First of all, this was a written as a guide to do the Splinter Cell stuff in real life. However, I think some of this should be useful for airsoft. I admit some of this makes no sense for Airsoft so just ignore it. Also, in an official tournament you can't grab people or anything, but if you play with your friends out in the middle of nowhere, then you will be able to do more of this. You need to be with the right people.
And don't flame me please...this wasn't written for airsoft but I figured some people might like it anyway. Just trying to help.
Table of Contents
This is tricky to do… let me put it this way: each section has a general theme which there is just a lot of writing about so I will list the themes in order.
Stealth- Sneaking, Silence, Darkness,
People Interaction- grabbing, getting past, avoiding, shooting (paintball or whatever)
Split Jump like moves (I can't do the splits either, but don't worry you can still do stuff)
Climbing Stuff- Shimmying, ledges, getting on top of stuff
===============Stealth==============
First of all, remember that all real life famous spies are bad ones. You will never hear about a good spy because he is a good spy. No one catches him, no one knows about him. Keep that in mind. Now, I realize that most of us aren't trying to break into a top secret facility or something so it wouldn't matter if you show yourself afterwards. But either way you don't want to be known. Your best weapon is unawareness.
-----Awkward Silence-----
You obviously have to keep quiet, and there are some key points to this. Depending on where you are this will be different. Outdoors can be very easy or very hard, it really depends, while inside is generally difficult. Outdoors sounds aren't as loud unless you're in quite woods or something. Indoors there is echo and little ambient sound. Anyway, here are some tips.
-Crouch. You walk quieter if you crouch and make very precise steps. Crouching keeps your weight from going down as you step and makes it go more forward, reducing the sound the impact of your shoes make. Steps should be light and your body should sway controlled. You should look very much like Sam Fisher as he crouch walks when he gets close to the enemy.
-You can let your hands rest on the ground and push them down as you walk. This can lift a lot of the weight and can be quiet compared to shoes. Usually only one hand down is better than both because it is easier.
-Stay away from their field of vision. This means going around instead of right toward them even from the side. It is better to be as far behind them as possible before getting closer.
-Be very aware of the ambient sound. Pay attention to what the room sounds like. Mentally blend in with whatever you hear. Try to make yourself sound like it and try to feel like you are just part of the background noise.
-Roll your foot to be quieter. Don't let it land. Let it slowly make contact and then move forward to force your foot to roll back to front and lift it again.
-Time your footsteps with theirs. You can catch them by taking larger steps, which is easier to do if you are crouching then if you are standing. This is especially helpful outdoors with cracking sticks or when it is very quiet.
Positions
When you are holding position during a stalk there are several positions you can assume. They are much like Fisher for the most part.
Crouch Ready- If you are about to step forward, like waiting to get up behind someone when they go past you, get in a position as if you were crouch walking and stopped instantly. You should be on both feet in crouch walking position with your butt up off your knees so you can take another step instantly. This is what Fisher does; if you are crouch walking and stop, he freezes in position instantly.
Crouch Relaxed- This is what Fisher does after he freezes in crouch walk position. When you wait a minute he will relax and sit back on his haunches. You set your butt on the inside of your thighs. Forearms can rest on the thighs. If you think you may have to get into crouch ready soon you can put your hands on the ground to help lift you into place.
Stand Ready- This is standing slightly hunched over. It is when you have to be partially ready to move into a crouch walk but you don't want to wait in crouch ready for that long. It is basically the middle way between crouch relaxed and crouch ready; if you can't afford to relax or stay ready for that long, you stay ready but stand up to rest your knees.
Stand Relaxed- Doesn't Exist. Only circumstance is if you need to see over something or a weird situation like that.
========People Interaction=============
There are different kinds of people and different ways to react to them. I will first go into the types of people situations you can encounter and then how to deal with them.
Non-Friendly Strangers- Most nerve wracking to deal with. People who will get you into trouble if they see you and who are complete strangers. Most likely situation is when you are trying to get somewhere you aren't supposed to be and these will be the people you encounter. Examples: Security guards
Friendly Enemies- Easier to deal with. These are people who you know but need to avoid and outwit or else shoot or something. They are usually your friends who you are playing capture the flag or paintball with. This includes strangers if you are playing a game with them. They will not get you into trouble if caught, you will simply be paintballed, tagged, or whatever game it was. If there is no game they will probably just have a laugh with you. Examples: Airsoft opponents you know, friends on other team of a game
-----------------Dealing with Non-Friendly Strangers----------------------------------------------
This will be pure stealth-around encounters. You must hide and stay hidden. The best way is to go around: Climb on roofs, take other paths, find some other way. Otherwise, find a spot to watch where they go and then slip past somehow. Hide in closets, behind things, etc. This is very nerve wracking as I said because if they catch you they will get you in trouble of some kind. If you know in advance wear a ski mask or other stealth gear and try to make sure that when discovered they are not right on top of you and you have a clear route to run away from them.
-----------------Dealing with Friendly Enemies-------------------
This is a lot more fun. When you know the person you can do things without consequences so much. Now I will have to explain the techniques you can occasionally use on your friends.
***This section was removed by an Admin, purely for the reason that physical takedowns are not allowed in any airsoft games I know of...and we don't want that kind of liability here***
============Split Jump Type Moves============
Let's face it: We can't all do the splits. I can't, for instance, but it doesn't mean we can't use stealth like Sam. There are a few other ways to get up there like Fisher that we can all do.
There are 2 ways: The Half-Split Jump and the Back to Wall Climb.
The Half-Split Jump
Straight from Pandora Tomorrow, tested and proven in real life. The main thing you need is the right size hallway. Getting up and climbing should be pretty simple. Just lift your leg up and push your foot up against the wall. If you want to make a little jump to get up you should get closer to the wall, but your leg should be about crotch height or so. Push with your leg and straighten it against the wall while reaching behind you with your other leg. Bend your leg in half so that your foot is pushing against the wall behind you and the wall is almost even with your back. Depending on how far apart the walls are your back will be different distances from the wall behind you. To get up higher (as you will definitely have to) you push your hands against the wall behind you and switch between feet lifting them a little off the wall and moving them up a couple inches at a time. Basically rock back and forth with your weight, switching it between legs to take the weight of a leg so you can lift that one up and move it higher. Here's some bad ASCII art.
l
l
l lllllll
l llllllllllll l
l lllllll < You l
l llllllll 0 0 l <Wall
l llll0llll l
l llllllllll l
l llllllllllllll l
l llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llll
l lllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllll llllll
lllllllllllll llllllllll
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llllll Front Leg ^
llll
l
l
l ^ Back Leg
l
l
l
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Well I hope that helped. 0= the location of the center of your upper body. The other 0's are places your upper body shifts too when the walls are farther apart.
Back to Wall
This is a way to get yourself high up like the split jump, don't get it confuse with sticking close to a wall in the game. It is sort of like the half split jump but you put both legs against the wall. You put one leg up and start it the same way as the half, but then you put your other leg next to the first one and put your back against the wall. In other words, pressure is formed by 2 legs pushing your back into a wall. It can be easier to hold if you put your palms against the wall under your butt and push with them. You use your palms to then lift your back up off the wall and slide it up by pushing hard with your palms to maintain the pressure. Your legs each walk up individually, move one up then the other. More ASCII (don't ask what it stands for because I don't know)
l
l
l
llllll l
lllllllll l
llllll l
lllllllll l
llllllllll l
lllllllllll l
lllllllllll l
lllllllll lllll
lllllllll llllllllllllllll lllll
lllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllll
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I hope that shows it a little better. These 2 types of moves can be used to elude people and hide indoors or in outdoor manmade structures. It is also possible to use these to climb up to the top of things, e.g. there is a shed next to a wall, and you use a move to get high enough so you can push off the wall and get onto the roof of the shed. They can also be used for the people interaction method to get the jump on your friends.
=============Climbing=============
When dealing with people you would rather avoid, it is best to go around. This is proved well in the splinter cell game as Fisher climbs on roofs and up pipes and such. I want to point out that very few people can climb up onto a ledge by their fingertips and climb pipes like he does. It's hard. But there are ways to get up to high places like roofs.
Foot holds
This is the easiest, most common and best way to get places. You need to find little things you can step on. If you find things like that on a wall you can easily grab onto things and climb them while stepping off objects to get on top of things. Example: Me and my friend got on the roof of a gas station once. There was a little mini roof for a generator probably behind the station and there was some piping things next to it in a corner. We were able to climb on lateral piping and eventually get onto the small roof where we could climb right onto the big roof. All you have to do is to find things to step off of and you can really go places.
Shimmying
Not everyone can do this, but if you can you have an advantage. This means that as long as you can get your fingers on a ledge, their can be a foothold or object sticking out anywhere on the ledge and you can just shimmy over to it, then use it to get high enough to climb up the ledge.
Hand over Hand
It is possible to do hand over hand and also to bring your legs up if you can do it. Just make sure the pipe is sturdy and there is a place you can support yourself on when you get to the other side. If you are near a wall and can't climb onto anything (like if you hand over hand across a pipe to discover that the wall is blank and you can't get up) you can sometimes push off the wall and turn your body until you end up on top of the pipe, sitting on it. This is a good way to rest and can be a great way to get onto something if the pipe is at or near the roof level. To get up on the pipe hang by your hands and get your foot to hook over the edge of it, then push and swing to get your body on it. To turn around I advise getting so both legs are on the same side of the pipe and you are grabbing it holding yourself up at the waist with your body touching the pipe and your arms pushing down to hold yourself up. From here you can swing either leg up.