Most folks have their basic airsoft field kit; a replica (be it AEG, gas blowback, springer or what have you), their camo clothing and perhaps a chest rig or carrier system. This post is to give you some ideas for an extended field kit that can also be used for hiking, camping and a lot of other applications.
First and foremost, knowledge! Learn as much about being out in the bush as possible, since you can apply it to airsoft, camping, hunting and more. Learn a bit about tracking, finding your way in the wilds and how to be still and listen to the wood around you. Learn a bit about weather prediction, prevailing winds and other outdoor skills. We will come back and cover some of these in later posts.
When it comes to gear, know what it is for and how to use it BEFORE you buy it. Being an informed consumer allows you to choose gear that will work with you, instead of against you. And knowing what you want going in allows you to make good choices and keep your overall load down to a reasonable weight and size.
One of the first things we would suggest in overlooked gear is a compass. Why? Simple, if you should get lost and wander out of the play field, you can easily find your way back into play. They are also damn handy in play. If you have even a rough map of the game field, you can get a pretty decent bearing on where you are and where you should be with a compass and a rough map. Some people say they can just look at the sun and have a run at it. Good luck on a fully overcast day, when the light seems to come evenly from everywhere. There are ways to still find the sun, but a compass is just a heck of a lot quicker.
Your compass doesn't need to be anything special, just a simple pin on hikers compass is more than adequate, and will allow you to find your way for a dollar or two. Just make sure when you take your bearing, you hold it well away from your replica, or the magnetic needle will point right at that large hunk of metal you are carrying.
The second thing is a whistle. This can be used to signal the start or end of a game, or to get help if you should twist an ankle. It could also be used as a communication device, if allowed on your local field ("On three short whistle blasts, every one rush the base!"). If ref's are using whistles, you probably won't be able to use them as communication, but they are still worth having as a safety precaution. They can be had for a few dollars or less and take up very little space in a pouch or tied to a chest rig.
Here is a bonus; you can quite often find hikers whistles with a compass built in! All the stuff we have mentioned in one tiny, inexpensive package.
Next up on overlooked kit would be writing instruments. For making notes on maps, writing down somebody else's phone number or the occasional autograph (hey, we can dream) you need a field pen or two. In the field, fine point permanent markers can be very useful; for labeling gear, making notes, or blacking out scratches on your AEG while you sit at the res point. Mechanical pencils may be easier for taking notes and the like, and their marks are usually water resistant, but they will not write on as many surfaces as a permanent marker will.
These are just a few suggestions, and we will have a follow up post in a while with more items to add to your kit. Until then, keep your batteries charged!
Over and out.
The Roadcrew is an airsoft group based in West Michigan. We are a casual group who also play with other local groups as time permits. This review is intended for new and intermediate players, to give them another perspective along with a good dose of weird humor on airsoft gear and tactics.
18 October 2011
06 October 2011
Coming soon
Coming soon on the Roadcrew Review:
Green vs Tan, an overview of how toy plastic Army Men shaped airsoft.
Bishop's review of the G36.
Tales of adventure and woe.
And who knows what else! The Roadcrew is at it again... some really weird stuff is in the works, so stay tuned folks. Same bat channel, no idea what bat time.
Keep your head down and your battery charged til then!
Green vs Tan, an overview of how toy plastic Army Men shaped airsoft.
Bishop's review of the G36.
Tales of adventure and woe.
And who knows what else! The Roadcrew is at it again... some really weird stuff is in the works, so stay tuned folks. Same bat channel, no idea what bat time.
Keep your head down and your battery charged til then!
01 October 2011
Is it Octoburrrrr already?
The summer passed the roadcrew like a speeding truck and we were a couple of college students along side the road with a broken down 1971 vw beetle. Shesh!
We didn't get to hit the woods to sling plastic any where near as much as we would have liked, but hope all our readers were out every chance they got! As it gets colder out we will be writing and posting a great deal more. Many things are in the works including the full v 1.0 of the RPG (after some great field tests of the prototype), a bunch of interesting new 40mm pistols and a few major surprises. Stay tuned!
We didn't get to hit the woods to sling plastic any where near as much as we would have liked, but hope all our readers were out every chance they got! As it gets colder out we will be writing and posting a great deal more. Many things are in the works including the full v 1.0 of the RPG (after some great field tests of the prototype), a bunch of interesting new 40mm pistols and a few major surprises. Stay tuned!
15 September 2011
OP: High Value - after action report
Howdy all, Angel here.
This was the first event we hauled the completed v.0.1 airsoft RPG to and put it into use. Prior, we had taken the functional but not fully complete to a couple other events, this was the first full on field test.
We arrived in multiple cars, and due to a logistical snafu, some of our folks rolled in about half way through the briefing, so we had a little chaos there filling them in on the intricacies of this interesting event. We were running tan, the opposition force to the green (US) team, and had all dressed in fairly typical "tan" load-outs; cargo pants, long tan work shirts, sashs and head gear (including pakul and turbans). Our armament was typical of loosely organized forces we represented; primarily AK replicas with a mix of more western gear.
For those who have never been on a field laid out like this one, let me set the scene so you understand our elation at our re-spawn point. This field is a north-south valley, heavily forested with steep hills on the east and west sides. Last year at Op: Nine Hammers, we had our re-spawn point on top of the eastern incline, known as Mortar Hill. So every time we got shot, we got to hike up a 220 foot, steep incline to get back into play. Needless to say, we were giddy to discover our re-spawn for this game was on the valley floor at the far south west end.
No running up Mortar Hill all day!!!
So we marched down to our starting point after our tan briefing, which had some interesting rule variants described below, and got ourselves ready to roll out. I loaded up the 40mm gas grenade shell and loaded the RPG for it's first use in a game, excited and hopeful. This would prove to have been preemptive however. We were briefed on what our early objectives would be, and chose a strike team of our guys to run up ahead and hold the ammunition dump. If we lost it at any point in the game, we would only be allowed to run semi-auto to simulate a shortage of ammunition. This wouldn't be a problem for us if we did loose this objective, as most of the RoadCrew generally only runs semi-auto on our replicas. None the less, we sent our SAW gunner and a few other guys along with a few new friends at the start of the game to take and hold this objective.
The rules of this game were a bit different than most to simulate this being the home turf of the tan force. Some of the variants included; when five out of play tan were able to gather in a sandbagged bunker (there were 7 on site in various locations), they were able to re-spawn as soon as the 5th person entered the bunker. Another variant was that each teams Commanding Officer was a mobile re-spawn point. Only three out of play team mates needed to gather at the CO to re-spawn though, instead of five. This proved hard for tan, as our CO was often pursued by the green team and stayed hidden much of the day. A three minute bleed out rule was also in play to allow medics and captures (which are worth points). Now back to play!
We headed out and met some decent green resistance very early on, only to discover our medic was part sprinter and part ninja. He did a great job his first time out, and stayed well in the thick of things. I finally found a location (after being shot and out several times) where the RPG could come in handy, and took our first in game shot with it... only to pretty much miss everyone in the bunker. Damn! I had left the gas and bb's to reload it back at our main re-spawn point, but only the guys in the bunker in front of us knew it was no longer loaded... heh. It was used to threaten a couple other times, making our opponents keep their heads down so our team could move to flank them.
After a time, we got a call on the radio that the ammo dump needed reinforcement, so another of of our team and I headed out to find the dump. We headed deeper into the woods, and missed the bunker by a couple hundred feet, only to go for a nice long walk in the woods, and stay out of active play for a good half hour. Eventually we found ourselves at the back of Mortar Hill, and considered sneaking up the back to hit them from a side they would not have expected to see any action on. We could hear a lot of activity off to the west, so we decided that was a better choice, and carefully moved into that area, only to find the ammo depot we had missed earlier. We stood our ground there for a while with getting heavy resistance.
Being that I just don't know any better, I moved up into the brush which eventually led to me being shot and captured, and I was taken back to the village to wait out my time as a "Prisoner". It did give me a goodly amount of time to study their defenses and gather intel on how much force was holding the village. Since I was in play, just a captive, gathering intel was allowable by the rules. (Granted, people still do it when they are out of play, and use it when they are back in, but we try to avoid it.)
Returning to play, I was able to relate the intel I had and retake my position. The RPG was reloaded, and starting to really let me feel it's 12 pounds as I carried it around the field. A hard push came on our position, and we got over run just before lunch. We all hiked back up the hill to the staging point at the barn and had a rest and some food, and many thanks and props go to Em on our team for bringing a great collection of snacks to keep us going!
As usual, TJ from Young's in Grand Rapids, Michigan had a great raffle, which is included in the entry price. So for 10 bucks, you get to play all day and could go home with a new replica! A few of our people won some new goggles, but none of the big prizes. Ah well! Those who did were elated with their new gear!
After lunch, we headed back out into the field, and I snuck off to try to flank green along with two other guys. Long story short, we encountered no resistance, had a nice, slow quiet walk in the swamp and used one of our typical tactics; move when the wind blows to cover your sound. Eventually, we were in position, several hundred feet apart, well behind enemy lines. I had a clear view on the back of the village from the southern base of Mortar Hill, and hunkered down to observe.
Suddenly, my plan of "obfuscate, infiltrate, dominate" got thrown out the window. I had dropped my radio, map and smokes somewhere near by as I had moved slow and low to avoid being detected. I carefully retraced my steps, hunkered down and watched 14 green head out on a mission and pass within 30 feet of me. I considered taking the last few off the line, just to foil their mission, but I had overheard they were looking for our CO and I knew he wasn't anywhere in the region they were headed to. None of our forces were, so it was best to let them go get lost in the swamp for a half hour multiplying our forces active in the field. When each side only has 50 players, 14 doing nothing useful gives your side a tremendous advantage. And I was about to accidentally ratchet that up further.
I moved back into my search pattern, and had to quickly hunker down as there was one green on guard about 100 feet down the low slope from me. He stopped, facing my way, and figuring I was about to be spotted, I popped him with a short flurry of semi-auto fire. He called hit, and I withdrew quickly. I pulled back 60 feet to a spot I had seen moving up that would make a good ambush point if anyone came looking for me. I already had my two escape routes chosen and was tense and ready. No one came. After several minutes I moved back up to resume my search for lost gear.
I heard them before I saw them, a slight rustle off to my right. A sniper team up in the wood, facing about where I had been five minutes ago. I popped both of them and again withdrew to my hide. Rinse repeat, coming back a different way each time to resume my search. Before all was said and done, I had eliminated 7 people looking for my smokes and radio, and they seemed to notice. A lot more noise was building in my area, so I pulled far back and took up another hide and waited. I could see four people combing the brush and hear them talking about the "squad" up in the woods they were looking for. I later found out there were eight opponents tied up in looking for only me. This distraction allowed the other two guys I came into the woods with to find one of the objectives and return it to our forward operating base and score points.
The lesson here is with care, or in my case, dumb luck, one person can be a sizable force multiplier. I alone, kept eight opponents from doing anything useful. If you can get good at this, you will be a tremendous asset to your team.
At that point they sounded the end of game alert, and that was the end of the day.
My tally for the day was eliminated 4 times, captured once, 7 confirmed hits on opponents, 4 more possible hits (they may have been hit by the rpg, or other players on my team, I was unsure). Not a great ratio, but being a force multiplier was certainly a worth while use of my time.
So there you have it, my experience at Op:High Value. It was a great time, and there were a lot of new friendships started there and some great time spent with old friends.
However, there were some interesting questions on certain aspects of play that came up on this day, which I will cover in another article (and once it is posted, I will edit this article with a link to that one).
Play hard, stay safe, have fun!
Angel, over and out!
This was the first event we hauled the completed v.0.1 airsoft RPG to and put it into use. Prior, we had taken the functional but not fully complete to a couple other events, this was the first full on field test.
We arrived in multiple cars, and due to a logistical snafu, some of our folks rolled in about half way through the briefing, so we had a little chaos there filling them in on the intricacies of this interesting event. We were running tan, the opposition force to the green (US) team, and had all dressed in fairly typical "tan" load-outs; cargo pants, long tan work shirts, sashs and head gear (including pakul and turbans). Our armament was typical of loosely organized forces we represented; primarily AK replicas with a mix of more western gear.
For those who have never been on a field laid out like this one, let me set the scene so you understand our elation at our re-spawn point. This field is a north-south valley, heavily forested with steep hills on the east and west sides. Last year at Op: Nine Hammers, we had our re-spawn point on top of the eastern incline, known as Mortar Hill. So every time we got shot, we got to hike up a 220 foot, steep incline to get back into play. Needless to say, we were giddy to discover our re-spawn for this game was on the valley floor at the far south west end.
No running up Mortar Hill all day!!!
So we marched down to our starting point after our tan briefing, which had some interesting rule variants described below, and got ourselves ready to roll out. I loaded up the 40mm gas grenade shell and loaded the RPG for it's first use in a game, excited and hopeful. This would prove to have been preemptive however. We were briefed on what our early objectives would be, and chose a strike team of our guys to run up ahead and hold the ammunition dump. If we lost it at any point in the game, we would only be allowed to run semi-auto to simulate a shortage of ammunition. This wouldn't be a problem for us if we did loose this objective, as most of the RoadCrew generally only runs semi-auto on our replicas. None the less, we sent our SAW gunner and a few other guys along with a few new friends at the start of the game to take and hold this objective.
The rules of this game were a bit different than most to simulate this being the home turf of the tan force. Some of the variants included; when five out of play tan were able to gather in a sandbagged bunker (there were 7 on site in various locations), they were able to re-spawn as soon as the 5th person entered the bunker. Another variant was that each teams Commanding Officer was a mobile re-spawn point. Only three out of play team mates needed to gather at the CO to re-spawn though, instead of five. This proved hard for tan, as our CO was often pursued by the green team and stayed hidden much of the day. A three minute bleed out rule was also in play to allow medics and captures (which are worth points). Now back to play!
We headed out and met some decent green resistance very early on, only to discover our medic was part sprinter and part ninja. He did a great job his first time out, and stayed well in the thick of things. I finally found a location (after being shot and out several times) where the RPG could come in handy, and took our first in game shot with it... only to pretty much miss everyone in the bunker. Damn! I had left the gas and bb's to reload it back at our main re-spawn point, but only the guys in the bunker in front of us knew it was no longer loaded... heh. It was used to threaten a couple other times, making our opponents keep their heads down so our team could move to flank them.
After a time, we got a call on the radio that the ammo dump needed reinforcement, so another of of our team and I headed out to find the dump. We headed deeper into the woods, and missed the bunker by a couple hundred feet, only to go for a nice long walk in the woods, and stay out of active play for a good half hour. Eventually we found ourselves at the back of Mortar Hill, and considered sneaking up the back to hit them from a side they would not have expected to see any action on. We could hear a lot of activity off to the west, so we decided that was a better choice, and carefully moved into that area, only to find the ammo depot we had missed earlier. We stood our ground there for a while with getting heavy resistance.
Being that I just don't know any better, I moved up into the brush which eventually led to me being shot and captured, and I was taken back to the village to wait out my time as a "Prisoner". It did give me a goodly amount of time to study their defenses and gather intel on how much force was holding the village. Since I was in play, just a captive, gathering intel was allowable by the rules. (Granted, people still do it when they are out of play, and use it when they are back in, but we try to avoid it.)
Returning to play, I was able to relate the intel I had and retake my position. The RPG was reloaded, and starting to really let me feel it's 12 pounds as I carried it around the field. A hard push came on our position, and we got over run just before lunch. We all hiked back up the hill to the staging point at the barn and had a rest and some food, and many thanks and props go to Em on our team for bringing a great collection of snacks to keep us going!
As usual, TJ from Young's in Grand Rapids, Michigan had a great raffle, which is included in the entry price. So for 10 bucks, you get to play all day and could go home with a new replica! A few of our people won some new goggles, but none of the big prizes. Ah well! Those who did were elated with their new gear!
After lunch, we headed back out into the field, and I snuck off to try to flank green along with two other guys. Long story short, we encountered no resistance, had a nice, slow quiet walk in the swamp and used one of our typical tactics; move when the wind blows to cover your sound. Eventually, we were in position, several hundred feet apart, well behind enemy lines. I had a clear view on the back of the village from the southern base of Mortar Hill, and hunkered down to observe.
Suddenly, my plan of "obfuscate, infiltrate, dominate" got thrown out the window. I had dropped my radio, map and smokes somewhere near by as I had moved slow and low to avoid being detected. I carefully retraced my steps, hunkered down and watched 14 green head out on a mission and pass within 30 feet of me. I considered taking the last few off the line, just to foil their mission, but I had overheard they were looking for our CO and I knew he wasn't anywhere in the region they were headed to. None of our forces were, so it was best to let them go get lost in the swamp for a half hour multiplying our forces active in the field. When each side only has 50 players, 14 doing nothing useful gives your side a tremendous advantage. And I was about to accidentally ratchet that up further.
I moved back into my search pattern, and had to quickly hunker down as there was one green on guard about 100 feet down the low slope from me. He stopped, facing my way, and figuring I was about to be spotted, I popped him with a short flurry of semi-auto fire. He called hit, and I withdrew quickly. I pulled back 60 feet to a spot I had seen moving up that would make a good ambush point if anyone came looking for me. I already had my two escape routes chosen and was tense and ready. No one came. After several minutes I moved back up to resume my search for lost gear.
I heard them before I saw them, a slight rustle off to my right. A sniper team up in the wood, facing about where I had been five minutes ago. I popped both of them and again withdrew to my hide. Rinse repeat, coming back a different way each time to resume my search. Before all was said and done, I had eliminated 7 people looking for my smokes and radio, and they seemed to notice. A lot more noise was building in my area, so I pulled far back and took up another hide and waited. I could see four people combing the brush and hear them talking about the "squad" up in the woods they were looking for. I later found out there were eight opponents tied up in looking for only me. This distraction allowed the other two guys I came into the woods with to find one of the objectives and return it to our forward operating base and score points.
The lesson here is with care, or in my case, dumb luck, one person can be a sizable force multiplier. I alone, kept eight opponents from doing anything useful. If you can get good at this, you will be a tremendous asset to your team.
At that point they sounded the end of game alert, and that was the end of the day.
My tally for the day was eliminated 4 times, captured once, 7 confirmed hits on opponents, 4 more possible hits (they may have been hit by the rpg, or other players on my team, I was unsure). Not a great ratio, but being a force multiplier was certainly a worth while use of my time.
So there you have it, my experience at Op:High Value. It was a great time, and there were a lot of new friendships started there and some great time spent with old friends.
However, there were some interesting questions on certain aspects of play that came up on this day, which I will cover in another article (and once it is posted, I will edit this article with a link to that one).
Play hard, stay safe, have fun!
Angel, over and out!
23 August 2011
Challenging yourself
Airsoft is a blast. Let's face it, we do this because it's fun. Otherwise, why would we run up a steep hill a dozen times in 15 minutes, getting pelted by little plastic spheres that feel like bee stings at times, through brambles and over that same dang log that always catches your knee?
But it sure can be more.
For one, I like to challenge myself. Some games, even the pick up rec games, I like to set myself a personal challenge. It can be anything; Only allowing myself one shot from any given position of cover before I move to shoot again. Only shooting with my off hand. Or always making sure my opponent knows I am about to shoot him, so he has a chance to respond. It could be staying hidden and stealthy when you are usually a frontal assault style player. It could be trying to get nothing but one shot, one kill shots all day.
Heck, at Op:Hostile Takeover, I gave myself the challenge to get a hot dog kill, using a foil wrapped hot dog and bun that was left over from lunch in place of a knife.
The addition of these personal challenges gives added dimension to the game, and often gives you some pretty wild stories for after hours bs'ing. It adds another layer of fun to the game, usually. And if you incorporate them into your own playing, they can help make you a better player as well.
Challenge yourself to do things in a new way that you aren't good at yet. As you get good at these new tactics, challenge yourself again to something else. Over time, these little fun challenges give you extra tricks you can use in other situations. And once you have a rucksack full of little tricks, most people will think you are a pretty damn clever player and you will often be one of the first picked for teams in rec games, even if your gear isn't a super high end load out.
You see, it's not the boots that win the game. It's not the gun that wins the game. It's what connects them together. And a player who constantly challenges themselves can do a pretty damn good job of connecting the boots to the gun.
Oh, and the hot dog kill? Success!
But it sure can be more.
For one, I like to challenge myself. Some games, even the pick up rec games, I like to set myself a personal challenge. It can be anything; Only allowing myself one shot from any given position of cover before I move to shoot again. Only shooting with my off hand. Or always making sure my opponent knows I am about to shoot him, so he has a chance to respond. It could be staying hidden and stealthy when you are usually a frontal assault style player. It could be trying to get nothing but one shot, one kill shots all day.
Heck, at Op:Hostile Takeover, I gave myself the challenge to get a hot dog kill, using a foil wrapped hot dog and bun that was left over from lunch in place of a knife.
The addition of these personal challenges gives added dimension to the game, and often gives you some pretty wild stories for after hours bs'ing. It adds another layer of fun to the game, usually. And if you incorporate them into your own playing, they can help make you a better player as well.
Challenge yourself to do things in a new way that you aren't good at yet. As you get good at these new tactics, challenge yourself again to something else. Over time, these little fun challenges give you extra tricks you can use in other situations. And once you have a rucksack full of little tricks, most people will think you are a pretty damn clever player and you will often be one of the first picked for teams in rec games, even if your gear isn't a super high end load out.
You see, it's not the boots that win the game. It's not the gun that wins the game. It's what connects them together. And a player who constantly challenges themselves can do a pretty damn good job of connecting the boots to the gun.
Oh, and the hot dog kill? Success!
21 August 2011
Middle of summer
Well, it's the middle of summer, and due to everything being stupid busy we haven't been on the field anywhere near as much as we would like. We also ended up missing Op:Federation Federalies 2 down at Sherwood Forest. Which, talking to those that went may not have been a bad thing... The weather was awful and led to all sorts of problems as we understand it. Not having been there, I can comment no further.
Op:Hostile Takeover at Area 51 paintball was great fun with about 70 in attendance. We met some great new folks and got to play on a fun field which really can only be described as outdoor CQC. More on that in a future post.
Op:Fueling the Fire was a complete success and thanks to all who came! The largest turnout in Michigan airsoft history! And hey, it was damn fun too! Splatmandu is a nice, open field with some tight areas, so it works for nearly every play style. More on that in a future post as well.
On our agenda is Op:Redemption coming up in October at Futureball near Ann Arbor Michigan. We will again play the civie force, more than likely. Also on the slate is Op:High Value 2 at Young's field in Lowel MI, Sept 11, 2011. We are just gonna go play this one, nothing special.
So that's the basic update of this sort of thing out of the way... next up, real content on airsoft!
Op:Hostile Takeover at Area 51 paintball was great fun with about 70 in attendance. We met some great new folks and got to play on a fun field which really can only be described as outdoor CQC. More on that in a future post.
Op:Fueling the Fire was a complete success and thanks to all who came! The largest turnout in Michigan airsoft history! And hey, it was damn fun too! Splatmandu is a nice, open field with some tight areas, so it works for nearly every play style. More on that in a future post as well.
On our agenda is Op:Redemption coming up in October at Futureball near Ann Arbor Michigan. We will again play the civie force, more than likely. Also on the slate is Op:High Value 2 at Young's field in Lowel MI, Sept 11, 2011. We are just gonna go play this one, nothing special.
So that's the basic update of this sort of thing out of the way... next up, real content on airsoft!
17 August 2011
Back online
After an extended hiatus, the roadcrew review is back online. Apparently our account got hacked and pulled off the server for a time, but all seems to again be in order.
Expect much more weirdness and reviews in the near future! We have several new toys to play with and tell you about, along with some fun event stories!
Clean your goggles folks, there will be a lot of reading to do soon.
Expect much more weirdness and reviews in the near future! We have several new toys to play with and tell you about, along with some fun event stories!
Clean your goggles folks, there will be a lot of reading to do soon.
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