“ Airsoft is a military simulation style game (similar to paintball), played using 1:1 replica weapons that fire 6mm plastic ball bearings. ”
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The above pretty much summarises what Airsoft is, but in a little more detail, it can be broken down into the following aspects:
The Rules
Some of the rules of Airsoft are the same at all skirmish sites. They are enforced by marshals, who are constantly watching for cheating, and are a very good deterant. Common rules are:
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HIT: When a player is hit anywhere but the gun by a BB that was not a ricochet, they are dead, and must call HIT, and proceed to the deadzone. As BB's leave no marks, this is done with an honor system. If think you've been hit, you probably have.
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Regen: A lot of the time, dying doesnt keep you out the game for good. Once dead, you go to the deadzone and respawn. The exact rules for respawn change from game to game.
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Bang: If you are good enough to sneak right up to someone, you can kill them silently by saying "bang" when you are up close to them.
The Games
At most sites, there you will run into a mix of the following types of games:
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Warm-up: The warm up game - usually the first game of the day - is generally a very short 1 life game to get everybody in the mood for the rest of the day.
Short: These games tend to be around 20 - 30 minutes long, and usually consist of attack / defend scenarios. It is quite common to have the regeneration rule in play, although this sometimes only applies to one team.
- Long: As the name suggest, these games are long, and can run anywhere up to 2 hours. Usually only one of these is played at most per day, and is often the most interesting, as it requires teams to achieve multiple objectives.
- All Day: This is a game that lasts all day. It uses the regeneration rule to get people back in after getting hit, and teams win by completing more objectives throughout the day than thier opposition.
The Guns
There are wide range of pistols, rifles, sniper rifles and support guns that you will see at an Airsoft game. Most skirmish sites will only rent out a small subset of these, most notably the ones below. ( Photographs courtesy of ZeroOne )