Everyone is welcome. In this article, we'll figure out how to create a new airsoft team and what that team needs to know.

In the last article, we figured out how to start playing airsoft and what is best for a beginner to join an existing team. But if you still decide to create your own, then this article is for you!

What is an airsoft team for?
To begin with, let's figure out why an airsoft team is needed at all.

When you first start playing airsoft, at first you will most likely be more interested in running to shoot as a loner, in some airsoft club or on Sundays.
For some, this format delays more and longer, but for most this period lasts no more than a year.

Then you'll probably get tired of playing as a loner and want to develop. It's like in computer games, after a single company there is multiplayer, and then a team and championships.

You will definitely want to get to some large-scale serious airsoft game or participate in some competitions. And all of this requires a team.
It is impossible to achieve success in team games and competitions without training and well-coordinated teamwork.
Moreover, most large-scale and interesting games can only get to teams and singles are simply not allowed there.
We don't even think it's worth saying that team-to-team competitions are not for singles.

And the team itself is a whole layer of airsoft life. This is constant communication, exchange of experience, training, joint trips and in the end the most reliable friends.

What is considered an airsoft team?
Now that we know why we need a team, let's see what is an airsoft team in terms of most rules.

At the moment, in airsoft there are no uniform rules by which everyone plays.

Each organizer has its own rules, but in terms of most of these rules, so that you are considered a team by other players and the organizers begin to admit to their games as a team, you must be at least 5 people, you must be dressed in the same camouflage or uniform and similar equipment, you must have a team chevron and you must have commander appointed who will represent your team.

Of course, the team still has to have a name. And a unique one, so that there is no confusion and you do not have conflicts on this basis with other teams from the region.

If you have all this, then other players will consider you a team, although in fact you are still just a group of identically dressed people with a chevron under the same name. And to become a real team you need to do a lot of work and train.

What do you need to think about when creating an airsoft team?
The first thing to think about when building a team is, of course, people. It sounds obvious, but it should be people who are psychologically compatible with each other and who are comfortable communicating with each other.

The next thing a young team should think about is choosing the main direction and equipment.

For example, you can choose an image of a real military unit and try to recreate that image in airsoft, that is, assemble the same sets of uniforms, equipment, and weapon models. Study the history of that unit. Try to learn tactics and impose this whole thing on airsoft.
This is called reconstruction or modeling, depending on the degree of involvement and detail.

But in this direction, it is important to "understand on the shore" whether all your teammates are really interested in this. Because diving into the history of real units and just shooting balls at each other in the "right" shoes is not the same thing. And trying to replace one process with another can reflect badly on the team. The team can split and fall apart altogether.

It sounds obvious and banal, but people stubbornly step on the same rake from time to time. Therefore, do not drag into reconstruction those who themselves are not sincerely burning with this idea and do not show interest.

As a compromise, you can discuss some average "right set" of equipment that will suit the majority. And those who want more can delve deeper into the topic.

If you don't want to copy any particular military, you can simply assemble uniform sets of uniforms, gear, and weapons that you like, thereby assembling a unique image for your team.

But it is important to think about the conditions for which you will assemble such a kit.

For the forest, camouflage colors, panamas, bibs, RPM and combat belts are suitable, in which it is more convenient to crawl.
For mixed polygons with equipment and a bunch of flying pyrotechnics, it is good to have a helmet and it is more convenient to use unloaders in which you can sit in transport.
On training grounds with buildings, it is convenient to use light plates or bibs and it is good to have a helmet with full face protection.
For CQB, sports airsoft and speedsoft, the most lightweight kits with full face protection are suitable.

You can eventually assemble several sets of equipment at once, but first we recommend choosing one direction that you like the most and assembling a set for it.

A compromise option to start with might be a conventionally versatile kit. Of course, it will be somewhat inferior to specialized kits purely for the forest or purely for buildings, but it will allow you to try the maximum directions. And starting from the experience of using it, as a basic reference point, you can understand in which direction you want to move.

To give you an idea of the terminology, we note that a set of equipment in airsoft is often called a "whale". From the word kit - kit.

Separately, we note the role-playing projects. For example, on Stalker, Metro or Escape from Tarkov. For such projects, players sometimes collect a whole set under one game. It all depends on the role and the grouping for which you decided to go to play.

The next thing to think about is the team name and chevron. As mentioned earlier, you should come up with a name for your team so that it does not coincide with the names of other teams. At least in your area.
To do this, look for a group with a list of teams from your region, see what names are already occupied and come up with your own.

First, you'll have a beautiful chevron. Secondly, what is important is that it will be unique.
And remember that there are no more permanent things than temporary ones.

The next point that should be paid attention to is the unification in equipment and weapons. There are teams where there are no strict requirements for weapon models, means of communication and means of amplification. And that's always more of a minus than a plus.

On the one hand, people have freedom and players can realize their fan desires. But on the other hand, when you have different stores and batteries, you can not help out a friend if he has run out of full stores or the battery has died at the drive, walkie-talkie or collimator.

At the same time, it is worth considering the airsoft specifics, which is not always the case for drives of the same model, but stores from different manufacturers can be regularly compatible, especially with regard to the AK series.
So when unifying, it is necessary to take into account not only the weapon models themselves, for example, only the AK or only the M4, but also the manufacturers and compatibility of the stores.

When you have the same drives, you can throw a full magazine to a friend in a nearby trench when he does not have the opportunity to charge with balls and this magazine will suit him.

Same with everything else. When you have the same batteries with the same connectors, you can be rescued by a teammate if you have everything running out, whether it's a drive or a walkie-talkie.

The fact is that at many games at night a tune of no more than 1.4 J is allowed.
Almost everywhere more than 1.4 J in buildings is not allowed. Very often if you have more than 1.4 J, you can't shoot closer than 10 meters.

And if it turns out that the fighters of your team do not have drives with tuning 1.4 J, then they will not be able to enter buildings, storm trenches in the front rows or go out to play at night.

More about the drive, what kind of tuning is needed and what weight of the ball should be chosen for a certain exhaust, we will tell in a separate article.

The next thing to think about is team training, which is important to divide it into 2 types, which are individual player skill training and team interaction training.

Ideally, physical training should be added to all this, but in practice it is often a separate story that people do on their own, visiting a gym in their free time or at least running. Or they don't do any of that and die on games in the first 3 hours of play.

The ideal way to organize airsoft team training and get real experience is to find some experienced team from your city and agree on joint training.

If this is not possible, basic information can be found on the Internet. And something can be taken from the army documents and shift the whole thing to airsoft.

In separate articles about training, we will talk about the most basic things that every novice airsoft player and every young team should know.
But either way, you'll get most of the experience by regularly attending games as a team and interacting with other teams.

Don't be afraid to choose challenging games, take on challenging challenges, and travel to other regions. It's very interesting and useful.

Another important point for the team is constant communication with each other. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to start a team chat.

It will also not be superfluous to start some kind of closed group in which internal team information will be posted, which can be lost in the chat. For example, teaching materials for training, discussions of team equipment, training camps for games and trainings, etc.

According to the information from this page, you will be evaluated by the organizers of the games, the commanders of the parties to the games and other teams.
And don't forget to post the team questionnaire with a link to the open group in the local groups with a register of commands. This is how recruits will find out about you, and this is how you will book your name.

Finally, let's repeat the idea that the team is primarily people with whom you are comfortable to be and do a joint business together.

If it is, by and large, it does not matter what rags you dress up in and what you shoot balls at each other. "The main thing is that we are surrounded by good people!" 

Moreover, some things, such as shots to the barrel, which are sold in boxes, you can buy centrally and distribute to the fighters. It's more profitable.

In general, unification is an extremely useful thing, although it limits players in their choice.

Continuing the theme of drives, for a start, we recommend starting a drive with a good hop-up and an exhaust of 1.4 J or 120 ms with a 0.2 gr ball. And only then as a second drive to start something with tuning and a large exhaust.