I received an Elite Rayven from the US. It was already modified and did not include the Firefly clip or the GITD Elites, so I can't do a proper review. I then further modified it because I wanted to be able to use it. Nevertheless, I can still provide some nice pictures of the Elite Rayven, so here we go.
For reference here's the N-Strike Rayven's review. An out of box Elite Rayven should only be different in range and colour.



I personally find the handle very comfortable. It's decently sized, certainly larger than that of say a Firestrike.

The cardboard glued to the jam door is a mod, naturally. It helps prevent jamming as it prevents darts from popping out of the clip.

The Rayven's a bullpup clip system blaster, meaning the clip loads behind the grip. It's so far the only clip system blaster to do this, though that's set to change next year.

The Rayven has a lever style central clip release, which is fairly comfortable to use.
The Rayven accepts barrel extensions. The white stripe on the Rayven doesn't match the stripe on Elite barrel extensions, but I think it still works ok.
The Rayven without a barrel extension lacks any proper front grip, so two-handing a barrelless Rayven usually requires curling your hand around the front of the blaster.
The Rayven has 4 sling points. 2 on the stock, and two on the front of the blaster, in front of the rail/carry handle.
The Rayven nameplate is pretty standard Elite style, except for the colour, which is due to the Rayven being a blaster with Firefly tech. A standard Elite Rayven comes with a lime green 18 dart Firefly clip that charges the GITD Elite darts it normally comes with. I got mine second hand so it didn't come with that stuff.
The Rayven's top rail doubles as a carry handle. It's not great to hold, but it at least blends in the motorcage. Note that the switch inside the carry handle is a mod.
The Rayven also has a side rail, which adds some nice orange contrast.

As a flywheel blaster, the Elite Rayven has to contain a pair of motors, which very rarely fit cleanly into a blaster shell. In the Elite Rayven's case, they bulge out slightly on the left side of the shell.

Here's some basic tacticool combos with the Elite Rayven.




 Here's the Elite Rayven with some of the other Elite clip system blasters.

With a simple trigger/dart pusher mod, the trigger pull becomes smoother than that of the Stryfe. Sadly the Rayven is inherently flawed as a bullpup blaster. Because the clip loads behind the grip, there's an internal faux barrel that cuts down significantly on muzzle velocity compared to the non-bullpup Stryfe.
I personally prefer using the Rayven because I find the Rayven more comfortable than a Stryfe with a stock, but the Stryfe is a perfectly reasonable alternative if Rayvens aren't available.

Today's comparison is that of Nerf's N-Strike 6 dart revolvers. One, the seasoned veteran the Maverick, and the other, a very popular revolver from the Elite line, the Strongarm.

Aesthetics: The Maverick has a classic big revolver style design, very popular for all kinds of aesthetic mods.
The Strongarm has a far more sleek and practical design, lacking the bulk of the Maverick. I personally feel that the Strongarm has the better paintscheme, but as usual for aesthetics, it's all personal preference, so no scoring here.
Accessories: Both the Maverick and Strongarm come with themselves and 6 darts (suction for Mav, Elites for Strongarm). It's an obvious draw here.
Range/Power: The Mav is one of the worse performing N-Strike blasters, getting 8-9m with its included suction darts. A grey trigger Strongarm, averages 11-12m ranges, though it's quite inconsistent.
The Strongarm wins this round.
Accuracy: Though the Mav's rotating mech causes its shots to be less consistent, its use of suction darts gives it quite good accuracy. The Strongarm uses Elite darts, which are much less stable and accurate, even if the Strongarm's rotating mech is better.
The Mav wins this round, primarily because of its inclusion of suction darts.
Usability: The main issue we'll address here is reliability, as both blasters are fairly comfortable to use. The Maverick is notorious for being an all round terrible design, prone to misrotation, misfires and jams. The core of the Maverick's flaws is its rotation mech. The rotation is directly linked to the trigger, with a half rotation on the trigger pull, and the other half on trigger release. The problem is that the rotation mech is very unreliable, often slipping or getting caught.
The Strongarm's rotation mech has no such problem. Instead of rotating with trigger movement, the Strongarm rotates on plunger return. Because the plunger return motion is very consistent, the Strongarm is very consistent in rotating, and so suffers far fewer misrotations and misfires than the Mav.
Naturally the Strongarm wins this round.
Rate of Fire: The Mav can get up to 3dps, though chances are you'll end up with some misrotations and misfires. As the Strongarm has slam fire as well as a far superior rotation mech, it can produce a much higher rate of fire. I've achieved a solid and reliable 5dps, and much higher seems to cause misfiring.
The Strongarm wins this round too.
Capacity: Both the Mav and Strongarm hold 6 darts. Another obvious draw.
Value for Money: Both the Mav and Strongarm, in their peak availability times, were available for as little as $10, and often less, so the value round comes down to the blasters themselves. As the Strongarm is the far better blaster, it wins this round as well.

The Strongarm has won 4 rounds, the Mav 1, with 2 draws. Therefore I declare the Elite Strongarm the superior blaster, which is not surprising at all.
After the 6th round of N-Strike vs Elite, the score is:
Elite: 4.5 -- N-Strike: 1.5

I've been a bit preoccupied the past few weeks which is why there have been no new reviews, but hopefully this post will tie you guys over until I can get the next one done.


I did share this on the FB page a while ago, but thought I'd share it with the rest of you who don't use FB. This is my bullpup EAT. It has the full functionality of a regular EAT, except in bullpup configuration, meaning the clip and firing mechanism are behind the trigger.

It uses parts from an EAT, a Retal stock, a Raider and the faux barrel of an LSFG. It took me over a month to actually get working properly, since it was more trial and error than anything else.
I built it partly as just a proof of concept, and partly for use at Uni games, however it doesn't have enough power to requisite its use over any good clip fed flywheeler. Sadly due to the way I've done certain things, and my lack of any welding tools, the bullpup EAT is not capable of using an OMW 5kg spring without breaking, so I use a US spec stock spring with a hot glue spacer with the AR removed for maximum possible power.
One minor but very useful feature is the lever clip release, implemented with a few scraps of plastic and a few small cuts into the shell. It works really well, being easy to use and reliable.
The internals are a bit of a mess, because I really didn't think all of this through before starting. There's a lot of hot glue used for space filling and general adhesive, as well as a lot of epoxy for the main shell work, and many bolts with pieces of PVC to hold the shell together.
The fundamental internals are just taken straight from an EAT, and modified to accomodate the bullpup configuration changes.
The tac rail on the EAT's body is still fully functional, however because it is so far back it's awkward to use. Instead the part taken from a Raider body has a segment of tac rail that works perfectly for sights. The handle is a little close to the magwell, but I didn't have any more spare bits or blasters so there wasn't much I could do.
The plunger rod has been cut down to allow a reduction in overall length. When primed, it still sticks out the back as a priming indicator, however the cut allows the priming indicator to be at the very back without jutting out.
The main special feature of the bullpup EAT, thanks to its design it is easily taken apart into the barrel and body for transport, perfect for fitting in my Uni backpack. It can then be easily reassembled with a screwdriver which I usually carry just in case.

The bullpup EAT is probably my most ambitious unique project, and though it didn't work totally as planned, it does work decently enough for me to be satisfied with it for a first version.
Do let me know in the comments what you think of it.

The Strongarm is the Elite line's cheap revolver blaster, taking the price point, role and shelf spot of the N-Strike Maverick. Many of the Elite blasters are greatly improved from the original N-Strike blasters. With the disappointment of the breakage prone Elite Spectre, how does the Strongarm stack up?
The Strongarm comes with just itself and 6 Elite darts. Pretty standard for a pistol sized blaster.
All loaded up, unlike the Maverick the Strongarm's laoded darts poke out of the cylinder.

The Strongarm is similar in many ways to the Maverick, however it is a much more streamlined blaster. Where the Maverick was bulky and bold, the Strongarm is more sleek and curved, and is also slimmer.
Note the small cutout on the right side of the muzzle, just in front of the cylinder. This helps to reduce the severity of misfires, as a misfired dart can still be rotated out of firing position.
Down the muzzle, straight into one of the barrels.
Down the top, pretty standard with the tac rail, though the iron sights aren't a particularly common feature.
Here are the iron sights lined up. There's two on the slide, and the front orange post is on the muzzle. Naturally like most Nerf sights these iron sights are pretty useless, but they look decent.
The handle is pretty standard for an Elite style handle, much more curved than the old N-Strike handles. It's also very large, one of the largest handles on any Elite blaster.
You can see here my hand wraps around the handle to a much smaller degree than most other Elite blasters. Also note the significant amout of space below my hand, perfect if your hands are particularly large.
The Strongarm is a slide primed blaster like the Maverick. Pull it back to prime the blaster, and then release, just like the Maverick. Unlike the Maverick though, the Strongarm has slam fire which allows rapid priming while holding down the trigger.
The slide travel is pretty standard, and it is quite easy to pull back. Unlike most other slam fire blasters, the Strongarm does not fire on the slide's return to rest position. Instead, it fires when the slide reaches the rear most position. This means it is possible to fire the Strongarm with the slide in the rear most position, unlike almost every other blaster.


The Strongarm also has a primed indicator, through a slot in the back of the slide. Having only the small orange strip and blue surrounding it indicates unprimed, while having it full orange indicates primed.
The Strongarm is a revolver blaster, with a 6 dart pop-out cylinder. The cylinder is released by pressing the orange button just behind the cylinder.
Without popping out the cylinder, there is not much space to reload darts. The cylinder sits flush with the raised section behind it, maintaining its sleek look.

Popping out the cylinder releases it quite a fair distance, more so than the Maverick. It's possible to expose 4 of the barrels at any one time. As made clear from the rear shot, removal of the dart pegs will allow the rear loading of the cylinder.

After loading the cylinder, it's a simple case of pushing the cylinder back in, priming and firing. The Strongarm's firing sequence is fire then rotate clockwise from the perspective of the user. Rotation occurs on return of the plunger to rest position. Because it fires before rotating, it is possible to cause accidental dry fire with the AR open by inserting the cylinder and lining up the plunger outlet with a space between two barrels. The blaster will dry fire, however the rotation is very likely to engage the cylinder and rotate into a barrel, so repeat dry firing is very rare.
The Strongarm has just a single tac rail above the cylinder, in front of the slide. A great improvement from the Maverick, which had its tac rail on its slide.

The Strongarm has 2 sling loops, one on the handle as per usual, and one on the back of the slide over the priming indicator.

And now for performance.
Range wise the Strongarm is respectable, but not fantastic. A grey trigger model averages about 11-12m with Elite darts. In my range test though I was getting quite a variance in range, with some shots dropping at 9m, and some soaring to 13-14m.
Accuracy isn't great, partly thanks to the Strongarm's use of Elite darts, which are inherently inaccurate.
Rate of fire is fantastic for a revolver. The Strongarm is the first pistol sized revolver to have Slam Fire, giving it a great advantage over other pistol revolvers. I've managed a ROF of 5dps, and any faster seems to cause the Strongarm to over rotate and skip darts.
Is the Strongarm a blaster worth getting? Very much so.
The Strongarm fills the role of backup revolver that the Maverick and Spectre also filled. It's much more reliable and better performing than the Maverick, and has an extra dart and a higher rate of fire compared to the Spectre.
The Strongarm has competition in the form of the Hammershot/Sweet Revenge, as both are well performing blasters suitable for the role of backup revolver. Both fill slightly different roles though. The Strongarm is a superior two hand revolver, with a faster prime and a higher rate of fire, as well as the extra dart. The HS/SR is a superior one hand revolver (as the Strongarm can't be one-handed), and is also much better for dual wielding because they can be one handed.
For the "just for fun" blaster, the Strongarm is a good option. It's cheap and performs quite well. Even if you end up not liking the Strongarm, since it's cheap and fairly easy to use, you could easily sell it off and get much of your money back.

The Strongarm is very common, and readily available for as little as 10AUD. It's a decent performing blaster and for such a low price, it's a great deal. The Strongarm is a great blaster to start off with, as well as bolster your collection. I personally prefer using the Sweet Revenge to the Strongarm, so do consider those, but the Strongarm is always a solid choice.

NOTE: I have heard multiple reports of Strongarms failing to rotate over time, however I haven't seen this occur with any of my Uni group's yet.

Pros: High rate of fire thanks to slam fire, much more reliable than the Maverick, tac rail is on blaster body rather than slide
Cons: Range not as good as high end Elites, accuracy is lacking, multiple reports of Strongarms failing to rotate

Power: 5.5/7
Accuracy: 3/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Rate of Fire: 4/5

Overall: 4.16/5

Personal Rating: 4/5 - it's an excellent all round pistol blaster, though I personally prefer the Sweet Revenge.

One of the things I wanted most from the Demolisher was a detachable rocket launcher, because I like underbarrel grenade launchers. Sadly the stock Demolisher rocket launcher is permanently integrated, so I did it myself.



The cut I made to separate the underbarrel rocket launcher was quite clean and straight, the only problem being the open space left in the shell. The other main issue now is that the bottom flywheel is exposed, though with the rocket launcher or the rail attached it's not a huge problem, though I may fill some of the gaps with cardboard.

 This is the rocket launcher module. The pieces of wood fit into the gaps in the Demo.
 The rocket launcher is secured into the Demo using 4 screws, two on each side. They go into the blocks of wood which are secured to the rocket launcher, making the Demo basically back to what it was.
As you can see, with the rocket launcher reattached, from a distance it looks practically stock.

 For when the rocket launcher is not in use on the Demo, I made a tactical rail that slots right in, partly to help fill the shell gap and also for comfort.
 Like the rocket launcher, it's held in by 4 screws, two on each side. It shares the two front screws with the rocket launcher, but the rear two screws are different.
With the Retaliator's foregrip attached. I think it looks quite good, and is fairly comfortable to use. It also works with an angled foregrip. Moving the tac rail a few centimetres forward may make foregrips more comfortable to hold, though I personally don't like the look of grips so far forward.

Now a question you'll probably ask is "Doesn't replacing the rocket launcher with a tac rail basically make it a Stryfe?"
Functionally, yes, since they're both clip fed semi auto blasters. Sure the Demolisher is physically a little different internally as well as larger, but they both do the same thing.
However the Demolisher has 2 more tactical rails (including the 2 rails I added) compared to the Stryfe, and has a different aesthetic. To me the Stryfe has a pistol/PDW/SMG type aesthetic without barrel extensions, while the Demolisher has a carbine/assault rifle aesthetic.

 The main reason I made the rocket launcher to be detachable was to make it into a standalone blaster using a Barricade body, of which I have several spare. Neither the trigger nor the battery box do anything useful.
The rocket launcher is secured to the Barricade body again with 4 screws, however these screws are totally different to the ones that attach to the Demolisher. Though difficult to see side on, there are two screw heads present on either side of the Barricade body, right behind the rocket launcher.
 One of the main draws for using a Barricade body was the ability to attach a stock and sight. While any sight is pretty useless, a Demolisher stock is extremely useful as it allows the storage of an extra rocket. A stock is also useful for bracing the rocket launcher, since it's pump to fire.
The Barricade shell is just empty and hollowed out for the rocket launcher to slot in.

This project is not yet complete. The final part of this project involves using tactical rail clips, probably sourced from Slydev, to allow the attaching of the rocket launcher to any blaster with a long enough tac rail. While more tacticool than practical, having an underslung rocket/grenade launcher is something I've wanted to make for a long time.

I haven't done a Loadouts post in a while, so here's a new one.

Scenario Description: Close-mid range team based encounters. General engagement ranges ~7-12m. Player has taken the role of "Heavy", who typically carries larger blasters that are usually more spammable and ammo hungry.
Keys to Victory: Rapid fire blasters with reasonably high capacity, preferably easy to reload. Reasonable range - does not have to shoot particularly far. Must be able to effectively spray darts at opponents, idealistically suppressing or tagging them. Large amounts of ammo. Fearlessly spray opponents, even when under heavy attack.
Alternative primary blasters are those that inspire great fear into opponents and consume lots of ammo/particularly large ammo, such as large shotguns and rocket launchers.
You won't be too capable of run 'n' gunning thanks to the inherent bulk of your gear, but it's not hard to walk 'n' gun, and if you're prepared enough, running with all your gear shouldn't be too hard. Practice is the key to coping with all the stuff you're carrying.
Unnecessary Burdens: Trying to cut down on weight somewhere by minimising ammo or some other useful objects. Face it, if you want to be a "Heavy" you  are going to be carrying a lot of stuff. That is the entire point of your role. If you don't want to be carrying so much stuff you probably shouldn't be a Heavy.
Clip System 4

Primary: Elite Rapidstrike CS-18 (18 clips, 25 drums or 35 drums)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip and drum holders (drums usually need pouches), sling for primary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous 18 clips, a few 25/35 drums for emergencies (if your gametype allows for large engagements, e.g. HvZ), ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with easy to use, full auto clip system goodness. To provide the team with high capacity, fast reloading covering/suppression fire.
Strengths: Rapid fire, reloading, superior to Stampede in most aspects
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, quick-draw shots, must rev up to fire, loss of range in rapid fire
Description: The Rapidstrike is considered by many to be the Stampede's successor, being a beastly full auto flywheeler. Unlike the Stampede's 6 D batteries, the Rapidstrike runs off a much lighter set of 4 C's, and has superior range and accuracy compared to the Stampede. Additionally, the Rapidstrike is more compact, making it almost totally superior to the Stampede. However, like all flywheelers the Rapidstrike must be revved up to fire, which introduces a fire delay longer than that of the Stampede's, and the Rapidstrike's range is inferior to most Elite blasters. Though this would normally be a major issue for most blasters, the Rapidstrike's main competitor is the Stampede, which has horrendous range nowhere near even the worst range of the Rapidstrike. Though this by no means eliminates the issue, the lack of competition reduces the severity of it. Additionally, while its accuracy is a little better than the Stampede's, it still isn't a precision weapon by any means, still requiring a burst of darts to get a good chance of a hit. Nevertheless, the Rapidstrike's decent performance, ROF and superior ergonomics to the Stampede make it a great choice for Heavy Fire Support.


Vortex 2

Primary: Vortex Nitron (40 disc drum or extended Vortex mags)
Secondary: Multishot dart blaster (e.g. Elite Strongarm, Spectre REV-5)
Gear: Vortex Ammo Belt (pouch, mag holders, blaster clip), holster for secondary
Ammo: Vortex mags, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To give the user the ability to spam discs without slam-fire, to take advantage of the 40 disc drum/extended Vortex mags
Strengths: Range, high capacity, rate of fire when battery upgraded
Weaknesses: Discs are rarer than darts, curving at long distances is hard to take advantage of, low ROF, have to rev up, vulnerable when reloading, low projectile velocity
Description: With the Pyragon release, the Nitron now has a super high capacity drum it can take advantage of. The Nitron is the only full auto Vortex blaster so far, and thus its full auto ability combined with the 40 disc drum mean it can spam more than any other full auto blaster (as of 2014). Because the Nitron is a Vortex blaster, it has inherent Vortex range, meaning excellent long range suppression fire, but of course pays the price with disc curving and low projectile velocity. Also as a flywheeler, the Nitron must rev up to fire, and prolonged usage reduces the power of the Nitron. Nevertheless, the ability to easily put out a spray of discs at a good range mean that the Nitron can be an effective long range suppression weapon, but should not be relied on for pinpoint accuracy.

Although the low velocity of Vortex discs is usually a disadvantage, rapid firing discs can create a deadly and extremely intimidating cloud of discs slowly advancing towards your enemy. This is not possible with darts, which travel at much higher velocities.
As Vortex discs are typically much rarer than darts in Nerf wars, the dart blaster is there so you don't become totally useless once your Vortex mags are empty. Other blasters like the Clip System blasters generally don't have this problem because of the popularity (or rather widespread use) of Streamlines/Elites.

Additionally, a voltage modded Nitron is truly a sight to behold, and an absolute terror on the battlefield. Thanks to the rigidity of Vortex discs, Vortex has a much lower misfeed/jam rate and thus a voltage modded Nitron is not limited by how fast a Vortex mag can feed in the same way a clip system blaster is limited by how fast a clip/drum can feed.

Unlike clip system stuff, the Vortex drum can be used as the main source of ammo, as the Vortex drum does not jam up seemingly at all, unlike the jam happy CS drums.


Dart Tag 1

Primary: Dart Tag Swarmfire
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Stryfe)
Gear: Anything that holds darts, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous darts, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with decently ranged and accurate rapid fire
Strengths: Rapid fire, accuracy, ammo compatability, reloading a few darts
Weaknesses: Fullyreloading is painfully slow, low capacity compared to 35 dart drum and 40 disc drum
Description: The Swarmfire is a rather unusual blaster. Unlike most of its other full auto brethren, it uses a huge 20 dart turret that lets it use darts like Whistlers, DT darts and Suctions, giving it superior accuracy to all of them. This key accuracy is what gives the Swarmfire its niche - as a dart blaster, it has the inherent higher muzzle velocity than the more-accurate-than-Streamlines disc blasters, while as a blaster that can use any dart, the Swarmfire can use far more accurate ammo than than any of the Streamline using blasters.
As a full auto blaster, the Swarmfire can also spray when needed. Its range and accuracy usually mean that you don't need to, except when faced with a large number of opponents.

Essentially with the Swarmfire, you can point at a target within range, fire off a small burst of darts and assuming your target doesn't move/dodge too erratically, you'll have a good chance score at least one good hit on them, and probably more if you've aimed well. Much better than say a Stampede, which requires at least 6 darts usually to ensure just a single hit.
Naturally the Swarmfire reloads small bursts of darts much better than most other blasters due to its open turret, but once emptied the Swarmfire is a pain to reload, needing a dart inserted into each individual barrel. Hence the advice for firing off small bursts becomes even more important, as firing off small bursts reduces the time you spend slaving away at filling the Swarmfire's 20 barrels.

If you're tired of having to empty your clips just to hit one guy, or if you hate having to put up with the low velocity of Vortex discs just to have decent accuracy, the Swarmfire is definitely a blaster to consider.
I've included the Stryfe in recommendations of a secondary as the Swarmfire has no ability to quickly reload, unlike everything else I've mentioned. Thus the Stryfe's quick reloading is a particularly useful ability.

Swarmfires are rather popular as backup blasters for something like a Rapidstrike, as they can be stripped down to a far more compact form, and lack the fire delay of flywheelers, yet have the ROF of full auto blasters.
A pure Swarmfire loadout can be much lighter than that of say a Rapidstrike or Nitron, as you just have to carry around a bunch of darts, rather than darts and the extra plastic and weight of clips/mags.


Rockets 2

Primary: Buzz Bee Extreme Blastzooka
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Stryfe)
Gear: Anything that holds rockets and ammo for secondary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Rockets, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with more accessible rocket firepower
Strengths: Relatively compact, rockets smaller than Titan's
Weaknesses: Pump time is longer than that of Buzz Bee's discontinued Big Blasts, range of 9m Blastzookas is not as good as Titan's
Description: The Blastzooka is the only standalone rocket blaster you can currently buy in stores, as the Titan has been discontinued (as it is an N-Strike blaster), and the Demolisher is a dart blaster with the rocket launcher built in. It's fairly small and compact, making it easy to run around with, however it does take a lot of pumps (around 12) to get to full power.

The Strongarm is the first revolver to have slam-fire, and has a much better rotation mech than the Maverick. How fast can you empty its 6 dart cylinder?

Time: 1.000
No. darts: 6
Theoretical ROF: 5dps or 300dpm

For a revolver, very fast. Most slide primed revolvers are limited to around 2-3dps, so 5dps is quite impressive. The ROF is just one of the several reasons why the Strongarm is a great sidearm, and a good blaster overall.

 Apologies how late this post is, but a holiday will do that if you're unprepared.
As usual, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you.Another year, another bunch of Nerf releases, some cool and some less cool. Let's get straight into it.
Format:
[Name], [Approx cheap non-sale price in Australia], [orange trigger range claim], [grey trigger range claim]

Mega

I've started with Mega because it only has a few things in the line.
Mega Magnus, 20AUD, 90ft/27m, 22m
The Magnus came out not long after the disappoint and failure that was the Centurion, it had to be pretty good to redeem the Mega line. Thankfully the Magnus doesn't disappoint, slinging Mega darts a good distance in an awesome handcannon form. The 3 dart inbuilt magazine greatly increases its utility compared to regular single shots, and the huge slide adds to the handcannon feel. For many the Magnus became a favoured blaster, simply because unlike the Centurion it performed as acceptably well and is incredibly fun to use and surprisingly effective if used correctly.
The Magnus also became popular as an underbarrel blaster, akin to the underslung grenade launchers you see in FPS games like CoD and Battlefield.
Mega Thunderbow, 60AUD, 100ft/30m, 24m
When the first image of the Thunderbow emerged on the internet, it gained much criticism from many people (me included) due to its lack of trigger and unwieldy and bulky design. This was not helped by its incredibly complex internals, featuring gears, gears and more gears. However, many people who bought Thunderbows found that it was actually a lot of fun to use despite its bulk. Having a 5 barrel smart AR system helped significantly, as it meant you could fire off 5 shots in quick succession. The Thunderbow is also an excellent performer, meeting its range claims easily. All in all, while the Thunderbow may not be the most practical blaster, for many it's well liked simply for being a lot of fun, much like the Magnus.

The Centurion also received a Sonic Ice repaint.

Looking ahead to 2015, the Mega line is receiving its Jolt variant, the BigShock, and its Strongarm variant, the much anticipated CycloneShock. Additionally the Mega line is receiving the Berzerker, which is also hotly anticipated. From its beginning with the disappointing Failturion, the Mega line really is just getting better and better.


Elite
The Elite line received only a few new blasters this year, with most Elite releases being recolours.
Elite XD Demolisher 2 in 1, 60AUD, 90ft/27m, 22m
The Demolisher embodies everything we love in assault rifles with underslung grenade launchers from so many FPS games. It comes with a tacticool 10 dart banana clip, a first for Nerf (ignoring that of the Quick 16 since it's clip was not detachable), as well as including its own unique shoulder stock, which holds a spare rocket. Despite being a pump-to-fire blaster, the rocket launcher is actually surprisingly powerful and can compete with or even beat stock grey trigger blasters in range. Sadly the Demolisher begins to fall down when you consider its practicality. Despite its increased range claim it performs just like a regular Elite blaster, akin to the Stryfe. Grey trigger models are even worse, losing out to N-Strike blasters. Additionally, the Demolisher dislikes the aftermarket Koosh dart, as well as the Streamline dart, despite almost all other Elite blasters having no problem with them at all. Additionally, while the stock holds an extra rocket, the stock itself is fairly short, being only a little longer than the Retaliator's stock. The 10 dart banana clip, while tacticool, is larger than a 12 dart straight clip and yet holds less darts, making it impractical.
All in all, while the Demolisher is an extremely tacticool blaster, it fails to live up to its range claims and unless you need the underslung rocket launcher, is also less practical than the much smaller and cheaper Stryfe, or the similarly priced but superior Rapidstrike.
Elite XD Cam ECS, 120AUD (!!!), 85ft, 21m
Now the Demolisher was impractical, but at least it had the tacticool 10 dart clip, and rocket launching was surprisingly fun. This thing? Nothing. Despite its range claims it again performs just like a Stryfe. It includes a 12 dart clip which is a favourite of mine, but for $120 I would expect Stampede level accessories, or mind blowing and game breaking performance. But no, what we have here is a Stryfe in a rifle shell, and a terrible camera. The camera is a 0.3megapixel one, and records 640x480 video at 20fps. My iPod Touch was released 4 years ago, yet its camera is much better, being 0.7megapixel, and recording video at 1280x720 at 30fps (though that's not really evident in my videos). The Cam records at quality worse than that of a standard DVD, despite the DVD being almost 20 years old.
In summary, the Cam is a rifle sized Stryfe with a camera apparently from the 1980s, being sold for more than 4x the price of a Stryfe. If the camera was at decent quality and the Cam was half the price, then maybe it would be a decent buy, but as is the Cam is just a huge waste of money,
It includes a 4gb SD card, but that's nearly worthless nowadays too.
Elite XD Rhino Fire, ??AUD (90USD), 90ft/27m, ??m
Nerf's biggest release this year, the Rhino Fire is seemingly the Elite version of the N-Strike Vulcan, with a tripod, 2 25 dart drums and a "chainsaw grip" handle on top. One of the few modern Nerf blasters with double barrels, the Rhino Fire is unique in that the barrels also pulsate while firing. The overall design seems to mimic old anti air guns, and it certainly does the job of looking cool and being effective for defence. Unlike most Nerf blasters, the Rhino Fire lacks a conventional trigger, instead having a trigger plate on the two handed handle that activates both the flywheels and firing.
Practicality wise the Rhino Fire is unwieldy for regular Nerf war style combat, but is effective for defensive play with its tripod. While it is much cheaper to simply buy two Rapidstrikes and strap them together, the Rhino Fire at least isn't as much of a waste of money as the Cam is.

Along with those releases, a number of blasters have had repaints in keeping with the new white and orange paintschemes. They also get new range claim lies, claiming XD ranges, though there's been no evidence that the XD repaints have any difference to their regular Elite versions.








 One unusual release is this two pack of Sidestrikes, originally a Zombie Strike blaster with a holster.
Besides the new colour, they're pretty much identical to the ZS Sidestrike.

Looking forward to 2015, the Elite line is receiving a slingshot in the form of the Slingstrike, a pistol carbine in the form of the Sharpfire (that is actually N-Strike, not Elite), and a bullpup clipfed crossbow in the form of the Crossbolt. While they may not be the most practical of blasters, at very least they're all unique.


Zombie Strike
ZS received quite a few new releases this year, though not all of them were as interesting or cool as last year's Hammershot and Sledgefire.
ZS Crossfire Bow, 37AUD, --, -- (assumed Elite range claims)
The Crossfire Bow is effectively half of a Roughcut, with a single row of 4 smart ARs. Despite the bow arms and strings, the Crossfire is actually just a spring powered blaster, with the pullback rod being connected to the plunger rod. While not a very practical blaster, lacking noteworthy range and having a low capacity and relatively slow rate of fire, the Crossfire Bow is liked by some simply because of the way it looks.
ZS Sidestrike, 19AUD, --, -- (assumed Elite range claims)
Internally the Sidestrike is just a slightly altered Firestrike, slide primed instead of pullback rod primed. It performs very similarly, getting acceptable Elite level ranges. Like the Firestrike, it has 2 dart holders below the barrel. However, the Sidestrike's key unique feature is the inclusion of a holster, which can hold either the Sidestrike or Firestrike in either direction, allowing for ambidextrous use. The holster also holds 4 darts. The Sidestrike's handle is particularly comfortable to hold, being smooth and curved compared to many of the sharper Elite handles.
The Sidestrike is Zombie Strike's generic single shot pistol that almost every major line has. It's favoured by some who dislike the other similar single shots, though they're all pretty much the same.
ZS Fusefire, 24AUD, --, -- (assumed Vortex range claims)
The Fusefire is quite unique. Not only does it have built in disc holders on the front, but it also has an inbuilt magazine, fed from the back just above the priming sled. It's slightly unusual firing system incorporates a priming sled that you pull back and then release to prime. The internal magazine holds 5 discs. Additionally the Fusefire incorporates glow in the dark disks, charging them with lights in the top section, shown by the transparent green cover. Performance wise the Fusefire performs just like a standard Vortex blaster.
For some the Fusefire has replaced the Vigilon as the Vortex sidearm of choice, as it is easier to reload on the move and in combat, and also holds extra discs in the front. Its futuristic raygun style aesthetic has also attracted some aesthetic modders.
ZS Ricochet, 12AUD, --, --
The Ricochet is the Jolt of the Vortex blasters, being the smallest of any Vortex blaster so far. It uses an unusual slide primed pusher system where most Vortex blasters use a torsion spring. Unfortunately, because of flaws in the new firing mech, the Ricochet gets significantly lower ranges than other Vortex blasters. For multiple reasons including the lack of range and the low popularity of Vortex in general, the Ricochet has gotten very little media coverage or use.
ZS Ripshot, 25AUD, --, --
The Ripshot uses a similar firing mech to the smaller Ricochet, and has disc holders similar to the Fusefire. Unlike the Fusefire, the Ripshot is just a single shot blaster, and unlike the Ricochet it can achieve respectable Vortex level ranges. Nevertheless, the Ripshot is still just an oversized single shot and so has had little media coverage.
ZS Target Set, ??AUD (10USD), --, --
Pretty much every line needs its Jolt repaint, and this is the ZS line's repaint, which includes a clip on sight with dart holders, and a couple of targets. A must get for Jolt collectors, but besides that it's really not anything new.
ZS Slingfire, 39AUD, --, -- (assumed Elite range claims)
The Slingfire was one of the most anticipated Fall 2014 releases, because of the cool factor of a lever action rifle. One of the key features advertised was the ability to flip-prime it, which worked suprisingly well with the right technique. Sadly, the Slingfire begins to fall down in practicality, like so many other stylish blasters out there. For whatever ridiculous reason, Nerf has opted to include just a measly 6 dart clip, where other blasters of the Slingfire's price range typically have at very least a 12 dart clip. Additionally, earlier models of the Slingfire seemed to have trouble keeping up with other Elite spec blasters, having a lower than average range. On top of that, while the lever action priming is cool, compared to a pump action such as the EAT or Rampage, it is quite slow and clunky. The clip release is also badly designed, with the release buttons on the side like most springer clipfed blasters, unlike the easier to use rear clip release button like those on flywheel blasters. Especially with the lever action priming mech, it is quite awkward to release a clip from the Slingfire.
Nevertheless, the Slingfire is a favourite blaster of many simply for being a cool and fun lever action blaster, with newer editions seemingly lacking the range issue of older ones.
ZS Doublestrike, 15AUD, --, --
Coming off the great success of the Hammershot/Sweet Revenge, the Doublestrike is a miniature two shot hammer action pistol. Unlike the cylinder toting HS/SR, the Doublestrike uses a set of smart ARs to fire two darts consecutively. As a much smaller blaster than the HS/SR, the Doublestrike sadly doesn't get the same ranges. Additionally, due to a design flaw, if not carefully primed, the Doublestrike will pop out the first dart, leaving you with only one dart.
Said design flaw is easily fixed with a little hot glue, but sadly the lack of range is not easily solved due to the limited space in the Doublestrike shell. Nevertheless the Doublestrike is a fun and cool looking pistol, and it does have its fair share of fans.

Along with those new releases, the ZS line has also received some repaints of other blasters for the ZED Squad subline. Besides new colours for the blasters in the line, there are also special printed darts with a syringe type printing, supposedly meant to be a cure for the zombie disease.
The Longshot (35USD) returns in the ZED Squad subline, with a new paintscheme, a 12 dart clip, a new colour scope and lacking the old barrel extension and bipod. Sadly, internally the Longshot is unchanged, meaning it fails to achieve Elite ranges, getting its old N-Strike ranges, and also often jams with Elite darts (depending on unit). Also despite overall losing some value, the Longshot has remained at the same price point as before.
The Magnus (30USD) is also part of the ZED Squad, coming in 2 different paintschemes. One is the same dark turqoise as the Longshot, and a reddish/orangey. If you like the new colours then this ZED Squad 2-pack is for you, otherwise the regular red Mega Magnus works just as well, being half the price for half the blasters.
The Clear Shot (15USD) is a rerelease of the old Dart Tag Stormfire, a single shot pistol. The Clear Shot also comes with a recolour of a special scope, which was previously only available with special edition Super Soaker Shot Blasts in red and blue. Like the other ZED Squad blasters, the Clear Shot is internally unchanged from the old Stormfire, and so achieves sub-Elite ranges. The Clear Shot is mostly desirable purely because of the scope, since the blaster itself is pretty mundane.

Besides the ZED Squad, ZS has a Roughcut 2-pack of two Roughcut repaints. Nothing new from the Elite Roughcuts, so get it if you like the colours. As it's a Costco exclusive, it's also cheaper than getting two individual Roughcuts, provided you have a Costco membership.

Looking forward to 2015, the ZS line is receiving the dual cylinder Flipfury, and will likely be further bolstered by more as-yet-unknown blasters.


Rebelle
Rebelle has taken an entirely new direction from its first wave, with the new subline being called Secrets and Spies. The key feature of the new line is concealing messages on special darts, and reading them using red filters.
Rebelle Agent Bow, 45AUD, 85ft, 20m
An unusual release, the Agent Bow fires arrows instead of darts, and works like a proper bow with its bow string, rather than the fake bows that simply hide plunger tubes. The Agent Bow also has a built in red dot sight, like that of the Pinpoint Sight. As part of the Secrets and Spies line, the Agent Bow's arrow fins can be written on and decoded using the included red filters.
Naturally due to its use of unique ammo (and not getting insane ranges like Zing bows), the Agent Bow is quite impractical for Nerf war use, but if you need to satisfy your inner archer and you must stick with the Nerf brand, the Agent Bow is the most faithful bow that Nerf currently makes.
Rebelle Diamondista, 9AUD, 75ft, 20m
Unlike the ZS Crossfire Bow that simply hides a plunger system, the Diamondista is a true crossbow, using a string to propel darts. Because of this, it is almost totally silent when firing, unlike the distinct *thunk* and *pop* or springers, the whine of flywheelers and the *whoosh* of air blasters. While still just a single shot, the Diamondista does have a few fans and users since it's unique among current blasters as a true crossbow.
Rebelle Messenger, 19AUD, 75ft, 20m
Back when the Triad and Firestrike were still relatively new, someone had the brilliant idea to hook up the smart AR barrel block of the Triad to the larger plunger of the Firestrike, to produce the awesome hybrid pistol known as the Triadstrike. It combined the 3-shot ability of the Triad with the power potential and body of the Firestrike, making it powerful as well as having multiple consecutive shots. Fast forward a couple of months and Nerf reveals the Rebelle Messenger, effectively making the Triadstrike mod unnecessary. The Messenger packs the power of the Firestrike/Pink Crush, and a barrel system akin to the Triads, making it one of the few single shot sized blasters capable of rapid fire consecutive shots. As a result, it has become quite popular among Nerfers looking for a single shot styled sidearm blaster.
Rebelle Rapid Red, ??AUD (30USD), 75ft, 20m
Quite often, Nerf lines would steal blasters from other lines, change them to suit the new line's style. This is particularly applicable to Rebelle, which has stolen many blaster designs from other lines. The Pink Crush for instance is internally almost identical to the Firestrike, ignoring the light. The Sneak Attacker blasters are just Jolts in a new shell, and the Hammershot/Sweet Revenge are internally identical. The Rapid Red is much like these copies, being a Rebelle-d Stryfe. It lacks the stock attachment point and barrel accepting muzzle, and attempts to compensate for the higher price compared to the Stryfe with a unique 12 dart clip that's red with the right side being transparent red. Additionally and uniquely, the clip has an angled bottom.
As the Rapid Red is fundamentally a Stryfe, it has become an alternative to the Stryfe for those who prefer its ergonomics, but its higher price and lack of tacticool options makes it much less popular than the Stryfe.
Rebelle Spylight, 25AUD, 75ft, 20m
The Spylight is a slide primed 6-shot revolver just like the Strongarm. It has a couple of differences, including a small piece in the handle that holds 2 spare darts and the trans red cylinder doesn't pop out. Instead there is sufficient gap around the cylinder holding arm to reload, in the style of the Hammershot/Sweet Revenge. The Spylight also includes a unique attachment, a red light in a flat light blue shell not unlike those that Nerf has previously released in several blasters.
Being effectively a Strongarm, the Spylight does have a few fans but its high price has largely prevented it from becoming a widespread or popular blaster.

Besides the S&S subline, the Rebelle line has also received the Super Stripes subline, which features blasters with zebra style shell paintschemes, different coloured accents and specially printed darts.
Rebelle Five by Five, 25AUD, 75ft, 20m
The 5x5 is just a Super Stripes repaint of the Sweet Revenge. If you read my review of the Sweet Revenge you'll know that I love that thing, and the 5x5 is the same blaster, except without the extras. In the US it costs the same as the Hammershot (where the SR costs 5USD more), so if you wanted to get the Sweet Revenge but didn't care for the extras, here's your best bet for getting it.
Wild Glam Set, ??AUD (20USD), 75ft, 20m
Another repaint, the Wild Glam blaster is just a repainted Pink Crush. What's new is all the extra stuff. The Wild Glam Set comes with a new holster, a new colour set of eye protection glasses and a new colour bandolier. If that sort of stuff appeals to you, then go ahead and get this set. Otherwise the Pink Crush is the exact same blaster for a much lower price.
Rapid Glow, ??AUD (30USD), 75ft, 20m
The Rapid Glow is the only new blaster in the Super Stripes subline, even then being just a retool of the Retaliator. It includes a unique 10 dart Firefly tech clip, with glow-in-the-dark darts. Besides the new shell and the special clip, the Rapid Glow is basically just a Retaliator with less tacticool for a higher price, and so like many of the Rebelle retools, has not garnered a lot of popularity or press.

Looking forward to 2015, Rebelle is receiving quite a few new releases. This includes a blaster that disguises as a purse (the Secret Shot), a tiny folding blaster (the Mini Mischief), and a 4 smart AR barrel block hammer action blaster (the 4Victory), among other things. The Rebelle line seems to be getting the most unusual and unique blasters of the 3 main Elite dart blasting lines, at least to me. With its large variety of new blasters coming out, the Rebelle line seems to have something for everyone.


Vortex
It seems that Nerf is getting rid of the Vortex line, as there have been no new Vortex blasters released, announced or leaked aside from the ZS line's 3 Vortex pistols. This is a shame, as the Vortex line had some good stuff going for it, peaking with the Pyragon, still one of the best stock blasters around. Sadly it seems that the Vortex line has been afflicted with the key problem that affects almost all other alternative ammo blaster lines: lack of ammo compatability. The 7.2x1.3cm foam Elite dart is the standard to which blasters must be compatible with, as Nerf is the most dominant of all the blaster franchises.


Dart Tag
Dart Tag is also seemingly dying, though there have been rumours of a return in 2015. 2014 was an incredibly lackluster year for DT, with the release of just a few Jolt reshells. Nevertheless, the velcro Dart Tag dart remains the favourite stock dart of many Nerfers for its balance of range and accuracy.


I think that's all the main blaster releases this year, do comment if you think I missed anything.
Of the 2015 stuff, I'm actually most excited for the "Modulus" whatever it is, because MLD hinted a while back that Nerf would be getting back into the attachments/accessories market in a big way, and Modulus is a perfect name for that. As you would know if you keep up with my posts, I like tacticool, so Modulus sounds like the perfect thing for me provided Nerf can make it practical and effective, while keeping it tacticool.

Blog achievements this year, we ticked over 500,000 views. Half way to the million!
Thanks to all of you who support me, and a special shout-out to some of the guys I've met through Nerf, like Qi and Andu, among others.

Where I live (Australia) it's just 2 hours to the new year, so I'll see all you guys next year!

Before the release of the Rapidstrike, which is now considered by many to be the best flywheel blaster Nerf has, one of the biggest questions regarding flywheelers was "Stryfe or (Elite) Rayven?"
I'm going to try and address that question with my experiences and opinions.
This isn't a complete comparison, as I didn't get the Elite Rayven stock or with all its bits, so I can't do all of the ratings. But for the most part the question has been brought up because the two are similar blasters with some important differences.
Let's just get some of the basic things out of the way.
Basics
Range: Since the Elite Rayven has not had a grey trigger release as far as I'm aware, I'll just compare the orange trigger ranges. According to RandomShadow09's range tests, the Stryfe gets about 50ft average, while the Rayven gets about 45ft average. Not a huge amount of difference.
Accuracy: Should be pretty similar, the two blasters use the same firing mech and darts. The only difference is that the Rayven's faux barrel is longer, which should help grouping slightly, but in my experience there's not much difference.
Rate of Fire: The Rayven's trigger pull is significantly stiffer than the Stryfe's, which becomes painful in rapid fire. The Stryfe however has its dodgy dart sensor which causes trigger lockup if you try firing too quickly. As a result, in stock form the Elite Rayven and Stryfe end up with similar rates of fire.
Usability: Both blasters have their issues.
The Rayven's biggest issue is the stiff trigger pull, which is extremely difficult and uncomfortable unless you're used to such trigger pulls. Also a problem that was evident in the N-Strike Rayven was that the clip would not properly align with the flywheel cage, and so darts would not be fed properly and misfires called 'squibs' would occur. This is easily fixed with a thin piece of plastic and some adhesive.
The Stryfe's big issue is its dart sensor. It prevents the trigger from being pulled unless it detects a dart. However, it is rather faulty and often locks up the trigger even if the blaster is loaded. These problems are particularly evident with non-Elite clips and Streamline darts, and have caused many an unwanted and avoidable jam. It's incredibly easy to disable or remove.
If those easily solved issues are fixed, then both blasters become reliable and easy to use.
Capacity Out of Box: This is one of the major differences, the Elite Rayven comes with a Firefly Tech 18 dart clip, while the Stryfe comes with a measly 6 dart clip. 18 clips are cheap and abundant though, so if you're going beyond buying just a blaster, take that into consideration.
Value for Money: The Stryfe retails for 20USD, while the Elite Rayven retails for 35USD. A separate 18 dart clip retails for 11USD so a Stryfe + 18 clip costs less than an Elite Rayven. Taking into account the Rayven has a built in stock and Firefly tech on its clip while the Stryfe has an extra 6 clip, and I'm going to call this round a draw, since they both come pretty close.
If pressed I'd have to give the edge to the Stryfe, because it's nearly half the price of the Rayven, yet the 15USD saved can make up for the Stryfe's other shortcomings.


Functionally the two blasters are very similar, both being semi auto flywheelers. The Stryfe has a much smoother stock trigger pull, however the Rayven's trigger pull is easily modified to match that of the Stryfe's. Range wise the Stryfe will always beat the Rayven unless the Rayven's faux barrel is changed, as it causes friction with the darts, slowing them down and reducing their range. If you're serious about range and you want to use a Rayven, switching the faux barrel for one of a larger diameter will fix the problem, and have the two blasters on par. So if performance is all you care about, both are pretty much equal provided you're prepared to put in the work for the Rayven particularly.

The two have very different tacticool options.
The Stryfe can be built up from the base pistol it is out of box into just about anything, thanks to its various accessory attaching points. It can accept both barrel extensions and stocks, and has two tac rails ideal for sights and grips respectively. It is popular to use the Stryfe as an SMG/PDW style blaster, with a foregrip for comfort and a stock if desired, but no barrel. I personally use it with a Retaliator stock and foregrip, as I like the stability of a stock and the Retaliator stock is the shortest and most compact. However, straight out of box the Stryfe is just a pistol with a small clip.

The Rayven is larger than the Stryfe and has an inbuilt stock, and so in its smallest form is already an SMG/PDW sized and styled blaster. It has less tacticool options than the Stryfe, though all it lacks is the ability to accept stocks, having two tac rails and a barrel accepting muzzle. Without barrel extensions the Rayven cannot accept foregrip, and so can be a little awkward to two-hand grip. However, unlike the Stryfe, the Rayven can comfortably accept a tac light on its side tac rail without sacrificing
comfort, as the Stryfe would have to sacrifice either its sight or foregrip to attach a light to a tac rail. I personally use the Rayven with a shortened Retal barrel extension, as I like the feel of having a foregrip, but don't want a long barrel. Again I use a Retal foregrip because I find it comfortable, and it helps handle the Rayven.


Besides tacticool options the key difference between the Stryfe and Rayven is the clip configuration.
The Stryfe has a "conventional" design, with the clip loading in front of the handle and firing trigger. Look for instance at the M16 and AK assault rifles, which are both conventional design firearms.
The Rayven has a "bullpup" configuration, with the clip loading behind the handle and firing trigger. Examples of bullpup firearms include the Steyr AUG, FN F2000, TAR-21 and FAMAS.

As the Stryfe uses a conventional design, for the ordinary person it is probably faster and easier to reload compared to the Rayven. Since the foregrip of the Stryfe is closer to the clip than the Rayven, it is faster to move your foregrip hand to the clip, remove it, insert a loaded clip and re-grip the foregrip than with the Rayven. Alternatively with the Stryfe, due to its clip release button being just in front of the acceleration trigger, you can use your main hand to release the emptied clip from the Stryfe, while using your other hand to grab a loaded clip, saving more time compared to the Rayven. The Stryfe is also shorter in its base form than the Rayven, as the Stryfe does not have the extra space between the handle and magwell, and extra length of a stock.

However as the Stryfe's clip is loaded in front of the handle, the Rayven is the shorter blaster if an equivalent length stock is attached to the Stryfe (Stockade stock is about the right length). This can be an advantage in close quarters when going around corners, as you want minimum length from the body for maximum maneuverability. Adding on a short barrel extension to attach a foregrip to the Rayven makes the two roughly equal in length.

The Stryfe also works better with drums than the Rayvens. The magwell of the Rayven is close enough to the back of the stock that if a large drum is loaded (e.g. the 35 dart drum), then if a right hander turns the Rayven towards the left, the drum will likely poke into their body. Do note that if you use a stockless Stryfe, the extra forward weight may be an issue for stability and handling.
I personally don't use drums as I much prefer straight clips, but it's something to consider if you do like drums.


Ultimately all of this comes down to personal taste and preference, provided you're willing to put in the effort to make the Rayven equal to the Stryfe. I personally prefer the Rayven as I found it more comfortable to use than a Stryfe with a stock and I personally like the look of the Rayven more. You could just as well get the opposite statement from another Nerfer who prefers the Stryfe, as no two Nerfers are the same.
At the end of all that, I have a conclusive answer for myself, however I do not have a conclusive answer for you. You are not me, and so to answer this question for yourself, you'll have to go ahead and try both blasters, and see which one you prefer.

One popular mod for the Rapidstrike (besides the standard overhauling of its internals) is minimisation of the shell, as Nerf is lacking in a full-auto clip fed sidearm.
This is my take of an SMG/PDW style minimisation.

In terms of what major parts were removed, all I did was cut off the front portion, which removes the majority of the faux barrel and the battery tray. I then used the original muzzle and a short portion of faux barrel to give the minimised Rapidstrike (which I'll call RapidPDW) a proper muzzle and front iron sight.
With the stock extended. It's certainly not the shortest minimisation, many people also cut off the stock and the carry handle/rail to turn it into the much smaller "Rapidpistol". However I personally like having a stock on anything clip system, so I kept it on this.
The top rail still works fine, it's been untouched. I think the RapidPDW looks decent with an EPPS and 12 dart clip, though I'd use 18 dart clips in games.
I didn't cut my Rapidstrike down as much as most people. I kept a length of the shell so that I would have a comfortable underbarrel grip, and also to maintain the two side tac rails. Additionally, the space in where the battery tray used to go now serves to hold the new battery system.
The standard barrel minimisation seems to be to cut the Rapidstrike right down to the curve of the grey magwell grip.
 Down the front, you can see that I basically took all of the Rapidstrike's old front and stuck it on. Everything's there, from the muzzle to the iron sight and even the battery tray front piece.
It's not very well adhered on, but for the most part the faux barrel keeps it lined up properly.
I've also used a segment of the BSUK Stryfe muzzle ring to help keep barrel extensions stable, as I find especially the Retaliator barrel is fairly wobbly on the Rapidstrike.
Currently I'm running this Rapidstrike off a pair of IMRs. Once I get around to investing in LiPos, this will be receiving a small 2S LiPo that should be perfect for my needs.
This Rapidstrike has had a basic rewire, according to Toruk's excellent rewire guide. I might do a full rewire if I get new motors for it, but as of now it's running of stock motors so a full rewire is not totally necessary.
Retaining the muzzle allows the use of barrel attachments. Pictured is a shortened Retal barrel.
And here's one with the Spectre barrel. I personally really like the Spectre barrel, as it maintains the PDW look and doesn't affect performance.
The RapidPDW is by no means a particularly short blaster. Here it's compared to the ERayven, and even with the stock retracted it's a few centimetres longer.
With the stock extended, the RapidPDW is about 10cm longer than the ERayven.
Here's the RapidPDW compared to one of my stock Rapidstrikes. You can see it's not actually a huge amount shorter, but for my purposes it's short enough.

Thanks to the IMRs and the rewire, the RapidPDW revs up fairly fast. Certainly much faster than stock. It takes about half a second to rev up to usable RPM, and another half second to rev to near max.
Range wise, the RapidPDW is comparable to my ERayven running Barricade motors, both blasters using 2 IMRs. Accuracy isn't great, particularly thanks to the removal of the faux barrel, but Koosh darts certainly help. I wasn't looking for accuracy anyway with this build.
ROF is greatly improved from stock, getting around 5.5dps with near full charge IMRs. Certainly enough for my purposes.

I built this RapidPDW mostly for fun, but as it evolved I found a great use for it in my Uni games. Its power is better than that of stock blasters, but not so much that it causes significant pain on hits, and seems to be within our current 80fps limits (using Kooshes at least). The accuracy is not an issue thanks to Kooshes and its ROF, which is significantly greater than can be achieved with the other blasters (Strongarms, Roughcuts) used by newbies. The RapidPDW also conveniently fits perfectly in my Uni backpack.

Do let me know what you think of my RapidPDW.

It's been a while since my last review, so here's a new one.

The Sidestrike packaging is the standard open style ZS fare, everything exposed and held in with paper ties.
Out of box. The Sidestrike comes with itself, the holster, 6 W. coded ZS darts and an instruction paper (not pictured) that is totally unnecessary.
All together, the Sidestrike in its holster with all darts in dart holders.

Let's look at the Sidestrike itself first.

The Sidestrike is a fairly standard fare single shot. Relatively compact with a single tac rail, two dart holders and a short slide prime. It has the ZS paintscheme with neon green, brown, orange and grey. I'm not a fan of the paintscheme personally, I much prefer the blue Elite or red Mega paintschemes.

Note how the Sidestrike is design wise very different to the Hammershot and Sledgefire. Those blasters had an improvised and rough feel to them, while the Sidestrike has very clean and sharp lines. Additionally, while the Hammershot and Sledgefire had faux tape wrapped around their handles, the Sidestrike's is clean and smooth, except for the obligatory centre rough section in grey.
The Sidestrike's tac rail is quite short, and is on the bottom of the blaster instead of the top. Sadly due to its short length and proximity to the handle, the tactical light from the Recon doesn't fit properly. The only other attachment that's reasonable is a foregrip such as that from the Retaliator, but even that is pretty pointless, especially on a single shot.

Looking down the front of the Sidestrike, you can see the barrel and the two dart holders. Unlike the Firestrike, the Sidestrike has no tac light in between the barrel and dart holders, so in actual fact the dart holders could have been placed a lot closer to the barrel. However placing them this low gives the bottom of the blaster a nice profile.
Like many Nerf blasters, the Sidestrike has a set of iron sights, and again like most Nerf blasters they're pretty useless due to the significance of dart drop at any reasonable range.
A look at the side of the Sidestrike's slide, with the Sidestrike nameplate and the barely visible Zombie Strike engraving on the left. Pretty standard for ZS blasters.
 A closer look at the ZS symbol on the side, again pretty standard.

Unlike the Hammershot and Sledgefire, the Sidestrike's handle is smooth and curved, and a little short. I find it comfortable, but if you have much larger hands it'll probably be too small.

The Sidestrike is a slide primed blaster with a draw similar to that of the Firestrike. Interestingly, the prime of the Sidestrike is a fair bit stiffer than that of the Firestrike.
Note two things on the Sidestrike's handle. Firstly, the Elite badge. Funnily enough the Sidestrike has been rereleased into the Elite line in Elite colours, where its sharp lines and smooth handle fit in much better than the grittier and rougher ZS line.

Now let's look at the Sidestrike's holster.

Like that of the Sweet Revenge's, the Sidestrike's holster is made of rigid grey plastic, and has the obligatory ZS logo. On the back it has a slightly different belt clip, through which you can weave your belt through to achieve a much more secure connection.

Again like the Sweet Revenge's, the Sidestrike's holster has built in dart holders. The darts are relatively secure, and fit fairly well into the lines of the holster.
The dart holders have a few small ridges that put a good amount of friction on the darts, keeping them in fairly securely. They're still easy to pull out, but they probably won't fall out just from running around.
As mentioned before, darts in the dart holders fit the holster's lines fairly well. They're not particularly obtrusive and they're easily pulled out.

The Sidestrike fits in both ways into the holster, though I found that it fits tighter the opposite way of how it was packaged. This ambidexterity was missing from the Sweet Revenge's holster, which only caters for right handers (though can be easily modded for left handers).

The holster also fits the Elite Firestrike, which is a good choice as the Firestrike is a fairly popular single shot.


The cutouts in the bottom of the holster ensure that both the Sidestrike and Firestrike can fit comfortably. I found that the Sidestrike fit in more snugly than the Firestrike, and the Firestrike was actually quite loose.
A major problem with the holster is that it's very shallow, and so significant up-and-down movements (such as those from running or jumping) could cause the Sidestrike/Firestrike to fall out, which is a major issue. For that reason I feel that the holster is a little more gimmicky than anything else. The Sweet Revenge's holster was much more secure, though that only fit one blaster and in only one direction.
So with all that done, how does the Sidestrike perform?
Range is pretty standard for grey trigger Elite spec blasters, usually coming in at about 12-14m, though some darts do dip slightly earlier.
Accuracy is fairly good. Most darts fly quite straight, and those that veer off tend to veer back on to target at a range of about 8m. Beyond that thanks to the instability of Elite style darts accuracy is no guarantee. You should be able to hit a human sized target at 10m fairly consistently.
Rate of fire is standard for a single shot, 1 shot every 2-3 seconds depending on how quickly you can reload.

Is the Sidestrike worth getting?
If you're in search of a decent sized (read: not Jolt or Triad) single shot and don't want to get the cheaper Firestrike or Pink Crush, sure. The Sidestrike is competitive with those two and does the same job.
If you want a blaster that comes with a holster, then maybe. I would personally take a Sweet Revenge instead, but if you don't like the Sweet Revenge (or upcoming 4Victory/Quatro) then go ahead.
If you're looking for a cheap single shot, no. The Firestrike and Pink Crush are cheaper and are internally pretty much the same blaster.
If you're looking for a decent sidearm/backup blaster then the Sidestrike is an option, however there are many better/alternative options out there, for instance the Jolt, Triad, Hammershot/Sweet Revenge and Strongarm.

The Sidestrike is currently a Target exclusive, originally available for 24AUD, but it has dropped down to a lower regular price of 19AUD. I picked mine up for half price at 9AUD, which is an exceptional deal considering Firestrikes and Pink Crushes are also 9AUD.
If you're a collectionist or you like the holster or the design of the Sidestrike, then do consider getting it as it's a decent blaster and the holster is quite neat.
However there are many other blasters that match its performance for a lower price, and also a lot of blasters for that price range and lower than are totally superior to a stock standard Sidestrike. And so because of its high price, I cannot recommend the Sidestrike as a secondary blaster as there are so many often cheaper and better alternatives.

Pros: Holster is solid and quite neat, Sidestrike performs up to Elite spec, handle is exceptionally nice, first slide primed single shot since the Scout (which some people like), holster also fits Firestrike and is ambidextrous
Cons: Holster is not particularly secure, Sidestrike is reported to break after prolonged use (haven't experienced that yet), slide is not as comfortable to prime as pullback rings of Firestrike and Pink Crush, high price considering the Sidestrike is just a single shot

Power: 6/7
Accuracy: 4/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Rate of Fire: 1/5
Overall: 3.56/5

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 - the Sidestrike is very comfortable to hold and use, and the holster is pretty neat too (though not the most practical). I'm not a fan of the colour scheme though.

(50ap5ud5)

Hi guys! How's everyone going?

I've been away for a while now becuase the past year has been quite busy; mainly due to personal reasons. Exams, a part-time job and other events meant that hobbies like Nerf had to take the backstage.

Now however, I have more free time, so I'll be back posting for the blog and Facebook page. However, there's a major change that is to come.

    I've decided that I'm not going to posting any more "long" reviews, due to my limited budget and time; so I won't be purchasing Nerf stuff as often. That and my mum doesn't want me getting any more Nerf stuff.
If I do manage to get a new blaster, I'll write a short post (on the FB page) about my thoughts on it.
I hope you guys can understand this.


Meanwhile, I'm working on an aesthetics mod for my dual Sweet Revenges, as an experiment. I'll be posting updates on the FB page if you guys are interested.



I hope everyone is still enjoying the Nerf hobby and cheers to a new year!

A quick mod this time, of a Longshot trigger guard.

In stock form the Longshot lacks a trigger guard, which is odd because it's one of the only blasters I own that has no trigger or hand guard of any kind. As someone who uses blasters that do have trigger guards (E.Rayven, EAT, Sweet Revenge), it felt weird and I have come into a few issues with it lacking the trigger guard.

I've seen one 3D printed trigger guard that friction fits, and several other trigger and hand guards made of metal, spare parts or even wood I believe, but I wanted to make a trigger guard in stock colours so I delved into my box of spare parts and cutoffs.
The bottom piece is made from the trigger guard off my Bullpup EAT, and its grey and blue matched fairly well with the Longshot. The vertical piece comes from a piece of shell cutoff from my RapidPDW, so its blue matched well also, and the shell piece was long, straight and flat.
Naturally many of the edges of the new trigger guard have been sanded down, though I will probably go back and sand it down a little more.
I used epoxy to adhere each piece in place. I specifically used parts that would split apart so the Longshot would split apart as normal and the trigger guard would split apart with it. A single piece trigger guard like those I have seen before would probably look better and be slightly cleaner, but I wanted the trigger guard to look as stock as possible, hence the scavenged parts.
Further epoxy reinforcements are to come though they won't impact significantly on aesthetics.
While the trigger guard is a little short, there's still abundant space for my finger without touching the trigger.
I settled on this particular style of trigger guard and not one that uses the short cylinder as a support as I want to leave that space open in case I decide to implement a lever style release. As the Longshot's clip release is only on the right hand side of the blaster, it's really quite bad for left handers, and even I don't really like it. It's a little too high for my liking.

Do let me know what you think of this particular trigger guard.

A revised version of my Heavy Fire Support loadouts, as a result of further experimentation and reading on the interwebs.

Scenario Description: Close-mid range team based encounters. General engagement ranges ~7-12m. Player has taken the role of "Heavy", who carries larger blasters that are typically more spammable and ammo hungry, or are mor effective than regular blasters.
Keys to Victory: Rapid fire blasters with reasonably high capacity, preferably easy to reload. Reasonable range - does not have to shoot particularly far. Must be able to effectively spray darts at opponents, idealistically suppressing or tagging them. Large amounts of ammo. Fearlessly spray opponents, even when under heavy attack.
Alternative primary blasters are those that inspire great fear into opponents and consume lots of ammo/particularly large ammo, such as large shotguns and rocket launchers.
You won't be too capable of run 'n' gunning thanks to the inherent bulk of your gear, but it's not hard to walk 'n' gun, and if you're prepared enough, running with all your gear shouldn't be too hard. Practice is the key to coping with all the stuff you're carrying.
Unnecessary Burdens: Trying to cut down on weight somewhere by minimising ammo or some other useful objects. Face it, if you want to be a "Heavy" you  are going to be carrying a lot of stuff. That is the entire point of your role. If you don't want to be carrying so much stuff you probably shouldn't be a Heavy.

Clip System 1a


Primary: Stampede ECS (18 clips, voltage increase if possible)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip, drum holders (drums usually need pouches), sling for primary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous 18 clips, a few 25/35 drums for emergencies (if your gametype allows for large engagements, e.g. HvZ), ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with easy to use, full auto clip system goodness.
Strengths: Rapid fire, reloading
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, low range and accuracy, quick-draw shots
Description: The Stampede is a fantastic blaster for spamming thanks to its full auto mechanism. A boost in the power you give it will up your ROF significantly, especially if you stick with the stock spring. The main clips you'll be using are the 18 clips, because they are the least jam/misfeed prone, sufficiently high capacity, and most readily available/cheap clips around. Drums of equal and greater capacity are typically more vulnerable to jamming and misfeeding, so avoid them except when absolutely necessary. In gametypes such as large scale HvZ where you'll potentially face down very large numbers of opponents, the extra capacity offered by the high capacity drums can save you and your friends. Though I'd recommend staying away from drums for general skirmish use, when you're up against overwhelming odds the 18 clips usually won't have enough capacity to keep you alive at the end. For those sorts of times, I'd recommend carrying around a 35 drum somewhere and switching to that.
I used to be against secondaries if you're going as a heavy, but especially in long games like HvZ, the extra blaster could save you. It offers a couple of extra shots that have superior range and accuracy than the Stampede, and is also easier to keep full than a clip/drum. Of course you don't have to use specifically a revolver like the Strongarm. If the team requires it, you could run an even more powerful and accurate blaster like the Nitefinder, or possibly something like a Roughcut if you need the extra close quarters power.


Clip System 3a

 
Primary: Elite Hailfire (18 clips, supporting mods)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip, drum holders, sling for primary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Lots of 18 clips and a few 35 drums, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with stupidly high capacity spammability while retaining clip system's easy reloads
Strengths: Rapid fire, individual clip reloading, stupidly high capacity, switching clips is safer than all other blasters (assuming you have at least 1 loaded clip)
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, low accuracy, quick-draw shots, bulk, instability of clip holder rack, vulnerable to misfires and misrotating with large clips
Description: Though the Hailfire's quick-advance system seems to reduce the need for having a super high capacity drum, the fact remains that the clip-switching time could cost you. Especially so when using a stock Hailfire, as the stock rotation mech doese't like being loaded up with 8 18s. Thus while you should stick to 18 clips for regular skirmishes, you should switch the first two 18s for a single 35 drum during the previously mentioned overwhelming odds times. I don't recommend using 25 drums though because they take up 3 slots, not the 2 of a 35.


Belt Fed 1a

Primary: Vulcan EBF-25 (extended belts are great if you mod accordingly to support them)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Anything that can hold belts, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous belts, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with easy to use, full auto belt fed goodness.
Strengths: Rapid fire, good accuracy given it's purpose, intimidation
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, long reload time, mediocre range
Description: While the other clip system stuff needs sidearms to cover up their horrid accuracy, the Vulcan needs a secondary blaster to help cover its horrid reload time. Being belt fed, the Vulcan takes a lot longer to switch belts than the Stampede or Hailfire switches clips/drums. However, the Vulcan does have the benefit of being more accurate, and also being able to potentially have more capacity than any clip/drum. By joining two belts together (multiple guides online for this), it is possible to make a 50 dart belt for the Vulcan. Of course, you don't have to stop at 50. I've seen a picture of a 200 dart belt. This ability to easily modify the belts for larger capacity is another major bonus over clip system blasters. Unlike clip system blasters which are limited to 35 per clip/drum, the Vulcan can have basically any (reasonable length) belt if you are capable of joining belts and removing shells.
Do note that Vulcans can have problems with extended belts if the belts are not supported, as the Vulcan's advancing mech is not particularly powerful.


Vortex 1a

Primary: Vortex Pyragon (40 disc drum or extended Vortex mags)
Secondary: Effective backup dart blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Vortex Ammo Belt (pouch, mag holders, blaster clip), holster for secondary
Ammo: Vortex mags/drums, discs, darts
Purpose: To give the user the advantage of disc blasters, while being able to provide fire support for the team and still allowing the user to use all the main ammo types.
Strengths: Range, accuracy, curved shots, slam fire, quick reloads, not totally vulnerable when reloading.
Weaknesses: Discs are rarer than darts, curving at long distances is hard to take advantage of.
Description: As a disc blaster, the Pyragon is at an automatic disadvantage to any of the above blasters. Because discs are typically less popular than darts, there are far less discs on the battlefield to pick up. On the other hand, the Streamline/Elite/equivalent dart is typically very common due to the abundance of clip system blasters. This makes it even more important to carry a good dart blaster as a secondary, to keep you alive until you can scavenge more discs if you run out.
Unlike clip system drums, the Vortex 40 disc drum is not prone to misfeeding and jamming (unless you get a lemon), so if you get multiple you can go absolutely nuts with a Pyragon and its extremely smooth slam-fire. Since discs "float" unlike darts which have a standard projectile trajectory, it is possible to create a wall of discs by firing multiple discs as quickly as possible. Such a wall is extremely intimidating and is a great suppression tactic even if the discs do not actually hit, as Vortex discs fly slower than darts that reach the same range.

The Air Max 10 is one of the blasters in Buzz Bee's air powered Air Max line. As mentioned before, Nerf has largely abandoned any kind of air tank/bladder system. So how does the Air Max 10 stack up against the Elite blasters?

Like the other Air Max blasters, the AM10 was sent to me for review by Buzz Bee Toys, so many thanks to them for that. As usual, that will not affect the review in any way.

Also note that the AM blasters I received are those meant for US retail, other countries will receive weaker blasters to comply with EU safety restrictions.
 Here's the AM10 box, pretty standard open style Buzz Bee box.
For whatever reason my AM10 box had this on the back. I believe this could be because at the time it was sent, Buzz Bee had not yet created the blue AM10 image for the back.
Here's all the stuff you get, simplistic as usual from Buzz Bee. Just the AM10 and 10 Extreme darts.

The Air Max 10 is quite an unusual blaster compared to Nerf blasters. Unlike Nerf blasters there is no paint used. The details on the AM10 are either just molded details, orange plastic inserts or the lone sticker on the left side. The AM10 also doesn't have the same solid plastic feel to it that Nerf blasters have, it feels thinner and slightly weaker.
Also unlike Nerf blasters, the AM10 has a very distinct toy look and feel to it. While Nerf blasters are also toys, many of the blasters have real-life firearm analogues, and particularly much of the Elite line has a very distinct sharper, more milsim style design than the other lines or Buzz Bee blasters.
Thanks to its length, placement of the handle and large 10 dart turret, the AM10 is rather front heavy. While most Nerf blasters that are this long and front heavy have either a stock or some other weight support (e.g. tripod), the AM10 does not have a stock or the ability to attach one. This leads to the AM10 feeling quite unbalanced, at least to me.
Besides the housing for the turret, the AM10 is actually quite thin. The AM10 has no iron sights to speak of.
The AM10 is a fairly flat blaster ignoring the turret housing.
Up front, a close up of the turret and barrels. Note the dart pegs in the barrels.

The Air Max 10's cylinder rotates in the opposite direction to Nerf revolvers. From the front on point of view, it rotates clockwise, while Nerf revolvers rotate counter clockwise from the front.
The AM10 rotates on trigger pull, before firing. It fires the dart to the left of the top dart, after the rotation.


And so on.
I didn't take pictures of the full cycle because I got lazy, and because there's not much point.
The AM10's handle is decently sized, but not particularly large. It's smooth and fairly comfortable.
The trigger pull up until this point fully rotates the cylinder, but doesn't fire. This position is already about as far as most Nerf triggers go into the handle.
The trigger must be fully depressed to fire, going almost entirely into the handle. While the handle itself is not uncomfortable, I find having to depress the trigger this far rather uncomfortable. I usually have to push my trigger finger quite hard against the handle.
Unlike most other grips, the AM10 pump grip slopes down forwards, which causes your pump hand to angle downward much further than necessary, which is rather uncomfortable.

The pump track of the AM10 is quite long. It fills the small tank in 2 pumps, which is very fast for an air blaster.

And now of course, performance. Can the AM10 compete with Nerf's Elite blasters?
Range is pretty good. The AM10 hits 14-15m very consistently with the included Extreme darts. It's got a good amount of power, even in stock form.
Accuracy is also very impressive, partly thanks to the Extreme darts, which are extremely accurate. Every single shot travels incredibly straight. I tested accuracy on a window at about 10m range, and several of my shots bounced of darts that were already stuck to the window.
Rate of fire is where the AM10 begins to fall down. The AM10 requires 2 pumps to get to full power, which though it is very fast for an air pumped blaster, is still very slow compared to flywheelers and springers. I can get close to 1 dart per second with 2 pumps. 1 pump gives a much faster rate of fire (2+dps) but you do lose a lot of power.
This shot was made from 14m away. The dart stuck very well to the tablet, the AM10 really is that powerful.
Is the AM10 worth purchasing?
If you're after a powerful, accurate blaster then yes, definitely. The AM10 matches Elite-spec blasters for power, and outdoes all Nerf blasters that come with Elite style darts in accuracy, due to the Extreme darts.
If you're after a standard Nerf war primary, then perhaps not. While the range and accuracy are quite good, the range is not significantly better than Nerf's high-end Elite-spec blasters, and the AM10 relies on Extreme darts for accuracy, as Elite darts are horribly unstable. Additionally, the AM10 has a slower rate of fire than most primary style blasters (e.g. Stryfe, Retaliator), which if you're forced to use Elite darts becomes a big problem. Blasters such as the Stryfe can make up for the poor accuracy with rate of fire, however the AM10 is incapable of that as a pump action air blaster.
If you're looking for just a fun blaster then the AM10 is certainly an option. It has both the power and accuracy to make it a fun target shooting blaster, and is fairly easy to use as well. There's also just something about shooting suction darts at flat surfaces.

I'm not sure of the AM10's US retail price, but I do know they are fairly widely available. I haven't seen a single AM10 (or Air Max Buzz Bee blaster for that matter) in Australia, so I have nothing on Aussie price. As a Buzz Bee blaster I'd expect it to be fairly cheap, probably 15USD or less. If you're looking for something with decent power and accuracy, the AM10 is probably the most practical stock blaster that fits both categories well, but considering the proliferation of Nerf's clip system blasters, the AM10 is unlikely to be a practical choice for a war blaster. It's also (for me at least) a little uncomfortable to hold and use compared to most of Nerf's blasters, I just find Nerf blasters are better ergonomically designed.
I would recommend it if you're looking for something different, since it's not too expensive and does its job well.

Pros: Good amount of power, fantastic accuracy with Extreme darts, fast rate of fire for an air blaster
Cons: Slow rate of fire compared to springers and flywheelers, low capacity (considering the capacity of Nerf's clips), uncomfortable and unbalanced design

Power: 6.5/7
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usability: 3.5/5
Rate of Fire: 1.5/5

Overall: 3.73/5

Personal Rating: 4/5 - while not the most comfortable blaster out there, the AM10 has a lot of power and fantastic accuracy, making it fun for target shooting and casual use.

Once again, many thanks to Buzz Bee Toys for sending the AM10 along with the other Air Max blasters for review.

Hey guys!
So if you didn't know already, I recently went to Canada for several weeks for a holiday with my family. We did a lot of skiing, seeing sights, etc etc, the sorts of things you go to Canada in winter for.
We also did our fair share of shopping, so I thought I'd share what I got from the land of maple syrup.


First up, all of the Nerf stuff I brought back, none of which I have seen in Australian stores yet (Triads of course I have, but not in XD. They were bought for the orange trigger for a friend anyway).
Canadian Targets had 20% off toys due to them closing down. All quoted prices are non-sale prices excluding tax (unlike Australia, where tax is always included in prices. It got annoying real fast).
The Target and Toys R Us I went to are located at Metropolis at Metrotown, which was the easiest Target to get to for me.
From left to right, top to bottom, we have:
2x Elite Missile packs, 9CAD each - TRU
2x coloured Jolts, 6CAD each - Target
2x XD Triads, 9CAD each - TRU
Bigshock, 10CAD - Target
BoomCo Railstinger, 10CAD - Target

Next up, all my Lego acquisitions. These were bought from the Oakridge Centre Lego Store, again the easiest Lego store to get to for me.
From top to bottom, left to right, we have:
75089 Geonosis Troopers, 16CAD
75085 Hailfire Droid, 25CAD
21109 Exo Suit, 45CAD
Commander Gree Keychain, 5.50CAD
Han Solo (Hoth), --CAD (free)
Lego Employee Minifig, --CAD (gift)

I have a Railstinger review coming shortly, the Bigshock will be added to the review poll in the top right.

This is my first foray into BoomCo blasters, as they use an ammo type incompatible with the standard foam darts available today.
The BoomCo Railstinger is a unique blaster in that it attaches to tac rails, which is why I chose to buy it. I purchased it during my recent trip to Canada (along with a lot of other cool things), and haven't yet seen them in Australia (as of publishing this post).

The Railstinger comes in a small open style box typical of BoomCo, but more sophisticated and seemingly tougher than Nerf style open boxes. Besides the blaster it shows the two darts and the target in the back.
The back of the dart has the same text in many different languages, so while the box looks full of text it actually doesn't say much.
The side box art of the railstinger, suitably adorned with a bee/wasp type insect.
Out of the box, you get the Railstinger, 2 BoomCo darts, a BoomCo target and an instruction manual (not pictured).
All loaded up.

Since this is my first BoomCo review, let's look at the the BoomCo "Smart Stick" darts first.
BoomCo darts are significantly different to standard Nerf darts (represented here by a Koosh). While they are around the same length as an Elite, BoomCo darts are significantly thinner than Nerf darts, being around 1cm wide, where Nerf darts are usually around 1.3cm wide.
BoomCo darts are also significantly heavier than a Nerf Elite dart. An average Elite dart weighs just over 1 gram, while BoomCo darts weigh just under 1.5 grams.
BoomCo darts are in fact not made of foam, and are instead have a rigid plastic tube for a body. As a result, while the dart is overall thinner than a Nerf dart, because the walls of the body are so thin the inner hole is actually wider.
BoomCo darts have a special tip chemically designed to stick only to BoomCo targets, and nothing else. As such while it is advertised as a sticky tip, it doesn't actually feel sticky. The tip is soft and squishy, though you can still feel hits quite easily as it doesn't compress too much.
Note also the ribs just below the tip. In the Railstinger they have no effect, however I believe some of the other BoomCo blasters do use the ribs.
I've also heard reports that the BoomCo darts also stick to photo paper, but besides that and the provided targets, the dart tips do collect a little dust and dirt over time. Thankfully, the tips can be cleaned simply by running them under water and cleaning off the dust with fingers, or by using tape to remove the dust.

Let's take a look at the included target as well.
The BoomCo target at first glance appears to be just a glorified cardboard printout, however closer examination shows that it has a surface not unlike that of photo paper - smooth and yet very slightly sticky to the fingers.
When BoomCo darts hit a solid object, the tip compresses slightly and spreads outwards. On most objects the dart simply bounces off, however with the BoomCo targets the dart head sticks.
The adhesion between the tip and target is very strong, especially for the first few uses. The dart will not fall off just by shaking the target, nor will it fall off from flicking the dart without extreme force. The best method for removing darts is to pull them sideways as pictured (pulling it straight up will produce no results), and even half removed the darts have enough adhesion to stay on the target.
I am really quite impressed how well BoomCo darts stick to the provided targets.
We'll be looking at the performance of BoomCo darts later.
 
Now let's look at the Railstinger itself.

The Railstinger is a rather oddly designed blaster, with a small priming handle block, a strange blue block below that, and most importantly no trigger.

The Railstinger is a fairly standard single shot, a single barrel with an obligatory dart peg and a single dart holder.
The dart holder's retention method is very effective and goes beyond just the friction of the dart holder ring. The small protrusion behind the dart holder goes inside the dart and applies extra friction to the dart. As a result shaking the Railstinger will not dislodge the dart, and the only way to remove it is to pull it out.

The Railstinger is primed by pulling the priming slide backwards, like any ordinary blaster. The draw is fairly short, being a little shorter than a Pink Crush's, but longer than a Jolt's. The spring is fairly strong, much like a Jolt's.
The lack of a trigger forces the Railstinger to have an unconventional firing method. Instead of being just a pull-and-release blaster, the Railstinger fires when the slide is pulled to the end of its travel, like a Strongarm in slamfire mode. This gives it more consistency than a pull-and-release or a manual plunger, however it still has less control than a blaster with a conventional trigger.
Unlike most non-clip-system slide primed blasters, the priming slide is not spring loaded, and so after firing the priming slide must be manually returned to rest position. I personally enjoy doing a wrist flick to return it to position, as the slide locks back on to the plunger rod when returned.
Considering the limitations of the Railstinger's design, this is probably the best it could be.
The Railstinger isn't some random name the BoomCo designers thought of. Thanks to the reverse tactical rail in the bottom of the handle piece, the Railstinger can attach to any of the BoomCo blasters that have tactical rails. Conveniently, BoomCo tactical rails have very similar dimensions to Nerf tactical rails, and so BoomCo attachments fit on Nerf tactical rails.


As seen here, the Railstinger can fit on a variety of Nerf tactical rails. It fits fairly tightly on Nerf rails, and is quite easy to fire when attached. However as you can see from these pictures, the Railstinger sits quite far forward from its mounting position, and as a result often looks a little awkward and out of place. This could be as a result of attaching it to Nerf tac rails, which are likely placed differently to BoomCo tac rails.
There is a reason for the Railstinger's awkward attaching however.

As displayed here, the reverse tactical rail block folds down by simply pulling it down to create a handle, making the Railstinger into a single shot blaster instead of just being an attachment. The handle locks into place when folded down.
Naturally due to the blocky design of the reverse tac rail, the Railstinger is rather uncomfortable to hold, and still looks a little awkwardly designed. It's still reasonably comfortable to prime and fire, though the lack of a trigger does cost you a little aiming ability.

By pressing down on the grey button just behind the handle, the handle becomes unlocked and it can be folded back up to attach the Railstinger to a tac rail.
The Railstinger does have one small issue as a blaster not present when used as an attachment. If you place your hand at the top of the handle, your top finger will likely touch the dart in the dart holder, and any movement from your top finger will likely dislodge the dart from the small nub at the back. While the dart holder ring does have enough friction to hold the dart even without the extra friciton from the nub, this minor design flaw is a little annoying and comes from the designers' desire to make the Railstinger as small as possible.

We now come to discussing the performance of the Railstinger. It has a box range claim of 15m where most BoomCo blasters advertise 18-20m, and it's quite a small blaster so I didn't expect much from it.
Range is decent, being on par with top-end N-Strike blasters at around 9-11m flat. It's a little harder to get a completely flat shot with the Railstinger as it fires by pulling the slide to the very back, but nevertheless I was able to get some decently flat shots from it. Some of the variance in range is due to the pull-to-fire mech, but on the whole it was pretty consistent, certainly more so than Nerf's recent blasters using Elite darts. The claimed range of 15m can be achieved when fired at an angle.
Accuracy is quite impressive, after years of putting up with Elite darts, Elite Mega darts and Streamlines. Even with the instability of the pull-to-fire firing mech, the spread at full range is 0.5m horizontally at most (ignoring bounce), and at 8-9m a hit on a human sized target is practically guaranteed.
Rate of fire naturally is slow as the Railstinger is a single shot (around 2 seconds), however as the priming slide is not spring loaded, ROF is slightly slower than a standard single shot like a Firestrike. The difference is minimal though.
The Railstinger is not a blaster that fills any practical need except for needing that emergency shot. As a result there is little reason to do the usual "should you buy this" section I normally do here. While the Railstinger is the only production blaster that attaches to tac rails, there are other options that can be easily modified for the job using adhesives or aftermarket parts (most notably the Jolt and Triad) and most match or exceed the Railstinger's abilities.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Railstinger is the only current production blaster that is specifically designed to attach to tac rails, and so if you don't want to delve into modding or aftermarket parts, the Railstinger is your only production option for rail mounted backups.

The Railstinger cost me 10CAD, the same as the BoomCo Clipfire (also a single shot), and marginally more than a Triad (8CAD at Walmart). It's inexpensive and while it doesn't match the range of Elite blasters (especially orange trigger models), it has pretty good accuracy and is fun to attach and use on other blasters.
If you're looking for a bit of silly fun with tac rails then the Railstinger is a fun option, however if you're looking for a backup single shot, there are many other more suitable options, such as the Jolt and Triad. I personally have a decent amount of fun fooling around with the Railstinger.

Pros: Exceptional accuracy, easy to use and fire when mounted on a rail, fits fine on Nerf tac rails
Cons: Slightly lacking range, awkward and uncomfortable to use as a standalone blaster

Power: 4.5/7
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usability: 3/5
Rate of Fire: 1/5

Overall: 3.24/5

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 - while the lack of a trigger is a little annoying, the handle is rather uncomfortable and the blaster sticks out quite far forward when mounted on a tac rail, the Railstinger is the first blaster in recent times to attach to a tactical rail, and arguably the first blaster that does it effectively. Being a BoomCo blaster helps the accuracy too.

Let's take a look at the Railstinger's internals, since I haven't seen them anywhere else.
After removing all the screws (6 in the body, 1 in the priming slide, 2 in the handle), you'll have to contend with the glued on muzzle ring. With a bit of prying and pulling the glue will break. For those of you who have modded Nerf air blasters, breaking the glue is no different to breaking off the pump ring from blasters like the Magstrike.
Here are all the internals, fairly standard. Of note are the removable dart holder ring, the tactical rail lock inside the handle and the handle lock in the hinge area.
The handle lock is just a single spring loaded piece. Note the curved surfaces on the front side of the side nubs. These need to face upwards when inserted in the blaster to allow the handle to swing down.
A closer look at the catch system. The hook on the left pivots and is attached to the end of the plunger rod, while the middle piece attaches to the priming slide.
The middle piece acts as a moving catch and the end roller acts as the trigger.
When the priming slide is forward, the hook latches on to the moving catch, which pulls the priming rod back, priming the blaster. When the slide hits the back of its travel, the roller pushes the hook upwards, releasing it from the catch and allowing the plunger rod to fire forward, firing the blaster.
Here's the plunger system. We'll look at the plunger tube and barrel closer below, but I'll just quickly describe the parts of the plunger.
The head is a Jolt style head with a decently strong spring, needed to get any decent range from such a small plunger tube.
The rear black disc simply contains the spring.
And of course the hook at the end latches on to the catch to prime and fire the Railstinger.
The barrel/plunger tube piece is friction fitted and comes apart easily into 3 parts: the barrel, the dart peg and the plunger tube.
Inside the barrel you find a rubber ring that seals against BoomCo darts, much like the end of Nerf barrels seal against Nerf darts.
The dart peg also acts as a minor AR, as it has very small holes. However it isn't technically an AR as there's no spring loaded piece that completely blocks airflow if a dart is not loaded.
The dart peg can be left out of the plunger and barrel piece with no issues, and range is boosted 1-2m.
Here's the Railstinger next to the Jolt. They have similar plunger tubes, however while the Jolt has a 2.2cm long draw, the Railstinger has a 3.2cm long draw (measured with analog calipers, uncertainty 1mm). The Jolt's superior range is likely partly due to it using Elite darts, which are much lighter than BoomCo darts.

One of my new acquisitions from Canada, the Bigshock is already a favourite of some modders for its ease of modding, power and low price (10CAD). I embarked on a short quest to make the Bigshock more powerful and also able to use both Mega darts or regular darts like Kooshes.


The barrel I used for regular darts is a 16cm long piece of 16mm UPVC, the Aussie equivalent of the American 1/2" CPVC. 16cm is a rather arbitrary length, I just selected a length that I thought looked good and provided enough barrel length for good performance. I'm not sure exactly what length provides the best performance, but 16cm does well enough for me.
The e-tape allows the barrel to sit tightly inside the Mega-sized barrel, while still being easy to remove.
The AR is still intact for firing Mega dart, however to allow the use of the smaller darts I ripped out the dart peg. Besides that the barrel is unchanged, so Mega darts fire just fine.
The barrel is designed simply to be rear loaded, then inserted into the Bigshock and fired. The barrel holds open the AR when inserted, allowing maximum power for the darts. However instead of a loud cracking noise there is usually a popping noise upon firing.

Besides the new barrel, I also added a Nitefinder spring to the stock spring. I couldn't manage to take off the pin on the top of the plunger head so I resorted to winding the NF spring on, which was a little difficult and took some time, but worked out very well.

Ranges?
Fired roughly flat (possibly with a little angle), Mega darts averaged about 16m. Not a huge improvement over stock, but its range is much more consistent now.
Koosh darts averaged about 25m, with some dropping to the ground quite early (one around 17m and one around 20m), and one soaring to 30m.

Considering the size of the Bigshock and the effort I put in, I'm quite happy with the results. 25m with Kooshes is quite impressive considering I only added a stock spring, and the Mega darts pack quite a punch.

The Rebelle Messenger is one of Nerf's new Rebelle blasters under the Secrets and Spies subline, which revolves around sending secret messages written on the darts. The Messenger has already become fairly popular thanks to it being a "Triadstrike", that is, in essence a Firestrike with the barrel block of a Triad, though obviously in Rebelle colours and style.

 The Messenger's box, fairly standard for Rebelle style boxes, with one exception.
 The box showcases the new Secrets and Spies message darts in the bottom right corner...
...with a red pane ("decoder") revealing the messages.
Overall the box is fairly solid as usual, and isn't too hard to open cleanly.
Here's all the stuff you get in the Messenger package: the Messenger itself, the Messenger marker, 5 message darts and a 2 dart holder/decoder with a clip. Certainly much more than your average single shot.
All loaded up, with the marker in the Messenger's handle.

Let's take a look at the darts.
The message darts included are standard Elite-style fare, except with the obvious new colours of white (non-glowing) foam and light-blue tip. Besides that is the very obvious printing of the red speckling with blue messages on the foam.
The red speckling makes it harder to read the blue messages, but it isn't impossible.
The decoder is just a piece of transparent red plastic that holds two darts, with a purple belt clip type thing attached to the top.
Each message dart, besides being printed with a specific message, has the Rebelle logo printed as well.
The decoder works by making the white foam appear red, making the message clear and easy to read. Nothing especially fancy at work here, just light and physics.

Let's quickly go through the messages on the five message darts included. They are:
Surrender! (with flag)
Sneak attack! (in curly writing)
Mission Complete (in a box)
Awesome shot! (with bullseye)
and Let's meet up (in typewriter style text).

Now chances are in a Nerf game you'll probably find next to no use for the messages, since smartphones exist and those are a far more convenient method of communication. Though I guess if you're really into the roleplaying as a spy thing and have friends who like to join in, these message darts could provide some gimmicky fun.
The transparent red barrels of the Messenger allow you to read the message darts when loaded, though the viewing windows are much smaller than using the whole dart decoder.

Let's just take a quick look at the marker included with the Messenger.


The marker is just a standard blue marker inside of a grey shell with a belt clippy thing. It's pretty ordinary but it does work well at its job of writing on foam darts.

Let's go back to the Messenger itself.

The Messenger has a fairly standard Rebelle body, with smooth curves and lines and very detailed Rebelle motifs printed/painted on. Where the first Rebelle wave had white with grey/pink/purple/orange, the new wave has purple with grey/pink/orange/light blue. Of note is the new "skeleton" style grip, which I'll get to later.
The sole tactical rail, pretty standard.
The Messenger has a set of 3 barrels in an upside down triangle formation, like that of the Triad. Pictured are the dart posts, and at the end of the barrels the ARs.


From the front point of view, the Messenger cycles through its barrels counter-clockwise from the top left. From the user's point of view, it cycles clockwise from the top right.
This is different from the Triad, which from the user's point of view cycles counter-clockwise from the bottom.

The priming rod and stroke of the Messenger is pretty standard for a single shot, though it should be noted that the Messenger spring feels stronger than that of the other similar single shots (ie Pink Crush, Firestrike, Sidestrike).
Top view, you can see the lump in the middle that blocks any attempt to look down the sole tactical rail. As someone who likes some sort of iron sight (regardless of its uselessness), this is a small flaw.
Let's look at the Messenger's handle. Unlike most blasters, it has a "skeleton" design with just a few ribs and an outer frame.
While the handle is decently sized, the ribs on the handle cut into your hand when holding the blaster, which makes the Messenger much less comfortable than say the Pink Crush. This is arguably the biggest problem with the Messenger, as functionally it's pretty good.
It is fairly easy to improve the comfort of the handle by wrapping in any number of materials, such as grip tape, however it's a shame that Nerf chose to go with this uncomfortable route since most of their handles are fine (if they're large enough).
One special feature of the Messenger's handle is that it can hold the small marker. It slides in from the bottom of the handle and clips in place.
The slot in the back allows for the belt clip to fit in to place. The two small protrusions at the end of the slot apply extra friction to the end of the belt clip.
The curve of the belt clip has been shaped to fit perfectly with the handle.

Now for performance.
The grey trigger Messenger gets fairly respectable ranges, though it's not particularly consistent. My testing produced an average range of 13-15m, though I had one shot fly to 17m (ironically shot from the last barrel), and a few drop at 12m and below. The shots were very inconsistent, you could have a 16m shot followed by a 12m shot, with no way of knowing what range the next dart will get. I personally didn't see a significant difference between the 3 barrels in terms of range, though I expect you'll find a small muzzle velocity difference between them.
Accuracy is pretty poor from my testing. My usual accuracy test is conducted at the same time as my range test, firing darts down a hallway through a door 8m away from where I stand. Most blasters get about three quarters of their shots through the door, usually more. The Messenger got just over half of its darts through the door, with the rest bouncing off the door frame. For a single shot this sort of bad accuracy is quite disappointing, because most of the single shots I've seen are on the better end of the accuracy spectrum, getting most of their darts through the door with very few hitting the door frame.
The variance in range and terrible accuracy were caused by the darts swerving off course. Very few of the darts would actually travel straight, with most veering off to the sides rather than up or down.
The ROF of the Messenger is excellent for a single shot, like a Triad, however as the Messenger's stock prime is quite stiff you don't get quite as good a ROF as a Triad. I can get about 1dps consistently.
With the proliferation of different single shots you can get nowadays, does the Messenger have any extra niche?
Yes, yes it does. If you get into modding the Messenger really comes into its own. It combines the larger plunger of the Firestrike/Pink Crush with the multishot barrel block of the Triad, which gives you a large advantage over both Firestrike and Triad users.
Even in the stock world, the Messenger is a decent blaster. It has the power and multishot of the Triad with the prime and general design of a Pink Crush. Though I'd give the Triad the edge based solely on how small it is, the Messenger is more comfortable to hold if you wrap the handle with something more comfortable.

The Messenger is available for about $20 from BigW and Kmart, dropping down to as low as $15 during sales. Considering a Triad and Firestrike together would cost you at least $16 ($8 each, with Firestrike on sale), $15-20 is a decent price for what is effectively a Triad and Firestrike fused together ("Triadstrike") cleanly with Rebelle styling. I personally would save the extra few dollars to get a Sweet Revenge if I were looking for a secondary, but the Messenger is a decent blaster.

Power: 6/7
Accuracy: 2/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Usability: 3.5/5
Rate of Fire: 2/5

Overall: 3.06/5

Personal Rating: 3/5 - I really dislike the skeleton grip, and for some reason for me priming the Messenger feels really strange. It's a good blaster, just not one I'm comfortable with.

First game of the semester with the Uni's Nerf group, now called META, hopefully the first of many more.

Gamemodes:
Old:
Mini HvZ - 5 second stun for zombies. Usually requires at least 7 players. Works great for initiating new players since it's instantly intense and also promotes solidarity with strangers when you're getting overwhelmed.
Team DM - FPS classic, this one played with 3 respawns and single shot respawn.
 
New:
Tag Teams (10move)- TDM where instead of being eliminated you cannot fire for 10 seconds (but can still move), then can touch a teammate to return to play. Different from the old style which was a 3 second revive (denoted Tag Teams (3rev)).

Blasters:
Regulars:
Strongarms - the usual comparison blaster, simple and effective.
Sweet Revenges (dual) - my usual dual wield pistols. Worked great as always, especially for surviving in HvZ. I wasn't targeted by a zombie until very late in the game due to the intimidation factor
Roughcuts - performed as per usual, more cool factor but much larger than Strongarms.
Elite Rayven (Barricade motors, 2 IMR 14500s) - incredibly overpowered, the only thing that could stop its rampage was running out of clips.

New:
Elite Retaliator - performed similar to the Strongarms, except for the obvious capacity difference as they were supplied with 12 dart clips. The ability to put out so many more darts before reloading was quite an advantage, though as it is harder to use than a Strongarm, it's not the most suitable blaster for newbies. Power is also slightly lacking, which became very evident when I went against a Retal user with my SRs.
Elite Triad(white, orange trigger 90ft XD) - compared to grey trigger blasters the orange trigger Triads packed a serious punch, outranging grey trigger triads by at least 20%. However they had a significant issue in that the barrels are noticeably looser than blue Triads, resulting in a large number of squibs and misfires. This made using the Triads very difficult, as to ensure you would get 3 shots you would need to pick out the best darts you could find, which is not easy for used darts that have been sitting in the sun.
ZS Hammershots (dual) - performed similar to my Sweet Revenges, though not modded so not as powerful. The user is fairly experienced with dual wielding and so wasn't hindered significantly, though the power difference between the HSs and my SRs was noticeable, as I was able to get some good shots off while still being relatively safe.

We played in basically the same area as most of our previous games, tambark surrounded by grass, with a few trees and benches but quite open.

Mini HvZ worked great as usual, however with 6 players we tried 1 OZ and it didn't turn out well. When we had a volunteer sacrifice himself for the cause however, it went great. The extra zombie almost immediately got a tag due to a flanking/distraction maneuver, and from there the humans were totally doomed. I was the last survivor with my dual Sweet Revenges, and I managed to survive long enough to use up all of my darts.

TDM was more of a filler game type just to get a few of us going while trying to encourage others to join in. It worked well enough for what it was, the small team sizes meant cooperation and communication was easy, making it quite a fun tactical exercise with the cover we had.

Tag Teams didn't work particularly well, as in a 2v2 situation if you lose your teammate you're basically screwed, and if it ends up as a 1v1 it becomes a duel/standoff and the downed teammates rarely have any chance of getting back in the game.
I feel that at least 6 players are required for Tag Teams to become significantly different from TDM, as having a spare teammate as a distraction gives players an actual chance of getting back in the game.

Not that much happened this time around, we didn't get many players so we were stuck with just TDM style games. We're hoping that branching out into other non-Nerf games will bring in a larger player base, who we can then just assimilate into Nerf games for some larger scale fun.