SE Tour Review: Tactical Warfare Airsoft (Croydon)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: Tactical Warfare Airsoft

Contact details: 02034908008

Website Address: https://www.tacticalwarfare.co.uk/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TWA2009/

Site Address: Featherbed Ln, Croydon CR6 9PH

The battlebuddy and I took our South East tour to Croydon's woodland site last Saturday. 

We hadn't heard many particularly good things about this site, but we thought we would check it out for ourselves. 

Small CQB Woodland. Short to Medium engagement distances. Small vertical undulations with one large pit. 

Good:

Features: It is a small CQB woodland site, with a very large village section which, whilst it doesn't look particularly realistic, it does have plenty of interesting buildings with nooks and crannies. The woodland section is fairly narrow, but some good cover and the "Pit" section is an excellent feature, fairly unique in my opinion. 

Quick turn around: The marshalls try to cram as many games in a short time and only return to the safe zone as a group once a day, players are encouraged to bring as much ammo with them as possible. 

Food:  Was great for what it is. Burgers, Hot dogs, nice chips and vegetarian options. 

Price: Excellent at £20 for walk ons. 

Parking: Hilly but plentiful. 

Saturday: Skirmishes occur on a Saturday, any site that plays on a Saturday is good for the date challenged. 

Average: 

N/A: Very polarising

Bad:

Clientele: Being close to Croydon means that the overall age of the player is quite young, which means a large amount of new players and rentals. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the lack of maturity in numbers and amount of overkill was ridiculous, even after people called their hits loudly the person shooting laughed and kept firing.

Overkill: Full auto is allowed for about half the site, usually not a problem but I had never seen so much plastic being flung in such a small area. The site needs to have a 3 second burst rule. It was as if everyone had a support weapon. 

Rule breakers: Dead men don't talk, was a rule that was not explained to people and not enforced. My position was given away a number of times by dead players. 

Cheating: I have never complained of cheating at sites before, I have experienced it, but never felt the need to bring it up. This site is RAMPANT for cheating. The younger players failed to take their hits even after being full auto'ed in the helmet. People were screaming at each other to take their hits and the marshalls lackadaisical attitude was telling. (Though to be honest, dealing with these players week in, week out would test anyones patience and enthusiasm for the job)

Overcrowding: Safe zone and site is too small for the numbers that show up. Sometimes 120 players show up, in this particular instance only 90 turned up and there was only space for 30-40 in the safe zone, most people had to setup out of the back of their cars. The site has natural and enforced choke points which made it difficult to advance with so many players in battle. 

Shop: Was poorly stocked in comparison to other sites, the charging facility was only available for NimH. No lipos allowed. Wouldn't be a problem if they stated this on their website. 

Safety brief: ...Brief and it showed with the general attitude that players had towards the game. 

Conclusion: 

I would not recommend this site to experienced/older players or people who are into even just a hint of realism. Both my mate and I were signed up for the full day and like many others left during the lunch period. As full auto is in massive use at this site, you need to use it to compete. I managed to get through 2700 bbs in just half a day. This is more then twice what I would usually use for a full day at any other site. 

 The CQB elements were very good and the pit was amazing to look at though too many players made it not fun to attack or defend. 

 

[Duff]

Sounds like a good site, but poorly organised. It's a great price but maybe if it cost more less kids would be spunking their giro on it.

 

[Asomodai]

Sounds like a good site, but poorly organised. It's a great price but maybe if it cost more less kids would be spunking their giro on it.

Click to shrink...

The site would be much better if they attracted a few more mature minded players. It could raise the standards of the more immature ones. 

 

[Albiscuit]

1)Clientele, being close to Croydon means that the overall age of the player is quite young, which means a large amount of new players and rentals. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the lack of maturity in numbers and amount of overkill was ridiculous, even after people called their hits loudly the person shooting laughed and kept firing.

2)Full auto is allowed for about half the site, usually not a problem but I had never seen so much plastic being flung in such a small area. The site needs to have a 3 second burst rule. It was as if everyone had a support weapon. 

3)Dead men don't talk, was a rule that was not explained to people and not enforced. My position was given away a number of times by dead players. 

4)People were screaming at each other to take their hits and the marshalls lackadaisical attitude was telling. (Though to be honest, dealing with these players week in, week out would test anyones patience and enthusiasm for the job)

5)Safe zone and site is too small for the numbers that show up. Sometimes 120 players show up, in this particular instance only 90 turned up and there was only space for 30-40 in the safe zone, most people had to setup out of the back of their cars. The site has natural and enforced choke points which made it difficult to advance with so many players in battle. 

6)Safety brief was... brief and it showed with the general attitude that players had towards the game. 

Click to shrink...

Such a shame....

1) Well thats fair enough, however the cheating and overkill could and should be dealt with in the brief and by the site!

2) Again maybe in the brief tell people to use discretion, I can totally see how it would ruin a game and it basically pointless. Again site rules could help to sort this

3) Should be in brief, and reinforced by marshalls

4) Totally not good, all my point so far can be dealt with by a strong marshal team and comprehensive safety brief, no excuse for running such a crap show!

5)Well thats just silly. If you cant handle that many people how do you expect them to turn up!!!

6) I can tell, the owners need to pull up their socks.

I was potentially going to visit here next month but likely wont now. Im no seasoned veteran but I know what I like and it sounds like the owner/manager just doesnt care anymore which is silly. If your taking money you should give people the best experience, sounds like they just dont care at all which is a real shame as others may think thats the norm for an airsoft site!

 

[Sgtpepper]

Unfortunately I have to agree with all the comments. Our biggest issue was safety. The safe zone was in fact a danger zone. Players were dry firing non stop. I counted at least 5 bbs being fired in the safe zone before we decided it was safer outside the safe zone!

Our visit was in May and we pointed out the safety issue. Hopefully that did get addressed as you didn't mention it.

It's a shame. With a little effort could be great site.