"The Base" - Laser Tag Heaven

So our Weekend Warriors got delayed due to Winter Storm Triton surprising local meteorologists as 9 inches of snow were dropped on the area with whiteout conditions thanks to strong gusts and blowing snow.  Now that the system has passed, we've got 50 degree temperatures on the way to thaw things out, so we rescheduled our game at "The Base".  I came across some footage I took several months ago that I had intended on putting together for a video walkthrough of one of my favorite places to play Laser Tag, so I edited it this morning to show folks why I look forward to playing here so much.

Since my LTX EF5 still hasn't had it's final test, I'll probably shoot the video of it's review AT the base, so that should be pretty cool!  Looking forward to this game, this place, and using the EF5 here.

Mod Night: 3/10/13

Did some work debugging the LTX EF5 last night with my right-hand man Brandon.  We've been running games with the MLTA (formerly OLCA) for 8 years now.  Got a few things done in time for a game that has now been rescheduled for next weekend.  The snow we had planned for, but the bitter cold thanks to the unexpected winds has made things too frosty for our Laser Tag blasters' batteries to endure.  Operational time of these blasters gets cut down to about half an hour when the temperatures dip into the teens like they are now.  

Regardless, it was good to get a few things fixed on my blaster.  My buddy is working on a paintjob for an LTAR, too.  We also discussed possible add-on options for the LTAR for an extended barrel system and a stock that we might be building this summer.

Weekend Warriors

Last Sunday I hosted an indoor Nerf & Laser Tag event for a college theater group.  We had a great set of games and played quite a few rounds.  It was especially neat for me to play the Nerf game since we used their practice theater and set it up with obstacles and cover to hide behind whilst "Battle Music" played in the background.

It was also the debut of my N-Strike Elite Rayven.  I had planned on using the Elite Longshot Ver 2.0 that I'm working on, but I've been having issues with it.  Might need to revisit it's internals and do some kind of custom breech system on it (been considering this for awhile now).  Nothing special about the Rayven, as I just put Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries in it to help boost it's stock power a little.  I also taped two 12 round clips together for a makeshift "Flip-Clip" that worked quite well for me.  I was going to go 18 round, but I let other folks borrow those instead.  Still had a great time!

Another Mod Night is scheduled before our next game

Now we're coming up on ANOTHER weekend of gaming: the MLTA's "Battle at the Base" event!  I love playing at this venue and, while the weather forecast looks a bit cold for my taste, it's gonna take more than slightly-above-freezing temperatures to make me consider rescheduling it.  Only trouble is that my LTX EF5 that I had planned on using for the event has another issue: it's IR LED fell back inside the blaster... so I've gotta open it back up, re-mount that, and hope everything holds up!  I'm planning a Mod Night for the Saturday before our game, so I plan to have all the kinks worked out of it then.  The LTX EF5 has actually never been up to the base for a game yet.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how it does up there.

The Centurion Mess

When news of the N-Strike Elite Centurion broke, Nerf Nation went crazy. A big blaster with long range and new ammo. Some folks liked it, some folks didn't, but the info was out there regardless. All of a sudden, Hasbro says not to post the info because it is "not from an official source", claiming that the blogger who posted this has "misrepresented the info and his access/relationship to Hasbro."

A few bloggers and websites have taken down the information supplied by MyLastDart, who posted an explanation of what happened.  However, the cat is out of the bag.  Regardless of whether the information MLD supplied us with about the specifications of the blaster and it's unique ammo is accurate or not, the box art and general concept of this blaster are running wild on the internet already.  

I find the situation amusing because, when it really boils down to it, these are toy blasters.  If this were a more serious note, like a major corporate bankruptcy or a conspiracy within the government, I could understand the sensitivity of this information.  Is information regarding a new toy blaster really important enough to warrant removing posts on a fan blog?  Or maybe sending a goon squad to Pocket Esq's home in Australia?  Granted, this isn't nearly as serious as that situation... but one would think that a toy maker has better things to do than worry about future release information being "leaked".  It's just my opinion, but these incidents cause an awful lot of noise for something as trivial as this.

New Blaster, New Darts, New Questions

Photo from MyLastDart

So as usual, when word spreads about a new Nerf blaster, I take it under a microscope and start asking questions... and this fella certainly raises a lot.  If you've missed it (crawl out from under that rock!), there's a new gigantic blaster in town.  It's the Nerf Elite Mega Centurion.  Big, Bold, and... red? 

GAME DAY on Campus!

Today I'm hosting another event for a local college's Theater Group.  I've been doing these games with them for several years now, but this is the first time we'll be having both Laser Tag and Nerf.  Should be fun to see how the Nerf game pans out in the Fine Arts Building!

I've done Indoor Nerf games at several locations: homes, churches, and the Music Building on campus.  I find it always tends to work better with a smaller more localized playing field.  Usually I don't run into issues with home or church games, but whenever I've done events in the Music Building, we limit the area where we play.  Before we start the game today in the Fine Arts building, I'll have to scope out a good location to sling darts around, but I'm confident we can find a place that'll work. 

These games will also serve as a second round of in-game testing for my Elite Longshot Ver 2.0 and a final test run for my LTX EF5, both of which I hope to complete soon.  It's been too cold here to paint the Elite Longshot, but I've tweaked a few internal things that should optimize it's operation in games.   The LTX EF5 had it's reload switch repaired, battery pack secured, and lens arrangement permanently mounted.  I also touched up and detailed it's paint job, so it's good for photos if I deem it "complete".

Later this week, I'll have photos from the game and, with any luck, a finalized video on my LTX EF5 project.  Next week, when there's a stretch of warmer weather, I plan to get the Elite Longshot's paintjob set.  Should be a great start to the month!

Survive the Apocalypse

Xplorer Blaster Developments has come out with a new lineup focused on full-length darts (instead of their Xpower series with Stefans).  "Survivor" Foam Blaster Upgrades has parts for dart making, external upgrades, and performance parts for your blasters.  Among them is a Direct Plunger System for the Longstrike!  I'm a fan of some of the names they've got for these darts.  The "Soulless" and "Headless" foam rods are among some of the HvZ-centered focus of this new lineup from Xplorer.

I'll have more info on this lineup later.  Maybe even some reviews!