We all have seen (at least once) how special forces police
squads like SWAT from all over the world do their training...
yes, that wooden house with paper targets posing as bad
guys and civilians, that's what I'm talking about. And guess
what, we can do exactly the same in a very accurate scenario
but in Airsoft, just as the real cops do it.
Those of you who fancy this idea, read on…
For this elaborated scenario you will need:
- A building structure (a house, a warehouse, an office
space).
- Paper targets (alternatively you could use cans, balloons,
gijoes, barbies, report cards, speeding tickets, Grammy
Awards, etc).
- 1 to 5 players per team depending on the size of the
building and game type.
- A single replica of any kind per player with a magazine
loaded with no more than 30rds.
- A chronometer.
The main objective of this simulation is to complete the
course with the highest score. Inside the house, a random
number of "enemy" targets (yeah the paper ones
with bad guys painted on them) will be located all over
the house, some civilian targets will be located to give
the "entry team" something else to think about
before they pull the trigger, so team members must be alert
what they shoot at. Some of you may say "they are not
real, so their deaths will serve the higher purpose, to
free our world of terrorists!"... Then I'm afraid you
would be making a very unwise choice (not to mention highly
unethical), considering that shooting down an enemy target
will earn the team a few points depending on accuracy, BUT
shooting a civilian will deduct a hefty amount of points
from your score.
|
When the teams
finish the course, the score will be assessed taking
into account the number of targets shot down, the
accuracy of the shots, the time spent completing the
course, AND as a nice twist, the amount of firepower
used to try to enforce SWAT's minimum use of lethal
force rule (drilling the target in full auto will
eventually 'deduct' points from your score).
|
Below is a design I made for a wooden dummy, using a human
sized paper target. The base is made from wood boards which
are cheap, durable, workable, and easy to find. I picked
wood since you can glue a paper suspect onto it and even
if you shoot it, the BBs will bounce off and the paper dude
will retain it's form for a very long time. There are two
holes in the dummy, one at the chest and the other one at
the head. These allow for different point structures, and
you can then just tape paper targets to the back of the
dummy covering the holes. This way, your mean looking suspect
will pose for ages as the only destructible area of the
dummy will be the photocopies of the targets covering the
holes, which are what you use for grading.
This website www.actiontarget.com
specializes in building shoot houses and making and selling
target dummies. You can also purchase human sized paper
targets like the one I used for the example for as little
as 35 cents.
Although you're free to issue all points as you see fit,
if you use human paper targets with 2 target areas, my recommendation
for points and target size is the following:
| Suggested
Point System |
 |
Head shot for dangerous
suspect:
Zone A (50)
Zone B (40)
Zone C (30)
Torso shot for dangerous
suspect:
Zone A (20)
Zone B (15)
Zone C (YOU'RE DEAD!)
|
 |
 |
Head shot for armed suspect:
Zone A (5)
Zone B (10)
Zone C (15)
Torso shot for armed suspect:
Zone A (30)
Zone B (20)
Zone C (10)
|
 |
Civilian: Head (-100),
Chest (-50)
*
Multiple shot penalty for civilian casualties:
(lowest scored shot x number of shots)
|
|
- Multiple shot penalty for
suspects:
((highest scored shot x number of shots)
/ (-5))
This means that hitting a target
more than once will DEDUCT points from your total
instead of adding. Assuming you nailed 1 head shot
and 2 chest shot on the same attacking suspect, it
would look like this: (50x3)/(-5)= -30 (deduct 30
points)…. 50 points were used as the base of
the formula, as it was the highest scored shot (the
head). We used -5 as the standard penalty assessor
as we will assume that no suspect should ever be hit
more than 5 times.
|
Main Benefits of this Game Type:
* Mixes a competitive environment with a realistic training
method.
* The course can be run by 1 or several members of each
team.
* It sharpens your CQB skills.
* Actions are fast and tactical.
* Encourages proper aiming and target recognition.
* In teams, improves your ability to plan ahead and communicate
during action.
* It's fun and challenging!
Drawbacks:
* Requires 10 to 15 minutes to set up each exercise.
* Targets are static and don't shoot back.
* For a far better experience, target construction is recommended.
Credits/Acknowledgments
This article was brought to you by Falcon in collaboration
with TripleA (wooden dummy construction and points system).
Images from www.actiontarget.com
July 18, 2005. Athens, Greece
