Airsoft Vol. 13

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE EVER CHANGING FACE A I R S O F T A 028 WWW.AI-MAG.COM
P P L I C A T I O N S - T H E H U M B L E F A C E M A S K OF MASKS AND MEN I'VE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK A BIT IN AIRSOFT. I STARTED PLAYING OVER 17 YEARS AGO AND IT'S BEEN INTERESTING WATCHING THE SCENE DEVELOP OVER THAT TIME. I HAD A BREAK TO PURSUE OTHER HOBBIES FOR A WHILE BUT CAME BACK A FEW YEARS AGO. THIS ALLOWED ME TO HAVE A BIG LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE UK AIRSOFT SCENES TWO THINGS SPRANG TO MIND. ONE IS THE PROFESSIONAL NATURE OF MODERN SKIRMISH SITES AND THE OTHER IS THE CHANGING FACE OF ‘MIL-SIM'. WRITTEN BY JACK EYLES When I started playing (back in the dawn of time when everything was made from plastic) there wasn't any ‘mil-sim’. We did weekenders instead. Camo rules were used to differentiate sides but were fairly broad. “Desert camo vs Greens” was about it. We weren't fussed about what AEGs people were using and the games were largely about a themed(ish) mission and a chance to play someone exciting. Missions could be very complex and beyond the scope of a normal days play. That was the real draw and the reason that the team went to them. My own natural leanings were towards playing the OpFor as the bad boys often had more fun. We had a great time, learned a lot from the former SAS staff and went home tired and happy. There wasn't any comment about what was or wasn't being worn. Myself and a friend at a Stirling Services ‘Iraqi Freedom’ event in 2005. Green and Tan team players. Using our standard loadouts with uniform changes and still had a great time. I helped set up and run First & Only at their original site in Matlock. We wanted an environment where teamwork and tactics actually mattered. Using the experience gathered from numerous trips to Stirling Services and our own ideas it was decided that each open day would have a theme and a story to inspire the players. There was an extensive use of props and also no boundaries were used for games rather than those of the site itself. This at the time was a risky decision but it all payed off and the site quickly gained a great reputation. Today this type of play seems to be having a resurgence and I'm seeing the rise of ‘battlesim’ games throughout the country. We hosted some of the first themed period events at First and Only. The WWII and Vietnam games being particularly stand out events. Uniform rules weren't too strict, we were descriptive rather the prescriptive as there was little point skirmishing in expensive period clothing and equipment with the huge risk in damaging and ruining it. MIL-SIM TODAY After having a bit of a break from airsoft I decided to take it up again and had a bit of a shock. Of course looking pretty in the safe zone is the most 'important' bit of <strong>Airsoft</strong> but sometime this goes to, in my opinion, ridiculous levels. There's a hardcore bunch of thread counters on the scene whose enjoyment seems to be based on playing dress-up and living out a far-fetched fantasy. I've seen them get really upset when the 'bad guys' don't play along. Rather than encouraging new players they can be very negative about any kit that's not 'correct'. This a highly dangerous state of play as new players are the life blood of the hobby. If we don't encourage and bring on our new guys and gals then we won't have events to go to and nice people to shoot at. Wearing Cyre rather than clone combat gear means that people have less money to actually go out and play. It's a common remark in the real steel world that money is better spent on bullets and training than new shiny equipment and clothing. Playing more and developing your gun skills will make you a better player than getting a new shirt. I see a lot of players wearing plate carriers and body armour covers. I very rarely see that armour filled with actual weight armour. I'm not talking about a pair of level 4 ceramic plates but rather steel training plates or even rigid polymer shaped plates. It can't be a simulation if your gear is there for looks rather than feel. Reenactors often use a 10 foot rule. That means that if it looks okay from 10 feet away then it's okay. The funny thing is that at that distance a clone plate carrier with heavy plates looks more realistic than a Crye JPC 2.0 with foam padding. Surely Mil-Sim should be about the play style, problem solving and tactical decisions rather than the Gucci kit. I'm sure that there are many that are like this but I've been left with a bad taste in my mouth recently. Don't get me wrong I like all the shiny stuff too but it's not the primary focus for myself or the team. Having good quality fun and achieving a difficult task is what does it for us. One of the most notable issues for some Mil-Sim players is face pro. When I started playing there wasn't any aside from the plastic masks that hire gunners were provided with. Players either improvised or went to work on Monday looking like they had the world’s worst acne outbreak. Loosing teeth wasn't an infrequent occurrence amongst players either. Luckily my employer didn't care too much as I wasn't in a customer facing role so I managed to get away with having a shot up face. As my career progressed this became less and less acceptable. We turned to balaclavas and headovers to try and protect our professional modesty. These were hot and generally inconvenient to wear all the time. Full face pretty much broke my immersion and someone running around with a skull mask on doesn't really help unless it's a specifically themed event. So when the mesh half face masks became available I jumped on them, mine can be clipped onto my helmet when breaching and room clearing and then removed and put into a pocket. If someone wants to wear one all the time I have no issues with that. This became even more apparent when pictures of UKSF operators appeared on the internet. Photos of the SAS and SBS wearing half mesh face masks caused a bit of consternation amongst the Mil-Sim community. They were quickly dismissed as just being used for training. Then amid the very sad events of the 2017 Manchester bombings emerged photos of UKSF on deployment wearing masks. I'm wondering now if masks will quickly change into the latest fashion accessory amongst players. I guess what I'm getting at here is that play fair, play hard, be nice to each other and work towards a common goal. Looking good is important but it's more to play the game. IMAGE OF E27 COURTESY OF SNOOKS SNAPS W W W . A I - M A G . C O M 029
Page 1: AI-MAG.COM T H E W O R L D ’ S B
Page 7: 40 12 50-53 REAL SWORD SVD Probably
Page 12 and 13: Y O U R S H O T S ! Y O U R S H O T
Page 14 and 15: Y O U R S H O T S ! Y O U R S H O T
Page 16 and 17: Y O U R L O A D O U T S I N T H E S
Page 19: HUEY’S MILITARY - TACTICAL - OUTD
Page 23 and 24: R W I C H - W W W . C O M B A T - A
Page 25 and 26: R W I C H - W W W . C O M B A T - A
Page 27: LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE! ACT NOW T
Page 33 and 34: T I C A L S H O T G U N - C L A S S
Page 35 and 36: THE MAGAZINE FOR THE ALPHA MALE OUT
Page 37 and 38: E S E R P A - S I D E A R M S T O R
Page 40 and 41: RUSSIAN KIT!A FEW ON THE FIELD ■
Page 42 and 43: RUSKY BUSINESS! M O T H E R R U S S
Page 44 and 45: RUSKY BUSINESS! M O T H E R LOAD BE
Page 46 and 47: RUSKY BUSINESS! M O T H E R R U S S
Page 50 and 51: SHARP SHOOTER R E A L S W O R D D R
Page 52 and 53: ASG SHARP ARMALITE SHOOTER R E A L
Page 54 and 55: APPLIED KNOWLEDGE SOLDIER READING U
Page 58 and 59: SCORING HITS I S I T B E T T E R T
Page 61 and 62: THE ULTIMATE AIRSOFT EXPERIENCE! ON
Page 63 and 64: POWER UP A S G C H A R G I N G S O
Page 65 and 66: A L - M U S T H A V E S F R O M V I
Page 67: Y R I F L E - T H I S I S M Y G U N
Page 71: I L I T A R Y 1 S T . C O . U K - F
Page 75 and 76: T H E D E V I L ’ S I N T H E D E
Page 77 and 78: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL Your fin
Page 79:
NEW SOFT GOODS F R O M E N O L A G
Page 83:
N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H T H
Page 90:
NEXT ISSUE ON SALE AUGUST 31ST BREA
show all

Airsoft Vol. 13

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?