Chudleys Farm
Feeling a bit peckish I scramble into my dump pouch and pull out some food. So far so good as I come back with a nut bar and ham ‘n’ cheese bun. Now the tricky part . . . . eat it without getting it wet. I cant stand soggy bread! With delicate care and precision that good airsoft players possess, I take quick bites and re-wrap before the water soaks in, and this is no simple task as the rain drips from every tree, every leaf, every bit of my gear and clothing imaginable.
We are playing in the rain. We are playing in heavy rain that will later in the day block our route home. We read the forecast. We knew we would probably get a bit wet. But we had a new field to try out. Chudley has set us up a mini milsim on his dairy farm out the back of Nelson and not even flood warnings were going to keep us away. The battle hardy and prime of attitude turned up, geared up and got stuck into the mud and flowing water. DAMN YOU! (we cried with fists pumping in the air at no one in particular.) DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!
Two teams of 6 had flags to protect and unfamiliar terrain to over come. Rescue the downed chopper pilot, save his fallen comrade and then plant and defend a bomb. Limited ammo, engineers to take care of the tasks and a medic gave the gift of life as we not-so-slowly got wet to the bone. The native bush gave a new dimension to our normally pined forest layout with several small creeks-turned rivers and slippery mud made for a challenging day but all went well. Ammo wasn’t an issue in the dense surroundings. Points were scored according to achievements but the game was lost when (I shan’t name names) left the field of play and cost Team November 200!
With lunch out of the way and feeling the need for action, I left my haven by the creek. It was probably a good thing as the water had risen in the last 20 minutes enough for it to have crept over a metre of ground to start lapping at my boots. I looked right, I looked left, and strode forward into the water to medic my squad mate. It didn’t bother me much, water doesn’t stop us from playing airsoft!
PS: We made it home before road closures and the only casualties of the day were Zimmers front end off his SCAR and Sheepdogs Glock 17. R.I.P: both went to a watery grave, never to be seen again.
Thank You Chudley.
Dirka out