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Mr. Crow
10 Jan 06, 10:26 AM
THis is an article I wrote for the publication that didn't get enough backing to get off the ground, but I wanted to share it with the newer guys as I think it will help add to events we play in.

Playing the part
For those of you seasoned airsofters out there out there, scenarios are becoming more and more descriptive in their team and character descriptions. It takes a lot of ones time and creativity to put together and run one of these scenarios. I therefore think it is imperative that we as participants in these events, play our part to the fullest. It’s easy to go out there, shoot and get shot, but it takes a man to do it with style.

It all starts in the forums. The announcement of a game, in your area and on some given date. Protocols very in different parts of the country, but where I am from the different sides and their persona’s are usually chosen right from the beginning. Many times it is as easy as “Woodland is on side and everything else is the other.” That works for the most part. But as time goes on, and the number of airsofters is growing, people are getting more and more creative with their writing of “Cheap Fiction” or story lines. Mil-sim guys get incredibly detailed in their descriptions.

So, now what? Some of us have more disposable income than others. So buying new gear every time we play a different role is not always an economical way to go. I personally have four sets of BDU’s (battle dress uniform) but I know I am not the norm. For the average airsofter I think we all can agree, two will take care of most situations. But, for the non-BDU type role, what do we do? Playing the role of terrorist is very open to interpretation. BDU bottoms or tops are not out of the question, but both matching is probably not the way to go. There is nothing I love more that guys wearing street clothes to an event.

But I think taking it one step further cannot only be cost effective, but can really elevate the level of the event. My favorite example was a teammate of mine who really put together a great outfit. He took an ugly faded blue jacket, cut off the arms, split and sued them the bottom of the coat and ended up with this sleeveless ugly trench coat. With the right hat, he looked like a white version of an Afghani sheep herdsmen. It was beautiful.

Colorful bandanas on the head, blue jeans and a soccer shirt turn you into an eastern block insurgent. Go to your local second hand or Goodwill store and costumes are at your fingertips for pennies on the dollar. Remember, the more you put into it, the more everyone gets out of it.

Jun Wen
11 Jan 06, 05:09 AM
It is quite a bit of fun to play a different part, as well. At Bounty Hunter Wars I had the honor of playing the role of a triad member, so I donned a shirt and tie and brought in a few friends to play the bodyguards. I was hoping for a look similar to the Hong Kong gangster movies, but I guess my group (save for one or two) hadn't seen enough to know the look or didn't have the supplies to do it. (The ninja came up with the idea all on his own, by the way.)

Beyond just the looks, though, I told the "triad" group that the goal was not to fend off every attack of the teams, but just to make it a bit more difficult for me to be captured. Otherwise if I told the triad to be tactical, all of us would have been waiting in ambush while I buried myself in the leaves for the whole day. That's really no fun for anyone and it definitely didn't fit the character role. They were instructed to spray, not aim, lounge, not defend, and to die with exaggeration (though I admit that some of the guys in my group really wanted to rack up some kills toward the middle of the day.)

At the end of the day all of us really enjoyed the game because there was no ego involved. We knew that we were supposed to die/get captured in practically every attack, so we had fun with it. Playing the roles outside of the standard soldier let us do things we never did in airsoft before and showed the variety of the hobby.