Airsoft site

[jimbo.m123]

Had this thread up here on the old website but we never got to start before this XMAS so will be starting in the new year.

Me and my dad are hopefully going to start up a new airsoft site in Hertfordshire.

At the moment we are just looking at land and was think of get some that has woodland and grassland which will be overgrown,. It will be located somewhere in Hertfordshire

Just looking for advice to what you would like to see there,

what type of games?
shop or not?
What insurance will will need?

any of your advice and opinion would be very grateful.
thanks

[OwNaGe]

Re: Airsoft site

Get some woodland and get urban in there aswell.

Like a huge woodland and in the middle build a wooden building with doors and stuff.

that would be sweet..

And have a shop there, not to sell guns but for ammo, pyrotechnics, and food...

[36CrazyFists]

Re: Airsoft site

Urban seems like the way forward as most sights seem to have an urban setting or are aiming to rent one. Possibly look into old factories or warehouses. A shop selling ammo & food would definatly be a benefit for players and for your profits. Consider having a large party date for your opening day/weekend to entice potential players.
Insurance is definatly a must, as to what kind i have no idea but if you google it im sure you can find plenty of info.

[The Keeper of Secrets]

Re: Airsoft site

If you do find an old abandoned urbanish place, get some authorities to clear it as safe first, you don't want it collapsing with 30 odd people in it.

[jagillham]

Re: Airsoft site

Here here to a semi urban woodland site!

My local site claims to have a jungle villiage. Infact it is about 10 sheds in the woods!

Would love to see some proper buildings with couple of levels.

:D

[Peanut]

Re: Airsoft site

And don't forget to have toilets, even if they are of the portaloo type )

A good woodland/Urban mix would be nice but a decent multi building or multi-story urban would be better.

Public liability insurance is a must and as TKOS says ensure buildings are checked safe.

Invite us all to the opening.

[jimbo.m123]

Re: Airsoft site

thanks for the advice people, keep it coming.

as for the urban i think we will be starting of with woodland and then also getting a place for urban.

and of course everyone on zeroin will be invited to the opening.

[Aeviv]

Re: Airsoft site

Although im sure that there is alot of demand for urban, theres also alot of demand for woodland, so if possible, i think that a combination with woodland and a village or so is better than going flat out for either. It also seems to be that once you put a building on site insurance, and because of this, more than likely your green fees, will go up by a significant ammount. Of course you dont have to raise your green fees, but it will mean that your profit, which is never incredible, will suffer.

PLI is of course a must, theres no question there, and as had been said before, get the relevant authorities and the fun police in to check everything.

Toilets are a nice addition which will make peoples opinions of your site shoot up, so will some form of food, included in the price or not. Just that option of not having to sh!t in the woods or having some warm food at lunchtime rather than some stinky sandwhich is a nice break

As for a shop, start with facilities selling ammo and gas, and maybe pyros, no one wants to run out of ammo half way through and have to go home. If your site is successful, then by all means, expand and maybe set up and actual gun shop. One thing that it might be worth stocking is masks- youd be amazed at the ammount of times ive seen people turn up and have to go home because theyve forgot thier mask

As for game types, experiement. Some sites work well with straight attack/defend games, whereas others work better with different scenarios. Work out what games work best, run smoothest and get least complains or problems with, and run them regularly, but change them around and play different games, eg if youve got time for 5 games with 2 or three rounds a day, work out 10 games or so that work relativly well, and change them around, but dont be afraid to listen to your players for advice and suggestions. Its always a good idea to run simple games first to get everyone warmed up, and last when people a tired. Run the most complex games straight after lunch when everyone has had a rest, but they are still all the mood and revved up. If your going to run games within a game day when you know not everyone can take part- eg pistols and pumps games, run them at lunchtime, this means that those who cant take part dont feel hard done by, nothing worse than sitting around for half an hour because you cant play when youve payed £20 or so to play. Remember to cater for the majority, but dont exclude the minority.

One thing thats also worth taking into account is rentals. If your getting more and more people turn up getting a small rental fleet so that those who dont have thier own kit can come along, which in the end is going to generate more income for your site, not just as more people are coming, but because you can charge almost twice your green fees for a rental, and this isnt out of order by any means. My advice for a rental to offer would be the JG G36C with the expanded foregrip so you can put a large battery in it, which should last even the most trigger happy newbie through the day.

If your site also gets going to the extent where youve got at least 40 people turning up every game day, you may well also want to look into site membership and all that stuff

[lil rambo]

Re: Airsoft site

great idea mate and just on my doorstep too would love to see how this comes along.
andrew

[jagillham]

Re: Airsoft site

A must in my opinion is a proper safe area! Hessian mesh around so it really is a BB free area. Also you MUST have tables and some kind of seating. I avoid sites where I have to put all my kit on the floor, and where there is nothing to site on at lunch. One site I play the 'safe area' has no netting round it, so it is never really a good idea to remove eye protection when a game is going on outside.

If you can provide cover better too. An old barn or even a marquee. Playing the wet isn't too bad. Kitting up and having lunch in the wet, no so fun!

[Peanut]

Re: Airsoft site

Following on from the scenario/game types, good marshalling with radio comm's helps keep the games flowing. It means that games can become rolling scenario's with the marshalls providing new objectives mid game or clearing out bottlenecks where games start to stagnate.

I prefer mid or real cap games but as most players don't have lots of different mag types at least consider semi-auto only games - with maybe SAW's being the exception. It avoids spray and prey (deliberate mis-spelling) or even limit rounds regardless of mag type.

If you have the option to do construction on the site, consider getting a digger in and maybe go for a small trench/bunker system.

One last thing - PLEASE DO NOT USE IT AS A PAINTBALL SITE!

Sorry for raising my voice but I hate having paint all over my kit.

Good luck with the venture, look forward to the invite

[Aeviv]

Re: Airsoft site

A must in my opinion is a proper safe area! Hessian mesh around so it really is a BB free area. Also you MUST have tables and some kind of seating. I avoid sites where I have to put all my kit on the floor, and where there is nothing to site on at lunch. One site I play the 'safe area' has no netting round it, so it is never really a good idea to remove eye protection when a game is going on outside.

If you can provide cover better too. An old barn or even a marquee. Playing the wet isn't too bad. Kitting up and having lunch in the wet, no so fun!

QFT- a good safe zone always goes down well and does wonders to improve peoples opinions and enjoyment. Same picnic style benches are good, as they provide both seating, and a place for people to put gear- nothing worse than having to put you kit on the floor, no faster way for muck and dirt inside your gun and things going missing.

As for semi auto games, i wouldnt recommend it, if you have some buildings or a kill house on a woodland site semi auto only isnt a bad idea to avoid some nasty injuries, but in woodland skirmish field, i dont think semi auto is a good idea, as there is a need by many players for full auto for times such as firing on moving targets or covering fire, plus its not great for guns in the long term if used a hell of a lot without proper internals installed. If your site is successful and you get demand for them, if you have the time consider running some milsim style days with ammo limits, box mags only on support guns etc, but its still early days, concentrate on this at a later point

[jagillham]

Re: Airsoft site

Almost without fail I miss a site the first time I go. So a nice big sign by the entrance would be great :D

[Aeviv]

Re: Airsoft site

Another excellent point- a postcode is great for those of us with sat nav, and site website with through directions is never a bad idea

[danderson]

Re: Airsoft site

I think you should dig trenchs in one area of the land and have like a trench warfare game, with one team trying to hold their position and the other team attacking a bit like WW1 but with modern weapons. Also if you did this I would recomend having some sort of drainage or board up the side of the trenches so they are playable in winter and when it's absoulutley pissing it down.