Hey everyone!
Welcome back to the blog! Today I have another review for you that's featured in this months 6MM ACTUAL, my review on West Midlands Airsoft: High Command!
West Midlands Airsoft High Command is a site I have been playing since 2017 when I visited the site for a review for Airsoft Action. Shortly after it became one of my favourite haunts in the midlands for CQB. I started helping out at the site marshalling and taking photos so there may be some bias in this write-up but I will try to be as objective as possible. The last time I reviewed HC was 2017, so I thought it was time for an update.
Welcome back to the blog! Today I have another review for you that's featured in this months 6MM ACTUAL, my review on West Midlands Airsoft: High Command!
West Midlands Airsoft High Command is a site I have been playing since 2017 when I visited the site for a review for Airsoft Action. Shortly after it became one of my favourite haunts in the midlands for CQB. I started helping out at the site marshalling and taking photos so there may be some bias in this write-up but I will try to be as objective as possible. The last time I reviewed HC was 2017, so I thought it was time for an update.
High Command is around a 50-minute drive up the motorway depending on the traffic from my home in the East Midlands and is situated in the Doulton Trading Estate in Rowley Regis. At the entrance of the industrial estate, there is a signpost letting you know you’re in the right place. The shared car park onsite has around 20 car parking spaces so it’s good to get there early to bag yourself space, especially if the owners of the other units have vehicles in the car park. The safe zone is located on the first floor of the building and is just a short walk up a flight of stairs. The safe zone is a central corridor with rooms branching off that is full of tables and chairs for players to organise their kit. The first room is where sign-in, rental pick-up/drop off and lunch takes place. West Midlands Airsoft also has an onsite shop that sells a variety of ammo, pyro, and plenty of accessories that you could need on the day which is also situated in that room!
The rentals are provided by SIXMIL.com, an independent airsoft hire company that is based in Staffordshire. They offer a huge range of not only rental weapons but rental loadouts too! From their predesigned loadouts, SIXMIL can offer new/beginner players the chance to facilitate a variety of play styles and looks without the hassle of getting all the gear themselves!
The safety brief is usually given by the owner Paul and is comprehensive. The site runs a limit of 350 FPS max, semi-auto only and with a pyro limit of a 12 gauge magflash round. The playing area itself is a small 13,000 sq ft warehouse space that is set on the second floor of the building. It is a mixture of bright long, open areas, dark corridors and even darker kill house style rooms. It is exceptionally close CQB and with no minimum engagement distance so you can bet it gets intense.
What about gameplay? Usually, the games are capped at 30 players – 15 aside and that is a perfect amount for the sites total playing area of 13,000 sq ft. In the summer, the player cap can go up to 40 which depending on how trigger happy the players are, it can make or break your love for CQB! The game modes played are varied to include deathmatches and objective-based game modes that keep the day fresh. Most of the game days start with a game of infection to help us sort the teams. There are a fair few props including fake bombs, target systems etc which are used during the events that add to the gameplay.
So what’s the walk-on fee? The walk-on fee for members is £25.00 and for none-members is £30.00 each including a hot lunch (which is a rarity at sites nowadays!) Hires are available from SIXMIL starting at £20 so it is in line with game-day fees at other sites.
Are there any issues with the site? Honestly, the site isn’t perfect but there are only a couple of issues that spring to mind and they have always been issues that are isolated to other tenants of the building. The site has 26 allocated car parking spaces however a few of them are taken up by abandoned cars – whilst it doesn’t cause a massive problem, it is a little bit of an annoyance especially on the busy game days. The other issue lies with the men’s toilets - other tenants in the building, unfortunately, do not look after the facilities so West Midlands Airsoft has combatted this by opening up the women’s toilet that has a lock on it, players and attendees of the day can ask at reception for the key to enjoy a pleasant, clean bathroom.
Photography thanks to The Airsoft Photographer
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