Post by BullDog on May 12, 2013 22:02:12 GMT
This section is a collection of useful information to aid those who are the new and upcoming players in the Airsoft world.
If you are new to Airsoft and wish to gain a moderate knowledge of the sport read on!
Information thanks to Wikipedia.com:
Airsoft is a game, based around combat, which has similarities with paintball. In most scenarios, participants aim to eliminate opponents by hitting them with 6mm (occasionally 8mm) plastic BBs launched from airsoft guns. Airsoft guns are most commonly powered by one of three sources: Gas (CO2, Green or Red Gas (aka Propane with varying amounts of silicone lubricant mixed in),134A, or some other type of gas), spring-loaded (air is forced through a nozzle via a manually cocked spring piston, normally called "spring guns" or "springers"), or gearboxes (mechanical boxes that use motors to pull back and release a spring piston named AEGs or Automatic Electric Guns). Participants typically use varying types of weapons designed as replicas of real firearms, tactical gear, and accessories used by military and police organizations. Airsoft has been popular in Asia for a long time and there is now a growing interest in airsoft weapons and events in North America and Europe
History
Airsoft was developed in Japan in the early 1970s. A heavy emphasis was placed on making accurate replicas of real firearms and target shooting. In contrast, paintball was developed in the United States in 1981 as a variation of hide and seek tag, through the use of utility companies' power pole paint marking guns.
In the interests of a more family-friendly image, the paintball industry usually avoids direct analogies to the military and war (seen by the movement towards spectator-friendly speedball), while Airsoft focuses more on realism or military simulation.
Methods of play
"Skirmishing" is the most common form of play. Players may use methods and equipment that may differ from a realistic battle (Hi-cap mags for example). Most players in this group dress in BDUs and have guns ranging for $50 to $2000 in price. These battles can take place anywhere from an abandoned building, an area of woods, to a farm.
“CQB” ,an acronym meaning Close Quarters Battle, or CQC, Close Quarters Combat, is a popular way of playing airsoft. The basic idea is for people to play in an enclosed arena at close quarters, resulting in fast action combat or multiple surprises. Often the arena may be set up as if it were in an urban war zone or in terrain filled with enclosing walls, gates, doorways, stair ways, tunnels, apertures, overhead openings, or below-ground approaches that enable one player to shoot at another from a distance of a certain amount of feet.
CQB can also take place in night games or in dense vegetation such as tall grass, shrubbery, and closely packed trees. In these types of combat, the FPS (Feet per second) of the guns may have to be lower due to the closeness of the combat. Simulated grenades and booby traps are effective due to teams sticking together in such a small area. Players in CQB scenarios may wear additional vests or protective clothing to avoid injury from close-in hits or ricochets. Some venues similarly restrict equipment to less powerful airsoft guns.
“MilSim” ,short for Military Simulation, generally combines airsoft play with some military live-action role-playing elements. Several goals or missions are assigned to each team, along with a basic load-out of ammunition (6 millimeter pellets), rations, batteries, and other suitable equipment, such as short-range radios and head-sets. Sometimes such equipment is provided whilst other times players may bring them at their own discretion.
The teams will remain in the field for the duration of play, only returning to a staging area or "safe zone" for medical emergencies, or other such circumstances. Military simulation games often last several days, for example the large BERGET event in Sweden lasts for six days, with no breaks. In large scale MilSim operations players may utilize vehicles such as painted vans and trucks. In some cases, such as Operation Irene, real APCs and tanks are used.
Airsoft games are not only limited to MilSim or CQB, however. There are many alternate game scenarios.
Airsoft for combat training
Many law enforcement departments, military units, and protective security companies are turning to airsoft for an effective, low cost, anti-inflammatory, and safe means of force-on-force training.[5] The low-impact projectiles allow military/law-enforcement/protection agencies to train anywhere - schools, businesses, airplanes, etc. Training in real-life environments conditions allows them to deal with real life situations and improve their skills. The most common airsoft gun used by law enforcement agencies, military units, and protective security companies is the Systema Professional Training Rifle. The inexpensive ammo lets military/police train more frequently and repeat drills dozens of times in each session with minimal budgetary impact, to the relief of taxpayers. Since minimal protective equipment is required, this allows them to train with their actual duty gear and equipment. Using airsoft guns for training minimizes liability to both trainees, instructors and by-standers, as well as property owners.
Honor system
The 'honor system' is employed whereby the players rely on each others' honesty to admit to being hit, because unlike paintballs plastic pellets do not leave a surface mark distinguishable at a distance. While airsoft pellets that contain paint do exist, they are very rarely used by serious players due to their ineffectiveness, and tendency to damage some airsoft equipment.
Depending on the muzzle velocity of the gun and distance from which a person is shooting, the person on the receiving end of the shot will usually feel the impact, but the pellets may sometimes not be felt by a player at very long ranges, when distracted, or when running strenuously, hence the importance of marshals or referees. Honest admission of hits is still required because no one can monitor what happens to every player on the playing field.
To avoid unnecessary disputes that disrupt the game, players are discouraged from calling out hits on their opponent but are expected to signal a marshal to judge how effectively they can hit their opponents. Simulated 'knife kills' can, at the venue's discretion, be performed when a player touches or taps an unaware opponent. This prevents the player being forced to shoot him or her at point-blank range. Similarly a 'courtesy kill' occurs when a player refrains from shooting an opponent at close range while enforcing that opponent's surrender. Players are usually prohibited from firing blindly when not able to see their target, especially around corners. Players are expected to avoid the shooting of an opponent who has already admitted to being hit. Harsh language and forceful physical contact between players is strongly discouraged and even penalized. Players are expected to resolve disputes politely and with proper decorum.
All airsoft players are required and expected to acknowledge being hit even if they are in doubt. Those who acknowledge being hit are generally expected to do the following: (1) Shout "I'm hit" loudly; (2) Raise their hand or gun high and/or display a 'hit indicator' while walking back to the safe zone. A hit indicator can be either a bright-colored cloth during daytime or a blinker or mini-flashlight when in dim light or darkness. Dishonest players who fail to follow the rules or acknowledge their hits run the risk of being labelled and ostracized by the local airsoft community. They will from then on be observed more carefully by the marshals or possibly be even banned from playing in the area.
Another form of cheating occurs when an active player gains an unfair advantage by pretending to be an already-hit player in order to avoid being shot. During night games, active players have been known to turn on their blinker lights to move casually and then to turn them off for combat. Cheating also takes place when an eliminated player re-activates himself within the same game without permission from a marshal. Some players can also gain an unfair advantage by spontaneously joining a game (without authorization) some time long after the game had already started, therefore being in fresh condition and in a position to surprise their opponents.
Due to the nature of the honor system many feel airsoft requires high moral values and gentlemanly ethics to play well without the need for distinguishing hit marks or strict marshal's calls.
If you are new to Airsoft and wish to gain a moderate knowledge of the sport read on!
Information thanks to Wikipedia.com:
Airsoft is a game, based around combat, which has similarities with paintball. In most scenarios, participants aim to eliminate opponents by hitting them with 6mm (occasionally 8mm) plastic BBs launched from airsoft guns. Airsoft guns are most commonly powered by one of three sources: Gas (CO2, Green or Red Gas (aka Propane with varying amounts of silicone lubricant mixed in),134A, or some other type of gas), spring-loaded (air is forced through a nozzle via a manually cocked spring piston, normally called "spring guns" or "springers"), or gearboxes (mechanical boxes that use motors to pull back and release a spring piston named AEGs or Automatic Electric Guns). Participants typically use varying types of weapons designed as replicas of real firearms, tactical gear, and accessories used by military and police organizations. Airsoft has been popular in Asia for a long time and there is now a growing interest in airsoft weapons and events in North America and Europe
History
Airsoft was developed in Japan in the early 1970s. A heavy emphasis was placed on making accurate replicas of real firearms and target shooting. In contrast, paintball was developed in the United States in 1981 as a variation of hide and seek tag, through the use of utility companies' power pole paint marking guns.
In the interests of a more family-friendly image, the paintball industry usually avoids direct analogies to the military and war (seen by the movement towards spectator-friendly speedball), while Airsoft focuses more on realism or military simulation.
Methods of play
"Skirmishing" is the most common form of play. Players may use methods and equipment that may differ from a realistic battle (Hi-cap mags for example). Most players in this group dress in BDUs and have guns ranging for $50 to $2000 in price. These battles can take place anywhere from an abandoned building, an area of woods, to a farm.
“CQB” ,an acronym meaning Close Quarters Battle, or CQC, Close Quarters Combat, is a popular way of playing airsoft. The basic idea is for people to play in an enclosed arena at close quarters, resulting in fast action combat or multiple surprises. Often the arena may be set up as if it were in an urban war zone or in terrain filled with enclosing walls, gates, doorways, stair ways, tunnels, apertures, overhead openings, or below-ground approaches that enable one player to shoot at another from a distance of a certain amount of feet.
CQB can also take place in night games or in dense vegetation such as tall grass, shrubbery, and closely packed trees. In these types of combat, the FPS (Feet per second) of the guns may have to be lower due to the closeness of the combat. Simulated grenades and booby traps are effective due to teams sticking together in such a small area. Players in CQB scenarios may wear additional vests or protective clothing to avoid injury from close-in hits or ricochets. Some venues similarly restrict equipment to less powerful airsoft guns.
“MilSim” ,short for Military Simulation, generally combines airsoft play with some military live-action role-playing elements. Several goals or missions are assigned to each team, along with a basic load-out of ammunition (6 millimeter pellets), rations, batteries, and other suitable equipment, such as short-range radios and head-sets. Sometimes such equipment is provided whilst other times players may bring them at their own discretion.
The teams will remain in the field for the duration of play, only returning to a staging area or "safe zone" for medical emergencies, or other such circumstances. Military simulation games often last several days, for example the large BERGET event in Sweden lasts for six days, with no breaks. In large scale MilSim operations players may utilize vehicles such as painted vans and trucks. In some cases, such as Operation Irene, real APCs and tanks are used.
Airsoft games are not only limited to MilSim or CQB, however. There are many alternate game scenarios.
Airsoft for combat training
Many law enforcement departments, military units, and protective security companies are turning to airsoft for an effective, low cost, anti-inflammatory, and safe means of force-on-force training.[5] The low-impact projectiles allow military/law-enforcement/protection agencies to train anywhere - schools, businesses, airplanes, etc. Training in real-life environments conditions allows them to deal with real life situations and improve their skills. The most common airsoft gun used by law enforcement agencies, military units, and protective security companies is the Systema Professional Training Rifle. The inexpensive ammo lets military/police train more frequently and repeat drills dozens of times in each session with minimal budgetary impact, to the relief of taxpayers. Since minimal protective equipment is required, this allows them to train with their actual duty gear and equipment. Using airsoft guns for training minimizes liability to both trainees, instructors and by-standers, as well as property owners.
Honor system
The 'honor system' is employed whereby the players rely on each others' honesty to admit to being hit, because unlike paintballs plastic pellets do not leave a surface mark distinguishable at a distance. While airsoft pellets that contain paint do exist, they are very rarely used by serious players due to their ineffectiveness, and tendency to damage some airsoft equipment.
Depending on the muzzle velocity of the gun and distance from which a person is shooting, the person on the receiving end of the shot will usually feel the impact, but the pellets may sometimes not be felt by a player at very long ranges, when distracted, or when running strenuously, hence the importance of marshals or referees. Honest admission of hits is still required because no one can monitor what happens to every player on the playing field.
To avoid unnecessary disputes that disrupt the game, players are discouraged from calling out hits on their opponent but are expected to signal a marshal to judge how effectively they can hit their opponents. Simulated 'knife kills' can, at the venue's discretion, be performed when a player touches or taps an unaware opponent. This prevents the player being forced to shoot him or her at point-blank range. Similarly a 'courtesy kill' occurs when a player refrains from shooting an opponent at close range while enforcing that opponent's surrender. Players are usually prohibited from firing blindly when not able to see their target, especially around corners. Players are expected to avoid the shooting of an opponent who has already admitted to being hit. Harsh language and forceful physical contact between players is strongly discouraged and even penalized. Players are expected to resolve disputes politely and with proper decorum.
All airsoft players are required and expected to acknowledge being hit even if they are in doubt. Those who acknowledge being hit are generally expected to do the following: (1) Shout "I'm hit" loudly; (2) Raise their hand or gun high and/or display a 'hit indicator' while walking back to the safe zone. A hit indicator can be either a bright-colored cloth during daytime or a blinker or mini-flashlight when in dim light or darkness. Dishonest players who fail to follow the rules or acknowledge their hits run the risk of being labelled and ostracized by the local airsoft community. They will from then on be observed more carefully by the marshals or possibly be even banned from playing in the area.
Another form of cheating occurs when an active player gains an unfair advantage by pretending to be an already-hit player in order to avoid being shot. During night games, active players have been known to turn on their blinker lights to move casually and then to turn them off for combat. Cheating also takes place when an eliminated player re-activates himself within the same game without permission from a marshal. Some players can also gain an unfair advantage by spontaneously joining a game (without authorization) some time long after the game had already started, therefore being in fresh condition and in a position to surprise their opponents.
Due to the nature of the honor system many feel airsoft requires high moral values and gentlemanly ethics to play well without the need for distinguishing hit marks or strict marshal's calls.
