13/04/2024. We started in this large tent where our overalls were given (we were given random ones that had no bearing on what team you were on. Like Pembrokeshire, I have no idea why they do this). They claimed that the spitfires were able to reach 200m. While this is technically true, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to do this as the effective range of a spitfire is around 120m. The true figure for the weapon we were given (we all had spitfires) would have been around 90 or 100m as the range setting was set to “med” rather than Chorley’s “lng” and the guns looked like they had been dragged through a bush a few times. One of the most unique things about BFL-K was that everyone was set to 8HP and on hard mode. This is probably because the battlefield was much smaller so it would make sense to have a faster TTK. For some reason all of the spitfires emulated p90s so had 50 rounds and an incredibly slow reload. You had to be very tactical when you were going to press the red button.

The first game mode was a regular TDM. Because of the layout of the battlefield (being very linear with little cover), it was impossible to flank so we just had to charge forward. The scores across the games were carried over into the next game, with 1 point awarded for each kill and bonus points if you complete any objectives (in this game there were no bonus points). Each game was about 20 minutes which I’m not used to (and later on I see why we don’t have this game length at Chorley). Our team (alpha) narrowly beat theirs (delta).

The 2nd game was capture the flag. I was pretty surprised by this as we’ve already tried this mode at Chorley and decided not to do it again. There were 2 flags and all you needed to do was get to the other side alive and pick up a flag. This would get your team 10 bonus points on top of the points you also get for kills. Another objective was added with the introduction of a new gun. They brought out 2 m16s (they called them snipers despite not having a scope) and each team would have one set to an emulated bolt action, one shot kill sniper. The m16 with the most kills would get another 10 bonus points for their team. For such a simplistic map and seemingly more inexperienced target audience, bringing out a bolt action was a pretty bold move as the user would need to remember to cycle a new round every shot. I’m glad I didn’t get to shoot it as I probably would have got less kills than with a spitfire emulating a p90.

The 3rd game was domination. This game mode works exactly like the one in Chorley, but this time there are 2 boxes to take control of. One was in this wooden fort in the middle of the battlefield, and another was a large tent nearby. Our team started closer to the fort so that’s where I stayed. There was a slight flaw in putting the box in the fort – there were small gaps big enough to take control of the box without ever stepping into the fort itself. We took the box for about 13 of the 15 minutes and I think we also had the majority of the control for the other box. We also managed to get the bonus points for our m16. In this game mode I learned that the fort provided very good cover (as long as you didn’t go inside) in comparison to the rest of the map.

The final game was plant the bomb. The objective was to have the bomb in the other side’s half of the battlefield at the end of the game. However, the players don’t know when the bomb is going to go off so they need to continuously pick it up and place it just beyond the centre line (there was no need to carry it all the way to the other side as it would leave you exposed for longer). As this was the last game, everyone was on 30 lives and no respawns. At the end of the game we had 4 players left and they had none, which meant we could carry the bomb across without any opposition. In fact, this is one of my main criticisms of BFL-K: each game mode was effectively TDM or team elimination because you still got a lot of points for getting kills and not doing the objective. The Marshalls got too involved – I could often hear them shouting instructions rather than letting players do their own thing. The spitfires felt quite old and heavier than the ones I’m used to. This was confirmed by some of the players saying that the gun felt heavy after the first couple of games. Because of the very small map and the fast paced nature of the games, I was mag dumping more than usual and my trigger finger started to ache during the last game. This has never happened before and could be down to the fact that the triggers felt stiffer and more clicky than they do in Chorley. Not having a FFA or a scoreboard was also pretty disappointing. I was also surprised that we got free water + there was no shop to buy snacks and drinks.

7.5/10 – A few flaws but overall very good considering how they’re restricted by the size and shape of the land (small and rectangular when ideally you would want something bigger and more square).