Monday, March 26, 2012

Nerf War! April 1 , 2012

When: Palm Sunday April 1, 2012 10:00am - 4:00pm

Where: Centennial Park
9400 S Oak Park Ave
Oak Lawn, IL 60453

Let's let the whole nation know where Nerfing is at!


  Rules:
- Don't be a Jerk or Camper
- Stock Ammo Only
- A "Hit" is defined by the projectile coming to a complete stop and dropping to the ground. Ricochets, grazes, bank shots, etc., do not count. Hits on clothing/accesories count as hits.
- NO homemades, or blowguns
- Shields are allowable up to 5" diameter
- Blasters count as shields. Large ammo breaks shields
- Melee weapons no larger than 12" are allowed in specific rounds
- We provide the darts, but suggested donation to help our group keep going is $5
- Event host has final word on game rulings, bans, etc.

Here's what to bring:
- Nerf Blasters and backups in case of breakage
- Eye Protection, or else you won't be able to play
- Lunch and Drinks

Questions, Comments, Concerns? Feel free to post them in the comments or email us!

**Everyone is welcome.  Our gametypes are fully explained before every round.  Every round is different and fast paced!  It's an experience you'll never forget!**

Monday, March 12, 2012

Gears of War - Board Game Review Part 2!

Hey guys and gals, Snake here.  Since I originally wrote the Gears of War Board Game Review, Part 1, I've had a chance to get my entire gaming crew together to play a full game, which is having four players.

From left to right: Sarge, Crash, Tommy Gunn, and Snake (me)
To keep it simple we played the Emergence mission again.  I chose this time to play at Marcus, Sarge was Cole Train, Crash was Dom, and Tommy Gunn was Baird.  We got through all the setup much easier than the first time and got the map setup.  After setting up the horde and mission specific rules we were ready to start our first turn.

Our brave Gears take to the map and begin to slaughter the horde.  Here's a pic of our first turn:


Our game begins, and the mechanics of the game truly show how the teamwork aspect can really take over.  As I take my turn, I move and play a card which allows me to move and attack.  Tommy Gunn and Sarge play a reaction card that allows them to move with me as to keep the team together.

After my turn, in the Locust activation phase, I draw a card which allows Drones to move up and attack if able.  Before the Locust Grub can even pop out of Cover, Sarge uses his reaction ability to Guard.  Guarding allows him to make an immediate attack again the Locust.  Sarge uses the overkill ability on his Lancer and rolls 3 omen dice and one causing 2 wounds.  The Locust rolls a total of 4 shields.  The 4 shields cancel the 2 wounds, but each omen causes one automatic wound.  The lancers ability of a high rate of fire was more than enough to protect our team from the horde!

Using teamwork, we move together and cut through the horde.
A few turns later, we are rolling through the horde, moving together and guarding each other to protect from being wounded.  The game goes well until I, Snake, feel the urge to go and pickup the weapon pickup in the first area of the map.  I leave my team, thinking everything is under control.  No sooner than I move away do the Horde spawn more Locust, open up a new emergence hole, and go on a massive offensive.

In the fighting, Baird goes down.  Sarge had moved up the board to the next area, while I am desperately trying to get back to my squad.  Crash makes a move to run to Baird to save him.  As we as a team are worrying about being overrun, Crash's comedic timing comes to the rescue.  While picking up Baird, he remembers Dom's character searching for his wife Maria.  Crash takes to doing spot on impressions of Dom, inspiring us and making us laugh, by asking, "Have you seen my Wife?" in a kind of whiny voice.

Dom discards a card, picks up Baird and asks, "Have you seen my Wife?"
After this our teamwork got better, because we knew then teamwork is the only way to win.  Crash kept our spirits up with his impressions.  Tommy Gunn got him the perfect prop, the picture of Dom and Maria, included in the Gears of War 2, fancy edition.   Crash loved using the prop, to ask every Locust if they had seen his wife:

"Have you seen my Wife?"
After a few areas and mission changes of no longer trying to beat the level, we all undertook the task of finding Dom's wife...Our crew was enthralled with the aspect of watching Crash ask everyone if they had seen her:

Not again Crash.....
Before we knew it we were simply slaughtering everyone in our path, as fast as we can to reach the doorway and bust through it.  Once the doorway opened in the Emergence mission and the horde attempts to come through, we made a stand.  Whether it was Crash asking every Locust or the simply amazing 2 separate, omen rolling boomshot rounds we fired into the crowd, the Locust perished quickly and we won the mission.  To celebrate we took a final group shot to commemorate our first successful Gears of War playthrough:






Big thanks again to everyone at Fantasy Flight games for hooking us up with this amazing game.  We look forward to playing again, giving everyone another dose of Sarge, Crash, Tommy Gunn, and Snake, and most of all an accurate representation of the game!

Friday, March 9, 2012

New Airzone Blasters - Including Undermounted Arrow Shooter!

Hey guys and gals, Snake here.  During my weekly roundup of new stuff around in stores I came across some new Airzone brand blasters at my local Toys R Us.  Total we've got 4 new blasters that feature a new technology...DUAL SHOOTERS!  The Dual shooters line all shoot two types of ammo - darts and either discs or arrows.  Here are the overall pictures:

AirZone A2 XShot Dual Dart and Disc Shooter
AirZone A2 XShot Dual Ammo Blast (6 dart shooter)




Both of these blasters feature dart and disc shooters.  The pistol sized shooter retails for $6.99USD, while the larger blaster retails for $17.99USD.   The wow factor comes in the way of being able to simultaneously shoot the disc and the dart.  Both parts of the blaster are connected, and cannot be separated.  The simple factor of having a 2-in-1 blaster  is the major selling point.  I would use the dart blaster portion as a primary, and use the discs as a back-up, in case I do not have time to reload. 

Now for the piece I picked up to review:

AirZone 8 Dart Blaster Combo Pack
Wow! It's the back of the box!

The AirZone 8 Dart Blaster Combo Pack retails for $19.99USD and features a bunch of tactical rail accessories.  The blaster is the same model as the AirZone Humans vs Zombie Dart Blaster, which features an 8-shot rotating turret.  The turret rotates on the prime as opposed to rotating on the trigger pull.  It also feels like heavy duty plastic, and works better than the HvZ Dart Blaster.  The main feature of this product lies in the accessories.

Blaster with the Scope and Arrow Shooter attached



In addition to the blaster you get an 8-dart ammo holder, a 2-lens scope, and...drumroll please...the undermounted arrow shooter.  All accessories attach via tactical rail and WILL WORK with Nerf's tactical rail system.  Securing the accessories works by sliding them over the rail and they snap into place.  These attachments are very secure to do not "wobble" like some others.  The scope does look cool, but provides no magnification.  The Ammo holder works very well to hold an additional 8 rounds. 

The undermounted arrow shooter has finally given me (and many others), what I've been wanting for years.  It's a modular attachable secondary, similar to a real-life masterkey shotgun, or undermounted grenade launcher.  The arrow shooter works extremely well and has range the same as the blaster.  In our wars, ammo larger than a dart can break through shields and blaster-blocks.  So having large ammo at the ready is an amazing advantage!  Even having a backup shot of something, that can be attached to any blaster is a huge advantage. 

Without further ado, here's the firing video:


Overall I would totally recommend this product to anyone.  The blaster many not be anything super special, but the undermounted arrow shooter is well worth the price.  This is the first time that a blaster has a modular accessory that can function as a blaster!  Truly unique and well done!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Nerf Pinpoint Sight (Red Dot Sight) Coming Back!

Hey guys and gals, Snake here.  Over on SG Nerf, a reader of his found the pinpoint sight, which is a fancy name for a true red dot sight.  It appears that Nerf will be re-releasing the pinpoint sight again.  The Red Dot Sight has been the most sought after accessory Nerf has ever made.  At the moment, the only way to get these are for insane prices on eBay and Amazon.  Hands down, it's the one I use all the time. Here's a pic:


Taken by XCon at the SGNerf Forums

I'm heading out in a bit to see if anything like this has struck at any toy stores stateside!  Updates to come later today!  Here's on more of the box:

It really does fit all blasters and truly work!

So the deal in Singapore, where SGNerf and XCon are from, if you spend $40 you can get a Pinpoint sight for free!  Check it out:

Courtesy of SGNerf
I'll post updates when I do my weekly toy reconnaissance run!  Stay tuned!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Humans vs Zombies Loadout and Blasters!


Hey guys and gals Snake here.  Since the other HvZ article I wrote, I've been getting a lot of requests to see what I use at HvZ events.  Here's the full shot of everything all packed up:

Everything you need to eradicate any Zombie threat!
Starting from the top we have my Secret Shot I, Eagle Industries Mini Chest Rig, and White-out series maverick.  Next is my first line gear all mounted on an ATS Tactical War Belt.  Finally we get to my Special edition red Nerf Recon, which has been customized.

Typically I play in HvZ's that are one day events, or have set playing times throughout the day.  When playing I am always wearing my first line gear on the War Belt.  Here's a pic of the War Belt with everything displayed:


Starting from the left, in the M16 pouch I keep 2, 5-Hour Energy Drinks and 2, 6 shot magazines.  The 5-Hour Energy works well for me, and you never know when you'll need a boost to keep running.  In the Green GP pouch I keep my flashlight, hand sanitizer (Killing zombies are unsanitary and gross!), my boo-boo kit, Cliff bars, and most importantly the Doodle Roll.

The Doodle Roll Activity Kit is 15' of paper, crayons and the case, which has an awesome easy tear notch.  I ran into the Doodle Roll folks at a few fairs, cool product, cooler people!  Quick shout out to my boy at Doodle Roll, you know who you are :) I use this super rad product to leave messages for teammates, sketching maps, and, if the horde is slow, to alleviate boredom.  This is a must have in the field!  Check them out at http://www.doodleroll.com/!

The canteen is necessary to stay hydrated!  Finally, the dump pouch is used to carry my sidearm, extra ammo I find on the ground, and empty magazines.

Found at Flying Tigers II Army/Navy Surplus

The Mini Chest Rig is compact and simply holds a total of 5, 6 shot magazines.  I can also stuff my keys, wallet, and phone in the Velcro bib pocket.  It attaches easy and comes off easy.  When doing a mission to save survivors, I always can use the extra ammo this rig provides.


My "Little Friends"
Finally we come to the blasters.  My primary is a Special edition Red Nerf Recon and 35 round drum magazine, completely customized.  It features a first-generation plunger tube (so it will not break), air restrictors removed, deadspace removed, and a new spring custom made by a moderator at Nerf Revolution.  It hits huge range and puts aftermarket kits to shame.  Tutorial to come soon on how to make this baby for yourself!

The White Out Series Nerf Maverick features air restrictors removed as well being able to open all the way to make reloading easier.  Lastly, my Secret Shot I; this beauty has been converted to have CPVC barrels to be able to shoot all ammo.  The secret barrel on the bottom is still completely functional and works like a charm.

Hope everyone enjoyed seeing how I roll at HvZ!  If you have any comment or questions leave them here or email me at ttagschicago at gmail.com.  I'll have some more pics and a video of me with the gear up soon!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

New Hailfire Pictures and New Nitron!

Hey guys and gals, Snake here.  Today floating around the internet are some new pics and box art for the Hailfire and Nitron.  Without further ado here they are:

We've got the concept photo from secret sources!
The above pic is the concept photo of the Hailfire!  So between that and the picture from Neo Creations we have a pretty accurate representation of it.

Photo from Neo Creations
From what we know, it will be semi-automatic, flywheel powered.  The clip platform will hold a total of 4 clips and appears to rotate when magazines are empty.  Any more updates, I'll post here!

Moving on, we have a new pictures of the possibly new Nitron.  This one comes with a Stampede-like shield on the top.  More news upcoming!

  
Now with 100% more shield!

New box art!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Humans vs Zombies: To "Mod" or not to "Mod"

Hey guys and gals Snake here.  I came across this article as posted in the NC State newspaper, Technician Online.  The full article can be found here: College Students Build Better Blasters

Here is an excerpt from the article:
"Really the only tools I need are a screwdriver and a hand-drill," Collins said. "Typically I crack [the blasters] open and there's this thing inside called an air-restrictor… I drill it right out."

The air restrictor is a part of a Nerf blaster added to slow down air flow, and according to Collins it should be the first thing to go.

"The air restrictor is something that virtually every Nerf [blaster] has," Michael Ramos, a junior in human biology and an owner of a Nerf Raider Collins has modified, said. "It restricts the air coming inside so that if you're a child… it keeps the [velocity of the dart] very low."

Other optional modifications include spring compression or replacements, jam door removals and replacement of the internals. However, according to Collins, the modification that improves blasters most is a spring replacement.
Even in our TTAGS Chicago outings, we run into a lot of modifications.  Most of these are simple, involving simply removing the air restrictor, or rebarreling a blaster.  My personal Secret Shot I (SS1) has been modified to be able to use the current darts.  When the SS1 came out, the darts used at the time were different sized.  I rebarreled my blaster using a bit of CPVC piping to make it useable.  However, I did not modify my blaster to shoot further, but to make it more reliable and able use all the darts available today.

A Secret Shot I in all its beauty!
Here at TTAGS Chicago, our rules concerning all modifications are that they need to be safe for the user as well as safe for those on the receiving end of the blaster.  A quick side-note here, we always use eye protection regardless of the blaster being used.  Eye protection is mandatory at all our events, you only get one pair of eyes!  Back to the discussion at hand...The majority of our members modify blasters not so much to gain range as they are about making blasters more reliable.

Modifying a blaster with more power presents a whole new challenge.  The internals were only meant to handle a certain power load.  By overloading it, you can break the fragile parts like the plunger tube on a raider, recon, or alpha trooper.  Using drop in kits from other companies will give you ranges of 100 feet or more.  But they carry a price tag of $60 plus the cost of the blaster, and darts.  Additionally you'll need to install it yourself which can present its own problems.  

Let's think about what we're doing for a minute.  Modifying a toy blaster to make it shoot as far as what? an airsoft gun? a paintball gun? Any modifications that breaks 50', can become hurtful at close range.  Launching a soft foam dart with accuracy at that distance is very difficult.  Most darts are so unbalanced, they spiral and loop through the air when used.  If I want extreme range and accuracy, I'll paintball.  When I play HvZ I'm there to have fun, not to win at all costs by having the most uber-modded blaster than can snipe people 100 feet away.  

The TL;DR version: Modify at your own risk.  Soft foam blasters should be fun and safe, anything done to a toy to make it even the slightest bit dangerous should be banned from events.  HvZ is about having fun, not showing off who can shoot a dart the furthest!

Feel free to post comments here or email me (Snake) at ttagschicago(at)gmail.com