best i can tell/explain (and this is coming from a Vietnam-era soldier) is that due to the difference in performance in real steel vs AEG's (which are basically just advanced toys) there simply has to be "differences" in combat. real steel firing real bullets simply perform better, a LOT better...and that calls for a lot of real life tactics that just simply aren't useable while playing the "game" of airsoft. sure, basic skills and basic tactics are very similiar whether using sticks or rifles...but when using guns and in the areas of actual firing, and even in movement (because of the firing) to some degree,
AEGs fall WAY short of their real steel counterparts. and that changes things.
in some ways, it changes a LOT of things.
there's a lot of real life movements/tactics/manuevers that simply won't work for airsoft play. i've found this out the hard way. and that goes for shooting as well. sure, firing single shots with a real gun with it's greater range and accuracy is one thing...but doing it with an airsoft gun firing 6mm plastic BBs which can greatly be affected by even the smallest puffs of wind and are somewhat inacurrate anyway in the bargin...is something else entirely.
for myself and others that i've played with (and i'm a dead shot with most real steel weapons) i find that you usually have to put out MORE fire with the AEG than with a real gun to get the same number of hits. this may not be true with powerful spring or gas powered Sniper AS guns...but it seems true with AEGs, or at least it's true for me. that's why i have personally decided to forgo most semi-auto shots and go with three/four round bursts of full auto. this is far from Rambo-ing...yet it will use up a mag much quicker than single shots...yet at the same time it gives me a higher percentage of possible hits.
sure, you should usually only shoot what you are sure you can hit....ahhh, but then again with a real steel weapon your certainess of a hit is MUCH higher than with an AEG. many time if you DO NOT fire when you get an opening---you WILL BE TAGGED OUT within the next heartbeat. i know...the first game i played i also tried to hold fire for that perfect, open shot...and i died over and over and over again till i was sick of it. i'm not saying you shouldn't wait for a good shot...but i AM saying that within the close distances most airsoft games are played, many times you have to shoot...even if it ISN'T a perfectly clear shot.
if for no other reason than to scatter your attackers and or make them duck so they can't so easily nail YOU.
even in real war...there are times when covering fire...grazing fire, and Mad Minutes (with everything you've got) comes in VERY handy.
Beo