So this is one of our regular sites and this particular site is in-fact where we started playing airsoft, It was back in June of 2015 when we first attended and became obsessed with airsoft.
Skirmish Billericay is right next door to Skirmish Paintball and the two share their facilities. The site is in the more rural part of Billericay, Essex.
Skirmish is well signposted and when attending you will drive down a particularly bumpy road to get to the first car park. Now you have the option whether to park your car here or you can risk it and drive up the particularly muddy and steep track to get to the site itself, once you have had the fun of getting there you will be greeted with an outdoor safezone where half of it is under shelter and the other half is in the open. On the left will be a metal shipping container where they house the shop and the rental area of the site: Airsoft Quartermaster.
Inside the shop is a fairly large selection of equipment from AEGs to snipers and scopes to holsters, you are more than likely to find what you are looking for (Don't quote me on that) unless what you are looking for is particularly obscure or difficult to find.
The shop sells the following items however this is not an exhaustive list:
- Weapons including pistols
- Pyros
- Green Gas
- Batteries
- BBs
- Sights/Scopes
- Internal parts
At the rear of the shop is the Quartermaster where all rental players must attend to collect their equipment and also return it at the end of the day. The rentals themselves are all booked via the website and a link can be found on their page, I will add the link to the bottom of this post.
The rental weapons include:
- ICS M4 v1 and v2
- ICS MP5
- ICS AK47 v2
- ICS G36c v1 and v2
Included in the rental are 2,500 BBs which is plenty for the day if you don't go too mad, and a magazine.
Once you have decided which gun you like the sound of you are able to book optional extras such as coveralls to protect your clean clothing, these coveralls are usually OG or camo in colour, You also have the ability to book extra BBs, eyepro and you also have the option to rent a second magazine which can come in handy in the field. The last option is to rent a sidearm and holster for the day, this is particularly useful in the CQB area which I will mention later.
Opposite the shop is the marshall's desk, this is also where you pay your entry fee at the beginning of the day. The entry fee is £18 for first timers and once this is paid you will be issued a membership card which decreases the walk-on fee to £15 when you present the card. This card has a unique ID number which in the future will also become your UKARA number. (If you don't know what that is follow this link: http://www.ukara.org.uk/aboutus.php). Once you have paid the walk-on fee you will be given a wristband which you must keep on for the day as it will let the staff know you have paid.
If it is your first time at Skirmish you will be required to fill in a form with a few of your details for insurance reasons.
Once you have completed all of the admin you can take a seat and get yourself ready. If you have your own equipment, this will be the point in which you chrono your weapons. The chrono procedure will be completed with a marshall and is compulsory as with all sites.
Shortly before the main briefing and first game takes place there will be a safety briefing for all rental players which will instruct you on how to use the rental weapons.
The main briefing will take place shortly before the warm-up game, the main briefing will explain all of the rules in airsoft including the site specific rules, this means that new players should feel quite comfortable with the rules.
The marshalls at this site are all very knowledgeable and have all played airsoft before. They are all very approachable and will help you with whatever you need. the marshalls come up with new game types each time so no day is ever the same, that being said there are a few classics that will always find their way into the mix such as:
- Capture the flag/s
- Fall back games
- Multi-objective games
- CQB
The site itself is very large and there are many zones to play in. Please see the map below:
My favourite area is the 'Green Zone' In the centre of the site, it is a CQB area which has been created by stacking black crates on top of each other, The Green Zone is set out like a small maze with tight corners and many different entrances.
When the first few games have finished it will be lunch time, The area to buy food is shared with Skirmish Paintball and is nearer to their site. The food is relatively well priced with a large selection. There are:
- Burgers (Beef/Cheese/Chicken)
- Chips
- Pizza
- Rolls
The only issue with the food is that sometimes the burgers can be rushed as there are so many people trying to get lunch and this causes issues with the quality, the pizza is also very prone to selling out quickly, so make sure you get there quickly to avoid disappointment.
The day will end around 1600 hours when everyone begins to pack away and all rental equipment must be returned.
In addition Skirmish regularly hold raffles during game days and generally the first prize is an airsoft weapon. I won a WE 228 from a skirmish raffle and regularly use this as my sidearm.
Final verdict:
Site - The site itself is very big covering around 2 acres of ground in the centre of a forest, there is a good variety of areas and this enables many different game modes, the only limitation on the game modes is the imagination of the marshalls. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to get to.
Pricing - The walk-on fee is very reasonable compared to other sites that offer less, the walk-on fee is slightly more if you have never played there before however. The food is also a reasonable price that will not break the bank. The rental prices can be steep depending on the equipment you want however this can be eliminated by owning your own gear.
Staff - The staff at Skirmish are top notch, I have never had any issues with them and they are always very approachable and knowledgeable. Although they could use a few more as sometimes it is quite hard to find a marshall.
Food - There is a wide selection of food and the prices are very reasonable, The only issues are that sometimes the beef burgers can come out a little undercooked and there is a short supply of pizza.
Players - Not all players are very sociable and that is understandable however it is nice to have a chat with a fellow airsofter once in a while which is sometimes hard to come by. Due to the accessibility of this site for new players there is always a few rental players and on a few occasions there have been more rental players than regular players. There is a small hit-taking issue but this is no worse than any other site. There are also a few teams which frequent the place which makes it quite competitive sometimes.
Overall - This site is a good site and is especially good for new players however that does mean that there are always a high number of rental players, If you are wanting a more hardcore site then there may be other sites which are better suited to you. We always make time for Skirmish as it is where we started and it's always good to get back there for a day. Taking all of this into account I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
http://www.airsoft-billericay.co.uk/
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