ICS M4 CQB ... I want!

I've been looking for an AEG specifically for CQB games. At present i have an ICS M4 RIS that is sometimes unwieldy for CQB games. I regularly snag the tip of the muzzle snap shooting out of standard 90cm-100cm doorways (at the EVSU site). I am considering any of the following as my next AEG purchase: the G&P CQB M4 that comes with a red-dot scope or (on the recommendation of my gunsmith) and SRC M4 CQB variant. The former is expensive; the latter is cheaper.

However, this review of the ICS M4 CQB line up from ArniesAirsoft adds another M4 CQB brand to my list of possible purchases.

It's a rave, which i totally agree with. If ICS build quality is carried through in their CQB line, then i'm pretty sure there would be a lot of satisfied AEG owners out there. However, eventual minor modifications like the air seal nozzle, hop up rubber, and a new piston body will most likely be required in this ICS CQB line.

I wonder how much the unit will cost here in Tacloban.

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No action lately

Jeez! I haven't posted anything here for a while. There hasn't been much action in the Tacloban airsoft community or at least i haven't been to the regular games lately. Last time i played was June 10 (sunday). It wasn't quite as i expected; i had battery problems i.e. my battery ran out of juice in the middle of the second game :-(. I have to get a better battery maybe higher amperage would give me enough juice to last a couple of games.

My playing style too has changed. This is why my battery ran out of juice the last time i played. I have now truly added "firing for effect" to my arsenal of firing strategies. I used to rely on it little, maybe just to find out if someone was lurking in a corridor waiting in ambush.

Now i fire to keep people from moving (i.e. to pin them down)so that i can maneuver while they are busy hiding. The downside is that you extract more juice from your battery this way because you're not actually firing to hit anybody. You fire just to make them think twice about peeping out a doorway, hallway, or taking quick snap-look down a corridor. The advantage here is that it allows one to move while the enemy is not watching; there's a lot of surprise this way for the enemy.

I'm aching to try out a field/jungle game soon, though. The EVSU CQB site is becoming a bit too "used". Good that we know the most of the best hiding spots for ambushes, "angle" positions both for cover and firing. The layout at EVSU has become a bit to familiar and some (like myself) long for unfamiliar terrain, which means greater uncertainty in the game. Greater uncertainty = greater excitement ... i think!

I guess, this lull in airsoft action in the city is can be traced to our expectations that there would be a tournament this June (maybe even a couple of them). After the long "siesta" due to the election gun ban (which also covered airsoft guns), people were so excited to play and wanted to reserve their "angst" for whatever tournament came along. Dark Wing Duck was the first to stretch it's flabby wings and get some fat-reducing tournament exercise in Ormoc last May in Operation Friendly Fire, which i wrote about previously. I don't know about the rest of the teams.

So, here's to looking forward to more action towards end-June and hopefully a tournament (wink, wink at TEAMLAS officers).

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Photo-video of Ormoc airsoft Competition

Okay. I posted only a few pictures and there are lots of them. After a whole day of tinkering, i got a good number of the photos to work in a video file complete with music.



ENJOY!

And here is the rest of it.

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Photos: OP Friendly Fire in Ormoc City (26 May 2007)

Finally, i have the pleasure of sharing a few photos from the airsoft tournament that we joined last May 26, 2007 in Ormoc City.









GO DARK WING DUCK! Soar high! Fly proud!

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Operation: Friendly Fire

Yeah, yeah, yeah! I was so excited about the first airsoft competition i was going to attend in Ormoc. It took me a long time to post something about (it was held last Sunday 27 May 2007). I thought i'd wait for the photos and videos that my Dark Wing Duck teammates took so i could include them in my post. Alas! None have come out yet - they're still editing and stuff. Might as well post something about the competition already with the visuals to follow (soon i hope).

Well? How was the tournament? ... WE WON! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! "Operation: Friendly Fire" was the first competition (that we know of ) after the May 14 elections. Dark Wing Duck's goal for the rest of the year is to grab first place in all competitions throughout Leyte (or at least get a podium finish).

Four teams participated: Tiger Commandos, Lycans, Omega Red, and Dark Wing Duck. We (Dark Wing Duck) were the only players invited from Tacloban to join the tournament.

From Dark Wing Duck, the following played: Omeng (Team Leader), Jason, Bambam, Lester, Patrick, Jeremiah, Heber, Arvin, Deo, Jojo, Brian, Raul, Rex

And of course our guests: Lennie, Gelyn, Lyrah, and Jojo's brother (who took all the videos)

There were three basic missions: capture the flag, hostage rescue, and retrieve the bomb. Team leaders of the opposing teams for each game picked their mission at random. So that sometimes, opposing teams had the same mission.

We played on a dirt field of about 120 square meters with a small kill house of about 8 square meters in the center. It was in the kill house that most mission items were located and, obviously, where the action is furious. The rest of the game area was strewn with obstacles mostly old road tires piled on top of one another to either shoulder or waist height.

Each game was fast and furious, especially those where we played. DWD is known for its fast moving games and, as expected the DWD games were over in two to four minutes. Our scorecard was five for six, losing only the second to the last game, which we played against the Lycans (another veteran team).

The four teams played against each other twice in a double round-robin system using alternate sides of the game site. Changing staging areas was necessary because each side of the game site presented its own pros and cons. One side was nearer the kill house but had only a few hiding places. The other side was farther from the kill house but had significantly more obstacles to hide behind. Depending on the side and the opposing force that were playing, team tactics and players were adjusted by the team leader.

While the actual games were fast, it was the waiting before the game started that took sooo looong. In fact, if not for the waiting times prior to actual games we wouldn't have been as tired as we were when we left Ormoc.

After the tournament, the Lycans invited us over for some refreshments and post-game "fellowship". And then it was another long drive back to Tacloban. The next day we had a de-briefing to assess our performance (especially the newbies) and to plan our next activities.

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