Today was a great MHvZ day. There were a lot of people there and we had some fun games. My Rhino-Fire, which I just finished, was also a great help. This Nerf Game Report will describe the blasters we used, the gamemodes that were played, and how the new Blind Bomber setup performed.
Gamemodes
Regular
- (Regular Survival Standard Gametype), humans attempt to survive for a certain amount of time or until the last person falls. Upgrades are available to zombies. We used Husk at 15 minutes, Tanks in 10 minutes, and Infectors in 5 minutes. Last human to fall wins.
- Secret VIP This game has three special players: the VIP (the General) and the Traitor (the Traitor). The VIP is a human that other humans want to protect. It is limited to a specific area (we used the tambark area), while Traitor is a zombie disguised as a human. After being stunned, zombies need to move out of the VIPs area. Only the General knows the identity of VIPs, but all original zombies are aware of the Traitors‘ identity. Everyone knows the identity of the General, making them the only guaranteed trustworthy human. The Traitor acts as a human, but can at any point do a single Traitor zombie tag, revealing that they are the Traitor, and thus turning into a regular zombie. Additionally, if a human hits another human, the hit human is stunned as if they were a zombie, however they can still fire their blaster. The VIP is protected by the humans for a set time period (e.g. 15 minutes), the humans win. The zombies will win if they successfully tag the VIP. Zombie upgrades are unlocked on a timer like Survival, with Infectors available from the start, 5 minutes for Tanks and 10 minutes for Husk. A grenade can instantly turn a human into a zombie if it hits them.
This is the only way to actively eliminate the Traitor.
New/Altered:
- Hostage Survival Three humans are selected as Hostages. These Hostages are bound in their hands and must follow certain rules. Each hostage receives a grenade but they cannot use it or pass it. The humans can choose to free a Hostage, removing their binds and allowing them to be a fully functioning human player, and granting use of the grenade they are holding. The hostage’s grenade is removed from the game if they are tagged while still bound. One of the Hostages is a Traitor, who operates on the same rules as the Secret VIP Traitor, and can use their Traitor tag while still bound (this of course unbinds them and turns them into a regular zombie). As such, the same human vs human combat system is implemented, a human hit by a dart is stunned as if they were a zombie, but can still fire. Zombies can be upgraded in the same way as regular Survival.
- Blind Bomber One human is designated as the Blind Bomber and can carry the bomb. The human race begins in the lower corner of the play area. The bomb must be taken to the first location, where it will remain armed for five minutes. After the bomb has been fully armed, it must be moved to the second point. The bomb will then be planted for five minutes. The humans will win after the 5 minute limit has expired. If the bomb is moved during either timed phase, the timer is paused and only resumes when the bomb is returned. The zombies aim to move the bomb towards the perimeter of the play area.
All zombies can carry the bomb, but cannot throw it. If the Blind Bomber is tagged by a zombie, they must drop the bomb, wait for a count of 5, then can try to pick up the bomb again. If a zombie is hit while carrying the bomb, they must drop it. With a count of 15, zombies can respawn at any tree that isn’t being used as a points source.
Zombie Rules
Zombies tag humans with their hands onto any body part, blaster, tactical gear, etc, turning the human into a zombie. If a human hits a zombie with a dart, the zombie is stunned for a count of 25. A human can also stun a zombie with melee, but only with a direct hit to the back.
There are 3 standard zombie upgrades/mutations/perks:
- Infector zombies get to use foam swords, pool noodles, etc. Regular tags are those that have foam melee weapons attached to humans. Said melee weapons can also be used to block darts.
- Tank zombies get to use shields, which block darts. Shields are not allowed to be used to tag people, probably as protection against shieldbashing that could cause serious injury.
- Husk A zombie can use a ranged attack. In this case, a Vortex Mega Howler. A Husk attack that is ranged counts as a regular Zombie tag. Husk ammo is available for any zombie to pick up, but it can only be used naturally by Husk. Although the Husk can move away from where they were stunned to retrieve their ammo they do not count down until they return to their original stun spot.
Zombie upgrades cannot be stacked, so a zombie can only have one upgrade at any time.
When grenades are in play, they can stun a person with a hit to any type of equipment. This includes swords, shields, and other weapons. They can also be used at will. A grenade struck to a person will instantly turn them into zombies if human-vs-human rules are in place.
Blasters :
Since there were a lot of different blasters there, Ive generalised them and only listed down the ones that I saw as significant or noteworthy, or remember for that matter.
It is possible that I missed blasters because I cannot be everywhere at the same time.
Regulars/Recurring
Elite Retaliator (various interior setups, pump grips) There were many Retals available, some even without pump grips. A Retal blaster is solid regardless of its configuration. Stock ones perform noticeably better than most other stock Elite blasters, while spring upgraded ones (usually with pump grips) perform very well at mid-range with decent ROF.
ZS Slingfire (stock) a fun, stylistically appropriate option that with practice can be used reasonably effectively at close range. Its main advantage is being a mag-fed springer that, with practice, is one-handable. In every other respect however, it is inferior to a pump action blaster such as a pump gripped Retaliator, even with upgrade springs.
Elite Stryfe (various motors, LiPos) solid all-round flywheelers. It is very effective in the mid-range and easy to control. A great blaster all round.
Elite Rapidstrike (various engines, LiPos), high ROF flywheelers that are exceptional at close range and large fire. It is more difficult to control and build than the Stryfe. However, it can be very effective and fun to use in the right hands.
Buzz Bee Sentinel are decent springers that are known for their power-out-of-box. A lot less comfortable to use than Slingfires, but make up for it with raw power, being able to easily keep up with Retaliators and the like. ROF is of course the main weakness of the Sentinel, but it is still fairly effective at mid range.
Elite Trooper (various Springs) A solid entry-level springer with pump action that is out-of-box. Although EATs are less powerful than other Retaloids‘, the out-of box pump action and vertical magwell make them a good all-round springer.
ZS Sledgefire (upgrade spring, singled) a high power springer capable of quite accurate mid to long-range support fire with the right darts. It is difficult to use with Kooshes because it is inconsistent and inaccurate. Being a single-shot blaster also really doesnt help in HvZ, where close-range is the primary engagement range.
ZS longshot is a high-power springer capable of supporting fire at mid to long distances. The Longshots‘ use of mags makes it possible even without the best darts. A pump grip also helps increase its ROF. Its still sorely lacking in ROF for close quarters, but it packs a punch and works best supporting other humans.
Elite Rampage (upgrade spring) behaves essentially like the EAT, a solid out-of-box pump action springer. It does have a few differences, in particular its vertical pump grip, side magwell and slightly superior performance compared to the EAT. Which one is better comes down primarily to personal preference.
Infrequent/New:
NStrike/Elite Rayvens are Stryfes with a lower efficiency. A well built Rayven is still perfectly viable at HvZ, but Stryfes are a little easier to set up and perform slightly better.
N-Strike Magstrike (stock) a relic of a time when Rapidstrikes did not exist, a working Magstrike provides the same sort of high ROF that is exceptionally effective in close range. Being an air blaster though, it has to be pumped up frequently, and it can only use its own proprietary 10 dart clips. Although Magstrikes can be great fun to use, they are not as robust and reliable as a Rapidstrike.
NStrike Modulus (Banshee motors and 2S LiPo) worked essentially as a Stryfe. This is the giveaway Modulus, and is now in the hands of its new owner.
Elite RhinoFire (MTB Honey Badger pusher, 3S lithium ohmo) I only used it for a short time. Although it was fun to use, it had poor accuracy and range, which made it difficult to use effectively. It was was very picky about mags however, and often refused to fire newly replaced mags without a bit of pusher jiggling. It was heavy and awkward to carry around, but it was easy to set up when on the ground. I might bring it to HvZ again some time just for fun, but its definitely not something Ill get into a habit of bringing along.
The same play area was used as usual, a triangular space with a few (now heavily-leaved) trees and a tambark area. The skies were clear for entirety of play, with the sun providing a bit of extra warmth on quite a nice day, somewhere between ~20-25C.
We had quite a good player count today, starting already in the 20s early in the day, as more players crept in we hit a peak of around 25 players. A lot of these were relatively newer and inexperienced players. We had many people coming and going throughout the day which caused disruption to our games. For most games, this meant that there was a section of the play area we had to avoid. This was less problematic for games such as Secret VIP and Blind Bomber, but it became a major problem for larger gamemodes.
The day began as usual, with a normal Survival. The day progressed as usual with minimal human deaths until the shields were released. From there, the zombies can continuously hound the human groups to eventual extinction. A recurring theme throughout the day was a general lack of human coordination, and there were many prime examples of that. To help them survive, I led a small group that included newbies for most of the game. My group was forced to face another group of people in the final stages of the game by zombies who chased both of them. We were surrounded and outnumbered, however we were tagged not through sheer numbers, but through failing to cover all directions. We were able stun most zombies but one side was left open. One zombie was able use that opening to tag multiple humans, including me. Better coverage and situational awareness would likely have had the humans escape with minimal casualties. There were few remaining humans, and it was only a few minutes before they all fell to the horde.
We switched to Secret VIP, and played two rounds of it.In the first round, the zombies made relatively little progress. Despite the release of Tanks at 5 minutes, they were unable to break through human defensive lines, and there were relatively few human casualties. Because of the sheer volume of human players, it was possible to effectively kill tanks with enough firepower. It was down to the Traitor to turn the tide.
The Traitor was able to acquire the one grenade, and moved to tag the General with it, which would allow the Traitor to still have all the benefits of being a human player. The General was joined by a second human, so the Traitor decided to tag them with the grenade. That player turned out to be the VIP, so the zombies won this round.
In the second round, the Traitor chose to reveal their identity immediately, opening fire on the humans. Although this was a useful distraction, the zombies could not take advantage of it and could not tag anyone before the Traitor was shot with a bomb. Knowing that the Traitor was gone helped strengthen the human defenses. The zombies could not make any progress for most of the time. The humans were well-organized enough to resist most zombie attacks. However, the zombies were not very well organized and could not inflict any significant losses on the human population. Instead, their best chance would be for lone stealth attacks during moments of distraction. As it turns out, this was in fact how the zombies won. One zombie managed to pass the human defense fire and tag two or more people before being stunned. As it happened, one of those humans was the VIP, giving the zombies another surprisingly early win.
The first round demonstrated the power that the Traitor has with the grenade, though was more just a demonstration of why the Traitor is dangerous and why the Traitor should always make a decent attempt to disrupt the humans. The second round demonstrated the need for humans to cover all angles, even when the Tanks are preparing large charges. The big charge does not always tag the VIP. Rather, it is often a single zombie who exploits the chaos and distraction that the charge offers. Big Tank charges remain a threat but the humans must ensure that every angle is covered if they are to survive the entire 15 minutes. This is why I avoid the main human group in Secret VIP. I try to cover our flanks and let the majority of the humans defend against big charges. The Traitor came out early, and we didn’t have any tags. I believe we had a good chance of winning the second round if that one zombie hadn’t tagged the VIP.
We stopped for lunch and then returned to play Defence Survival. The humans lost the first game very badly. Although we were able defend the Tank square for a while, the Infector square and Husk squares fell quickly, in just a few minutes after starting.
The loss of the Tank square was inevitable though, and once the zombies had a Tank, the game devolved into regular survival. The humans had a slightly easier task trying to survive because there was only one Tank.
A lack of human coordination was again a key theme in the early game. The Infector and Husk squares were not defended by many humans, which made it easier for zombies to gain those upgrades. Even after those were lost there wasn’t a lot of coordination and maybe 25% of the humans were active on defense duty. It was much easier for zombies to break into the Tank square. The squares were also large. In previous Defence Survival rounds, the squares would be 3-4m wide, leaving plenty of room to stun any zombies trying to dive for the upgrades. These squares gradually decreased in size over the years, to be around 2m for this event. This made it ridiculously easy for a zombie to simply reach in and grab the upgrade. It is easier to defend larger squares and it is possible to delay zombie upgrades for longer periods of time with some good teamwork. With these small squares, it is almost impossible to actually properly defend without wasting a lot of darts. Defence Survival is the game mode. This means that defending shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.
Blind Bomber rounds were a new game mode that we tried. Due to the presence of bystanders in the tambark area, we stuck to using the west side of the play area. The first point, located in the southwest corner of the play area was a small tree. The second point was a tree at the northern end of the play area. In this way, we could have a full game without being disrupted by the bystanders. Also, we started with quite a few zombies. Blind Bomber started with 8-10 zombies, whereas most gamemodes have up to five zombies depending on the player count.
The first round was a complete mess, with the humans losing before the Blind Bomber even reached the first point. The Blind Bomber and their small escort made a complete mess of coordination and moved towards the first point. All the other humans stayed back and were totally useless. The zombies easily overpowered the tiny escort and the bomb was able to be thrown from the play area.
The second round played out much better. The well-coordinated human group was able to move quickly to the first point and begin arming the bomb. Although the zombies were able use nearby trees as a staging area for attacks, they were not able get multiple tags. However, the human defense line was strong and they were able complete the bomb arming phase to move the bomb to second point. The second point is a tree that has leafage, creating a dense dome around its trunk. This allows zombies to reach closer, but also allows humans to create a dense defense if they gather inside. However, most of the human population chose to gather outside the tree leaving just a few people within the leafage. The zombies slowly wore down the group and picked off the humans, leading to a final confrontation between the remaining humans in the tree and the rest the zombie horde. The zombies were able to break through and steal the bomb, running it off the play area to win.
The two rounds were a complete contrast in terms of coordination and results. In the first round, with no coordination, the humans failed completely and were humiliated with an extremely early loss. The humans managed to make it to the final round with some coordination and had a decent chance of winning. In that final stage, the majority of the humans stayed outside of the leafage, presumably out of fear of the close quarters of the tree. It is possible, however, that it would have been better to stay within the tree or even right next to it.
Blind Bomber, like Secret VIP, is designed to be a shorter gamemode. Blind Bomber’s timed sections last only five minutes each and humans are keen to spend as much time between them as possible. A Blind Bomber game will typically last less than fifteen minutes. It is an acceptable alternative to Secret VIP if it is well set up. The Blind Bomber game provides a similar chaotic, close-quarters feeling, but has more mobility and space. Having an objective that is clearly obvious, instead of hidden, also helps to focus and coordinate players, which I think is very helpful when most of the other gametypes are purely survival, rather than objective based.
It would be great to do it again, with full access to the play area.
The round ended with a Hostage Survival round. This round was a bit of a mess right from the beginning. The humans were set out as usual with the Hostages among them, each holding their grenade. There were a few instances of friendly fire because the Hostages had to physically hold the grenade and all contact with it was considered a tag. Inadvertently or deliberately, the Hostage would tap the human trying free it. This caused them to become zombies. Besides those, there was a general lack of coordination from the humans, and only a couple of players actually made an effort to defend the Hostages, with most simply opting to survive on their own, as with regular Survival. The Hostages were easy prey for the zombies and there was only one remaining Hostage from the three that we had started with. The game quickly devolved into a regular Survival from there.
While Hostage Survival is a comical and silly gamemode, I dont think it really adds anything to the game, unlike Defence Survival. You can defer the zombies getting their upgrades if you do well in Defence Survival. This is a huge advantage for humans. In Hostage Survival, theres very little reason to protect the Hostages and keep them as Hostages. Although one of them is supposedly the Traitor, releasing the Hostages grants access to grenades, which are an incredibly valuable tool for fending off Tanks, especially later in the game. The threat of a Traitor, which may or not exist, is another reason why the Hostages should be kept alive but bound. If you free one, you might as well free them all so you can get all the grenades. Bound Hostages are also far too much of a liability to actively defend, and the gain from keeping them alive as bound Hostages is very small, given that a bound Traitor can still tag humans. I think that keeping the Hostages bound and alive should provide a much, much greater reward for the humans. For instance having zombie upgrades tied to particular Hostages would drastically increase the value of the Hostages, and give the humans a significant choice to make.
This event was great fun for me. We also had the chance to play different gamemodes. Some alterations might be necessary but there is promise and they do provide something different to our regular gamemodes.
You can also find the same Nerf Game Report on my own blog: Outback Nerf
