Post by macil2018 on Sept 18, 2011 22:57:47 GMT -5
So, I finally played a game of Airsoft today! I took everyone's advise and hit up Phoenix Tactical for a public game today and I'm still in shock over how much fun I had. Absolute shock.
If you guys don't mind a bit of a read, I'd like to take a few moments to give you guys a bit of a step-by-step run down of the final game we played for the day (which was most memorable for me).
I'd just like to start by saying it was kind of slow today I guess, less than 10 people in all, but by the end of the day we were down to 4 people including myself. It was this one girl, a guy we called "Purple" because he was wearing a purple shirt *Shrug* and my friend Craig and I.
Since Purple had only a shotgun, we all agreed to go semi-auto only to keep it fair since we all had AEGs. We wanted to go out with a bang for the last game, so since we only did simple team elimination, we decided to go with capture the flag for the last game of the day. However, we decided to also add a little twist seeing as their was only 4 of us playing. We decided to have it be a capture the flag free for all. The first person to the top of the hill with the flag won, no teams. Two hits meant you were out, too. And if you were the last one standing, you won.
Well, we started at the flag and just said "go!" and ran in opposite directions. I decided to keep a close but safe distance from the flag, ducking in some high grasses with thick bushes at my rear to ensure nobody could flank me. Also giving me a perfect visual on the flag, and plenty of room to escape if anyone came around from either side. Not only did I think I had a solid position near the flag at the beginning, but I also think my tactics were pretty solid to let everyone else make the first move for the flag, so they'd reveal their locations at which I can use my observations to determine the best move to take on the flag at a later time. So I dug in and held my ground.
Within seconds, as expected, someone made a move for the flag. Purple, with no finesse at all and what seemed to be no real strategy, went for the bull rush approach and just simply charged in for the flag. I think he knew he was out gunned from the beginning, and I remember him saying out loud "screw it! I'm going John Woo on your asses!" as he charged in for the win, or attempted win. Needless to say his strategy won him a one-way ticket up the walk of shame to the top of the hill to wait out the battle, as he was the first one tagged out.
Alright, one man down, two to go... Well, one man and one woman. As Purple left the field he shouted out of pure curiosity I imagine, "who hit me? Who hit me?" and I remember thinking, "wow, who is dumb enough to actually respond to that and give away their position." And no sooner than I could even complete the thought in my mind, my friend Craig shouts out "I did!" I nearly laughed out loud at his response, but I was able to hold it together with a simple smile. So now I knew where Craig was.
The flag was almost as good as mine. I was within 20 paces of it, and I had a good idea where the girl was hiding (I don't know if she is a member on the forum here so for her privacy I'll leave her name out), but I now had a confirmed visual on Craig's location, which was about 35-40 feet away from me, and even further from the flag. But where was the girl we were playing with? I knew she couldn't be far from the flag, as the direction she ran off to was heavily shrouded in dense bushes and small branching trees.
After Purple made his way completely off the field, I knew I'd have to make my decision move soon. Most the other players made their move first, and after about 5 or 10 minutes of waiting, I knew it would soon be my turn. So I began formulating a plan. Keeping in mind it was almost closing time for Phoenix, I didn't want to hold Jay up all day and knew I'd have to rush my approach to this game to end it in a timely manner. There was only one thing to do, I had to charge the flag and take my fate into my own hands.
But how? How was I going to completely expose my position with Craig easily being in range of me and that other girl could be anywhere? If I ran to the flag, stopped, grabbed it, turned around losing all my momentum, and ran back the other way to run up the hill, I knew I'd be in trouble. After losing all momentum to reverse, I knew I'd be a sitting duck. There was only one other option that I think NOBODY would have expected in a million years. So I knew what I had to do.
I charged the flag running like I'd never run before, time slowed down as I ran across the field. I immediately heard bushes moving and leaves rustling, I knew this was it, I knew my position was well known by everyone remaining on the field. BBs began whizzing all around me, this was certainly the end...
And then the impossible happened! I grabbed the flag, uninjured from my wild plan that unfolded by the second. I continued running like a Gazelle trying to outrun a Lion on the Serengeti. Down the path and deeper into the woods. I knew nobody would expect me to run AWAY from Victory Hill. Nobody would expect me to run DEEPER into the woods, further from safety.
I knew being on the path into the woods left me completely exposed. So thinking quickly, I knew I needed to take cover, and fast. As it was only a matter of moments before the two remaining players would be upon my location hungry for the flag, hungry for my victory...
I B-lined it into the most thick portion of forest I could find on the path. Pushing away every branch I could. Like Indiana Jones hacking away through a dense jungle, I forced my way deeper and deeper into the forest. And then, disaster. In all the years of ever wearing a boonie, I've always heard it to be foolish to wear it with the strap in front of your neck, and heeding that warning I've ALWAYS worn it to the back of my neck, except for this game. Even earlier in the day I had worn the boonie as I had always been told, but not now, why not now???
As I pushed on as fast as I could through the forest, my hat got stuck on a branch and was violently ripped from my head. Choking me in the process. Like a rubber band I snapped backwards, my feet pulling outward from under me, falling to the ground flat on my back.
As if my epic ride ended there. I snapped forward from the flinging tension of my fall, my back bouncing off the ground, falling forward now, onto flat, solid ground? I think not, I then began to tumble down a hill end over end. I must have somersaulted 3 times at the least. I saw the ground, the sky, the ground, the sky, the ground, and finally, when I stopped rolling I was sitting in an open field completely exposed. From dense forest to open flattened dry grass. Where was I?
My heart was racing a million miles an hour. My adrenaline pumped with an unmatched fury. My out of shape body gasped for air. My goggles drenched in sweat and fog. After coming to my senses, realizing the wild ride I had just been on, I looked down to examine the flag that I now held in my hand. I knew, this was only half the battle. Now deep within the woods, I knew I now had to make the long trek back through the enemy infested woods to seal my victory.
I knew in my mind I had to reset my emotions, settle my heart rate, steady my breathing and clear my mind. I wasn't out of the woods yet, so to speak. I knew I couldn't return to the path I had just come from. And I knew not far to my left was the property border which was lined by a long barbed wire fence shrouded in completely impassibly dense brush. The only way around was to go through the forest. My opponents would be crazy to follow me. So I began walking.
One foot in front of the other I told myself. Planning every footstep as to not disturb the fallen leaves and lose branches that littered the forest floor. I knew only one wrong move could spell disaster, alerting my enemies to my location.
After a bit of walking I came to a bit of clearing in the woods, I could see it through the woods from here, Victory Hill. One final hurdle of dense bushes and tall grasses and fallen trees kept me from my sweet victory. And then I heard it...
That familiar snapping of a twig from a carelessly placed footstep. I knew I wasn't alone. My heart rate began to climb rapidly. This was it. The final confrontation. Luckily my careless opponent had not seen my location. I was only about 20 feet straight ahead of him. I knew it, I knew Craig had held his position from the beginning. Too lazy to have given chase. I waited for a clear shot and made my move.
I began shooting and he returned fire. Miraculously neither of us had managed to get hit. I decided to duck down for cover, realizing this firefight was a stalemate. I decided to try to out-think my opponent.
Knowing there was only one person involved in this firefight, I decided to call out to the girl who was strangely absent from this confrontation. I shouted as loud as I could "he's over here!" hoping to turn my enemies against each other. Causing her to think that perhaps my opponent I had been firing at was in-fact, me. Little did I know, the goggles I saw through the bushes ahead of me was indeed the girl who I thought was elsewhere, my plan had failed!
This was it, the moment of truth. Knowing that I was dangerously close to the closing time at Phoenix, I knew the time to move was now. It was now or never. I figured my charge across the field worked once before, why couldn't it work again? Without giving it a second thought, I charged out of cover once more letting out a mighty war cry, like a downed pilot caught behind enemy lines, running for the helicopter waiting to take him to safety. I screamed violently unleashing every last bit of energy I had saved up - shooting anything that stood in my way.
Just when I thought I was home free, my hat struck again! Getting caught once more on one final branch on the way out, although this time wearing it properly it fell off my head uneventfully. Knowing it would be foolish to go back for it, I decided it'd be best to just leave it behind and run on without it.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, I slipped as I exited the wooded area, falling once more, flat on my back. Now completely exposed, BBs flying violently through the air, I yelled out "screw it!" I tossed my gun to the ground, climbed to my feet and miraculously made my way up the hill with what little breath I still had in my lungs.
As I made my way to the top of the hill gasping for air, bruised, and dirty, I turned around to look at my conquered battlefield and waved the flag high in the air like I had just written history. Feeling as much pride in my day's achievements as the soldiers who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. I waved my flag with honor and pride and yelled with excitement for my sweet victory which I had fought so valiantly for today.
This day will forever be remembered to me as one of the most amazing days of my life. I've never fought so hard to win something so simple. And I'll never forget what it was like pushing myself to the breaking point to accomplish such a simple goal.
I'm forever grateful for Jay's invitation to Phoenix Tactical and everyone's warm welcomes to this glorious sport here on the forums. I'm proud of the friendships I've formed today and in the past two weeks here on MiA. And I eagerly await the friendships I will continue to make in the future while participating in sport of Airsoft.
I hope you enjoyed my little adventure today and I hope everyone will enjoy making many more adventures with me in Airsoft. Good Night guys.
If you guys don't mind a bit of a read, I'd like to take a few moments to give you guys a bit of a step-by-step run down of the final game we played for the day (which was most memorable for me).
I'd just like to start by saying it was kind of slow today I guess, less than 10 people in all, but by the end of the day we were down to 4 people including myself. It was this one girl, a guy we called "Purple" because he was wearing a purple shirt *Shrug* and my friend Craig and I.
Since Purple had only a shotgun, we all agreed to go semi-auto only to keep it fair since we all had AEGs. We wanted to go out with a bang for the last game, so since we only did simple team elimination, we decided to go with capture the flag for the last game of the day. However, we decided to also add a little twist seeing as their was only 4 of us playing. We decided to have it be a capture the flag free for all. The first person to the top of the hill with the flag won, no teams. Two hits meant you were out, too. And if you were the last one standing, you won.
Well, we started at the flag and just said "go!" and ran in opposite directions. I decided to keep a close but safe distance from the flag, ducking in some high grasses with thick bushes at my rear to ensure nobody could flank me. Also giving me a perfect visual on the flag, and plenty of room to escape if anyone came around from either side. Not only did I think I had a solid position near the flag at the beginning, but I also think my tactics were pretty solid to let everyone else make the first move for the flag, so they'd reveal their locations at which I can use my observations to determine the best move to take on the flag at a later time. So I dug in and held my ground.
Within seconds, as expected, someone made a move for the flag. Purple, with no finesse at all and what seemed to be no real strategy, went for the bull rush approach and just simply charged in for the flag. I think he knew he was out gunned from the beginning, and I remember him saying out loud "screw it! I'm going John Woo on your asses!" as he charged in for the win, or attempted win. Needless to say his strategy won him a one-way ticket up the walk of shame to the top of the hill to wait out the battle, as he was the first one tagged out.
Alright, one man down, two to go... Well, one man and one woman. As Purple left the field he shouted out of pure curiosity I imagine, "who hit me? Who hit me?" and I remember thinking, "wow, who is dumb enough to actually respond to that and give away their position." And no sooner than I could even complete the thought in my mind, my friend Craig shouts out "I did!" I nearly laughed out loud at his response, but I was able to hold it together with a simple smile. So now I knew where Craig was.
The flag was almost as good as mine. I was within 20 paces of it, and I had a good idea where the girl was hiding (I don't know if she is a member on the forum here so for her privacy I'll leave her name out), but I now had a confirmed visual on Craig's location, which was about 35-40 feet away from me, and even further from the flag. But where was the girl we were playing with? I knew she couldn't be far from the flag, as the direction she ran off to was heavily shrouded in dense bushes and small branching trees.
After Purple made his way completely off the field, I knew I'd have to make my decision move soon. Most the other players made their move first, and after about 5 or 10 minutes of waiting, I knew it would soon be my turn. So I began formulating a plan. Keeping in mind it was almost closing time for Phoenix, I didn't want to hold Jay up all day and knew I'd have to rush my approach to this game to end it in a timely manner. There was only one thing to do, I had to charge the flag and take my fate into my own hands.
But how? How was I going to completely expose my position with Craig easily being in range of me and that other girl could be anywhere? If I ran to the flag, stopped, grabbed it, turned around losing all my momentum, and ran back the other way to run up the hill, I knew I'd be in trouble. After losing all momentum to reverse, I knew I'd be a sitting duck. There was only one other option that I think NOBODY would have expected in a million years. So I knew what I had to do.
I charged the flag running like I'd never run before, time slowed down as I ran across the field. I immediately heard bushes moving and leaves rustling, I knew this was it, I knew my position was well known by everyone remaining on the field. BBs began whizzing all around me, this was certainly the end...
And then the impossible happened! I grabbed the flag, uninjured from my wild plan that unfolded by the second. I continued running like a Gazelle trying to outrun a Lion on the Serengeti. Down the path and deeper into the woods. I knew nobody would expect me to run AWAY from Victory Hill. Nobody would expect me to run DEEPER into the woods, further from safety.
I knew being on the path into the woods left me completely exposed. So thinking quickly, I knew I needed to take cover, and fast. As it was only a matter of moments before the two remaining players would be upon my location hungry for the flag, hungry for my victory...
I B-lined it into the most thick portion of forest I could find on the path. Pushing away every branch I could. Like Indiana Jones hacking away through a dense jungle, I forced my way deeper and deeper into the forest. And then, disaster. In all the years of ever wearing a boonie, I've always heard it to be foolish to wear it with the strap in front of your neck, and heeding that warning I've ALWAYS worn it to the back of my neck, except for this game. Even earlier in the day I had worn the boonie as I had always been told, but not now, why not now???
As I pushed on as fast as I could through the forest, my hat got stuck on a branch and was violently ripped from my head. Choking me in the process. Like a rubber band I snapped backwards, my feet pulling outward from under me, falling to the ground flat on my back.
As if my epic ride ended there. I snapped forward from the flinging tension of my fall, my back bouncing off the ground, falling forward now, onto flat, solid ground? I think not, I then began to tumble down a hill end over end. I must have somersaulted 3 times at the least. I saw the ground, the sky, the ground, the sky, the ground, and finally, when I stopped rolling I was sitting in an open field completely exposed. From dense forest to open flattened dry grass. Where was I?
My heart was racing a million miles an hour. My adrenaline pumped with an unmatched fury. My out of shape body gasped for air. My goggles drenched in sweat and fog. After coming to my senses, realizing the wild ride I had just been on, I looked down to examine the flag that I now held in my hand. I knew, this was only half the battle. Now deep within the woods, I knew I now had to make the long trek back through the enemy infested woods to seal my victory.
I knew in my mind I had to reset my emotions, settle my heart rate, steady my breathing and clear my mind. I wasn't out of the woods yet, so to speak. I knew I couldn't return to the path I had just come from. And I knew not far to my left was the property border which was lined by a long barbed wire fence shrouded in completely impassibly dense brush. The only way around was to go through the forest. My opponents would be crazy to follow me. So I began walking.
One foot in front of the other I told myself. Planning every footstep as to not disturb the fallen leaves and lose branches that littered the forest floor. I knew only one wrong move could spell disaster, alerting my enemies to my location.
After a bit of walking I came to a bit of clearing in the woods, I could see it through the woods from here, Victory Hill. One final hurdle of dense bushes and tall grasses and fallen trees kept me from my sweet victory. And then I heard it...
That familiar snapping of a twig from a carelessly placed footstep. I knew I wasn't alone. My heart rate began to climb rapidly. This was it. The final confrontation. Luckily my careless opponent had not seen my location. I was only about 20 feet straight ahead of him. I knew it, I knew Craig had held his position from the beginning. Too lazy to have given chase. I waited for a clear shot and made my move.
I began shooting and he returned fire. Miraculously neither of us had managed to get hit. I decided to duck down for cover, realizing this firefight was a stalemate. I decided to try to out-think my opponent.
Knowing there was only one person involved in this firefight, I decided to call out to the girl who was strangely absent from this confrontation. I shouted as loud as I could "he's over here!" hoping to turn my enemies against each other. Causing her to think that perhaps my opponent I had been firing at was in-fact, me. Little did I know, the goggles I saw through the bushes ahead of me was indeed the girl who I thought was elsewhere, my plan had failed!
This was it, the moment of truth. Knowing that I was dangerously close to the closing time at Phoenix, I knew the time to move was now. It was now or never. I figured my charge across the field worked once before, why couldn't it work again? Without giving it a second thought, I charged out of cover once more letting out a mighty war cry, like a downed pilot caught behind enemy lines, running for the helicopter waiting to take him to safety. I screamed violently unleashing every last bit of energy I had saved up - shooting anything that stood in my way.
Just when I thought I was home free, my hat struck again! Getting caught once more on one final branch on the way out, although this time wearing it properly it fell off my head uneventfully. Knowing it would be foolish to go back for it, I decided it'd be best to just leave it behind and run on without it.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, I slipped as I exited the wooded area, falling once more, flat on my back. Now completely exposed, BBs flying violently through the air, I yelled out "screw it!" I tossed my gun to the ground, climbed to my feet and miraculously made my way up the hill with what little breath I still had in my lungs.
As I made my way to the top of the hill gasping for air, bruised, and dirty, I turned around to look at my conquered battlefield and waved the flag high in the air like I had just written history. Feeling as much pride in my day's achievements as the soldiers who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. I waved my flag with honor and pride and yelled with excitement for my sweet victory which I had fought so valiantly for today.
This day will forever be remembered to me as one of the most amazing days of my life. I've never fought so hard to win something so simple. And I'll never forget what it was like pushing myself to the breaking point to accomplish such a simple goal.
I'm forever grateful for Jay's invitation to Phoenix Tactical and everyone's warm welcomes to this glorious sport here on the forums. I'm proud of the friendships I've formed today and in the past two weeks here on MiA. And I eagerly await the friendships I will continue to make in the future while participating in sport of Airsoft.
I hope you enjoyed my little adventure today and I hope everyone will enjoy making many more adventures with me in Airsoft. Good Night guys.
.
