The Midlands Airsoft Show October 2015

On Saturday 10th of October, The Gaol (former HMP Ashwell) located in the Oakham Enterprise Park on Ashwell road in Oakham hosted the 4th Midlands Airsoft Fair. The event originally started as an event called the Airsoft Boot Fair and has quickly gained popularity with the Airsoft community. It's now run twice a year at the Gaol in the heart of Leicestershire.

The site itself is impressive, although I haven't managed to play a game there yet - it is definitely on my list! From where I live in the Midlands, the Gaol is roughly an hour and twenty minutes away so it is a fair drive but I was pleasantly surprised with what was on offer at the event. The fair was set in a wing of the former prison with stalls located in the rooms and corridors, the food stand, ASG and the 126 Field Company outside in the courtyard. The site was well equipped with clean portaloos and food/drink to purchase.

I felt the admission to the fair was extremely good value at £5 which included a sausage or bacon cob from the food stand. The event ran from 10am to 3.30pm which meant I managed to get down after I finished work! Tickets for the raffle were available to purchase for £2 a strip with some great prizes including free game days, a pistol and credit to spend at Ammo Drop - a store supporting the fair. The Pilgrim Bandits - a great charity set up by a group of Special Forces Veterans to help injured service Men and Women using their unique skills and training, were also at the event selling merch and raising money which helps them continue their work. I have had the pleasure to meet twice before - firstly at the Alpha One Yorks Vs Lancs Charity Game and at the RedWolf Airsoft Showcase. You can check them out here

As I was walking around, it was great to see a mix of retail stores and second hand sellers. My personal favourites on the day were Alpha Tech (a collaboration between Alpha One Airsoft and the Airsoft Machine Shop), the creators of the Alpha Tech 6 Shot Impact Grenade which deploys both .209s and 9mm munitions for Airsoft use and come in a range of colours including pink, red, black and their most popular colour orange! The grenades retail at £85 which is cheaper than any other impact grenade currently on the market. I'm really looking forward to doing a review on one of these beauty's soon! What I liked about it so much was the matte finish, the vibrancy of the colours and as silly as it sounds, the click of the mechanism when you change chamber. Alongside Alpha Tech was Patch Craft, makers of laser cut patches! It was great to look through their work and pick up one for myself. The quality is great and the designs are fab.

There were many other sellers at the fair including The West Midlands Airsoft Supplies. I got to have a nosey at loads stores products whilst walking around the fair which gave me a few ideas for my next purchases *cough* a pink Oshiboom and a new pistol *cough* I also noticed a tee shirt printers and a lady making paracord bracelets (obviously I got a pink one haha). As I'm saving for something big - which you'll see in a few blog posts time - I only picked up some essentials for my game the next day.

Whilst at the fair, you had the option to play a small pistol CQB game in a wing of the prison which was included in the price and from what I'm told and seeing the footage from the day it looks like it was a blast, I didn't get chance to play on the day as I was so busy chatting to sellers and players but that is something I will endeavor to do next time.

My favourite part of the day however was getting to meet Paul from ASG who I've had the pleasure to chat too and getting some time in with the CZ/ASG Scorpion Evo3. Now she is an absolute beauty - my favourite feature is the 3 round burst and the kick you get from pulling the trigger. Like a real firearm, she stops firing when the mid cap magazine is empty which is also a great feature as it really makes you think about taking those shots. I'm really impressed with this RIF and look forward to spending some more time with her soon.

Another aspect of the fair I really enjoyed was meeting and chatting to so many of my followers. As I'm still fairly new to the Airsoft Industry I am always really humbled by how many of you read my blog and follow me on Instagram. It is always a pleasure to chat with you and talk gear.

Over all The Midlands Airsoft Fair is a great day out and great value for money. Rumor has it that it will be even bigger next year which I am really looking forward too! Next time the event is run, I will definitely be playing a pistol game to get the full experience of the day!

- Kelly xo

0

Alpha One, Wakefield Charity Game in Support of The Pilgrim Bandits.

On the 3rd of May I was invited to attend the Alpha One Yorkshire VS. Lancashire Charity Game that takes place every year in support of The Pilgrim Bandits - a great charity set up by Special Forces Veterans that supports injured service personnel (http://pilgrimbandits.org/) by one of my followers on Instagram @taskforcewarrior so myself and 3 of my team mates from Grey Fox made the drive to Yorkshire.

The game took place at Alpha One in Wakefield, Yorkshire - around a 2 hour drive north of my hometown in Derbyshire. The drive was very easy - straight up the A38 and then the M1, the site is very close to the exit on the M1 as well, it is the easiest drive I have ever had to a site which is always a bonus! It is signposted which is always very helpful. The site boasts a large car park but on the day of the charity event, with hundreds of players, it became full, very fast – I was however directed to a suitable place to park on the side of the road by the on site marshals.

Booking on took place on the Alpha One website and payment was made at the same time via PayPal which is always incredibly quick and simple! The price for the Charity Game was £30 walk on and included a hog roast lunch! When we arrived at Alpha One, we were greeted by the sites Marshals and confirmed our places with the staff on the reception.
 The safe zone was a large cluster of sheltered booths set around a clearing which was easily large enough to accommodate the amount of players on the day however, the booths were quite crowded when you consider how much gear the average Airsofter takes to a game!
 The safe zone had a small shop that stocked all the beebs, gas and pyros that you would need for the day, and just outside was a small pop up shop selling RIFS and the Pilgrim Bandits stand where you could buy merchandise to support the charity.

Chrono was performed in a purpose built target area just outside of the safe zone, using 0.2g BBs. The site limits are 350 FPS for AEGs, 400 for DMRs and 500 for Sniper Rifles with a 25 metre minimum engagement distance. Chrono was performed by the sites marshals who were professional on the day, helpful and had a great sense of humour. One of the things that I really liked about Alpha One was that their female Marshals Kirsty and Juju were appointed as the two team leaders - I really love seeing women in leadership positions on the Airsoft field!

The Alpha One site itself is quite impressive, it is 110 acres of woodland with many different structures built to enhance gameplay. I'm not sure of the average game day numbers but at the charity event, there was at least 170 player spaces on the booking form, which makes for fast paced, intense game play. The woodland itself is a natural wood so it has gulleys and steep hills that are great for firefights and in between these natural formations are a CQB castle used for attack and defend games, a Star Gate (which has to be the most weird and wonderful prop I've seen at an airsoft site!) and other built up pieces of cover. My favourite was definitely the Star Gate, however, the simplicity of towers and pipes placed around the site you can climb up and in really does appeal to me haha.

As I could only stay at the site until 4.30, I only managed to get in 4 games (because of torrential rain and other extenuating circumstances we didn't start the first game until 11am). Our first game was a team death match, which was fast paced and got everyone in the mood for the days activities! We then played capture the flag, a card capturing game where each player was given a card from a playing card deck and the cards were to be captured by the opposing team - the higher the card, the higher the points scored and lastly the battle between the Yorks and Lancs forces! I played for the Lancs side (even though I'm a Derbyshire lass through and through)



The games were ran well, with clear and concise safety briefings which players adhered to, one of the difficult things about a woodland site in the wind and rain with the distances involved is gauging whether you have actually hit a player, so there were a few incidences of cheat calling however they were dealt with swiftly and professionally by the Marshals. Remember, if in doubt, ask a marshal!

One thing I loved about the site was how friendly the other players were, I had the pleasure to meet  fair few of my Instagram followers which is always a great including @taskforcewarrior and @luke_tw! There was a great atmosphere in the safe zone when we returned from a game, that was full of camaraderie and banter. The mix of players included experienced and newbies which I think always makes for interesting game play!

Later in the evening there was a chance to listen to a talk by ex SAS Rusty Firmin and a National Hero Ben Parkinson at the site over a free bar which unfortunately I couldn't make but from what I heard from my team members was it was an interesting and informative talk! If I didn't have work, I definitely would have stayed for the duration of the evening. Overall the event raised £1500 in cash on the day and there's even more coming in! Which is fantastic! It was a fab day all round with great food, laughs and even a raffle. I would definitely like to return to Alpha One for a regular game day to compare the two! (First two photographs thanks to the on site photographers!) Check them out at www.alphaoneairsoft.com!

- Kelly xo

0