Scenes taken directly from the battlefields, air cannons with plastic balls, tactics and adrenaline are what characterize airsoft (aviation) or otherwise for fans of the genre, “game of honesty”. The ThessToday.gr talked to the largest Club in Greece – based in Thessaloniki – analyzing the sport that over the years is gaining more and more friends, now counting 500 registered members.
Airsoft is a modern game whose roots in Thessaloniki begin around 2006. It is essentially a sport that initially differs greatly from paintball and simulates battlefields, or a hobby in which opponents must “exterminate” each other. using three main types of Airsoft weapons: automatic-electric (AEGs), Gas and Spring weapons, the prices of which range from 100 to 1,500 euros.
The object of the game is to hit the opponent with round, 6mm plastic balls also known as “BBs” to get out of the game. The president of the Volleyball Club of Northern Greece, Stathis Eftychidis explains to ThessToday.gr that the interest in Thessaloniki has increased sharply, while he characterizes airsoft as a “game of honesty” and that because as he states it is clearly subject to the honesty of the players to admit that they to withdraw from the battle depending on the scenario.
“It is purely a game – a hobby simulation of real weapons which is represented by the sincerity of each player”, said Mr. Eftychidis initially, with him analyzing the categories of the game:
“There are scenario games or tactics, that is, we simulate situations, such as operating on a building. “One team will keep the defense and the other will have to understand it, achieving the goals,” he said.
Old factories and camps in Thessaloniki are used as slopes
The Volleyball Club of Northern Greece (LAVE) counts 500 registered members aged 18 to 64 years, the active people are about 100, while only this year in the airsoft “30” were initiated.
In Thessaloniki, official races are organized every two weeks, while the battlefield is different each time: an old factory in Chalcedon, an abandoned camp in Langadas, while as open tracks are used even open forest areas, in Rema tis Maro, in Petrokerasa, in Gerakarou etc ..
“In recent years there has been a sharp rise in interest. We also have about 15 teams, which consist of 10 to 20 people who have their own costume, their own “code”, their own brand and their own way of playing. They even do trainings, for example in forests or buildings, in order to coordinate and play more as a team “.
Security is a priority
The participants use replicas of real weapons purely for reasons of entertainment and plausibility, however according to Mr. Eftychidis the equipment is also necessary.
“The player needs to have ballistic goggles, to wear buttocks, to have an assault weapon and a pistol to enter indoors”, he said and added that LAVE gives the possibility of free participation of four games and provision of equipment – except shoes – to someone who wants to try the sport.
The “thorn” with the legislation on weapons
The Volleyball Club of Northern Greece was founded mainly because the players had to have a safety net by law, and this is because in Greece the legislation on weapons with real bullets from airguns has not yet been separated. Mr. Eftychidis points out that for this reason the Club met with the general in Thessaloniki, while he underlined that the Greek Police and the municipalities are informed about the days when a game has been planned.
“We are informing the Police Departments and the municipalities that we will play a game. That is why LAVE was created, so that in order for there to be a being, they would know us. We respect the security measures “, he stated characteristically, adding that the Club has also participated in games in the Balkans, specifically in: Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia.
However, the president of the Club emphasizes that airsoft does not promote political, war, racist, nationalist views and can not prepare the participants for a real battle or anything related. “It is not militarized, we do not act for political or other purposes. “It’s a game like paintball, but more realistic,” he said.
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