Season 9 Schedule Released!

The 9th Summer Season of Fight Nights for the Midwest Laser Tag Association has been set!  It's a little shorter season than normal, mostly due to wedding preparations on my end... but it still should be a great set of games!  I figured I'd publish this information on the blog to reach more people about it.  Outreach to new players has always been important to the group, so whether you live in the Omaha area and have just learned about this or you're passing through on a trip and want to make a Laser Tag pit stop, here's all the info you'll need to know!

There are four special events in our 12-week season this year.  Below are details on each one.

Your Questions: ANSWERED... soon!

Hey everybody!  Wanted to thank all of you who submitted questions for the "Event Planning Q&A" thing I did last week.  It may have taken some bribery, but I'm excited to get to answering your inquiries about one of my favorite things to do: get people together to go shoot stuff!  Over the next week, I'll be putting together video responses to answer your questions about this... while simultaneously refinishing my basement.  SO, it might be an update-free couple of days between making the videos and working on my home.

Also, I've had a few surprising comments about doing more Laser Tag stuff... which is awesome!  Usually I get "Do more Nerfs" comments, but I don't have anything to show yet.  There's stuff in the works, but in the meantime, check out this fella!

ELV2 - Progress Update #2

Instead of talking about revisiting the long-forgotten Elite Longshot Version 2.0 project, I actually did some work on it today.  Made a lot of progress, but also have a lot of work ahead of me.  From tweaking the dodgy internals to deciding exactly what the colors to put where on the shell, not to mention I haven't even gotten STARTED on the LSFG... there's still a lot that needs to happen.

Still, I'm happy with the progress today and it's good to blow the dust off this and sink my teeth into it again.  Check out the video below that should bring you up to speed.

SledgeFire Fun!

This is probably one of the longest videos I've made in awhile, so I took my time and had some fun with it.  I'm fond of the ZombieStrike SledgeFire, so I did a two-in-one video.  The first half covers an easy modification that improves power and range without sacrificing reliability and internal structural integrity.  The second half gears up my MOLLE Rig with some pouches to carry 12 Shells and 36 Darts into battle!

Oh and I should say that the MOLLE Rig idea is kinda sorta "borrowed" from the awesome folks at Basic Nerf.  Go see what he's done with his MOLLE schtuff!

Lookin for the SledgeFire Video?  Click the link below.

Down to Earth Day - Super Soakers

I used to chime in about Super Soakers every now and then... but, from the looks of Nerf's 2014 lineup, I'll probably sitting this one out.  I was reminded today, being Earth Day, of the new look for Super Soaker by their post on their Facebook Page today.

Commence Rant Mode!

For the past few years, the Super Soaker lineup had taken on a bit of a "Tacti-cool" look to them.  Previously, the Thunderstorm, Tornado Strike, and Shot Blast had N-Strike compatible accessory rails and even had removable stocks, too.  They were fashioned much like their dart-firing brothers, but their performance wasn't too earth-shattering.  Lets be honest.  Half the reason these blasters sold was so you could ALSO get a cool accessory to put on your Nerf blaster!

The new lineup, while it still has a few recolored versions of previous models, has this odd white/blue/green look to 'em.  It makes the blasters look more like the goofy bright colors you see from other water gun manufacturers.  They've also done away with the accessories and such.  The designs in general (aside from those recolored from before) don't really fit the look the previous years had.  I understand why they've done this... to further differentiate the lineups from eachother.  ZombieStrike looks different from N-Strike Elite which looks different from Rebelle which looks different from Super Soaker.  But, in making the Super Soakers look more like the other funky colored water blasters out there... now I think they've shot themselves in the foot for one reason: cost.

Nerf Products always cost more than competitors.  If you ask me, the cost is justified because they do make a quality product that works well.  The "Nerf or Nothin" slogan explains why it's worth it to go with a Nerf Product over something else... and even the N-Strike lineup has picked up the "Elite" name to further shine marketing dominance over their competitors on the shelf.  But you can SEE the difference between the products.  So, in making the new Super Soakers look like your average run-of-the-mill water guns that are already on the market... but still have them more expensive, buyers are less inclined to give the triggerless pump-to-fire Super Soakers the sale if something just as goofy-looking can be purchased for less.

There's less of a pull for buyers to get a Super Soaker.  They probably get the same mediocre range as they have since they put the "Nerf" logo on 'em.  There's no cool accessories to pimp your dart blaster out with.  They've got goofy colors.  They lack a trigger (except those electronic ones).  They're still more expensive than most generic water blasters.  I can't be any more down-to-earth about this!  The new Super Soaker lineup has no real pull in my books.

Q&A: Everything Events!

While I was making preparations for the Introduction Video posted on Tactical Tag's birthday last week, I stumbled upon a lot of great old footage and it got my gears turning again.  Sometimes the best ideas for the future can come from the past!  One of those bits was something I think I enjoyed as much as readers and fans did.  There were two weeks where I answered questions from readers about Nerf and Laser Tag.  So, with the summer months coming up quick (sorry, Australia) and my own personal plans for the MLTA and a local Nerf group are ramping up, I figured what better time to field some questions about Event Organization.

It's really something I've pushed for awhile.  Not just to mod your blasters, but to get out and enjoy the fruits of your labor with your mates either indoors or outdoors (or both).  I did a video during those Q&A weeks specifically about Event Planning, so I thought I'd do two things.  The first, shed light on the information I've already provided (aka, go check out that video if you haven't before).  The second, field more questions from YOU about this and then go about answering them in a video format again.  It's a common enough question that I get both on a local level and in comments on Facebook, YouTube, and this blog.

SO, at the end of this week (April 26th), I'll hopefully have gathered up enough questions from everyone to put together a Q&A session for Nerf and Laser Tag Events.  Anything about events, from finding places to play to getting enough interest to start up a group (and keep it GOING), you ask 'em and I'll answer 'em!

Happy Egg Day!!

Tactical Tag would like to wish everyone a happy and ridiculous "Egg Day".  No Cadbury Bunnies were harmed in the filming of this video... very much.

Put together a special video on this "Egg-Day" Sunday! Doesn't matter if you're celebrating Easter with your family today or if you're at home watching re-runs of "Home Improvement". Whatever you do... keep a blaster handy in case of a bunny sighting!