17 replies to this topic

[nimane9]

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Edited by nimane9, 06 June 2019 - 09:04 PM.

[snakerbot]

Here in Texas melee is typically allowed, but it isn't used much. I've done boffer stuff in the past, and we didn't allow the Nerf swords there, since they didn't pass our safety tests. We consider them fine at nerf wars here though, because people don't swing as hard.

[roboman]

I've never seen issues with melee. I use a large inflatable squeaky hammer, which has the added benefit of no hard materials whatsoever, but many of the other people down here regularly use Nerf swords, Mashoongas, and various other padded hitting devices.

Of course, there are the people who think that the use of melee stuff is getting too close to LARPing, and should be disallowed purely because of that. I'd tend to disagree, but I definitely am biased due to my location and the people I regularly Nerf with. However, I don't know that there's enough room for creativity while maintaining a certain level of safety to call for, say, a new subforum, as there's only so much you can do with pool noodles and PVC in the scope of safe melee weapons.

[owmyquach]

Hello Ladies and Jellybeans!

I am planning on attending BANO in a few weeks, and have built a nicely padded melee weapon. (boffer)
I'm wondering, before I get banned and all that funstuff for not posting about something that fires those little orange darts filled with magic, I have an honest question. I want to know where the majority of the community stands on melee weapons. Even when they're "properly padded" are they too dangerous? Is it just against the spirit of Nerf? I personally think they're fine, and can add a fun, new factor to wars and the like. I'm 100% sure if they were as accepted as the actual nerf blasters (guns, whatever floats your boat) the community as a whole could really come up with some innovative ideas, just as they have had with the blasters themselves.

Nerf makes swords. Nerf stands for non-expanding(?) recreational foam, which doesn't limit it guns (I don't really know what I just said...). Personally, if I could make a badass giant sword I would totally use it in a war. I attended the last BANO war and I did see quite a few people using it, as well as a dude using a giant shield with a sword who dominated us in a round. But yeah, IMHO, if someone can get close enough to you to melee your ass, you deserve to get hit. See you at BANO!

[Daniel Beaver]

Lots (maybe most) of NIC wars allow melee weapons, so it's not like the NH mods are going to ban you for mentioning them. But as long as you're asking our opinions... I think melee sucks, and makes the game less fun overall.

That said, there are several entire hobbies and communities devoted to melee foam weapon fighting, in all it's forms. They're fun - I have participated in numerous of them in the past, and will probably do so in the future. If you want to have foam weapon battles, I would highly recommend you try out one of those instead of trying to shoehorn it into NIC wars.

Edited by Daniel Beaver, 14 September 2012 - 12:03 AM.

[VACC]

Seems like this is another case of assuming Jersey rules are standard accross the country. They're not, and melee is frequently allowed elsewhere. That said, there are a few reasons why wars in our region dissallow melee. The first being that melee often leads to shields and we have found sheilds, aside from their use in very specific instances, to be a poor mechanic in outdoor game types. They usually slow down the flow of a round and encourage people not to fire darts at one another...which is kinda the point of nerf wars.

The second reason is that many people who enjoy melee don't want to be shot at close range. This is simply absurd. Why would anyone waste a dart and chance a miss while their opponant is far outside of their own effective range? Personally, I wait until somone with a melee weapon is about a foot further away than their reach, and I fire dead center on their chest. If they don't like that, they should give me a practical reason not to do it. Welts are not a reason.

Finally, melee is non-competitive. Anyone with even a substandard nerf gun (as long as it fires) should have no problem dispatching someone with a melee implement. The counter-argument often made by the pro-melee croud, "but it's fun", falls on deaf ears around here. It may be fun for you but we're pricks, and none of us find it fun to have an outmatched player on our team.

Anyway, those are our reasons. Many people don't agree with those. Find those people and nerf with them.

[HasreadCoC]

The second reason is that many people who enjoy melee don't want to be shot at close range. This is simply absurd. Why would anyone waste a dart and chance a miss while their opponant is far outside of their own effective range? Personally, I wait until somone with a melee weapon is about a foot further away than their reach, and I fire dead center on their chest. If they don't like that, they should give me a practical reason not to do it. Welts are not a reason.

Finally, melee is non-competitive. Anyone with even a substandard nerf gun (as long as it fires) should have no problem dispatching someone with a melee implement. The counter-argument often made by the pro-melee croud, "but it's fun", falls on deaf ears around here. It may be fun for you but we're pricks, and none of us find it fun to have an outmatched player on our team.

What about melee as an alternative to barrel-tapping? I'd rather "barrel-tap" with a nerf sword, or pool noodle, from 5ft+ away than have to get close enough to tap with my hand, or risk the person backing up and spearing themselves on my cpvc barrel. I'd agree though that melee-only in a blaster-using round in rather uncompetitive, and while nerf may be a bit less competitive by nature, at a certain point you're just dumbing the game down for everyone else.

[Langley]

http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=22930

I think that thread is pretty representative of the general feeling about melee in nerf. I understand that a lot of wars allow it, but plenty of people don't, and since it's something that bleeds over from another hobby and not really an inherent part of nerf, I think it's best to look elsewhere for information about it. If nerfers in your area allow melee, you can probably just look at the website for whatever LARP it is that the nerfers in your area go to.

At Apoc, and at wars hosted by the LGLF, melee is not allowed. I feel it adds an extra level of complexity to keeping a war safe and balanced, and it doesn't really add anything to the game. There are plenty of other reasons, but most of them have already been covered by Vacc.

[Ambience 327]

We allow melee and shields at Foam in the Fort, and I personally enjoy it and think it does add an extra dimension to the game. We even have melee-only rounds and they have proved rather popular.

A player with a decent sized shield and a melee weapon can effectively soak up a bit of fire from a distance, though our shield size restrictions keep you from carrying a huge tower shield that would make you impossible to hit. They also make good objective grabbers, as they can use their shield to protect themselves as they run up and run back.

Melee is also very fun when you play HvZ rounds - the "Humans" use blasters and the "Zombies" use melee weapons. During these rounds, we usually shelve the really high-powered primaries though, since nearly all of the shooting will be at close range anyway.

I do agree with Vacc on the "welts aren't a practical excuse" thing though. If you choose to use melee at my wars, and it is not a HvZ or melee-only round, EXPECT to get hit close-up with high-powered blasters. Don't like that? Don't melee.

[staltus]

At HAMNO 1 I carried my nerf sword through all the rounds except the Awfuls rounds. I picked up 5 kills with it. We didn't have a rule that you had to be melee only to use the swords and no one so far has had a shield. I think I was to only person who had any issues with a blow thrown with the swords and that was when I caught SnakerBot in the head on accident when he ducked. 2 of my kills came catching someone reloading after my longshot jammed, 2 came in the Ball Launcher and Melee only rounds and the last was a duel with Andy. I took a hit at point blank once while trying to get into melee range, my fault, no big deal.

I could see a melee only person causing balance problems, but then again at Tango 7 I caused problems anyway since I was using mild nerf mods and most everyone else had signifcant nerf mods or homemades.

[Buffdaddy]

I think Ambience will agree that melee can be very effective, especially with the Chicago-area (well, region) limiting shields, etc. That assumes you aren't being stupid, of course. You WILL get hit up close with high-velocity darts, you WILL be costing your team one less blaster to shoot back with, and you WILL have to change how you play.

For practical purposes, melee has no defensive use because of the obvious range advantage a person with even a modded Maverick will have. You'll spend your lives waiting to spawn while they take your balls away. Which means your only real option is attacking, whether that means charging and blocking darts, or providing cover for someone with a pumpSNAP (if you have decent eye-hand coordination and move together, you can protect at least one side of your guy). Then after the other side has lost people to the respawn gods, your partner can give you cover while you run willy nilly.

If it's a war more oriented toward fun, by all means melee, but if it's a very competitive war or game type (the two sides aren't mutually exclusive, mind you), you should probably leave it alone if you're not very good at it.

Just my two cents on the matter.

[Ambience 327]

If it's a war more oriented toward fun

i.e. Foam in the Fort - must be why it works so well there...

[ExAlpha]

Hello Ladies and Jellybeans!

I am planning on attending BANO in a few weeks, and have built a nicely padded melee weapon. (boffer)
I'm wondering, before I get banned and all that funstuff for not posting about something that fires those little orange darts filled with magic, I have an honest question. I want to know where the majority of the community stands on melee weapons. Even when they're "properly padded" are they too dangerous? Is it just against the spirit of Nerf? I personally think they're fine, and can add a fun, new factor to wars and the like. I'm 100% sure if they were as accepted as the actual nerf blasters (guns, whatever floats your boat) the community as a whole could really come up with some innovative ideas, just as they have had with the blasters themselves.

I think you heard of the phrase, "never bring a knife to a gunfight." Well, that's true and this is how most people see it.

But, and I said but, it depends on the circumstances. If a person is fast enough, utilizing cover, dodging darts, very close that the enemy can not react to quickly, the melee would be good. That is how I would see it.

So, all I'm saying is that melee isn't too impractical and too practical. It just depends on circumstances. I personally would love to see melee such as foam blades rather than poking someone with a barrel, which seems unrealistic. You can make an all-melee mode or melee-and-sidearm-only mode. Just think of a way.

[KaneTheMediocre]

As others have said, melee adds variety and fun to a nerf war, but you do need to understand that you are bringing a knife to a gunfight. Don't expect rules to get bent or changed in order to MAKE melee effective.

Most nerf wars nationwide do allow melee, and most users on this site probably consider foamy swords to be part of the hobby, but Langley makes a key self-fulfilling prophecy as he closed this thread asking for homemade sword help. So, regardless of how the community feels, this might not be the best place to discuss them. It does help that your OP is more than one line though.

In any case, my stance is that I have a higher standard for padding on melee weapons than Nerf does. Nerf melee weapons are usually lightweight, but not very well padded, so I like to supplement that padding with pipe insulation. This makes the sword softer, and as a bonus, you can use it to make the sword longer. If you're going purely homemade, choose a lightweight and flexible core--I recommend 1/2" CPVC-- so that your sword doesnt have too much momentum and gives properly when it strikes.

[Daniel Beaver]

but Langley makes a key self-fulfilling prophecy as he closed this thread asking for homemade sword help.

That thread totally sucked; this one is much better.

[ferball]

We play with melee all the time our rules allow for a load out of a primary, secondary and a melee. Right out of the gate the first thing you run into with melee is how to juggle all your weapons. An appropriately padded "sword" is really not functionally sheath-able. So find yourself running around with a sword in one hand and a blaster in the other, priming and reloading become an issue.

If you are melee only the other posts have adequately explained the range issue to make that a non starter for me. The only time I find melee useful is reloading. I use a small "knife" which comes in handy on the occasion that I get rushed whilst reloading, it does not happen often but when it does it is nice to have the option even if it is one step away from useless.

[nimane9]

Also, what are your guy(ses?) view on throw able melee weapons? Such as the tomahawk. Like the guy above me said, he uses the little foam knife thing, would that be acceptable to throw?

[Ambience 327]

In my experience, anything safe enough to throw tends to be either too small or too floppy to be much use as a melee weapon.

I sometimes carry a few weighted craft-foam throwing stars that I made - usually for "shield breaker" duty, or occasionally for Defend the Core (when large ammo counts for extra points). I can throw them fairly accurately up to about 15 feet, and they are quite soft and safe, but far too small to be much use as a melee weapon.