Date: 2nd April 2023
Location: 2853 Hiraga, Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture 270-1605
Price: ¥3,300
Website: https://desert-union.jp/
Desert Union is part of the Survival Field Union group that has 8 fields in use.
Union offer a diverse set of fields all next to each other with a free pick-up service, lunch delivery service and free training for new players.
AEG and air-cocking guns are speed tested, but stock gas guns and handguns are not tested.
0.2gBB bullet is within 98m/s
0.25gBB bullet is within 87m/s
0.28gBB bullet is within 83m/s
The field is fairly large and diverse. While the theme is more desert style, there are areas of foliage and such you can enter along the North-Eastern perimeter, a couple of buildings to enter, containers, caravans, catwalk in the centre, bus, and even a driveable tank!! Although the tank wheels need realigning as they are buckled and hard to push.
The game modes were mostly focused to flag based games using literal coloured flags on flag poled that you manually raise and lower.
The safety area spans several levels, we were on the mid-level in a well-shaded area with fans, power outlets and shooting ranges, overlooking the entire field. They also have a changing room, shop, canteen, and more listed at the end.
The staff are very friendly and approachable. Although they do not speak English, they often checked in with our Japanese speaking members to ensure we understood what was happening, rules, game modes etc. The staff also take plenty of photos of us during the day and post them shortly after the games have finished for the day on a Google Album (link on their homepage).
The games themselves were highly enjoyable and challenging. It was mostly flag games and Domination games, but with different proximities to enemy players, different rules as well as different styles. The most memorable was trying to take the castle as two of our team were inside the tank while I pushed it across the field to be a mobile cover and get us closer to the objective. If the wheels were better aligned, it would have gone smoother... I think...
After lunch they held a time-attack shooting competition. anyone can participate and you move through part of the course shooting targets while switching from left the right stance to shoot targets. Some people did very well, and some used entire magazines on one target and gave up since the target is quite small.
They have a small shop where they sell BB's, gas, batteries and other supplies as well as a tool bench with various tools for players to use for repairs, tweaking etc. and many rental items.
There is a shooting range which you can use between games, but not during a game which has some long-range targets for setting up sights etc.
In addition, the facilities are very good and will be listed below.
2nd floor observation area
catwalk through the field
shooting range
useable tank
toilets
changing room
benches, tables, shelves & rifle racks
mosquito repellent
large outdoor fans
workbench & tools
drinks, snacks, cup noodles
food ordering service
This by far was one of the best fields I've played at. We were seated in an area that had a shooting range connected to our benches and made it really easy to just get up and go test fire your gun or check it to make sure it was firing correctly (battery issues/adjusting sites/fixing hop-ups). I also really enjoyed that almost every barrier on the field can be flanked, making it very hard for speedsofters to camp. Really not speedsofter friendly, so I really enjoyed this field! Speedsofters might not like it though for that reason. lol
When I was in the Tokyo area, Union was one of the best fields for diversity, friendliness and facilities, Ikusa was great too, the owner was the one that picked us up from the station!