Another MLF event. Due to the shields, there was more grenade activity. I gained a lot of experience using Worker wheels in my Bullpup Rapidstrike and also tried my Demolisher with MTB Honey Badgers.
Base rules:
- If a player is hit with a dart, they are downed (hit and downed are often used interchangeably).
- When downed, they can choose to wait for a medic, or go to respawn (if the gamemode has respawns). A downed player can choose to respawn. Once they leave their location, they cannot be revived by a doctor.
- A medic will revive a player who is unconscious by placing their hand on them and counting down to 3. Once the countdown is complete, the downed player is revived.
- A player is forced to respawn after a grenade strike. They cannot be revived by a doctor.
- A melee tag also forces a player to respawn. If a melee weapon is not available, the attacking player can simply tag the target player with their hand
- A shield naturally blocks darts, but breaks when hit by a grenade the shield must be dropped immediately and cannot be used for the rest of the round.
Gamemodes:
Old:
- Kill Confirmed very similar to Freeze Tag/Tag Teams. A player who is hit is taken down and must wait until a teammate can revive them. This is done with a simple tag. In Kill Confirmed, all players are medics. To confirm the kill, an opposing player can tag a downed member of their team with their hand. This will remove them from the game. If a whole team is taken down, the team will lose even though none of their confirmed kills are confirmed. The team that has the most surviving players wins.
- Capture the Flag classic gamemode, obtain both flags at your teams flag post to win. If you are hit while holding the flag it will be dropped along with being taken. *NEW RULES: If both flags are taken the game will enter a sudden death mode without respawns.
New:
- None
Blasters
Only the blasters that saw significant action (that I saw and remember) are listed here.
Regulars
Elite Rapidstrike (various Motors, LiPos), a staple for these types of games, and performed as expected. It is excellent for raw dart output, but a little lacking in accuracy at longer distances.
I had my first combat experience with Worker flywheels in my Bullpup RS, and it performed exceptionally well. Grouping seemed to be significantly better, I was getting a lot less spread even at longer ranges, allowing me to actually get a lot more hits at longer ranges. It may have been getting slightly better muzzle velocity, but the accuracy improvement was the big difference I noticed.
Elite Trooper (upgraded Spring) is a solid all-rounder that’s easy to use but not as well as Pump Retals and flywheelers. Could be used effectively, but often took a lot more effort than with say flywheelers. Fairly good as an entry level blaster.
Elite Demolisher (MTB Honey Badgers, 2S LiPo) tried it for one round before dumping it again.
It was less precise than my Bullpup RS. The spinup time was a bit longer than I used to, and the noise was excessive. The accuracy issue is partially due to the flywheel cage and partly because it does not have Worker flywheels. Overall, however, I was unhappy with its performance. Honey Badgers aren’t a good 2S flywheel motor. You should stick with more established motors such as Banshees and Blade 180s/3240s.
Elite Stryfe (various motors, LiPos) very solid blasters, solid range, decent accuracy and good ROF. Less ROF than Rapidstrikes, but a lot smaller and lighter. This is the most popular entry-level flywheeler and the best blaster for this event.
N Strike Stampede (upgraded Spring) was comparable in range to flywheelers but had a slower ROF. It did *work*, and is a little easier for a newbie to not screw up (no risk of shoving darts into stationary flywheels), but otherwised offered no real advantage over flywheeler autos.
Elite Retaliator (upgraded pumps, grips) are solid all-rounders that are comparable to but far better than EATs. They are often preferred over rarer EATs due to their superior internals and customisable pumping. However, the cost of making one is much higher than that of an EAT (assuming a retail price).
NStrike Longstrike (Extreme blastzooka tank with air compressor and brass breech), this was the closest thing to a sniper rifle that day. Although the range was excellent, accuracy was poor due to the shorter barrel. ROF was also very slow. A well-executed Longshot is, in my opinion, far more efficient.
Zombie Strike Sledgefire (singled, upgraded spring) a high power, blaster that is relatively easier to build than a lot of other high power blasters (e.g. A brass breeched or similar Longshot. ROF is extremely slow due to the reloading process but has excellent range and accuracy if properly set up. It is useful as a support blaster but very poor in direct combat. Might actually work well if paired up with a Stryfe or Rapidpistol as a secondary, though repeatedly switching blasters is a pain.
New:
Buzz Bee Sentinel This blaster had excellent range, a good ROF, and was not too expensive.
In close quarters naturally its at a huge disadvantage to flywheelers or pump actions, but much better overall than other long range blasters like the Longstrike above. I was shot by it at pretty much point blank (Im assuming through being mistaken for a live player when I was actually out and just filming), and it stung quite a lot for a good minute.
NStrike Longshot (new boots, upgraded springs and pump grips) Similar to the Sentinel, these were great for long-range potshotting but could not withstand flywheelers and smaller pump actions at close quarters. One was not used significantly as the user became lazy and switched to a Stryfe, and the other had some kind of internal issues, giving it suboptimal and inconsistent performance.
It was also my first experience with Xmando in person. Although it was heavy and tough, I found the design extremely boring. It is even more boring than many Buzz Bee designs. I found the stock to be almost unusably short, and despite the stiff prime, performance did not seem particularly good in my few test shots. This of course could be an internal issue with this unit rather than a design flaw, but honestly I didnt like the shell at all.
Nerf Big Bad Bow (extra-spring, dart firing barrel), is a version of the Sledgefire but larger and more difficult to use. It had quite good range and accuracy, but naturally had an exceptionally low ROF. It is useful for supporting fire but it is not effective in close combat.
Buzz Bee Blastzooka (stockish) this was my choice of grenade launcher and it worked surprisingly well. Although it has decent range and accuracy, the pump up time (12 pumps to reach full power) is quite long. It was difficult to carry, as it was slung on my shoulder and would flap around when I ran fast. Ill be looking at creating something that is either more convenient to carry (probably an attachment of some sort) or something with faster and easier priming. Perhaps both.
NStrike Longshot (stock). Although it only became available as the Longshot was being sold, it was quite cool to see a completely red Longshot. Its new user used it for a couple of rounds and managed at least 1 hit with it, despite it being completely stock.
This was the first area we used for this event. It has a lot of trees, but no significant bushes except along one border, and so is purely tree-to-tree combat and has no major lines of cover. The weather was fine. Temperatures reached 20C, and skies were clear. However, the tree cover shields most of the area from the sun.
Although there are plenty of trees throughout the area, the northern area is very sparse with only one tree. This area is much harder to use, though is generally not a big problem. The greater amount of cover, particularly large shrubs, makes me prefer the second area. Personally, I think this is why I prefer it.
The player count reached its peak at 14-15, a bit more than in previous games.
MLF also received an extra batch of darts, which was very helpful. The number of dart sweeps required was reduced to two at lunchtime and one at the conclusion of the event. In previous events, darts sweeps were sometimes after every 2 or 3 rounds, as the main dart box was quickly depleted and players were running out of ammo.
We played a few rounds each of Kill Confirmed and it went as planned. It was short, intense, and fun. The play area and spawn point provided two fronts of combat so teams often split into two. The winning team is usually the one that can eliminate one part of the opposing team and takes control of the other side. We played KC with smaller players and waited for other players to load up. Even two players down was significant.
In the one KC round I have recorded, I was able to quickly down the two enemies on my side of the area, while getting downed myself in the process. My side of the play area was cleared so I was quickly revived quickly by a teammate. The enemy team was down to one player by this point, which was quickly eliminated.
It was possible for the early stages of the round to go either way. A stray dart here and there could make a hit become a miss or miraculously a hit. A bit of bad luck could have caused me to be knocked down before I hit either player. This would have likely resulted in my team losing. I didnt see anything of what happened on the other side of the field though, it could have been that my team was doing really well regardless. That is pretty much Kill Confirmed in a nutshell though, a bit of strategy does a lot, but given the fast paced nature of the game, so does a bit of luck.
We participated in a variety of Capture the Flag rounds. Most of them went about as expected, although one particular game went rather unusually.
Both teams had been pushing very close to each other’s flag during this long game. My team progressed to the north side of the play area while the other team pushed on the south. My team was the first to actually push through and steal the flag, however before we could return it, the other team managed to steal ours. The flags were eventually brought all the the way to their spawn points. This led to a long and frustrating standoff. Its literally impossible to push into the spawn area to steal the flag, since any defenders can just sit on the spawn point and be effectively invincible.
Eventually the respawns were reworked for this situation every player had just one more respawn, after which they would be eliminated from the game. Medics could still revive of course. This mechanic led to a bit of a back-and-forth fight as players ran back to respawn or were eliminated, eventually resulting in both teams having just a few surviving players. Although the enemy team managed to retrieve both flags, they were unable to get them within 5 meters of their flag posts. My team won by elimination and not flag capturing.
This mechanic was slightly altered and turned into a rule for the remaining CTF rounds, being that if both flags are stolen, the game becomes a sudden death. This makes the game essentially an elimination game. I don’t like it. I believe a flag exclusion zone around spawn would work better, something like the flag cannot be brought within ~ metres (or some other reasonable distance or area) of spawn. The flag should be only dropped by the player who is carrying it. It should also be kept in the appropriate flag post or in the hands of the player. This would solve flag hiding problems. Flag bearers who choose to hide can effectively cause their team to lose one player. This gives the enemy team numerical advantage. If they decide to engage in combat, it will be obvious to the enemy team exactly where their flag was stolen, so they should attack.
All the other CTF rounds went about as expected, taking only a couple of minutes each and each ending with a clean flag capture. The two teams would normally engage on two fronts: one at the south end and one in the middle. I typically play very aggressively and always sprint from the start, so I am always one of the first players in position. I prefer to spawn in the south-west corner and push towards the south because it is closer to me and has more trees.
This cover allows me to push up to the southeast corner just below the flag. From there, I can sprint out to steal the flag. The problem for moving along the south edge is that you are easily fired upon from the middle, and the flag is slightly harder to return as the flags are in line with each other through the middle. When spawning in the north east corner, I usually push up through the middle as it is much easier to reach from spawn and is usually directly in line with the enemy flag. The middle has a slightly better view of the area and can provide slightly more suppressing fire. However the middle is much more exposed, and especially can have trouble advancing against particular groups of trees that offer longer ranged blasters an excellent defensive position.
Being that I am almost always playing quite aggressively, I tend to get a fair few hits on enemies, but also get hit a lot.
Overall besides that one extra long round, CTF worked pretty much as expected.
We played a few Black Hawk Down rounds. They went in the same way as the previous events, but I don’t think they went as well. For the BHD rounds we had 14 players, so played with 5 SF vs 9 Insurgents. Each team had one shield. The SF team was able to win once, with every other round going to the Insurgents. The SF started in the north west, while the Insurgents started in the south west.
Like before, survival of the Insurgents was dependent on their medic. The SF could easily blow through the Insurgents without a medic as they can all instantly revive each other, while the Insurgents are instantly eliminated. Due to the high level of combat and lack of cover, Insurgent medics were always running back and forth trying to revive people. If the medic could not reach a group of downed Insurgents within a time limit, the SF team might be able push up and eliminate them.
As with the other game types, the teams usually split in two, with one group fighting through the middle and the other along the south edge. Due to the lack of cover beyond certain lines and groups, the two teams are often limited to very narrow lines of attack. For instance in the game where I was on the SF team, three SF players (including me) and about 5 or 6 Insurgents had a firefight along the south edge. The lack of cover made it such that pretty much all 8 or 9 of us were in line, and it was total chaos.
We were eventually all consumed by sheer firepower, but not before resorting to some very cheesy revive chains tactics in an attempt to survive. This contrasts with the second play zone, where Insurgents could attack across the entire width of that play area. That felt more like a defense game.
In the one game where the SF team won, they actually won by drawing a significant portion of the Insurgents out of cover, then eliminating them and pushing up to wipe out the remaining Insurgents. The majority of the SF team stayed to the northernmost tree line, rather than engaging in the middle or south. The tree line runs west from the north east spawn to the western flag, but it does not reach the western flag. It is also quite far north than the middle line so it is difficult to attack, but easy to defend. We Insurgents attacked the northern line from the middle. Due to the lack of cover and the large distance to cross, it was easy to be downed quickly. We were far away from other Insurgents and were out in the open so it was almost impossible for the medics to reach us and revive. The other group of Insurgents were not faring too well either. They were able to take down one SF player but were unable to eliminate them. Eventually, the SF team was able to push back to eliminate the remaining Insurgents.
This SF team was not only very well organized and moved back and forth constantly, covering each other, making it difficult to eliminate or isolate any of their members. A bit of luck probably also played a part, given the inherent inaccuracy of darts and blasters, and the fact that one of the other SF teams had a similar position, but were eliminated.
I personally feel that the denser and wider cover of the second play area works much better with BHD, as it doesnt encourage funneling of players quite as much. The significant funneling of players into lines of cover turns the game into a tree to tree spamfest, with neither team having much opening to push forward without significant luck. The denser cover of the second area allows more progressive combat along a wider area, and gives a much better environment for this sort of assymetric offensive/defensive game. It works fairly well, with roughly 2 Insurgents per 1 SF. There are enough SF players for them to have a good chance of winning, but enough Insurgents that it is a challenge.
Finally we played two VIP games, and both of them went terribly for my team. Not due to balance issues or anything, more just very poor communication, coordination and awareness.
We had our VIP selected in the first round. However, our medic was not chosen until after the game started. About half of the team was not really paying attention or really into it at that point, and by the time everyone had actually realised we were in combat, most of the enemy team had moved up along the middle to flank and attack.
Our VIP was the first to be taken out. The rest of us were quickly wiped out.
In the second round, our team was more prepared but still not that well coordinated. Our VIP made a poor decision to engage in front-line combat. Although I was able to attack along the south edge of the battlefield, my team was less successful. I returned to respawn only to find our VIP dead. As it turns out, our VIP was lost relatively early, but whether due to the intensity of combat, my distance from him or something else, I didnt hear him announce his defeat. My teammates and I kept going back to respawn, despite the fact that our VIP was standing there, out of sight.
These were the final games of the day so a lot of players were likely tired and out of it. It was also a bit annoying that they were able to leave the game so quickly. Poor coordination and poor VIP selection are the consequences.
The shields were used in this event a lot, and performed much as previously, with a few more weaknesses. The second play area has a lot more dense cover than the first, making it easy for shields protect their flanks with cover and move with little fear of being flanked. Additionally, since noone had grenade launchers, everyone had to rely on throwing grenades, which is very difficult to do when under fire. In contrast, in this play area with a lower density of trees and a wider play area, shields are very vulnerable to flanking. Although they can just as easily duck behind a tree and turn their shield to hold off the flanker, the abundance of open space around the play area made it much harder for shields to just advance at will. Due to the danger of flanking, I saw a lot more shields being forced back in this event than in the other play area. Thrown grenades, while still effective, were not as effective as before. They are easier to dodge in open spaces and are often not thrown well because they are under fire.
However, those of us with grenade launchers saw more success in 1v1 against tanks. Two shield hits were my personal record. The new rules make the shield ineligible for the rest. The ability to fire off a grenade with good range and accuracy at a moments notice is far, far superior to trying to throw a grenade, especially when under fire. In one of the times I got a successful shield hit, I was engaged in a 1v1 with the shield, and likely would not have been able to throw a grenade accurately in that situation.
With the new rules, the effectiveness of the shields was significantly decreased by the addition of grenade-launchers. I believe they are in a good place right now. Theyre still extremely powerful of course, but the threat of permanently losing the shield as well as the increased effectiveness of grenades with launchers makes it much harder to just charge forward or set up, which was something that happened annoyingly frequently in the previous event.
The shields and shield balance is at a good spot now I think, and the gamemodes are all in pretty good places. It would be helpful to hold a few more events to refine some of the gamemodes, but the MLF is an excellent group to play with.
Link to the same post on my blog: link
