The Airsoft is an activity based on the achievement of objectives through strategies and discounting players the opposing team or comply with a limit required time is mainly practiced in two scenarios: in open fields to play long-short distances or distances inside buildings, abandoned ships or enclosures to play CQB or Close Quarters Battle, which are specially prepared to practice this type of sport, and thus avoiding practicing it in an open area where it is easily accessible by different sites for animals or people outside the game, which can be injured without intention.
Sports Markers or Weapons are used (depending on the country where the name is carried) electric (AEG), gas (GBB) or spring (spring/spring), which throw small plastic balls (Pvc BBs and biodegradable materials) of 6 and 8 mm in diameter (6mm being more common) that are between 0.12 and 0.69 grams in weight.
Depending on the game distances, one or another type of marker may be used, depending on their power (measured in Joules or FPS – Feet Per Second). To know the power of each Marker or ALD, devices called chronographs are used, which indicate the speed of the ball when leaving the marker and its cadence. Depending on the FPS of the speed marked by the projectiles when leaving the cannon, they are considered (from least to greatest power): guns, shotguns and sub-rifles, assault rifles, light machine guns, support and precision rifles (DMR) or sniper (sniper).
The scenarios and equipment are similar to those that could be found in real combat: the playing fields usually have walls, bunkers, trenches, towers, buildings, and other elements to increase realism, as well as all types of vehicles: buggies, cars, quads, motorcycles, etc.
There are different game modes, the best known are Big Game, Extreme, MILSIM, Speedsoft, TPA, and Fantasy, among others.
Ammunition is almost harmless, but it is mandatory that all participants and people who are located within the play area wear approved protective glasses and facial/oral protection (the latter optional) to avoid eye and dental injuries since they are most vulnerable areas of the body. If the rules are respected (see General Airsoft regulations), the probability of suffering an accident is minimal. Before each game, players are required to pass their Markers or ALDs. By the chronograph to check its power, in addition to presenting the authorized registered weapons card, which must always travel with them and in force.
Rules
- Every assistant player must have protective goggles that comply with the homogenization of impact resistance – up to 3 J of kinetic energy. It is also strictly forbidden to take them off during the game and on the pitch.
- The game wizard will need an airsoft marker (ALD) to participate.
After receiving an agreed number of hits (usually one), the player will shout: “Eliminated!”, Dead! o Get down! , being necessary to raise the hand; and it is advisable to point it out with a red scarf placed on the head, in night games the players usually carry flashlights with red lights, to demonstrate more effectively than they were impacted. In some games, receiving an impact on the marker disables it for use, and the game can continue using a secondary marker (if available). - The player must respect the minimum safety distances to help the game flow free of accidents. Do not shoot less than 5 meters for safety. If two players are less than this distance, the player who points first eliminates the other. If the two-point at the same time, both are eliminated.
- The safety distance varies depending on the type of marker, or what is the same, the firing power of the same. It is ten meters for the primary markers – rifles, submachine guns, and shotguns, five meters for the secondary – pistols – and fifteen, twenty or thirty meters or more for the rest of ALD – machine guns, select shooter rifles, and rifles. sniper-.
- A special situation is elimination by voice or “dead.” At distances, less than five meters, and after aiming at the opponent, “dead” or another designated word is shouted, not firing at the subject to prevent injuries, but in the air to show that the marker fires and is ammunition. You cannot eliminate more than two players simultaneously by this method. If the elimination is carried out by means of a simulation of a white weapon or with a silenced pistol at close range, you are informed of the elimination by contact in a part of the body and in a low voice. Thus the position of the attacker is not revealed. The eliminated will wait for the attacker to leave to indicate his status without betraying his presence, then raising his arm or putting the red scarf on his head. This method is commonly used in the role of infiltration.
- Another form of elimination without firing is done in situations where a single player is surrounded by elements that are superior in number. In that case, to avoid crossfire and the possibility of injury, he is shouted “surrounded” and according to the rules of confrontation or type of game, he will be declared eliminated, a prisoner or hostage.
- You should always have a clear vision of where you are shooting. Shooting blindly or showing only the ALD – a practice known as “Lebanese shooting” – often leads to immediate expulsion from the playing field. It is recommended not to shoot other players in the head – the so-called head-shot is unpopular among experienced players – and for this, it is advisable to leave visible some other part of the body where the player can be impacted.
It is not possible to shoot from or to the eliminated areas – also called re spawns – or the safe areas.