In October I traveled
to the South of England to meet up with some friends and play a cheeky skirmish,
during my visit they introduced me to a CQB site in Aldershot ran by Ambush
Adventures – The Billet.
Ambush Adventures: The
Billet is a relatively new site (having been established around 18 months ago),
set in an old military barracks within the heart of Aldershot. From my home in
the Midlands, the site is around 151 miles so it is a fair drive for those of
us in the more northern regions of the UK but is really easy to access via the
M40 or M1. The site itself is easy to find as the Ambush staff have signposted
the entrance - as you drive through the gates you are greeted by the sites
marshals, you are checked against the list and directed to the large car park
that has plenty of space for the sites players ready to start the day!
Booking onto the Billet
is really easy and is done by completing a form on their website, and after
talking to a few players on the day it appears that this is a new booking on
process which has improved on the previous method. The walk on fee is £35 which
includes a lunch of two hot dogs – the game day fee is a little more expensive
than the average game day fee however. Although the site books up quickly, there are
plenty of chances to play the Billet as games are ran every all day every
Sunday with around 40 players in attendance and they also hold Wednesday night
games that are gaining in popularity. The night games run from 7.30-10pm and
for a walk on fee of £15 is the perfect bargain for that midweek pew fix!
The safe zone at The
Billet is arguably one of the best safe zones I have seen, it’s a large room
full of tables ready for the day’s activities and is big enough for their maximum
player count of 50. The safe zone has a kitchen that provides lunch and sells
snacks and drinks throughout the day, it is heated (which is much appreciated),
has electricity points so you can charge batteries etc, it is also well lit and
clean. Inside the safe zone, there are well-equipped shops for all your Airsoft
needs from RIFs to beebs to eyepro – Just Cause Airsoft and Sierra Alpha
Supplies. Just Cause Airsoft specialise in RIFs and Sierra Alpha Supplies focus
on Army surplus and tactical kit for the
avid Airsofter, the store has been going for over 4 years and like Ambush is a
family run business by Simon and his son. The shop is has everything you could
need (because let’s be honest – new kit is a need not a want!) and for those
things that are a little more special – they have an order in service. One
thing I really like about the facilities is that there is a separate toilet for
women, it sounds small but it makes a big difference! The site runs a strict
chrono limit of 350 maximum for AEGs and Pistols and because the site is
extremely close CQB, it’s not suitable for snipers or DMRs so leave those at
home!
Let’s talk a little bit
about the site’s staff, Ambush Adventures is a family run business, owned and
operated by Christine and Charlie James. What immediately hits you about them
is that they are welcoming, friendly and happy to engage in conversations with
their customers. The safety brief delivered by Charlie is animated and
engaging. It is clear from how they interact with their players throughout the
game day that they have built a solid relationship with their customer base.
Their marshals are another strong asset to their team, especially Head Marshals
Tony and Dave. One thing I can commend the staff on is their professionalism
and light-hearted banter which keeps morale up during the day – even during the
3pm slump. Whilst at the Billet I had the pleasure to meet a member of the
Ambush team who has made quite a name for himself within the industry – Stretch
the chicken from Super Mega Tactical Airsoft News and his side kick Matt. I
have seen videos and photographs of the infamous stretch floating around on
social media for a while, it was great to finally meet Stretch and sling some
plastic with him (I tried for a chicken kill but alas I did not possess the
stealth!) He was kind enough to indulge me in a tactical selfie and gave me
some super sweet patches to add to my growing collection – man love de
bakewell!
The site itself is
comprised of 2 spider buildings with multiple linked rooms that have over 30
entry/exit points which makes for varied gameplay. The buildings have an
abundance of corridors full to the brim with lockers and other obstacles to
fight through and around. The site utilises a mix of different sized rooms,
some submerged in darkness that contain lockers, bunkbeds and other pieces of
cover. There is a large amount of outdoor space around the main building where
the cover is provided by the buildings themselves, shipping containers, lined
fences and a variety of trees – the outside element to the site opens the doors
to more game play options. Due to the close quarter’s element of the site, the
gameplay however is concentrated within the building complex itself and is
intense (prepare for a ricochet party!). This site is the type of CQB that
really gets my adrenaline running and heart pumping! Room to room clearing,
knowing that there could be an enemy round every corner or hidden away in any
locker really gets the fear going! This element of fear results in an overall
better performance for me personally. My favourite aspect of the site is at the
very heart of the spider buildings – the toilet blocks that connects the two
halves of each building together. It’s exactly what you would imagine, rows of
toilet stalls with sinks and showers thrown in the mix. The toilet blocks have
been jazzed up with smoke machines and speakers to distort the players field of
vision and to drown out sounds in an epic guitar solo. Clearing the stalls and
shower cubicles with nades, pistol and knife kills is an awesome feeling and is
something I look forward to in the defend and attack games!
The games the site runs
are always varied and well ran. They vary from Team Death Matches, Zombie games
and objective games. My personal favourites are their objective games- they
give you something else to aim for than just the kill. Ambush use a variety of
tech and props to really bring their objective games to life. There are two
that really stand out to me: the ‘Flashy Light Box’ and the ‘Hostage Rescue’
games. The ‘Flashy Light Box’ game is exactly how it sounds, 6 objective boxes
with two switches and two different coloured lights are placed in the game zone
waiting to be captured by either team, once the box is located the player must
a flip the switch that belongs to their colour to control the box. If the box
is already under the opposing teams control, two players are required as a
player can only flip on switch – so one to flip the switch to disarm the other
teams light and one to arm their own. This game is always fast paced and
intense, from the frantic search at the beginning to locate and arm the boxes
to defending them fiercely to keep the balance of the game in favour of your
team. I’ve always enjoyed this particular game mode.
The ‘Hostage Rescue’
game is another of my Billet favourites, is where one team, defends two objectives
that are dispersed into the spider buildings. The objectives are usually a
piece of intel such as a briefcase or laptop and the Ambush flight pilot
mannequin, Steve. The attacking team must complete the 3 phases in the least
amount of time possible. Phase one is to capture the intel, phase two is to
rescue the hostage and phase three is to transport the objectives to the
extraction point. This game really encourages players to work together to
capture the objectives which is what the sport is all about! The games are then
reversed so both teams get to experience both aspects of the game. Ambush
Adventures operate a really interesting respawn rule that I’ve not seen at any
other site so far – each team has a clock at their respawn point with alternating
team coloured 5 minute sections, and upon reaching the respawn clock if the
minute hand is on your teams colour you can get straight back into the game, if
not, you must wait until the minute hand does reach your colour – which can be
an agonising wait if you were involved in a particularly intense firefight.
The other players on
site are one aspect of the day that really impact how I personally feel at the
end of the day, and I’ve played the Billet on two separate occasions – once on
a regular game day and the second time to review the site. I made a rookie
mistake the second time and announced on social media that I was covering the
site which meant the game day was fully booked and attracted some ‘difficult’
players, in light of this I have based this review on my experience of a
regular game day as it is fairer to the site and its regular players. I
encountered no problems on the day (no cheat calling or non hit taking),
everyone was in high spirits and a pleasure to be around. There is a real
community feel amongst the players at Ambush. There is a particular team who
really stand out when I recall my visits to the Billet – Scorpion. A fairly
large team of fun loving, honest lads from the South East of England who I had
the pleasure to run with. They were really friendly, welcoming and you could
certainly have a laugh with them. Teams and players who share the same
attitudes as Scorpion really make me proud to be a part of the Airsoft
community.
Overall, I would
definitely recommend Ambush Adventures the Billet. The site is well run by
professional and friendly members of staff that take pride in their site and
games they run. The games are varied and entertaining yet provide a great
challenge for both beginners and seasoned Airsofters.
Contact Information:
Charlie & Christine
James
Ambush Adventures The
Billet
Matla Barracks
Forge Lane
Aldershot
GU11 2RE
01252315225
07595948760
Hardwick, K. (2016). Ambush Adventures: The Billet. Airsoft Action. 57 (January), 68-71.
