First game this year?

It seems that the airsoft game I attended yesterday was my first game this year!

It started very weird on friday, when I started preparing my gear for the game. Three of my replicas, along with some of the batteries, were in the trunk of my wife's car for several months. None of the batteries I had (together with those that were stored indoors) seemed charged. Only one of them, the 1,800 mAh Sanyo NiCd 9.6V battery did work! And this is one of my oldest batteries, that was treated badly by me... Soon after I bought it with the M15A2 rifle, I connected it to my charger, but with reverse polarity! It was completely discharged the following morning, I connected it again (this time properly) and it works great from that time!

Having only one battery operational, checking my replicas was not easy. The G36 didn't work fine, and I recalled that it was broken some time ago. So I called my friend who previously repaired that replica and asked him, if he could do it again. He agreed.

So to the game I carried my AK47S, MP5K and the G36 to be repaired. I brought two large batteries (one partially charged 8.4V 3,000 mAh NiMH no-name and the Sanyo 9.6V) and two stick 600 mAh 8.4V Sanyos. I connected the first large battery to the AK, and used it for the entire game.

When I met the friend of mine at the location, we discussed about the G36 and he reminded me that he already fixed the gun from the failure I remember. I connected freshly chareged battery and indeed, it worked great! How sad I was when I found out that I have my favorite replica on me, but no magazines!

The game was rather boring for me. I spent most of the time camping in one place or the other. I was killed twice and didn't shoot anyone. To be more exact, I only fired three small bursts during the entire 3 hours we spent playing.

But I had to go to that game, since it took place in one of my favorite locations. :)

Hurtgen reenactment airsoft game

Yesterday I took part in the airsoft game played according to a scenario that was loosely built on the history of the Battle of Hurtgen Forest -- the longest battle American army ever fought. I won't write about that battle itself, the article on Wikipedia in my opinion explains it all.

The idea of the scenario was cool, so I thought I'd take part in the game. So I need to explain here the basics of the scenario:

Read the rest of the "Hurtgen reenactment airsoft game" article.

First game in 2009

That's right -- on saturday I played airsoft for the first time this year!

I prepared for this game the entire friday. I charged two stick batteries, and two large ones (the 9.6V 1,800 mAh Sanyo and the 9.6V 4,000 mAh Firefox). I wanted to take all my replicas, because I wasn't sure if any of those replicas is working. They weren't used for such a long time.

Read the rest of the "First game in 2009" article.

Why is autumn my favorite season for airsoft?

The autumn started like a week ago, and since it's my favorite season for playing airsoft, I believe I'll try to attend more games. :)

Why do I like playing airsoft in autumn, not in winter or in summer?

First of all, my flecktarn jacket's camouflage works best when the leaves are not light green, but olive/orange/brown/red. So I am not as easy to spot as in summer.

The second reason is the weather. Yes, autumn in central Europe means sometimes a lot of rain, but it also means very pleasant temperatures to run fully dressed in long sleaves, with a lot of equipment on the back.

I hope to start this airsoft season tomorrow, at the moment I am preparing my batteries for the game. ;)

Tuned mG36 tested this sunday

I wrote some time ago that my mG36 was tuned up to 390 fps. Two days ago I finally had a chance to test it during an airsoft game.

At first I was worried it'll work at all. I plugged fresh battery (4,000 mAh NiMH battery I bought last month) but it allowed me to fire only a couple of BBs when I was checking the hop-up position. I plugged another battery that lied around in my camper for a while, an old 1,800 mAh Sanyo NiCd and it worked just fine.

The game was short and not very interesting, so I used only about half a hi-cap magazine. But the most important thing is that it does work and shoots well. :)

I tested the M24 yesterday

So I finally had a chance to test my new replica -- the M24 I bought last month.

The game took place in Adamowice, in a forest with some small embankments. Nothing very interesting, that would differentiate this place from any other in the area. I took three replicas -- the M24 and mG36 for testing (the mG36 was repaired not so long ago) and the MP5K PDW. I wanted to have one replica that I am sure will work in almost any condition, that's why I took the Kurz. I also wanted to carry it while I was going to use the M24 in case I needed a sidearm. I didn't know how the M24 will work and also needed to have a replica to be used when the enemy was close to me. I don't want to hurt anyone with the 510 fps muzzle velocity of the M24. I also need a replica that'll allow me to spray some BBs when the enemy is close and I won't be able to reload the sniper rifle.

You know what was the result of this M24 testing? In three rounds I got shot 3 times and scored 6 hits. But only two hits with M24!

Why?

I have some trouble with the M24's hop-up. I am afraid that it can't turn up heavy BBs (0.35 g). So the range is not very long. But what do I need a long range for if the game takes place in a woodland, where there's a lot of twigs, brushes and leaves? I couldn't hit for several times, because the BB bounced off a twig.

The first time I used the MP5K was when I received a hit in the M24. I shouted that my gun was shot and left it on the ground. I took the MP5K and killed two guys using it... The second time it was used was when two guys were lying on a top of the embankment, behind two trees and aiming someone that was far on my left hand side. They were hidden by the trees so they didn't see me, so I hung the M24 on my back, grabbed the MP5K and ran to them. When I was close enough I told the first guy I killed him and shot some BBs to kill the second. ;)

And now a photo taken yesterday.

From 08-12-14-makowka-ambona

Cool deathmatch yesterday

So yesterday there was a cool airsoft game. Cool and very short, and very small. That's because there was only four airsoft players, including me. ;)

We played only one round, in not-so-good-old deathmatch style. I love to play deathmatch in Quake ][ or Quake ]|[, 'cause one doesn't get tired when running in an computer FPP game. You do become tired when you run around during an airsoft game. This is the same reason for which I don't like playing airsoft capture the flags either.

The rules were simple -- each of us goes to the different corner of the site and we all have on respawn.

I started in the farthest location. I didn't hear the "go" shout, but I realised the game is commencing when I heard first AEG bursts. Soon after that I saw the first enemy. He was crouching on a nearby hill and didn't look in my direction. Soon he had to use his first respawn.

I camped in this place for a while. Some time later I heard that one of the other players is permanently dead. I sat in the same spot for couple more minutes and then I decided to move. I heard shots on the other side of small valley, but I didn't want to cross it. I decided to go around the valley. When I came from the farther end of the valley I saw one of the enemies (the one I shot at the beginning of the game). I came further, slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible, which was difficult when the groud was covered with stick, brushes and leaves. I wanted to approach the guy so close, I wouldn't miss. When I thought I was close enough, I shot him with a short burst. Too short burst. :( He wasn't shot (well... at least he didn't say he was) and escaped. Soon after that the other remaining player gave up as he used all his ammo.

My target moved. I spent some time looking around but didn't see him. I fired some BBs into some dark space with one light stripe -- I though the dark space was his uniform and the light stripe was the white half of polish flag he has on his sleeve. I was wrong and I revealed where I was. Soon he started to fire at me, but I was lucky enough to avoid being shot. So then I knew my target was again on the other side of the small valley. And once again I moved around it to get my guy.

I got him in a very simillar way as previously. I saw him, he didn't see me, I shot him, I didn't miss.

I never expected to be the winner of this game, but I was. :)

Short night game last sunday

On last sunday I took Ania to Warsaw for a short night airsoft game. It was supposed to start around 5 PM -- this time of year it is already after nightfall. We went to Fort Piłsudskiego -- one on many old military forts in Warsaw. We played for about two hours and I had lots of fun.

I never liked playing airsoft at night. It started when we played in Halinka some four or five years ago. I got shot by Mamut with his pump action shotgun -- the benelli m3 super 90. Two of three BBs hit me in the ear while the third hit me somewhere else in the head. I didn't like the night games because I felt very vulnerable -- I don't have any tactical flashlight on my replicas, so I can rely only on the natural light...

But last week I had fun. :) There was only eight of us but it was more than enough.

I took the AUG and AK47S with me for this game. At first I though I'd use AUG, but I felt like it was too powerful for playing at night. So I decided to use the AK47S instead and it was a good choice.

From Airsoft from Poland photos

The game was very slow. All night games are slow. You move slowly, because you aren't sure what are you walking onto. You try to move quietly, because the sound is what will tell where you are. So the best way to score some points at night game is to hide somewhere and wait for someone to come.

I camped this way a couple times. With success. :)

At first I hid behind a large tree on some small hill (around 1 meter / 3 ft high), in some bushes. When the opposite team killed three of my teammates I was left alone. They thought they killed everyone else and walked less than 10 metres from me to the point where all the killed gathered. When they were told I was still alive, they walked near me again and then I started to spray BBs. I killed one or two of them and received a hit by myself. It is not easy to aim at night... ;p

The second time was when I crouched in one place for some 5 minutes. I saw a guy walking in my direction but wasn't sure if he's in my team. When we saw each other I asked him if he's my mate or enemey -- and then he started to shoot his cheap AEP (Glock 17 by Double Eagle, I guess). At the same instant I shot him back and I decided we should both be considered shot, though I did't feel or hear his BBs on my parka.

The third time was the most interesting. This time the idea was similar -- to crouch in one place for some time and to wait what will happen. I saw one guy from the opposite team, he walked in my direction. I aimed at him to shoot whenever I feel threatened. He stopped for a moment and fired a short burst very close to me (I talked to him couple minutes later, he told me he fired at some point near me, because he heard some noise). I was scared, but didn't pull the trigger. He started walking again, walked by me and then I shot him in the back. ;)



We also had some fun with using an old refrigerator as a shield. On this photo you can see Indianin with his AK47, hidden in the refrigerator. :)

Boring game yesterday

So I played a little airsoft yesterday. A little, because I had only 3h time after work and for the first hour I had to wait for other players to come. So we played only 4 rounds, I didn't kill nobody and discovered that you have to recharge every battery just before to the game if you want to be sure they're fully charged.

I had a chance to use Cyma CM30 (Glock 17 replica), a nice Airsoft Electric Pistol (AEP). It's said to have less than 200 fps but it's range is quite nice. I found yesterday on the internet CM30 of new generation, with muzzle velocity of 240 fps! :D

The pleasant game on last sunday

On last sunday I played a pleasant airsoft game. The first for more than two months. I haven't played since my last purchases. So you might say that this was the first time to test my new stuff.

The game took place on the southern borders of Warsaw, on a site where greenhouses used to be some time ago. It consisted of some abandoned buildings and a lot of empty space, covered only with grass and bushes. There was one very important element of this site: a high hill that was the most important place during two scenarios that were played. Below are photos taken from that hill. It was located on the northern side of the site.

From Airsoft from ...

At the very beginning we were divided into two teams, based on our camouflages. Team of players in flecktarn (german) camouflaged jackets versus any other camouflage (woodland (american), DPM (british), polish camo). The guys in german camo (including me) were divided into two smaller teams, one of 4, the other of 11 people. The scenario said that the smaller group were parachutists dropped some time ago on the ground. They were ambushed by the enemy, the second group was supposed to rescue them. After the rescue both teams were supposed to take over the hill. The team that held the hill at the end of the scenario (scheduled to be after 2 hours) was supposed to win.

The scenario wasn't as stupid as it might look. But nobody suspected that half of guys dressed in woodlands, DPMs and polish camos are going to be late for the briefing. At the end of the scenario we counted 15 guys in flecktarns and 30 in the second team. No wonder we had simply no chance to win...

After teams were balanced, the rules were changed. The team that was supposed to take over the hill was now ordered to protect it from their opponents. The attackers started at the other end of the asphalt road you can see on the pictures. We started on the hill the photos were taken from. My friend and I quickly found ourselves a great place -- the right flank. We camped in the building you can see on the right hand side on the last photo. The one that had two trees near. The attackers soon started rushing towards us, we sprayed some BBs at them. Two other guys that lied under those trees went somewhere else and we were on our own. And then the fun started.
Under those threes were two holes in ground, which were a part of sewer system I suppose. The hatches were removed (and probably sold). We agreed that it'd be a good idea to stick near the two holes. If we sat on the ground near, we could shoot above the high grass. If we jumped inside (which was not difficult), we could hide from enemy fire.

The place was great for two reasons. First of all it wasn't stormed by attackers. They found themselves another point to attack. But single enemies tried to walk past us and attack our camp from behind. Since we got our eyes high above ground level, we were warned early enough to shoot those enemies. There were two guys we weren't warned about, but we easily heard their movement in the dry grass. One of them was shot by my friend, the other was "shout-killed" by me some time later. I hid in a dark place and when he was close enough I told him he was dead. As simple as that. ;)



The above photo shows a small group of enemies thinking about what to do. Note that they were in the hot sun while we sat in the cool shade. ;)



This guy had his goggles and binoculars, but didn't have any weapon. ;)



We had a lot of time to make photos. ;)

I must say that AUG was not fully operational. Three or four times it didn't fire when I pulled the trigger. I didn't find any rule when it did and when it didn't work. If it happens again, it'll have to be shipped back for repairs.

The hill

I can't say why this video was viewed almost 300,000 times on YouTube. It's boring, has very long parts of darkness when nothing is shown, the most interesting part is shown for a very short time.

The text at the end of the video says that the hill was taken during one scenario by a group of 28 people. Later a large group of 100 people was sent to take the hill back. The result was easy to predict...

How to lose an eye on airsoft game?

This is the complete idiot guide to losing an eye during airsoft game. If you think two eyes is more then enough, be sure to read it thoroughly.

1. Get to the nearest airsoft meeting.
2. During one of the breaks between skirmishes, remove your eye protection.
3. Find an idiot.
4. Give him an ASG (air soft gun) with loaded clip.
5. Ask him to remove the clip.
6. Ask him to point the muzzle somewhere.
7. Make sure your eye is in line with the outer end of the barrel.
8. Ask the guy to swith the safety to single or auto.
9. Ask the guy to pull the trigger without checking hopup chamber for BB's presence.
   

If you're lucky you'll have one eye less.

If you obtain the result as shown on the following photo, you weren't lucky.

From Airsoft from ...

And now seriously!

Do not try ANY OF ABOVE!

AUG is operational again

The replica was brought to my work, as I wanted, on thursday. The guy from UPS didn't phone me beforehand, and I had to borrow some money from someone, since I didn't have the time to visit ATM. I dismantled the AUG into the two parts and carried it home in my backpack.

I used it yesterday during our airsoft game in Adamowice. The game was not interesting enough to be worth mentioning here. I wrote about this place and showed some photos back in december. Ania didn't make any photo that would be worth posting here, I uploaded some photos to my picasa gallery. I can't promise they'll stay there forever, though...

Ania made a very short video of me and my AUG at work, so I am currently uploading it to Google video. When it's done it'll be posted here...

AUG was used with the 3,000 mAh 8.4V NiMH KAN battery, attached to the left part of the body with some electrical tape. Somehow I couldn't make it work with 1,200 mAh 8.4V battery... The ROF was satisfying, the range was more than pleasant.

I must also mention that I burnt my 1,800 mAh NiCD Sanyo battery... At home I removed the plastic connector and left it with bare metal connectors. I put it carelessly to the gun case, the two wires touched each other and burnt some foam inside the case. I don't have to mention that it totally discharged the battery... I hope it will still be usable. At the moment it is plugged to the charger at a relatively small 50 mA current...

Here's the movie...

Two winter games

This is the post in which I'll write about the last two games I played. They took place at january 20th and 27th.

January 20th, 2007. Radziejowice.

The game was played in the same place as on previous weekend. But this time it was much crowded, each team consisted of 15 players. The scenarios weren't interesting enough to mention here. It was simple "you start there, we start here and have to reach that point". I uploaded satellite photo of the area to my cellphone and used it along with my GPS receiver to know where to head. I used G36 on first round and AK47S on the second round. We didn't limit the amount of ammo in magazines, so it was quite fun. :)

The team I played with used walkie-talkies (handheld radios) for the first time so it was more fun than actual gain from using those radios. There was a lot of mud and moisture, unfortunatelly the temperature was above freezing point.

From Strzelanka Ra...

My girlfriend Ania made those photos along with couple of videos. I put them together and here they are.

I wanted to add subtitles to this video, but I am not sure if anyone is interested in knowing exactly what is going on. If you want to read subtitles, let me know. :)



January 27th, 2007. Adamowice.

Remember the game in unused railway complex? If not, read the article I posted last year. The game took place in the same place. For the last couple of rounds we moved to another spot.

Nothing very interesting, worth mentioning. Just videos here. Some photos were made, but aren't worth putting here. If you'd like to see them, visit the gallery.



The following movie is quite interesting, you'll see a nice skirmish between three players, a very Close QB. :)



In the movie below take a good look at the part that starts around 3:40. You'll se a guy outside the building. He didn't know that the guy next to the window was in the opposite team and forgot to shoot him. :)











Comments are welcome! :)

I just got a call

I just received a call from my favorite asg shop. I was called by the guy who repaired my AUG. Yesterday I wrote them an email in which I described what happened. I said exactly how the replica stopped working, which batteries I used, etc.

The guy said that he tested the replica and it worked well. He fired it on full auto and didn't notice any problems.

So what caused the trouble?

He said that it was because of the temperature yesterday. I wrote him that the replica was powered by 1,800 mAh Sanyo NiCd battery and when it stopped shooting I plugged it to 3,000 mAh KAN NiMH battery. He said that 1,800 isn't very strong battery and the second one is very sensitive when it comes to temperature. So he says that my trouble was caused by the batteries and weather. He advised me to recharge the batteries again and try using the replica at home. Of course I will do so...

Another thing about last game. I found satellite photo of the place at Google Maps. Here it is:

View Larger Map

You can see a dense forest and next to it a large area covered with mud and dirt. You must zoom a little, ensuring that the dark green area of woodland will be in the middle of the frame. East, next to the forest is a large "canyon". It is a place aligned almost meridional, surrounded by four embankments. You can see one of those embankments in the background of the photo I posted yesterday.

I think that playing a game exclusively in this canyon will be a nice experience. :)

The cold and wet game

Today we played a cool game with people from Żyrardów in a very nice place. I tried to find a good satellite photo on Google Maps, but in my neighborhood photos on Google Maps are only in low-res. So I will show you photos on our polish site Zumi. At the center of the photo you'll see a bunch of trees planted regularly on a field. It is an old orchard. There was one building (not in very good shape, I must say) and remains of two other buildings.

From Airsoft from ...

This is the building. If one could get to the top of the tower there, he'd found himself THE BEST camping place ever! Fortunatelly, there was no floors in the tower so without much courage (or climbing gear) the tower was inaccessible. :)

I used mG36 with silencer. I think the replica looks much better with it. Since I don't believe in silencing ASG replicas with tubes filled with felt cloth, I removed the felt from the silencer. The only function of the silencer is to look nice, so I don't think I need extra weight there... ;)



The weather wasn't friendly. The temperature was slightly below 0°C (freezing point, 32°F), so the ground was frozen. You couldn't get stuck in a pool of mud. But during the first hour of our game it was raining. It was not a pleasant experience. Everything (replicas, ground, trees) was cold enough for the water to freeze. So my mG36 was soon covered with a thin layer of ice (each drop of water quickly froze on the replica). Water didn't freeze only on our jackets, so I was afraid that mine will become wet (since it's not water proof).

When it finally stopped raining, after a while, the snow started falling. Better snow than rain, right? :)



Now a word or two about the scenarios we played.

The first one was the simplest "you start here, we start there, we shoot each other". The game like this is a must have (a must play?), since it's the best way to prepare your muscles for the strain and to test if the replicas shoot well.
Then we played "storm the building" twice. Since there was 11 of us I had to be in the attackers team two times. We played the most dumb variation of the scenario. Teams were balanced well, and both had respawn points. This is stupid, since the guys who had to protect the building always have advantage. The first game ended with defenders' victory, but the second ended the opposite way. Somehow the attackers (at that moment 6 of us, only 4 of the defenders since my girlfriend's MP5K battery run out of power and the spare battery was in my pocket) managed to get to the building.

The third scenario was in my opinion the best. We set three "bomb spots". The attackers had to go there and blow it up (blowing up was played as firing a cracker). We had "moving respawns". If you got killed, you had to go 20 metres (yards) behind your own team and wait there a moment.
One time a guy from the opposite team almost killed all of us. In such case we'd probably loose the game since we had no "20 metres behind living team members" respawn and couldn't get respawned. :)

I uploaded all the good photos my girlfriend Ania made here, but I can't promise that I'll host them there for long time. I have 80% of my disk space on Picasa empty, but finally it'll run dry. Then I'll probably start emptying it by deleting some old photos. But I think it will not happen during the entire 2008.

First game this winter

According to the star callendar, the winter started last week. So this is the first airsoft game I had this winter. :)

Since I have my mG36 at home, I decided to use this replica. My AK47 was broken the other day, and my MP5K PDW is used by my girlfriend. So this left me only one replica to use - the mG36. :)

The game was rather boring. The guys there had more fun with showing off who whas the best stuff than actualy using the stuff. This is quite popular amongst the airsoft players who can afford to buy an expensive replica. In polish conditions, Classic Army replica that does cost PLN 1,300 ($520) is an expensive one, since average salary in Poland last year was around PLN 2,650 ($1,050). People that own cheap pump-action replicas are often very young and enjoy the airsoft games because of the action they may have...

The game took place in a very interesting place that I had never visited before. It is located near Nadarzyn, a town 20 km (15 mi) from Warsaw. The place was used by polish army, I heard that by some anti-aircraft protection squad. I tried to find some photos to show you, but found only these two galleries, made by an ASG team I am very familiar with - the Cannon Fodder. So here they are. :) If you'd like to see how the place looks on satellite photograph, you can see it below.

View Larger Map

Oh, you probably will be interested in some photos made last sunday. I must disappoint you a little, because I decided to show only one, not very intersting, photograph. Photo of me, holding my mG36 replica. I am sorry, but we couldn't get any better photos that day. :(

From Airsoft from ...

Airsoft game at old railway buildings

Yesterday I played an airsoft game with Pluton Egzekucyjny (a young ASG team from Żyrardów, the town I live in). The game took place in Adamów, in couple of abandoned buildings. They were used by PKP, polish national railroad company.

First of all, when I opened my car's trunk and the replica bag I noticed that my Cyma AK-47S has broken stock. When I bought it I was aware that the folding stock in every replica is very delicate and may be broken soon. This disallowed me to use the replica, because I couldn't separate the stock from the rest of the gun. Only one of those rings that attach the stock to the body was broken and I didn't have hex key to remove the other.

From Airsoft from ...

When I took my stuff we could go for a walk to see the place.

From Airsoft from ...

This was it -- one large hall, one three-story office building with two stairways and many entrances.



The hall inside.



The office building as seen from the inside of the hall.



The office building. Cool red paint on the walls and pink tiles in toilettes.



One of the stairways. Broken windows. I heard that one of the people almost fell out through this window. It looks as it is not high above the ground, but this photo was taken while standing on top floor.



The hall seen from the office building.



The office building seen from near the hall.

I had much fun, 'cause I played with my favorite replica - MP5K PDW. :D

You can find the photos on Picasa Web Albums. Here's gallery of photos taken by my girlfriend and couple of photos I took yesterday. I can't promise they'll be held on the Picasa forever. ;)

Best airsoft places, #-1

This article is not exactly part of the series titled Best Airsoft Places. I don't consider this place one of the best, but it surely is interesting enough to mention it on my blog.

We played there once, at the beginning of our airsoft career, 3 years. Most of people from our team had only spring replicas, some shotguns, pistols and stuff like that. Only two of us had AEGs, including me.

The place was a primary school. We played there at night, with lights out, and all the classrooms shut. So we used only corridors and stairways. But that was just enough fun for all of us.

Nadarzyn (Guantanamo) Video

I wrote some time ago about a large airsoft game in Nadarzyn, called Guantanamo 2007.

Here's a short movie made that day.