Rules of Engagement

V.A.F. CHARTER These rules will apply to all VAF sponsered events. SAFETY Eye & Face protection: PB goggles or equivalent with balaclava will be required. Players who do not meet this requirement will not be allowed to play. VAF highly recommends a full rigid face mask to protect teeth/ears/nose. Velocity limits on weapons: All fully-auto-capable rifles and semi-automatic pistols will not exceed 420fps (feet-per-second) muzzle velocity when firing .20g 6mm BBs. Bolt-action or semi-automatic-only rifles exceeding 420fps when firing .20g 6mm BBs but less than 500fps will be allowed as "sniper" rifles. These weapons will not be fired at targets closer than 80 feet under any circumstances. Weapons exceeding 500fps muzzle velocity when firing .20g 6mm BBs will not be allowed under any conditions, in the interest of safety. Minors VAF stipulates that participants who are 16 or 17 years of age may play with an official waiver signed and notarized by a guardian. These waivers are available from VirginiaAirsoft.org Participants between the ages of 12 and 16 must have a waiver signed and notarized by a parent or guardian, as well as a parent or guardian present at the field for the duration of the participant's participation. No participants under the age of 12 shall be allowed, in the interest of general safety. GENERAL RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Use of safety gear. Face protection (as listed in Section I.a) will be worn at all times during game play. At no time (before, during, or after a game) will anyone fire a weapon toward a person not wearing face protection. Elimination. A player will be considered HIT when a shot hits anywhere on his/her body. Unless otherwise agreed upon before a game, a player is eliminated and out of the game when HIT once. Shots to the weapon in hand and obvious ricochets do not count. (However players purposely using their weapon in hand as a shield are automatically eliminated.) Shots from teammates (friendly-fire) count as a HIT. When in question of the source of a shot, the player is should eliminate him/herself. ("When in doubt, you're OUT") When eliminated, the player will stand with weapon and arms over his/her head, and call loudly "OUT" or "HIT". They will walk with arms overhead and unloaded weapon to the designated elimination area. An eliminated player cannot offer ammo, weapons, information, or other help to players still in the game. Under no circumstances will a player knowingly continue to fire at a player that has been eliminated. Under no circumstances will an eliminated player fire his/her weapon. 'Anger' shots will be considered grounds for removal. Any player who has been fairly hit, and then willfully fails to eliminate themselves will be permanently removed from further games. VAF maintains a no-tolerance policy for dishonesty. "Knife Kill" - a player approached in secret, and gently tapped on the shoulder while being told "KNIFE KILL" is considered HIT, and eliminated as in Section II.b.iii. At no point may an actual knife be used to touch, nor any facsimile of a knife. Knives must remain in their sheaths on the field unless being used for brush clearing or camp chores. Brandishing a knife at another person is grounds for immediate removal from the game. These rules for elimination will be in effect unless modified and agreed upon by all players prior to a game. Surrender. Before engaging a target at distances less than 20 feet, a player should ask an enemy to surrender. This is done by calling loudly "SURRENDER" or "CALL IT". The enemy must then immediately eliminate themselves as in Section II.b.iii or call out loudly that they wish to continue the game at their own risk. A player called to surrender MAY NOT FIRE OR REPOSITION until they surrender or make it clearly known they wish to continue in the game. VAF strongly suggests surrender at short distances, in the interest of safety. These rules for surrender will be in effect unless modified and agreed upon by all players prior to a game. Safe zones, no-fire zones, non-combatants, and out-of-bounds. A player will not fire knowingly while in or at any area designated to be a "safe zone", "no-fire zone", out-of-bounds for play, or at any person not involved in the airsoft game as a combatant. A player going out of bounds in order to gain position or safety is automatically eliminated. General disqualification. If, at any time, it is deemed by the game authorities that a player engages in behavior that endangers his/her own safety or another player's, they will be removed from the game. ORGANIZATION Assignment of authority. When in disagreement as to a rule or infraction, the following positions will have the final authority on that rule or infraction (in order of greatest to least authority): the field owner, game organizer, VAF leaders and squad leaders. Players are expected to respect and act professionally to each other and all other people present at the game. Players not abiding by the direction and ruling of the proper authorities at games will be removed. Delegation of leadership: If smaller squads are formed, players will appoint a team leader as they see fit. A squad must have no less than four players. A squad is expected to maintain a cohesive milsim theme (NATO, Special Forces, Terrorist, Merc. etc.), and will be expected to follow standard VAF rules. Membership. General (minimum) Membership Requirements. At a minimum, a member of VAF must: Own his/her own safety equipment and a reliable airsoft gun, regardless of make. Be at least 16 years of age. Minors will be required to have full release and disclaimer signed by all legal guardians.VAF maintains that this is the mimimum age to handle the responsibility owning and firing replica weapons. Note that squads and games may have further limitations on minors. Have been invited to join the VAF by a current VAF member and have passed a vote for induction by current members. Team Requirements. All players will be expected to have proper safety equipment and their own Airsoft accessories and weapons. Squad Requirements. Each individual squad may further limit it's membership restrictions as it sees fit. All new members must be approved by existing VAF members. This will take place by means of an approval/disapproval vote. Non-exclusivity. In the interest of furthering the sport of airsoft, a player may be a member of another airsoft organization simultaneously while a member of VAF. Note that squads may require exclusivity or priority of commitment, and a player is expected to honor those requirements. Under no circumstances can anyone use information found on the VAF site for personal solicitation. Organization of games. Regional games: The organization and operation of regional airsoft games will be the responsibility of the VAF team. The games, at a minimum, must comply with the standard VAF ruleset. Beyond this, the team and field owner may choose to operate their own games under more stringent safety, equipment, and player standards as they see fit. VAF highly encourages regional games to be made open to any players meeting the safety requirements (Section I) and agreeing to play the general rules of engagement (Section II). Statewide games : From time to time, VAF members will organize games for all regional teams to participate in. All members of VAF regional teams will be invited to play. The field owners and leadership will decide if VAF nonmember players and teams will be invited. National games : When invited to out-of-state games or in-state games not organized by VAF, existing VAF members will be prioritized, as in Section III.c.iv. Charge of leadership and players. The members of VAF will strive to further the sport of airsoft by organizing and promoting their team and games, while maintaining a high standard of safety and honor.