After months of preparation i was finally there. Sollefteå in Sweden for Berget 21. An airsoft event with close to a thousand players. And man, it was awesome!
First off, I normally write Dutch posts but i write this post in English because i want to let lots more people know about this awesome airsoft event than Dutch players only. So if you like this post let me know in the comments down below. Also, i want to thank all the people who shared their photos. I don’t know exactly who made the photo’s but if you see your photo here, please contact me and let me know so i can give you credit you deserve.
For those who don’t know the Berget games. They are an annual three day event in Sweden organized by Berget Events. Berget is a, what i like to call, milsim lite/Big game on an area of about 12 square kilometers. There are multiple factions and there is a certain command structure. There are missions that have to be executed during the three days and the missions go on 24/7. And there are vehicles, lots of them. The event is story based and i caught the last part of the storyline. As i understand Berget will start a new storyline next year, maybe in a new area.
To be honest, It may not be an event for everybody. For starters the trip will be a long one for most people. The Sollefteå region where the Berget events are held is roughly in the middle of Sweden and the drive from Arnhem, where i live, to Sollefteå is a two day trip of about 2000 kilometers by car. Luckily the first day i could drive up to my dear friends Rob and Lisa aka Verage Airsoft and SkinnyBitch and from there we all drove on the second day together to Berget.
Then there is the timeline. It is a 66-hour event and although the faction bases can’t be attacked from 03:00 to 0:900, so players who need it can get some shuteye, the missions can go on 24/7. So be prepared to only get a couple of hours sleep at night if at all. And there is the terrain. It’s in the middle of Sweden and although there are no real big mountains the terrain is rough and hilly so a good physical condition (and a pair of good shoes) is an absolute necessity.
Your gear, get it sorted out and in order. To get trough a 66 hour game you need quite some gear. I’m not going to elaborate on what you need because Verage Airsoft has an excellent video about what you should bring. And i urge you to take his advice to heart, i did and it made my life so much easier. The only addition i want to put out there is take stuff against mosquitos. Decent bug spray (Deet based), afterbite and eventual a ThermaCell. A ThermaCell is somewhat expensive but it is an absolute must because Swedish mosquitos are next level buggers who have no problem to sting you right trough your combat shirt and pants.
Food is also a important item. I got trough the whole event on Swedish 24H combat rations but that is something everybody has to figure out for themselves. But if you want more info again Verage Airsoft has a very good video about food needed for a milsim. There is a kiosk in the base but i guarantee you won’t have a good time living on burgers, fries and red bull alone.
And then the game itself. I was warned Berget is addictive but i took those warnings with a grain of salt but man was i ever wrong. The whole event was more than i expected. It started a few months before the game when the planning started. I’m not sure how the Blue and Yellow factions prepare but Red HQ started the planning november/december on their own Discord server and several telegram groups. This makes sure as many people as possible are up to snuff about what is going to happen and what is expected from them.
Like i said before, Berget is a milsim lite. HQ and players take the game serious but not to serious. There is a lot of fooling around, edgy humor (berget is no place for snowflakes) but most of all a chill mentality. If you feel you are not fit enough to go outside the wire with your company you can stay in the base and nobody will take you up on it. The first night out our company commander Verage thought it was a good idea to do a line attack on the objective for that mission. Well, it ended up more like a suicide attack and during that attack i sprained my back quite badly resulting me humping back, with help from some guys from Papa company, to base where i stayed for most of the game picking up some light duties like base and HQ security.
So due to my injured back i didn’t go outside the wire for any missions except for the last day when we did an assault on the monastery but i still had the time of my life. All thanks to the players and HQ who found a way to make myself useful despite my limitations. And this is, in my opinion, one of the major things where Berget shines.
The players make the game. An organization like Berget can set up the best game ever but if the players don’t play along the game will suck. But the players i met at Berget were awesome. During the five days total i spent in the game area i never heard any serious complaining about cheaters, errors in the missions or any of the whining i normally hear on weekend pickup games. Like i said before, players take the game serious but not to serious.
So, i had an awesome time but that doesn’t mean the game was perfect. Over the years i have heard a lot of complaints about the Berget crew ranging from communication problems, unnecessary and unfair changes to the game mode to balance the game to no showers in the base. And yes, because i was in HQ a lot i noticed Berget crew drops the ball sometimes. The larp element i saw in previous years, and i was hoping for, was virtually nonexistent. Out of the twenty somewhat nuns that were supposed to be there where only three. Now this wasn’t Bergets fault but the three nuns that where in the game weren’t instructed at all about their role which we discovered during the interrogation. But to their credit, the nuns did an awesome job covering up the Berget screwup.
And yeah, there were more little things that could have been done better/different but lets be honest, when have you played a game of this size where an Organisation does everything 100% right?
Looking back at Berget 21 im asking myself the question, was it all worth it, the money (it isn’t cheap), the long drive, the lack of sleep, the backpain? I have only one answer, HELL YEAH! I had a hell of a time, worked with awesome people, made friends who, without Berget, i never would have met and i traveled to my now most favorite country Sweden. What is there not to love. And yeah, i can’t wait until next year to travel to Sweden again for Berget 22.
Only question i have left left is, will i see you there?
