Airsoft Canada - Review: Devil Dog Airsoft Field

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The Basic Details

Website: https://devildogairsoft.com/
Location: Devil Dog Airsoft, Highland Pines Campground, 6634 5th Line Belwood Ontario, N0B 1J0
Admission: $19.99 + tax for own gear. See below for rental packages.
Hours: 10 AM - 5:30 PM, Saturdays and Sundays
Field Rules: https://devildogairsoft.com/pages/rules-safety
Field FAQ: https://devildogairsoft.com/pages/faq

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Getting There

Devil Dog Airsoft is located inside the Highland Pines Campground grounds, just outside of the sleepy little riverside town of Belwood, itself about 10 minutes east of Fergus, which is about 15-20 minutes north of Guelph. It’s not super-quick to get to from Toronto, but what outdoor field is? Driving from Toronto near Eglinton and Allen Road, it took us one hour and fifteen minutes in light-moderate Saturday morning Toronto traffic.

Coming up 26, you hang a left at 19, then a right at 5th line. There is a large and easily visible sign for Highland Pines Campground about 200m north of 19 on 5th Line. Turn in there; you’ll come to a gate house, where you go inside and pay for admission. You can also pay for your equipment rentals in advance. It’s important to note, as it is noted on the website, that the gatehouse takes cash and credit/debit, but they only take debit or credit at the field itself.

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Driving in, there’s nice clear signage to direct you to the northern part of the campground grounds around to the other side of the small on-site lake, where the field is nicely tucked behind berms. The roads are dirt, but it’s very close by and easily driven (the staff are able to get in and out in a golf cart), less than 800m of dirt road once you turn off the paved roads in the campground, I’d say. For people used to the long and winding forest roads required to get to the entrance of some fields, it’s a welcome change. You do not need 4WD or an all-terrain vehicle to get here.

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Parking is immediately adjacent to the field and has (unmarked) stall parking for about sixteen cars. More could definitely fit in with some squeezing, and there’s plenty of space for additional parking on the roundabout nearby, so parking will not be an issue for this field for a while.

First Impressions

The ladies handling admission at the gatehouse were very professional and answered my questions about how to get to the field with ease. As mentioned above, driving to the field inside the grounds was easy. Arriving at the parking lot, there is a large outdoor staging area with twenty picnic tables for players to lay out their gear. The admins were cool with players asking permission to carry tables next to their cars to use.

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Immediately next to the staging area there was a shipping container which is serving as a sort of crude pro shop/rental storage (more on that later). The two admins on site greeted us warmly and looked professional in their Highland Park Campground uniforms, clearly identifying them as organizers. Arriving at 10:00 AM, there were about eight other players on site. Others arrived as time passed, and we got underway for our first game between 10:45 and 11.

My first impression was of a new, well-run but “still working out some of the minor details” operation. I don’t say that as a negative at all – if they continue to adapt and improve the field and their organization, it’s going to get better and better.

Admission / Rental Equipment / Pro Shop / Facilities

Admission for players with their own equipment is $19.99 + tax. There are three tiers of rental: Private - $39.99 (AEG + eye and face protection, unlimited BBs, 1 high-cap magazine, four hours of game play); Sergeant - $59.99 (AEG + eye and face protection, Unlimited BBs, 1 high-cap magazine, all-day access); and Operator - $69.99 (AEG + eye and face protection, Unlimited BBs, 2 high-cap magazines, tactical vest, all-day access) and include admission.

Consumable prices are as follows:

4,000 Valken Bio 0.25g BBs $27.99
4,000 Valken Bio 0.28g BBs $29.99
Green gas $14.99
12g C02 canister $1.00
Enola Gaye Smoke Grenade (Red or Blue) $9.99
x2 pack speedloader $9.99
Water $1.00

(all prices pre-tax)

High-cap BB refill is $6. I mentioned to them that some more serious players might balk at Valken BBs and one of the admins said they’d look into the possibility of carrying other brands.

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The shipping container acting as the HQ for the admins doubled as the rental equipment storage. Devil Dog is sponsored by Valken (I know that turns some of you off immediately, but please keep reading), and they are renting out Valken Battle Machine MOD-M V2.0 AEGs in a tan colour. There were around 20 rental guns that I could see, so the field could support a large group of walk-ons or team building events as required.

They do not currently supply HPA refills, but do have green gas in stock. Prices may be changing, so I won’t comment on those prices.

The chronograph is a paintball chrono and I think I’d feel a little more confident with a proper Airsoft chrono, but maybe that’s something being worked out for later. [edit] A representative from the field contacted me via FB and let me know about the chronometer in question: "That specific one is calibrated for airsoft but it can also be recalibrated for paintball" according to the manufacturer.

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There is a clear staging area, but the line of demarcation between the staging area and the area where you can put mags in and eye pro on is not as clearly marked as some fields I’ve played at. That will go in my suggestions for improvement below. I mean, it was never an issue of safety with the admins/refs and players that I saw, but it was something I feel that could be tightened up.

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There is no provision for food on site, snacks or otherwise (you can buy water) but the town of Belwood, a five minute drive away, has two decent places to eat, the Belwood Super Snax and the Belwood Gas Bar.

There is also nowhere on the field to plug in a charger. On opening day, there was no washroom or porta potty within 10 minutes of the field, but there was talk of getting one on site in the next few weeks. The washroom facilities at the gatehouse, a 2-3 minute drive away, were clean and quite nice.

Field / Terrain

Field speed limit is 400 fps for standard guns, 450 fps with a 50’ min engagement distance for bolt action rifles. The field is much more rolling terrain than it appears on the photos from the website, where some of the angles and lenses used make it look very flat. The field is, in fact, moderately hilly in reality.

The field has several very distinct terrain types, which makes for lots of different types of gameplay and engagement distances.

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The area closest to the staging area is referred to as “Shanty Town” and contains the familiar chipboard/wood-stud X-cover obstacles, with a few larger wooden “shacks” as well as a scattering of cars. The field slopes from one side down to the other, so there is a difference in game play if you’re fighting uphill or down. Obstacles are newly constructed and still in good shape. At the moment, they’re spaced out about 5-8m (15-25 ft) apart. This is intended as the “CQB” terrain, though a lot of opportunity for cross field fire means that you’re also getting longer 10-30m shots.

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Next as you travel down the road is the “Scrap Yard/Fox Holes” which occupy the top of the hill and slope down towards the forest and river. The Fox Holes are about three non-connected fox holes-type fighting positions with room for about four players in each hole. They’re nicely (and freshly) dug to about a 4-5’ depth, which means you can crouch and be fully concealed. The Scrap Yard is a collection of old drums, oil tanks, a boat and some X-cover, which allow a variety of shooting positions. The two areas sort of blend into each other, and I think it’s better to describe the Fox Holes as a fortified position at the top of the Scrapyard.

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The Scrapyard overlooks “The Trailer” a fortified position which is an old camping trailer. It’s quite large and actually quite bunker-like. The metal siding of the trailer makes for satisfying metallic pinging sounds when it’s being fired upon, but there are a number of windows and holes to back shoot through.

Beyond the trailer heading northeast is “The Forest”, which is your standard Southern Ontario regrown deciduous forest. Tall trees, low brush, some hollows and fallen logs to hide behind make up most of the terrain, though there is a swampy part to the right rear. The admins noted that there were plans to extend the field further into this area, but for the moment we used a portion of the woodlot that was about 100m wide and maybe 150m deep.

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Next to the trailer and the Scrap Yard is the very interesting “River Crossing” which has trenches on both banks facing each other, one built up stone causeway crossing and two smaller wooden footbridges along the length of the playable area, maybe 100-150m wide. This presents a tricky puzzle for river crossings in the face of defensive fire, but the “river” is a stream that you could conceivably ford in some of the shallower points. Willing to get your feet wet? You can cross!

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Beyond the River Crossing is an area that I unfortunately didn’t get to play in, “Trench Warfare”, which appears to be a fairly interesting arrangement of trenches and simulated shell holes. Since I didn’t play in that area, I can’t comment, but it looked very cool.

Overall, I found there to be an interesting mix of terrain, cover and concealment and plenty of opportunity for manoeuvre and flanking, without an excessive amount of width or depth that might spread the fight out too thinly. Certainly some cover and arrangements of obstacles might be tweaked, but this wass the opening day - more

Game play

The first game run by our ref was a warm-up game, a 10-minute team deathmatch with unlimited lives on the “Shanty Town” map section. It was fun as a warm-up, and the admins assured us that it was just a quick warm up and not typical gameplay for the field.

Next we played an Attack/Defend round with defenders who were hit going over to the attacking side. We used the Foxholes as the spawn and moved down through the Scrapyard to attack the Trailer. The Trailer was a tough nut to crack and we had some fun switching sides on this one. Two games of 20 minutes each.

After a brief break, we were playing “Push” mode, where one side defends and the other attacks, and as the attackers die, they fall back to the next zone. So, we started in Shantytown, moved up to the Foxholes and Scrapyard, then down through the Trailer and into the forest.

Breaking for lunch (we ate at Belwood Super Snax), we came back to find a flag game about to start. Played in the Forest, one side had to push a flag into the objective area. Then sides were switched, and we continued.

Finally, we played on the River Crossing section, with both sides having to try to push each other off their defensive positions, with limited lives.

Play was good with experienced players. As the site is located on the grounds of a campground, it’s very likely to get walk-ons who have never played before. If this bothers you, this is probably not a field for you.

Referees / Administration

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The day was administered and organized by two very friendly young gentlemen, Fred and Jesse. Jesse was clearly experienced and explained the games well, and maintained a relatively hands-off approach, seldom needing to intervene as most of the players had played before. Fred hadn’t played often but it was very clear he was keen on the game, and watched the action carefully. He seemed to have a decent handle on game play types, but might need a brief refresher.

Seeing as most players were experienced and called their hits, there wasn’t any real need for intervention, so I didn’t see either ref apply any stern discipline. I did see them call out some unsafe behaviour near the safe zone, so they were playing attention.

That said, while it was a first day, I think a little more outlining of where the safe zone started and ended, as well as the full and proper ejected mag, discharge in a safe direction, on safe and barrel cover on procedure should have been covered more than once in the day. We had new arrivals, but perhaps I missed their second safety briefing while we were at lunch.

I also noted that Jesse did remind a few players to put their barrel covers on when leaving the field, so he was definitely paying attention. So long as that level of safety consciousness is passed on to other staff who are trained to be refs, the field should do fine.

I got the sense that Jesse saw that all of the people playing had played before and didn’t repeat common field rules more than once. I think this is reasonable for a starting group, but staff will have to be careful in future with walk-ons who have never played before, who might need reminding.

Both staff members were careful to ensure that all guns were chronographed and our wristbands were marked that we had passed chrono’ing.

As noted above, I’m not sure if a paintball chrono is the most accurate device and I think it would be better replaced by a Airsoft-specific chronometer. [edit] See note above regarding this device.

Possibilities for Improvement

Generally I was very pleased with the field, its organizers and my gaming experience. There is always room for improvement though. Some of these I’ve already mentioned, but I’ll gather them again here.

The safety briefing needs to be a little more formal and repeated if new players join mid-game. It’s possible that I missed the safety briefing for people who came later in the day, so I’ll give them a benefit of a doubt on this one.
Boundaries and definition of safe zone, field and chrono’ing area needs to be a bit clearer. Basically, as it stands, you walk around the corner of a (admittedly quite tall) safety netting and you’re in a live fire area. I’m not sure how the field wants to handle this in future, but I think you may get some people tut-tutting this. I didn’t feel it to be unsafe, as I could see where it was safe and where it was not, but a first time player might not.

I recommend an airsoft-specific chronograph, with the checked speed written on the admission wrist-band as a record with a sharpie.

Spawn point/locations need a clearer marker - flags, specially painted or otherwise marked objects, something. There was not infrequent mild confusion over where spawn points were. Part of that is working out where they should be based on the various game types, so a spawn marker that can be moved but is clearly identifiable would be very useful.

[edit - later addition] There is a fair range of consumables available, but may I suggest also carrying the following items: Sports drinks, chips, candy bars, kill rags. All of these things can be carried without adding a full pro shop, though you'd have to make sure the candy bars don't melt in the container.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a TONNE of fun in the trenches and foxholes, but I think a civil engineer or someone with military engineering experience should be consulted about the shape, depth and shoring of some of the trenches and foxholes. After a few heavy rains, I could see those becoming quite soaked and/or degraded. Maybe if someone can look at them – whether sandbagging or reinforcements required, and drainage. US Army Field Manuals (FMs) FM 5-15 and 5-103 have some great details on how to do that.

Reviewing my pictures, I realize now that I never really took a close look at the mesh/scrim that is in place to keep BBs from entering the staging/safe area. I have to presume they tested it thoroughly, but I might feel more comfortable if there were two layers. Maybe there is already. I can't recall. I never felt unsafe behind the mesh, but perhaps I should have taken a closer look.

I was informed that different staff other than Fred and Jesse were also going to be serving as Ref/Admins for the field after being trained by Jesse - please, Jesse or whoever is training them, make sure they know the rules, game types and boundaries/spawns inside and out, and are firm but fair with rules enforcement. They have to be as good as Jesse with safety as well. Good refs/admins can make or break a field.

Overall

I liked the field and the people who were running it on the day I came. The games were interesting and varied, and the terrain allowed for a variety of styles, engagement ranges and tempos. Personally, I prefer outdoor to indoor (though I enjoy both), and this field allows for a wide range of outdoor experiences. It lacks a full “deep in the forest” feeling that you might get at Clarington, Finch Field or Flag Raiders, with the exception of the shallow “Forest” play area, but apparently there are plans to bring more of that terrain into play. Facilities are spartan, but Airsofters used to milsims should fit right in.

Devil Dog isn't as polished or extensive as some of the long-established fields that exist out there, but that also means they aren't set in their ways and are willing to listen to feedback, and there's lots of room for expansion and modification.

Lots of potential. Keep it up, Devil Dog!

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TL; DR Version

A good field, with varied terrain, easily accessed. Not much in the way of amenities, but friendly, professional and flexible staff and opportunities for varied gameplay give this field the potential to be a very popular one. Don’t take my word for it - check it out yourself!
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Christopher "Kozure" Ono