MILSIM WEST: OBJECTIVE STAVROPOL!

Hey everyone! So I get a lot of questions about my time spent in the States, and MilSim West: Objective Stavropol is always a topic of conversation! When I was asked this weekend about it I remembered, I hadn't posted the blog post of MSW so here it is!

On the 26th April 2017 myself, Unicorn Leah and Jet Desertfox flew from Ontario, California to San Jose, CA and then finally onto Seattle, Washington for the next instalment of MilSim West. As many of you will know from watching Leah and Jet's social media feeds that they are avid MilSim West fans and they took me along to pop my MilSim West cherry.  We arrived in Washington a little early - a couple of days in fact so we had a few days to chill before the game. On our first night we visited the 'Rep House' to hang out with the Rushing Russians. After our stay at the Rep House we made the enormous drive from Seattle to our next stop - an Airbnb in Centreville which was around 5 hours away via car. On the drive through it seemed like we drove through every season/every terrain - from the snowy mountains to the rolling green hills. Washington is absolutely gorgeous. We arrived at the Cadre house in the afternoon and set about relaxing before the event. We left for the op location at 12pm the next day.

Once we arrived at the op location after a short 30 minute drive and we started to get kitted up and reshuffled our rucks ready, whilst we were getting our gear sorted we met up with the rest of our section which included Omar from Enola Gaye, PNW Punk, Dayton from The House Gamers, Poi and Lupe who is behind the IG account Slayerella. We spent the next few hours chatting, preparing our kit and eating in the barn waiting for the game to kick off later that evening.

At 7pm our briefing began, the Russian and Militia Cadre briefed us on what the next 36 hours would entail, the AO and the mission we had to undertake - remove NATO forces from the area, by any means necessary. They then made sure we had everything we would need - we had to lay out all of our kit and show our Cadre that we had everything on the tacsop document. Due to the testing nature of these games it is super important that everyone is prepared to prevent discomfort and injury. 

At sunset, all Russian and Militia forces organised into their sections and mobilised, we slung on our rucks and started walking in formation to our first FOB which was around 1 mile into AO, the walk took us around 20-30 minutes. I've never had to ruck anywhere before so this was a completely new experience for me, it was tough going but we all completed the walk.

It was almost pitch black when we arrived at our Militia FOB location so it was pretty tough going with uneven ground from rabbit warrens, debris from fallen trees and rocks protruding from the ground. When we got to our location we set up a defensive perimeter as our squads prepared their kit for the night. Militia HQ squad went out on a raid during the early hours of the morning and for Lupe (@slayerella) and I, it was time for STAG duties. We were on STAG for around 3-4 hours, we positioned ourselves amongst a mound of debris from a fallen tree and stared into the night with our weapons raised ready to engage any NATO that entered our FOB. Temperatures dropped pretty quickly Friday evening from a lovely 10 degrees celcius to around 1 degree at 3am. 

I have been to Ops in the UK where it has been cold as fuck mixed with rain but nothing quite prepared me for MilSim West. Our Op location was opposite Mount Rainier, so we had a deathly cold wind blowing in from the mountain along with the low temperatures. Shortly after 3 am, myself and Lupe made the decision to get in our sleeping bags, despite both of us wearing cold weather gear and wrapping a sleeping bag around us on whilst we were keeping watch, we were both shivering. That night I barely slept, it was so cold as we had no shelter to shield us from the wind and sleeping out in the woods. 

During the night, our Militia section hit 2 NATO patrols during the raids and returned at 4am. At around 8am whilst we were preparing for the day we were informed that enemy platoons were on their way to our location so we all threw our tac kit on ready for a scrap. One thing about MilSims is the pace of play can be slow at times and after around 20 minutes of waiting NATO troops to descend on our defensive positions, we decided to take the fight to them.

Militia HQ taking orders from Space Commander General Jet

We walked out of the FOB in the cold, brisk morning air and started closing the gap between our position and the NATO FOB. Jet took a small team ahead with him to their position, leaving myself and a few others to maintain a defensive line. 

Dayton in a defensive position

Waiting 

Our scout squad returned after around 15 minutes with details of the NATO FOB location and orders to attack their base, orders were sent out over the radios for the Militia call signs to join us at our location so we could launch an attack.

As our Militia call signs arrived at our location we started moving out towards the NATO FOB, as our other call signs flanked left to get the drop on NATO, Militia HQ and Honour guard squads walked across the open fields hooking right to distract and divert their attention. As we approached their position we popped smoke grenade upon smoke grenade to cloud their vision and our blank fire squad disorientated them with a barrage of shots.

Once in range we started engaging the NATO troops, taking out those that we could, popping smoke and medicing our squad members that had been hit in the advance. On our advance my gun failed meaning I was unable to engage anyone, so I instead supported the rest if our squad by throwing pyro and medicing those who needed it.

We had distracted the NATO players so well with our right advance that it gave our Militia call signs on the left enough time to infiltrate their base without being heard or seen. Once we had call signs in the FOB, we took out their troops and gained ground quickly. Once the FOB was cleared of enemies we started to search their bodies for intel and ammo - once located we moved this outside their base so we could load it into our vehicles that were en route to our location.

Searching bodies

'Vape nation'

After the attack on NATO we walked back to our FOB and started packing our gear up into our transport vehicles to take us to the Russian FOB on the other side of the base. When we arrived we started making a shelter for the night to come. Whilst I collected dried, dead leaves to lay on the ground of the shelter, Dayton and Poi dug the ground out from behind a pre-existing barricade.  

The night for the HQ squad was spent refuelling on food and sitting by the fire. Russian and Militia forces were out at all hours of the night, hitting the NATO FOB on the hour, every hour.

At around 5am, there were shots fired into the Russian FOB, a small group of NATO soldiers had managed to evade all of our patrols. We woke up to pyro being thrown, shouting and guns being discharged. Our squad member Poi exploded out of bed and into action, throwing our rifles to us before he ran out into the darkness from where the shots were coming from.

We sat up in bed, clutching at our rifles, listening intently to determine where the shots were coming from and how close they were. BBs started hitting the tarpaulin of our shelter narrowly missing us so we hunkered down. After around 5 minutes, the shots ceased.

We were up early, at around 7am. Militia and Russian troops were still out fighting against NATO. We started packing our camp away and reorganising our kit in anticipation for the very last assault. The last assaults at MilSim West are somewhat legendary! 

The last battle came an hour before the Op was due to finish. At 10am, a wave of NATO forces pushed their way from the treeline into the Militia/Russian FOB. As I was sat by the fire digging a tick out of my arm, we heard shouting and weapons being discharged so we stopped what we were doing, picked up our weapons and started running towards where the shots were coming from. Once we got into the tree line we saw our Russian brothers and sisters getting stuck in. The engagement lasted around an hour with mortars being dropped, smoke and pyro being thrown all over the shop and rounds whizzing past. The battle cries in russian added to the atmosphere.

I can honestly say, that MilSim West: Objective Stavropol was by far the hardest experience I've undertook in my 3 years of playing airsoft, from the cold to rucking all my kit, gun failures, sleeping rough outdoors it was an experience but after I embraced the suck, it was fucking awesome. I would fully recommend MilSim West to anyone looking to take their MilSim game to the next level.  I also want to say a huge thank you to MilSim West for flying me out with Jet and Leah to take part in this awesome op. 

Check out my gameplay video from the final battle at MilSim West: Objective Stavropol below:

Photography thanks to Poi Apeles Photography.

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INTERVIEW WITH BIG PHIL CAMPION! FORMER 22 SAS!

On the 20^th May 2017 I attended Leeds Airsoft: The Foundry CQB’s opening weekend and was lucky enough to spend time with and interview one of the most well-known former Special Forces soldiers of our time – Big Phil Campion. A former D Squadron 22 SAS trooper who is a veteran of Military and Private Contractor operations in almost every conflict zone on Earth.

PC: bigphilcampion.co.uk

I’ll start by saying that Phil is exactly how you would imagine him to be and certainly lives up to his name – he is a tower of intimidating strength and has fists the size of sledgehammers, all topped off by a huge smile and a heavy London accent.

PC: bigphilcampion.co.uk

Phil joined the Army at age 17, which he describes as the greatest turning point in his life. He quickly fell in love with the Armed Forces and his new found career. He was cap badged as a Royal Hampshire, where he took on the All Arms Commando course with the Royal Marines and the rigorous P Company course. He spent 10 years in the regular Army before deciding he wanted to move into the big leagues and take a crack at the infamous SAS selection – he passed first time and joined the prestigious D Squadron, 22 SAS. Phil spent 5 years with the SAS deploying to Operations in conflict-prone areas before moving on to the world of Private Military Contractors. From Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Gaza to the gold mines of the west to the oil fields of Sudan and the pirate waters of Goa and the Indian Ocean, Phil has been around the world and then some.

He now spends his time writing books such as his best seller: ‘Born Fearless: From Kids’ Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter – My Life as a Shadow Warrior’ which is the explosive story of a former SAS vet turned gun for hire, presenting TV shows/documentaries including ‘Fighting IS: Big Phils War’ on Sky and after dinner speaking.

PC: bigphilcampion.co.uk

FF: Hi Phil, well firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak to me! I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your time in the SAS and your career. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Big Phil: Of course, I joined the Army when I was about 18 years old, spent 10 years with the regular Army and then went Special Forces and served with the 22 SAS. I spent about 5 years with them and was lucky enough to go on quite a few operations, Op Barras was one of them. I then got out and went straight to Afghanistan for 3 years with private work, from there I went to Iraq – more private work and I then started branching out into Africa, the Gaza strip. All over. So anywhere there was trouble, I was headed.

FF: You’ve done the block!

Big Phil: Yeah, all the anti-piracy stuff, training jobs all over Africa. I trained the Nigerian President’s body guard team. I’ve trained the Fata who were opposed to Hamas, they got slaughtered and I went back in to train Hamas *both laugh* I’ve done it both ways.

FF: One burning question civilians usually have is how hard is selection? Is it one of the hardest things you’ve done in your life?

Big Phil: No, no, staying alive is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and that’s every day. Once you pass selection things do get harder. Just because you’ve passed selection, doesn’t suddenly mean you’re bullet proof. Operations are designed to kill and of course you want to come home. Life becomes a lot harder and you have to keep your standards up at all times.

FF: Let’s get to airsoft, so do you play? And do you enjoy it?

Big Phil: Yeah, yeah, I think it’s great. I don’t so much do the games – I understand them, but where the airsoft is good for me is bringing people’s skill sets up. I give them the skills to get into the game and get more from it. If you do things properly you’ll get a lot more from the game than what you will just charging around.

FF: Do you train people with airsoft weapons? If so what do you run?

Big Phil: The Military have done airsoft so it’s not completely unheard of, I haven’t done it with the Brit Army but I’ve done it with a lot of body guards. If I’m training bodyguards and stuff in this country, it’s easier to get their skills up to speed with airsoft weapons, especially because with the airsoft guns, I can just load up with 30 BBs so they have to change mags and it all correlates to a real weapon. Airsoft guns are roughly the same size, same weight and have the same operation so you can get people so far with that sort of stuff especially if you’re strapped and can’t get to a range, which is difficult in this country.

FF: What’s your favourite piece of tactical kit to run?

Big Phil: For real or for airsoft?

FF: Both?

Big Phil: For real it would be a minimi ‘cause like I say, it’s a great bit of kit – it gives you loads of fire power, with a normal stock it’s great in the shoulder and you can swing it around rooms and buildings. Airsoft wise? I love me little M4s, the KWA ones. For pistols, I like Glocks.

FF: Is there anything you don’t like about airsoft?

Big Phil: My only beef within airsoft is people not taking their hits when they realise they’ve been hit. You know, if you could come up with a marker system to say to someone ‘look you’ve definitely been hit’ I think that would be a good thing but everything else is great!

FF: You’ve been all over the world and witnessed the boom of airsoft in America and Europe, what do you think would push airsoft in the UK?

Big Phil: I think it would be more sites, I think a lot of people have tried to turn paintball venues into airsoft venues and it doesn’t work, they are totally different sports. Venues such as this (The Foundry) is a cracking little venue, you can utilise it in a lot of ways and I can do a lot of state and skills training here that will bring people’s airsoft skills along.

FF: Talking of your airsoft training, do you run them a lot?

Big Phil: We’re starting here and we’re bringing out a set of courses. Once you’ve done a set of 3 basic courses you’ll move on to intermediate and we’ll bring people up and patch them up so you sort of become a guru of patches and become an instructor. So we’re going to bring people up through the system so they understand marksmanship, movement, they understand reactions and effect of enemy fire and all that sort of stuff. We’ll teach them how soldiers were taught.

FF: Thanks for taking the time to speak to me Phil! It’s been a pleasure! 

Hardwick, K. (2017). Interview with Big Phil Campion. Airsoft Action. 77 (August) 64-65.

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G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017!

When our Editor called me and asked the question ‘Would you like to go to Taiwan to cover the G&G CQB Championships this year?’ I literally jumped for joy and squealed down the phone. The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition is the World’s first Airsoft electronic target shooting competition where contestants from around the world compete in a series of stages including the G&G 5x5 MET system for the title of world champion in the gorgeous city of Taipei in Taiwan. In 2015, 38 contestants from 12 countries around the globe competed in the first ever CQB shooting competition and this year the competition is bigger, better and more intense - with 60 contestants from 25 countries including Taiwan, USA, UK, France, Switzerland etc all competing for the title and the first prize of $10,000 USD! Teams are chosen from qualifying events in their respective countries and those who qualify are rewarded by G&G with paid flights/accommodation to the competition in Taiwan and the chance to compete for the title of World Champion.

So what exactly does the competition involve? The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition has 4 stages, and they are as follows:

·     STAGE ONE: M.E.T 5x5

The M.E.T 5x5 stage is the first stage of the competition, where contestants use the G&G CM16 – SRS rifle to eliminate the 25 targets until completion – what’s the catch? The target changes every 1.5 seconds. Each shooter is given a lane adjacent to their partner and must use the provided RIF to eliminate all of the targets in the quickest time possible.

·     STAGE TWO: Humvee Sniper

The Humvee Sniper stage is the second stage of the competition and is one of the more elaborate stages as the name suggests. The spotter sits in the front passenger seat of the Humvee with a GPM-92 pistol (hands on console to begin) and the second competitor sits in the front driver seat (with hands on steering wheel to begin) and when the M.E.T is activated, the sniper mounts the back bed of the Humvee with a G960SV sniper. Each contestant must eliminate their targets (sniper 2x3 and the spotter 3x3)

·     STAGE 3: Search & Destroy

Search & Destroy is the third stage of the competition and is linked to the Humvee Sniper stage. Upon completion of the previous stage the competitors leave the Humvee and their previous weapons in the car, pick up their CM16 – SRS rifles and activate the M.E.T system. During Search & Destroy the targets light up and emit a sound until cleared – more than one target may light up and emit sounds at a different location at the same time. Contestants during this stage are allowed to move around the whole field but shooting can only take place in the designated shooting areas.  

·     STAGE FOUR: CQB

The CQB element is the final and most physically demanding stage of the competition. This stage is also completed using the CM16 – SRS rifle. It is a tough CQB course littered with the M.E.T system targets. The first competitor activates the system and the stage begins, each area is activated on completion of the last and the contestants must retrieve the document case

There are DQs (disqualifiers) for each stage and each stage has it’s own particular set of rules which contestants must adhere to. Countries that have the M.E.T 5x5 system and the full CQB course set up send 2 teams to the world shooting cup, countries who just have the M.E.T 5x5 system like the UK are only permitted to send one team.

So what exactly happens in the competition? Most of the contestants arrived in Taiwan from their respective countries on Thursday 8^th June ready for the competition to kick off on Friday 9^th. Due to the flight times from Heathrow I arrived in Taiwan on Friday 9^th just 2 hours before the competition was due to commence, so it was a mad rush for me to get from the Airport to the Hotel the contestants were staying in and eventually to the Expo centre itself! The Riviera hotel is a luxurious hotel in the centre of Taipei, located close to the expo centre. All the contestants stay at the hotel so it is like a big sleepover and no expense is spared on the experience. Upon walking into your room you are greeted by a G&G care package which includes tonnes of G&G branded swag such as a personalised hat, a towel, a small hard case and other bits and bobs which is a really nice touch! Luckily I got to the Expo centre with time to spare and had the chance to catch up with the team from G&G and the international media that were in attendance over a lunchbox of traditional Taiwanese cuisine. The Expo centre had been decked out for the event with no expense spared – it had a huge branded stage, G&G branded gazebos for the operations, medical and maintenance teams (the contestants are very well taken care of by the team) and all of the competitors. The competitor tents were decorated with bunting and flags of the teams countries which gave the whole event a very patriotic feel!

The official start of the competition was signalled by lights and music coming from the main stage, quickly followed by dancers in inflatable costumes performing a lively little number before the G&G CEO himself, Mr James Liao took his place on stage to welcome the competitors. The very first day of the competition is a chance for the teams to meet and get to know the G&G team, the rival teams, set up their weapons/get to grips with them, to test them out on the M.E.T and to ensure there are no gun issues prior to the competition started. For the competition, each team gets 2 CM16-SRS rifles, a GPM-92 pistol and a G960SV sniper rifle – all of which are straight out of the box. No expense is spared during the competition. I spent Friday mingling with the teams and the international media, including the awesome guys from GSP, The House Gamers and Airsoftology.

The second day of the competition is where the competitors qualified for their ranking the next day – those who came higher up in the rankings would go later in the day. Each team gets two attempts to run through each stage and their best time is used as their ranking for the finals. The day started at 9am with all contestants ready to get their rankings and the day went off without a hitch and all the teams were on great form which can be seen in their scores. The second day was also when G&G held the ‘Contestants Banquet’, after the day was over all the contestants made their way to their designated mini buses (dubbed the party buses) and we were on our way to The Grand Hotel in Taipei – one of the most famous hotels in the city. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous, as you walk up the marble steps it gives way to a luscious scarlet red carpet that spans the entire length of the foyer of the hotel. It is decorated in with lanterns and ornate patterns and dripping in the traditional oriental colours of red and gold. As we made our way through the hotel into the banquet hall itself, there were banners and flags lining the walls. The banquet was a great evening with lots of traditional Taiwanese cuisine and the contestants are treated to Taiwanese beer and rice wine. The banquet is a super enjoyable event with a lot of laughter and camaraderie all round. After the evening is over, everyone was transported to the Riviera Hotel to carry on an evening of camaraderie and drinks.

As I was only there for 4 days, my nights were spent exploring the city of Taipei – after all, how often do you get to fly to the opposite side of the world? During the evenings we explored downtown Taipei, from the Shiling night market which was alive with colour, people and the smell of street food, to the quiet little artisan beer bars in the expo centre, to the famous beef rice bowl restaurant a short ride into the city on the MRT. Taiwan is a stunning country full of life, colour and scents that really make you feel alive. My only complaint, is the heat (typical Brit!) most days the temperature was hitting 35-40 degrees and it is really humid so shorts are an absolute must!

The third and final day of the competition is where the teams would secure their final scores that would decide their fate in the competition. The day started at 8.30am and all the contestants were at their stations ready to take on the day – first up was the M.E.T 5x5 final, followed shortly by the Humvee Sniper and Search & Destroy final and finishing up with the CQB finals. The day went well and the competition was intense, with crowds of people coming to watch the CQB finals from the stands, the whole expo was alive with activity and cameras flashing recording the event. It is to my understanding that there were a few gun fails during the last day but these were quickly resolved by the G&G Maintenance team. 

The Finale was a spectacular event and definitely the highlight of the competition. After the competition was complete and the scores had been counted, all of the contestants lined up with their respective countries sign and flag awaiting the results of the competition. Music began to play and Mr Liao started to present the winning teams with their awards and of course the coveted prize funds. The overall winners of the 2017 competition were Chile Team B coming in 1^st winning a very handsome $10,000 USD, Taiwan coming in 2^nd and taking home prize money of $5,000 USD and Hong Kong coming in 3^rd taking home a fab $2,000 USD. There are also monetary prizes for the winners of the individual stages. Germany took the prize for Stage 1 – M.E.T 5x5, Hong Kong took the prize for Stage 2 – Humvee Sniper, Chile team A were crowned the champions for Stage 3 – Search & Destroy and Chile team B took first for Stage 4 – CQB.

At the end of the ceremony we faced to turn the ranking flags with the Chile national anthem being played as their flag rose to the top of the pack, the most poignant memory I have of this moment was the Chile team – hands over their hearts, pride in their eyes and singing their hearts out to their anthem. It was an amazing sight to see and a very well deserved win by the Chile team.

The UK team is sponsored by none other than Zero One Airsoft – the shop/site where the UK M.E.T 5x5 system is based. Our UK team is chosen from 2500 people who attend the National Airsoft Festival at Ground Zero in Ringwood on the bank holiday weekend in August. Players over the weekend compete in teams of two to eliminate the 5x5 in the quickest time possible – which is no easy feat with so many competing for the chance to go to Taiwan. Ian Cobbledick and Gavin Andrewartha from Cornwall qualified for the 2017 G&G World Shooting Cup during the 2016 NAF with the fastest time over the weekend. During the competition they ranked an impressive 13^th in the qualifiers and 24^th overall. Their plans moving forward are to train on their very own M.E.T system and defend their title of national champions at the Nation Airsoft Festival 2017. The guys were great competitors, fun to chat to and did their best in the stages.

The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition is held at the same time as the Taiwan Camo Festival where stores and manufacturers come together to put on an expo like event where players can come to try out new guns, run stages and compete in mini competitions for prizes and of course purchase new shiny camo and Airsoft goodies. Companies in attendance included WE Airsoft, Modify, ICS Airsoft, VFC and Armourer Works. The Camo festival brings hundreds of visitors every year to view new products etc. It was fun to walk around taking in the sight of all the different camos and to try out the marksmanship challenges that were dotted around the exhibition. There was a lot of kit there that I REALLY fancied bringing home but my case was already filled with swag thanks to the team at G&G so nothing more would fit in my suitcase!

Overall, the event was a spectacular show of skill and determination from the contestants. It was an enjoyable event filled with camaraderie and sportsmanship and really epitomised the best aspects of the Airsoft community – friendly competition, honest play and sportsmanship. The trip itself is the trip of a lifetime. The competitors did great in the competition and many international friendships were forged. It was great to meet so many people from different cultures and learn about their customs, languages and Airsoft communities. One thing that is clear to see is just how much time, passion and funds G&G invest in this event -   I am so grateful to Airsoft Action for allowing me to represent them at the 2017 World Cup CQB Shooting Competition and to G&G Armament for flying me out, being such fantastic hosts and giving me the experience of a lifetime.

The final scores/places were:

·         30^th – Paraguay

·         29^th – Bolivia

·         28^th – Mexico

·         27^th – Finland

·         26^th – Romania

·         25^th – French Polynesia

·         24^th – United Kingdom

·         23^rd – Philippines

·         22^nd – France Team A

·         21^st – Spain Team A

·         20^th – New Zealand

·         19^th – Colombia

·         18^th – United States Team A

·         17^th – Switzerland

·         16^th – Netherlands

·         15^th – Canada

·         14^th – Poland

·         13^th – France Team B

·         12^th – Spain Team B

·         11^th – United Arab Emirates

·         10^th – Argentina

·         9^th – Germany

·         8^th Chile Team A

·         7^th – Republic of China (Taiwan) Team A

·         6^th – United States Team B

·         5^th – Japan

·         4^th – Brazil

·         3^rd – Hong Kong

·         2^nd – Republic of China (Taiwan) Team B

·         1^st – Chile Team B

Hardwick, K. (2017). G&G World Cup CQB Competition 2017. Airsoft Action. 78 (September), 20-23.

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MANTIS X FIREARMS TRAINING SYSTEM REVIEW!

Hey everyone!

So today I'm back with another review and this is for the MantisX Firearms Training System! 

The MantisX is a training system that is designed to help improve your shooting precision. It is a small sensor that can be used with live fire, dry practice for firearms and even for airsoft. It is attached to a rifle or pistol via a rail or adapter and it analyses the users shooting mechanics, diagnoses issues and gives you tips to improve through its app!

In the box you get an absolutely adorable tiny peli case that contains the MantisX sensor and the micro USB charging cable. Once I'd got it out of the box and downloaded the app from the App Store I set about mounting it to my WE M&P Big Bird Pistol. It was really easy to attach, just use a flat head screwdriver to remove the screw, slide it onto the rail and pop the screw back into place and you're done. The MantisX didn't sit flush with the end of the barrel because of the position of the slots in the rail but this doesn't affect its performance.

Once the sensor was attached to my M&P I turned it on using the button and opened the app to connect and calibrate the sensor. In the settings I could select whether I was using a rifle or a handgun, what type of weapon I was using (and the list was comprehensive) and whether I had the MantisX sensor in the forward or backward mount position - I had chosen the forward mount position with the USB charging port facing the gun.

I loaded my mags and started a session. It's recommended to take 10-15 shots, stop the session then analyse the data from there so you can discern patterns and areas of focus. The Mantis feedback is really easy to understand - each shot is scored depending on how much you moved away from your sighted position during the trigger pull, it is scored out of 100 and the higher the, the better you have performed, the app then shows you the direction of your movement and gives you a suggestion on what could be the cause of your movement so you can aim to improve on that the next round.

Here is my results and what the in-app data looks like! From the results I can see that the areas that dragged me down in my scores were pushing forward on shots and my wrist moving downwards on trigger pulls. I think the fact it gives you suggestions on how to improve is pretty awesome and would be super useful for airsoft competition shooters.

So, how easy is it to use and understand? The MantisX really is super simple to use, once you've attached the sensor, downloaded the app and set it up for your firearm it is point, shoot and then evaluate. In regards to hardware usability, it's easy as pie to operate - the button on the sensor turns it on, if you hold it down for about 1 second to turn it off and it has a cool auto power off feature that turns it off if it doesn't detect any significant movement for 5 minutes so you don't have to worry about wasting battery life. To charge the unit you simply plug it into a computer USB port or a phone charger using its micro USB cable.

The app is also incredibly easy to use and understand, from setting up the MantisX for your own firearm to understanding the feedback, the team behind this nifty little gadget have made it really easy for the user to not only operate but to understand what they need to do to improve thanks to the comprehensive shot analysis.

What's the price point? The MantisX sensor retails for $149.99 from Mantis themselves here but it is also available from airsoft stores in the UK such as Landwarrior Airsoft for £159.99.

Overall, I think this little gadget is cool AF. I wouldn't necessarily use it in a skirmish game as there is a lot more movement involved during a skirmish, but it's a great way to train yourself and would be super useful for airsoft competition shooters to improve their skills. I really enjoyed using it and learning how I can improve my accuracy with my pistols.

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TORA BORA RAID! PAST AIRSOFT WEEKENDER 2017!

Hey everyone

On Friday 18th August 2017, my airsoft team and I made the trip from Basingstoke to the Isle of Portland on the south coast to attend PAST's annual themed weekender at The Rock, a large active quarry that also doubles up as a pretty epic airsoft site. It took us around 3.5 hours to make the 95 mile journey due to some heavy traffic and a freak hail/rain storm somewhere on the A31. As we drove along the coast and over the bridge to the Island, it was a pretty amazing sight! I don't get to see the coast too often so as you can imagine I was pretty excited about being so close to the sea! The site itself is at the top of a winding road atop a steep hill on the island. We were greeted by site marshals wearing bright high vis vests once we had reached the country road where the site is situated. We arrived on site at around 4pm and set about making our camp for the weekend. The accommodation for the weekend was a field adjacent to the quarry where there was plenty of space for tents and even caravans/motorhomes if you don't like the thought of tenting it all weekend. After we had set up our tents we walked over to the large white marquee that held the onsite shop to sign in. The onsite shop was stocked with plenty of gas, beebs and accessories to keep you going over the weekend!

The site itself was honestly pretty epic. The Rock is an active white stone quarry that is constantly changing. In the centre of the quarry is what can only be described as a mound of large white stone rocks that you can walk/climb/crawl between, which opens out into large open spaces with blocks of stone dotted around for cover. It features a 100m pit full of structures and cover that only has one way in/way out along with huge hills that contain dug in bunkers, support weapons and large pyro artillery. Due to its dusty, rocky, mountainous features it was the perfect setting for Tora Bora Raid.   Tora Bora Raid was set in the early years of the Afghan war - with players being able to choose fighting for the coalition special forces to hunt Osama Ben Laden in the Tora Bora caves or to fight against them as the Militia/Tali forces as Osama's bodyguards. As we are steering further away from MultiCam kit we decided to fight on the Militia side which meant civvie dress and relaxed loadouts. My loadout for the weekend included ranger green trousers, a green plaid mens shirt, a ranger green platecarrier with a back panel and a MultiCam shooters belt.

Saturday morning Project Cerberus woke up bright and early to our tactical camera man Andy Snook of Snook Snaps (you can check out his awesome shots here) bringing us a hearty breakfast of sausage and bacon cobs (bread rolls to all you southerners) before walking onto the site ready for the safety brief. The safety brief given by the staff was comprehensive and covered all bases with one very important point repeated 'watch your footing' as majority of the ground was uneven and pretty rocky. After the safety brief had concluded each side went to their respective starting points. The game kicked off at 10am.

Project Cerberus' first objective was to defend one of the three hills in the quarry, a hill named Hodor. It had a long winding road leading up to its flat summit, and it was surrounded by rocky hills and dense shrubbery. The hill is one of three that sit high above the base of the quarry and manipulate game play depending on which hills are controlled by which side - at the start of the game our Militia side controlled all three hills and dominated the AO. It was NATOs job to come in and flush us out. We set ourselves up high on the rocky ridges around the summit of the hill watching over the action in the centre of the quarry and feeding information back to our side.

We had around 30-40 minutes of no contact until a squad of NATO started to make their way up the road towards our positions. Our Sniper team started picking them off one by one until a large group of NATO became aware of our positions. They then started making their way up the road and over the ridges on the western side of Hodor. As more and more NATO troops started turning their attention to the hill, the more contact we came into. The firefights were intense and the attacks on the hill were relentless from all sides but we maintained control.

After controlling the hill for around two hours, the enemy team called an airstrike on our position resulting in heavy casualties. As we made our way down the hill as dead players lunch was called and we took a one hour break to refuel, rebomb and get some fuel.

After our team suffered casualities thanks to the NATO air strike before lunch, after the break we spawned at the road to the bunkers and set about making our plan to retake Hodor. Now there were three ways we could retake our territory - up the long road, over the rock ridge or the tight, densely shrubbed path at the very back of the hill. We chose to first attack the rocky ridge, we banded together with another group from the Militia to flood the ridge and take it by force and numbers.

We moved through the rocks quickly, with our front line taking ground at speed. I remained at the back supporting the front with deploying smoke cover and using a tag launcher to clear the top of the ridge of NATO. As the tags hit the ground they forced the NATO troops back onto the summit of the hill. After an intense firefight we were ambushed and our medics were hit. Those that were left hunkered down into the rocks, until we were picked off one by one leaving me the last woman standing. I sat in my cover, gritted the shemagh between my teeth and waited for the NATO troop to make their way to our position. When they emerged over the ridge behind us I stood up (my fatal mistake) and fired down onto them taking them out before being shot in the back by the remaining NATO on the summit near the artillery weapon. With our squad taken out we returned to our respawn.

At respawn, we decided to take another shot at retaking Hodor, this time using the path at the back of the hill. We made our way from the bunker hill road across the huge expanse of the quarry being watched by the NATO forces that had flooded onto the hill. We made our way slowly up the rocky ground that led to the path,

This time we realised that taking the hill would require more stealth than our last attempt so Project Cerberus made their way up the path, which was steep and covered with loose rocks and as a result it was slow progress. Once our team made their way to the lip of the ridge there was an intense firefight between our front line and the NATO squad holding the hill.

We took the hill.

We stayed on the hill for a further 2 hours fighting off the advances of NATO until another airstrike was called in by the other side.

Around 4pm, after the last air strike our team had been called to the tower, a large scaffolding structure near the pit of the quarry Militia. By the time we had made our way down Hodor's southern road, back to respawn and to the tower, the fire fight between the two sides was already in full swing and it was fierce. We ran in, taking defensive positions around the tower until our forces had pierced their front line. We went on the offensive, moving from rock to rock and pushing them further back.

As endex for the day was called, all players returned to the camping area to prepare for the Saturday night zombie game.

The zombie game is where players enter the smaller quarry site that is a short walk from the camp site with springer and gas weapons to take part in an adrenaline fuelled chase between the living and the undead. For this game I was rocking a HK45 and a springer shot gun. All players are given a briefing beforehand and a foam baton which comes into play once a player is infected. The Call of Duty Zombies music starts playing in the entire quarry, echoing and adding to the atmosphere. Players spread out throughout the quarry, Project Cerberus and PAST retreated to a corner of the quarry with the aim of working together and staying alive as long as possible. As the infection spread through the quarry all hell broke loose, there were people running in all directions, shots going off in all directions. It was a really good crack.

After the zombies game had finished, all players returned to the camping area for drinks and some grub. This is what I really love about weekender events! Don't get me wrong, I love 40 hour MilSim games that play through the night and test your endurance but, being able to take a break from the game and wearing kit to sit down, have a drink and some good food with your friends and not to mention a good nights sleep is top notch!

On Sunday morning we started again at 10am, moving between the centre of the quarry, the bunkers and Hodor until after lunch it came time for 'the pit'. The last afternoon of the weekend centred around protecting our force leader in the 100m deep pit. It was NATO's job to move into the pit and remove us and capture our leader. Which they did in good time.

After this we fought to get our lord commander space general back and took him in a bloody firefight around the bunker hill shortly before endex.

Overall, I can honestly say that Tora Bora Raid trumps any MilSim or weekender that I have played in my 3 years of playing. The site is absolutely phenomenal, albeit a little hazardous, the game play over the weekend was intense and both sides fought fairly, the social in the evening was excellent and it was just an all round good crack.

Photography thanks to Andy Snook of Snook Snaps.

I just want to say a huge thank you to PAST (Jed Catling, Ben Hale, Chris Worth, Adam Robertson and others) for inviting us down for their weekend event and putting on such a great show! We will definitely be back!

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