Before we get onto the individual war ideas, there are some rules that I follow for all of my wars.
1. One hit and you're dead.
2. Ricochets do not count as a hit. Ammo looses it's deadly effect as soon as it impacts on something.
3. Grasings and hits in non fatal areas count as hits. There are way too many arguments over if you were hit or not, or if that hit would actually kill you. To simply avoid that, just say that IF YOU ARE HIT, YOU ARE DEAD.
4. You may use your weapon as a shield. If you couldn't, what would be the point in the Manta Ray or the Ratchet Blast's hand guard.
5. No catching ammo.
6. Ammo allready fired can be picked up and resued over and over again.
7. If you can't settle on a agreement, either let it go and just forget it, or think if that would apply to a real war. After all, aren't Nerf wars just simulating real war?
This war is the simplest of all Nerf wars and one of the most fun is played with a good group of people. Can be played in teams of any number (the more the merrier) or every man for himself. The goal is to have your team, or yourself, eliminate the enemy. Can be played indoor's and out.
What you do is have two teams build HUGE forts, then start the game with a fifty hit death. This makes everyone more active, so they'll run around foolishly at point blank range.
What we do is before we start,to prevent people playing chicken and just hiding the whole game is put down all the player's names on cards. The cards are handed out randomly and so you don't get your own, when it is your turn to draw, your name is taken out. The cards tell you your primary target. If you suceed, you take your victim's card and go after them. The last person left wins. This is usually played in the dark which makes it easy to mistake your target. And that's what makes this fun! I doesn't matter where your hit. If you get shot you are dead and you go back to the designated waiting area.
This game is played with three people & done indoors. The three people are divided into two teams: The Sniper (a one person team, who gets the most & best weapons), and the Hunters (the remaining two people, who get the remaining weapons). The hunters go outside and count to 200, and then re-enter the house. They must not look inside the house when they are counting, and they must ring the doorbell as they enter. The sniper has these 200 seconds to set up any decoys, traps, (or whatever). He then should hide at a point that is easy to sniper from. Don't let this make you think that the sniper can't move, but it would be best for the sniper not to go 2 on 1 frontal assault against the hunters :) The hunter's goal is to kill the sniper. All normal rules of nerf war apply. The sniper must eliminate both of the hunters. It's both fun and suspenseful, and it is the primary game my friends play.
The weapons we usually use are:
For the sniper: A Chainblazer (for range and accuracy) and a smallish sidearm (we use the old NB-1, but you can't get your hands on that today, so buy one of those small $7.00 guns).
For the hunters: A Sharpshooter II for each of them.
For this game, the more people, the better. You must have many, many guns to do this (i wont make any reccomendations-- you just need ALOT.) Also, you'll need two houses, within close proximity to each other.
It's simple really. Two teams divided up completely equally (number of players, skill on each side, weapons, etc.) One team goes into one house, the other team goes into the other house. then, plot as you will. Each team must fully eliminate the other team, with will mean much planning and skill, infultration, and both houses must be ready for defense at all times.
We made it in two houses so that you could have private areas of plotting strategy, and so you could have two different environments to kill in. That way, each team can contour their house for their defensive needs. My friends and I have only played 1 game of this, with 10 people and about 30 weapons between the two teams. We had to break off at times, but in total, the game lasted for 8 days! I love this game because it forces you to think as a whole, not just as individuals running around shooting things.
It's the closest thing to a military simulation you'll get out of a Nerf war. If you can find the people and guns, its worth the effort. All normal rules of nerf war apply. We had to camp out all seven nights, and even in our sleep we had guard duty, because of this final rule: Everywhere, anythine, outside, inside, sleeping, or awake: you are ALWAYS fair game!!! I love it! We all begged an pleaded with our parents for this 8 day immersion, and finally we got two sets of parents to agree. We called it an extended ultraviolent Nerf sleepover!
This one is not so large scale as my last idea (Military). You must have at least three people to play this one, and, as always, the more the merrier. Everyone writes down their name on a piece of paper and throw all the names into a big hat. Everybody draws one name, not revealing it to anybody. This is your prime target. The game is won by killing your prime target before anybody else kills their's. If you kill someone other than your prime tagret, you must timeout the game, and tell everyone who you killed. Congratulations. You've now become the person whose prime target that was's prime target. You can build up alot of enemies that way (at one time, I had four people who had me as their prime target). This rule was made to disencourage you from going around killing everyone (that would be a normal Nerf war). Best played indoors.
I have an idea for a kick ass nerf war called Shadow Assassin . Well you play the game in the dark there are 2 groups of 4-5 . There is also an assasin , usually the best player , he picks off everyone while the 2 groups try to kill each other . The 2 teams have one flag . There are 5 possible flags in your base in which you will indicate to only the assasin . The assasin picks the people that go on the teams . The assasin usually has Chainblazer or Arrowstorm and a small gun like NB-1 or Warthog . This is an indoor game or it can be modified to an outdoor game . The assasin usually dies first because it s 8-10 vs 1 guy .
All standard nerf rules apply. This game uses many people. Everyone is divided into two teams, then everyone contributes the same amount of money (real or fake) to make the number of people on a team. (like this- 16 players,each gives 50 cents to make 8 dollars). Then they decide which team is the raiders, and which are the "good guys". The good guys take the money and put it somewhere while the bad guys try to steal it and keep it for the rest of the game. The good guys can take back, and so can the raiders. You can set a time limit or play until you capture or kill the entire enemy.
I developed this when I was forced to play with my 8 year old cousin inside.
Since there was only 2 of us, we decided to play this way. This is indoors, preferably in a living room that openly connects to a kitchen or hallway. A large basement with ajoining rooms also works. We start about 10 feet apart, facing away from each other. When we are both ready, we count to 3 and then split. We basically just fight it out, however, the only hits that count are head shots. A shot to anywhere else, including neck, doesn't count. Back and front of head, including face are all allowed. You can pick up ammo that has been used too. Another rule, you may use any weapons, but everyone must have the same ammo as the lowest guy. I.e. if someone only has 3 darts for their gun, you can only have 3. Sorry Chainblazer. (hey, I have one too!) The guns that my cousin and I use are Original Sharpshooter and Hidden Shot. (the compact blue one that opens up and is a cool little pistol) This can also work for 3 people I suppose, but 2 people make it more of a duel style. If it makes it easier, pretend that you all have Kevlar vests but not helmets.
This game was developed when my cousins and I were kicked off the N64 and sent outside. Lucky we all had Nerf Guns.
You need to have a fairly large yard with ideally lots of tree cover or tall bushes/shrubs. This game works best with 3 people. What happens is that one person is the 'Commando' and gets the best weapon. This weapon is ideally a long range sniper type rifle. We use the Sneakshot, briefly modified, or Sharpshooter. The other 2 people are on the same team and usually want quick firing, high ammo load weapons, like the Chainblazer or Mad Hornet if you have them. Everyone starts in the same place and then the Commando gets 1 minute to run and hide (the other 2 are not looking of course) The place where everyone starts is called the 'base'. After the 1 minute is up, the 2 'guards' go search for the Commando. While this is happening, the Commando has to try and get to the 'base'. If the Commando succeeds in getting to the 'base' and getting an objective, i.e. knock over a bucket or something, than Commando wins. However, if the Commando gets shot at anytime, than he's dead. Simple. One hit, one kill. No wounds. This also applies that if the Commando bags anyone, than the guard is dead.
Rules that we use is basically, no going on the road (unless you guys are pretty old. My cousins are 8 and 12) and no going on neighbours property. This works well to develop sneaking skills and hunting skills. A variation of this game is that the 'guards' get only 3 minutes to find the Commando. This encourages better hiding places and better hunting.
It is similar to the American Gladiators event called Assault. Some of the rules you may want to change, take out, orr add. It involves a Gladiator, or whatever you want to call him/her and a Competitor, Challenger, or whatever you want to call him/her. The Gladiator is given a rapid-fire weapon like the chainblazer, Ballzooka or the Arrowstorm, with full ammunition. The Gladiator is not allowed to reload at any time. The Gladiator stands in front of a wall or something similar. A target is marked above the Gladiator on the wall. The competitor's goal is to hit the target. the Gladiator's goal is to hit the Competitor, ar at least stop him/her from hitting the target. Around five stations (you can change the number of them) are set up. Each station includes a blockade or base-type structure to prevent the Gladiator's shots from hitting the Competitor. Also at each station is a slected nerf weapon with one piece of ammunition. The Competitor uses the gun to try to hit the target, if he/she misses the target, then he/she moves on to the next station. If he/she hits the target, they make a certain amount of points. I would suggest starting at fifty points if the person hit the target on his/her first try. For hitting the target on their second try, I would suggest awarding them ten less points. For the third try and on, I would suggest giving five less points for each try. By the way, the stations move from further away from the Gladiator and target, closer to the Gladiator and target. If the Competitor gets hit by the Gladiator, they get one point for each shot they got off. If they aren't hit, and make it to a designated spot before their time is up, and without being hit by the Gladiator, then five extra points are added to their other points from getting shots off. By the way, I forget to mention that the Competitor is given a limited amount of time to try to hit the target. I suggest giving them one minute or a minute and a half.