Hi friends!
Welcome back to the blog! Carrying on with my 2022 Airsoft Wrapped series today we’re going to be looking at my top 5 events of 2022! I usually do a top 5 airsoft sites however in 2022 I took a long break from airsoft for medical reasons and only managed to play 9 sites so I figured events would be a better round-up for last year! Now as always here’s the disclaimer: these are just my personal favourites (yours probably will be different) that I attended in 2022. Let’s get into it!
At number 5, we have the last instalment of the Gangsta City games: A Christmas with Klaus. Over 6 hours, 2 teams battled over the streets of Buedeventura (Swynnerton MOD Camp) to capture the presents Santa’s sleigh dropped when the real Santa Claus was shot out of the sky by the Los Lobons and the fake Santa Klaus. Santa’s Helpers (the green team) took home the win, securing the presents and capturing the fake Santa Klaus with fairy lights in their FOB. The Gangsta City games are always very tongue in cheek and we all had a lot of fun completing the varying missions that were set during the day. Most players were in fancy dress and there was a huge raffle at the end. I had a blast, but the weather was less than ideal on the day. It was minus 1 degree Celsius for most of the day with a bitter wind chill however the cold temp did mean that the snow that fell earlier in the week was still on the ground so it did feel truly Christmassy.
At number 4, we have Brews and Pews. Whilst I was in Texas for the grand opening of Evike Outpost Houston, I decided to stay the extra day and attend ‘Brews and Pews’ which is the adults-only (21+) evening game at High Ground Airsoft. You can read my full review of High Ground Airsoft and its facilities here! Brews and Pews start at 6.30pm on Wednesday and ends at 10.30pm so it’s a great way to kick back after work with your airsoft buddies and have a couple of beers/seltzers/wines from the onsite bar at HGA (or alternatively you can bring your own). It is important to note, you are only allowed to consume 3 alcoholic beverages and continue playing, you are of course allowed to drink more and hang out but you won’t be allowed back on the field.
Taking the number 3 spot this year is Gangsta City: Lockdown. This was the first Gangsta City game at former HMP Gloucester (otherwise known as UCAP Vendetta) and honestly, I thought 24 hours of pure CQB was going to f*cking suck but it’s been one of my favourite Gangsta City games to date. 120 players were fighting over the cell blocks of Buedeventura Prison - 60 Los Cuervos and 60 Los Rojas. Each player was given an orange or blue shirt with their prison number on before the game started which was their prison uniform for the game (I was orange prisoner 21). We started the game unarmed, and had to fight our way to our weapons and gear that had been confiscated on incarceration then take control of the prison by obtaining the merchandise and getting it out. It was a really good event and the site itself was a fantastic backdrop. Fighting through prison cells, abandoned workshops and prison yards was a really cool experience and I even got to do a shoot-out from the prison van. The accommodation for the event was in the cell blocks themselves, adding to the experience (I however did not sleep in the cells as Gloucester prison is notoriously haunted and I do not claim that negative energy!) There was a small shop onsite and caterers.
At number 2, we have the Grand Opening of Evike Outpost Houston at High Ground Airsoft. In July, I flew from London to Houston, Texas to attend the Grand Opening of the new location of the Houston Evike Outpost. One thing evike.com knows how to do is throw an event, let me tell you! On the day of the opening, as well as attendees being able to shop in the new store, there was all-day play at HGA, vendors including Krytac, Haley Strategic, G&G Armament and Body Armour Vent showcasing their products on the forecourt outside, a Q&A with well-known airsofters including Jet Desertfox, Unicorn Leah, US Airsoft, Airsoft Alfonse and myself and a huuuuuge raffle where we saw attendees win thousands of dollars of prizes. It was a really fun event for the community and I would love to attend another soon!
My favourite event of 2022 was none other, than The National Airsoft Festival, at Ground Zero Airsoft in Ringwood, UK. The NAF (or NAE if you’re old-school) has been running since 2007, when the team at Ground Zero/Zero One made history by hosting what was the largest airsoft event ever held in the history of UK airsoft, bringing in players from all over the UK and Europe. I’ve been attending since 2016 and it’s an event I look forward to every year, even if I choose not to play. It is a weekend (normally held on the bank holiday weekend in August) of camping, airsoft and friends. There are airsoft games that are played all weekend - a night game on Friday evening and all-day games on Saturday and Sunday at Ground Zero which is set on the private grounds of Somerley Estate in Ringwood, Hampshire.
Adjacent to the site is the festival area which is filled with vendors such as EG, Viper, Attack Sense etc for players to shop and check out new kit, the GZ beer tent which has cheap beer and live entertainment at night and of course the Zero One shop is also onsite, although it has been scaled back in recent years - they used to bring the entire showroom to GZ but this, of course, was costly and time-consuming so it has been scaled down and now you can buy consumables for the games and collect any online purchases as the staff will bring them from the showroom to the festival. There are always plenty of food options too - greek kebabs, burgers, pizzas and there were even roast dinner wraps - how awesome is that! Even if your loved ones/friends don’t play airsoft they can also camp for the weekend too. I absolutely love attending this event, 3 days of camping with my airsoft friends at what is essentially airsoft Glastonbury is always a great vibe!
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