BRAVO ONE: AIRSOFT AT THE GRANGE LIVE GAMING!



In the heart of the city centre of Birmingham, there is an activity centre that boasts a range of activities including a Rage Room, urban axe throwing, Nerf Wars, a Virtual Reality Room and even airsoft! Whilst I’ve visited Bravo One on many occasions, I’ve not played a full days skirmish there as of yet so I and team took a trip to Birmingham to see what’s going down!

I will say the one thing that always surprises me on my trips to Bravo One is how easy it is to get to! Even though it is literally smack bang in the middle of Birmingham (and about a 5/10 minute walk to the Bullring, depending on how fast your legs can carry you!) it is really easy to get to and is well signed so it’s easy to find. Parking on the street is free on a Sunday and weekdays after 6 but is limited so it is advisable to get there early to ensure you get a space! 


The Grange Live Gaming is a huge building with the space of 6 floors (usable space of 5 floors with a playing space of 3 floors). As Bravo One is heavily involved in IPSC Action Air, they have just opened up their 5th floor to target shooting. Now from the pictures, you’d assume it’s just another indoor airsoft site made from plywood but, each floor has its own theme. The first floor is the shop, café, toilets, rage room, axe throwing and the safe zone, the second floor is the spaceship-themed level, the third floor is the hospital and the fourth floor is the high street. Each floor is pretty well lit with some dark areas and almost pitch black crawl holes which are super fun for some sneaky beaky work. What I really like about the layout of the site is how much thought and effort has gone into each floor – from the hospital beds on the hospital floor to the shop fronts and bay windows on the high street floor, the floors are a true representation of their themes and they are built for tight, close quarters combat. Bravo One is unique in the sense that it has two stairwells leading up to each game floor – one for the red team and one for the blue team that lead to their correlating spawn corridors on each side of the building. Each team has a corridor that spans the length of the floor with multiple exits to be used as spawn points – I actually think this works really well as if you struggle to get out of one spawn exit, there are a couple more routes you can try.

Over the course of the day we played a range of games with different objectives on different floors – our first mission of the day was to battle it out over floor 3 and collect as many of the gold bricks as possible (and return them to our spawn points) – the teams didn’t find many of the bricks but it was a great warm-up game to get players used to the site layout. Other games played included a simple team deathmatch, a laptop/domination style game and a few others. I think my favourite game of the day was the ‘search and destroy’ game mode – players on both teams battle it out to find and detonate the ‘bomb’ which a pretty cool prop that features lights, a fully functional number pad and a VERY loud siren. The gameplay is loud, fast-paced, intense and gets your adrenaline going! As the site is so close and tight, the fear of what’s through that doorway is real – just how I like it!


The walk-on price is £36 and doesn’t include lunch which I do think is a little expensive - only considering that the walk-on fee doesn’t include lunch which is often included in the walk-on fee of similar sites up and down the country. The onsite café does have a good selection of breakfast items, snacks, paninis and drinks however and there are a few other lunch options nearby including a Tesco Express (everyone loves a good meal deal) and local restaurants. Lunch is typically an hour so you might be pushed for time if you chose to go into the city centre for lunch.

The site is staffed by enthusiastic members of staff who are experts in everything from airsoft to archery, to larping. When you walk into the centre you are greeted by the smiling faces of staff who are happy to advise customers and from the shop to the game floor and the café, nothing is too much trouble. The regular players on site are also a great bunch – awesome to have a laugh with and a pleasure to shoot against. The site is well marshalled and had a comprehensive safety brief so there were no issues over the course of the day.


Overall, I think the site is fantastic – the facilities including toilets and onsite shop/café are fantastic (some of the best in my opinion), the gaming area is well thought out and the games played are engaging and never stale. The staff also play a major part in making the site a fun and entertaining place to visit. I’ll definitely be visiting again soon! If you’re looking for a site that provides hard-hitting and adrenaline-fuelled CQB with a friendly atmosphere Bravo One should definitely be on your list of sites to visit! Keep up the good work Bravo one!

Site address & contact details:
93-99 Holloway Head,
Birmingham
B1 1QP
www.grangelivegaming.com


01216 432477

Hardwick, K. (2018). Site: Grange Live Gaming. Airsoft Action. 91 (September), 34-35.
Photography thanks to L Sibley Photography










No comments

Back to Top