EVENT | AIRFEST 2019!

On the weekend of 26th-28th July, I returned to NPF Bassetts Pole for their famous annual paintball/airsoft festival, respectively Paintfest and Airfest for ‘3 days of paintball/airsoft heaven’.

Airfest is held annually at NPF Bassetts Pole which is located in the West Midlands and is one of the most well-known paintball sites in the UK. It is a huge festival where teams and players from around the world attend to sling some paint, compete in competition tournaments, enjoy a huge players party and get the chance to check out all the new kit from some of the biggest names in the industry. In 2017, NPF introduced airsoft to the festival and the airsoft presence within the festival has grown year on year! The event is, as always centred around a huge festival arena area that holds the trade stands, food vendors, the bar area and the player party arena with the Fireball Squadron and NPF paintball fields in the surrounding areas that are a short walk away. It truly has that festival feel but with a trade show edge!

This year there were more retailers onsite than ever before, including Enola Gaye - selling their world-famous pyrotechnics and soft goods, JD Airsoft - bringing a wide selection of airsoft guns, accessories and gear from their superstore in Cannock, Tactical Coffee Company - a veteran-owned magfedpb.co.uk, Warped Gear, Valken and many others where players could purchase new kit. There was also a good range of activities onsite - the British Reserve 225 FD SQN returned this year with a new challenge, this year teams had to transport the components of a catapult in pieces over a set of apparatus then construct the. Catapult and engage the targets that were barrels with signs such as ‘free wifi here!’ - clever. NPF also invited back their resident festival masseuse Anna, who was offering full-body massages for a reasonable price. SIXMIL and West Midlands Airsoft brought their mobile range down for the weekend with various RIFs so players could get some target practice in and try out some new weapons.

Onsite this year there was also a large selection of food vendors including K&N with their catering van selling all the festival favourites such as burgers, baps etc, the Lavazza Coffee rig for some great early morning Joe, Oregano kitchen returned with their bomb pizza, Jono’s Rustic Wraps made an appearance this year and last but not least, Greidys serving up wings and strips (if you follow me on on IG, you know I love me some wings!)

The ticket price this year rose to £95 and that included camping for the duration of Airfest - Friday to Sunday morning (although for an additional £10pppn you could stay the Thursday before and Sunday night). The facilities, as always were very good. The camping area for players is a huge field that is adjacent to the festival area where attendees can set up tents, caravans and motorhomes and have their cars parked next to their camp if they wish (something I really like because it means you can keep all your expensive kit safe in the car!) If you choose so, there is the option to purchase bands that enable you to use the shower block on site (entrance to the shower facilities is by band only, so don’t try sneaking in!) and they have plenty of portaloos dotted around the camping and main arena areas. In previous years they have had women’s only portaloos which was always super appreciated but this wasn’t the case at this year's event so it was a little disappointing. I would love to see this facility return in next years festival.

Although NPF runs airsoft skirmishes twice monthly, the airsoft games for airfest are run on the adjacent site, Fireball Squadron. For those of you that haven’t played at Fireball, the site is a dense, thick woodland that is so close in areas that you can have a member of the opposite team standing next to you in the brush and not notice! It is a maze of shrubbery with some large open spaces filled with wooden buildings, jeeps and other structures that has been running for over 20 years. 

Friday is when Airfest officially kicks off! The camping area and registration on Friday opens at 7am, along with the catering and trade show stands, and the rolling games/activities commence from 10am. I arrived at 11am on Friday morning, just in time for the festival bar to open at 12pm! The main game on Friday started at 2pm and was called ‘Downed Pilot’ - for this game, a senior test pilot in the Kosgrovian Air Force had been shot down near to the Baljski Border, the mission was to recover and either capture or recover, as he was holding intel. As I was unable to spend Friday night at NPF, I spent my Friday at the festival visiting the trade stands and catching up with old friends/making new ones. I left shortly before the Dusk game ‘Cold War’ started which ran from 7pm, the story behind the night game was the conclusion of the Kosgrovian War - the Kosgrovian’s had to defend their sites around the capital from the Bajakians, who in turn had to take these sites and capture the warheads to increase their firepower. The game ran until 9pm, ready for the Friday night movie that commenced at 10pm- which this year was John Wick! Players are invited to bring their snacks, beverages and camping seats into the arena area for the movie which is shown on an enormous screen. I was unable to stay Friday evening due to family commitments prior to planning Airfest, so I went home and returned in the morning.

I returned to the event at around 10.30am on Saturday (after dropping my niece off at her Mum’s) and made my way straight to NPF for the remainder of Airfest and I arrived to a lot of rain and mud! Despite the weather being wonderful sunshine the day before, the heavens opened during the night and continued throughout the morning (and through to the next day as well, but it wouldn’t be airfest without a little bit of rain). As I was late for the first game, I spent the morning catching up with followers and chatting to them which is always a good laugh and one of the most awesome parts of my job. At 1pm I kitted up and got on the field, the safety brief and game brief given by the Marshalls and site staff of Fireball Squadron was comprehensive and covered all the important points. After that, we set out on our first missions, on Saturday this year NPF/Fireball ran the big game ‘Diamond Wars’ which is a legacy game that sees USDE and HMC battle it out for control of the land, diamonds and the overall victory. Our first mission was to capture ground from HMC (I was on USDE) and hold it. I forgot for a while how close this site actually is when you get into the undergrowth! The firefights over one of the buildings was super intense even got to room to room clearing in the woodland which was awesome! After an intense fight, the game was called! After a short break in play, the afternoon session began and in this game we had to raid the embassy and the prison for ‘bodies’, retrieve them and store them at our respawn. Our team went really hard at this mission and managed to capture 8 out of the total hostages by raiding the embassy, we did face some really fierce pushback on the prison, HMC were worthy adversaries.

The player's party is the highlight of Saturday after the games end there is a short break before the infamous player's party. At 7.30pm on Saturday the NPF staff take to the stage in the arena and the bar opens. The player's party is a chance for airsofters and paintballers to mingle, drink unlimited free drinks (included in your ticket price) and watch some onstage entertainment. This year Mr/Miss Paintfest competition did not go ahead. Sunday this year was an interesting one, as usual, there was a few sore heads from the player's party and with the heavy rain that lasted from 7pm Saturday and all through the night, the games were unusually quiet. I chose to spend my Sunday exploring the trade stands. The game on Sunday, ‘Ground War’ generally starts at 12pm and ends at 4pm in which the briefing states the Blajakian militia must recover lost ground from the Kosgrovians. The winners of the weekend are announced at 4.30pm!

Overall, I had a great time at Airfest 2019, as I have done every year! If you’re an airsofter looking for an event to attend before the NAE to get you in the mood for the festival season, Airfest 2019 is definitely something you should consider! I love that the airsoft presence is growing year on year, and I’ve noticed now NPF have combined airsoft and paintball, the communities aren’t at polar opposites - there are more airsofters trying paintball and more paintballers trying airsoft! The event is great value for money, especially taking into consideration that all your drinks for the player's party are included AND you get 3 days worth of game days! The facilities are good - great trade stands so you can shop until you drop and great eateries so you needn’t worry about going hungry, but I would love to see a return of the women’ only portaloo - that would be hugely appreciated, especially the morning after the player's party! Lastly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Jed, Kerry and the NPF team for a great weekend, the hospitality I am shown year on year is very much appreciated, see you next year!

Article originally appeared in Airsoft Action

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LUMBER-TAC: THE RISE OF FLANNEL SHIRT LOADOUTS!

Over the last year, unless you’ve been living under the airsoft rock you’ll have noticed the lumber-tac loadouts that have been taking over our social media feeds like wildfire! What is lumber-tac as it’s known? It is wearing flannel shirts in tactical loadouts and airsofters can’t seem to get enough of it!

I first donned a flannel shirt loadout for a MilSim style event called Uprising 3 at Hill 559 in California, USA back in April 2017 in lieu of a traditional insurgent loadout. It rapidly became a favourite of mine after I donned a green variation of that flannel shirt loadout for another MilSim style event called Tora Bora Raid hosted at The Rock in Dorset, UK by PAST & Spec Ops Airsoft in August 2017. The reason I decided to start utilising flannel in my loadouts is very simple – on MilSims where I was asked to play on the insurgent side, I needed a loadout that stood out from the traditional insurgent loadout so I took my inspiration from one of my favourite video games: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands! I loved the look of the operators in the game, and as there are so many patterns, style and colour variations of the shirts it’s pretty certain you’ll find a shirt that goes with your camo of choice.

PC: Snook Snaps

Whilst flannel shirts are pretty commonplace on the high street, brands such as 5.11 have cashed in on the popularity of this by creating their own line of flannel shirts and All Luck No Skill going even further to create a flannel combat shirt! It’s clear that flannel has been taken to a whole new level!

What do airsofters love so much about flannel?

PC: Snook Snaps

They’re casual! One thing I personally really like about wearing my flannel shirts for airsoft is just how casual they look. You can wear them on the way to the field, or at the pub after a long days skirmish with your camo trousers and not look too out of place in the real world. They also give a loadout a really effortless look.

They’re great for team identification. I like being able to recognise my teammates at a glance on the field so when me and the lads are running around a CQB site at the speed of light, seeing that flash or red/green/blue flannel in my peripheral vision tells me I’ve got back up.

Camouflage isn’t necessary for CQB because of the nature of the environment so if you’re playing a CQB game donning a colourful shirt is a non-issue! I’ve seen a lot of comments saying that there is nothing tactical about flannel and it doesn’t camouflage well but from my own experience, the right colour/pattern can go unnoticed in dense, thick woodland areas.

Through trial and error, I’ve found there’s a flannel for every camo, my green flannel goes great with Ranger Green, Olive Drab and M81 whilst my red flannel goes really well with MultiCam Black, Desert Marpat and AOR1. I’m still trying to find the right colour/pattern for my MultiCam loadout but I figure it won’t be long until I track one down!

PC: Snook Snaps

They’re cheap as chips! One of the awesome things about flannel shirts is that you don’t need to spend a fortune on them or buy the big name brands - my green flannel shirt that I wear the most often is a £10 shirt from Primark (that came in an extra small so bonus!) and I picked up my red flannel shirt for $3 at a Goodwill store on my first visit to the States. Bargains but work as well as their expensive counterparts!

PC: DesertFox Events

Are there any downfalls?

Heavy flannel is hot and takes a while to dry so it’s important to get the right kind of shirt for the weather/climate you’re playing in – if it’s sunny and warm out, wearing a heavy flannel shirt will be really uncomfortable to play in and take ages to dry the sweat out. Too thin and you’ll be too cold during break periods.

Bright colours are unsuitable for some game sites. In the UK, we don’t tend to use dead rags so red flannel isn’t really an issue in this respect, but I feel it would be discouraged at a game site abroad where red dead flags are used because players could mistake you for a dead player. Of course, in CQB camouflage doesn’t really matter too much but red shirts in say, a woodland environment could also make you stand out like a sore thumb which can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether you want to be seen or not!

PC: Kirsty Rose Clifford

I asked the online community what you think about tactical flannel on the Airsoft Action and Femme Fatale Airsoft Facebook pages and here’s what you said:

Tacmastermike: Love it! It’s what I wear 90% of the time!

Scot Mackenzie: Tactical lumberjacks are the future.

Chris Fearn: Not for me. Though I’ve seen a few pull it off well. It’s a tactical bush for me!

Nate Gains: Doesn’t a company make flannel combat shirts now? Would definitely rock one!

Aryan Alipour:  I think only Robo pull it off, being Canadian Lumberjack and all. Sorry (RWA) Marck!

Ole Blomgreen: There is nothing tactical about flannel. It’s just plain stupid.

Kieran Sifford: Tac flannel is always a winner

Stefan Heymann: Myself and my teammate have been rocking flannel for a few weeks now, we love it!

Viktor Urban: Hmmm... me likey! My friends too!

Chris Fitzgerald: Hipster airsoft

Dustyn Ates: I'd be down to use it for a speedsoft loadout

Hardwick, K. (2018). Lumber-Tac: The Rise of Flannel Shirt Loadouts. Airsoft Action. 87 (June), 80-81.

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'SMALL SIZE...BIG PROTECTION' LBX TACTICAL 0300S MULTICAM

Over the last few years as a person of small stature in the sport, one of the biggest hurdles I’ve faced is finding tactical kit that fits - plate carriers! However whilst in the US last year, I discovered a brand that not only makes high quality, mil-spec kit but has created a carrier to cater for smaller operators! The brand is LBX Tactical and the carrier is the Small Modular Plate Carrier 0300S.

 Firstly, who are LBX? LBX are named after their parent company London Bridge Trading (or LBT as they are more commonly known), who are a Virginia based tactical kit manufacturer. LBX stands for London Bridge "X", the X in the name stands for the unknown variable, and this represents the multitude of possibilities within the tactical world that their kit can be utilised for. LBX was conceived as a tactical brand that would create mil-spec gear that combines modern design and versatility. Whether you're current or ex-military, a PMC or an airsofter like myself, LBX Tactical aims to offer a huge variety of products made for tactical situations that mix and match for endless custom load-out capabilities.

The Small Modular Plate Carrier or 0300S as it’s known in the community is the smaller version of their popular Modular Plate Carrier. It has modular webbing on the front panel, back panel, and cummerbund meaning you can custom the carrier on all sides with various pouches and panels. The top rows of webbing on the front have hook Velcro to allow operators to add their favourite patches (and we all know that airsofters LOVE their patches, myself included!)

Although the 0300S doesn’t come with plates included, it can accommodate 8x10 plates. I have so far chosen to run both of mine without plates so far, but I am thinking of picking up a couple of foam SAPI plates to help keep its shape when not in use. The carrier also has a heavy-duty drag handle which I feel is more applicable for real-world application than airsoft and hydration/comms guides on the front and rear panels to keep your drinking system and communications looking tidy and to prevent any loose cables being snagged during use!

The carrier is fully adjustable with the cummerbund being adjustable between 32" and 46", my waist is 29” and it fits pretty snug but still gives me enough wiggle room to wear it over a softshell or hoodie. The cummerbund has Velcro closure so the carrier can be securely fastened. The 0300S also has adjustable shoulder straps so you can adjust where it sits on the torso. The straps both have padded strap coverings which makes them comfortable to wear for extended periods of time even when the carrier is loaded up with mags and other gear. So it’s adjustable, but how does it fit? This is the main selling point for me, I’ve found very few plate carriers that can comfortably fit my small frame and contour my waist and chest but the 0300S does the job. As I’ve said, the cummerbund fits my waist pretty snug but still leaves me enough room to be worn over a light jacket or hoodie. The overall size looks/feels right on my torso and without plates it fits the contours of my body. Would it fit as well with plates? I think if SAPI training plates were inserted and worn in, the carrier would still fit the contours of my form but it could be a little bulky when they were fresh.

The LBX Small Modular Plate Carrier or 0300S comes in a variety of different camouflages and block colours including MultiCam, MAS Grey, Black, Coyote and Wolf Grey. It retails for $159.95, which is around £114 to us Brits from LBX although it is worth noting that shipping and customs charges are applicable when it reaches the UK so that is another element to think about. What is great is that the camo options are the same price as the block colourways which isn’t always the case with gear manufacturers. The price, in my opinion, is really reasonable for the quality and fit, especially when compared with other manufacturers.

My LBX MultiCam 0300S has replaced my Warrior Assault Systems Recon PC in the Shooters Cut as my go-to tan team tactical vest because of how well it fits! So far I’ve customised it with a Warrior Assault Systems One point sling, a Warrior Assault Systems Triple Open Mag Panel and also the Ferro Concepts Dangler pouch. Like I said, I’ll more than likely be adding SAPI training plates to the carrier too in the next coming months! I really like the aesthetic of the carrier and its versatility!

Overall, I think LBX have done a fantastic job on the 0300S in regards to the range of colours/camo that it is available in, the quality of the materials used, its overall size and versatility! I’m also ecstatic to see brands catering to smaller players as finding well-fitting tactical kit is something that I and others have struggled with. My only complaint with the LBX range is that it can be quite hard or expensive to get a hold of in the UK, I would love to see the LBX brand and products more readily available in the UK for our player base!

Hardwick, K. (2018). Small Size...Big Protection. Airsoft Action. 87 (June ), 38-39.

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ACTION CAMS IN AIRSOFT!

Over the last few years, we have seen the rise of the airsoft YouTuber - with many airsofters gaining popularity on the internet for their reviews, how-to videos and of course epic gameplay. With this, we have seen the popularity of action cameras on the field increase dramatically and today I want to explore whether using action cams in airsoft are a positive or negative influence on the sport.

Along with the amount of players wearing action cams increasing, the camera setups themselves have gotten way more advanced – now instead of one camera, we see players with helmet cams, gun cams, and scope cams all in the same setup to enable them to capture the day in more viewpoints than ever and create videos that are more akin to cinematics than your average run of the mill YouTube videos. 

I will preface this by saying that I used to be an avid action cam wearer, after I saw all the cool footage online from airsoft personalities across the pond I was eager to get myself a GoPro and start recording my own footage so I could show my mates all the cool things that happened after the game day and maybe post some footage online. I got my first GoPro in the winter of 2014, around 4 months after I started playing and recorded all of my games up until September 2017 – crazy right? Yet I have only posted maybe 5-6 gameplay in the last 3 years.

The reason I stopped wearing my action cam is very simple – when the camera isn’t running I have a much better game day! The reason for this is that I’m not constantly worried about whether the device is actually recording or not, the GoPro running out of battery or there not being enough space on the SD card. When I‘m not wearing the camera I’m not worried about capturing gameplay that looks good on camera (no unnecessary climbing through high windows to get a cool shot), running faster than I usually would and being obsessed with getting killstreaks.

 Recording the day isn’t the end of the process though, once you get home then comes the part where you have to edit the footage into a snappy, quick paced and most importantly entertaining video! Although it’s really cool to go through all the footage later and relive the day, video editing is bloody hard work. Sure, I can edit a vlog or how-to video but I struggle to create the almost cinematic gameplay videos that we see from some of the big names in airsoft YouTube. Without the camera, I can play at a comfortable pace, just enjoy the game for what it is and not have to spend hours upon hours editing a whole day into a 3-minute video.

One argument for the positive effect that action cams have on gameplay is that they promote honest play - as no one really wants to get shamed in a viral cheater video. Now although I am not a fan of cheater videos they are definitely a deterrent. When I was still wearing my GoPro and recording gameplay I found that one of my core reasons for wearing the camera was to protect myself and my reputation from cheating rumours. There was a noticeable trend, the more internet notoriety I gained, the more likely it was that I was accused of cheating – the camera became a way for me to disprove any cheating rumours that were thrown my way by disgruntled airsofters. I believe that airsofters are less inclined to bend the rules if they know there are players in the field recording the events. A few sites in the UK now also have their marshals wear body cams for this reason.

Another reason that actions cams have a positive effect on the sport is that they bring more people into it because they make airsoft look cool AF – now those of us who play know it’s an awesome way to meet people, make new friends and spend ALL of your money! People outside the sport don’t know this and these epic videos act as a great advert for getting new players into the sport!

Another reason I am for the use of action cams in game is that a select few airsofters have built pretty lucrative careers and businesses from editing/posting their gameplay. We live in an age where the internet is king and anyone can create content and monetise it. The monetisation of player’s airsoft content gives them a chance to make money doing what they love and in some cases being able to call it their full-time job/career which is pretty amazing. 

Overall, there are a lot of ways that action cameras affect airsoft in a positive way, from advertising the sport to new players, to promoting honest play within the community and even allowing players to make a career out of producing content. However, we also have to look at the negative side of action cams in airsoft: playing for the camera.

In the past I have heard a player say ‘I won’t stop a good run if I get shot in the back or sides, if the camera can’t see it I’ll carry on to get the footage’. Running an action camera can mean that players could be more likely to bend the rules of the game to enable them to capture the better gameplay footage which is obviously incredibly unsporting and not something we want to encourage on the field. This also leaves the floodgates open to another negative influence cameras have in game.

 Next up? Cheater videos. If it weren’t for action cameras we wouldn’t have the cheater videos that have become popular amongst YouTubers and their viewers. In most site briefs you will hear ‘cheat calling is as bad as cheating itself’ and this applies in my opinion to cheater videos as well. These types of videos draw far too much attention to the negative side of the sport and doesn’t portray it in the best light to those outside of it. I am a firm believer of, if you have an issue with a player on site – tell a marshal, failing that, the site owner. If you notice some questionable play whilst watching the footage back – send it to the site as they could recognise the player and have a firm word to prevent it happening in the future.

Heavily edited videos also give a skewed image of the sport and what a typical game day is like. We all know, that if videos weren’t edited they’d be pretty boring, after all, who really wants to sit through 20 minutes of some guy walking through the woods and seeing 1-2 kills? No one, but watching videos where an airsofter gets a huge killstreak but edits out the 10-12 times he/she got hit - it doesn’t give an accurate representation of a normal game day. I really like it when YouTubers leave their hits and any funny mess-ups in their videos because it makes them more relatable and likeable.

Realistically, the negatives all boil down to who is wearing them and what sort of player they are.

I asked the community what you thought about the use of action cams in airsoft and this is what you had to say!

Lt. Sandman says: ‘In my experience they create positivity. Generally, when people see you with one they play to it and want to get something cool recorded. Honest play, for sure. No one wants to be shamed in a video for cheating. Power play? Not sure about that, it doesn't give you any tactical advantage. Overall great influence on the game’

Matt Furey-King says: ‘The one thing I find amusing in airsoft is hundreds of cameras in game but not that many people publishing the footage. They have become a little bit of a fashion accessory. Even saw a guy asking on Facebook if it was possible to buy an empty go pro casing so it looked like he had an action cam. Anyway, the headcam/scopecam vids on YouTube are drawing lots more people into the hobby which is great’

Andrew Sanders says: ‘Filmed in game for ages now, people play up to the cams and do some awesome stuff. I’ve had people go to cheat or tell me something seen the camera and thought nope. Think they’re great, the marshals at my local site have started wearing them, its lowered unsporting play apparently’ (some spellings changed)

Alisdair Wood says: ‘They don't change the way the game is played as it's fast paced, I couldn't tell you who has them or not. Handy for reducing the air of doubt over cheats, but there are still filmmakers who cheat and don't edit it out lol. It's also good after a day you've been airsoft and someone has a film of it. Basically getting to see the whole day from someone else's pov. I also think marshals should wear them to a reduce cheating, but also the marshals usually get into some great positions in firefights could make for great game day footage’

Anthony Hague thinks: ‘For the average player they are fine. Get some cool moments to show your mates etc…it's when people start making a living off only gameplay, too much of an incentive to cheat/bend the rules to make sure you get that epic bomb plant or w/e.’

Basho Matsuo commented: ‘I think it really depends. The films that I made for Tier 1 really helped the company get its brand out there and people were more than happy to pay for them to see themselves in the events and to get a wider understanding of what was going on. On the other hand, if it's just a film to boost the filmers ego then I don't think they have much worth’

Gadge Harvey said: ‘Personally I don't really like in-game helmet cams and the like. For a start, if I’m shooting pics for an event I ask everyone before-hand if everyone is happy being in a photo - some people don’t want to be in the shot. Sometimes it’s for a good reason like they have a sensitive job and can’t be seen doing a 'war-like' game, other times it’s because they have lied to their partner about having to do something more important and are actually just playing airsoft etc. I think helmet cams, that are then uploaded to YouYube often include people unawares. Also while you might catch someone 'cheating', is a video on YouTube of cheating helpful to the sport? Likewise, heavily edited GoPro footage of someone’s 'amazing' kill-streak in a game where they edit out the eight times they got hit in between creates a false representation of the sport. Just my view, I'd much rather if an event is filmed, it’s done by an individual separate from the game rather than some jumpy, erratic and motion sickness inducing helmet or gun cam!’

Overall, I do think that action cams do have both positive and negative influences on the game, but the negatives impact is pretty insignificant. Action cams can be a cool way to record the game to show your friends and family, a visual way of growing the sport and also a way to earn a tidy side stream of income. I say, fill your boots!

Hardwick, K. (2018). Action Cams in Airsoft. Airsoft Action. 83 (January), 28-31.

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FEMME FATALE IN FRANCE!

On the 29^th September, I packed my bags and flew to Paris, France from Birmingham to meet my French Airsoft Action counterpart. Earlier in 2017, a new contributor joined the Airsoft Action team – Diane Montagnier, who is better known as Dye Lifad within the French airsoft community! Diane is an airsoft player, gunsmith and also a gun tech at Airsoft Entrepot, an airsoft store just outside of Paris. I flew out to meet her and spend a weekend experiencing the best of Parisienne airsoft!

I arrived in Paris at around 4.30 pm local time on Friday afternoon after a short flight of just an hour and a half. As I walked through Charles De Gaulle airport I was super excited about what the weekend had in store! I was met by Diane’s smiling face in arrivals and we were off to Chanteloup, a quaint village just outside of the city! We spent our Friday evening at Diane’s home organising our gear for the weekend, drinking wine and eating cheese fondue! On my travels to different countries to play airsoft I am always very lucky to be hosted by local players who open up their homes and also their gear collections to me and little did I know that Diane was going to kit me out. As Diane is a huuuuge fan of Gucci kit, the gear wardrobe was absolutely jam-packed with the biggest names in tactical kit! My loadout for the weekend included Camouflage Europe Centrale (CEC) which is the standard issue for French Military (when in France right?), a really gucci Blue Force Gear plate carrier and a tonne of other kits from big names such as Arc’teryx and Black Hawk. Our plan for the weekend was pretty simple, good food, good wine and some awesome airsoft at Diane’s favourite haunts!

On Saturday, Dye had organised for us to play a private skirmish with her colleagues from Airsoft Entrepot and some close friends at a private dirt bike track just a short drive out of the city centre of Paris. We arrived on site at around 11am local time as it was a very relaxed day (which makes a change from 6am wake up calls). Once we arrived, we set up tarps so we could lay all of our kit out ready for a day of pew pew! I was introduced to all the players who were in attendance, 12 in total and we had a good natter before the game. As it was a friendly, private game the only rule was ‘be a good sport’ – simple and effective.  As it had rained all the way through the night, the site was pretty wet and muddy but it was a pretty cool site that had winding gravel and dirt roads with high and low ground surrounded by dense forest areas.

Over the course of the day we played a variety of games including team death matches, elimination and domination, however, my favourite game of the day was a team deathmatch where we were split into teams of 3 and had to go hunt the other teams. For this game, I teamed up with Dye and Louis. Whilst Louis went to stalk out the positions of the other teams, myself and Dye quietly made our way up a large hill and set ourselves up in the brush, waiting. This is a completely different play style for me, as I usually enjoy hard hitting CQB that is all about speed and aggression, being quiet and moving slowly in crouched positions is not something I am used to, and of course, being prone in the mud is not something I particularly fancied (I have absolutely no shame admitting that I am a fair weather airsofter). We waited for a few moments until we heard footsteps moving through the dense woodland on the ground below us. I heard fire from Diane’s position, and a male voice shout ‘out!’ then unexpectedly there was incoming fire and a female voice shouting ‘Out! Medic!’, I looked around to make sure it was clear to move to Diane’s position, as I crawled along the floor I realised Diane had moved forward so silently that I hadn’t heard her. I made my way down the hill towards her position, watching for any movement ahead of the dead player. Suddenly a player jumped out towards his position to medic him back into the game, I took him out then medic’d Diane back into the game. We made our way down the hill through the brambles (getting our feet caught as we went) and moved in the direction of where the players had come from because we had only eliminated two of their team. Moving through the top end of the site we came into contact with another team which ended in an intense battle! We were flanked by a member of their team and ended up being taken out. The action that day was absolutely intense, and honestly? It was one of the best game days I’ve had!

After the private game day, tired and muddy we made our way back to Diane’s home to prepare for the next day and refuel! On Sunday morning we were up super early to drive the hour and a half to AMA France Airsoft – a large woodland site in a tiny village outside the city of Paris. The site itself is located at the heart of the forest of Lainville en Vexin and it is huge. The terrain is dense, thick ferns with towering trees. The dirt roads that run through the site lead to all the landmarks on the site – the Star Gate and laboratory, the trenches, the pallet village, the trains and the church. One thing that is really clear about AMA France Airsoft is that they put a lot of time, effort and funds into their site.

We arrived on site and we were directed into the safe zone, which is a large wooden complex that has gear tables under cover and a recreational area that is focused around a large fire pit which serves a way to keep warm on those chilly days but also a BBQ at lunch. There was around 70-80 players on the day. Once we had got all our kit to the gear tables and started getting ready, we went through the comprehensive safety brief, the brief was entirely in French but Diane graciously acted as my translator for the trip so I didn’t miss out on anything! Unfortunately GCSE French is not enough to get you through an entire game day but fortunately, most of the players spoke English to a high standard. When I go away to different countries I always try to use as much of the native language as possible and I discovered that I still retained a lot of French words so the language barrier wasn’t really an issue!

The game day at AMA was based on the film ‘The Fifth Element’. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it is set in the 23^rd century and the universe is threatened by an evil race called the Mangalores. The only hope for the universe is the Fifth Element, the Fifth Element only visits Earth every 5,000 years to protect the humans with the four elements in the form of four stones: fire, water, Earth and air. On the Fifth Element’s return to Earth, the Mondoshawan spaceship is destroyed by the Mangalores. 

Later on in the film, a team of scientists use the DNA of the remains of the Fifth Element to rebuild the being, and she is named Leeloo. Leeloo escapes from the laboratory that she is kept in and meets a taxi driver and former elite commando who helps her accomplish her mission. Her main goal is to retrieve the elemental stones from a singer named Diva – the stones are hidden inside Diva’s body.

In the morning game, our mission was to find the priest and Leeloo from the story and get them to the designated areas before the Mangalores could. The firefights in the morning were intense and I got to fight through a lot of the landmark areas of the site such as the trains and the pallet village. For this half of the day, I got to run with Dye and a lot of the players from the previous day. Our team retrieved both the priest and Leeloo before the morning game was up. Now my role in the story was the Singer and it really came into play in the afternoon. Obviously the stones could not be hidden inside my body (that would be an odd one!) so AMA popped them in a briefcase for me and my mission for the afternoon was to get the stones from my base at the trenches to Leeloo’s location at the Pallet Village (which as you can imagine, like the name suggests is a village of pallets). As the other teams descended on our base at the trenches, our team sat ready in defensive positions as myself and Marc moved the Elemental stones, one by one to Leeloo in the village which was a short walk away. After all 4 stones were transported to their final destination, I stayed in the village with Leeloo to defend them as the other team slowly pushed forward, the day ended in a fierce firefight at the pallet village. Our team defended the elemental stones and the universe was saved!

Overall, our day at AMA France Airsoft was awesome! The site was epic, the game was engaging and fun and the level of play was awesome!

My trip to Paris was a definite success! I just want to take the time to thank our editor Nige for flying me out, my hosts Diane and her husband Julien for their hospitality and for showing me such a great time in Paris, and of course to the airsoft community for giving me such a warm welcome and making my trip so memorable. I can’t wait to return in the future!

 Hardwick, K. (2017). Femme Fatale in France. Airsoft Action. 82 (Xmas), 28-31.

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