FEATURE: WELCOME HOME

WELCOME HOME, AIRSOFT!

THE RETURN OF AIRSOFT IN THE UK HAS REALLY BEEN MET WITH OPEN ARMS, WITH PLAYERS UP AND DOWN THE COUNTRY WAITING FOR THE BIG DAY …THEIR FIRST GAME BACK! JIMMY REPORTS BACK ON HIS FIRST “WELCOME HOME” AIRSOFT EXPERIENCE COURTESY OF THE HERESY GROUP!

Shops, techs, dealers, distributors and available sites will be overrun no doubt. Eager airsofters were wanting to get out and test the newly purchased lockdown gear, or maybe just eager to see people in the hope of remembering how to be human again!

I and a group of friends, known as “BAD COMPANY”, had something quite special to look forward to; not only being able to mingle and get together but that long-awaited need for banter - the obligatory abuse you so regularly frequented upon one another. We had the privilege of attending “RUCKUS 2.0”, which was to be held at and old quarry just ten minutes from my home that I vividly remember from my childhood, a game organised and run by the guys from THG (The Heresy Group). Tim and Ritchie gave us an experience to remember and ran the best game day I’ve experienced to date!

Up until the beginning of March I honestly had never heard of The Heresy Group but I’m so glad I stumbled across them on Facebook. The night before the game Tim and Ritchie held a live chat explaining how things were going to operate and for anyone who had any questions. A nice touch I felt as I have never seen organisers do this, and while there was a comedic feel to it, it was still very professional and informative.

COFFEE AND MCDONALDS

Game day arrived and I’d been awake since 04:30 with kit sat ready at the front door and pouring coffee down my neck like it was going out of fashion! Our first “team port of call” was the mandatory stop at the local “Maccy D’s” for a spot of battle fuel (sausage and egg McMuffins all round!). With bellies filled we made our journey to the battleground knowing that that morning we were going to fight. We rocked up at around 07:45 where we were greeted at the sign in tent and, upon registration, automatically entered into a free raffle just for attending. Then it was off to the Safe Zone where Bad Company assembled in numbers to prep our kit.

Over the course of the next hour more and more people arrived and the player numbers were evergrowing. The game didn’t kick off until around 11:00 so there was plenty of time to kill, mingle with the group and sort everything out. In one corner of the Safe Zone we could see gazebos being erected from a

“…WE WERE GREETED WITH A BARRAGE OF FIRE WHICH SAW SOME INTENSE FIRE FIGHTS BUT WE STOOD FAST AND IT WASN’T TOO LONG AFTER THAT WE STARTED TO PUT A DENT IN THE ENEMY LINES AND SLOWLY BUT SURELY BEGAN TO PUSH THEM BACK. THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT EASY THOUGH AND GAVE BACK EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE DISHING OUT, TRYING FROM ALL ANGLES TO GAIN BACK SOME OF THE GROUND WE HAD TAKEN.”

selection of companies; normally you’ll get a site shop on Facebook through the THG page, although I was and that’s it. Trent from FBS (Flash Bang Smoke) was kindly given permission to share a few here in support there with a van load of his quality pyro, which pretty of this report). much supplied the whole day (he had some crazy Kitting up, we had to endure everyone’s favourite Chinese crackers which were honestly quite epic)! part of the day - the SAFETY BREIFING. This was about ENVY Night Vision were showing off some lovely 30 minutes and it was at that point I realised this isn’t NODS and other brilliant rifle attachments, including going to be a normal day. It did have some “adult FMA’s nice new PEQ15. ENVY offer night vision rental themes” but nothing to really gasp at and was just and I believe are the only people in the UK to be a bit of light-hearted fun. Safety brief over we were offering this. Let’s be honest, NV isn’t cheap to buy then separated into teams: “Team Armband” and and if you’re only going to use it a couple of times a “Team No Armband”. year then I think rental is a great option.

JCI Comms had equipment I’ve never even laid AT LAST… GAME ON!! eyes on, which looked very expensive and made my The first objective of the game was to rescue and personal comms look very inadequate. If you need hold a position for as long as we could. It was a little help with comms these are the guys whom you bit of a walk to the objective (Bill and Jon had told should be speaking with. I understand JCI can tailor me before that this was a big site, one that Jon used to your needs and even custom make you equipment! to run games on …they weren’t wrong!), but both Valkyrie were there supplying a range of their fantastic teams weren’t hanging about and made ground new ammo which, I have to admit, is very good - and incredibly quickly. Red Team (my team) landed first they also brought some delectable cakes and biscuits and soon after we were greeted with a barrage of fire which we’re free. Yes, you read that correctly, FREE which saw some intense fire fights but we stood fast CAKE! and it wasn’t too long after that we started to put a

Camoraids were offering supplies and free goodies dent in the enemy lines and slowly but surely began to to be won in a raffle - and who can resist a raffle - push them back. They didn’t make it easy though and their biggest offering being a TM MP7A1. Mucho gave back exactly what we were dishing out, trying respect to 1st Legion Milsim Patriot who was the from all angles to gain back some of the ground we professional photographer of the day and captured had taken. some cracking photos (which are available to view After an hour we had them pressed firmly close by “EVENTS LIKE RUCKUS ARE GREAT PROVING GROUNDS, AND ALTHOUGH I LOVE SOCIALISING AT EVENTS IT PUTS A SPOTLIGHT ON YOUR ABILITY AND FLAWS, SO PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONLINE “ABILITIES AND SKILLS” TEND TO BE OUTED. STRANGELY THOUGH, I AM CERTAINLY BETTER EQUIPPED AND KITTED OUT IN COMPARISON TO WHEN I WAS ON OPERATIONS IN IRAQ & IRELAND.”

their spawn point and not an inch was given. With smoke aplenty covering our every move we found ourselves knocking on their door, reigning down the onslaught - but still the opposition didn’t give up hope and kept plugging away. I had previously taken a hit and was medic’d back in… bandage me in silk and I shall ride again! Unfortunately, I took another hit immediately after which meant I had to endure the long walk back to respawn and it was a bit of a slog! I returned back to the fight a little deflated to find a few of Bad Company had pushed up and had now teamed up with a few other “Reds”, two of which really stood out and were quite a force on their own. These guys looked and acted like they had seen a fair but of action.

Both played hard, digging heels in where it mattered and pushing us into positions allowing us to close in tight. It’s a joy to see players who are prepared to be “that voice” and inspire a group to play as a team. They went by the names “Rageophile” and “Winks Gilmour” (both can be found on Insta). Winks as a former serving infantryman and told me;

“The infantry are the sand bags of the British Army but I wouldn’t have served anywhere else. My Airsoft shenanigans only actually started about 3 years ago, primarily because of my military mindset of “I’m not interested in playing with toy guns and pretend soldiers”. However, I was drastically wrong, I found that so many veterans and like-minded people who missed the camaraderie and banter of serving found something close with airsoft. Like most things, once I’ve got the itch I will scratch until it bleeds and kit, guns, events just generally being in an environment where I feel comfortable creeping and dropping people or running a team at events just fills the void I was missing.

“Events like RUCKUS are great proving grounds, and although I love socialising at events it puts a spotlight on your ability and flaws, so people who have online “abilities and skills” tend to be outed. Strangely though, I am certainly better equipped and kitted out in comparison to when I was on operations in Iraq & Ireland.

“All this started with a mate who was an airsofter and I obviously grilled him about it being a joke, so he laid down the challenge to try it and see how I faired. I obliged and went to RIFT COMMS SITE 3 and came away with a bust forehead and love for a sport I never knew I needed in my life. It’s done my mental health no end of good and I’m at a loss when I can’t get out.

“On the whole, meeting guys like Rage, Tim, Ritchie, Mondo, Smiley and the rest is all because of this mad sport and I’m glad I got involved. Plus, it’s nice to be shot at without the worry of a sucking chest wound or disfigurement”.

It’s a true joy to find others, like myself, who mocked airsofters and airsoft as a hobby, to have their views and opinions completely spun 180 degrees after dipping their toes. I was “that guy”, saying to my friend (and now fellow Red Cell-ist) Smooth Jase “Why would you want to run around playing with toys?”. Airsoft can reward you with so much more than gratification of getting “that shot” in.

But I digress, so back to the game! The Reds were a formidable force to be reckoned with mainly due to guys like Rage and Winks who played with passion. But, at the end of the day, everyone involved gave 100% maximum effort. Lunch was upon us and I was making my way back to Respawn yet again which pleased me as 2 hours of full-on gaming took its toll a bit and I was flagging due to my feet and my poor choice of footwear. An hour of lunch and an

opportunity to rest and refuel and the usual safe zone chit chat…

SECONDS OUT, ROUND 2!

No rest for the wicked though!

Round 2 was about to go down and the objective this time was to capture a position, mark it as your position and then hold it for as long as possible. Respawns were swapped and this time we were shooting into the wind, a real pain as it was quite a strong wind which not only affected the BBs but also “artillery” and smoke. The whistle blew and like greyhounds out of the traps a large number of Reds were hot-footing it toward the three nominated positions. They made ground incredibly fast which was great to see - and not the normal “after-lunchsluggish-bimble”!

We followed up at the rear to find we had taken a very central position and were dug in tight on one of the larger heaps where mortar fire filled the air; it was a sight to behold! A firefight had broken out in the concrete dump east of that position, which saw some pretty intense close quarters battles. I found myself dug in with a couple of the Reds beside me and four Reds flanking on the opposition to cut the enemy off, giving us the opportunity to push into some stacks of concrete. We were met with force and found ourselves at somewhat of a disadvantage. It wasn’t easy to move particularly fast through the network of ill-placed concrete slabs and tubes! The boot firmly on the other foot saw the Reds now being pushed back toward our Respawn!

Mortars, tag rounds, and grenades BBs were all being spent at a very healthy rate as I made my way across the field in a vain attempt to medic two fallen comrades. A momentary lapse of concentration gave a cleverly concealed sniper a chance which he didn’t hesitate to take and he went for the kill. Now not only I but two other guys who needed medic were left with no other option but to take that looong walk back to Respawn. As we approached Respawn the whistle blew indicating the end of that particular game. I honestly didn’t get the outcome of the game, or who were the victors but honestly it didn’t really matter, I was too excited after an amazing game played to high standards by both teams.

So, off to the safe zone to reload, grab a quick drink and get ready for the final showdown!

The final game of the day was a little bit of CQB fun, with everyone broken up into teams of roughly ten. The object was to all start at one position and when the whistle blew split and find yourself some cover. On the second whistle it was every man/ woman for themselves and last man standing was the winner. Very short sharp games and I managed to get shot before the second whistle as somebody wasn’t listening (…yes, you Alfie …aka “Princess”) only to then get shot in the face by Rosie even though I had my hand up. I let her off and put it down to excitement…

Alas, the end of the day was upon us and time to drag our weary behinds back home and reminisce on the day’s event. I was left wanting more (though in a good way of course) and I can safely say I shall be longing for RUCKUS 3.0. A big thank you to Tim and Ritchie from The Heresy group and all parties involved for a great day out, executed with excellency. Thank you to all the guys from Bad Company Ben, Darren, Lewis, Scott, Alfie, Seth, Branden and Rosie who joined me, as it was a joy to get out there with you guys again for a truly spectacular local event.

Keep up the good work THG!. AA