9 minute read
THE CAGE: WWII AIRSOFT
THE CAGE: WHAT PRICE WWII AIRSOFT?
GETTING INTO OUR MAIN THEME FOR THIS MONTH, THAT OF WWII AIRSOFT, THE LEGION BROKE FROM THEIR CURRENT PATTERN TO LOOK AT “HISTORICALLY THEMED” GAMES AND WHAT CAN BE BIG DECIDERS FOR THOSE TAKING PART; AS USUAL BILL LEADS OFF…
Airsoft is usually an incredibly inclusive thing, and you can turn up to your average weekend skirmish in jeans, a sweatshirt, some good boots and eyepro and nobody is going to comment on that. Okay, things change a little when you get into Battlesim and especially MilSim where teams are usually differentiated in part by their loadouts, but it’s games with an historic theme where things really do change pace!
As anyone who knows me will understand, I’ve been involved with airsoft for many, many years and over that time I’ve had the luxury of dabbling in many different genres and building loadouts for them all! My main passion, and one that has been with me even before I started playing airsoft, is the Vietnam war, and my collection of period and repro gear has grown surely but steadily over the years; these days I can throw together a decent loadout from “Early War Adviser” to “Late War LRRP” and everything pretty much between, and I even had loadouts for both “VC” and PAVN… with all the AEGs and GBBs required too for both sides!
Through speaking to friends interested in, and veterans of, the Vietnam War I also got involved in a WWII USMC group combining both airsofters and living history enthusiasts, and slowly but surely I accumulated the right gear for “The Pacific”. This is really my only major dabble into WWII loadouts apart from the “US Airborne” one that every airsofter I know seems to go through at some point; British and German WWII loadouts, as I’ve said before are just a little too close to home for me as my Father fought in that awful war…
So, I’ve had time to bring my “impressions” together, although I totally understand why some players have no interest in the historical side; it may be, like me that they have a personal connection, good or bad, to one particular conflict, or no interest
at all in anything other than skirmishing with their mates, but more often than not it appears to come down to funds, and that, frankly I’m not so understanding of.
Putting it bluntly any airsofter I know quite happily dumps hundreds of buckeroos into their RIFs and gear, and in most cases if we’re honest that rises to thousands! Some folk will happily drop four figures on upgrading their “uber-RIF”, but still won’t try historical airsoft “because it’s expensive”!
In perspective you can pick up a good “uniform and equipment package” from the likes of our old mates at Soldier of Fortune (www.sofmilitary.co.uk) here in the UK for little more than the price of a moderately upgraded AEG, and by their own admission their gear is not cheap (although their range is comprehensive to say the least!)! In the context of our “D Day” theme this month, UK£421.93 will get you a “British D-Day Normandy Assault Uniform Set”, and UK £598.88 will get you a pretty darn nifty “British Army No3 Commando Normandy 1944”… just add a Sten, Thompson or SMLE and you’re good to go! On the same token, if you prefer an AXIS loadout then UK £391.39 gets you a “German Heer WW2 M36 Army Uniform Set” minus boots, and c’mon, who doesn’t LOVE and WANT an MP40 and a Luger? Bottom line I guess is that you have to WANT to put together an historical loadout, as it is an investment, although some game organisers like our mate Josh at Gunman Airsoft (www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk) will happily get you started. Gunman Airsoft has four sites across the UK providing all manner of airsoft games from the fast paced, action-heavy skirmishes to the slower, more in depth story-based filmsim and milsim games, along with numerous historical scenarios; these games can vary from one day events to full weekends (and more!) and offer some real immersion that you don’t get from single-day games. Josh and his team are dedicated to providing high-quality, mission-based airsoft games around a simple ideal, to provide the experience of airsoft in a friendly atmosphere with honour, sportsmanship and fair-play at the heart of everything they do. In order to encourage players to try more historically-based games (including “Wild West” airsoft!), Josh and Gunman also offer free loan of WWII, Nam, and Cold War period uniforms and equipment so that so you quite literally “try before you buy”, and they even have period-correct RIFs for hire at reasonable prices too! Like me though, Josh is a believer that although you should make every effort to fit into the theme of the game, it’s 100% the taking part that matters rather than having the gear to “stitch bitch” standard; although some re-enactors may also be airsofters, not all airsofters want to “re-enact”, and that’s fine, there’s room for all, and that’s why many
of us love airsoft in the first place!
Cultural and social “drivers” like movies, TV shows and video games continue to create interest in historical themes, so why not take those self-same adventures of yours from screen to (airsoft) reality?
TEAM TALK
So, with all this in mind I asked the members of the AA Legion the following question; “Have you ever played an historically-themed game? WWII, Nam, or Cold War? If you have please tell me about it, and if not, is there something that puts you off this type of game?” Stewbacca: We played ‘Nam themed airsoft for a good few months around when I first started out - maybe a year or two into my skirmishing activities, while I was still a poor student. It was good in terms of having a team and larger groups in themed equipment and MilSim style games with communications, air strike abilities provided by marshals with pyro and even whole firebases wired up with claymore mine pyros for added effects. The down side was the sheer cost of even repro M56 gear, plus the weight of it compared to modern equipment, coupled with a (then newly released) Marui M14 scoped up as an M21 and a Marui M1911 in a leather shoulder holster, I certainly looked the part but the cost and weight nearly crippled me financially and physically and I almost quit airsoft back then because I’d be knackered from running up and down hills trying to just get to an objective then immediately get taken out. Not my most enjoyable time of things by far… Jonathan: I’ve planned, written & run WW2, NAM, 80s,90s themed games, and correct loadout and platforms are very important but there needs to be a little leeway! If guys make a good effort at the required loadout it’s normally allowed. Storyline is very important as everyone likes to get into the role, and rules need to be adjusted to suit the time period! Dan: Years ago there was a little more emphasis on some historically themed events. We had exactly two Vietnam themed events that I can recall attending. At best, they had maybe 14 players show up, with only a handful out of that lot who put an effort into making an impression. After the lacklustre showing for Nam games, the emphasis moved to covering the Cold War and more modern themes, which seemed to have more appeal and a larger audience. These were MILSIM events covering things such as the perennially popular OP: Gothic Serpent, and relatively lesser known
events such as Team Spirit, Urgent Fury and the like.
Still, for but a small handful of events, most of these were very loose in their requirements and didn’t really emphasise impressionism so much as “please don’t show up in blue jeans and a sweatshirt.” It became somewhat established that the player base wasn’t really invested in creating impressions and most wanted to do their own thing. This really did boil down to generational differences too. GWOT was looming large then, MultiCam hit like a tsunami, COD: Modern Warfare and its sequels dropped, and all the kids wanted to dress up like hard charging SF guys. So inexorably, events started looking like the largest gathering of (albeit badly executed) Special Forces you’ve ever seen arranged around mostly fictional themes. For field owners, this was simply a matter of adaptation, survival and keeping the audience flowing in. For the diehard event promoters who were invested in historical themes, they weren’t able to adapt and many just quit out rather than try and change with the times.
From what I have seen, the big barrier to entry for historically themed events is the cost barrier. Some themes are naturally more expensive to pull off impressions for than others. When things were seesawing back and forth between Namsoft, to WWII to some Cold War scenario to the Wild West, people also just ran out of money and steam. The other side of the coin is we’ve also noticed the youngest generations simply don’t seem to have the patience to invest themselves in researching period correct impressions. Generation TikTok with their “attention span of a Goldfish” is literally real (and terrifying)...
For myself, once it became clear historically themed events were dying, I stopped investing in it and put that time and effort into creating kit that was comfortable and durable. I do miss the immersive quality of a historical themed event when it’s pulled off well, but on the other hand, there’s a certain freedom that can’t be ignored when you have the leeway to create something uniquely “you.”
Jimmy: I’m yet to bridge that gap from skirmish to themed airsoft. That said I do have an interest in the Cold War era mainly due to the fact my father served in the Royal Green Jackets through the 70’s and 80’s. I feel I would quite enjoy Cold War themed airsoft and it’s on my ever growing airsoft bucket list!
Hana: I was (at a themed event) on a mission to stop a missile launch but it wasn’t WWII! But themed games are always more contextual and immersive, where we can actually act out our “heroism” without actually getting hurt. It’s great to work with a team to complete a task; taking care of each other and supporting each other makes us really become comrades in arms. Themed games help us forget the little annoyances in life and focus on what’s most important; it’s one of life’s fun little fireworks!
My sincere thanks go to Paul and the guys at www. sofmilitary.co.uk for letting me use the awesome gear images in support of THE CAGE this month; if you’re looking for an historical loadout then do pay them a visit! AA
