Load out: part 1

I've been bringing some combination of this to games lately

Don't worry folks, this post is going to be a fairly short one (the opposite can be said about tomorrow). As I start to draw more readers in, I wonder who you folks are. Where do you live? What is your preferred Nerf War Game of choice? What do you bring to games? Feel free to post in the comments section at the end of this post to chime in on any of the above. 

In my case, my Load out has been framed by three main factors since I got into Nerfing at the start of this year. They are:

1) Cost: "Oh yeah, rents due in a few days, maybe I shoudn't go to Target and buy two Rayvens to dual wield at HvZ."

2) Transport- Really the lack there of. I walk to most games, sometimes take the bus and sometimes can 

catch a ride. This means I more than likely won't be using a Vulcan as a primary with a Stampede as my back up, with corresponding bandoliers for ammo. 

3) Playing style- I'm pretty pragmatic and try to keep an even head when I'm in game, but if I spot an opportunity to have a moment that's at least semi-epic, I'll throw all that "responsible" stuff out the window and go for it. I like to have something light enough to be able to run, flank or do something sneaky with, but still with enough range and firing speed to keep other players at bay. 

Another factor is looking edge itself onto the list: reliability. Namely, as of late my magazine fed weapons (Stryfe, Retaliator and the last time I used a Rampage) having been jamming on me at particularly in-opportune moments, with the Stryfe being the offender du jour. As you can see from the picture above, I'm not loading out a single magazine fed weapon. Handling the magazines has been another headache, especially at games I'm organizing due to all the extra stuff I have to bring. 

My current load out keeps things simple, but still gives me the range and power I'm looking for, as I'm looking to constantly place myself into different game scenarios and never really know what I'll need. Here's a description of what I have and why:

Rough Cut 2x4: The shotgun looking (and acting) blaster in the top right corner. The Rough Cut fills in for my Stryfe when I'm pissed off at it (jamming and getting me killed a few times will do that), as I like its range (about 50 feet in outdoor windy San Francisco) and it can lay down a wall of darts in a couple of seconds. Particularly in Humans vs. Zombies, it can clear an area out pretty quick and make it safe for those behind you to pass. Holds eight darts, can fire one or two darts at a time and can slamfire.

Strongarm: The Revovler looking blaster in the top left corner. Though technically the Rough Cut is my primary, I might get more use out of the Strongarm. Like the Rough Cut, it is able to slamfire. Circumstances during a game of HvZ at SF State forced me to use it as a primary during a game once and I was incredibly impressed, even though I died using it. I was doing a side mission, moving in a small squad (I will definitely talk about the dynamics of small groups vs. big groups in a post soon) and assigned to cover the right flank, we found ourselves constantly followed and attacked by zombies. I didn't miss a zombie inside of 20 feet and reloaded 3 or 4 times during the 30 minute round. In the end, I died because I was out of ammo, which is the only drawback of the blaster (only holds six darts) and why I don't make it a primary. 

Dual Triads: Someone mentioned doing this almost as a joke during a game I was at. I went home, got some tactical rope and tied them together at the cocking levers. I liked using just a single Triad during games, as its very easy to carry and gets maybe 55-60 feet of range outdoors. The first time I got shot with one, I was standing still, about 40 feet away from the shooter. I figured he was out of range do to his tiny gun. I kept standing still and got shot square in the chest, with enough ummph to tell me he could have hit me even further away. The blasters are primed by pulling them in opposite directions and I'm able to unload six darts in a couple of seconds. 

Sling and ammo pouch: With no magazines this is how I transport my ammo. The pouch is wrapped in duct tape around the middle, which prevents the zipper from sliding too far down and dropping the darts. I can carry about 50 or 60 darts in the pouch and the sling is a Nerf bandolier with accommodation for another 20. 

Sock Grenades: A recent, but effective addition. I can carry about 25 of them in this weird green satchel thing I hook onto my belt. I'm no Sergio Romo, but they are good at close ranges in HvZ and from a far you can lob them into crowds indiscriminately and still get some kills. 

If I can find a better way to carry around my Swarmfire then it may replace my Rough Cut. If that happens, I'll build some kind of rig to carry the Rough Cut on my back. 

What about you guys?