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| Medics of the Norwegian Royal Guard - Thanks Kjetil Ree |
The actual rules vary from site to site and there is some imaginative leeway for organisers to embellish the basic application. However, most sites work on the understanding that when a player is hit, an appointed medic may attend and get them back into the game, without the player having to move from where they fell.
It is usual for a certain number of players on any milsim team to be ordained as medics in a kind of dual fighting role. This often means that the loadout for medic can be slightly different - after all, carrying a long assault rifle isn't always that easy when you are trying to tend the wounded, is it ?
Typical game rules involve the medic having to attend the player for a minimum amount of time or perform a task such as tying on a bandage to the wounded player.
Variations of this include but are not limited to:
* The medic having five minutes to attend the wounded soldier, after which time they are dead and have to manually respawn
* Players only having one medic respawn opportunity, after which they have to trudge back to the respawn area
* The medic having a limited number of bandages
* The medic doesn't use bandages and has to hold the patients arm up, drip like, for 30 seconds
* The wounded player has to be taken to a place of cover to receive medical attention by a medic. To avoid stretcher scenarios and the risk of dropping people, the rescuing player has to put two hands on the wounded person and walk back with them (or if there are two rescuers, they each lay a hand on and escort back). Once the wounded person is out of the line of fire, the team medic can use any of the above to revive the player.
Crying Out Loud
If you watch videos of Airsoft milsim games, the two things that usually make the action unrealistic are the pathetic noises that many Airsoft weapons make when fired - something like a Singer sewing machine and that when people are hit and put their hand in the air, they just look like they need the toilet. Although practical and accepted in a skirmish, they tend to erode the realism that milsimmers adore.
Its hard to do anything about the noise of AEG weapons (another post, another day) and many GoPro movies on You Tube have pounding rock music background soundtracks to cover this up. However, is there a case for the wounded to drop to the ground with "hurt" sound effects and at least lie still ?? - some games have their "wounded" players place a red cloth over their head so the other players don't keep lighting them up !!
Of course its debatable and probably a subject for Facebook groups, but I think I would rather see soldiers dropping with a blood curdling scream or just an "Aargh" rather than a traditional hand-raising and calling out hit in a usually tired and slightly irritated voice (especially if you've just been hit for the 97th time that day).
Loadouts
Although many players in the medic role just wear their normal garb, maybe with the addition of a red cross armband, some really get into the role and build up their own medic loadout.
Not all players want or are able to run around like Arnie on Steroids and being a medic can be a great role for those who want to be in the game but play more of a support role than being in the front line all the time.
Although many "real steel" combat medics wear the same uniform as the rest of their squad and are only differentiated by their medic rucksacks, there is nothing to stop a player going for the full heli-medic look or choosing weapons and sidearms to assist with the role. For example, personal defence weapons and sidearms are a lot easier to handle when you need both hands free to dish out medical aid.
Whatever you decide to be, participating in milsims can often be more realistic and enriched with some players fulfilling support roles such as medics, support gunners and sappers. Isn't that one of the things that separates milsims from shoot-em-up's ?
To take part in discussion about this subject, join our Airsoft SOFSIM group on Facebook @
Airsoft SOFSIM Facebook Group
