Here's what we know so far.

This all started with John Lu's Lion Claws rivalry against Josh Warren's MSW (Milsim West).

This is nothing new but escalated when John Lu sent an email to the MUTC, the local government and anyone else that had anything to do with events being held at the MUTC painting MSW in a bad light.

It is still unclear what exactly was said by John in his emails but Bubba Moore's Centurion Airsoft first Op, Operation Condor, is clearly collateral damage of these actions. Subsequently, Bubba's event has been cancelled and now MSW hangs in danger of suffering the same fate.

This is the level to which the event producer pissing match has reached. One event cancelled for sure, another in danger and who knows the future for Milsim at the MUTC in general. All over a pissing match that has gotten out of control.

John Lu did admit emailing the MUTC and local government to warn them about MSW but he adamantly denies these emails being lies or exaggerations to hurt MSW.

So until the true nature of the emails sent is understood we are left to speculate what may have been said to trigger such a unilateral response against Milsim by the MUTC.

Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC), Butlerville, Indiana

It doesn't look good for John Lu with the community and sponsors tired of these kinds of black marks. The online social media crap slinging is one thing but taking action that denies players event opportunities is going too far when it hits everyone, not just your target rival.

I look forward to hearing John Lu's side of the story and have welcomed him to comment on the matter because it's a side of the story that deserves to be heard too.

I have not played an MSW event yet and hope to one day because I'm all about try multiple flavors. I've played lots of LC, I've commanded as XO in every corner of the country for LC. I am actually a LCMOH recipient for my contributions. So this is coming from a guy that has been held in high regard by the LC organization.

I cannot support or attend a Lion Claws event as long as game producers reckless actions damage the community as a whole.

More to come as things develop.

UPDATE: Milsim West released a statement about recent events:

Over the past two years MilSim West has developed a reputation for putting on the most professional and immersive military simulation, or war-gaming, events in the country. We have developed an incredibly unique, and effective, business model. The cornerstone of this is the compensation of vetted military veterans who act as embedded admins and impart their experiences to our valued customers. This is a result of the continual hard work and determination of our cadre, corporate sponsors, and dedicated participants, who continue to raise the standard of MilSim.

2015 was a year of rapid and unprecedented expansion for our organization. We seamlessly transitioned from holding three events in a single region to holding six events across the entire country. However, we were made aware of roadblocks established by a single competitor, who was clearly threatened by the expansion of our organization. As professionals in this community, we ignored his first attempts to undermine the quality product we strive to provide. However, recent evidence has come to light, illuminating the culpability of this competitor, that we cannot ignore and we feel the community has to be made aware of.

As many of you know, MSW and Mr. “Bubba” Moore of Centurion MilSim recently made efforts to hold their first events at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC). In a surprising turn of events, Centurion Airsoft and MilSim West both received an email from MUTC informing us that the civilian sponsoring agency had declined to support any airsoft events indefinitely. Unfortunately, by the time this happened it was too late for Mr. Moore and Centurion to secure an additional sponsor, forcing him to cancel his event. However, MilSim West is tirelessly working with the facility staff to secure a sponsor for the upcoming event, “Assault on Volgograd”.

Evidence provided by Mr. Moore indicated that a mutual competitor has attempted to defame the good standing of MSW and their relationships with quality military training facilities. What is clear is that this competitor has emailed various influential personnel within the county and military base in the hopes that MUTC would not permit MSW to utilize their facilities. These accusations included slanderous claims that MSW cadre and participants had “trashed” Camp Shelby and sexually assaulted a female participant. Both of these claims are completely untrue, and clearly indicate the unprofessionalism of this producer.

Competition is good; competition drives innovation and without competition there would be little incentive for organizations to adapt and improve their events for the changing market. It is evident that this single competitor has little faith in his organization to adapt to the ever-changing market and instead chooses to sabotage others.

We acknowledge that our events are not for everyone and we encourage the community looking to attend an event in the future to ask themselves whether the promoter and organization truly cares about the community, or if they only do it for the money. We at MSW ask that you cast a vote with your wallet and only support organizations that care about and support the community - MilSim West, American MilSim, Centurion Airsoft, Third Coast Airsoft, Pegasus Airsoft, and The Bastards are all run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and some by veterans. These organizations all care about innovation within the community and are willing to provide each of you with a quality experience.

MilSim West would like to cast the first vote and establish a reciprocal relationship with fellow event producers. Attend an event put on by any of the organizations above, within two calendar months, and we will provide a 15% discount pending the other organizations agreement.

Some of you might dismiss this as “drama,” however it is far more than that. Airsoft, and milsim, is an entire industry with hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is also a job and sole source of income for many – before you comment take a step back and ask yourself whether you would you tolerate a competitor making slanderous remarks about you that cost your business tens of thousands of dollars.

We value your time and patronage of our events. For those of you who are loyal and returning customers, we thank you for your continued patience and support over the next few weeks.

We have enclosed a link to the previously referenced audio file of the phone call between our competitor and Bubba Moore of Centurion Airsoft. Be advised that there is incredibly strong and inappropriate language used throughout the tape as well as numerous unsubstantiated lies and slander.

(Note the link on Facebook is not available)

Javier "Darkhorse"

-------------------------------------------------

About The Author

Javier "Darkhorse" Franco, formerly from This Week In Airsoft, runs his own Airsoft Blog on Facebook called "One Grunt's Opinion." The original article was posted there.