Nerfing Theory: Squad Level Gear, Tactics & Integration with a Varied Player Base
This post with thanks to BritNerf users Franksie, OldNoob and blindgeekuk who all helped me bounce ideas around.
With the advent of various specialised ammo types at Bristol Blast and preparation afoot the Battle of Britain 2017, I got thinking about about squad level stuff. This all assumes 0.50cal Elite sized darts, Rivals will shake things up a bit.
Currently, we find ourselves approaching the game like a militia. Everyone provides his or her own equipment, piles in and plays. Generally speaking, there will emerge squad and team leaders during games and stuff is a lot of fun. There will always be the space for the person that rocks up and goes ‘charging into a line of opposing players with just a Jolt and a sock bomb? Why not?!” and that cannot change.
However, more experienced players can widen their utility by forming squads and spread the load of ammo carriage by lending a hand. With special rules in place like rockets breaking shields or even when you just need a little extra fire power, squad based ammo carriage starts to make sense. Back in WW2, British soldiers in a section used to carry 2 magazines for the squad’s Bren gun. It meant the Bren gunner (for those that don’t know a Bren is an LMG designed for support fire) didn’t lug all of the ammo. If the Bren gunner got shot, it saved time pulling mags off of him to return the weapon to service and shared the burden between squad members. Well, the British call them sections but there you go.
Functionally, the basic Nerfer is a rifleman. You’ve got semi-automatic blasters, mag fed and ready to go. The focus is on having as much ammo on board as possible. You might get the odd RS user and they can straddle the rifleman/heavy line. The role of the rifleman is to be the backbone of the team. They advance and shoot with blasters that are up to the game’s legal FPS limit, generally making themselves useful.
Then you have the heavy gunners. Sometimes when clearing a room or corridor, you’re going to need a stream of continuous darts to encourage the opposing team to keep their heads down. For this, I think that each member of a squad carries a 25 round drum to pass to the heavy when he goes from rifleman to heavy mode. If the squad leader calls for suppressive fire, out goes the 18 and in goes the 25 (initially using his own carried 25). When the 25 is spent, it’s returned to the squad mate who’s job it is to reload it. When not in suppressive mode, the heavy will top off his own mags and the 25 drum he is carrying for himself. The social contract here is that the heavy provides fire, loads his own carried supply and in exchange for help from his squad mates that keep their supplies loaded and ready. More on social contracts later.
Shields, Terminator zombies and the like require special ammo. Compared to Stryfe clones, Demo rockets and similar capable blasters are scarce on the field. They also take up a great deal of space that could be reserved for more magazines and .50cal Elite darts. To that end, again, each squad member carries a small number of Demo rockets and MEGA darts to hand over when the time comes. You have a designated squad grenadier who’s job it is to bust shields and the like. The rest of the time he is a rifleman like everyone else.
Discussion of Designated Marksman did arise and I don’t think it’s necessary. Given that a properly balanced flywheel blaster shooting X-Tips taken up to the limit of most UK games will be be reasonably straight shooting there’s not a lot of reason to have a DM in your more committed echelons.
That brings me to player behaviour and more on social contracts. Nerf wars are amazing for the breadth of people they attract. Everything from sneaky 8 year olds that run away from you luring you down into the jaws of the two 0p3r4t0rz with Stryfes to the dads that rock up with a mid-level modded springer to guys like me who have the full nine yards including radio, camera and enough fire power to level a continent. The thing to always remember is that you’re here to have fun. Winning is incidental. How you have fun is different to the guy with the Jolt charging an enemy line on his own. The social contract is ‘let people have fun in their own way’. If people want to link up and join squads, great but you can’t tell people they’re doing it wrong if they don’t. If you find a member of your team has latched to your squad then awesome. Teach them, show them how you play and if they find that fun they’ll stick around. Otherwise, they’ll wander off and find another way to have fun within the framework of the game. If you’re looking to start directing your team then remember the fundamental thing: they’re here to have fun slinging foam. I find the most effective way to organise players that aren’t attached to squads is to direct them as they respawn. A simple instruction like ‘There’s a lot of guys on the left, go tag ‘em’ or ‘Our guys in the corridor could use some help’ will often send younger players scurrying to assist. Once they get there, they’ll find plenty to shoot at and do their thing. You can then direct your more experienced squad leaders as you would expect.
Encouraging new and younger players not to fall back in the face of the opposing team is also key. Between setting the example by standing your ground and words of encouragement “They’re not so tough” and general friendly trash talk, you can put the wind back in team mates. Showing them that getting tagged is nothing to be scared of is key. They can get more tags facing the opposing team and shooting at them than with their backs turned. Players that are organising squads like this will need to set the example and foster the a community spirit. Separating and ignoring those that play differently is at best unhelpful and at worst elitist and toxic. Again, social contract: you have fun your way and help people have fun in their way.
A word on Rivals and general technology:
A lot of what I’ve covered up there is specific to 0.50cal Elite darts. Some alterations can be made for including a Rival heavy gun instead. For example, each team member could carry a hopper for the Nemesis or a Khaos magazine. There is also an argument to be made for fire control modules on the heavy blasters. Less experienced players tend to struggle with SA fire discipline on FA blasters. By locking out FA when their blaster is in rifleman mode, it opens the field to lowering the threshold to entry/raising the effectiveness for players who want to play in that area. Training and teaching can then be given to reduce the reliance on fire control modules until it’s no longer needed.
I think that covers everything I wanted to discuss on Squad Level stuff for today. I’ve generally rambled about sharing specialised ammo types and how to play a more focused squad in a varied player base akin to the one that we get at Bristol Blast. I think future articles will cover effective squad leadership, radio communications and basic tactical doctrine.
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