Hidden away in Edlesborough is one of CQB’s secret weapons. The Outpost might seem small — and it is — but a dedicated team and some creative construction make this an ever-changing battleground with ferocious up-close firefights.
At a glance
- Website: http://sentinelairsoft.co.uk/
- Address: The Outpost – Sentinel Airsoft, Edlesborough, Dunstable LU6 2EE
- Price: £35 for a full-day walk on, £15 for an evening game walk on
- Rental gear: Prices here, a G36 or an M4 depending on package.
- Lunch: Included in daytime green fee, usually pizza.
- Frequency: currently every Saturday/Sunday, evening games every second Wednesday.
- How to book: https://www.facebook.com/SentinelAirsoftUK
- Toilets: Two portable toilets, located outside in the game zone.
- Car Park: Decent sized, no fuss for parking
- Safe zone: inside with desks
- Shop: Full service. Anything from RIFs to bangs to shemaghs.
- Card accepted: yes
What to expect
Games at The Outpost tend to be close and in your face. Props are common, with players asked to keep control of a case or a rocket, while some high concept games tasked you with loading a missile launcher and pushing it forwards under fire.
The outside area is full of wooden structures, and dynamic movement is key to play. While there are a lot of defensive positions, each of them has multiple flanks, meaning the team that moves the fastest and covers each other will often dominate. A two-story building overlooking the first quarter seems impregnable until you see people charging up the stairs and clearing it out.
The inside is a horror show, in the best possible way. Tight corners and a lack of light make it difficult to navigate, while players who know the site will charge around comfortably. Engagement distance in here tends to be within 1-2 metres, meaning shots hurt, and the amount of dead corners mean you could be fighting defenders with nowhere else to go. It’s a unique experience.
The crowd is generally good-natured too. One of the player marshalls on one visit apologised profusely after shooting me up the nostril, and I just want him to know that there are no ill-feelings, even after I had a spontaneous nosebleed that night. Many of the players are regulars, and in the years I’ve been playing there I’ve only once encountered a problem with another player once, and as he was a rental charging around corners firing his gun sideways and refusing to go to regen before coming back into the game, I’m not going to lay the blame at Sentinel’s feet for that one.
The marshall team tends to be decent, and the site owner Liam is a good bloke that seems interested in making sure everyone is having a good time. This is nice because while the marshalls can be a little bit gruff, there’s the sense that everyone involved really cares about you enjoying yourself and they’re keen to help the gameplay stay exciting and competitive.
My favourite game is Four Quarters. The site is an RAF listening post and the exterior is a square, divided up by the cross-shaped building that served as the listening post. The attacking team will have to power through from quarter 1 to quarter 4, beating the enemy back as they move through the site.
Usually, this is reversed so players can have an attempt at both attacking and defending, and a recent update has seen the game turn into a “fallback” game, with players respawning and entering play on a marshall stood a few steps behind the frontline. Every time a player dies, the marshall takes a couple of paces backwards, meaning there’s a constant and fierce firefight for around 40 minutes. Bring a speedloader.
What to bring
The site has a no DMR, no snipers rule as the site is so small. Generally, I run a short M4 and a Scorpion Evo here, but if you’ve ben waiting for a chance to use an SMG or even a machine pistol like the TM Gas MP7, you’ll be well served here.
Pyro is invaluable here. A dump pouch of cardboard pyro will help you progress outside, but inside reusable pyro is going to be the difference between taking a corridor and walking back to respawn.
As a CQB site, consider a mesh lower mask and a pair of gloves. Don’t be this guy above. It’s me and my face hurt all week.