Mobility
The snipers downfall in most cases. Remember that when you are a sniper you only have one shot (usually) until you're location is discovered. You need to be able to exit from that place as fast as possible. Also, don't wear to much needless gear. I've proven that you can win a war with just a NSM1500 and a reload. If you have more on than you can handle, and get in the proximity of someone with semi-decent aim and that can run fast, you are toast. Mobility, at least in the eyes of TEA, is what sperates the good warriors from the bad ones. I use many setups. Common ones are just a lock'n'load and ammo refills, Modified NSM 1500, or Big Bad Bow with three arrows. You can see that i never take a side arm, and many times sidearms are my main. I have devised an amazing holster so that if I'm going into some less team oriented situations I can have a backup, but is not to be worn all the time. That leads us to:
Balance
Picture this: I go into a war and I'm always a sniper, but there were so many snipers on my team that I had to be a ground troop. I'm dead. During training every single person should be training for what to do in every single event possible. A person who is always a sniper isn't gonna no all about raiding, or taking down assualt groups, or setting up ambush groups. Same as a ground soldier doesn't know how to stay undercover, and pick off the right person that isn't paying attention, or get out of a tough situation when discovered. When someone in confronted with a new situation they ween't prepared for, they're not gonna survive. Everyone on your team needs proper preparation.
Ambush parties
This is moslty only useful against a weaker player, but it can work against anyone if it is set up properly. The idea here is to catch someone off gaurd while there is little action. Then you are to swarm them, as they should be outnumbered, and take them down. If you are really good at pulling these off, try to take the best player down first. Without this person they will have no structure and will fall apart immediatly. The idea is not to hide directly close to where you think they will go. Form a triangle, each about 20 yards apart with your most coordinated men. Only attack if there are 1 or 2 people or will be easy for the to take one of you down, so be smart and cautious. Use a high speed weapon because you don't want to be reloading while the person have a good shot at you. There are many things to worry about but the most important is placement of your men. Just try to keep them so they can see each others signals, but so that an eye that wasn't looking for them would pass right by.
Defending Against Ambush Parties
This concept sounds easy to grasp but it isn't. The thing with this is you are usually caught off gaurd, and it would seem as if you are defensless. You aren't at all. If an ambush party is set up the way it is above you have to do a few things in the proper order. First, prepare yourself, this is going to be hard, so prepare youself in a nanosecond. The shoot the closest guy to you. Try not to miss but don't worry if you do. Immediatly after the shot you run to where you came from. The thing is, you might be ambushed by only one person, but if you run forward, there might be someone else waiting in front. But since you already covered and inspected all of the land from where you came from, there is a less likely chance that they're clever enough to spring behind you and cover that area.
Beat the Odds
This may be a little difficult for someone who hasn't watched enough action movies. Basically, if you are outnumbered it is a matter of a few things. One is tactics and two is mentalality. If you are outnumbered 2:1 then all you have to do is take one person and it is even. Take advantage of people's lack of tactics. They should be swarming you, but most team aren't going to. It is always a good Idea to take out the best people first. This is beneficial in that you won't be short on ammo when it comes to taking down to good people. Our team has a war message called fireteam. As soon as they are widdled down to a few people (1 or 2) just swarm them. There is no way they can take you all down.
On Top of the Odds
Oh jeez. This is where a good team can lose their whole sense of pride over one lousy loss, because really, when you are above the odds you should win everytime. Never underestimate, anyone... I don't care how bad someone is, most people can play to a small degree, and this is enough to take out anyone who thinks they will just win because they are better. Never stay completely together, 15 feet apart is good enough. If they have a fast weapon you will be lucky to live through an assualt.
Surroundings
A job for the true master of physics. Taking advantage of your surrounding is one of the most difficult things to do. Our team mostly uses this to "take control" of a particular area that might have importance. We play often at this kid's house (big yard). Our team knows, to always try to take control of the porch. It is about ten feet higher than the rest of everything in the yard. It is also in the middle of the yard so we can always be paying attention to what is happening. This is only an example, but I think it fits the bill. Something else to do is to take advantage of when people seem to be clinging to the bottom of a hill. This is just screaming "kill us!" cuz that is what is gonna happen. You see, a nerf gun will travel down a hill much easier than it would travel up the hill, giving you a higher percentage shot. Always take wind into consideration. If the wind is blowing a certain way give the gun a little turn in the opposite direction to compensate for the wind. Always take temperature into condsideration. Certain guns work better in the hot summer weather than they do in the cold. Just don't plan on using any manual guns (Chainblazer, Rototrack, Arrowstorm) in the cold, save them for summer. Pump action guns also have considerably less range in cold weather.
Evasive Manuevers
A tactic, that when you are truly in to it, you feel unstoppable, and believe me, you probably are. If you can move so fast, so quick, and pull acrobatical moves from anywhere, you're opponent won't know what to expect, and they will probably end up dead. The basic idea here is just to run like a piece of crap, jump and spin, and do all that acrobatical stuff that they do in the movies. While this may not seem to be that good of a tactic, it is basically because it can catch the enemy off gaurd, just do NOT stop moving, and keep surprising the enemy by jumping at them from above and saying, "I'll take pleasure in guttin' you...BOY!" right before you pop 'em one from behind. Even though this is the most lighthearted of tactics, it is one of the best and definitley worth trying.
Sniping
Warning: You not use this unless you are trained seriously and well to do the job. I've seen too many people get killed for no reason because they were not trained well enough in this area. To get people off right-Sniping in a NERF war is NOT from a tree, nor does in have to be from an elevated area. Places to snipe on ground would actually be good under things like playground equipment. Places that are elevated are the deck or elevated porch of a house, thehighest point on a playground, or a specially made tower. You will always need a sidearm (Lock 'n' Load) and mobility is key here more than in any situation. Never trap yourself, but be aware of your "blind side" as a sniper you usually concentrate on you best shot, while someone may have a good shot on you. You can also only cover one side at a time. All three of your other sides are considered "blind." This means you should keep tab of everyone that is on the other team and make sure you always know where they are. You can have people look out for you and yell, "watch you back" when there is someone there, but NEVER have a spotter and an ammo retriever, you need them to be out in the battle feild killing people. Realistically, it shouldn't take more than 1 person to kill another 1 person, if your team is trained well. And if sniping takes more than that, then you aren't good enough to do it. Another experimental idea i had is, there are certain sniping places (on playgrounds) that are covered by bars starting at chest level, so you only have one blind side. If I took a pole that reached from the one side to the other, glued a flaggish type of material to it, so you could wrap it around and make it east to carry. You get to the spot with two people it it, put the bar across and let the material run down, you have eliminated your blind spot and completely secured your life and the area for the rest of the game.
Against the WildFire
If you can do this, you are really a premium player, and deserve to go up against Psychotic Monkey Squad (with Spoon and Ozzy...). You have to understand that this gun has both speed and distance, so stay far with a far flying gun (NSM 1500 worked wonders) and stay behind cover and low. You MUST use the element of surprise or you WILL die, the WildFire is prepared for almost everything. Pop up from nowhere, if possible at a higher elevation (not trees, playground equiptment is better). Even the most over-confident kid who does nothing but stay in the opened and shoot, can easily kill you if you are not sneaky. We have also used another tactic that i recommend only if you have an extra guy. This is where you distract with the worst kid, with snipers on his angles. This doesn't work bad, but it would be better if you don't ussually have to sacrifice your own man. Confusion is something that you must use to your advantage. Get the longest range gun you can find, and tell your best player to hide. They will get so confused just trying to keep tabs on the other kid you can snipe him. Basically, the only way to do it is to snipe, and the only way to snipe is to surprise, confuse, then pick off the enemy. Find his blind spot, if he is patrolling a certain area, there are many times that there are places for you to move freely without him seeing. To defend against this attacker, you mast never get trapped, yet stay enclosed, yet stay behind cover. Three things to remember that are actually quite hard to put together. The wildfire can shoot right through safety bars of playground equiptment, so don't us that as cover. NEVER EVER get closer than 25-30 feet away on even ground without cover. Again, you will die. See that sniping section up there? Read it, study it, practice it, and get good at it. It is useful information anyhow, and will help you win wars even against a weak gun. Its make or break time, but i wish you luck.
Blitzkrieg
Also a famous chess move, this involves quick, lighting fast flank strategies without letting the other team breathe. This wins wars. You must be fast, you must be blazing fast, and not afraid to pull the trigger. I have seen so many people that die because they won't pull the trigger. And by fast i don't mean your gun, I mean your kills, clean hits. This is all practice, but it is also know when to move to get people in a fluster. When they come, move fast, but stay undercover, and pop up one minute here for a kill, next minute the other side of the playground for an equally as clean kill. If you are moving this fast you will not give time to plan out anything or to snipe. Accend upon the bastards when they are realoading but remember that people can reload fast, i can have the Big bad Bow reloaded in half a sec. Teamwork is essential here, if you notice them hiding behind a tree, get a team mate and jump from both sides. Basically, don't kill them brutally and painfully, kill them quickly, and effiently.
