THE LAST LAST POST

PLAYING TAPS

FOR MANY YEARS NOW AIRSOFT ACTION HAS BEEN PROUD TO BRING YOU THE WISE AND SOMETIMES ACERBIC WORDS OF A TRUE INDUSTRY VETERAN IN “THE LAST POST”, BUT TAPS ARE NOW PLAYING FOR OUR GOOD FRIEND FRENCHIE AS HE STEPS DOWN, AND JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL TM FAMAS HE HAS SO ABLY WIELDED OVER THE YEARS, HE MARCHES, HEAD HELD HIGH, INTO THE HALLOWED HALLS OF AIRSOFT LORE…

It was always going to happen. My direct association with airsoft has been becoming more distant for some time as life has taken me in different directions. So, after a lot of thought and some considerable reflection, it’s time to say a formal goodbye, and to reflect, for the last time in print (well, virtual print) on all that has gone before.

The best of times? Where to start? I’ve always been interested in firearms and nearly two decades ago when I discovered that there was actually a pastime which allowed me to run around and actually shoot likeminded loons, I was in like Flynn. That generation of players, the ones who understood what was meant when you mentioned ‘LS model kits’ is, I guess, long gone from airsoft now. One of those I know is just long gone sadly; thank you for the butteries Iain.

It’s been a long and winding road. Modding Marui springers to try and squeeze maximum range from minimum spend, getting involved in setting up a new retailer and site and teaching myself how to work on all manner of airsoft guns.

Finding myself chairing UKARA as we sought to overcome, or at least mitigate the effects of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill (now Act). Sean and Tim probably did more to persuade the government, I had my hands full trying to keep a bunch of competing retailers focussed on achieving a workable outcome, and persuading them to pay for it all. Who else was willing to put money into the fight? In fairness, they also had the most to lose.

“I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN FIREARMS AND NEARLY TWO DECADES AGO WHEN I DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS ACTUALLY A PASTIME WHICH ALLOWED ME TO RUN AROUND AND ACTUALLY SHOOT LIKE-MINDED LOONS, I WAS IN LIKE FLYNN.”

It felt like an existential struggle at the time, but looking back I’m no longer certain that airsoft would have died had we been forced to use two-tone guns. It would just have looked really crap, and whether you care to admit it or not, how airsoft looks to the people involved is really important.

I learned loads about HMRC over the years, a fair bit about business, a good chunk about retail, a certain amount regarding planning procedures and a lot about organising and running regular events. I watched first-hand the rise of UK-based YouTubers (that was the way to make money out of airsoft, or so they thought!). I saw ambition over-reach itself in many different ways.

I learned that screaming at young players was never a good look, no matter how f***ing stupid they’d been and I was eternally grateful to the payer who filmed that incident, let me see it and never posted it anywhere. It changed my approach not just to games but to many things and he’ll probably never know how much of a debt I owe him.

I learned that some players cheat a lot, and most players cheat a bit, sometimes in the most minor of ways. Anyone who tells you they have never failed to call a hit which no one saw and even the shooter may have been unaware of because they weren’t sure there was a target, is being economical with the truth.

When that period came to an end, I found out that although I was still attending games to do tech work, I became jealous of my weekends. It’s one thing to give up your Sundays to something you really want to do, it’s quite another to have no real choice in the matter.

And through nearly all of that, I wrote. Firstly tech pieces, then reviews, then opinion pieces. First for “others”, latterly for AA, I have been writing about airsoft and all that surrounds it for some twenty years now. This, along with the people I’ve met along the way was its greatest reward, and although I won’t be writing about airsoft any longer, I continue to write every day to earn a crust.

The people. Airsoft is all about people. Without them there is no game; trust me I have been involved in a ‘game’ where there were three participants! Fun, but not really an airsoft game! Despite seeing them referred to recently as ‘those airsoft weirdos’ on Reddit, airsofters are no more weird than the population from which they’re drawn. You get all sorts; the gamers, the space cadets, the chairborne warriors, the ex-squaddies who can’t let go, the ex-squaddies who never were. The smart arses, the ‘I know better’, the ‘don’t do it that way’. I’ve had cynical site owners who were full of their own s*** until the law caught up with them, and all points in between.

But mostly what I encountered were a really decent bunch of guys, and a few girls, who just wanted to play the game. To that end they were helpful, supportive, willing to pitch in and help whenever you asked. Mostly they were funny; perhaps they understood that ultimately we were just all playing at being soldiers and were totally cool with that. Whatever the reason, I was very lucky to spend many days, good and bad, with a great bunch of players and I’m really grateful for that.

The best coffees I’ve drunk were courtesy of fellow players, at early o’clock on a cold site on Day Two of a

THE PEOPLE. AIRSOFT IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE. WITHOUT THEM THERE IS NO GAME; TRUST ME I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN A ‘GAME’ WHERE THERE WERE THREE PARTICIPANTS! FUN, BUT NOT REALLY AN AIRSOFT GAME! ”

weekend game. The best Haribo always comes from airsofters, period. I could count on them to do the stupidest things, often for the best reasons, and if they didn’t actually break themselves in the process, we’d all have a good laugh and I’d wonder how they had managed to live as long as they had!

Fleeting memories of a very drunk colleague sleeping in a container with me who couldn’t cope with the one degree slope up to the door. Of LJ, turning up with enough kit to fill a house for one night outside. “Any idiot can get cold and wet” he’d say, and he was right, we did and he didn’t. Sucking a lodged BB out of someone’s ear with a Biro (hot tip, it works!). Working out that I have over the years seen about 7 ½ teeth either broken or shot out, fortunately none of them mine. Getting really angry at arseholes, because there is almost never any excuse for them to act as they do. Loving the gear, loving the random way a noob in wellies with a twotone MP5 can still take out a player with all the best gear, because while skill matters, luck matters just as much. Having my wife threaten my family jewels with a PO8 from two feet away, not sure who stood to lose most there!

So, to all of you beautiful bastards, thank you. You made it worthwhile.

And that’s it really. There’s much more; stress, fun, miles travelled, disappointments, fools and fantasy, but that’s life Jim. So, Frenchie the airsofter bids you all farewell, especially any of you who have been here long enough to remember those days. And to those of you who don’t, keep playing the game!

Adieu.

Frenchie has been a part of my airsoft world for as long as I can remember; I’ve stood beside him running games in all conditions, we’ve dealt with the same money-grabbing idiots, and he’s even worked on my AEGs when they’ve spat the dummy midevent to keep me in the game!

His wry wit, sense of honour, and his sometimes acid sense of humour have endeared him to me in so many ways as a friend, and his time working with me as we’ve taken Airsoft Action into a new, digital era has shown me another wonderfully creative side of him yet again.

He truly is “a man of all seasons”, a resolute and trusted friend, and I can only thank him for the many kindnesses, both small and large, he has shown me over the many years our orbits have collided!

Thank you Frenchie, for all you have done both for me personally, and for Airsoft Action… the world of airsoft will truly be a lesser place without you in it - Bill. AA

“THE BEST HARIBO ALWAYS COMES FROM AIRSOFTERS, PERIOD. I COULD COUNT ON THEM TO DO THE STUPIDEST THINGS, OFTEN FOR THE BEST REASONS, AND IF THEY DIDN’T ACTUALLY BREAK THEMSELVES IN THE PROCESS, WE’D ALL HAVE A GOOD LAUGH AND I’D WONDER HOW THEY HAD MANAGED TO LIVE AS LONG AS THEY HAD!”