Heya guys
An absolutely cracking weekend IMO but after having a think about it I've a few observations that i wanted to see what you all thought.
Ammo limits.
Two things came up, sgt heide thought 600 might be a bit high with regens that close to the action and im inlcined to agree, we've sort of managed to do away wiht spray and pray mentality and i' dont think i've ever used al 600 rounds up before dying or meeting ressuply.
I also heard a few german players grumbling about seeing a few allied players in position in front of a pile of thompson mags, hard to police i know but maybe we can ask section leaders to check all their mens mags and ammo so that we can 'keep in the spirit of things' and it doesnt look like cia (or pbi at our games) are playing big brother.
FPS
Grumbles on both sides about either hot thompsons or hot K98s and engagement ranges, i think both sides were guilty of this. I dont think it would hurt to have a pre game chrono check (especially at smaller games) , we're getting a fair few new players and if this aspect of airsoft gets bigger we'll get more who might not initially get our ethos so a gentle steer might help, we had to chrono for UCAp and nobody objected.
I actually saw peppered get hit by a k98 that put a groove in his shooting glasses and i know that the type of gas obviously affects the fps of gas guns, its a tricky one to police again and im not sure what the answer is.
vehicles:
We had loads of vehicles there this weekend it just seems bloody annoying that the site wasnt realy suitable to use most of them except as regen points. I do think they added a lot to the atmosphere though so a good call.
Site itself:
Very good site and very varied, the only thing i saw that was a bit of an issue is big open patches between hedgelines or copses meaning that you could only really attack in one linear direction, in the gorsy bits it wasnt an issue but i felt its very much a 'rifle' site.
Social:
Probably the best one ever with folk mingling and drinking regardless of where they were from , what side they played or how long they'd been in the wwii side of things.
Player conduct
Everyone was amazingly sporting, i even found spiers to be pleasant and game well, he changed my opinion of him this weekend to be fair as did oddball. One quibble was the uy in tan and water with an mg42 made out of an ak74... two or thre times he was running around firing form the shoulder or hip, i didnt question this as it wasnt my place and i wasnt sure if he was using riflemans or gunners ammo limit.
Kit standard
Amazing, especially the guys who bought entirely new loadouts for the one event, bit disappointed to see that steve d wore his ss kit - talking to him at the social he was open to the fact that he had field grey and could have played heer but preffered the ss kit - which isnt the point really is it.
Site staff
Great blokes and very friendly, my only quibble was that the partisans got a bit trigger happy and our sat evening objective to meet up with them turned into a farce when they engaged us and we had to kill them cos i think they were frankly a bit bored and just wanted to shoot things.
So all in all brilliant, i had to think hard to finf any quibbles and i hope you see the above comments as questions rather than criticisms.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Ammo limits.
Somewhat disagree on that one - I made sure the Brit regen was well behind the action, I got bolloxed going back and forth to resupply (indeed it lost us a lot of ground that had been made - I'm not worried though, very realistic). Can't say for Germans as I don't know where they were placed..
I also heard a few german players grumbling about seeing a few allied players in position in front of a pile of thompson mags
no need for them to whinge, that's perfect - they have forsaken hicaps for low caps, good on them.
FPS, Grumbles
What you didn't know was all K98's were quietly crono'd and were fine
vehicles:
Sadly Oddball decided not to take the tank out (it was going to be used on Sunday). The kubel would have been good to use but since Barrat isn't in the slightest bit tactical and didn't want it shot at it was little more than set dressing. I did use Oddball jeep to get me round the site so I could be sure there was some opposition waiting for the Brits although Jerry did wander off! (Why don't airsofter's accept a bit of tedium as part of the experience??)
Site itself:
Yes, tough site, some bits hard to fight over but nothing unachievable. You missed the woods which was a shame.
Social:
agreed
Player conduct
Agree on Spiers and Oddball!! Mia-go-go was the MG I think - I was unconvinced by his playing style at Bryansk as well...
Kit standard
Agreed, there was another lad wearing an oakleaf top too. No worries though, not a bad effort overall. (SteveD likes to think he is invisible in camo yet he stands in the middle of a field expecting to fire half a mile with his MP40!! Hit him three times doing that so he doesn't learn!)
Site staff - partisans
Germans got to them first and paid them in cigs to turn sides - no worries, I retrieved the intel from a body - the Germans hadn't thought to ask him!
FPS, Grumbles
What you didn't know was all K98's were quietly crono'd and were fine
Thats at odds with a conversation i had with another CiA orgnaiser who told me that on green gas (which was being used ) one of them was considerably over. Obviously that conversation doenst leave the private area.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
A bit 'over' so sorted with a gas change so no question of a grumble could arise.
Close engagement distances apart (and they were all expertly instructed before the game) I think there is so much twaddle talked about 'hot' guns. Bolt actions are at so much of a disadvantage practically and gas guns are pretty useless (in comparison with AEGs) given the British climate. It just so happens that the last two CiA games have been on days when K98's were actually usable!
Josh crono's all guns at D-Day and what a waste of time - we don't have staff and no marshals to check stickers during the day (chaps switch guns, crono with heavier bb's - you know the tricks as well as me!) Hells bells, it's hard enough getting players to start at the right time let alone delay things even more.
Wotan is different - serious risk of injury and in any case the site owner's call.
Thing is people don't like to be out- ranged and many don't like getting close. I was amazed at the number of people happy to sit there exchanging fire over the open area between the bridge and the bottom of the hill!
The only injury I was aware of was Marsh who was hit on the forehead on a blood vessel - it was a clunk and a bleeder but chaps still sat in the same position returning fire, so they weren't put off by 'deadly' incoming!
The guns that were over weren't over enough to make them cause any significant damage.
The open spaces over the site were fine to fight over. The Yanks had two large areas of open ground to fight over in the afternoon and we managed it fine en masse and with coordinated flanking moves. If anything, the woodland was the hardest bit for us to get through.
Ammo limits.
600/3000 is fine - if people stick to it.
FPS
Big boys rules. There were warm gun on both sides. Don't want to get hit? Simple answer. Don't play!
vehicles:
Agree with what has already been said...
Site itself:
Interesting site. I would have killed for some tracked armour 
Social:
Agreed.
Player conduct
Methinks the blaggers were not being entirely honest at certain points about hit taking.
Kit standard
Same as usual, pretty good. 'cept for some truly awful 'taches grown specifically for the event lol
Site staff
Friendly enough, but anyone else get the feeling that the gene pool in those parts of Wales are a bit shallow?
When we were a Kingdom it was run by a King
When we were an Empire it was run by an Empress
Now we're a country we're run by a..........
Player conduct
Methinks the blaggers were not being entirely honest at certain points about hit taking.
The "banana triplets", as they became known, always seemed to take their hits when I shot them. Which was quite often as they really did glow. A lot more than I did in KDs!
There was only one person I seemed to have problems with. A kid with dark glasses and no headgear. Whenever I shot at him nothing seemed to happen. Meh... I was probably out of range... 
Yes, I shot the blaggers plenty of times - with a 'stand in the open' approach it's hard to miss and hard not to take your hits! Worth keeping an eye on Mr Barrat though. I didn't see any problems at all the whole weekend but I did take some time out to supervise play when the Germans were attacking the bridge (well, their pointless right-hand flanking battles) as it was getting a bit gay. I didn't catch anyone out but I had suspicions about the lad who wore an open oakleaf/peadot jacket.
I had suspicions about the lad who wore an open oakleaf/peadot jacket.
With dark glasses and no headgear?
Ah yes open jacket... black t-shirt with a white logo??? That'd be the guy I was on about.
Not sure who that was. Heide's brother perhaps?
Yes, the site was friendly but Kermit's definitely right about the gene pool. Those kids Taffy was driving around were a bit 'Children of the Corn' if you get my drift.
Those kids weren't Welsh. They were German - their father was most interested in seeing the Jerry gear on display (he was ex Bundeswehr FJ!)
When we were a Kingdom it was run by a King
When we were an Empire it was run by an Empress
Now we're a country we're run by a..........
Definately not Stuart (who wore a spliter smock and grey headover)
Ah, I was wondering why they were just staring incomprehensively!
I had suspicions about the lad who wore an open oakleaf/peadot jacket.
With dark glasses and no headgear?
Ah yes open jacket... black t-shirt with a white logo??? That'd be the guy I was on about.
It was maybe the guy with his back to the camera and an ak with the banana brothers just beyond him in this pic??
AH! thezeppelinman methinks.....
It was odd how he and his father pitched camp separate to everyone else and just sat there listening to crap house music on a mobile phone.