Page 82 - Airsoft Action Issue 126 June 2021

U
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FEATURE
F
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OU
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R ROLLIN’ OUT AGAIN
ROLLIN’ OUT AGAIN:
A RETURN TO
(AIRSOFT) ARMS!

WHILST THE C-VIRUS IS STILL VERY MUCH WITH US AND WE MUST CONTINUE TO ENSURE THAT ANY AIRSOFT
GAMES OR EVENTS THAT WE ATTEND ARE FULLY COMPLIANT WITH NATIONAL GUIDELINES, THE FACT IS
THAT AFTER MANY, MANY MONTHS OF WAITING, GAMES ARE BACK ON! BILL FEEDS BACK FROM THE
REPORTS HE’S HEARD ON WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE UK AND BEYOND AS AIRSOFT COMES BACK TO LIFE…

inally… FINALLY… (for some of us) after what there are many of us in our 50’s (and indeed beyond!)
feels like an interminable wait, the lights are that still get out to shoot and play regularly, we
Fturning back on slowly but surely around the have to face the fact that the average age on site
globe and those are the lights in all those empty is usually at least half that and that thankfully new,
airsoft safe zones that we’ve missed so much! young players keep flooding into airsoft! This seems
C-19 has ravaged - and in some places is sadly still especially true “post-covid” as obviously there are
ravaging - the globe but there are finally signs that many that have been stuck, bored out of their tinies,
although the beast has yet to be fully tamed, battles at home with just their internet connection as a
are being won and freedoms so long restricted are friend!
being regained, even though the “new normal” is And, for some, that online intimacy has led them
far, far removed as yet from the “old normal”. In the to watching… airsoft videos! Hurrah! And that
UK -and in some other countries - airsoft games have watching has instilled in them a desire to get out and
restarted and we hope that this will be the same for get involved in something that they have seen, heard
all of our “6mm brothers and sisters” around the a murmur of, or indeed been told directly about. The
world soon! sites that I’ve spoken to since “Covid Compliant”
But is “Airsoft 2021” different from airsoft of just gaming has commenced have all told me that there
a couple of years ago? In some ways no, airsoft is has been an influx of “new blood”, with an increase
still the same game that we all love and enjoy, with in new players and (commercially good!) rentals.
the same people, at the same places, with the same Retailers also back this up, as they are reporting
energy and enthusiasm as always, but just as the that business is solid right now, not just in relation
“new normal is the same as the old normal but with to more seasoned players restocking and treating
masks on”, it would appear that some things have themselves to new “shiny things” after the imposition
indeed changed in some respects. of extended lockdown, but also when it comes to
Airsoft, in reality, is a “young game” and although enquiries from new players and once again, here

“SADLY, SOME OF THOSE VIDEOS THEY’VE WATCHED ONLINE ARE NOT THE BEST ADVOCATE
FOR WHAT WE REALLY ARE, OR WHAT AIRSOFT REALLY IS. GAME AARS LIKE “IT WAS A
COMPLETE BLATFEST”, OR “NOBODY CALLED THEIR HITS” CAN BE SEEN IN A NEGATIVE LIGHT,
SO IT’S UP TO ALL OF US TO HELP THE NEW GUYS UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEST ABOUT
AIRSOFT.”

82 JUNE 2021