Yes there is a group operating out of Hamilton.
Love your work, Kham.
I’ll commit to this now, and will be taking a car fro and to the central city. Happy to give rides.
I’ll take that lift…what time you thinkng of heading back?
Mee too please Craig
Here are some devices that will be use on the day.
Not so spectacular during the day but will still add a little bit extra.
>Right click to save 12mb<
Autos are no longer allowed
Start time?
Be at parakai pools parking by 0930 for a 0945 collection.
Damn. Sorry I won’t be able to make that. I assumed it was an afternoon thing. Sorry guys Oh man I was so keen. There better be more!
Hey Kham, can we get a google map location for the meetingplace?
Thanks for joining us, hope you had some fun
oh do tell, how did it go?
Fuck, that was a hell of a ride…
I recommend this to everybody, there is a huge amount of fun to have here and definitely fertile ground for further collaboration. These guys know how to have a good time and have all the ingredients for a highly immersive experience at the ready.
Top-notch production, I implore all you other larpers to be there for the next one.
I’d love to go to future events like this - the timing worked out badly for me on this one (and I was sick to boot )
So spill all the gossip. Did the hostages make it?
I managed to get my hands on a shotgun but failed to make it mean anything useful (I was severely outnumbered and out-gunned). Lost a hand for that, and took a few bullets in the legs…!
Later, Cameron made an un-armed and un-harmed getaway when they started let their guard down again. I felt jealous of this.
But an opportunity arose with Peter to overwhelm our guards, steal their weapons and blow them to smithereens. We did it. We ran/hobbled for our rescuers then panicked when we couldn’t find them (you have no idea how stressful this was). So we hid on a cliff until we could. A fire-fight ensued and we lived!
An un-armed camera-man for MSNBC got executed near the beginning. I was going to be next. Stressful.
Thanks Craig, maybe Cameron and Peter can weight in.
Will add my bit when some pics are uploaded.
GAME PLAY
The pre lunch episode AWSOME fun for me personaly.
Everything from the pick up from staging area to the ride to the location being in character (top notch effort by the airsofters of staying in character)
To the Skirmish round the car and hostage taking.
To the early game rescue attempt that failed resulting in one of the hostages being hit in the shoulder showing us that we were in fact in real danger.
To Being used as human sheilds with the guns going off very near to you (even though airsoft they are surprisingly loud).
Right on up till the escape and rendvouz with the rescuers (craig is right as much as I learnt the layout I too took that wrong turn when being chased, its hard to think under stress) then having to hide in a bush at their base as it was assualted/taken then retaken by the rescue team.
AWSOME fun.
There were a few bugs with the hostage senario…but after a discussion at lunch on what has happy I learnt that the airsofters are very open to revision and experimentation and quite interested in developing new game formats (I imagine elemination and capture the flag gets a little dull after a while).
And then we got our hands on the guns. Oh My God. So much fun. The Post Lunch period was filled with a skirmish type simple elimination game with each side having 2 medics to “revive” you. Great fun.
SAFTEY
Some of the people on this forum raised saftey concerns well I’ll tell you…
Injuries were mild, few and far between. Just like LARP as long as basic saftey is observed then everything is fine. Some close range hits from the more powerfull guns drew some small BB sized blisters on uncovered areas such as the hands but I saw maybe a half dozen of these over the feild through the game (I sportted a nice one on my palm my self), but these can be avoided by covering up with long sleeves and I noticed some of the air softers wearing gloves. If your realy concerned I’d recommend heavy materials such as BDU’s and Denim or Similar.
COSTS
I talked to the airsofters and got price ranges and it seems that LARP and Airsoft have similar equipment costs if you know where to shop (something that the ASA group seem happy to help you with on their site/forum). Guns can start of from $40 for a pump action rifle/shotgun up to a few hundred for the upper range weapons (similar in price to a few nice quality boffer weapons). Running costs looking at it are also similar. Though BB’s can set you back about $20-$40 a bag and last a few sessions from what I’m told, Low event costs of around $10 a game bring the overall costs down to a similar level to LARP. Costuming can be light (I saw some in hoodies and jeans on the rebel side) to Nutto Wacko Biffo (Tactical, Vests, Camo Paints, Full BDU’s, Earpeices, Helmets) so silmilar in price range of basic larp gear to some of the Armoured Larp Gear I’ve seen.
These costs of course can be lessened in various ways similar to those in LARP (Borrowing/Begging/Hiring/Buying Beers for People/Dating members of the clubs/Offering Favors of A Less than Seemly Nature)
Yeah, the game was hella fun, and I’m seriously considering shelling out for some decent airsoft kit. Even though I ran myself hoarse escaping, and totally lost my voice that night, I had the time of my life.
I am HIGHLY recommending this form of gun combat for larp, especially since if combat is a surety, then we can fill out our ranks with airsofters.
I don’t think I can give a more glowing review of the game. I really don’t know how we managed gun combat before airsoft. It’s just plain superior.
The only apprehension I had going in is that when origanaly talking about paintball/LARP and airsoft/LARP crossovers i had theorised that the wearing of the goggles and masks may impare roleplaying ability and break immersion slightly. On trying it out this only has a minor impact and after trying the “mesh” style goggles that some of them use I find those personaly hamper you even less (As fogging and sun glare as less of a problem) Both are a little uncomfortable when worn over glasses but this may be a case of simply finding the correct style of goggle to suit your head and glasses shape (Wire framed glasses may have less trouble than my thick rimmed glasses). But after a while of wearing them you phase them out of your mind and they are effectivly ignored (much like a new pair of glasses).
While I extole the virtues of Airsoft in a militiristic LARP, I do not see it as a replacement for all our other firearms systems. Non-projectial systems can be used in places that there may be bystanders, people walking on and off the feild of play, enviroments with fragile scenery such as indoors, can be used around food with no fear of eating a bullet, no need to dine with masks on (which would be a bitch) or have dining times as a “safe” time and several other factors such as no need to buy specialised equipment (you can mearly use $2 shop guns). This being said the Airsoft option brings alot more tension to the possibility of being shot, alot more noise and alot more atmosphere.
Each system I think has its place in LARP, and I would be delighted to see more colaboration between the 2 groups in the future.