Finally got an opportunity to combat test my Bullpup RS’ new internal setup.
All HvZ rules can now be found at the link in this Facebook group post: link
Blasters:
Since there were a lot of different blasters there, I’ve generalised them and only listed down the ones that I saw as significant or noteworthy, or remember for that matter. Being that I can’t be everywhere at once, it’s entirely possible I completely missed some blasters.
Recurring/Regulars:
Elite Rapidstrike (various internal setups) – full-auto, mag-fed flywheeler. High ROF blaster exceptional in close quarters, against groups of zombies and accuracy-by-volume, but can be wasteful with poor trigger control.
I finally had a chance to test out my Bullpup RS, with CC Cyclone wheels and a re-aligned brass guide. It worked excellently; whether from the new flywheels or the properly aligned guide, I felt that it was a lot more accurate than previously, and could reliably hit zombies from much further away with a short burst.
Elite CAM (various internal setups) – semi-auto, mag-fed flywheeler. Essentially a Stryfe with a large body, a solid all-round blaster effective in most HvZ engagements.
Though the two sport vastly different builds, I felt that my CAM was significantly less accurate than my Bullpup RS – I saw a lot more darts fly away from the direction I was aiming. Additionally, I had a few issues with mag retention, with mags requiring a lot of insertion force to lock properly, and easily dropping out if the mag release was even slightly moved.
Doomlands Lawbringer – hammer-action, revolver springer. Notable for being a one-handable springer. Essentially a beefed up Hammershot, effective for a light scavenger/run-and-gun playstyle.
Elite Stryfe (various internal setups) – semi-auto, mag-fed flywheeler. Incredibly versatile and highly popular. Good power with a good internal setup, fairly high ROF, very easy to use and highly effective in most HvZ engagements. An excellent starting blaster.
Rival Kronos – slide-action, internal mag-fed springer. Quite powerful for a stock blaster and maintains accuracy to a good distance. Low capacity makes it suitable only for sidearm use, or in a very light scavenger/run-and-gun loadout. Suffers from all the usual Rival drawbacks, primarily ammo scarcity (less of a problem with MHvZ now having a Rival loaner pool) and Rival balls losing speed and accuracy rapidly beyond ~15m range.
Elite Retaliator/variants (various internal and external setups) – slide-action, mag-fed springer. Often fitted with a pump grip for faster, easier priming. Very versatile and quite popular. Can pack more than enough power for HvZ, with reasonable ROF. Effective in most HvZ engagements, though a little vulnerable against larger groups and in close quarters. An excellent starting blaster.
ZS Slingfire (variours internal and external setups) – lever-action, mag-fed springer. Notable for being a one-handable mag-fed springer, and sheer style factor. Besides this, it is otherwise outclassed by a well made Retaloid, which will possess similar or superior power, and similar or superior ROF.
Rival Nemesis (stock and rewired) – full-auto, hopper fed flywheeler. Notable for its massive capacity, in excess of 100 balls. Exceptional at suppressive fire, area denial and hosing down zombie groups. Very easy to use wastefully if trigger control is lacking, and suffers from the usual Rival drawbacks.
Elite Alpha Trooper (unknown mods, if any) – pump-action, mag-fed springer. Solid all-round blaster, notable for its out-of-box pump-action. It is otherwise internally inferior to a Retaliator/variant however, and with less power and internal structural integrity. A solid starter blaster.
Elite Rampage (unknown mods, if any) – pump-action, mag-fed springer. Notable for its out-of-box pump-action and side magwell. Internally superior to an EAT, however the side magwell can pose a significant issue. Overall a solid blaster, decent power and ROF. A solid starter blaster if you can tolerate the side magwell.
New/Infrequent:
Modulus Mediator (various springs) – pump-action, mag-fed springer. Essentially a super-compact Rampage. I found it surprisingly comfortable, however it seemed a little weaker than the Rampage. More combat testing is needed for a final conclusion, but it seems to fill a similar role to the Rampage and a base Retaliator – a compact, all-round mag-fed springer.
Elite Crossbolt – slide-action, mag-fed stringer. Fairly quiet and reasonably accurate, however offers very few advantages in MHvZ’s primarily open play area. Slow ROF in particular puts it at a significant disadvantage to most other blasters.
Throughout the round I would occasionally join up with various human groups, usually when forced into combat by zombies. Whenever a small opening on the side opened up however, I would take it to escape the human group and pursuing zombies. At most I would have to stun about three zombies, but often I could get away without firing a single dart – intimidation plays quite a large role in HvZ. Sticking to this tactic throughout the round resulted in me being the last survivor.
The second round was another standard Survival, and again I used the same tactic. This time however, I was much more tired from my efforts in the previous round. As the human group dwindled to the final few, I was cornered alone by many zombies. With my energy almost all gone by this point, I was unable to outrun the zombies and was tagged, somewhere in the last five or so survivors.
In many previous game reports, I would criticise the Traitor for failing to make a bigger impact on the human group, yet I did exactly the same thing when I was a Traitor. I feel like I have a much better understanding of why Traitors so often take the easy option of just taking out the General. The pressure on the Traitor is immense; especially in recent events the zombies have had a very poor success rate in Space Pope, and are relying heavily on the Traitor for the winning edge. With the zombies achieving seemingly less tags however, there are less zombies for the Traitor to work with, and coordinating any kind of internal and external attack on the humans is very difficult. As such, there is no guarantee that the Traitor opening fire from within would actually have enough of an impact to break the human defences.
I feel now that players have developed significant experience with Space Pope, holding a defensive line in a small area is a lot easier and the claustrophobia of Space Pope is less of an issue. Additionally, the average loadout has substantially improved, with far more flywheelers and in particular short dart firing blasters, which are substantially more accurate and effective at range. With short darts now readily available, it is even easier for players who are so inclined to build and use precision blasters, making it even easier to hold off zombies from further away. Many of the more recent zombie victories have been due to altered circumstances (e.g. two Traitors, higher starting zombie count) or simple but costly mistakes (e.g. Space Pope having poor situational awareness). Compared to earlier Space Pope rounds, the humans have been performing far better, with a much higher win/close-to-win rate.
As with most other gamemodes, the zombies make the most progress either by picking off unaware humans, or coordinating charges with Tanks. By this time during the day, we had a lot less players and thus less firepower, and I expect a lot of players were getting tired, myself included. As such, the zombies were able to make much more progress against the human group than in the Space Pope rounds, and later tank charges with consistently picking off a few humans. I spent most of the round away from the bulk of the human group, instead spending my time warding off zombie stragglers from other directions. This kept me out of harm’s way when the Tanks charged, and I was able to avoid a lot of the intense, frontline combat that saw many casualties. One last fateful Tank charge broke what was left of the human defences, and again my position kept me out of harm’s way, easily holding off the few zombies near me. I was quickly recognised as the last survivor and overwhelmed in the small tambark area.
I actually rather like Holdout as a short gamemode. It’s simpler than Space Pope making it easier to get running, and much faster and smaller than Survival, making for easier cleanup and avoidance of bystanders. It’s certainly no Survival for scale, and doesn’t have the human team win condition that makes Space Pope unique among the current popular gamemodes. It also skews the odds in favour of heavily armed humans, since mobility is restricted. Nonetheless, for a low complexity quick game, Holdout works nicely.
You can find the same post on my own blog: Outback Nerf