The Island Mrčara Experience With The Alpha Omega Protocol Event

Anonymous (not verified)

26 Jun 2014

Being an avid airsofter means that you try to keep track of all of the airsoft skirmishes and events that are being organised in your country (and beyond the borders). But being an increasingly popular sport, the number of events being organised are on the rise as well and I have to admit... I sometimes lose track of everything that is going on.

On the other hand, from time to time, you see something passing by that catches your attention. Certain keywords that act as triggers for the overloaded brain (or whatever is left of it).

When you see things such as “island”, “abandoned”, “military”, “submarine”, “tunnels”, “bunkers” and more, all-in the same phrase... well, then you have my DEFCON1 level of attention.

For those who think that the words above are just some samples of how the most exclusive airsoft event EVER should be introduced – guess again people since it’s happening RIGHT NOW!

The awesome dudes from Adriatic Airsoft Alfa are the brains behind “The Alpha Omega Protocol”, an airsoft event that is organised once a year on the island of Mrčara (pronounced as: Moesjkara) – a small (or not so small when you have to hike over it, loaded with all of your gear, in a "chilly" 40° Celcius) off the coast of Croatia.

The island used to be a supermegasecret Soviet submarine base where, back in the old days, some dudes were sitting with a finger on the button.

Obviously, when something is supermegasecret, it has to be filled with tunnels, bunkers and other stuff that would make any tropical island look like something straight out of a videogame (or a Bond movie).

Mrčara island does not let us down since it's basically a complete military complex where they just dropped the island over it.

When the Cold War ended and everybody became friends again, the island was abandoned for years, until some clever Croatian dude decided to lease the island from the government with the purpose of organising exclusive airsoft games on it. Face it, you have to love that spirit of a true entrepeneur!

But wait! Don’t start jizzing all over the screen yet. There is MORE!

When you have this supermegasecret island AND you can organise exclusive events, why stop there?

Let’s get some zodiac boats, lease ANOTHER island from the government – that also happens to have some tunnels and stuff, you know, for those spare nucleair submarines back in the days – bring one of the participating teams to that island and start the game there… with a genuine naval assault !

Put all of that into a 27-hour Milsim event with players from all over the world and you have “The Alpha Omega Protocol”.

From as soon as I saw all of that info passing by, I was already filling up my car with all of my gear, preparing for a roadtrip that would take more than 20 hours! Once we were halfway in Germany, I realized that I forgot to tell my wife that I will be out for the week, but those are just details.

RV point was Split Harbor, a harbor that was surprisingly tropical, filled with stunning women (so far for the cliche image of a Soviet Country where everybody wears grey clothing all the time) where we hooked up with the rest of the airsofters. Germans, Austrians, Italians, Slovenians, Russians and obviously a awesome delegation of Belgians. (“Belgian” is from now on, the Croatian translation for “people who make a lot of noise”)

All of our gear were dropped on a first massive ferryboat and we took off for a trip of just about 3 hours. 3 hours, just enough time to get some sleep or to get drunk. The first option seemed like the more obvious one.

Arriving on the first island, we had to carry all of our gear into a second ferryboat and again off we go – this time for a little less than 2 hours – in the direction of Lastovo Island, the last inhabited island we were going to see before going to Mrcara. (Just to give you a idea: Lastovo is a huge tropical-like island with just about 600 people living on it).

Arrived on Lastovo, all of our gear were dropped into small boats (I can swear that one of my gearcases had a higher weight than the boat used to carry it) and off we went to our final destination --- Mrčara .

We can talk a lot about Mrcara or we can let the pictures do all the talking --- it's this amazing place that was designed to give airsofters from all over the world a continuous erection, yes it is that awesome!

The only thing that was not-so-awesome where the 220-step stairs (or as we like to call them “the cardiac arrest stairs from hell) that you had to take in order to arrive at basecamp.

As for the game, let me start by saying that The Alpha Omega Protocol is dripping with experience. It is and will always be a very intense (and at some points even extremely hardcore) milsim but organised by people who had to be playing airsoft even before airsoft existed.

Playing on a huge rock, in the middle of the Adriatic Ocean, with the closest hospital and such being 6 hours away, needs that special type of attention.
Well, the guys from Adriatic Airsoft Alfa are prepared for just about anything (even a second cold war, should it ever break out or something like a dinosaur attack).

The level of professionalism they present is something that frankly can be used as a benchmark for other organisations. They achieved to find the perfect balance between intense airsoft experiences and customer satisfaction.

The FPS and safety measures that are installed have been designed to offer a supreme playing experience without having to worry about your arm being shot off by armor piercing BBs.

The scenario that has been set up is pure genious by its simplicity.

You have the offensive team (comprised of Belgians, and did I mention already that we were awesome?) and you have the defending team. The offensive team has to take the island and in the end, clear all of the tunnels and bunkers and dismantle a bomb. The defending team has to hold those bunkers and the basecamp.

Easy you say?

Perhaps. If you forget to mention that everything is UPHILL, under burning heat, with all of your super-useful-yet-so-overpacked stuff on your back. The organizers placed on continuous basis, gallons of water all over the island so that you can refill your hydration blatters and you WILL be needing it. On the first day alone I drank over 7 liters of water.

The offensive team was brought to a second island, where they mounted on zodiac boats, hidden in old submarine tunnels.

That moment where you hear the zodiac engine roaring; that moment when you feel the wind and seawater making contact with your face --- THAT is the moment where you realise that this IS and will ALWAYS be the most amazing sport ever inventend by mankind.

When you reach the coast of Mrčara island; when you hear the captain screaming GO GO GO GO, when you see BBs flying around your face; when you see the enemy running once they realise that they are facing a pack of Belgians (yes, perhaps I didn’t mention it already, but we are kinda awesome), that is when you absolutely feel like a super-specops-ultra-delta-navyseal type of dude.

From that moment on, you are sucked into a 27-hour adrenaline rush that takes you from open spaces into dense woodland and into the confined areas of tunnels, staircases and bunkers.

At the end of the milsim, when you died just about 6 or 7 times and your mind didn’t realize it so it kept on going, the Adriatic Airsoft Alfa team offers a all-you-can-eat-and-drink party to all players in order to regain the weight you lost.

Sitting at tables with people from all over the world, eating and drinking with people who have no political interests what so ever, laughing with people who all share the same passion. It is THE purest form of brotherhood that can be found out there.

I can only hope to see all of those people, and more, at the 2015 Alpha Omega Protocol event.