We arrived by almost 2100H Friday after battling the traffic along the M25 for the whole afternoon where we thought that almost every vehicle in England was headed in the direction we were going.  Nevertheless, with whatever sunlight was remaining, we immediately set-up our tents, said hi to the regulars of Ground Zero; and of course, had to do our usual hellos with H and the rest of the staff, without them we wouldn't have a most convenient spot at the Ground Zero Weekender National Airsoft Event 2014.

It was a good thing that we had our fill of food at one of the services along the M3 and the only thing we needed after all camp setup and courtesies was to grab some beer and discuss the tasks at hand as we cover the event for the 7th straight year. It was really more of having enough beer in our bellies as the our meeting was quick and by 2400H we decided to call it a night.

Brrrr!!! That was probably the coldest night ever at the Ground Zero Weekender. The temperature dropped below 10 Degrees Celsius and if it went even lower, it would have been cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey. We always remember the Ground Zero Weekender as either very wet and muddy or very dry, but it’s the first time we'll remember it being really cold. Still it was a relatively dry Weekender as compared to the previous years.

I woke up around 0630h of Saturday and hurriedly got off the tent to do some morning chores before the whole camp woke up, if you know what I mean. Some were already out and about going to the food vans which for this year were a lot more, including a Mexican Taco Double Decker Busy for a change. Since Master Chief, who is also our camp cook, apart from being the designated driver, was asleep, I decided to get coffee from the food van and checked on my emails and Popular Airsoft updates.

By 0730H almost everyone was already up and there were long queues to the food vans. I think by this time almost 80% of those who showed up to play were already in their gear, with the more grizzled veterans taking their sweet time knowing that the briefing time is still over two hours away.

We brought one Weekender "virgin" who, despite already an experienced airsoft player overseas, will still have to experience a big event in the UK. For now we can call him "Cheng" until he has appropriated what he thinks is a proper callsign for his use.  He also has to get his gear from the shop at the Big Tent, which unfortunately for him, wasn't open yet by 1000H.

A bit past 1000H, H gave the order to proceed to the Landing Zone, where he conducts briefings to players each year. Almost 2000 players have confirmed participation, making it the biggest Weekender since it began. And to take photos of such number of players, we have to be at elevated places. I was at the guardhouse/platform where H does his briefings whilst Master Chief rode on the bucket of the crane truck where he had a bird's eye view of the landing zone and all the players in it.

By 1100H, it was game on and we went to join The Others at Fire Base Charlie, which will be their staging area for Saturday. It's Woody's turn again to be The Others 1C with Spud, who led The Others win in 2012, being the 2IC. It took a bit for the game to really start as we had to wait for the fireworks barrage that would signal the start of the game and for all the players from the various groups --- Bravo, Delta, and The Others to start going for their mission objectives and collect as many points as they can.

The Others were quick to raise their flags at the Prison Camp, Stag Camp and the OP, which are closest to Fire Base Charlie. The Prison Camp is at the FEBA which meant that the players occupying it will be the first to encounter attacks from the other groups, and it was Bravo sending some troops to get it.

As we went further down to the area called the ''BB Magnet",  or more officially known as "The Trenches", indeed there was a high concentration of players in the area with Bravo defending the area and having occupied a good portion of the western part of the game area including The Nest, The Village and The Fort. The Deltas were busy gobbling up the northern part of the game area and trying to move to the area of The Others. From there, it's now a matter of taking territory and getting more points from other players and mission objectives as put in the mission packs.

By 0100H we decided to get back to the Safe Zone to grab some lunch and we tried the tacos from the Mexican Taco Bus. Cheng and I decided to get our kit to join in the game, whilst Master Chief had to stay behind since he his foot was hurting and had to rest. We went to The Others Staging Area by 1430H.

The first thing that we had to do was help defend Fire Base Charlie as the Deltas were attacking it. We positioned ourselves but I came under attack when a Delta suddenly appeared to take a shot at me. He missed and I fired back, missing him as well as he quicky ducked but one The Others player who was right behind us got him. We cleared our sector and waited for more. Cheng spotted a Delta slowly going towards Fire Base Charlie right behind us. He asked if he could fire at him and my answer was simple, if he is wearing a different colour tag, then shoot him. He fired, got him, and made his first kill for his first Weekender.

A sniper from Delta was well hidden to our right and was taking out The Others who were moving out to other areas. I almost got hit by the sniper and we were pinned down until some made their way around and got him. From there, we pushed forward towards the Prison Camp area again where Cheng was hit for the first time so off to the regen area for him. We are able to capture it, and moved towards The Village. Bravo were already there, holding it tight, and we were making little or no progress at all. Then we got a call for reinforcements from Fire Base Charlie as it was under attack again. We rushed back to help out, and Cheng got hit again. The area was clear and I headed back to The Village where I got hit. After respawning at Respawn Area 2, I went to Fire Base Charlie where Woody gave a command for a full attack on The Fort and The Village. It was 1600H by this time, and in our attack at The Fort, I got hit by a full barrage of friendly fire.

I had to go back to the Safe Zone to get my camera gear as I know that by this time, all groups will be converging on The Village before the game ends at 1700H. Last year I was part of the attack which we held The Village but failed to lower the flag so we can raise The Others colour since it was tied tight. Still that experience was really intense as all available players from all groups were thrown into the fight. For this year, we wanted to take photos and videos of this amazing part of the day.

Indeed, the firefight was heavy as Cheng and I also dodged BBs left and right. Other players were warning us about protecting our lenses and I told Cheng not to mind them and just take videos whilst I take still photos. I even had to protect one player from getting hit further as a lucky shot got him at an area that immobilised him for a minute. I think I got hit by players from all groups with the chaos and confusion that took place in the dying minutes of the game play. Bravo managed to hold the village when the game ended at 1700H. All players trooped back to the Safe Zone to rest for two hours before the announcement of the day's results and the raffle draw.

By this time, the Boot Sale was on and players checked what unwanted stuff from other players were on display to buy. For us, we decided to check the Incentive Designs display where the SMG Rattle was demonstrated in front of us. We actually heard the SMG Rattle when it was used in the afternoon game, but we were too far to see it fired in anger.

At 1700H, H was high up in the Crane to announce the results. The organisers have come better prepared, having pre-drawn some of the raffle winners unlike the previous years where they had to draw each number for all the raffle prizes which there were lots.  Bravo were announced to have won for Saturday, having collected 3760 points, with Delta following at 3490 and The Others with a good 3040 points.

The Raffle Draw was the done quickly, and it took less than an hour this year. Live music entertainment followed until late, and all the camp areas were alive as players talked about their experiences during the day. Others tried some clay shooting with real shotguns, and others shopped for more gear at the Boot Area and Zero One Shop. For us, it was more stories with our friends from the Swiss Invaders, and meeting Valentino Banks, the three-week old baby of Daniel and Wanda Banks from the Swiss Invaders and one of the more popular couples at Ground Zero.

It was tiring day for us and both Cheng and Master Chief decided to call it a night by 2230H. I still lingered bit as I still had two pints of beer on my hands to finish. I also made sure that I got enough layers on me to keep me warm as I retired for another cold, cold night by 2330H.

Read Part 2 of the Report here.

More photos at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page.