When 858airsoft.com game designers begin to develop an airsoft scenario to use at one of our airsoft operations, it normally comes to us as a 'sudden' idea of what would be fun to play.  After all, airsoft is about having fun and if you, as a game developer, think it will be fun, than chances are that others will feel the same way.  This is not to say that 'all' game developed will be fun, but many airsoft players are looking for a 'break' from the normal games they see all the time.

The games that I am talking about are what I refer to as the 'basic' four.  These are the four basic game platforms that 'every' airsoft game starts as, no matter what you choose to call them.  They all derive from the same idea and it's the 'add ons' that will determine the game a 'scenario' or not.  The four 'basic' ideas of a game are:

* Capture the flag
* Attack and Defend
* Hostage rescue
* Elimination

I'm going to talk about the basics first and then get into the 'developing' part of this article. 

CAPTURE THE FLAG:
About 40%-50% of airsoft games are capture the flag.  Many people call it something different but when it comes down to it, it's capture the flag.  One team will hold an object, whether it be an actual flag or a suitcase filled with money.  The object of capture the flag.. is to.. well... capture ___________ from the other team.  Feel free to fill in the blanks with your objective. Now, the 'basics' of this is simple and if you were putting together a game with people you didn't know, simply divide the teams and give one of them an 'object' and tell the other team that they need to 'capture' it and bring it back to their base to win the game.  Simple right?  It really is...

ATTACK AND DEFEND:
Another 40%-50% of airsoft games are the old favorite attack and defend.  This is where one team 'holds' or defends a certain area from another team or two.. for either a specified amount of time or until the attacking team over runs them and then 'claims' the area.  This is another 'basic' game design that can be easily put together with a group of people that don't know each other or just simply want to play without it getting too complicated.

HOSTAGE RESCUE:
Now, hostage rescue is a 'bit' of a combination of the two aforementioned game plots.  The usual difference is, is that the 'object' that you are attempting to capture is normally a real human being or possibly a stuff animal or a 'doll'.  In years past, the group that I've played with has used a real 'training' dummy that the Police and Fire Department use when training.  150lbs of dead weight is great for adding realism to your game.  Anyway, with the hostage rescue, one team is basically 'defending' an area to hold their hostage and the other is 'attacking' the area to 'capture' the hostage and return back to base to win the game.  This type of game requires a little more 'planning' because you have different parameters that you need to keep in mind. 

Such as:
* Can the hostage walk? or do they need to be carried or dragged?
* Can he/she fight back?  Meaning, can we put a gun in their hands?
* Can the hostage attempt escape?  or do they have to stay still?

I think you get the idea.  Although this is a 'simple' game design, just remember that all your 'questions' and rules for the hostage have to be address beforehand, otherwise you'll end up having the participants 'improvising' the situation, which may or may not be what you want to have happen.  In one of the hostage rescue games I played on an Urban field once, an opponent picked up a trash can lid and used it as a 'shield' to grab the hostage.  Although he shouldn't have been able to do that.. since we didn't cover that in the rules of the game, we couldn't really say anything about it and the next thing we knew, we were chasing him down as he was running away with our hostage.  So be sure you cover all bases.

ELIMINATION:
Pretty self explanatory.. divide into teams and on "GO"... one team tries to take out the other team until everyone is dead.  The problem that we found with this game, is that once you get to the last 1-2 guys on a team.. the game pretty much comes to a stand still.  Even worse if there is only one person on each team.  Then you have two guys that don't want to die.. and will just sit one spot 'waiting' for the other to make a move.  The easiest way to discourage 'camping'.. is to put a time limit on the game.  We've found that 30 minutes is a good time limit for a group of about 20 people.  It keeps everyone moving and by the time you're down to the last couple of guys, your running out of time so there is very little chance that people will start camping.

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So now that I've talked about the 'basic' four... let's talk about 'scenario' writing.  What the 858airsoft.com game developers like to do, is to find an exciting storyline.  For example, our signature airsoft series "CIVIL WAR", is a story about two feuding military forces that are each fighting for a cause in which 'they' believe to be the 'right' cause.

Originally, the game was developed as a 'simple' capture the flag and the way that we divided the teams were to have all the airsoft players that live north of a local freeway, against all of the player that lived south of that freeway.  So it was a sort of North vs. South game.  In the first Civil War airsoft operation, the South ended up winning the game, which gave us the story line for next years game. 

For Civil War 2006, as per the storyline, Since the South won the campaign, they were awarded certain lands of the North.  This was their 'prize' for being victorious in the previous battle.  The problem was, they were taking 'too much' land, land that was not given to them as part of the cease fire agreement between the North and the South. 

Since the North, no longer had a military to fight the South, they called upon the help from another group named the "Oppression Defense Department".  The O.D.D. would then stand up and fight against the South, which had now 'grown' through it's battle victories and renamed them selves the "Earth Vanguard Enforcement Nation.".. aka E.V.E.N.  Now, for those of you that are paying attention, now we have ODD vs. EVEN.. and that is how we split the teams.  All of the members of the forum with an 'ODD' member number were on the ODD team.. and all the members with 'EVEN' numbers were on the EVEN team.

So, now that we have divided the teams, and we knew 'what' they were fighting for, we had to come up with 'objectives' for each team to look for.  So what we did was fast forwarded the time line to a couple years later and the O.D.D. and the E.V.E.N. forces were both 'stranded' in a remote battlefield and needed to extract their forces.  So, each team needed to search for 'fuel cells' on the field and return them back to their base to fill up fuel tanks on their 'transport'.  In addition to looking for fuel cells, they were looking for a supply drop & weapons cache that was on the field.  It just so happened, that the supply drop and the weapons cache belonged to a pair of independent contractor pilots.

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Okay, if you're taking notes and following along, you've noticed that I've explained to you two of the MAIN INGREDIENTS into writing a 'scenario' airsoft game.  When I say scenario, I'm not talking about a 'simple' game of airsoft where nobody will really remember what they were fighting for... A 'SCENARIO' game, is where people can really 'believe' in what they are fighting for.  And as such, they will then play are more 'intense' game and the storyline will be followed a bit more to your liking.  If you play your cards right, you will be able to use the 'result' of the scenario, to write a sequel scenario later. 

So you have your teams and they each know 'what' and 'why' they are fighting.  You have your 'basic' game designs and how each one works.  Now, how do you put them together to make a 'scenario' game?  Simple, this is where 'YOUR' imagination and creativity comes into the mix.  The third major ingredient into writing an airsoft scenario.

I can't tell you what to make your scenario about.. if I did, then it would be my game and I'd be writing it.  We want 'you' to write it so here is the basic 'outline' of things that 858airsoft.com game designers follow when writing an airsoft scenario:

1. Find a 'cause' of what you are fighting for.  Why are you searching for the _______? What significance does it portray in your story?  People 'want' to fight for 'something'.. so give them something to fight for

2. What is the 'ultimate' ending you want for the game?  Meaning, if everything went according to planned, there will be one winner of the game, what is the significance of the win?

3. Assuming that the ending you 'wanted' doesn't happen, come up with an alternate ending such as a 'continuation'..

4. Insert objectives that will 'lead' your participants to the ending that you desire.  Remember though, you don't want it unfair, so be sure that every objective is worth the same amount of 'points' to each team.

5. Make your objectives ones that actually 'follow' your story.  For instance, if your story is to rescue the ambassador of the US embassy in Cuba, you wouldn't look for a crashed alien spaceship would you?  NO... but.. you 'could' look for weapons cache or 'drug fields' or something since you're in Cuba.  Those could be the 'proof' that the US ambassador would bring before the UN.. maybe a part two?  Keep your objectives on topic.

6. Add more than 'one' objective.  If your game was simply to rescue the US ambassador, then you have a "Hostage Rescue" game.. and we're back to basics.  So, add some smaller objectives that enhance your story, such as the ones I listed above.  Maybe the 'reason' the US embassy is under attack is because the US ambassador located one of the major drug fields and was going to report it to the UN and now the Cuban drug cartel is after him.  So, your 'special forces' need to gather intel or some kind of evidence that would support the ambassadors claims.

7. Have certain intel the 'needs' to be gathered in order to complete an objective.  Such as, you can't gather intel on the drug field without first rescuing the ambassador because only 'he' knows the location.

I think you are getting the point.  As I said above, this is NOT meant to be comprehensive, you have to have 'some' of the input into the scenario.  And as you can see, I've already given you an 'idea' of a scenario game, not intentionally.. but I did.. so use it to build on.

A scenario game is a game that has a 'story'.  Something to actually fight for, something your participants can really get 'behind' in their role playing.  Many airsofters really want to get into 'character' and dress like a drug lord or a mafia member.  And that is what will make the scenario that much more fun.  If your ambassador would really dress in a suit and tie.. and the special forces were dressed accordingly.. and the drug cartel members, really looked like drug dealers and smugglers... that is what is going to make your scenario a hit.

Get your participants excited.  Use the tips and methods that I've written here and add in your own imagination and creativity.  And, once you do, let us know about it and we'll post up your Airsoft Operation information here.

-Good luck and have fun.