Let's try to briefly explain what hardball is.

"Hardball" - what kind of beast?

Name of the game (hard- hard, ball- ball) speaks for itself - hardball is the toughest type of modern popular military tactical games. The game uses pneumatic weapons (yes, gentlemen, according to the laws of the Russian Federation it is WEAPON), which fires lead or steel balls or pellets.And hence, the need for greater responsibility on the part of the participants in this event.

About origin such a phenomenon as hardball, one can definitely say - hardball originated in Russia. The likely ground for growth is the development of the Izhevsk plant and the availability of affordable pneumatics to the masses. There is also an opinion that hardball was first practiced by special forces of the early Soviet era, since it is in hardball that combat situations are as close to reality as possible.

At the games, attention is paid not only to shooting, but also to physical training, hand-to-hand and knife fighting, sports shooting, etc. The scope of application is huge, hence everyone can find interest in this phenomenon and be useful for the movement.

Due to the potential risk, it hurts to get hit by a stray bullet somewhere, in hardball the main thing is defense, and everything else comes later. Glasses, masks, thick clothing and gloves - now there is everything for safe hardball games, so in our time the hardball hobby is not only for wild maniacs who lack adrenaline. The principle here is that it is better to see once than to hear 100 times.

What to fight with?

Weapons in hardball a wide variety of samples are used. The key difference from other military tactical games is that real weapons are used here. And, in fact, its use in the game is prohibited))) ...so let’s play, don’t hurt anyone, and you will be happy. The appearance, dimensions, weight and other characteristics are close to real military weapons. At strong desire you can get something fancy like the Junker-3 model, which is an exact copy of the world-famous and beloved Kalashnikov assault rifle. Initial bullet speed ranges from 90 to 180 m/s, which brings this game as close as possible to real combat conditions.

Money and honesty

The game itself, of course, non-profit. Like airsoft, it is designed for perfect honesty participants. The main rule: hit - out.

What will people think?

Society's attitude to hardball varies - from passionate fans of this game because of the realistic simulation of combat due to a good shooting range and the fear of getting shot, to people who consider all hardball players to be nothing more than maniacs and psychos. Well, the taste and color...

Speaking about hardball, for those who want to take it up, it is worth saying that sooner or later you will receive a “wound”, after which the “immortal Rambo” inside you will die. This cannot be avoided, and every seasoned fighter had it. Well, it’s precisely because of this that everything in hardball becomes more serious. You won’t see the bullet and you won’t dodge it, so you won’t go on the attack shouting “Hurray” one more time (although this happens). And even if you go, there may not be enough cartridges to successfully cover the enemy - there are only 10-30 of them, and then you will fall and reload under the whistling of enemy bullets.

Pros of hardball:

1. Hardball is the most realistic military tactical game.
2. Low cost of entry into the movement due to the opportunity to purchase inexpensive weapons and good level protection.
3. The target firing range (50-80 meters) is at altitude. A paradise for a sniper player.
4. The behavior of a bullet depends little on the will of the enemy and on environment. Bushes will not save the victim.
5. Available in any weather and at any time of the year.

Disadvantages of hardball:

1. The prevalence of movement and, accordingly, the number of players. Let's join the movement and correct this disadvantage!
2. Places for games should be chosen that are deserted. It's better not to shine much at all.
3. Protection and convenience from it. More protection - less fighter, less protection - you will play less.
4. Potential for serious penetrating injury.
5. Absolute honesty of players. If there is one, it is better to write it as a plus, but as a rule, cases of ignorance come across.

Where to begin?

This is true and... not entirely true.

“Hardball (English hard - hard, English ball - ball) is a military-tactical team game using pneumatic weapons that shoot lead and steel (copper-sheathed) balls and bullets.

It is believed that hardball originated in Russia as an independent military tactical game.

Some experts claim that hardball originated in Russia before airsoft. There is an opinion that hardball was first invented by Soviet special forces to practice combat situations that were as close to reality as possible." (Wikipedia)

Well, now let’s compare it with the description of airsoft.

« Airsoft- a non-profit team game. The game involves two or more teams. A team is considered a voluntary association led by a team commander or a team representative.

Mentally balanced citizens over 18 years of age who have their own equipment are allowed to participate.

The meaning of the game is collective recreation in the lap of nature, neutralization of negative emotions and aggressive aspirations, the joy of mutual communication between worthy people. The game is played on fairness, so no disputes between players are allowed during the game. Players who argue with each other during the game are eliminated from the game until the very end and continue the argument in the residential camp.

As gaming equipment, players use so-called soft pneumatics, driven by an electric motor, gas mixture, carbon dioxide or the muscular strength of the player himself." (Wikipedia)

Please pay Special attention on the meaning of the game. If airsoft is a kind of collective recreation, then hardball cannot be called a vacation. The weapons there are much cooler than airsoft ones, therefore, you need stronger, and therefore heavier and more expensive equipment, and the weapons in hardball are already more similar to the real thing. Not externally, but in terms of weight (both the weapon itself and the “ammunition” are heavier) and ballistic (closer to military weapons) characteristics. Hardball is more about practicing the interaction of a well-coordinated team during direct combat contact.

Hardball weapons fire real bullets, not plastic balls like airsoft. Although the power of harbdball “guns” is small, you can’t climb “with your chest into the embrasure”, it hurts! The very principle of hardball is to reproduce a combat situation not so much visually, as in airsoft, but precisely at the level of sensations. Hardball players, even with the proper equipment, always feel the impact of a bullet. A real bullet, not a light plastic ball. Little of! A flying airsoft ball often flies so slowly that, firstly, it is visible, and secondly, with good reaction speed you can simply dodge it. You can no longer escape from a hardball bullet. Well, a pneumatic bullet doesn’t bounce off leaves and tall grass like an airsoft ball. Consequently, hardball is a game much more honest and closer to reality than airsoft. It is not for nothing that hardball has recently been called a hard (or fair) strike.

Price issue. Airsoft guns are more expensive than hardball guns. Hardball uses any air gun that shoots both lead bullets and steel balls with a power of up to 7.5 joules. Prices for new weapons start at about 2 thousand rubles. Compare with the price of an airsoft drive, which starts at about 10 thousand rubles. Five times more expensive. Plus, the weapon used in hardball is not a toy; owners use air pistols and rifles for their intended purpose, for recreational shooting (plinking) and hunting birds and rodents. That is, investing in a hardball weapon is more profitable than buying an expensive toy for a strike, which, unfortunately, will remain just a toy. However, with the current popularity of hardball, private Russian companies have already begun to produce analogues of military weapons adapted for playing hardball. However, these weapons are still too expensive and... not of very high quality. This is how people play, mainly with their grandfather’s “perelomki” and Izhevsk “Murkas”, and with air pistols made in Izhevsk.

Safety. Both strike and hard games are not allowed to play without the appropriate equipment. But if in a strike a ball fired from the most super-tuned drive will at most pierce the cheek and certainly bounce off any clothing, then in hard games much more severe wounds are possible. Therefore, hardball equipment is taken very seriously. Not just glasses, but a pressure helmet that covers not only the eyes, but the entire face as a whole. Most a budget option— a paintball mask, reinforced with a special armored film to protect car headlights. Even military bulletproof vests and helmets of the “Sphere” type are often used, which are completely useless in functional terms when playing airsoft; in a strike they are worn purely for the external surroundings. IN Lately Many hardball teams purchase special Kevlar neck protection because... a hit in the throat, even from a low-power air gun, can be fatal... However, if all safety measures are followed, a hardball is no more dangerous than a strike.

Conclusions. In airsoft you don’t shoot at enemies, but, first of all, you play with friends and have fun. The game of hardball is closer to a combat situation, which means, firstly, it is more difficult, gambling and adrenaline-filled. Secondly, hardball is a less expensive game in terms of finances than airsoft. And more dangerous and traumatic, which is a disadvantage for some, but for others the advantage of this dangerous, but beautiful and exciting war game.

Emergence

It is believed that hardball originated in Russia as an independent military tactical game. Claims that hardball is a cheap alternative to airsoft are erroneous, since the cost of weapons of the same classes is approximately the same. In addition, we should not forget about hardball personal protective equipment, which, as a rule, is much more complex than airsoft.

Some experts claim that hardball originated in Russia before airsoft. In addition, a significant part of people are convinced that hardball is the product of “hot heads” who lack the adrenaline in airsoft games. We can only say unequivocally that hardball is a game of Russian invention.

At the games, they engage not only in shooting, but also in complex training: physical training, hand-to-hand combat, knife fighting, mountaineering, parkour, and so on.

Hardball was first invented by Soviet special forces and the FSB to practice combat situations that were as close to reality as possible.

Equipment

First of all - protection, and secondly - camouflage. To protect the face and eyes, they mainly use paintball masks additionally reinforced with mesh, fabric or metal, or specialized masks made of thick armored plastic that can withstand point-blank hits from the modernized MP-512. To protect the body, use clothing made from durable fabric, elbow pads, knee pads, gloves. Main principle- There should be no exposed areas of the body.

It is worth considering that the most vulnerable and difficult to protect areas of the body are the neck and wrists. To protect them, you can use, for example, a scarf or elastic bandages. There are also specialized items of clothing designed to protect the body from sports pneumatic bullets.

Weapon

The weapon’s design, appearance, weight and other characteristics are as close as possible to the real thing. At the same time, the effective firing range of rifles usually does not exceed 100 - 120 m. The record range is 631 m. Mostly, gas-cylinder weapons are used, but more and more often pure PCP or spring-piston weapons are used (for example, sniper rifles) due to the more stable characteristics shot (the speed of a shot using CO2 gas is highly dependent on the ambient temperature; moreover, during tempo shooting, the CO2 cylinder freezes over). The initial energy of the bullet is quite high, but does not exceed the permitted 7.5 J, the speed can reach from 90 to 180 m/s, which brings the game as close as possible to real combat operations. In hardball, various upgrades are often allowed. upgrade- improvement).

In culture

Christopher Bunch's sci-fi action film The Last Legion depicts guerrillas training with air rifles, reminiscent of hardball.

Okay, brother. Let's talk about this tonight. Now we need to study. - With these words, he unfolded the canvas in which seven small rifles were wrapped. - If you have children, then you have probably seen these. But these are not really toys. It's more likely tutorial novice fighter. They are pneumatic, with hand pump. They hit twenty meters or so, and in our hills you don't need more. They shoot small copper balls. You can use them to shoot a bird or a felmet... Or knock out a person's eye. Unlike the Confederacy, we have neither training grounds nor sufficient funds to train soldiers. These rifles will help you learn how to shoot... and hit your target.

Allows you to earn money without investment 50 rubles for 10 minutes!

A complete and similar overview of all Internet work without attachments and with attachments -

The second part of the review article “Military tactical games” is devoted to such military sports games as Airsoft and Hardball. The main feature of these games is, first of all, the almost complete absence of a commercial component, unlike laser tag and paintball (the article “Laser Tag and Paintball” can be found at). Airsoft and hardball are mostly played by enthusiasts who independently organize and conduct these events. In this regard, communities of fans of such games are less known and there is not as much information about them as we would like. Although it should be noted that recently airsoft clubs have begun to appear, operating on the paintball principle: site + client + rental = money. Let us remind you that articles about military tactical games are aimed primarily at people who are interested in such leisure, but do not yet know what exactly they would like to do, what is the difference and what are the pros and cons, as well as what nuances of the above games exist.

Airsoft (Airsoft)

The original name of the game is Airsoft, which comes from two English words– air (air) and soft (soft), which can be translated as “soft pneumatics”. But in Russian-speaking countries, a completely different name has taken root - airsoft. The game uses a special pneumatic weapon called a “drive”, which shoots plastic balls with a diameter of 6-8 mm. Airsoft initially appeared in post-war Japan and was used to train police officers in the use of weapons (by the way, in those years, firearms were banned in Japan - such a restriction was introduced following the results of the Second World War).

The main feature of airsoft is the weapon used: airsoft drives are exact copies real firearms. Moreover, the similarity is not only in appearance, but also often in weight, disassembly pattern and even magazine capacity. In addition to the realistic nature of the weapon, airsoft players take uniforms and other equipment very seriously. As a rule, players of one airsoft team try to exactly match the fighters of a certain army or some special forces in appearance. Including if the plot of the game involves combat German troops with the Red Army on the outskirts of Stalingrad in 1942 - it would be in bad taste to “fight” in a modern NATO uniform, the same modern equipment and with an AK-47 or MP5 at the ready.

Video report on airsoft (STS channel, Galileo broadcast):

Pros when playing airsoft:

1) High ambience: realistic weapon models, real-life military uniforms and other military equipment allow you to feel like a S.W.A.T fighter storming a building captured by terrorists and a saboteur behind enemy lines, sneaking up in camouflage to an important enemy target.

2) Larger sighting range compared to : 40-50 meters. Airsoft drives naturally shoot further than 50 meters, but most likely at a greater distance the enemy will not feel the impact of the ball.

3) Low risk of injury: unlike paintball and especially hardball, the only protective equipment required is special tactical anti-fragmentation glasses and, if desired, tactical assault gloves.

4) Low material costs for ammunition. The cost of airsoft balls, unlike paintball balls, is simply meager. As for the cost of the airsoft drives themselves, their cost is quite comparable to paintball markers: for starters, you can buy cheap Chinese models, but if you get into airsoft seriously, you will have to fork out for a good drive and for its tuning.

Disadvantages when playing airsoft:

1) Feeling of realism of airsoft weapons (in part appearance, weight and disassembly diagrams) completely disappears after the first shot. The sound of an automatic burst from an airsoft weapon vaguely resembles the muffled sound of a medical drill in dental office or the sound of a mini sewing machine. There is naturally no recoil either.

2) Strong gusts of wind significantly affect the flight path of the airsoft ball.

3) A hit by a light airsoft ball in protected (even just covered by thick clothing) places on the player’s body, as a rule, is very faintly felt. An airsoft ball does not leave any marks, with the exception of perhaps bloody marks on bare skin when fired from a short distance (which is quite rare). The game is played with the players' integrity in mind. Despite the fact that airsoft adherents constantly declare the unique honesty of all real airsoft players, in this game, like nowhere else, “MacLeodism” flourishes - a deliberate ignorance of one’s own defeat.

4) There are negligibly few specially equipped training grounds and areas for playing airsoft. Airsoft games are held, as a rule, in deserted and hard-to-reach places (abandoned buildings, rarely visited forests, etc.), since, unlike, say, laser tag or paintball, it is very difficult to protect the “civilian population” and random people from the risk of injury.

Hardball

As the name suggests (hard - hard and ball - ball), hardball is the most tough and realistic game of the military sports games we are considering. Hardball uses pneumatic weapons (Crosman 1077, MP-661K Drozd, IZH-61, MP-512, etc.) that fire 4.5 mm lead bullets or balls. If you wish, you can acquire a more “ambient” weapon - for example, the Junker-3 model, which is an exact copy of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. The first hardball games began to be held in countries former USSR. The strongest impetus (and perhaps the only one) in the development of hardball was the mass production of Izhevsk plant affordable air guns.

Just like airsoft, hardball is considered a non-commercial military sports game that is designed for the honesty of participants. Attitude to hardball different people, as a rule, is diametrically opposite - there is no “golden” mean. Some argue that a more realistic game that simulates real combat (due to the large target firing range, limited “realistic” ammunition and the completely logical fear of “catch” a bullet) does not exist today. Other hardball players do not call them anything other than “maniacs” and “crazy people.”

It is the “hard” realism of the game that distinguishes hardball from airsoft, paintball, and even more so . The desire to pretend to be a “cool action hero” in beginners it disappears after the first painful lesions. Fear (although not the same as in real combat conditions) does not allow one to behave rashly and forces one to rely not only on physical abilities and reflexes. An attack in hardball may well choke solely due to the reluctance of the fighters to receive a bullet that you cannot see and cannot dodge. Limited ammunition (magazine capacity for various hardball weapons ranges from 1 to 30 “cartridges”) does not allow you to shoot left and right at all suspicious places. And these conditions themselves dictate the urgent need to develop tactical skills and coordinate the actions of players within a separate combat group. It is quite true that hardball gives a stronger psychological and physical training than other military sports games.

Video report about hardball (TNT channel, program Instructions for use):

Video of hardball players from Yekaterinburg:

Equipment for hardball players (memo for beginners):

Pros of playing hardball:

1) The most realistic behavior of players, dictated both by the fear of catching a bullet and by limited ammunition.

2) High target firing range: 60-80 meters. In hardball, sniper players armed with single-shot rifles are very common. More or less guaranteed to hit the enemy’s head at a distance of 80 meters is only possible in laser tag.

3) High speed and the energy of a lead bullet or ball does not allow it to be noticed and dodged, which is possible in paintball and airsoft. In addition, there is practically no influence external environment on shooting efficiency ( strong wind, high humidity). Sparse bushes or foliage are also not a serious obstacle to lead bullets.

4) Significantly more low cost both the hardball weapons themselves and the “cartridges”. Moreover, the price of a good hardball model is several times lower than the price of an “average” airsoft drive or paintball marker.

Disadvantages of playing hardball:

1) Hardball is the least common of the games we are considering. In fact, there is no mass character of the “movement” itself, so to speak, and the games being held are not impressive in the number of participants. Finding an opportunity to play hardball is not easy, almost only through the Internet or through acquaintances.

2) Just like in airsoft, the game requires a remote, deserted place so as not to cause injury to passers-by.

3) To reduce the risk of injury when playing hardball, you need even more bulky and not very comfortable protection than in paintball. To protect the face, modernized paintball masks are usually used. To protect the rest of the body, the following is used: thick clothing (usually a camouflage military uniform over basic clothing or even two sets of clothing), a hood, arafatka or scarf (to protect the neck), assault tactical gloves, shoes with foot protection, as well as elbow pads, knee pads, shell to protect the groin. Naturally, if you really want to, you can protect your mortal body no worse than a medieval knight, although the effectiveness of such a knight in a modern (albeit gaming) battle is unlikely to be great.

4) In case of non-compliance with hardball safety precautions and disregard for personal protection, there is a high probability of receiving serious, deeply penetrating wounds.

In conclusion, let's say: play military sports games! It's better than wiping your butt on the sofa in front of the TV!