Large Weekend Event

Oooh, could mix in a bit of gun testing/show n tell/WW2 car boot kinda thing.

If we were to host it, we could do pretty cheap too.

i was just thinking could do a bbq as well but that's just me

Operation Jedburgh, best event ever!
Been to many events, organised a few games myself but have never come as close to a true suspension of belief as that event gave me. Held in the summer so actual night time is very short, there was a mutual ceasefire from midnight to six am but for all the rest of the game there was the danger of attack from an enemy that you never knew where they were (I was axis) I fired a total of ten shots over the entire event and had the best ww2 game of my life.
That is missing from the current scene.

What he said! Right people to the right game!!!

Good luck trying to get a 'big weekend game' off the ground. Right now the single day game has crashed the weekend game out of the market and I'm not sure unless the community suddenly grows by 100 people that all want a weekend game, its achievable right now. Saying that, I know if I could get Senny bridge for a weekend, we would be 100+ players at the drop of a hat, but try getting any MOD site over the Milsim crowd. Nearly impossible. Gunman's huge win was a different site every game, so a new adventure for everyone but with sites that will allow thursday night arrival, all day Friday set up and a weekend war kicking off on the Saturday become almost non-existent its impossible.

I am truly getting wood for 24hr live it. No one day option or pointless night time fire fights, but totally immersive action and down time. play until the lights gone and then back again. Loads of guys in the modern Milsim world have been asking about it, but we do here isn't Milsim (Jed was the closest)

Besides, there are some of the groups getting 'large' game numbers anyway. to me a large WW2 game is anything over 70 players and they are putting huge amounts of effort in to the day.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I will take this all on board. That CiA Event thread is pretty useful.

I'd love to get involved in the organising of some events, so if anyone wants to team up for the future or something, or needs help with their own game plan, let me know!

It would be interesting to see how spread out the community is, did I see a poll somewhere asking where people are based or am I thinking of something else?

Ok been following this thread with interest and agree with many of the quotes. Here is my take on it.

1. Big game or 24 hour weekender are 2 different things? We have had 2 games this year already with 70 players and I feel that is about the limit unless someone puts on a really great event at a MOD site.
2. Most of us older gents want downtime, infact I like the socials as much as some of the games. As stated health and Safety play a big part and from first hand experience getting people in the right place at an event in daylight is hard enough let alone in the dark. At viervill the US Airborne were wandering around for ages trying to form up good luck in the dark. The possibility of cease fire head down has some mileage but it has to be cease fire I recall how someone thought they would get the advantage great laugh of spraying the inside of a tent when the person had no eye protection on
3. New group of organisers Go for it. It brings fresh ideas and diversity.
4. You must have your game as inclusive as possible, themed yes but as to not exclude anyone because of availability of kit. That’s how you get Bigger numbers. As soon as you start to make it early war typewriter French mountain troop signallers you lose the following
5. Location, as above must make it as easy as possible for players to get too, some are more willing than others to travel but it has been seen that location has a strong effect on people signing up. A long time ago someone on the forum wrote that they won`t travel more than they spend on the playing field! For me that still holds true.

So Big Game or All nighter etc??
Well if we are thinking of doing the Big game ala Ground Zero Weekender then organisers would need to pull it all together. As stated groups have their own following and that is what is needed to tap into.But above all Groups spend upto 6 months planning an event but if people don`t commit then it goes down the pan.
24hour all nighter type of thing Why not give it a go with small numbers? If you can get the site cheap enough 10 or 15 a side would be plenty, in fact its probably be the limit of what you would reasonably expect to sign on and smaller numbers would be easier to control.

Anyway here is looking forward to 2017 to see what will be forthcoming AC

As above ,once you look at the numbers who want an all nighter and those who would travel to it then you are hoping for 30 players max if your lucky.
For myself I have no interest in running or playing in such an event , however I'd re state that a night action of some sort can be quite different , I thoroughly enjoyed the non shooting escape and evade action that was previously mentioned that was held after a dinner break and before a good nights sleep.

I would be interested in running a longer game over weekend at close action. Only issue is night time so would have a stand down from 1100 to 0500.
Both sides could have harbour areas to defend and basha up in.
We have done this for modern mil sim games.
Definitely a summer scenario.

I have a 150 acre woodland and grassland site near manchester and can do all weekend on it, the reason ive never done it is due to lack of interest ooop north.
i started to plan a russain front game in june 2016, but the event got pulled for the weekend that was planned, and with the low interest level, i didnt re do it.

it can be done, but it would need players to actually book on in advance

Hang on a minute, I regularly see northerners complaining all the games are down south and no one runs games up north, now you're saying there's a lack of interest in games up north? Now granted everything is north from me but don't you lot past Watford talk to each other?

I think the point is that there is not enough interest from "southern" players to make "northern" games viable, as there isn't many of us up 'ere

I think what you mean is there are not enough young or old fit players in any area north or south that would make their way to a big game unless it was something that was really special.
Another thing would be the time & commitment that the organizers would have to put into the event only to find out that players screaming for this big event can't make it for some reason.
What you may need is to first Find out who will attend a game & where to hold the game for the best numbers plus players should put their confidence in the organizers & put their money where their mouths are.
pay up front so those who are screaming for this type of game can't back down without losing their money instead of the good organizers losing faith in players booking on.
I've had my say.
See ya
Peter

i think basing the game off the russian front may not have helped in that instance. i know there are a 'few' players with russian kit down south but the majority of players from the midlands up seem to be mostly German, British or American.

Sorry but I don't think Theatre has anything to do with it.

Its players willingness that's the big problem. You can just look at the turn out for the 34th recent venture into the pacific.

Is always come round every now and again this talk of a massive game or 24hr game or whatever but the problem is there are only a few organisers who hands in the air could pull it off. It takes a lot of time, resource, and experience and if the players wont support it then it will never be an option.

The thing about players not being willing to travel. Ok fair point but maybe it should be tallied with the amount of games available and with todays lack of money and time for a lot of people you have to weigh the "I can go to this game, spend x amount on travelling x amount of hours or I could wait a few weeks and then go to this game which is around the corner and be easily there/play/home"

Its easy to have grand ideas but maybe there is too much choice so at the end of it a few organisers will miss out, and then not bother.

Having to have of had a year out of the circuit has let me be able to let me look at the whole scene with refreshed eyes and to be honest there has been a real fall of with the whole over the last few years on both sides of the fence. I really hope it can return to where it was but its going to be a lot of hard work for everyone to be able to get it there.

There's a big misconception about weekend events among many. Some seem to think it means going at it non-stop, balls out and hardcore for the duration, like some of the wannabe modern milsims and, that you need SAS levels of fitness and endurance to attend. Nothing could be further from the truth and, it still irks me that some still insist on perpetuating this myth of a no sleep, no rest, attempt to kill some players through fatigue.

When CiA were running, we PACED our weekend events, allowing for lots of down time and squad rotation. All had a social on friday night and, some had another social on saturday night. We were inclusive, we planned around our players (and the organisers!) ages and limitations. I'm glad to read the positive comments posted about Operation Jedburgh, which is, without doubt, the most challenging WW2 event ever put on. Judging by the types of games being run now, I doubt that will ever be changed. We were also blessed (as Josh said), with the perfect storm of the right people, the right site and, the right time. Yet, that event was still paced so as not to kill anyone, with a night time ceasefire. Yes, it was hard, yes, the terrain was a bitch but, the sense of achievement at the end is one of the best airsoft experiences I've had in over 20 years in this game.

There are many in this "scene" now, who have never experienced a full weekend event and, there are also many who will not get out of their comfort zones and go and try one and, I feel sorry for those people, because there is no comparison in the sense of immersion between a one day game and, a weekend event.

I'd be up for a weekend event. Are you able to add a poll to this thread? some people have an opinion on such things but can not always be bothered to type it.

I'd be up for a weekend event. Are you able to add a poll to this thread? some people have an opinion on such things but can not always be bothered to type it.

Sadly, that's all been done before. When the "old guard" drifted away, the WW2 "scene" changed quite a bit, with a move towards single day games and, reliance on groups turning up to make up the numbers and, if those groups didn't go, or, boycotted a particualr organiser, the games were not viable. We at CiA suffered from that, due to a few spiteful individuals and, their spreading of total untruths about us and, as a non profit group, we decided it was easier to bin it than it was to go through a lot of hassle putting on weekend events that not enough people would come to anymore.

After CiA folded, there was a movement by some players towards maintaining immersive weekend events but, it came to nothing. You're free to do your own poll on the subject but, you won't get a true, representative response I fear.

I have a 150 acre woodland and grassland site near manchester and can do all weekend on it, the reason ive never done it is due to lack of interest ooop north.
i started to plan a russain front game in june 2016, but the event got pulled for the weekend that was planned, and with the low interest level, i didnt re do it.

it can be done, but it would need players to actually book on in advance

You know me and Johnny would book on. Keep it generic Axis and maybe a mixture of Allies and maybe the numbers will rise. I have noticed these past few years that this seems to get the numbers.

As for weekenders, this is all me and Johnny did until quite recently. What you Southrons seem to forget, we, the Northerners ALWAYS have to travel for games and weekend events made the expenditure all the more viable. Now a game in Manchester will cut the costs considerably for us so you Southrons get your hands in your tight pockets . Besides Porter and Tiny do organise good events that are not the norm, (that exploding gateux still makse me dribble piss every time I think about it )

still got a tiny peice of hazelnut in my left eyeball to this day.

alway wear saftey specs when exploding cakes.

still got a tiny peice of hazelnut in my left eyeball to this day.

alway wear saftey specs when exploding cakes.

Sorry to hear about that but was definately one of the best highlights I have had at any game..........aw and Tiny inthe electric chair of course

my own fault =)

ive moved up from cakes, blowing up cars now

https://youtu.be/puXTD-w9Ae8

https://youtu.be/RoJpnaHkWO0