Todays MHvZ event was pretty good. I had the opportunity to test several of my semi-auto flywheelers. We also had quite a high player count, which made for some pretty good games. We also saw the return of Defence Survival. In this Nerf Game Report, Ill be going through the main blasters that saw use, the gametypes we played and, in particular, how the new gamemode Blombies turned out.
Gamemodes
Old:
- Survival Standard HvZ gametype, humans try to survive for a given amount of time (or until the last human falls). Zombies are given access to upgrades at various times, we used Infectors and Tanks available from the start and Husk at 5 minutes. The last human to fall wins.
- Secret VIP There are 3 special players in this game: the VIP, the General and the Traitor. The VIP is a human that other humans want to protect. It is limited to a specific area (we used the tambark area), while Traitor is a zombie disguised as a human. When stunned, zombies must move outside of the VIPs area before counting down their stun. The only person who knows the VIPs identity is the General, while all original zombies know the Traitors identity. The General’s identity is known by everyone, so they are the only human that can be trusted. While the Traitor is a human, they can do one Traitor zombie tag. This will reveal that they are the Traitor and turn into regular zombies. A human can also hit another human for 15 seconds. The VIP is protected by the humans for a set time period (e.g. The humans win if the VIP is protected for a set time (e.g., 10 minutes). The zombies will win if they successfully tag the VIP.
Zombie upgrades are unlocked on a timer like Survival, with Infectors and Tanks available from the start, and 5 minutes for Husk. If a human is hit by a grenade, they are instantly turned into a zombie. This is the only way you can actively eliminate the Traitor.
New:
- Blombies A variant pickup game. All players begin as humans and have two darts. A player who is hit must immediately take a knee and be temporarily removed from the game. If they are not already a Zombie, they will be tapped by another player. The zombie tag transforms players instantly into zombies and they are assigned to the right team. For a set amount of darts collected, returned, the zombie upgrades can be obtained. These include a sword, shield, and Husk rocket launcher. The last remaining human player wins.
Zombie Rules:
Zombies tag humans with their hands onto any body part, blaster, tactical gear, etc, turning the human into a zombie. A human can hit a zombie with a dart for 25 seconds, but not necessarily 25. A direct hit to the back can stun a zombie. However, a human can also stun them with melee.
- Infector Zombies can use pool noodles and foam swords. Tags with said foam melee weapons on humans count as regular tags.
These melee weapons can also block darts.
The zombie upgrades can’t be combined, so only one can be in play at a time.
Blasters:
Since there were a lot of different blasters there, Ive generalised them and only listed down the ones that I saw as significant or noteworthy, or remember for that matter. Being that I cant be everywhere at once, its entirely possible I completely missed some blasters. The new HvZ rules include a 130fps limit.
Regulars/Recurring
Elite Rapidstrike (various motors, LiPos) theres always a lot of Rapidstrikes at MHvZ, and they always do a lot of damage. They have a high ROF and decent range so they are capable of destroying zombie rushes and cutting through hordes. Trigger discipline and reloading technique are necessary to get the most out of them. I have included one Stryfe in these photos because it came with a complete auto kit and performed essentially the exact same functions as the Rapidstrikes.
Finally, I had the chance to test out my Bullpup RS and its new XP180 pusher. It was fast at 14 mph on full charge. It took a bit of time to get used to the much higher ROF, but the insane torque of the XP180 made it a lot more controllable. It took me a while to get used to the XP180, and I fired way more darts than I should.
Elite Stryfe (various engines, LiPos), the standard flywheeler. There are always a lot at MHvZ. Excellent ROF, range, and overall easy use. Poor trigger discipline is more easily tolerated than Rapidstrike. Stryfes are always more common than any semi-auto flywheeler.
My Stryfe saw combat action for the first time since its Blade 180/-3240 overhaul. It performed as expected. Im quite happy with it, with one exception. Its trigger was a little sticky and occasionally got stuck part way, though this was easily remedied when I arrived back home. Despite this fix, the trigger pull isn’t as smooth as I would like. It works great as it is, so I won’t make any changes.
Elite Retaliator (various pump kits, upgrade springs) another staple of MHvZ. This springer is probably the strongest, but it fires a bit slower than the slam-fire. Quite easy to set up effectively, and typically more effective at mid range than most flywheelers. Their lower ROF naturally makes them more vulnerable at close range.
Buzz Bee Sentinel (stock US spec?) They are very rare, and only a handful of them see action in Melbourne games. However, they do make an appearance at MHvZ quite often. They are powerful stock blasters, which is their main selling feature. They have a relatively slow ROF being lever action, and arent great ergonomically, but its hard to argue with such a cheap, powerful stock blaster.
Elite Alpha Trooper and Rampage (unknown springs) the standard pump actions if you dont want to buy a pump kit for a Retaliator. Both have significant downsides to a Pump Retal, but for out-of-box pump actions, theyre the best options available at the moment.
ZS Slingfire (upgrade Spring) Same one as used at previous MHvZ events.
Although a decent performer, it is easily outclassed in any flywheeler or pump action.
New/Infrequent:
Elite Rayven (Black Dog/Pigs, Worker flywheels, 2S LiPo) gave this thing a shot since upgrading it further from its previous state. Although it performs much better, it still has some issues with its rev speed and muzzle velocity. I may end up fabricating a brass guide for it if I dont try fixing or replacing the flywheel cage (or if that ends up unsuccessful).
N-Strike Barricades (set up for Elite style darts) these are dual wielded by one particular player, who uses the open cylinder design to reload them on-the-fly. Although not as effective as Stryfes, it suits the scavenging style of play quite well.
Elite Longshot (stock) used more for fun than anything else. Pitifully weak given its an N-Strike level stock blaster, generally just not at all good.
NStrike Stampede (unknown modifications) An old-school modded blaster with good ROF and range but outperformed by flywheelers. It can fire half-length darts more efficiently than flywheelers (if modified appropriately).
Modulus (Banshee 130s, 2S LiPo) another flywheeler I completed relatively recently, it performed fairly well, though again I wasnt the one using it. Naturally the first comment about it was the horrible horrible handle, but otherwise performed as expected, roughly the same as a similar Stryfe.
We used the same play area as always for HvZ, a mostly open area with a couple of trees. One particular area is quite dense with tree cover, and is covered in tambark. The weather was quite nice, with the skies being clear and the temperature ideal. We had quite a high player count today, around 27, which really helped with zombie based games. Near the end of the games, the horde grew to be quite large, and it was quite a sight as a human seeing 20+ zombies charging towards you. MHvZ has also switched to Koosh darts along with their 130fps cap. The new Kooshes had a higher muzzle velocity than the old FVJs. However, they were less stable and could be seen helicoptering or veering off. There were only 3000 Kooshes (in comparison with the ~8000 or so mostly FVJs usually used), so we had to do a lot of dart sweeps throughout the day.
They will likely fix this for the next event and order several thousand more darts.
MakeTestBattle photo credit
The first game of the day was a standard Survival round. It progressed pretty much as expected, quite slow and minimal progress until the zombies got shields. The zombies could then slowly reduce the human population. Tanks are an integral part of any zombie combat. Without them, zombies would have to rely on poor situational awareness and overwhelming numbers to tag human beings, which is not always possible in the early game. Although they might be able tag a few human stragglers, it is not enough to make a difference against a larger group of people. I was able survive the round by constantly running away from stunned zombies and trying to avoid Tanks with fewer humans. Eventually, I was singled out by a Tank with maybe 3 or 4 humans left, and was tagged. The remaining humans all fell shortly after.
During the first round, humans were split into two groups. Due to their size and firepower, these two groups were able to survive on their own. I was in the group that was involved in less early combat, so was witness to how Tank rushes broke up human formations. Shields force humans to be aggressive if they want to stun the Tank, as they are only really vulnerable by flanking. Unprepared groups will often panic and fear shield rushes, which can cause them to abandon their flanking positions. From there, the zombies have easy pickings at any isolated humans who were left behind, or went in a different direction to everyone else. I saw this happen to groups of 10+ humans who were uncoordinated and unprepared.
Photo credit to MakeTestBattle
However, only two to three well-prepared humans can push back a Tank and several other zombies. While they might not be able stun the Tank, the Tank won’t be able push forward if the humans take a good flanking position. Multiple times, I was able work with another human to push back the Tank. We would quickly move to the Tank from both sides and pressurize them into moving back.
The Tank could move quickly to avoid waiting for reinforcements and reduce the time it took to make a decision. Similar to Tank rushes, the combination of speed with a significant threat incites panic, fight or flight instincts, regardless of the tactical options that are available. If the Tank turned to engage one of us, there was always the threat of the other human simply pumelling them from behind. We were able force many tanks back this way, no matter how effective it would have been if they just charged at us. This tactic is useless when there are a lot of zombies late game. In such cases, running is the only viable option.
Photo credit to MakeTestBattle
The day ended with Survival, the final round. The round progressed in the same way as the first Survival round and was similar to other Survival rounds at the MHvZ. The humans split up into two groups, one that would quickly flee from a bad situation and the other who would usually hold their ground for as long as they could. Tanks would ensure that the zombies would always have some kind of edge against the humans, allowing them to reliably whittle down the humans. I was pretty tired for the majority of the round to be honest, although I managed to survive until near the end. Apart from the human group split, all I can remember about this round is that I was tagged by poor situational awareness. I was astonished by the number of zombies that were coming at me. Then, I tried to regroup with the remaining humans. However I ran straight past a zombie who was only just becoming unstunned, and so they had an easy tag, with the remaining humans falling shortly after.
Photo credit to MakeTestBattle
Due to the substantial ammo consumption in the Survival round, we played a pickup round. We tried the new Blombies gamemode, where dart pickup gives zombie rewards. To start, the players were all spread out around the play area. Upon start, most players either went to pick up darts, or tried to down a nearby player to grow their team. Some players would focus on taking down and converting enemies, while other players focused on picking up darts. Being quite tired from the previous Survival round, I focused purely on picking up darts, essentially ignoring any nearby players regardless of the threat they posed. From the beginning of the game, I was transformed into a zombie.
Eventually I returned a number of darts, obtaining a shield as well as a sword. I then moved to help protect the human leader of the team I was on. All but one human were eventually made zombies, and that human was declared the winner.
MakeTestBattle photo credit
Personally, I didnt really like Blombies. It was a pick-up round that I felt did very poorly. There is no reward after the first 60 darts (shield + or Husk), so players don’t have any incentive to keep picking up darts. As a human, there is no reason to deposit darts since humans cannot attain any further upgrades. A human player would just load up and use darts to defend themselves or convert other players. There is no incentive to a player continuously turn in darts like 6 Dart Sweep. As a result, Blombies did not actually pick up that many darts.
It was chaotic and absurd for me as a regular gametype. There is no way to tell which team a player is on so there was lots of friendly fire. Also, it wasn’t easy to know who should be targeted. This was also made worse by the sheer number of players.
Personally, I think this particular version of Blombies was not a very enjoyable gamemode. It didnt get many darts picked up, and I didnt really enjoy it. It was difficult to solve in a real game of HvZ. This is a characteristic of the Blob gamemode. A 6 Round Pair Sweep would have been more enjoyable and far, far more effective at picking up darts. Although I don’t blame the MHvZ admins, 6 Round Sweep can be quite boring, especially if people aren’t particularly offensive-minded.
Photo credit to MakeTestBattle
We then played a pair of Secret VIP rounds. The rounds were very successful, with some poor human errors resulting in both the zombies and humans winning. Both started off as per usual, zombies having no real weapon and getting few, if any tags, until they got access to shields.
From there, well timed shield rushes combined with the claustrophobia of the tambark area would give the zombies a way to really pressure the humans, and get some decent tags. Human victory depended primarily on how well the humans could fend off shield rushes and constant zombie attacks, while also being wary of the Traitor. Strangely, both rounds saw the Traitor fail and reveal themselves too early to accomplish much.
The Traitor attempted to tag multiple people in the first round of the game, but I think they misunderstood their Traitor tag. Since the Traitor is limited to one tag before becoming an ordinary zombie, they were unable to make a significant impact on the human group, although more zombies is always helpful, especially in early game. The game went on, with the zombies making some progress, but not much. The game eventually reached a point where many zombies, including at least one Tank, were located along the north. Despite this, the human attention was almost completely focused in the opposite direction. The north group was made up of zombies and charged in to decimate the human group. This allowed the VIP to be identified shortly afterwards.
MakeTestBattle photo credit
The humans did much better in the second round. I was the VIP, and was around 15 seconds short of a human victory. The Traitor revealed themselves early, however failed to actually make a tag, and so was inconsequentially turned into a regular zombie by the grenade. As the game progressed, the humans were generally more alert than in the first round and lost less players. In one particular engagement, a human tried to grenade a Tank but just missed. The Tank was shocked regardless. However, as the grenade was still on the tambark’s edge, the Tank was able protect it with their shield and prevented the humans from retrieving the weapon. This effectively removed the grenade from play for the rest of the round. The game progressed to its final stages, with most humans running very low on ammo (including myself) and the zombies beginning their final desperate runs. One shield rush broke through all the human defenses and plunged the whole area into chaos. Without the grenade, the humans had no reliable way to ward of Tanks, and so the sudden rush of zombies was able to disorient and disorganise the remaining humans. Unknowingly, I ran from the Tank but ran by a zombie I thought was either a newly tagged human or a stunned zombie. I was then tagged.
The humans failed to cover all directions and in particular one direction with multiple zombies, decided the first round. This was due to poor group coordination. It is not common for multiple zombies to be left unguarded. The loss of the grenade was a significant contributor to the second round’s loss. A human with the grenade might have easily warded off a Tank, but a few other humans kept the zombies away. Incompetence was another contributing factor. If I had paid more attention to the environment, I might have made it through the 15 remaining seconds. The higher than average player count also contributed to the feeling of claustrophobia, which perhaps added to my panicking in that second round. Still, I enjoyed both Secret VIP rounds quite a lot and am fairly happy with the gamemode as is.
MakeTestBattle photo credit
After the Secret VIP rounds we did a quick pick-up and then took a break to eat lunch. We played Defence Survival after lunch. For once, I was an OZ. I personally hate being an OZ, as I much prefer the human combat side of HvZ, and am not fond of repeatedly getting pelted by scores of Rapidstrikes, Stryfes, etc. However, I did my best to help my fellow zombies, and tried to grow the horde. I don’t think I ever got any tags.
Early game was pretty standard, a near permanent stunblock on the side of a square, waiting for a lapse in human concentration to try and grab a sword. After multiple failed attempts, all of the OZs were able to acquire swords, and moved to try and acquire shields. We were again involved in several minutes stunblock. However, this time, a stealthy zombie managed to sneak up on some of the humans and tag them. This allowed us to grab the shields. After we had the shields, Survival turned into a game of survival, with the humans gradually being beaten down by attrition. The game eventually became a running game.
The key turning point was that surprise attack at the shield square. We would have likely spent much longer stunblocked if the surprise attack at the shield square hadn’t occurred. The shields were placed in the center of the square while the swords were scattered all over the place. Tanks are crucial to zombie combat. They offer the only safe way to keep humans at a safe distance. In Defence Survival in particular, they also make stunblocking very risky, as the Tank shields offer too much cover to reliably fend off in close quarters. The zombies are able to acquire shields so that humans can stop protecting squares and return to their survival instincts.
Defence Survival is a simple alternative to regular Survival that changes up early game, but late game is essentially the same. Its useful for training reaction shots and close quarters tactics, but otherwise doesnt introduce all that much new into the game.
Photo credit to MakeTestBattle
This months MHvZ event was very enjoyable for me. Besides the experimental (and in my opinion, failed) gamemode of Blombies, the day was fairly smooth and straight forward, and a lot of fun. The asymmetric HvZ game mode is a lot more relaxed and fun than competitive. It allows for blaster testing, goof loadouts, and blaster testing in a casual setting.
You can also find the same Nerf Game Report on my own blog: Outback Nerf.
