There are airsoft events where participants are forced to cover long distances, avoid detection and very rarely have the opportunity to pull the trigger. One thing is certain, the "Red Dawn" series organized by the FAT Zabrze group is not one of those games.
Preparing the defending side to defend the bridge.
The seventh edition of "Red Dawn" took place on February 26, 2023 in Bytom (Silesian Voivodeship). Earlier meetings in this series took place before the break caused by the pandemic. Due to the ongoing war beyond our eastern border and out of respect for people fighting for their own lives and freedom, the organizers of the game decided to resign from the current story background. Thus, the Blues (defensive side) and the Reds (attackers) were involved in a fictitious conflict.
Offgame area: registration, chrono, shop.
The meeting was attended by 225 participants, including 127 attackers, 82 defenders and 16 people handling the event. The organizers took care of the appropriate facilities: a spacious parking lot located next to the shopping center was available for the players, and the registration and energy measurement of the replicas took place partly under the roof. On site, you could also buy basic airsoft necessities. Paramedics were watching over the course of the event. The cost of participation was PLN 30 per person, but no starting packages for players were included in this price.
Map of the game area provided by the organizers.
The gameplay and its rules partly resembled the popular modes from the well-known series of Battlefield games: a long and relatively narrow area (perfectly marked and separated by tapes) was divided into two sectors. In each of them, several fortified outposts were located, which were to be captured by the attackers. Taking of the main one in the first sector allowed entrance to the second part of the game area. It was not that easy, because only one, heavily defended "bridge" led there. In addition to the numerical superiority of the offensive side, it also had a dummy heavy equipment, acting as an (human-powered) armored vehicle.
"Armored vehicle" used by the attackers.
The scenario was very intense and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of BBs were used during it. The game was moderated on the fly, the defenders followed the orders of their "superiors", and the attackers were spurred on by the commander with a megaphone. Both teams had to use respawns set up in many places plenty of times.
The weather was changing constantly.
Successful assault on the "Zlata" outpost.
The organizers promised that people would run out of BBs - and we have to admit that they kept their word. The quite immersive and pleasant atmosphere of the whole meeting was, however, disturbed by frequent, mutual accusations of players from both sides of foul play. In the end, once again the offensive side won by capturing all the control points in about 150 minutes - filled with the sound of replicas firing long bursts.
