Category: Nerf life

Well hello there… Action Splat?

From Foam From Above

Say hello to the Blizzard “Paintblaster”. I got this from Tuesday Morning in Arlington Heights for around $12… totally worth it. It looks like the company Blizzard made something like a pistol splat by splatmatic http://www.amazon.com/Splatmatic-PS800-Pistol-Splat/dp/B0000TF6LY, rendering this the “Lanard” or “Buzzbee” of paintball splat thingies in my book. I can’t say anything for comparing the quality of construction, but from what I see on NH and my own experience, there’s the same ridiculous spring inside the same ridiculous plunger tube. Ridiculous success.

Informal testing tells me the range is decent… not sure if I’m getting the 100′ some folks do but it seems pretty good. It fires clear across the width of my street, for what that’s worth.

I’ve replaced the stock barrel with CPVC and that’s about it. In order to open’er up to do so, there was a ring around the barrel I had to remove and unfortunately that means the new barrel needs some sort of stabilizer, but I don’t really care enough to make it so. Hah! The new barrel has been superglued and electrical taped into oblivion, it’s not moving anywhere. It’s been said that if you don’t glue it properly the barrel will fire out, dart and all. Thankfully, that’s just hearsay on my end.

Right now I’m using stock darts, some weighted but at stock length. I think… I think I’m going to have to start cutting shorter darts in order to improve distance. I have noticed a difference from shorter stock darts right away. Between this and the ranges I’ve been getting from my XXL bazooka, I think that’s the only thing left to do to improve my ranges. I also might want to work on balancing my weights, so far the thing’s been powerful enough to make my darts flop about after being fired.

The grip is pretty ergonomic, It fits my hand pretty well, even moreso than a TTG. I found the nub near the handle is not as problematic as some others have said so I’ve left it alone.

It’s definitely too powerful for a regular pistol round, but as far as a primary goes this is something I look forward to taking with me on the field. I am a little curious as to the comparison between this near-stock and my TTG though, for sure. I have a rebarrel and extra spring in the TTG, so if it’s on par with the splatmatic I might have to reconsider using it during pistol rounds.

One thing… a ram rod is kind of a must for maximum efficacy. DO IT.

Keep reloadin’!

Well we’ve hashed it out here, what about you?

This is a pretty age old question… the necessity for a sidearm during a nerf round. There’s the camp that says you don’t need it and there’s the camp that carries one. For some voices on the subject (from the ChANO 2 thread at nerfhaven.com):

“Concerning sidearms – Even after the discussion I was thinking about it. With my hand fuched, I wasn’t able to use my magstrike. I enjoy having something as a backup in case I get rushed. While not a sidearm per se, to me the Shock and Awe of having sprayed that many darts quickly usually gets the kill or gives me time get the reload in to get the kill. Without it I was getting rushed more often. I caught Ryan reloading and he had to ninja sprint away. I chased him down but my NF was empty (he didn’t realize it). Becuase he had nothing to shoot back with he had to keep running. Due to my hand injury, I was not able to get my legs to match his speed. cool.gif Everyone plays their own way and to each his own, but I’m always going to have my NF at my side. It gives me piece of mind, and that’s what matters.”
-Snake

“I can understand their usefulness if you are using a single-shot primary. You need that extra short-ranged shot to dissuade rushing. Turrets, RSCB clips, or just running away negate that need. All of my primaries are capable of firing several shots in a row, and so a sidearm is superfluous. I can, however, see the usefulness of carrying an automatic, as it provides you with impressive short-ranged firepower.”
-Beaver

“Time to lend myself to the sidearm debate. I remembered from the SoCal wars that I attended that I never really used a sidearm; I don’t think I even had a springer pistol, as I borrowed someone’s G1NF for the pistols round at ‘Geddon. Chano I was no different, I knew I had no need for my NF when it wasn’t pistols round. This time it was even better, since the RSCB on my +bow provided a much higher rate of fire than the Uruk-Hai Crossbow normally does. I know for a fact that there was at least one instance where something fucked up on my RSCB (I failed to glue a piece and it was giving me trouble) and instead of dicking around for a sidearm, I straight-up ran. I might not have gotten the hit, but it’s at least as effective to keep you alive. I also know there was at least one instance of Zorn running out of shots on his BBB, pulling out his NF to shoot me, and realizing that it wasn’t primed. He said himself that he could count the instances where he needed it on one hand. I would prefer to just have a primary I knew I could hit with, rather than a primary I felt needed backing up. And if you get the better of me while I’m fucking with my RSCB? Congrats, sir, that was well done. Like when Beaver got me with the fucking SSPB.” – Ice Nine

“That’s my sidearm. My legs. Run like hell.” – Ryan#s

More on this later.

ChANO – 2009

Photobucket

This weekend marked the first meetup for a Nerf battle I knew about that was organized through the Nerf Internet Community and staged in the city of Chicago, specifically Hyde Park. Most of the Chicagoland Nerf Wars I had heard about were organized in the surrounding suburbs, this was a nice change of pace.

11 AM, April 11th. Information Day. It took a member of California’s vaunted Nerf community to set the whole shebang up, but finally it happened. “Ice Nine” from Nerfhaven chose to go to school in Our Fair City and he confessed an itchy trigger finger. Having participated in Nerf Wars in California, he and his roommate, “Zorn’s Lemma” decided to get the ball rolling and put out word MONTHS before on Nerfhaven, inviting all interested fighters and guests. One of whom, was yours truly.

Now I’d organized some battles before within my circle of friends but never went so far as to organize a group from Nerfhaven. This was how I found myself wandering around Promontory Point on a Saturday afternoon. I figured all I had to do was look for the brightly colored weaponry, name calling, and a large group of people. Coming over the hill, I looked down and saw some foam darts laying around. And more. Following the trail, I found them in the middle of capture the flag. Quick introductions and a team assignment later, I was out there with my Disk Shot pistol and crossfire shield in hand.

Until that day it had been awhile since I’d been on the field. Running from position to position, jumping, taking pot shots… it was coming back. Not entirely sure how good I felt about running into six blasters and an N-Force sword camped around the flag objective but whatever, it was the nature of the game and I had to remember how to play, and remember fast.

There was the familiar click of priming handles, the snap of plunger heads colliding along plunger tubes, and the “foomp” from air guns. Darts whistled past my ear crashing into benches and playground equipment. People were yelling, running, and jumping all over the place. At times all I saw were swirls of the yellow and red flags, the grass, the sky, and the various bright colors of the plastic Sometimes all I could hear was the pounding of my heart. Sometimes I opted to sit out so I could take photos and video; it was crazy to make sense of all the action and small struggles that comprised each round. Hunters became the hunted, teams were dwindled, mates disappeared. Unlikely and unarmed heroes rose above the ranks to unlock their achievements for victory.

As the day went on, I was able to attach names to faces. Snake, Ice9, Zorn, Mr.Badwrench, DemonLord, Finnster to name a few. All decent enough fellows. There were maybe close to 20 total, and the darts came flying fast and furious during each round.

Some personal highlights came from running through large crowds of the other team untouched and tagging at least one of them. My “Han Solo” moment chasing a target and then running into his entire team, having to run away and find my front lines again, yelling “TRAIN!” to make sure they knew I was in trouble. Dead man rushes, one of which ended up with me going headfirst into a high powered PAS (pump-action shotgun). Very deadly, very accurate and not the smartest idea. Somehow though, the only contact I heard was the “ptank” it made bouncing off my crossfire shield. When I looked up, I saw the amazed looks and kudos, confirming I achieved the unlikely. A quick shot and a sprint to safety later, I finally got to relish the vindication. Close to that point, I figured I should play a bit more and then call it a day because I couldn’t do anything better for the rest of the fight. For me, the fight was finished.

In addition to the fighting, just seeing everyone’s mods in person was finally seeing money where their mouths were. It was confirmed with my own eyes the ranges these guns got, and damn it was kinda scary to think one day I would be on the other end of that barrel. Spare parts were up for grabs and people were able to trade and sell as needed, as the community helps each other out to get our mods to be all they can be. Or at the least, open up space for new acquisitions.

Living the dream, as they say. Words to practice and thoughts to action. Hey, when in doubt… squeeze the trigger and give it a shot.

ChANO, OUT!

Holy crap… HvZ anyone? Or not…

http://blog.synthesis.net/2008/03/27/nerf-guns-terrorize-college-campus/

So the link above provides a bit about how Bowling Green State University (www.bgsu.edu) have been playing Humans Vs. Zombies (http://humansvszombies.org/about) and unfortunately, the players have been getting in trouble. While I haven’t had the joy of playing this particular game type, I know the weapon of choice for the humans tends to fire foam projectiles. It looks like concerned citizens are phoning in about students running around campus with firearms and in this day and age, it’s not that surprising to be honest.

I remember back in grade school, I once brought a water pistol to class. It was clear blue and plastic, but was found out and warned that I would be in serious trouble for having that at school, as it was considered a firearm. At least, that’s what they told me.

It would take a bit of work to make a nerf blaster lethal. Annoying, sure… painful, yeah… but fatal?

When I was in undergrad I had my fair share of times running around with my nerf blaster, and to be fair I never bothered to check if it was considered contraband by the school rules. I just assumed it being brightly colored was enough to indicate I was not waving anything around that was dangerous. In hindsight, that was pretty reckless.

The point of it all? Check and double check, make sure your school is aware of the appearance of nerf blasters and related products so they can head concerns like these off at the pass. It’s a different world and we can’t take a lot for granted anymore. I like to think that communicating what you’re doing, what you’re using, and what to expect can mean the difference between a blanket ban and a controlled limitation. Be safe and be smart.

Damn… who knew?

Ripped from Nerfhaven.com….

http://5ones.com/nerf-sponsors-dew-tour-900/

“…They’ve signed on to sponsor the ‘09 Dew Tour. And… as part of the sponsorship, the DEW Tour Festival Village (whatever that is) will host the first ever NERF dart tag world championships.”

Yeup, a full-on sponsored competition by Nerf/Hasbro! Who knew? Who thunk? A lot of the battles I’ve ever known/heard about were pretty informal deals. Stock class, dart tag… it’s kind of exciting!

Oh well, one can only hope it’ll make its way through Chicago.

The Future Becometh!

http://nerfhaven.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5961

The above topic contains information/discussion about the latest in Nerf gaming. The “Longshot CS-6” and the “Magstrike.” Are upcoming new releases, most likely for the fall (I can tell you right now I hope that’s wrong and we get them in time for summer.)

The Longshot and Magstrike both use a clip system, which to me is a huge new trait to recent years. More importantly, they’ll come with one additional clip. At the very least a whole new dynamic can be added to the nerf environment. Suppressive fire? Maybe. Steadier shooting? Definitely? Camping? Not with Nerf weapons.

Modifications have proven that clip systems are possible with nerf weapons, but this makes it way easier for people without the skill, time, and material to do those mods. People like me and my nerf group. We hang out and shoot each other, but we don’t go into boosting performance like a lot of other folk do.

The important thing here though is that the clip system changes the way we will play. Cover becomes more of an option. It might even slow down the game, with someone waiting a few more steps behind keeping their teammates covered with a longshot as a group of magstrikes proceed ahead. On-the-fly reloading instead of the traditional stop-and-pop that single shot folks do. Getting caught with a pouch of ammo but fumbling around? Fixed! Streamlined set up to work with? Done!

Of course, maybe I’m getting all worked up over nothing. The Longshot’ll be a bust, the magstrike’ll prove to have been overrated… but dammit I refuse to believe that.

With the new clip system comes new ammo. Apparently the darts are now going to be collarless, and streamlined to be a tip that’s in-line with the foam of the dart. Not going to change with current guns, but it’ll be easier to use homemade ammo in the clips too, I wager.

But what of the old guns, the tried and true? My wildfire, my BBB? Hell, my Blastfire? Will the new system prove to be more useful out there? Maybe not. I do plan to lighten the load, but there will always be the original feel of some of the weapons for me. Even if they are single shot weapons.

I’m excited to see the new stuff, the new innovations that Hasbro is using with the Nerf line. It’s getting warmer, and my trigger finger has had an itch for the past 3 months that I can scratch REAL SOON.

See?

See that? Outside? It’s snow. Wet. Going sideways.

Winter is hell on Nerf. At least in Chicago.

ALPHA!!!!

The Alpha Strike: “All or One” weapons

Alpha Strike – a label I took from Battletech. Some mechs had the ability to fire all their weapons (lasers, machine guns, missiles, etc.) at once. There are a group of foam blasters that do the same thing. At the press of a button, they will unleash all darts at once.

There are only three foam blasters that fit the bill: the Hornet, from the N-strike Unity Power System™ (Hasbro), the Blastfire, and the Big Salvo. The Hornet and the Blastfire have six and five shots respectively, while the Big Salvo has only four. Each one though has the option of unleashing all shots at once.

FIRING:Granted, the mechanism for firing are different as shown below:Hornet/Blastfire: A single “blast” button. The Blastfire’s is located on top of the gun; the Hornet has its located on the side. By pulling the trigger it is just a semi-automatic shot.

The Big Salvo: The mechanism is a little bit different. You have to pull the trigger quickly. If you pull VERY slowly, it releases the air in each barrel one at a time, in a semi-automatic fashion. It releases the air very quickly even if you do one shot at a time, which means you may only get two shots off if you pull slowly.

TACTICS:There are advantages to using these guns over fully automatic weapons like the Rf20 or the Wildfire. For one, the air leak isn’t as bad between times holding down the trigger, with the exception of the Big Salvo which leaks as you press the trigger. (I have never held a PC so I cannot include it.)

The Hornet requires 20-30 pumps but at a bigger range for a higher rate of fire (six shots which is the most in this group of weapons), while the Blastfire needs six for five shots and the Big Salvo 8-10. (This is without overpressure plugging.) The rate of fire is good too because there is no recocking mechanism and you don’t have to repump between shots. Just one shot after the other if you choose without the craziness of the larger weapons.

However, the ammo is different between all three. I choose to not do barrel replacements (lack of time and material) so the stock barrels remain on the Hornet and the Blastfire. Therefore I use stock ammo, normally Dart Tag darts. The Big Salvo barrels are a little larger so I can use Mega Stefans in them after removing the air restrictor. The arrows the Salvo comes with are worthless, IMO. The fins are not sturdy at all and are reminiscent of dollar store missile launchers. Mega Stefans crammed down the barrel are a better option. Big Salvo barrel do not hold stock ammo tightly at all.

The Blast button is a key option to have. It can be used to clear a room or a last ditch shot against someone who is really good at dodging. At close range, the option to Blast your target can be a key moment in any confrontation on the field.

However, all three guns are sizable. The Hornet is about the size of the Firefly and the Blastfire is just as wide, but not as long as the Hornet. None of the barrels are centered though either which can make aiming difficult. But still, no reloading as with a single-shot and faster than the reload time of a Maverick (one of the fastest multi-shot guns out there to reload right now, IMO).

I have not had the opportunity to go akimbo with these guns yet, but I do plan to in the future. More to add as I am able to do that.