Airsoft Skirmish

A successful and entertaining airsoft skirmish requires pre-planning. The first step in pre-planning an airsoft skirmish involves determining what type of airsoft skirmish you want to engage in. Let’s focus on two popular types of airsoft skirmishes, Head-to-Head and Objective oriented games. Head-to-head involves two or more teams trying to eliminate one another. Objective style is a "capture the flag" airsoft engagement requiring your team to follow through with a mission.

Head-to-Head In head-to-head airsoft skirmishes you usually have 2 teams of opposing forces. Each team will attempt to eliminate the other in various airsoft skirmish scenarios. Some examples of head-to-head are:

1. Patrol based - One team has to move through an area looking for the opposing team. This is a search and destroy mission which involves ambush, tracking and unit movement skills. The area can be designated as enemy territory with booby traps and ambush sites opposing forces will encounter along the way. Patrol based usually requires a large area of wooded land to be effective. Airsoft MOUT (Military Operation in Urban Terrain) sites have also become popular for patrol based airsoft skirmishes. The difference here is the patrol and fighting occurs in mock towns and villages.
2. Front Line Airsoft Skirmishes - This is true head-to-head airsoft combat. Usually two teams control equal parts of the playing field. The goal of this airsoft skirmish is a full frontal assault where both teams try to eliminate the other.

Objective Style

In Objective style airsoft skirmishes you usually have an objective to complete, while the other team tries to prevent your mission accomplishment. These are very goal oriented airsoft skirmishes, and during airsoft competitions are usually timed or scored events. Some examples of Objective style are:

1. Hostage rescue - usually an indoor Close Quarters Battle (CQB) style airsoft skirmish. This involves one team trying to find and safely rescue a hostage, while the opposing teams tries to keep their hostage or even eliminate the hostage if the airsoft skirmish doesn’t go their way.
2. Capture the flag - a classic objective style airsoft skirmish. One team defends their base, while the other team tries to capture it. This is probably the most popular style of airsoft skirmish today.
3. Downed pilot or Treasure hunt - a pilot or valuable object is placed at a random spot on the airsoft skirmish field. Opposing teams try to find and secure the target. This a fun variation of capture the flag, as both teams are on the hunt and random airsoft skirmishes are bound to pop up as they encounter each other on the hunt.