When last year the Hammer ASG Team - Śląsk (which is also the core of the organizers of MARSH events) announced and prepared the first edition of the Ghost team game, which caused an much talk among supporters of this form of competition. Unlike large staff-type airsoft games, "team games" allow groups to test their skills in independent planning and implementing tasks. You can't count on allies here - you're either in the field fighting for points, or you're watching the backs of your competitors.
The first edition of Ghost encouraged players from 24 Polish groups to walk hundreds of kilometers. This resulted in fielding a total of 19 teams for 24-hour long competition. The event was extremely warmly received... but also with disappointment. After a few months, the organizers announced that they did not plan to continue the event in the same formula.
Numerous appeals, however, encouraged the members of the Hammer ASG Team - Śląsk to change their minds. We had to wait a little longer, but finally the Ghost 2 game took place last weekend and again attracted a three-digit number of players from over 20 airsoft teams from many regions of Poland to Żędowice (Opole Voivodeship).
Arriving at the designated address, participants could find a small but efficiently prepared offgame zone. There was a parking lot with places to pitch tents, organizational structures (registration, chronograph point, etc.), and even a portable toilet. The entire offgame also served as one of the respawns for players and their main point for storing spare equipment, resting and planning activities.
There wasn't much time for the latter. The organizers made only part of the guidelines available well in advance - a map with key locations marked. The rest of the special tasks, which often turned the teams' plans on their heads, were given to the participants only during the briefing for group commanders, which took place on Saturday at 10:50 - shortly before they had to go out into the field and start their operations.
The game started at 12:00. Earlier, the players received starting packages, the opportunity to enter the field and go to the place of their choice, provided they do not leave the roads leading to it. There was a race against time - visiting all the checkpoints and correctly completing all special tasks within 24 hours was a big challenge and required the players' endurance, effectiveness in solving contacts... and luck. According to feedback from various groups, record holders covered up to 60 kilometers on foot during this time.
Special tasks, both those provided to participants on paper and those at checkpoints, were creative. Some of them required manual skills, others cunning, and others thinking. There were also those that could only be solved after visiting many locations in the field. It should be noted here that the events organized by Hammer ASG Team - Śląsk are famous for such tricks, so in the participants' backpacks you could find various resources and tools that could help to meet the challenges and solve puzzles.
Sometimes patience was important, sometimes time as some tasks could be completed by any team, while others rewarded only the best ones. One example would be the need to hang a scoring dogtag on a tree. They could be stolen from rivals, and only the one hanged the highest and that remained there until the end of the game scored points for its owners. As a result, the organizers had to use a drone to fly to a height high enough to identify the one suspended in the treetop in an ingenious way.
Unlike last year's edition, which took place in the middle of June, this time the teams had to work much longer after dark. Ghost 2 was organized in the unplugged formula - which means that all night vision and thermal imaging devices of the participants stayed at home. Players could only use flashlights and their senses. Many skirmishes took place at night, often at the closest ranges, when only the sound of footsteps revealed the presence of an enemy in the darkness of the moonless night.
In terms of the level of preparation of the playing area, it is difficult to have any major issues with it. Although, while it rained during the second part of the day (scaring away numerous non-players enjoying the beautiful morning), there would probably be supporters of hanging tarps over the respawn zones - where you had to spend 20 minutes after receiving a "fatal" hit. The large amounts of drinking water left for players in those places deserve praise. This time, the arrangement of checkpoints was also very precise - the organizers have previously been known to make minor mistakes in this regard.
Although Ghost events are not among the most demanding in the Polish forest airsoft community, they undoubtedly provide a great opportunity to prove oneself and enjoy a good reputation. The results of this year's edition are not known yet but the opinions seem to clearly state that all the players who gave it all and had fun won.
