A Player's Journey: How My Focus Changed To Tac Gear

As a tactical equipment designer, it's always struck me how much of an after-thought equipment is to most players. It's the ignored, ugly sister in the background compared to the shiny blaster thing that's in front of you.Often at wars, you hear people listing the specs of the blaster they've built, what mods have been done and the like. That makes sense since most regular players are also those who build their own blaster. There's a lot of craft pride there and wanting to chat about what interests you is normal. I am not that person. Some days, I could barely tell you what was in my blaster - just that it fires under the event limit I'm at. Indeed, I could relate the time while I was a Blastersmiths UK when a fellow blogger described our MkIV holster in a single line as an aside in a game report (para-phrased as: it gets the job done and does it well) and we took it to be the highest form of praise we'd ever received. It illustrated nicely the point that tactical gear isn't supposed to be flashy and interesting but to get the job done.

Now, the hobby as it stands is multi-faceted. It's made up of a lot of different sorts but in this early stage - and certainly around the pandemic - the ratio of players to modders and collectors is stacked to the latter over the former. We love this mutual collecting and using of what was, at one stage, a child's toy in a collective environment. To that end, there's going to be a lot more noise around blasters and the specs we put into them. However, at some point as a hobbyist moves more towards a player than a collector or modder that a shift has to occur. This is to explore how my own shift occured.

Ol' Venerable - My FDS painted Stryfe (Image from my old Tumblr blog)

Well, technically, two shifts. The first is that field efficacy and reliability matter more than numbers. I couldn't tell you what numbers my Gryphon shoots (it's somewhere in the 140-160FPS ball park) and my Stryfe fires below 130FPS somewhere but what I can tell you is that I've not had a field failure on these two workhorses in years. My equipment might not be the flashiest or the most bleeding edge but it works. For me, this focus on reliablity and caginess around adopting the bleeding edge came from when we had very limited games. Too often in the N-strike era, you would try something at the edge and you'd spend most of your game time with it broken or otherwise malfunctioning. In those days, you might not have another game for 6 months or so. In turn, you made sure things were as reliable as possible before game day to get the most play time out of the day. That's not to say that we shouldn't try new things, it's to explain why I am willing to sacrifice performance for reliablity. Incidentally, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I laughed when some Singaporean players were complaining about the barrel fit on the stock Caliburn being too loose (and were arguing the SAB was superior): Captain Slug had clearly made the choice to manage feed issues from a wide variety of darts. If it doesn't fire, you're not in the game.

Decade old photo anyone? I'm the loser on the right

That leads me to my second shift. You've got your blaster firing reliably, now you need to keep it fed. At a training day I did back in 2018, I described it like this: Your blaster keeps you in the game, without it you cannot play the game. Remember that. Now, this throws up two very interesting observations. The first is that when I was first designing gear back in 2013, I focused on holsters before magazine pouches. Why? Because back in the day, I was playing 'kettle' indoor HvZ games that would last only a few minutes and magazines were expensive or not available. Well, apart from that time I bought 40 odd 18 mags for 50p a pop from Tesco using Clubcard points but we'll side step that for now. In that came environment, switching to a side arm while a downed primary was cleared was a better way to stay alive than having more darts. The rise of Nfstrike and other bulk 3rd party suppliers for darts and magazines coupled with a shift away from that format of HvZ to more PvP and LARP games saw me focus more on magazines than sidearms. Indeed, I've written extensively about side arms and PDBs and whether or not it's worth carrying them. The sorts of gear I design is always reflected in my own play and the stuff I sell is mostly spun out of that philosophy. The second is that the way you carry your gear is what can keep your blaster fed. Different blasters have different hunger levels but they all must be fed. I carry a lot of front mounted magazines for a good depth of sustain while other players will carry fewer magazines and top off using scavenged darts or those sourced from a looser dump pouch.

Yes, those are Elite darts but a) it was 2013 and b) they were 50p/pack

 

Now, I think my shift was driven to a more extreme than many players in this area by the Green Cloaks events I played 2014-17. When you're in a forest in the middle of nowhere, no safe zone and your engagements are 3-4 hours in length, it gives you an entirely different set of criteria. The emergence of Nerf PvP 'Long Game' formats outside the LARP spectrum have sustained that drive for a more ranger-like self sufficiency and longer sustain in equipment. It hasn't changed the underlying philosophy of keeping the blaster fed with magazine pouches and loose darts but it has added an extra layer of extended carriage to last me over several hours of play.

2019 Era Equipment Pulled from Instagram (And I still can't take a photo!)

 

I would argue that the configuration of tactical equipment is the more important component of being an effective player in the field. I remember being at a GC event when I sustained a failure in my Rapidstrike. I broke my own rule of not using super reliable equipment for events and it came back to bite me as the solenoid burned through the LiPo I had on hand. Battery flat, I was a useless blob of kit on the field. I picked up a Stryfe from another player and got straight back into the fight, providing close fire support for the cutlery users as they pressed the battle line forward. Despite the change in blaster, I was at the same efficacy level as with the Rapidstrike. I could not have replicated that with tactical gear. It would have taken me a great deal longer to settle and optimise the equipment to remain at the same standard as before. This is why the adage of "gear is as individual as the player" gets thrown around a lot. We're all different shapes and sizes as phyiscal players so one size will not fit all.

At the end of the day, of course, the important thing is that we have fun. Fettling with tactical gear has become as much an obsession for me as fettling with blasters is for other players. I foresee that as more and more "off the shelf" blaster solutions come into their own, we will see a wider rise in tactical gear exploration. People will have a blaster they're not bothered with changing and will start to seek out ways to carry more mags. Demand creates supply as market niches open or widen. This excites me. I am a one person operation who has a very set play style and tactical doctrine who designs for that set of circumstances but, as a certain Nerf Viking constantly reminds me, it's not the only way to play. With more people exploring this aspect of the hobby, I hope to see what rolls out. I've had design input on a lot of gear that's gone all over the globe in the last decade so I hope to see what things look like from a different design angle. Indeed, if you've read this far and you're an aspiring gear design then feel free to reach out and say 'Hi!'. I love talking shop and I'd love to see what you've come up with.

Thoughts on Minimum Engagement Distances and Higher Powered Blasters

I attended the Games of Foam Invictus Battlegrounds event on 5th June and had an absolute blast of a time. It was a great site and I posted a full after action report about the site here. However, I wanted to extract my comments on something that I'm growing increasingly concered about and post them here. This is the basis of my comments and I'll probably expand on them in further posts with some more fleshed out template rules and the like for Game Organisers.

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Equipment load for Battle Grounds 5th June 2021

 With the machine out of action again, I spent a bit more time looking at my load for Saturday's game and changed up a few things. The longer term goals with my high FPS load out have been altered slightly.

Full fighting load for Battle Grounds, 5th June 2021

 

I have resigned myself to hate manual action blasters and opted to leave the Caliburn at home this time around. The Gryphon is there while I'm working on a dual stage brushed Tempus printed in PETG. The major addition this month is the Skirmish Belt which allows me lighter carry of equipment lower down. It contains a loose dart pouch, a side-arm holster and first aid kit pouch. Future plans for that include a friction fit Talon pouch to give me two magzines in the skirmish order and a bunch of loose for lighter engagements. With the Tempus in the pipeline, too, I'm going to need something for up close shots because 220FPS+ under 40ft is just impolite.

It's 2021 and terrain can still make stock springers relevant

I have this little guy left over in my kit from the GC event last year. 3 shots on board ought to do most of the jobs it'll be needed for. Honestly, however, I think this is where I could justify getting a Gecko. Gryphon/Gecko combination is hard to justify since 150FPS at close quarters isn't too bad. However, if you're clearing buildings then something magazine fed backed up by pyro for room clearance starts to make a lot of sense. Bonus points if you settle it on a belt holster that works with the skirmish order and you can clear buildings without dragging the full bulk of a day load.

A simple radio for a more civilised age

Elsewhere, I've opted to simplify comms. The Baofeng 888 is a simple little radio that does everything that's needed for a combat radio. If I was running events, I'd probably switch up to my UV5R so I could listen and speak on both team's channels or switch to a moderator channel while listening in. However, for line infantry work at the size of games we play at, a single combat net is all you need. 888s are robust, cheap and simple to use. I'm not sure if the chipsets have fixed the programming bug we encountered back in 2019 but getting back into the field will give us oppurtunity to research that in more depth.

Some old faithfuls still remain. Knee pads are a must, gloves are ideal and hydration is critical. I should also point out that I remembered to fill my 3L back pack hydration bladder this time so I won't be running short on water this time.

Not pictured but I've added a 4xWP40 smoke grenade holder to the battle belt in order to be able to carry some amount of pyro. I'm also looking at options for carrying thunderflashes since they have rules for building clearances in our power games. Dynamic urban clearance is an area that's in early development on the British scene so I'm starting to work out the best way to manage it.

Finally, I've got my helmet camera primed and ready to go this time. I've got a bunch of SD cards, spare batteries and tools to make sure it's fitted and ready to use during games. I still need to sew a power bank pouch and generally expand filming capacity but I'm adding little bits at a time to the rig as games start back up again.

It should be a good event. The site is more akin to Foam Flinging Skirmish in Warminster than Splatoon. The weather promises to be good and with my birthday on the Sunday, it'll be a good way to celebration compared to last year when we were under lock down.

Project Cyber Wizard - Wearable Glowy Technology - Part 1

Years ago, I was a Green Cloaks LARP regular. I left the main system because of safety concerns but maintained close friends in my old faction and went to one of their Sanctioned events before the plague struck. It turns out the game is still quite enjoyable when it's run by a different team. GC's unique game system has driven my development cycle for many a year and the those developments underpin the core of my design philosophy. The potential for 14 hour long play sessions in an immersive world where you have to eat, drink and fight make for some interesting kit choices. Long set piece battles where you're engaged for 2-4 hours at a time mean reliability becomes king as well as storing all the ammunition to keep blasters fed for that time. Multi-hit point opponents result in engagement strategies that require higher volumes of foam on target can be ported over to more regular Nerf wars where you can modify that discipline into a suppressive fire and manouvre doctrine. Plus the players are much more timid under fire. The average LARP player has a lot invested in their character in terms of time, narrative and the like so they can be a bit more hesistant to take the initiative and engage the opponent. Being around a player base like that readily teaches a powerful lesson in tacticial initiative and playing a little more aggressively. Coupled with multi-HP characters, you can charge down sentry gun positions in a Big Damn Hero moment, end up under the window of their fortified point with the gun unable to pivot down before popping a grenade over the window sill and clearing the room with boomy. It's an experience like no other and I've always played combat focused characters that lend firepower to a melee focused regiment.

What GC also has, however, are Adepts. Essentially, these are cybernetically enhanced soldiers who would probably be equivalent to space wizards. I've always wanted to play one but I've never had the hard skills to put together the kit necessary to match my image of what one of these soldiers should look like. Until now. I have a 3D printer, I have a lot of sewing machine experience and I can solder and code Arduino. I have been refining these skills over the course of the pandemic and I've now sketched a vision of the character, his personality and his vision.

The Character Build:

With the way that GC works, you have skill points to spend on your character. I elected early on that I wanted a shooty focused character that could force multiply using a combination of shooty and space magic to disrupt and control the flow of a fight. I have a number of options as an Adept from causing enemies to run away in fear, to causing them to fall over as though they've been hit by a giant hammer or just simply magically removing 1HP from them with 3s of chanting or being able to heal with a laying of hands. The magic missile 1HP removal is out because you only get 15 focus points to cast your magic a day so that equates to a single magazine worth of damage which I could put out in less than 3s with a semi-auto rifle. Fear is relatively easy to counter in the system and only forces the opponent to run away for a little bit simply delaying the problem. I tussled between healing and knocking people on their arses for a while. In the end, I went for knocking people on their arses. I can cast a Knockdown call 15 times a day which forces folks to take a knee as stunned for 3s. In that time, I'm able to either deal with another problem or, more reaslitically, dump enough ammo into the target that they don't get back up*. There are in-game items that let me stabilise dying casualities and my plan is to trade, borrow and scrounge for lots of those so I can do the healing hands thing (sort of) without having to spend points on it.

Now, Adepts don't get the ability to use Rifles as part of their basic make up so I'd have to spend 3 points out of my original 4 to take it in order to be able to run anything appropriately semi-automatic. That would leave one point for spells and by taking Mind, I'd gain the ability to knock people on their arses. This leaves my character with very serious vulnerabilities. I cannot use a melee weapon bigger than an 18" dagger, I can only use a single shot side arm and given the fact mages don't wear armour (even in this system), I've got 5 hit points before I go over. That's 5 points where you can take full auto bursts to the chest and you'd be like paper. To make the character work, I'm going to need to stick close with my fellows and act like that force multiplier.

My combat styling, therefore, would be close in with the melee fighters. I'd be lighting up targets of oppurtunity and knocking them over for the melee guys to wade in and finish them off. I'll be moving all over the battle line to problem areas to bust problems and generally have to be very mobile. I think that nomadic ranger type styling is something I could really riff of in the story part of things. Adepts are weird creations anyway so the idea of a ranger type of character who appears out of the mists, fixes things and moves would be pretty neat. Background wise, the current narrative within the GC universe is that the task forces' numbers have been scattered and ordered to go to ground for in-game reasons. I like the idea of coming in as an outsider type who links up with the regiment because they're the nearest friendlies and just sort of tries to fit in. Narratively, I think riffing on themes of isolation, reintegration and trauma would be a strong start. We tell stories from our own experience and imagination and I think that idea of longing for home and joining a band of folks to get there is something I'd like to explore.

*Important note here: In actual practice, I would probably break character at this point to agree with the player who is playing my opponent to simply fall over dead and empty the appropriate amount of darts into the floor rather than unload at close range into the target. Politeness and etiquette trump any power fantasy you might have.

The Equipment:

So with the idea of a cyber combat wizard in mind, I started looking around. With these sorts of space mages, you're not looking at a heavily armoured build. Ideally, you'd want to go more with a flowing robe and then build out from there. GC's rules require that Adepts have something cybernetic lookign on their faces to denote that they're infact space wizards. I thought I'd extend that and opt for an entire glowing hood using LEDs to produce a more impactful effect. I wanted and LED system in my palm so I can have glowing lights when casting spells and given that Adepts are a living weapon, I elected to have something on my blaster that would light up when I gripped it. The idea being that the eldritch energy I'm drawing from the other plane flows through me and through my weapon.

I'll end you! And I'll do it in my PJs!

 I needed to start simple. I needed a hooded robe that would sit under any webbing and pouches I needed to carry for anything else. To that, it all started with a dressing gown pattern from Simplicity. Specifically pattern 3575. I opted for a DPM outer to fit with the regiment's aesthetic and a black lining to give me black facings that I could pin badges, do hand embroidery and generally enhance the look as the character begins. Cotton with a side helping of cotton was the choice because it's cheap and cheerful. If this was a longer term character, I'd have probably invested in the lighter option of linen.

 I made the hood as large as possible, the idea being that surplus fabric would be able to fold around the shoulders to soften the profile and look more cyber wizardy. I've sewn Velcro loop tape into the lining of the hood to allow me to attach the mesh of LEDs that will form the lighting effects. The sleeves are long but I've opted to have them folded back so they won't get in the way. I like the idea of pressing them so they have a crease. It's a small touch but any one who's ever served will tell you that they iron everything, even their t-shirts (my Dad was always a dab hand as a result when we were kids).

Pre-lining...

 

The longer this pandemic goes on, the less able I am to do photos...

Under the robes will be my standard set of DPM greens because they're utilitarian, durable and fit with the theme of the regiment. I'm thinking of adding some waist sashes in bright colours depending on what I decide to do with the character's backstory. There's an enclave of warrior adepts that I'm looking at joining and having sashes in the appropriate colours for their various schools would be cool.

Equipment wise, I will follow on from the developing multi-phase approach that I've been working on in previous posts. Like my old character, I'll have a skirmish or battle belt with every day carry and lightweight engagement stuff on it. A couple of magazines, some in-character magical and medical equipment and a load of spare ammo plus water will all I'll need for the permanent carry. Then I can put the 18 pattern and haversack on for major fights without needing to carry it all the time.

One important thing about this build, though is that the radio will be carried permenantly and the head band piece will carry a piece of hook Velcro that will keep the hood up. That way, the LEDs will have a permenant back drop and I can use the radio ear piece as a mounting point for facial markings that I'll need to spirit gum to my face. I'm thinking of edge lighting some pieces of 3D printed translucent plastic so you get a weird fade effect on one side of the face.

Electronics and power:

I'm not just opting for basic LEDs. The system is designed that I could readily swap out for an off the shelf set of net LEDs if I needed but I wanted to go big or go home with this build. To that end, I'm going to use WS2812b LED strips which are sold by Adafruit as Neopixels. I've cut them down into 38 LED lengths and will sew them so they form a coronal plane across the hood. To control them, I plan to use an Arduino Nano and a LiPo pack on my duty belt. To that end, I've designed a custom board to control the LEDs and do everything I need them to do.

 

The specifications for the board are as follows:

• 4-5 input buttons for presets and general input
• A master power on/off switch to allow the whole system to be turned on and off as needed
• Stable out put of 5V in order to be able to safely power the LED strips
• XT plug compatibility for plugging in LiPos
• A cooling system to keep the system cool under load
• A master dimmer option to change the brightness of the LEDs with a simple button
• A master voltage monitor to keep an eye on the LiPo pack I'm using
  

Optional bits and pieces:

• Bluetooth compatiblity
  

 

Enter the V1 board. I put this together on Eagle and ordered it from China via JLC PCB. There are parts libraries from all over the internet and if you recognise your footprints, thank you for making them freely available. I've gone for entirely through hole components because they're easy to source and easy to solder. The board itself is 100x45mm which is a bit chunky but given the size of the LiPo packs that will power this system and the fact it's belt mounted, it's not that big in the grand scheme of things.

The big LM338 package there gives me up to 5A of current at 5V and I'll put a IRL44ZN MOSFET where the IRF540 package is. That's 49A of continuous current. Past experience has taught me that the LM338 packages get warm under load so I've placed them under a fan and will back that up with a heat sink, too. If a basic 12V fan is too noisy, there are Noctua silent options on the market if I really need them.

The switches at the top of the diagram are the right angled PCB variants and they're surprisingly robust when soldered down. These 5 will form the basis of my inputs and two of them are wired to the Nano's interupts so I have the option of using them for ISRs and funky effects that come with those.

Humble beginnings as I remember to how to solder through hole components...

 At this point, I've begun assembly of the board. It's thrown up some interesting bits and pieces that hadn't been evident in the design process. For example, that Nano's USB port is placed where it can't be readily plugged in so I'll have to either keep the fan somewhere else during testing or unplug and replug the board each time I flash it. We'll see how that goes. Worst case, I can move the button switch and flip the board around. It'll require some major redesign work on the EAGLE end of things but it's not the end of the world.

I've opted for a 90 degree plug in connector for the Bluetooth module so it can be plugged in as needed. It's all wired up in the traces, it's an optional module and won't get in the way.

There's a huge amount still to do on this project. I need to fix the printer before I start on the next phases. I need to design a housing for the main board and power system. The anchor points for the LEDs in the hood need designing and printing. I need to find a way to safely bundle long cables between my belt and the hood and the belt and wrist for the hand LEDs. I've got a while before the next event so I'll keep tinkering and playing. I'll keep posting as it goes.