Alright so you found out about Airsoft. COngrats, sorta....

Essentially you have stumbled into a sport that is hard to explain to your friends, even harder to explain to your parents, wether you live with them or not. ( my mother still thinks im planning a shooting rampage) Its horribly expensive and the most common thing you will hear from the people you know is "pff is can buy a real gun for that price!!" but as airsofters we all know that once i take a real gun and start running around blasting my buddies, Im only going to get one good game out of it .

So your here, your clueless, and your asking the same questions every new guy has asked before you since the beginning of airsoft time. This is in essence annoying to every living soul in the airsoft community. Mostly because we have never asked those exact same questions ever in life. We came into this sport knowing everything, so why cant you??? slacker!

Anyways to help head some of it off at the pass im going to give you a quick low down on what to expect out of your first season.
Now obviously everyones story is different and it really depends on your age when you submersed yourself in this sport. If your a young fella living with your folks and scratching together minimum wage or a little more established with your life and making about minimum wage after bills taxes and wives normally youll be able to get your act together at different speeds. Or your nothing like me and have tons of spare cash. IN that case PM me i have some favors to ask..... moving on.

So chances are your sitting there with this big plan laid out in your head as too what gun your gonna buy and how sick your going to be. And chances are alot of the hero scenes going thru your head are really similar to the last action movie you saw. The problem here is that shit is really hard to do in real life since you need things like fitness accuracy training and blah blah blah.

So lemme level with you, Your NOT a sniper. And you WONT be a good one. Not right off the bat, noone is!! Airsoft sniping which is a very common new guy plan and is nothing like what you expect it to be. All airsoft shooting range fall easily into the close quarters world. So unless you are rediculously patient and very very very sneaky. your going to get of one shot and then be mobbed by a whole pile of other new guys who were smart enough to buy an AEG right from the start. After that ill convieved first engagement you'l probly spend the rest of the game running around in your homemade ghillie suit getting very pissed off at this stupid game.

This is just like any sport it takes time and expierence to get good at it. Your first season is going to be a blur of spending alot of money and playing a few games that felt really really intense and highspeed. when in reality were probly some low range fun but not too intensive skirmishes. This isnt a bad thing, this is when airsoft sinks her money sucking claws into you and you can never leave again. So now that you found out you not a sniper here is where the real advice is.

Start by getting out to games, RENT RENT RENT RENT RENT!!!!! Try every new gun you can think of even if its something you think you would never use. If you had plans to be the most westernized spec ops mofo out there go try an AK it might suprise you. You will never regret spending a rental fee out here cause youll always have fun, and the Feild owners always take great care of the guys who rent from them, normally above and beyond what the rental fee covers. After that first season or half a season you will have a better bearing on what is a good gun and what is a waste of money. Even so DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! Reading one post is not research! Find multiple sources and judge from that. Once you know what guns you like and what brands are for you. Ask yourself do you plan to play MILSIM or Skirmish? There is a big difference, MILSIM play is normally much more expensive and requires alot more kit. But in my opinion is much more satisfying gameplay. Skirm is more lets go out and blast some fools, which is a fun way to kill a saturday. when you decide what is for you write down a wish list of kit. Stay organized and on target for what you need VS what you want. when you get sidetracked you end up with a whole room full of shit you normaly have no idea you had or where it came from in the first place, all you know is it was probly expensive.

Dont get discouraged. It takes a good amount of time to have a fully rounded out kit your finally happy with and can slam thru a 24 HR sim without a problem. Just collect it over time and enjoy the process. remember the gun the rig the uniform. those should be your priorities.

1. Gun - mags - battery/spares - optics - access
2. Rig - pouches - pouches - bigger pouches - probly a different rig - pouches
3. Uniform - boots - hat - belt - holster - sick patches - replace ripped uniform

Dont worry about upgrading your gun and all that jazz in your first little while. If you start tinkering before you have a clue and you screw it up. Unless you are in that mad money category I mentioned before your going to mis out on an already too short season with a downed gun or itll shit the bed mid game. IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT. Most guns these days are pretty reliable out of the box for basic use ( I SAID MOST!!). so long as you keep in mind you get what you pay for. If you got a really cheap gun you probly have a really cheap gun. After 8 years in this sport I still have a gun or two that is bone stock and is one of my most reliable platforms, upgrades dont make you a better player, only you can do that. That tighbore or stronger spring wont shoot the enemy for you.

So in summary.
1. RENT
2. RESEARCH
3. STAY FOCUSED - Avoid the impulse buys and focus on what ya need.
4. HAVE FUN!!!!

PLay as much as you can and youll learn fast. Dont hesitate to ask ever. Being a new guy and walking into a staging area can be intimidating cause everybody looks TIER 1. Dont worry there not, (just the ones with the red beards are) everyone is pretty friendly and out to have a good time. ask around meet guys get them to show you there kit.

Its just a game enjoy it!!

Stickied. Thanks for the write-up, Critter.

Awesome wite up. As a new recruit, this helps. I am sure there are a lot of us that have no idea what we are really getting into. I would like to eventually look into the possibility of being a sniper. Watching videos of gameplay really doesn't help much in trying to figure out how intense this will be. It is good to know what the differences are in the game types. Thanks for the writeup Critter!!!!

Sniping in Airsoft is pretty close to real world shit. Boring!! Your job isn't to get the high profile kill or even the low profile kill. It's to get in and gather intell for the door kickers to come take all the glory.

I generally play a support role, or recon role in most games I play. I knoe this is different than video games, but I think it will be a similar feel of satisfaction of helping. Don't get me wrong though, I do love to get up close and dirty as well. I am looking forward to getting up off my ass and doing something.

I approve of this post. Im not new and I thought some of it was very useful! I agree with renting. I didnt and jsut ended up buying another gun at one point. Iw as lucky to have members direct me to a really good first gun but I could of made a really bad mistake.

I think to start, people needs to keep it simple and often as a new player you get overwhelmed with ideas on how you want to look and play..
bottomline you wont know until you play games so its better to wait and buy the right stuff then buy stuff you think is right and endindg up spending more for the actual right stuff

Great write-up Critter!

I do enjoy the intensity of charging into the fray, but I understand what dirtydozen is getting at as well.
At certain games, specifically MILSIM events I enjoy playing a Recon role..I dont like "sniping", but I do enjoy contributing intel that can change the game. Unfortunately, finding games where your intel is valuable...may not happen often.

Last years Rhino game in Picton is a prime example of a game where good recon was a game changer at times. But I played an Assault-Role a hell of allot more than I did Recon.

Untill you go and fuck up perfect source handling and tip the enemy were talking too that we're not quite as friendly as I seemed to be!!

I ran a rifle (ak or m4) for 1.5 years. Tried out support gunner and loved it. Then tried sniping for 2 games and hated it. I sold my sniper and went back to support gunner and occasionally rifle
Sniping is the most difficult and slow paced role to play in a team