Better Axe Around

A couple of weeks back, I brought out an old purchase, a Nerf Warlock Axe,  that I hadn't used since maybe February at the latest. I was hosting a Humans vs. Zombies training event of sorts, with the park I picked for the event located just a few blocks from my house. Since I didn't have to travel as far as I normally do for games, I figured that I could bring out some blasters and melee weapons that I don't ever use. There can be plenty of reasons why a weapon falls out of use: they're jam prone, lack accuracy, blow through ammo too quickly, or most of all, since I'm walking to most games, they're too damn big to fit in my bag.

My Warlock Axe, which as stated I hadn't used since February, was definitely too damn big to carry around with me on the street to a game. Prior to this training session, I hadn't really given melee weapons too much thought in general. My load out, mission planning and point of view game wise has always been blaster-centric. As a primary, I go with this: 

Its stock as far as internals go, but it still is very effective. For Tactical Ops and Jericho (which allow  foam knives or nothing at all as far as melees go) I usually complement it with either a sidearm of sorts ( Strongarm or Triad). For HvZ I bring a ton of sock grenades as well. 

At the training session, we did an exercise where 4 humans had to square off against 12 zombies for 10 minutes, or the last human perished. They had to stay within an area that was about 30 square feet. For the first two rounds of this exercise, the humans were allowed to use blasters but for the final round they were allowed melee weapons only. I was part of this human group, dying in about 6 or 7 minutes after being the last human standing. Prior to my demise, I was able to defend myself against zombie attacks well enough that I went on the offensive, chasing down a group of 4 zombies attacking a fellow human. I ran them down and the both of us were able to catch a breath. Sadly, my fellow humans died shortly after and it was the last breather I could take, as I spent the next 2 or 3 minutes running around by myself, whacking zombies with the axe. 

After the round, I was impressed, but still skeptical. I decided that I was going to bring a light load out to my next HvZ game, which you can see below: 

I had structured the game where each mission had two parts: In the first part, the humans would be mobile and have to travel to a safe zone. In the second part, they would be forced to survive for a period of time within the boundaries of a designated area. It was during the second part of this mission where the Axe started getting a lot of use. 

We were held up at a Cannon Battery (complete with an old cannon), with most of my fellow humans huddled together on a ridge, fighting a slowly encircling zombie attack. The zombies would eventually get stunned, but they would put the human's backs closer and closer to the boundaries each time. I decided I wanted no part of this.  Clearing the way with a couple of sock grenades, I got trotted past the stunned zombies and took up a position behind them. They paid me no mind and when they jumped back up to push at the humans once more, I whacked them with the axe. The next time they got up, they paid a little more attention, forming a smallish group to confront me. 

I stood still. When they got close, I immediately struck two of the group as the other zombies looked on. They seemed a little baffled that I was still standing there, so as they stared at me I whacked a couple more before running off. The non stunned zombies in this group waited for their stunned fellow Zs to rise back up before giving chase. 

They also added a couple more friends to their lot, announcing to everyone they could, that they had a lone human in their midst. I planned to fight them all, giving the Axe a solid test in the process. I knew where to lead them as well: there was a concrete bunker that came up against officer's quarters (we were in an old military base), and I planned on retreating into a corner where the two structures met. They kept pursuing me, licking their zombie chops along the way as it must of seemed like I was digging myself more and more of a grave. 

When I got to the corner, I put my back against the wall and stopped. There had been a zombie running on top of the wall of the bunker, who was immediately bummed out that his height advantage was lost. I got surrounded by the zombies, with a player named Sinclair charging me first (It was the first of maybe 100 charges Sinclair aimed at humans that day. He charged at us so much that I dubbed him the Charge Master in honor). With a whack of the Axe he was down and since I was so close to a couple of other zombies, I took a whack at them as well. I fell back to the wall and the remaining Zs, with their options a little more limited with their numbers about halved, charged me and received Axe whacks for their measure. I retreated away from all these fallen Zombies, running in the opposite direction with my Nerf outlook changed considerably. 

So all of this is well and good, but what makes the Axe so special to me now?

Dimensions: The handle is about 20 inches long, with the axe head measuring about a foot wide and long total. I have fairly long arms, so I'm not affected by the relative short length of the handle. If anything, I prefer it. With the shorter length, but considerably wider area of the Axe head, I can cut at angles and in ways that a sword does not allow. The fact that it is foam, not wood and iron makes it incredible light and very easy to use with just one hand. 

Unlimited Ammo: I've died too many times in HvZ hearing the click an empty blaster. With the Axe I can defend myself as long as I can continue to swing my arms. 

Dual Wielding?: Not too into it, believe it or not. I feel off balance, or perhaps just a little too overextended when dual wielding. I feel like I'm covering too much ground, instead of focusing my attention on just one area. The other night, I messed around in my apartment with my Axe in one hand and a pool noodle in the other. 

I stopped myself a few moments later. There I was, in my living room, by myself, flailing about the axe as I stabbed at the air with the pool noodle. I can definitely say that I've done nerdier stuff in my life, but I hadn't felt like THAT much of a nerd in quite some time.

I decided to just go with the Axe.