What have been your favourite CiA games and why?
Probably for me..... The Eagle Has Landed. A bit of sneaky beaky, a clear objective, a good site.... and we actually won! (Well, sort of...) 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
we actually won! (Well, sort of...)
We did - I captured Churchill just before end-ex with my P08 
Yuk, horrible site. A total PITA to organise a game on. Good game in the end though.
Mine has to be either Wotan (there was just something about that site, and Kermit wrote a great game), or Bryansk.
Yuk, horrible site. A total PITA to organise a game on. Good game in the end though.
Mine has to be either Wotan (there was just something about that site, and Kermit wrote a great game), or Bryansk.
Wotan and Bryansk - Great CiA organised games - on good sites. I could comment more, but as an organiser, you may have read some of my posts from 'during the week'?
Ask David or Guy if you missed them
I saw 'em. 
Heh, you have such a different perspective on games when you organise them as opposed to play them (the other organisers will tell you I go into a gloom after a game as I stress about how much better it could have been if only...) but...
Bulge - a complete blur. We learned a lot from that game (don't be too clever, it will only go wrong) but a huge number of players for the first ever event meant the CiA concept was a go-er. It was the start of airsoft players getting German kit instead of 101st Airborne!
Arnhem was good. Although the gameplay failed to a degree, the audacious risk of asking for a British only side came off, Dutch had a good time too. Highlight - checking Dutch papers and watching them squirming as they try and blag their way out..
I enjoyed Churchills greatly (perhaps I was one of the few) as i felt some sort of achievement having got through such a brutal game. The first game to bring in a CiA social element. Highlight - Helga - no exaggeration to say it was her chiperness that kept the Germans in the game.
Wotan, although my least favourite game, was hailed by many as the best ever, err... so that makes it my favourite game! Great atmosphere but I don't like CQB and would have preferred that players were more sneaky-beaky than contenting themselves with blatting down long corridors.
Eagle was very good fun (having pulled off an ambitious plan at a difficult site and giving US a great time). Role playing was stunning, I'll never forget Major playing Churchill and sweating as Neill was up to something in the base but I couldn't work out what!
Bryansk was excellent - good social aspect, great site, very good feeling of 'being there'. Highlight, flying through an ambush at the third attempt!
Husky was a complete hoot - stunning site, good social aspect, excellent site host, Brits played a blinder. Highlight - getting to LZ after a brutal opening battle. Oh, that and the 'glider landing'.
More than the games though, every side I have been 1IC or 2IC of have impressed me greatly, always putting 100% into the game and doing what they are told to do, commanders ask for nothing else!
Yes Chommers - organising a game puts a whole different perspective on things. After about 4 hours at Haggard, the carefully-crafted gameplan was totally shot to bits! However, many people said they enjoyed it, and we got a lot of first-timers, so overall it was a success.
Actually, looking back, Churchill's was most satisfying, and the meteorological challenges we went through really bound us together.
However, it's perhaps interesting to note that we are not attracting many more people to current games than the first Bulge. I know some games are capped, but all the same, perhaps a point for discussion?
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Hmmm, player numbers. Here are some reasons why numbers will always be 'low':
1. Niche interest
2. A few games scattered all over the country; so many players are not mobile (so only play at local club)
3. A few games scattered all over the country; so many players have not the money to travel
4. Players are fixated about kit - they spend so much on clobber they have none to travel and pay game fees
5. Players come and go, those that have left have been replaced, keeping player numbers constant
6. Most hard core players have come from an open day background and looking for something 'more'
7. Most new airsoft players that start off with WW2 flit off with another 'fad' (younger players usually and the fad is often female or a car!)
8. Airsoft has a three year player interest cycle
To be a dedicated or hard core WW2 player you need all of these following things (harsh but true) - disposable income, freedom from family constraints, ability to travel. That cuts the numbers down a bit! On top of that you have to enjoy the WW2 sort of gameplay - many don't.
Out of the 388 people that looked at the forum last Wednesday only 125 were registered forum users. That's 125 out of 670 registered users. Take the collectors & foreigners out of that 125 and how many players do you have? Still, I will be taking steps shortly to target the 260 odd 'guests' - they must be on the forum for a reason and it would be nice to convert some of them to players!
My favourite so far was Eagle - First WWII game for me and I thought the site was great and both scenario and gameplay were fantastic. Second best for me, although not a CiA game, was Varsity - on a woodland site I didn't like at all but Gadge's bite-sized mission scenarios worked brilliantly. The game I'm most annoyed at missing out (due to having to attend a blimmin' wedding) was Wotan. I still get pissed off when people go on about how good it was.
The game I'm most annoyed at missing out (due to having to attend a blimmin' wedding) was Wotan. I still get pissed off when people go on about how good it was.
Watch, wait.
Intriguing.
If it's another date that I can't make then I'm going to have a serious sense-of-humour failure.
I enjoyed the vehicles at Bryansk, but found it rather difficult to get back to my unit after going to regen. (I was given the choice of 20 mins of being dead or of walking back to regen at the road barrier. Unfortunately, I chose the latter, not realising how far it was, and by the time I was making my way back, the front line had shifted! 
) New thread coming up...
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
I was given the choice of 20 mins of being dead or of walking back to regen at the road barrier. Unfortunately, I chose the latter, not realising how far it was, and by the time I was making my way back, the front line had shifted!
What - how far have you had to walk to Regen and got pissed off at?
In that particular case, it was nearly a 10-minute walk to the regen- but that's my own fault for choosing that option! I didn't realise we'd come so far. 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
I think my top game has to be Bryansk. I loved the convoy ambushes and the gameplay just seemed to flow the whole time. The terrain was also great, challenging yet rewarding. Nice have it set in a totally new theatre of war as well so the kit was different and not the usual collection of uniforms .Plus there wasn't a 101st in sight.
I also liked Eagles alot, thought the first half of it was great with the roleplaying. I think I could be a closet LARPer... 
The games I'm most annoyed about missing were Wotan & to a lesser extent Arnhem, both looked great.
My favourite non-CIA game so far has to be varsity; a well written scenario that made the most of a pretty plain site.
To nip back to Steiner's query about static player numbers (having thought about it whilst cutting back the climbing plants at the side of the house, leaf clearing and lawn feeding - aren't I a good boy, as I could be slobbing about as there is no-one in the house at the mo) it struck me that it could well be that things are unbelievably perfect. How so?
I can't think of any specialist niche group within airsoft that is anything even remotely like WW2. Is there a US Marine society? A modern warfare society? As far as I know even the Vietnam scene doesn't have a central hub any more with only one big game and one small game organised for 2008. Hell, WW2 is so big (in airsoft terms) that commercial airsoft sites are clamouring for a piece of the action and the only UK airsoft magazine fills it's pages with WW2 month after month!
Whilst others get as many players through the gate as possible, CiA games will never be like that. We aren't doing it for income, we are doing it because we want to. 120 players would be a nightmare for four player/organisers and no marshals - and we won't even try, where is the fun in that?
Others get as many players through the gate as possible
I'm sure I've heard or read something similar ? Even within the WW2 community
Whoever can you mean?
I think in alot of respects i think you're right CW. The community in ww2 is far better than in any other area in airsoft. The numbers may not be massive but we're not struggling either. It would be good to encourage those who are sitting on the fence to join in but I don't want a load of newbies stealing my place at games if you're keeping the limits low. 
Interesting point Chommers. It IS pretty darn good at the mo. My concern would be your 3 year statistic about active player churn. Where did you get that stat from? (not nit-picking 'cos it sounds about right to me). If you're right then we may have a problem in a year or two. I think it's leading back to the hoary old chestnut of WWII seen as being an expensive and stitch counting scene.
As an example I took an old friend of mine (Jimbob) along to Husky. He is the type of bloke who I know would be into what we do - over 30, enjoys history, attention to detail, outdoorsy stuff, social boozing, etc. Within a few hours he'd spotted that the guy in the tent opposite had "proper" hobnail boots. Not a big deal, but it made him query the authenticity of his loadout (sorted by me and Steiner so pretty good) and weapon (AK47 - not so good) and for a bit I could see he was feeling all "Untermensch". The upshot was that he felt it was all going to be too expensive for him to take up properly. There doesn't seem to be an easy answer to this. However much we say (and really do mean) that looks-like kit is acceptable, it's clear to anyone that this is very much the exception rather than the rule.