The Elite Biggin Hill CQB Facility

Elite's Biggin Hill site has since closed, and moved to Epsom, where it's now a permanent feature of Elite's gaming sites (the woodland one being at Worthing, in West Sussex). The Epsom site caters for up to fifty players, ans it MUCH more creepy, being underground!

Some time ago, I was invited along to a new site in Biggin Hill, Kent, merely five miles from where I live! Unfortunately, due to work, I couldn't make it (OK, OK, I worked a long night, and overslept, OK? Happy, now that I'm embarrassed? ).

I was, though, able to make it to the last game day there, on the 20^th March 2003.

The players... (if you were there, and want your name here, please let me know!)

The site is damned small, and can only accomodate around twenty (yes, 20) players; it's strictly pre-booked attendees only, and places tend to go rather rapidly, when publicised (I only just managed to get my name down for the next event in April, so it shows you how tight places are!), so it's best to book early.

Never the less, for such a small site, the days activities do tend to go by nice and quickly, due in large part to the site staff, organisation, and their combined energies!

Arriving for 09:30 on a somewhat chilly Sunday morning, I found Tom Andrews, the owner of Elite Action Games, already on-site, and awaiting the arrival of a guy from Task International with the keys to the building we would be using, who lease the site from a local farmer. The Biggin Hill CQB facility is primarily used by Task International to train their bodyguard trainees to a recognised BTEC standard in Close Protection. As such, the site is ideal for small numbers of Airsoft players to practice building clearing techniques, and such like. In fact, it's not just ideal, it's darned near perfect. It only loses points because it's a single-story block. Now, if it had two floors, it'd be positively murderous!

In case you've yet to visit the place, I won't go into too much detail on the layout of the block. Instead, I'll just say that there are several rooms, corridoors, and bolt-holes, that can be used to really ruin your whole day if you get bounced by another player - don't worry, I'm speaking metaphorically, of course! You'll enjoy every mayhem-filled minute! Honest!

The pre-entry safety briefing

The day is set up in what we in the Airsoft gaming world have come to expect: A welcome address, followed by a mandatory safety briefing, team assignements, and GAME ON!

A particular aspect of the safety briefing was concerned with pyro. One of the lads is a certified pyro guy. He went to great lengths to ensure that, on encountering 'booby traps', that we'd know to either leave them alone, or to disarm them in a certain manner, so as to avoid accidents. In addition, the safety brief mentioned that preference for full-face protection. Safety glasses and goggles, while perfectly sound, are not really what I want to game with at such close ranges, so those wishing to just use goggles or glasses are reminded to sign a note to that effect, advising that they have been warned of the dangers involved. Quite intelligent, I think. Site limits are the usual 1 joule, and all fire is limited to semi-auto only: No full auto fire without prior authorisation from the site manager (Tom Andrews), who is not likely to grant it... well, until the end of the day, and the 'Terminator' game, anyhow....

Knock, knock... players prepare to assault the building

Newbies onto the site are taken into the building first, blindfolded, and taken inside, totally disoriented, and told that they must shoot their way out - "'kill' or be 'killed'" being the scenario rules. Once they've completed the first game, the full event takes place, comprising a great many building and room clearance drills, 'intelligence gathering missions' (find a specific number of playing cards with a six-sided die (or "D6", as Role Playing Gamers call them) stuck to them, and report back what card and what number on the die, oh, and don't get shot doing it!), and a whole series of attacks and defences culminating, at the end of the day, in the infamous full-auto 'Terminator' Game, where two or three players are deemed to be 'Terminators' (as in the movie), with limited targets on their bodies for the defenders to target, making it nigh-on impossible to stop them. The only other snag is that while they can use full-auto fire ("Ooozi nein millimeeder, ok, Ja?"), YOU though, cannot, being restricted to semi-auto fire only (yet again). It's fast, furious, confused to wotsit and back, completely insane, and bloody good fun, to round off the day!

Hopefully, you'll have enjoyed this very brief (for obvious reasons - I don't want to give away too much, in case you go down there!) review. It's well work the twenty odd quid Tom charges for the day, and if you ever go down there, I'll probably see you there - I'm going to try to make it a regular haunt of mine, I'm that impressed!

In addition to my photos on this page (above, and below), team KMAB have a few photographs up: You can find them at http://www.teamkmab.co.uk/ - navigate your way to their gallery page, and you'll find them there!

A few more photos...

 

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