THE CAGE: NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS

JUST LIKE ALL OF YOU OUT THERE SETTING UP FOR A WHOLE NEW YEAR OF AIRSOFT THE MEMBERS OF THE AA LEGION ARE MAKING PLANS AND GETTING THEIR GEAR IN ORDER! SO WHAT HAVE THE TEAM GOT IN THEIR OWN PLANNING FOR 2023, AND WHAT ARE THEIR RESOLUTIONS?

Another year, and another exciting year of AIRSOFT ACTION! As we head into YEAR 12 of continuous monthly publication the team, it must be said, is as strong as ever and the levels of commitment shown by everyone to producing the best, most insightful and entertaining airsoft content has just grown and grown!

As with any group there is a hard core of individuals who are committed to making AIRSOFT ACTION truly the #1 monthly airsoft magazine out there, but that’s not to say that every single contributor doesn’t have this “front and centre” too! We are lucky to be able to call on specialist occasional contributors to bring in real depth to our articles as this month’s TOD column shows.

There have been many that have contributed to AIRSOFT ACTION over the years, and virtually every single one of them is still a friend to the magazine. Have there been “fallings out”? You bet there have been as we wouldn’t be human without admitting this, but largely we are still able to call on past contributors when we need their expertise, and as with Andy N this month, this expertise is gladly and freely given as they believe too that all players should have access to the best information possible!

As we reset for the coming year there’s an awful lot to look forward to, and we’ll continue to make new friendships and add new contributors as we move on forward.

It’s a year that kicked off early with MOA in December, and what a huge amount of goodness we saw in that single show as Stu highlights in his Event Report in this very issue! Boycie, L’il Stu and Dan are all set for SHOT Show this month, and we’ll have coverage of that as it’s happening! Jase and I will be heading again to IWA in March, and again we’ll bring you updates of new directions at the show as we see them!

But for me there’s already a couple of things that are exciting me for this year like the new VORSK REQUIEM (reviewed this issue and soon to land in store!), the VFC XM177/XM148 GBB combo, and the latest AK from Arcturus filled to the brim with PERUN goodness!

I already KNOW that there will be more from VORSK, Specna Arms, EMG, ARES, VFC, G&G, ICS and a number of our manufacturing friends for 2023 as I’m privileged to be able to know just a little of what’s in their design pipeline, but I’m also curious to see what happens with some of the less well-known names in the industry, especially as ARCHWICK are now rolling with their B&T licence…

For my own resolutions… simple really, shoot more AEGs and GBBs but this year actually get out and use them more in-game too! I’m recovered now from my personal battle with the “Big C” and I need to get my fitness back up there, but I won’t let this stop me playing locally and hopefully even further afield as the year progresses! I definitely want to get to one of the games in Portugal this year to play alongside my “familia” Miguel and Elvis, and who knows… will 2023 FINALLY be the year I make it to Taiwan???

TEAM TALK

That’s quite enough from me already, so I asked the members of the AA LEGION “WHAT ARE YOUR AIRSOFT NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS, AND WHAT NEW AEG/GBB (that we know about!) ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?” and this is what they had to tell me! Stewbacca: For me it’s weight loss and gun gain, I guess. Not an easy one but I really need to start striking a better balance with general health and fitness; the day job doesn’t help with the inconvenient hours and commuting and general exhaustion and exasperation, but, hopefully I can try and find more time for doing

healthy things as well as maintaining a good training/ testing and shooting schedule in 2023. And, you know, fit in all the articles and editing around all that. I also want to spend more time meeting or visiting manufacturers and the like where possible.

In terms of “NEW” then after MOA I can say that VFC are rocking it; the VFC Walther PPK has a place in my heart for sure, but also their M249 GBB and the Krytac Maxim 9. Decisions, decisions... Larri: Happy New Year! I’m glad to be a part of the AA family, and my wish for this coming year is that our sport becomes even more popular! Robbie: 2023? Get over to Europe from the USA and actually game with my old mates like Bill! He keeps telling me about VORSK handguns so I need to get on the range with him and a few of those too! Boycie: Resolutions for me are go to the USA for SHOT Show (tick), and get out and play more too. I’m going to continue to develop a set of airsoft components and hopefully get them tested, and possibly released by Christmas next year!

Miguel: Happy 2023 everyone! I would say my resolutions are to keep playing as I do with my guys, and get a new CQB field! We’ve got our eyes on a couple and are waiting on some feedback and then we can welcome more players from outside Portugal to our events! As one of their Ambassadors I would like to see Zenitco-style or 9mm AK from Specna Arms, and Elvis tells me that “a Vityaz with Zenitco furniture most definitely” too so let’s hope this happens!

Dan: I definitely want to hit more games this year and maybe even attend a couple of travel events out of state if possible. I worked more than played in 2022 and unfortunately missed out on a lot of events. Aside from that, hitting up the SHOT show was always on my wish list, and that looks to be happening this year with Boycie and L’il Stu!

I am hoping that the popularity of the VFC FAL GBBR spurs more manufacturers to consider building an AEG FAL or similar rifles (why don’t we have an AEG SKS yet?) from that period rather than delivering us “yet another bog standard M4 variant.” Bjorn: Well I definitely have to get out to those games and events more, but the wheels are turning a bit slow here still catching up since the ‘rona... I look forward to seeing more friends when I do! I know that my friends at EVOLUTION AIRSOFT have some more AEG plans for 2023 so I’ll look forward to talking about those, and as I just got a couple of new pistols from VORSK I’m interested to see just what new they have too!

Chris: Happy New Year chaps! As the others have said, definitely play more airsoft for me, and the KWA F90 hands down has got me buzzing for next year! I want one, and I want to use the hell out of it!

Ben: So my airsoft resolution is to remind all you reading this that airsoft is about fun! And not just self-fun but to bring ideas to the field too; I’ve done some cosplaying and feel this can be something I can bring to put smiles on faces,...I feel there’s not enough silly fun, too much “wanna be a hero of the day”.... it’s the games that have something out of the ordinary that are memorable and bring back that “YES! This is why I love Airsoft” feeling.... Now for new guns I’m looking forward to in this year? I’ve not really had anything jump out at me as of yet, but I do love the look of the Army Armament’s Taran Tactical SandViper; I’m not big into pistols, but that looks nice, so hopefully I can get my hands on one soon and will share my thoughts with all interested! Jimmy: Happy 2023 all! It may be a new year, but no doubt I’ll still be chained to the same workbench, but on the positive side there’s new games and new airsoft experiences to look forward to as well!

The new Silverback MDR-X has definitely got my attention; with a brand new design in gearbox technology this out-of-the-box high-performance modular DMR is set to be every bit as good as the SRS. Yes, it is a bullpup, and I am not a massive fan of bullpups, but it’s what is inside that has me intrigued. ICS look to be bringing out a new line of Hi Capas too, and as I am a sucker for a nice Hi Capa and for ICS products…. you get where this is going, right? AA