AA LEGION: HONG KONG

BACK IN THE GAME!

THIS MONTH WE’RE DELIGHTED TO CARRY THE FIRST REPORT FROM OUR NEWEST “AA LEGIONNAIRE” LARRI, KNOWN TO HIS FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD BY HIS CALLSIGN UBCA LAR! THIS TIME HE, WITH THE HELP OF HIS UBCA COLLEAGUES MUUBI AND BEN T, CELEBRATES A RELAXATION OF RESTRICTIONS BY VISITING WZ STUDIOS LIMITED’S CQB SITE “WAR ZONE HK” AFTER RENOVATIONS, AND LETS US ALL INTO THE WORLD OF AIRSOFT HK-STYLE!

Greetings Airsoft Action readers! I am UBCA Lar of the Hong Kong based airsoft group called Umbrella Corp. Airsoft (“UBCA”). UBCA has held games every Friday since 2011 (save for a few exceptions). We are passionate about CQB airsoft and this passion has also led us to travel around Asia to play airsoft outside of Hong Kong. We are delighted to have been given this opportunity to share with you news of the Hong Kong airsoft scene in this article as well as future articles!

WZ Studios Limited’s CQB site known as War Zone HK (“War Zone”) has now completed renovations to their game zone by injecting both Japanese and Middle Eastern flavours into their site. There is now tons of new cover, obstacles and superb decorations. It is a great way to feel like playing airsoft in other countries while the pandemic travel restrictions are still in effect in Hong Kong.

Due to the high cost of rent in Hong Kong, indoor airsoft venues have shrunk from 20 to 7 CQB venues within the last 10 years. However, players are still very passionate about the hobby which has encouraged the remaining venues to create more unique sites to both grow and maintain player interest.

We recently visited WZ Studios Limited’s venue known as War Zone HK together with a total of 36 players. WZ Studios Limited was founded in 2021 and War Zone was launched in July of the same year. The venue is well known in the Hong Kong airsoft scene for providing good air conditioning inside the game venue of 20,000 sq ft which is important for indoor venues given Hong Kong’s high temperatures and humidity. The layout and designs were inspired by various video games and include larger items such as actual vehicles, tents and shops. Other smaller details to replicate a real world environment include safes, ATMs, cash registers and food.

NEW ZONES, NEW GAMEPLAY!

At the beginning of 2022, the owners gathered feedback from players and decided to enhance the gameplay experience through renovation of the venue. The renovations included two larger scale modifications: (1) the demolition of an entire wall to expand the play area; and (2) the installation of a raised platform to enable players to better secure parameters inside the play area by providing vision from higher ground.

The venue is separated into different zones each with their unique theme; during this latest visit of War Zone, we had the Japanese themed zone which included a replica Japanese torii and cherry blossom trees that made for great snaps! Within this Japanese themed zone there were two buildings that give players a high ground advantage to provide supporting fire. In addition, there were two shortcuts that led players to the Middle Eastern themed zone. If there is too much resistance in the shorter shortcut, players can opt to take the longer shortcut bypassing the bamboo maze zone instead. However, both shortcuts are made of tunnels and small rooms which may require more teammates’ assistance to secure.

In between the Japanese and the Middle Eastern themed zones, there is the bamboo maze zone which includes market stalls and is great for camouflage loadouts. Within this area, there are two high grounds for support fire and are key to securing further attacks.

The last game zone is the Middle Eastern themed zone which contains: (1) five houses, (2) several vehicles for cover and (3) barricades in the middle. Each house has two or more exits so it is impossible for players to have a perfect camping spot during gameplay. The green vehicles are great to hop into to scout the enemy’s cover fire. This zone has comparatively lower lighting in the corridors which makes it easier to execute surprise attacks.

As an assault player of UBCA, I enjoyed these latest changes as the adjustments have made better use of spaces than before. It is very exciting to plan and coordinate your attack during gameplay. The shortcuts that were mentioned above were not easy to traverse alone and will require teammates to assist checking all the various corners. It is also important to secure the area before opposing players take control of the choke points especially the high ground! For those who are interested to check out the venue, here is the video link of the gameplay from our recent visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REgw3uab28E

We had a chat with the venue designers after playing our weekly games; we were told that the adjustments completed is only phase one and that we can expect a lot of more decorative items to be added soon. We are looking forward to seeing the upcoming additional changes.

Finally, for any Airsoft Action readers that are interested in personally experiencing airsoft at War Zone, you just need a minimum of 10 people to make a booking. If you are coming with less than 10 people, War Zone also has an in-house organizer who arranges public games. Either way, please do not hesitate to contact them for some CQB action if you are in, or visiting, Hong Kong!

That is it for our sharing this time, hopefully, you enjoyed our first article. If you have any questions or ideas for future articles, please contact us via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ UmbrellaCorpAirsoft). If you have made it this far into the article, thank you for your time and attention! AA

WARZONE HK Unit 8A, 8F, Hong Kong Spinners Industrial Building, Phase 1 And 2, 800 Cheung Sha Wan Rd, Cheung Sha Wan Website: https://warzone.hk/ Email: inquiry@wzstudios.hk Phone: +852 2152 9669

War Zone HK Pricing Information for NonMembers: HK$160 per person for 2-hour session* HK$240 per person for 3-hour session* HK$280 per person for 4-hour session* HK$100 per person for gear rental per session * Minimum booking of 10 people

“THE VENUE IS SEPARATED INTO DIFFERENT ZONES EACH WITH THEIR UNIQUE THEME; DURING THIS LATEST VISIT OF WAR ZONE, WE HAD THE JAPANESE THEMED ZONE WHICH INCLUDED A REPLICA JAPANESE TORII AND CHERRY BLOSSOM TREES THAT MADE FOR GREAT SNAPS! ”