To enhance your game on the Airsoft field there are a few simple skills that can be quickly and easily picked up and applied, even solo, that will pay huge dividends to your survivability and to your ability to score kills. Here are three quick wins you can start implementing today.
1. Control your visibility
If you're easy to spot, you're easy to shoot at! Always seek out cover to make yourself less obvious to anyone scanning for a target: get behind trees, bushes, or hard objects so you're out of sight.
Consider where you are and where people want to look: if there's only one tree in the whole field, people are going to look at it, so hiding at it probably makes you more likely to be spotted, not less.
What are you wearing? Does it blend in, are there any shiny things on you? Camouflage aims mainly to break up your appearance, so you look less like a human, and to match your environment, so you don't stand out from it. Consider wearing colours to match the field you're going to, and avoiding bright or shiny badges, decorations, or weapon attachments.
How are you moving? "Its vision is based on movement" is more than an iconic Jurassic Park quote, it has a basis in reality: people will notice movement more easily than something staying still. Stay low, stay slow (unless you're already being shot at!), and stay unseen.
2. Talk to people
Even a solo player can create a team from scratch from whoever is next to them! Communication is key to winning: what you saw, someone else might have missed, or vice versa, and talking to each other means sharing that information. Don't be afraid to ask those nearby what's happening when you make it to the front lines and you'll quickly learn where they think the other team is and what they think is going on. This will help you make your own game plan, or help you enlist those around you into your plans.
One of the biggest advantages Airsoft teams have in the field is communication: be it by radio or just shouting at each other, team members know each other and are comfortable talking to each other regularly, leading to them being better informed about the battlefield and better able to decide how best to play for the benefit of the team. This isn't something only pre-made teams can do: (almost) everyone's got a mouth and ears, so try striking up quick conversation and you'll find yourself much less likely to make a wrong move, because you'll have more information at your fingertips.
3. Look around, not over, cover
You're fighting over a base, and are sheltering behind a barricade or a wall. You need to get some shots off, the enemy are pushing in close and the fighting is thick. You jump up from behind the wall, just enough so your gun can shoot, but find you get yourself shot anyway. The cover didn't help!
This is a hugely common mistake when using cover to hide: people pop up from behind it to shoot. Why is this bad?
First, it "telegraphs" you: your head shows up before your gun does, letting anyone looking in your direction react before you're able to shoot.
Second, it exposes you: your entire head, neck, and shoulders are on show just to get your gun clear of the cover.
Instead, try looking around the cover. This exposes far less of your body, as you're only exposing half your head and one shoulder to get the gun clear of your cover, and it telegraphs you far less, as your gun barrel is clear of your cover at the same time your head is, letting you engage before anyone looking can react.
As a bonus to this section: remember to reposition! If you're always looking around the same corner or always popping up at the same window, anyone watching will predict that and will be ready and waiting to shoot the moment they see movement. Don't stay in one place too long!
These tips and tricks will improve your game and are easy to implement today.
You don't need any special gear to do this, or to be especially fit or high skilled to pull these off. They're simple, easy, and free. Try them at your next game and see how much more effective you become!
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