Post by 2nd Bat on Oct 29, 2016 20:51:22 GMT -5
I am very fortunate that the only neighbor with even a partial view of my backyard is a history buff and something of a gun enthusiast. He's 82 years old but finds my WW2 projects fascinating and fun. He jokes that he can't help but grow older but he'll be dammned if he's ever been in a hurry to grow up!
Today we invented a fun game / competition that put my airsoft guns and our collective skill to the test.
He went to a dollar store and bought me several packs of four inch plastic soldiers in two colors (tan and green), eight soldiers in each color. I have some seven inch tall soldiers in decently authentic German and Japanese uniforms (ten of them in total) which he has seen me use for target practice. He brought over the soldiers as a kind of joke but deep down I could tell he wanted to give it a try.
We arranged them on top of a eight by eight rail tie border for my wife's garden. We then stepped back an equal distance away from the targets and with the opponent's color aligned to our front commenced fire. Originally we planned to keep firing until all of opponents soldiers were knocked down. First to finish is victorious. We started out with bolt action springers and frankly both of us were tired out before either of us were finished (it sucks to be old!). We then decided to do a two minute time frame. Reloads were to be part of the drama. That added a nice element to the game. Each magazine was limited to 10 rounds.
With 13 potential targets for each of us even an incredible shot would have to reload at least once! Charlie is pretty good shot. To add some additional complexity we agreed that the bigger soldiers had to be knocked down first before moving to the smaller soldiers.
After a few rounds with the bolt actions we used my Springer carbines (less accurate but easier and quicker to cock). We then used my semi auto Garands and found there was always a winner before the two minutes were up.
Our final round was with BARs in the prone. This progression of choices really emphasizes the increased capability of semi auto and full auto weapons as well as the advantage of prone vs sitting firing position.
My familiarity with airsoft saw me through to victory but Charlie seemed to have a good time. He had six older brothers three of which fought in WW2. One served in WW2 and Korea.
I am so lucky that my neighbor "gets it". Our wives both think they married a couple "nuts".
Fun fun game. Incidentally we set the rules so the big soldiers (if still standing) were each worth 10 points while the small soldiers were worth 2 points. The goal (like golf) was to end up with the lowest score. Our range was 55 feet away which seemed just about right to keep it challenging. It approximated the 300 yard range in terms of hit probability. Some of the soldiers were consistently harder to knock down than others. If you inadvertantly spun one sideways to where their base was on the long axis hitting and knocking them down became quite challenging. Frustrating when it's the last man standing and you opponent is gaining on you. Richocettes that knock several down was always fun! A lot of plastic soldiers bit the dust yesterday.
Today we invented a fun game / competition that put my airsoft guns and our collective skill to the test.
He went to a dollar store and bought me several packs of four inch plastic soldiers in two colors (tan and green), eight soldiers in each color. I have some seven inch tall soldiers in decently authentic German and Japanese uniforms (ten of them in total) which he has seen me use for target practice. He brought over the soldiers as a kind of joke but deep down I could tell he wanted to give it a try.
We arranged them on top of a eight by eight rail tie border for my wife's garden. We then stepped back an equal distance away from the targets and with the opponent's color aligned to our front commenced fire. Originally we planned to keep firing until all of opponents soldiers were knocked down. First to finish is victorious. We started out with bolt action springers and frankly both of us were tired out before either of us were finished (it sucks to be old!). We then decided to do a two minute time frame. Reloads were to be part of the drama. That added a nice element to the game. Each magazine was limited to 10 rounds.
With 13 potential targets for each of us even an incredible shot would have to reload at least once! Charlie is pretty good shot. To add some additional complexity we agreed that the bigger soldiers had to be knocked down first before moving to the smaller soldiers.
After a few rounds with the bolt actions we used my Springer carbines (less accurate but easier and quicker to cock). We then used my semi auto Garands and found there was always a winner before the two minutes were up.
Our final round was with BARs in the prone. This progression of choices really emphasizes the increased capability of semi auto and full auto weapons as well as the advantage of prone vs sitting firing position.
My familiarity with airsoft saw me through to victory but Charlie seemed to have a good time. He had six older brothers three of which fought in WW2. One served in WW2 and Korea.
I am so lucky that my neighbor "gets it". Our wives both think they married a couple "nuts".
Fun fun game. Incidentally we set the rules so the big soldiers (if still standing) were each worth 10 points while the small soldiers were worth 2 points. The goal (like golf) was to end up with the lowest score. Our range was 55 feet away which seemed just about right to keep it challenging. It approximated the 300 yard range in terms of hit probability. Some of the soldiers were consistently harder to knock down than others. If you inadvertantly spun one sideways to where their base was on the long axis hitting and knocking them down became quite challenging. Frustrating when it's the last man standing and you opponent is gaining on you. Richocettes that knock several down was always fun! A lot of plastic soldiers bit the dust yesterday.