FEATURE: IMMERSIVE AIRSOFT

NEARLY READY FOR LAUNCH!

AFTER SOME FRUSTRATION WITH PARTS ORDERED ONLINE JAMES HAS BEEN HARD AT WORK GETTING HIS FULL “LAUNCH AND CONTROL” SYSTEM TOGETHER, AND WITH “FULL OPERATIONAL READINESS” WITHIN HIS GRASP HE TELLS US HOW THINGS ARE PROGRESSING!

Isn’t it great to get back on site again? With the warmer weather now finally with us and restrictions lifting to a fairly material degree, the time for full field testing “in game” of some of my ideas is fast approaching!

We left off the last part of “Immersive Airsoft” with the launch controller built and ready. Now it’s time to move on to the firepower side of things with the launch platform itself, so I can finally bring “that heavy rain” into a game setting, or at least some facsimile of it that I hope will (quite literally) give players a “blast” and add to the feeling that they are well and truly in the thick of things.

The launcher itself needed to be both 100% sturdy but, so as to make it most effective, easily manouvered from place to place on site and, of course, easy to use for those running the game. Constructed using steel angle and straight profiles to form the outer cage and aluminium checker plates to form mounting points for the rocket launch tubes, I have tried to keep the platform as lightweight as possible. The launch tubes themselves are run in 3 rows of 4 tubes (12 in total) and made from 4inch PVC pipe, all the materials being sourced from my local DIY store!

To make the platform mobile, a heavy-duty lighting tripod from eBay attaches to a mounting bracket made from steel box section, which allows the launch platform to be quickly set up on most terrain and gives the platform a 45 degree to vertical rocket firing angle and a 360-degree rotation. Finally, a steel backplate on the rear of the cage deflects back-blast from rocket motors on ignition.

The grey electrical box mounted on top of the cage connects the firing line from the launch controller and delivers a 12volt charge to each of the rocket tubes for ignition. A separate switch for each row on the controller allows for a staggered launch of tubes, to prevent rockets impacting each other when they take off!

In preparation for the system’s first outing, the launch, comms and other control gear have now been mounted to a mobile stand and a local launch initiation key has been added for direct control. So far everything, minus some errant parts ordered online due to “user error”, has progressed well and I’m really keen now to get the system out “into the wild” and see just how players react to it - and whether the system does indeed add to their immersion in an event.

Next month the system in full will have had its “operational debut” and I’ll report back on the remote launch activation system. I’ve been asked, along with fellow AA Red Cell member Boycie and his pyro, to run the system during a MilSim event locally and along with both Boycie and Jase we’ll be bringing a full report of the system’s first use over the course of a full weekend!

Now it’s time for me to recheck all the circuits and get everything squared away, packed and ready for the off. After months of building the system I can’t wait to see it fully in action! AA