...and a Tactical New Year!

Nerf Outdoors?  It's more stand-out than you think!

I love reading comments and feedback related to the blog.  So when I read "maybe you should do a couple posts about tactical ideas for nerf / laser tag stuffs? I'd read it... " from TestamentSeven7, last week's Weekly Giveaway winner, I figured why not give you what you want?  I mean, this is "Tactical" tag, and during this time of year with so many new things coming out, it's easier to seem like a news service.  Well, I've decided to put a stop to that with some different levels of Tactical advice.  The advice I'll give is merely my opinion that's been shaped by my experience playing Nerf and Laser Tag games for quite a while.  This week, my focus will be on Nerf, while for the week of January 30th, I'll focus on Laser Tag in anticipation of the Toy Fair that should give us more info on the latest Lazer Tag system!

With a trajectory like that, why would you bother playing outside?

First let me say that while there are inherit similarities between being "Tactically outfitted" for Nerf and Laser Tag, that there is one major factor that one must consider when preparing yourself.  If you haven't guessed it, it's range.  The main reason that range is a defining factor that separates these two hobbies that I know and love is because of the element of camouflage.  This is only really a factor when it comes to outdoor play and, while I know that there are Nerf Battles outdoors, due to the range of Nerf Blasters, it's not as important of an element.  I personally don't play many games outdoors with Nerf because I think that it's a much more enjoyable system indoors where the ranges are much closer.  It's also much easier to retrieve darts and equipment in a closed environment.  Since I play indoors, it's not very helpful to try to hide yourself with camouflage since the ranges are so much closer.  That, and it's difficult to find some sort of camouflage to blend in with objects indoors instead of the wilderness of the outdoors.

That poor fool on the far right just made himself a target

This works out just fine for me, since there aren't many stock Nerf Blasters that would work well in camouflage because of the bright nature of how they're colored.  Not only the blasters, but the ammunition systems also have stand-out colors.  Even if you WERE to manage to camouflage everything, unless you're playing outdoors, it's not really worth your time to focus on trying to hide yourself with a very visible system.  So what's the point of talking camouflage when it comes to Tactical Advice concerning Nerf?  Not to waste your time with it.  There isn't enough of a good reason for camouflaging your blaster or wearing Military Fatigues when it comes to indoor Nerf games.  It's likely that it'll only slow you down or make yourself MORE of a target.  In my experience, when players see someone who shows up decked like GI Joe to a game, they become more of a target because the players are under the assumption that "this guy is good".  They end up getting over-estimated and get double and triple teamed a lot.  So in essence, the element of "camouflage" for indoor Nerf games shouldn't be to blend in to your surroundings, but to blend in with the common player.

You're probably asking yourself "so how is this Tactical Advice?"  It's actually getting a big chunk of "here's what you shouldn't do" advice out of the way to make room for the advice that WILL help you.  The next installment will cover more "what you SHOULD do" advice.  I'd tell ya what I have planned, but I'd rather keep you reading!