Danger! Danger, William, son of Robin!

Just a quick post here to provide an unsettling update on the OMW Longstrike kits. Bazookafied over at Tactical Tag had a critical failure of his kit at the point where the bolt sled joins with the plunger tube, and all while he was following my advice on some alternative ways to prime the blaster one-handed. A bit of a gut-churning turn of events, to be certain.

While Zook has pointed towards the 6kg spring included in the kit as a factor in the failure, there's no way of telling at this point whether my advice accelerated the problem. Taking that reality to heart, I would advise anyone using the Longstrike Massacre kit to take extra care when priming their blaster to minimize the chances of this happening to them. If my methods did contribute to this foam disaster, then applying pressure as evenly as possible to both sides of the bolt is crucial to the integrity of the sled, and if that means saying good-bye to one-handed priming then so be it.

Documentary: the Arena

As I suggested was a possibility, I went ahead and put a video together to give everyone a look at the permanent play space in my basement affectionately referred to as the Arena. It has thus far supported matches as large as 3v3, but it is at its chaotic best in 2v2 or 1v1 scenarios. Check out the video below and, as always, feel free to let me know what you think.

Over 9000!!?!?! (divided by 9)

Well, I don't suppose it's too much of a milestone, but breaking the 1000 hit barrier on the site today feels pretty good. Special thanks to Bazookafied for the shout-outs and many thanks to everyone for stopping by and contributing.

This may be a decent time to give a general update on the progress of things:
As I mentioned in the OMW Longstrike video, I have an accessories project that I am really excited to show everyone. The prototype was a near flawless proof of concept, but one of the components proved to be of insufficient strength for practical use. I am awaiting the stronger version of said component to arrive in the mail, and hopefully will be able to get it all wrapped up by this weekend.

There are a couple of other videos on the docket as well- one covering the arena area that adjoins the Armory and another that deals with some methods and tactics behind dual wielding blasters in combat. If all goes well I should be able to get one of those posted this evening or tomorrow. If you have a minute, throw me a comment letting me know which you'd rather see first- this may help me to get off my butt and do it.

As for the Document itself, work has been progressing slowly (as always, it seems) but, aside from the details surrounding the player classes and weapons, the core rules behind the gameplay are all but complete. I should be throwing up some previews/teasers for it before long.

The Media section is, unfortunately, still nonexistent. The interface I have planned requires that I produce a whole other mess of artwork and coding, so it may be awhile on that one. Since all the goodies will be available through posts anyways, I would rather focus my time on pumping out the content itself rather than cataloging it, at least while the overall amount of it is still so minimal.

I think that's about it. Take care everyone. Go shoot each other, gently.

OMW Massacre: a Primer on Priming

So my Orange Mod Works Massacre kit for the Longstrike finally arrived a couple of days ago.  Like many who have eyed this kit, I was concerned and disappointed at the prospect of two-handed priming being forced on me as a prerequisite for its use.  Luckily, a couple of simple workarounds I was tossing around in my head turned out to function pretty well.  Luck graced me in another way, as well....check out the video below for more details and let me know what you think.

Documentary: the Armory

Over the past couple of days I got my act together and finally pieced together a video walkthough of my Armory and work area. Take a look with the embed below and feel free to drop a comment letting me know what you think. Like the accessories, it will be posted permanently up in the Media section soon.

I should also soon be putting together a similar video for the Arena area adjacent to the Armory. Together they are my home's almost entirely unfurnished basement, which for the time being has next to no purpose other than the facilitation of mayhem.

Community, Upward Mobility, and Oranges

In some tepid, primordial pool in the back of my mind, a thought has been gestating for some months that has only now dared begin the crawl onto dry cerebral land.  It regards Nerf, surprisingly enough, but more specifically the state of the foam hobby as a whole.  Much has been done by the gifted enthusiasts of the hobby for years now, but I believe the confluence of a few newer developments have placed it on something of a new level.

Content, at Last

Though this site is yet to acquire any followers, I still regret the delay in putting this content forward, particularly considering the gracious link from Universal Nerf. Below you will find images showing some of the custom accessories I have made. Clicking an image will bring you to a gallery that more fully displays each item's features and construction. More detailed information on these items, along with a great deal of other goodies, will soon be made available in the Media section once I have a permanent interface up and running. Please enjoy.