Christchurch CQB weekend August 2013
Day 1
A typical day in Christchurch starts with overcast skies and a chilly breeze straight off the snowy mountains. However on this morning 50 men and women gear up in the car-park of an abandoned meat-works factory scheduled for demolition following past earthquakes.
Waivers are signed and everyone is made aware of present dangers. We are all keen to get some shooting underway, and eventually after all game and safety briefings are done we are into our first game. A classic airsoft base assault starts the weekend off, in this game we are using a couple of four story buildings joined in the middle by walkways.
We are all split into two even sides, then squads of five, camouflage relevant. One half defends the buildings with capturable objectives inside. The second half must battle their way through doorways to enter the buildings and take ground, forcing the defenders deeper inside the complex.
This place is by far the coolest I have ever played before. Inside the building is dark and eerie, broken windows, huge rooms filled with desks and random bits of equipment like computers and chairs. I can’t help but feel like I am in Chernobyl.
This game goes on for a few hours until the attacking team secures all the objectives. We then regroup at the set up area to re-load, and tell a few war stories, before getting back into the action.
Next we swapped sides and had another game of base assault, to see who was the better team at defending / attacking. Airsofters always enjoy bragging rights. The first defenders held the building for longer so ‘unofficially’ win the day. It’s late afternoon now so we all head off for some dinner and a short rest, while we wait for the sun to disappear, and night to set in.
When we return to the field it is pitch black, and we all gear up for a night game. The game we play now is ‘domination’ style. There are three capturable locations around the field, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Every minute a point is allocated to whichever team holds the respective location under their control. A radio is attached to each location so the capturing team can call in to ‘capture’ the site, then choose to defend the point or go and help another squad somewhere else in the huge complex.
There are also 10 optional Intel items somewhere in the buildings. The squad I was in was first tasked with searching the buildings for Intel, and keeping an eye out for the enemy doing the same. We move through the pitch black buildings flicking torches on and off as we move, searching for Intel at the same time wanting to be as invisible as possible to the enemy.
We engage in a few firefights up dark stairwells, through corridors and moving into new rooms. We also have 2 friendly squads moving around the field so communication is vital. Entering a dark room and coming face to face with another squad, identifying the target as friendly or hostile before they do becomes a nerve racking experience.
The adrenaline is pumping fast. The sound of firefights bursting out around us, outside, behind us, in-front of us, in all directions. The vital key is to stick together as a squad, and work as one.
Once all the Intel has been collected our squad moves outside, we co-ordinate with our friendly squads and are instructed to assist in capturing point Bravo. After a heavy battle out in the dark we take control. A few nods of appreciation go around and we leave our buddies to defend Bravo while we move off into the night to take Alpha.
This one proves harder to take, it is much better defended against attack and we are wiped out a couple of times. They have two squads defending against our one. We radio in for an assist and keep pushing.
After relentless attacking and switching strategies we eventually take over point Alpha, a friendly squad moved in behind the enemy in the crucial last minute to catch them off guard. Teamwork is awesome. We decide to bunker down and hold the position and the assisting squad shuffles off to their next task. We have clearly upset someone because we fight off wave after wave of enemy troops trying to take back Alpha. We hold it for at least 30 minutes of intense fighting before we are eventually over-run. So we decide to let them have it for now and once re-spawned we move on to point Charlie to assist a friendly squad.
This game lasts five hours, and eventually our team wins. Everyone did such an awesome job, friendly and ‘enemy’. The game was one of the best I have played. It has been a long day and we are all stuffed. The day is called and mostly everyone heads home for a well deserved sleep. However around 15 of us stay and decide to play a little game up in one of the buildings.
We use one big room with crates, drums and pellets scattered all through it. There is a box in the centre of the room and two glow-sticks on the floor beside it, one green and the other orange. The team that has their glow-stick in the box after five minutes wins the round.
This is a super fast paced game with plenty of action. Lots of shooting and running and not much time to do it. Great quick fire games. After close to ten rounds of this we decide to call it a night and head home for a couple of beers and lots of laughs as we recall the days events, everyone has a good story to tell. Eventually we call it and go for some sleep. We will need it for day two.
Day 2
Six hours later we are up and out of bed, getting ready and heading off to the nearest fast food store for a healthy breakfast. The car-park slowly fills up again as people return to the field. Another overcast morning in chch with the much loved snowy wind. It takes a bit to get moving but we eventually get geared up and group up for the days briefing.
Today’s game is another classic, capture the flag. Split into two sides again relevant to camouflage type. There are three flags in a select area, one in each teams base, and one in the middle. The first team to have all three flags in their base wins. The shady morning feelings are quickly blasted away and adrenaline returns as we get into it.
It’s a very tight game, the enemy hold two flags for a couple of hours as we battle on, they hold an advantage over us with a big row of windows looking right out over our base. It is a hard battle trying to take ground, but we do it slowly.
After a gruelling battle we take one of their flags. Now we have the lead. This goes on for a couple more hours, taking ground, losing it and retaking it again. It is a brutal battle and the previous day and night is taking its toll, but we all power on determined not to give up. And eventually it pays off, we manage to focus an attack on their base and grab their flag, needless to say the flag carrier hauls ass back to our base as fast as he can while we all cover him as the enemy swarms out after their flag.
We get it home safe and win the game. Exhaustion sets in as we calm down and the adrenaline fades. What an epic game, it lasted four hours. Everyone is spent so the day is called.
One of the best parts is after a big game, hearing other people’s experiences and stories, especially the enemy. Knowing just how much you were getting under their skin is always rewarding. So we all talk for an hour or so as we slowly pack our gear into cars and say our goodbyes. Lots of handshakes and compliments go around as people slowly leave, back wherever home is. Locally in Christchurch, Dunedin, or for us the long drive back home to Nelson, filled with exhaustion and satisfaction.
Already I am anticipating the next trip down south to meet up with our fellow airsofters for another epic weekend, and I’m sure I’m not alone. But for now the buildings stand quiet and empty, waiting to be smashed down. Maybe we will get to play there again before it happens. Otherwise there are plenty more places for battle. One of the best airsoft weekends I have had in five years.
Thank you CSG, TAG, DAC and fellow NAC for an awesome weekend. Especially CHCH for organizing this event, I look forward to the next one.
Katkilla, NAC.