I didn’t mention ETS originally because I didn’t think they were accepting new memberships at the minute, but you’re right, all their hard work organising this event should be recognised.

I was also going to gloss over the fact that you slept for 17 hours of the 24 hour event, but if you insist on bringing it up… Everyone thought you were making love to your new P90 anyway.

Well SmellyGeekBoy, I was impressed with how you acted and got stuck in the thick of it first time out. The weekend was REAL HARDCORE and the weather didn’t help much. As the event organiser, weather always plays a major factor on how objectives, moral and personal enjoyment is achieved.

Nevertheless, you put up with the persistent rain, freezing fog, long patrols, 45% high climbs, lack of sleep and being on constant “attack alert” from time in (Saturday 09:30) right through to time out (Sunday 11:00). Well done!!! The next event is in May, back at the Valley in Wales (a lot warmer and on higher ground). I look forward to seeing you there.

Yes, we are currently recruiting for new members, so if anyone wishes to experience a true Airsoft Combat MilSim Event please get in touch…. http://www.ets-headquarters.co.uk

It wasn’t that bad a weekend. The weather definitely didn’t help, raining all Saturday and blanket fog on Sunday. I enjoyed the bits where we got to shoot at people although they were far a few between.

Whether this was because the guys were were suppose to be shooting were good at hiding or we kept walking to the wrong places I don’t know. I seemed to spend a long time standing in a spot staring at empty fields too. I guess we walked about 10-15 miles over the weekend, climbing over barbed wire fences and up and down the valley sides. More walking than i’ve done in years.

I’m glad i stayed at camp on Sunday and didn’t spend 4 hours getting lost in the fog. You could only see about 30 meters in the bottom of the valley and from what i’m told it was worse at the top of the hills.

If i were to compare Milsim Airsoft and the Paintball games I occasionally play to computer games I would say Airsoft is like Call of Duty Single Player and Paintball is like a Halo team deathmatch (or Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball ) Unfortunately I prefer Halo multiplayer to Call of Duty single player. All in all it was a fun weekend that was let down by the weather but its not something I can see myself doing regularly. If you enjoy the military side of Paintball/gaming then I would recomend it.

My weekend in number form:
Enemy Spotted – 4 groups
Enermy Shot at – 3 groups
Enemy Shot- 1 British Go-ja
Shot by Enemy – 3 times although one time Geekboy did medic me so i could be shot again a couple of mins later.
Shots fired – Unknown but i didn’t refill my first 300 shot mag.
Miles walked – approx 10-15
Mars Bars Eaten – 3

Sorry that it wasn’t your cup-of-tea Bubba, this is very unfortunate as you probably experienced the worst event (weather wise) we have ever run. If you can see your way to give it another go in warmer times (May –June), I think you will have much more fun… As I have said earlier this one was REAL HARDCORE, even some the Stirling players went home Saturday night as the weather was so bad… but not us no ETS stayed and completed our orders…well done to all.

The scenario was:
Reports have been confirmed of an in bound delivery of a significant amount of Uranium and a DNA Bio Weapon to a North Korean Mountain stronghold. The stronghold is garrisoned by the 1st Special Operations Force Brigade and 3rd Kim Tu-Bong Corps (all played by ETS).

North Korean (ETS) were to receive the Uranium and Bio weapon then to use the Uranium as payment. Both supply routes and border connection into China had to remain open at all cost. UK (all other players) Task Force Black and the 3rd Brigade – Rifles, were sent in a covert operation to cut the supply routes, destroy the garrison and open a pass into China. They had 25hrs to do this. The end result was they had captured the Uranium, Bio weapon and destroyed our mobility group. Our HQ fell after a strong assault in the early hours of Sunday morning. As we were over run we headed for the China border, of which only a handful made it.

So Bubba, as you can see due to the nature of the events we run “Airsoft Milsim” and “Airsoft LARP” the aim is to make it as realistic as possible. Hence going on patrol, setting up an FOP/OP or even standing on guard duty at HQ the chances of encountering the enemy every 5 minutes is highly unlikely even more so if the enemy are covert!. However, once the enemy attack or your squad uncover the enemy the action is hard, fast and pretty realistic.

Your comparison is not to far off the mark, although I would use the following:

Airsoft (Milsim)
Operation Flashpoint / Ghost Recon / Soldier of Fortune

Airsoft (Skirmish)
Unreal Tournament / Halo / Battlefield 2

Airsoft (LARP)
Stalker / Fallout / Call of Duty (single player)

PAINTBALL – ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR that died 10 years ago.

ETS are currently recruiting for new members, so if anyone wishes to experience a true Airsoft Combat Milsim event please get in touch…. http://www.ets-headquarters.co.uk

On the plus side from paintball you don’t get any bruises when you get shot, although it does mean you don’t have any battle scars to show your mates down the pub afterwards

I think it was the realism that put me off a little to be honest… I’ve never been that much into guns and the military although i can see how somebody who is would really enjoy the events. Like i said earlier i prefer my less realistic console shooters too.

I think i would probably enjoy a one day event where everybody is in more of a hurry to get things done a lot more. I don’t have the Stamina to go for a whole weekend. I’m built for comfort, not speed!

I think my favorite style of game would be a skirmish/paintball style game where you have several short games on different types of terrain throughout the day in which you attack the people 200 yards away in a 20 min time limit then swap ends and do it the other way round. More bangs for your buck as it were.

At least I tried it and would recommend anybody else to try it as well… you never know you might like it.

I forgot to say its given me a new found respect for the Armed Forces, especially those serving somewhere hilly!

I know i wouldn’t want to do that everyday and am glad that somebody else is out there doing it for me. My legs thank them too!

I would like to look at the location on google earth before i commit so I can see how hilly it is this time

@ Steve…

If paintball died 10 years ago, when does that mean BB guns died? They’ve been around for a good 50 years longer…

Anything even closely linked to those dreaded 4 letters (L-A-R-P) is out of bounds for me… I may play ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, but that does not mean I want to runaround acting it all out… Plus I prefer the whole paintball ethos because it seems far more relaxed. Of course these are just my thoughts, as I have not (and have no real intention to) played Airsoft.

Sorry, love to play devil’s advocate!

I knew you would come and stir things up

To be honest, other than a bit of walking in formation, the chain of command, and the whole communications side of things (hand signals, radio etiquette, etc.), it isn’t really roleplay-esque. There certainly wasn’t any running around shouting in Korean (although it was an option) and we didn’t have characters to play or any of that. It certainly isn’t what I’d consider to be LARP.

I’ve never had any dreams or aspirations of being in the army, and trust me, I’d be the first to say if it was over the top or silly. That said, if you’re running around the Welsh valleys shooting each other, it’s good to have some kind of story behind it.

Just my 2 cents anyway. You know how skeptical I was about the whole thing, and I actually enjoyed it. Think of it like a hiking/camping holiday with a bit of shooting thrown in.

All that said, I do still love me a bit of paintball. When you getting it booked?

True, the realism bit i didn’t like was that war is long periods of sitting or walking round followed by short bursts of action.

The small Larping side probably made it better as without it we probably wouldn’t of seen the bits of action we did. Would of been nice if we could of set up an Ambush or a road block for them somewhere though.

More action is always a good thing. I’d probably be in even more pain than I already am if we’d have been running at / away from the enemy the whole time though!

OwningXylophone, OK, I ran a paintball site 15 years ago and at that time it was fun as I was using mission structure: 3 in the morning 4 in the afternoon. None of this capture the flag or run the gauntlet crap. So I can speak with some authority in my remark as I was referring to the game mechanics not the weapon. Yea, paintball had its place and time.

Even then back in the mid 90’s airsoft was the new “boy-in-town”, but very expensive and carried an “unknown” issue about it. There are many ways in which the games of airsoft and paintball are rather similar. However, the games really are not the same thing, for this reason, a lot of people have a tendency of getting confused. For true Milsim you need replica looking weapons instead of an archaic hopper/gas feed weapon (totally unrealistic), as well as a military run campaign /scenarios. This of course I could do as I’m ex-military.

History Lesson
BB guns are not to be confused with airsoft guns as they use lead shot and fire over 750 fps (about 512 miles per hour). Airsoft weapons fire small spherical plastic pellets of either 6 mm or 8 mm diameter (0.24 or 0.32 inches) ranging from 250 fps – 500 fps.

BB began in 1886 as common lead shotgun shot. It was selected for W.F. Markham’s revolutionary new spring-piston gun that was made of maple wood and a minimum of metal parts, referred to as a BB gun. In 1895 the windmill company reincorporated as the Daisy Manufacturing Company and continues under that name today.

1970s
Airsoft was urbanized in Japan in the late 1970s when gun hobbyists needed an alternative because the private ownership of real guns was illegal at that era. For this reason, there was a heavy emphasis placed upon making accurate replicas of real firearms and upon the “military” aspects of the game itself. This is also why the game is so accepted throughout Asia, where paintball is nearly non-existent.

James Hale of Daisy Manufacturing Company invented and patented what would become the first paintball gun. This original paintball gun was manufactured and used by farmers and ranchers for marking trees and livestock.

1980s
In the late 1980s, the public was searching for an alternative way to legally enjoy their passion of guns. It was very difficult to own a firearm in East Asia and Japan. It was in the 1980s when airsoft started in Japan.
Paintball began in New Hampshire, U.S.A. (1981)
The first outdoor playing field was opened in England (1985)

1990s
Early 1990s, the Springer kits, which are kits to make custom airsoft gun, became available in the hobby stores. Also in the 1990s, Japan developed gas powered Airsoft guns, which slowly replaced the cheaper plastic Automatic Electric Guns (AEGs). Around the same time, the Hop ups modifications were introduced. In the 1990s, the first Airsoft skirmish site was known.

LARP* – Live Action Role Play…..Larp/lrp does NOT mean DD, Ice, table topping or even tree hugging!!!
It means that participants assume the roles of fictional/historical characters and collaboratively create or follow a story line/plot in real life. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization. I have table topped since 1974 and role-played since 1994.

You must give Airsoft at least one shot (a day event) then comment, so I now ask you what made you do paintball first time around?

*A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out some or all of their characters’ actions. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity gained international popularity during the 1980s.

SmellyGeekBoy, the reason there was little role-play was down to:
1) Newbie’s taking part and unsure as to what to do. We would never force anyone to role-play, encourage Yes – force No!
2) Very bad weather – limit’s props /meeting etc, etc
3) Game structure, this last event was 10% LARP 90% OPFOR

Every event has a full storyline which will continue over to the next AOW event.

Bubba, the next event in May and July you will see a 50% LARP 50% OPFOR as well as a lot more combat (weather stopped a lot on this one), also the weather should be 100% better (well it can’t get any worse!!)