Holmbush Farm, Crawley Road, Faygate, Nr. Horsham, W. Sussex, RH12 4SE 07882 686242 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – DORKING

Dorking, Surrey, RH5 5AB 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – EPSOM

Epsom, Surrey, KT18 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – WORTHING

Worthing, BN13 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

Buckingham, MK18 4JT 07976 184897 www.finmereairsoft.com

Sutton Coldfield, B75 5SA 07582 684533 www.fireballsquadron.com

Leek, ST13 8 07862 288359 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – BUNKER WOOD

Kidderminster, Worcs, DY11 5SA 07862 288359 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – KHE SANH WOODS

Otley, West Yorkshire LS21 2NA 07862 288359 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – MANCHESTER WOODLAND Bolton, BL7 9TS 07862 288359 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – ASYLUM ELITE BATTLEZONE

Bexley, Greater London, DA5 1NX 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk

Kidderminster, DY10 3PT 07862 288359 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST & ONLY: THE HIVE EXPERIENCE AIRSOFT

Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 0AN 01380 728982 www.experienceairsoft.co.uk

Middleton, Manchester, M24 1AZ0161 727 8863

FIRST & ONLY: THE ARMOURY

Wrexham, Denbighshire, LL13 9RG 07554 800040

087

HOMELAND TACTICAL AIRSOFT

MIA

INVICTA AIRSOFT – RAINDEN WOODS

MILITARY OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

Spanby, Lincs, NG34 0AT 07971 560249 facebook.com/HomelandTacticalAirsoft

Folkestone, Kent, CT18 7AY 01227 763335 www.invictaairsoft.co.uz

ISLAND RECON AIRSOFT COMBAT FIRST & ONLY: THE ACADEMY

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6QF 07779 157440

GASS AIRSOFT – PIDDINGTON

Piddington, Oxfordshire, OX25 1 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

Near Shorwell, Isle of Wight, PO30 07964 751047 www.islandrecon.co.uk

LAND WARRIOR AIRSOFT FIRST & ONLY: THE ASYLUM Kidderminster, DY10 3PT 07779 157440

FIRST & ONLY: THE OUTPOST

Kidderminster, DY11 5SA 07779 157440

FIRST & ONLY: SLEEPY HOLLOW

Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 5LS 07880 316716

GRANGE FARM AIRSOFT

Leicester, LE9 9FP www.gingerliberationfront.com

GREENZONE COMBAT

Co. Armagh, BT60 1NE 07772 919974 www.greenzonecombat.com

GROUND ZERO WOODLAND

Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 2DF www.groundzerowoodland.com

GUN HO AIRSOFT

Guisborough, TS7 0PG 07525 435696 www.gunhoairsoft.co.uk

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – CAMBRIDGE

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – NORWICH FREE FIRE ZONE

Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DH 01733 247171 www.freefirezone.co.uk

Norwich, Norfolk, NR10 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

HIGHLAND TACTICAL AIRSOFT FRV AIRSOFT

Annacloy, Downpatrick, BT30 8JJ 07730 586926 www.frvairsoft.com

IV25 3PY 07702 846090 www.highlandtacticalairsoft.co.uk

HILTON PARK AIRSOFT GASS AIRSOFT – PENN

Penn Bottom, Bucks, HP10 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

LAC SITE 1

Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

Wolverhampton, WV10 7HU 08000 354490 www.paintballuk.com

LAC SITE 2

Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LAC SITE 3

Saxillby, LN1 2JW 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LAC SITE 5

Kirton Rd, North Lincs, DN16 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LINDSEY AIRSOFT

Manby, Lincolnshire, LN11 8HE 07955 487983 www.lindsey-airsoft.co.uk

MATLOCK COMBAT GAMES

Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5FW 07974 507166 www.matlockcombatgames.com

MAW

Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 07562 479966 maw.airsoft@hotmail.com

088 Christmas 2013

Wrightington, WN6 9PL 01942 514724 www.militaryoutdooradventure.co.uk

MILSIM UK

Checkley, Staffordshire, ST10 4NS 07523 916607 www.milsimuk.co.uk

NCIS AIRSOFT

Edinburgh, EH14 4 nick@ncis-airsoft.co.uk www.ncis-airsoft.co.uk

NOMAD AIRSOFT

Fenwick, Ayrshire, KA3 6AY 07904 998250 www.nomadairsoft.com

NORTHERN ALLIANCE AIRSOFT

FIRST & ONLY: THE DEPOT Glasgow, G45 9SB 0161 727 8863

Gorebridge, Midlothian, EH23 4LG 0131 654 2452 www.airsoftedinburgh.co.uk

Cornwall, EX23 9JL 01288 331748 www.airsoftsouthwest.co.uk

Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3LQ 01845 565465 www.northernallianceairsoft.co.uk

NORTHFLEET CQB

Northfleet, Kent, DA11 9AA 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk

NSC AIRSOFT

Hetton, Sunderland, DH5 0 07983 333521 www.nscairsoft.co.uk

NTAC

Durham, DL4 2ER 01642 281220 www.ntac.co.uk

OBAN AIRSOFT – HILL ARGYLL Argyll and Bute, PA37 1 07967 710185 www.argyllsurplus.com

OP-TACTICAL UK – TEAN-OPS Tean, Staffordshire, ST10 4JT 07964 990831 www.op-tac.co.uk

Huge thanks to our friends at Airbana (www.airsoftmap.net) for supplying data

SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

PATHFINDER GROUP AIRSOFT MILITARY SIMULATION Former RAF Camp Sopley/ Merryfield Park, Hants, BH23 02380 899369

PHOENIX AIRSOFT

Budby, Notts, NG22 9FG 01623 812483 www.phoenix-airsoft.co.uk

PLATOON 1HQ

Rochester, Kent, ME1 1 HQ 01634 829063 www.ptt-1hq.co.uk

PLAYERS OF WAR

High Bonnybridge, FK1 3AD 07767 203979 www.playersofwar.co.uk

SG1 COMBAT GAMES

S.W.A.T. AIRSOFT

SKIRMISH AIRSOFT BILLERICAY

TA EVENTS

Co. Londonderry, BT45 8NA 07713 273102 www.sg1combatgames.co.uk

Billericay, Essex, CM11 2TX 01277 657777 www.airsoft-billericay.co.uk

SKIRMISH EXETER

Exeter, Devon, EX4 5 01548 580025 www.airsoftexeter.co.uk

SOUTHDOWN AIRSOFT

Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0LR 07766 770830 www.southdownairsoft.com

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – BLOXWORTH PREDATOR COMBAT GAMES Ballynahinch, BT24 8NF 028 4377 0566 www.predatorcombat.com

Wareham, Dorset, BH20 7EU 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – THE ROCK RAVEN’S NEST

Suffolk, IP8 4 01473 831563 www.ravensairsoft.co.uk

Portland, Dorset, DT5 2EG 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

STIRLING AIRSOFT RAW WAR AIRSOFT CUMBRIA Wigton, Cumbria CA7 3SZ 01900 85645 www.airsoftcumbria.co.uk

Coventry, CV3 6NX 07831 429407 www.stirlingairsoft.com

STORMFORCE AIRSOFT RIFT AIRSOFT COM’S SITE 3

Chipping Warden, OX17 1LZ 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 4LD 07515 937633 www.stormforcepaintball.co.uk

SUSSEX AIRSOFT RIFT AIRSOFT (COTTENHAM) Cambridge, CB24 8RL 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

SECTION 8 AIRSOFT

Shotts, N Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com

SECTION 8 AIRSOFT

Shotts, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com

Slinfold, RH12 020 8150 9284 www.sussexairsoft.co.uk

SW WAR GAMES – SCRAESDON FORT

Antony, Cornwall, PL11 3AB www.swwargames.co.uk

SW WAR GAMES – TREGANTLE FORT

Antony, Cornwall, PL11 3AZ 08456 345011 www.swwargames.co.uk

Boathouse lane, South Wirral, Cheshire, CH64 3TB www.swatairsoft.eu 07703 177756

UCAP GREEN OPS

Linch, West Sussex, GU30 7 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

UCAP SANDPIT Hemel Hemstead, Herts, HP2 7QB 07894 059794 www.ta-events.co.uk

TACTICAL WALES AIRSOFT

Reynoldston, Swansea SA3 1AS 01792 473336 www.tacticalwales.co.uk

TACTICAL WARFARE AIRSOFT Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9PL 020 8665 1299 www.tacticalwarfare.co.uk

Bean, Kent, DA2 8 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – FAWKHAM

Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NY 01268 796130 www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – LIMPSFIELD

Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0RH www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

URBAN6AIRSOFT – ZONE 13 TASK FORCE SKIRMISH

Cowbridge, S Glamorgan, CF71 02920 593900 www.taskforcepaintball.co.uk

Stone, Staffordshire ST15 0QN 07432 291729 www.urban6airsoft.com

URBAN6AIRSOFT – THE BLOCK THE DESERTERS AIRSOFT Redford, DD11 07751 878175 www.thedeserters.co.uk

Wood Street, Butron-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 £AB www.urban6airsoft.com

URBAN ASSAULT THE EX SITE

Mold, CH7 4 07840 001975 www.theexsitewales.co.uk

Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, PE26 1 01733 247171 www.urbanassault.org.uk

VIKING AIRSOFT THE WARGAMES CENTRE

Stevenston, Ayrshire, KA20 3LN 08456 434326 www.scottishadventurecentre.co.uk

TROJAN AIRSOFT

Macclesfield, SK10 4SZ 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com

TROJAN AIRSOFT – OLYMPUS CQB Weir Mill, Viaduct Street, Chestergate, Stockport, Cheshire, SK5 7JP

Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0UN www.vikingairsoft.co.uk

WARMINSTER AIRSOFT

Warminster, BA12 7RZ www.warminsterairsoft.co.uk

XSITE AIRSOFT OUTPOST Dunstable, LU6 2EE 01494 881430 www.xsiteairsoft.co.uk

XSITE AIRSOFT – LANE END

High Wycombe, HP14 3NP 01494 881430

UCAP AIRSOFT

Portsmouth, Hants, PO17 6AR 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

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