"I'm an airsofter not a reenactor" - discuss

WOW, Nuff said reallly Right down the pub, mines a bottle of cider.

Excellent post PD.

You're right and from what we've seen of taking PBI to shows the attitude towards airsoft these days seems to be

"Wow i thought that was a de-ac" followed by keen interest and an interest in our battles.

Hopefully we can keep going to true re-enactment shows, drag folks across the line to an airsoft battle and keep mingling and mixing until any (percieved) divides blur to be unoticable.

BTW on that note PBI will be attending 'Operation Tutbury Castle' this weekend (strangely enough at Tutbury Castle, Tutbury Staffordshire).

Why not pop along and meet some folk?

I think a lot of people build there own walls when it comes to it (Am i a Airsofter or Reenactor)then just sit behind it.whan we went to our first event we thought we'd be laughed off the field and no one would talk to us.but it was the total opposite(dont get me wrong there are some that not) but you get them in all hobbys.
We've made lots of new friends who have made us VERY welcome and who are willing to help and give us avise we now love doing both.
Some of the Kampgruppe Stahikrieer are now booked on the Caen game,others are looking at booking on a CIA/PBI game to give it a try.
We also spoke to British and US groups who thought it all sounds great and were amazed by what WW2 airsoft weapons were available.
(We also found that going over to othere groups and just saying hello helps to break the ices)

In northern Ireland we attempted to train for blank fire battles with airsoft but It didn't go too well breaking down into a free for all.
As you can see there was no rules but it was this that got me interested in airsoft. I'm the wally with the wood stock m14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmz1HxBCA6k

While you all seem to be having loads of fun (which is what its all about) i cant help thinking that your battle might have been a bit more constructive without a 'no mans land' of cover free ground edged by hard cover!

Looked like a laugh though

....but It didn't go too well breaking down into a free for all.

Heh, I don't think we will be using that video as an example of WW2 airsoft battles - dear oh dear! Amusing nonetheless, thank you for being brave enough to post it though

Video from a recent battle where we tried to get a more re-enactment feel to the play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80OZTpwGUM

Good fight around 5.37

BTW if you like the look of that we'll be doing another 'frontline - combat missions' day featuring US and FJ/SS forces in June at the same site (grange farm airsoft) and by June 20 the greenery will be massive! Still got places on the US side if you fancy it - cheap plug time!

In northern Ireland we attempted to train for blank fire battles with airsoft but It didn't go too well breaking down into a free for all.
As you can see there was no rules but it was this that got me interested in airsoft. I'm the wally with the wood stock m14

thats brill looked like a lot of laughs .

theres nowt so Permanent as temporary

 

I once played airsoft in a paintball speedball field, at night, with only tracers.....no torches. Lots of fun, but totally bonkers.

I've always liked the video I put together made up of photos from events, it shows how far we've come on since I made it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p3CAfbd3Tw

Rupe's of the Autumn Mist vids is good too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=codGhxqerQ0

Heh, that wasted 15 minutes of my day - AWESOME!!

Gawd. You really must get over here sometime Medic and have a crack at how we do WW2 battles!

(BTW, I have always wondered what a game would be like with the rule 'don't take your hits until you can't stand any more pain' - now I know what it looks like!)

Cliquey, elitist, stilted, anal, dated, antiquated, blah blah blah

I've been reading this thread with interest and the above comment made me grin. That is exactly the reason I gave up on Regia and other Dark Age groups and I'd like to offer you a different angle.

I am a live role-player.

To some of you that probably means nylon tabards, elf ears and beating each other with spongy gaffa sticks, and to be fair back in the day that was all there was. But a growing number of us have been trying to step things up in terms of quality of kit, location, immersion and atmosphere, and for about 10 years I've mostly been doing historically based live action roleplay (with one diversion into Lord of the Rings !). We've done Wild West, Victorian, 1920's (my profile pic), modern day and various Dark age flavours, all of which have been firmly rooted in history, but most of which have had a sprinkling of the supernatural. Now while I am DEFINTELY NOT suggesting you bring that element here (though who doesn't like fighting Zombie Nazis ?), I mention it because we have always tried to make the supernatural element secondary, subtle and in line with what the people of the day would have believed. Any of you who have read Bernard Cornwall's Winter King or Saxon series will understand the look and feel we aim for. But that's an aside.

The way in which myself and my friends approach live roleplaying these days is to recreate the kit, costume, look and feel of a particular age as accurately a possible - or if not as accurately, as atmospherically as possible, which in some ways is what stands us apart from the re-enactment crowd. Our group varies from those who strive for 100% costume accuracy to those who look good enough if you squint, but what we share is that we love the immersion, the feeling of being there and critically, the story.

Live roleplaying depends on you having a Character; playing the part of someone you are not. That means having a credible back story, relating to other people and acting in ways that are not necessarily in line with your own moral compass or values, and being part of an over-arching story, which in the context of WW2 could easily be a mission.

The critical difference is that we tend to have two groupings of attendees – the “Players” and the “Crew”, and because the story is more important than just the being there and looking right, things are more scripted, the Crew are often primed to die at appropriate points in the story and frequently the players are most definitely the “Heroes”. Probably not appropriate for more skirmish based airsoft.

So for me, I am looking at WW2 airsoft as an opportunity to expand my roleplaying horizons into a new genre. Yes, I like collecting kit. Yes, I enjoy a good run around in the woods. No, I don’t want the public watching when I do it and critically, for me I don’t care if my kit is 98% accurate, I am not striving for 100%, but I do want to look good enough.
So I will be thinking about background and character when I come along, and if I can bring anything new, I hope it’s a bit of a nod to the potential for drama and emotion that this genre has.
Here’s a couple of links – unfortunately most of my photos are on Facebook and are not public, but I’ve stuck on in here so you can see what we aim for..

http://www.geocities.com/companyofcrimson/
http://www.thursdaynightentertainment.com/ -- attachment is not available --

Live roleplaying depends on you having a Character; playing the part of someone you are not. That means having a credible back story, relating to other people and acting in ways that are not necessarily in line with your own moral compass or values, and being part of an over-arching story, which in the context of WW2 could easily be a mission.
So for me, I am looking at WW2 airsoft as an opportunity to expand my roleplaying horizons into a new genre. Yes, I like collecting kit. Yes, I enjoy a good run around in the woods. No, I don’t want the public watching when I do it and critically, for me I don’t care if my kit is 98% accurate, I am not striving for 100%, but I do want to look good enough.

Well Broadsword, I think you have summed up what 'Comrades in Arms' is trying to achieve - its NOT just about pukka kit, it is putting yourself back 70 years. Many of us have lost the novelty of airsoft skirmishing - the coolness to actually being about to shoot someone for real (safely) and have an arsenal of weapons that look like the real thing - but are looking to apply this coolness (indisputably great fun) to history and putting it all into some sort of meaningful context. I wouldn't say what we do is perfectly described (since the negatives always seem to come to the fore) by Live Action Roleplaying (associated with rubber swords, as you say!) or reenacting (anal kit freaks sitting behind a rope at a show or bleating on a forum) or airsofters (kit junkies armed to teeth who get through 10,000 rounds on an open day). But take the 'best' parts of roleplay, reenacting and skirmishing and that's pretty much what we are aiming at. It should have a name all of its own. We have tried to think of one - and the best we have come up with is used as the CiA strapline - WW2 Combat Events.

we really need a round of applause smilie.

wont these do

Yeah I guess they will. God but your avatar pic, always make me chuckle. That was a great game.

as you can guess from the pic i had a few sherrys that night what can you do with a drunken salior

Stick him in zelt palace?

Early in the morning mind I'm sure it wasn't a sailor that needed "assisting" to bed

Cliquey, elitist, stilted, anal, dated, antiquated, blah blah blah

I've been reading this thread with interest and the above comment made me grin. That is exactly the reason I gave up on Regia and other Dark Age groups and I'd like to offer you a different angle.

I am a live role-player.

To some of you that probably means nylon tabards, elf ears and beating each other with spongy gaffa sticks, and to be fair back in the day that was all there was. But a growing number of us have been trying to step things up in terms of quality of kit, location, immersion and atmosphere, and for about 10 years I've mostly been doing historically based live action roleplay (with one diversion into Lord of the Rings !). We've done Wild West, Victorian, 1920's (my profile pic), modern day and various Dark age flavours, all of which have been firmly rooted in history, but most of which have had a sprinkling of the supernatural. Now while I am DEFINTELY NOT suggesting you bring that element here (though who doesn't like fighting Zombie Nazis ?), I mention it because we have always tried to make the supernatural element secondary, subtle and in line with what the people of the day would have believed. Any of you who have read Bernard Cornwall's Winter King or Saxon series will understand the look and feel we aim for. But that's an aside.

The way in which myself and my friends approach live roleplaying these days is to recreate the kit, costume, look and feel of a particular age as accurately a possible - or if not as accurately, as atmospherically as possible, which in some ways is what stands us apart from the re-enactment crowd. Our group varies from those who strive for 100% costume accuracy to those who look good enough if you squint, but what we share is that we love the immersion, the feeling of being there and critically, the story.

Live roleplaying depends on you having a Character; playing the part of someone you are not. That means having a credible back story, relating to other people and acting in ways that are not necessarily in line with your own moral compass or values, and being part of an over-arching story, which in the context of WW2 could easily be a mission.

The critical difference is that we tend to have two groupings of attendees – the “Players” and the “Crew”, and because the story is more important than just the being there and looking right, things are more scripted, the Crew are often primed to die at appropriate points in the story and frequently the players are most definitely the “Heroes”. Probably not appropriate for more skirmish based airsoft.

So for me, I am looking at WW2 airsoft as an opportunity to expand my roleplaying horizons into a new genre. Yes, I like collecting kit. Yes, I enjoy a good run around in the woods. No, I don’t want the public watching when I do it and critically, for me I don’t care if my kit is 98% accurate, I am not striving for 100%, but I do want to look good enough.
So I will be thinking about background and character when I come along, and if I can bring anything new, I hope it’s a bit of a nod to the potential for drama and emotion that this genre has.
Here’s a couple of links – unfortunately most of my photos are on Facebook and are not public, but I’ve stuck on in here so you can see what we aim for..

/

More Derfels less Aragorns the better in my book