Hmm, I wonder where this war idea came from! I'll see if I can show up. I hope it rains so I can powerslide down some hills!

Aww, you know that no Nerfer would play zombie games all day. It'll probably turn into 3-15 and the normal games after everyone gets bored and/or tired. Worst-case scenario, you can put your foot down and make sure it turns into 3-15 and the normal games.

You shot a weighted missile a hundred feet? Unless you angled that Berserker, I'm calling shenanigans on this one.

Yeah, Alec! Change me to a definite, with at least 1 friend. Stevens is rollin' out!

You'll need to change me to a maybe. This is the second week of the spring semester for me - I'll need to see how much time and cash I have.

War's over, and it's postmortem time! Interesting bits coming your way!

- Berserker Fusion! Daikaiju! not functioning at all!
- RIDICULOUS COLD. Got frostnip on my left hand after ten minutes of play.
- Stevens army rolling out four-deep. Z80, Non-NIC Twitch, Noodles, holla.
- No gun breakages!
- Rapid prototyping the Shields game! See below.
- Slept through a train and missed one more...
- Kicking ass with a Pirates of the Caribbean pistol!
- Hanging with the Stevens crew, Cheesy, Lucian, DX, Silencer, et al
- Totally failing yet again to nail down a trade with Lucian

I want to give the Shields game type some special attention. We tested it out in a few rounds - two with one life, two with one life where you had to kneel as you counted, and a pistol round. Here's what I observed:
- Standoffs ended naturally. Players realized quickly that unless they were spread out, they would never land two hits.

- Standoffs weren't totally eliminated, since players were reluctant to take the first shot. Players who were confident in their accuracy or just reckless broke the ice by landing a hit or charging.

- Teamwork went through the roof. Players organized themselves into 'fire teams' or buddied up before rushes.

- Strategy came into play very prominently. Long-ranged players had to coordinate with short-ranged players so the latter could clean up after the former landed a shot.

- Gameplay proceeded slowly at first, then got faster as players were eliminated. The last player on a team had an impossible time.

- Short-ranged blasters, pistols, and melee weapons became really powerful. Players could continue their rush even if they were shot, and hitting someone at 10 feet could make or break a play. I cleaned up half a team using an Arrowstorm and a Warlock, and Jeff took down a few guys with an Atom Blaster!

- Players were confused about barrel taps, and we couldn't decide how to handle them. This part needs some work in the future.

- The kneeling thing was interesting, but dropping to one knee on frozen earth was torture. We ended this round quickly.

- Players still needed some time to adjust to the game. Many players' primaries took too long to reload, and players were unaccustomed to the type of strategy and teamwork needed to score kills.

- The general consensus was that Longshots would be super-weapons in this style. None of us actually brought a Longshot, so this went untested.

Bear in mind that the temperatures were EXTREMELY FUCKING COLD, which cut players' accuracy, and more importantly, reload speed. I'd definitely try this game mode when it gets warmer and players are encouraged to bring high-ROF blasters.

Bump, and one of my friends will need to borrow a primary. Can someone bring a spare?

I'd probably be up for it. That's winter break for me, so I'll have plenty of time to mod and war.

Edit: 100th post! Hell yeah!

I'm planning to integrate a Marvelous Salvo into my Spy Gear Signal Launcher by splicing a T between the pump and blast-chamber assembly. The pump is a Spalding basketball pump with no over-pressure release valve. I'll put a check valve between the T and the SMDTG trigger to isolate the two systems. Here's a diagram:



Suppose I pump enough to safely pressurize the Big Salvo chambers and the SGSL chamber. I then fire the SGSL or Salvo and pump again to refill it. Since there's no OPRV, will this cause the other mechanism that had not been fired to become too pressurized and explode?

Also has anyone attempted to mod the alpha trooper drum for stefans? Is it possible?

The Alpha Trooper drum is mechanically identical to the Raider drum, so K9Turrent's Stefan mod should work. Wouldn't be a bad first Mod and PJ post.

Were was that mod posted? Link?

Here you go: http://lmgtfy.com/?q...ent raider drum

Not a good idea. The solvent in the dye might melt your Stefans, it'll increase their diameter, and make them sticky in the barrel. You're better off taking the money you'd spend on dye and just use it to buy more Stefan supplies!

I'd say to avoid Photobucket altogether. Pics hosted there tend to expire and make write-ups useless. Use Flickr instead.

I'm driving in from South Jersey on Saturday evening. If anyone wants to carpool and split the gas, send me a PM.

I'll be there, and I'll be bringing a purpose-built indoor primary.

JSNO and Dart of War in one weekend... that's 500 miles of driving and 12+ hours of Nerfing. I love it!!

I found some pictures of this war's venue on the UMD NAS's site:
http://www.umdnerf.c...ew09/index.html
The pics are too big to embed, but check them out if you're undecided. They'll change your mind.

Tear the turret off and mount it to your shoulder, and you can be War Machine.
I want one!

I just finished a Stampede with 14.5v battery pack, and when I pull the trigger, the blaster fires uncontrollably. Unlike the common catch-spring problem that SGNerf identified and troubleshot, this is caused by a "race" condition between the plunger tube and the actuator gear.

I'm posting this thread to get some help solving this problem and chronicle any solutions for future modders. I'll put up photos as soon as I can.

Here's the problem:
The Stampede's plunger tube is pushed forward by a large gear which is about 2/3 toothed and about 1/3 smooth (untoothed). When the motor rotates the smooth part in, the plunger-tube assembly can slide freely and is pushed backwards by that weak black spring you can see through the window, which resets the blaster.

Normally, the gear turns fairly slowly, exposing the smooth part long enough for the spring to fully reset the plunger assembly. This releases the white motor switch, cutting power to the motor.

However, when the voltage is increased, the toothed part of the gear might rotate back in before the plunger-tube assembly has fully reset. This means that the white motor switch is never released, and thus the blaster fires uncontrollably. This can also cause the gearbox to become misaligned, which creates further problems and can damage the mechanism.

This is the "race" - the plunger tube needs to fully reset before the untoothed part of the gear rotates out.

Even if you haven't upped the voltage on your Stampede, it's likely that this problem could happen anyways once the lubricant wears off and the plunger-tube assembly returns more slowly.

I tried replacing the black spring with a more powerful one, and it still didn't reset fast enough. Any ideas?

I've fixed the problem!

I replaced the stock spring with one from a Big Bad Bow. I had to cut off about two coils to make it fit, but it works fine.
The increased spring strength requires more force to compress and thus the gearbox turns more slowly. Less momentum on the main gear means that it has more time to reset!

The blaster fires hard and fast, and I haven't noticed any heat or damage in my postmortem.

Long story short: If your Stampede is firing uncontrollably and your catch spring is fine, upgrade the spring.

If you're going to a NIC war, #1 through #4 are Rainbowpumps and #5 is a tie between a Plusbow and another Rainbowpump.

 

If you're doing a more casual, close-range battle, you will get outgunned by flywheels. Few springers have an advantage over a flywheel blaster, but these have special properties that could make them competitive:

1. Longshot - The best platform for a clip-fed modded springer, period. Supports the beefiest springs, the silliest integrations, and the most sophisticated breeches. A maxed-out Longshot could outrange a flywheel blaster and provide area denial.
2. Dart Zone Magnum - Big, filthy, stinking drum. If you can run really fast and have good game sense, you can mop up opponents as they swap mags.
3. Buzz Bee Sentinel - The People's Rifle accepts Nerf mags, shoots 120+ FPS, makes you The Terminator, and costs ten bucks. You see A LOT of these at Superstock wars.
4. Alpha Trooper - The definitive HvZ blaster. Lightweight, good ergonomics, cheap, and versatile. So reliable it's basically indestructible. Slam-fire works well. Not competitive in brief games, but perfectly suited for multi-day HvZ scenarios.
5. Ultimator - The only springer that shoots HUGE ROCKETS. Provides +5 ranged touch attack and +10 movement speed while wielded by BallisticJoe.

Honorable mention: Stampede. It's technically a springer. But only technically.

Try playing in the rain and ask the flwyheelers which type of blaster is king.

Good point. Just remember to strip, dry, and lube your blaster afterwards so the spring doesn't rust.

Between rounds at Apoc 8, I was trying out a crappy Lord of the Rings longbow, and another Nerfer attempted to shoot them down with a Titan-rocket-firing Chimera. This quickly turned into catch-the-Titan, which quickly turned into Titan Football! Sorry if I put this in the wrong section, I couldn't find any other rules-related articles.

The first batch of rules turned into a major clusterfuck, which was awesome. I've refined the rules a bit, and posted them here for your own Titan Footballing pleasure!

For this game, you'll need a missile-firing Titan or Chimera, a Titan missile, something to mark goals, and at least 10 Nerfers. Find a nice, open space with no obstacles. Mark goals about 100ft apart. Break into two teams. Each player can only use spring pistols.

Flip a coin to choose who's on offense. One player on the attacking team is the QB and gets the Titan. Form a line of scrimmage - offensive players in a line with the QB, defending players in a line 20 feet away. The QB "hikes" the Titan by starting to pump it, and lets the rocket rip. Team on offense tries to catch it.

If it's caught, next down starts where the catcher is tackled. Tackle players by shooting them (no barrel taps allowed!) or just simply get in their way. Tackled players can't shoot, drop the missile, and stand still until the end of the play. 4 downs per round, only one first down. You ken do eet - get that Titan into the end-zone!

You can also blitz the QB, preferably with a Lightning Blitz.

I will be there, and bringing up to 3 friends.

Like Spartan's war named Chelsea, I'll need to find out the logistics once I'm in college. This is the first week of school for me, so I might have other responsibilities and obligations. By responsibilities, I mean alcohol. And by obligations, I mean more alcohol. I'll keep you posted.

Wow, Talio, that chip on your shoulder has a chip on its shoulder. The reason I'm writing this a day after the war is because it got me so goddamn tired! Between the running, powersliding, and Effeminate battling, I don't think I've been to a more intense war. The weather wasn't actually that bad - just cloudy enough to cool us down, and just drizzly enough to turn the entire battlefield into a giant Slip-n-Slide. Everyone was a good sport, a strong Nerfer, and willing to play along with some more interesting games than 3-15.

Highlights:
- Getting shot by ballisticjoe's AT2K from 100 feet, five seconds after the round started. That's not an exaggeration - the shot was angled.
- Bustin' out the new +bow and kicking ass - Thanks, leet!
- Seeing the source of Spartan's... Spartanness
- Ice shooting through a Tupperware when testing our Core
- Powersliding down two hills to escape a horde of zombies
- Nail-biter showdowns with Ice, Lanard Shotgun vs RSCB'd +Bow
- Actually getting sidearm kills!
- Loser battle with the new guy that turned into me chasing him down with dual Wipeouts
- Blowing off my RSCB and barrel during DTC
- Getting Blitzed by Gears three times... that shit's hard to dodge
- Seeing the current Guiness record for most glue poured into a Big Blast
- Possibly breaking Ice's Magstrike pump
- Scoring a disturbing number of crotch shots

What the fuck is going on with this.

+1. I wouldn't have known about the date change if Ellen Rage didn't make this post, and I might have shown up this Saturday. Pull your shit together, dude.

I can't make the 28th. I'm moving back into college that week, and I'd rather drink than Nerf.

EDIT: I can still make the 21st.

DarthMaker from NRev says he'd prefer the 21st.

I'll go. BJ, Chops, and others, I can try to pick you up if you're on the way.

Really? Where?
And no, Im busy that weekend.

We've got Apoc on the 7th, and LINO on the 28th. Now that I think of it, LINO isn't close to PA at all. And I don't think it would interfere much anyways. Never mind.

I'd love to go, but it depends on the date. There are at least two August wars already planned in the area - could we have this on 6/31 as a warm-up for Apoc?

• A hopper's worth of PVC pipe
• An endcap or plug
• Heavy-duty tape like Gorilla Tape
• One tape measure, to be sacrificed for the greater good
• One 3D printed / handmade retainer (STL attached)
• Two spare self-tapping screws (about 1/8")

You can also use these to reload a traditional wye through a ball valve (or check valve) if it doesn't have the other slip female connection cut off. That way you have the option of just topping off your hopper by hand, or doing a full reload of it.

 

That's a great idea. I don't have any "magic ball valves" with a loose dart fit to test, but if you used this configuration, you could use thinner-walled tubing to reduce the weight, since the Mackazine wouldn't need to mate with the wye.

 

the tape measure material will definitely break over time, but you've also got another ten+ feet to use so who cares. 

 

A 5.75" length of tape measure should buckle but never crease. This is the minimum length I could use - even a 5.5" segment of tape measure will crease after a few insertions and quickly snap off. 

 

But yes, one $5 Harbor Freight tape measure has enough material for at least 60 Mackazines.

 

Before settling on the tape measure, I tested styrene, PETG, HDPE, Kapton, vinyl, and ABS spring elements, and they all creased within a few dozen actuations. HDPE (milk jug, used in Aeromech's original design) was the most durable plastic, but it weakened after only 20 or so actuations.

 

If you wanted to make a really, really durable Mackazine, you could try heat-treating the tape measure or just using spring steel stock.

 

Those slugs look familiar, by the way!

 

Guilty as charged. Shands did supply the pictured Slugs, and they're quite good.

How do reloads work when there hopper is still filled with a few slugs? Do you have slugs fall to the ground or get in the way of the new Mackazine you're trying to insert?

 

The retainer snaps back pretty quickly and traps the darts inside. Sometimes, the retainer will pinch a dart against the hopper opening. 

 

I've found that one dart will usually stay in the wye. Loading a jam-packed Mackazine over it acts like overfilling a standard hopper and causes double shots. If you tend to reload early, you might want to leave an inch of headroom just in case.

 

Clear PVC helps too!

I'm up for it any week in April. Talio, could the owners send you some indoor pics so we can figure out which blasters to use?

This was the first war I've run, and seeing everyone have a good time filled me with feels.

 

Upsides:

• New Rapidstrike firmware was a beast
• "Sticks and stones" pistol/shotgun/bow/melee 5-15 FFA rounds were balanced and intense
• Improved flag push rules were a blast
• There was a guy in a gorilla suit
• Got to field-test a Nemesis and it's god-tier
• Tactical tactics were real. Lots of sick plays and great teamfights.
• Good mixture of cover and exposure
• Nice and dry up to the end
• Improved Harambe Defense VIP rules played great

Downsides:

• Hard to control a Rapidstrike trigger in ski gloves
• Still figuring out the best defender spawn time in flag push
• Ekind waffle 'drats' kept wearing out
• Reloading six mags in the cold sucks
• Like a thousand Rival balls everywhere, took ages to sweep up
• NYCNO field is getting stale. We're looking for a spicy new battlefield

If all the materials show up on time, I should be able to make it.

Are FVJ's ok? I'm having trouble finding a supplier for Koosh darts that will deliver on time.

I need to cancel my RSVP - I don't have enough waterproof gear to survive a 35-degree rainstorm.

Good luck, guys! See you in January!

I'll try to come. I don't have any superstock gear, so I'll just need to run a lot.

Great location. Hope we do more of these. Thanks y'all for lending me darts and a Sentinel.

 

It's good to go back into battle after a few years! I was so tired afterwards, it took almost 24 hours to recover!

 

PROS

• Transforming Van into Gimp Hitler
• A Nerf war! In Central Park! Public transit! Bikes! Convenience!
• Great topography. Lots of cover but still good sightlines.
• Not interrupted as often as I expected. We had to hold every 20 minutes or so, which is great for CENTRAL PARK MANHATTAN.
• The People's Gun did great
• Mid-war modding with hacksaws
• Tactics! Strategy! Teamwork! Excitement!
• Grabbing sacks of balls
• Integration game on fleek
• I can still dodge
• Superstock > 80-ft standoffs
• Pistol round, with very inconsistent definitions of 'pistol'
• Got to field-test like 10 types of darts
• Good variety of game types and teamcomps
• You can never have enough Overwatch references
• Camcorder viewfinders
• Everything was lit
• Tacticoolness everywhere
• Sucker darts sticking to humorous surfaces
• Bum-rushing opponents mid-reload never gets old

 

CONS

• Too many players named Dave
• DX runs too much! Stahp
• About a foot of mulch and dirt in the staging area
• Couldn't use my Sceptor 
• Recovery took a full day, a TENS machine, and about 120mg of THC
• VIP devolved into bedlam almost immediately
• My Recon got dysentery and couldn't hold its clipamagazines in
• No one told me that BuzzBee blasters hold Nerf magaclips