As my colleague Groove put it two months ago, it's time to get outside and Nerf. Summer is THE time to get out there and enjoy the hobby; it's when many of us separate out the pretenders.

There is one war in particular that I would like to highlight for you all. As lame as it sounds, I'd like to drum up some publicity for the war I've been co-organizing for the last 7 years, Apocalypse. It is THE summer war on the East Coast. As of now, we have 5-6 Canadians, lead by Forsaken Angel, joining us. Forget a cross-country Nerf War, we have an International Nerf War on our hands. Last year's war had over 45 participants and had as many as three battles going on simultaneously. Not to mention the 20+ vs 20+ battles. It's one of two wars this community has where you will experience such a volume and a variety of players on one field. The location, Deal, has terrain ranging from wide open fields to wooded trails. You can expect rounds that vary from the team death match norm, and are intended to shake things up a bit.

If you can't make it to this, well no matter. Grab some guns, make some friends, and have Nerf wars in your backyard. Most of the people you see organizing wars that bring Nerfers from all over got their start in a backyard, basement, or park with their friends. Establishing a core group of Nerfers in your area is the best way to keep active in the hobby.

I'll also make another plug for the Summer Nerf War Schedule. It has wars from around the country listed (ie. Armageddon & SENO).

Summer is here folks, and you know what that means: Nerfing is at its prime. Attending wars is a large part of the hobby for some (myself included) and I'd like to encourage everyone to get out there and Nerf. Wars are a great way to get out and test your mods, meet other fellow Nerfers like you, do trades or purchase blasters, and even meet some of the admins/mods here at Nerfhaven. I'd also like for everyone to take a look at the neatly organized War Schedule (link below) as it's a great resource for finding wars in and around your area. Can't find one near you? Organize one. Get some friends together and start your own war.

>>2008 Nerf War Schedule

Summertime also means high volume of forum traffic, and with that comes a large flow of both topics and members here on the boards. You can bet your ass that we'll be keeping an eye on things to ensure smooth transitions into the months ahead. Blatant asshattery will not be tolerated. In addition, I'll be finding more colorful and creative ways to notify people that they're being banned. It'll be fun times all around, excluding, of course, the individuals actually being banned.

2007 was an awesome year for Nerf. 2008 will be even better. Now, let's make shit happen.

Nerf on or fuck off.


-Groove

Some of you may have noticed that I have been particularly active on the forums for the past few weeks. You may also have noticed, if you had not already known, that I do not find the type of conduct that many of our members are exhibiting to be acceptable. I have been, and will continue to heavily prune our member base as the winter turns to spring. And from the looks of things, I'll have quite a job cut out for me.

You see, I have begun the process of bringing our user validations a little more up to date. As it stands there are more than 1000 new members pending approval and, while not all of them will get attention just yet and even fewer will pass muster, we are going to have a sizable influx.

I was planning on reiterating the rules here, but that is rather pointless. Take a look in the upper left hand corner of your monitor. Yeah, that link that says "Code of Conduct"....well that's the fucking code of conduct. We expect it to be followed.

And if you think I'm alone on this little adventure, you're wrong. I have advised each and every active administrator that I not only welcome but EXPECT many new names and IP's on our ban list.

Now for all of you who are thinking that this is going to make your lives a pain in the ass, don't worry. If you are one of our many upstanding members this will only serve to make the forums more legible and enjoyable. If you are not, you've been warned.

Oh, and for all the new guys coming on. Welcome to NerfHaven! My name is VACC and I'll be your overbearing site owner. Try me.

VACC

The Crossbow has long been the sign of a nerf veteran. It is a weapon whose reliability and performance is matched only by the increasing rarity with which it can be found. The PlusBow has been designed, by our very own Captain Slug, as a homemade alternative to the crossbow. The question this review seeks to answer is, "Has Slug succeeded?" Does the +Bow represent a viable substitute, or even an upgrade, for those who cannot procure a working crossbow?

I have been an outspoken proponent of the crossbow for years. My current crossbow, Binky, has been my primary for almost a decade and has been through various modifications and iterations. Some might say this would make me a hard nerfer to sway, but that is, I suspect, precisely why CaptainSlug chose to send me the Beta version of his foam cannon with the caveat that I would evaluate and publish my thoughts on it.

What follows is a review throughout which I will compare the +bow to the crossbow on several criteria including performance, comfort, reliability/durability, legality, and potential. As such, I warn that there are no numeric ranges (if that's what you were looking for, fuck off now) posted here as they are entirely dependent on the barrel and darts of your choice, and really do not tell the tale of the weapon's effectiveness.

Finally, before I begin I want to make clear a few assumptions upon which I will base this review. 1. The Plusbow being evaluated represents Slug's working model as of today, 1/23/08, and may not be identical to models available for purchase or production at a later date. 2. The crossbow it is being compared to has been subject to standard modifications, has no integrations, and shoots roughly 90-100' depending on the ammo and barrel material. 3. The person using both weapons is VERY familiar with the crossbow, and is an experienced nerfer. 4. For a variety of reasons, this reviewer believes the Crossbow to be the single finest nerf weapon for a skilled and experienced nerfer.

Ok, on to the Review.



PERFORMANCE:

Range
The PlusBow has matched or outranged every crossbow I have run across. Using the same barrel material and dart it is certainly a more powerful and accurate weapon. I have found that I can pick people off more easily using the +bow and its simple sighting mechanism (one raised sight in the rear matched to the front of your barrel) than I can with my crossbow. When using the gun you have a choice between 3 plunger settings, and these comparisons are utilizing the longest possible pull. The performance using the shorter pulls scales very uniformly, providing accuracy over shorter distances. I personally have found little reason to use anything but the longest pull, but the shorter pulls are certainly useful when confronting enemies at a closer range as they will marginally decrease priming time (not by much though) and are a more humane option when shooting a nearby opponent.

Consistency
More important than the maximum range, I have found, is the consistency with which this weapon shoots. As with any gun and barrel match it has its favorite ammo type, but its massive plunger tube and spring seem to fire anything I put in it with more regularity than my crossbow. I find that with my crossbow, despite its reliability, a wider variety of darts drop the range of the gun while the plusbow is generally more forgiving. This is especially useful at large wars where you may run short on your own darts and be forced to chamber a lesser make of foam projectile.

Rate Of Fire
There are 2 components to rate of fire: reload, and priming.

For reload, I use the same style of flip breach with this weapon as I do with my crossbow. The muzzle adaptor on the +bow is a little grippier than the coupler on my crossbow, and this slows my reload a bit. However, the fact that I don't have to thread my barrel down the coupler in the front to the recessed chamber, as I do with a crossbow, saves almost as much time as the tighter connection wastes.

The plunge pull is a bit longer than and not quite as smooth as that of a crossbow. The pull is a little heavier as well, but this depends entirely on how many bands you have on your crossbow I suppose. Using the double handle setup slug has designed provides a nice track for the plunger, but this is really a matter of your personal comfort. I have found that using several coat hangers bent to shape and covered in electrical tape (LNL special) is a VERY comfortable way to prime this weapon, and while I did this initially out of necessity, I am tempted to leave it that way.

Performance Advantage : Plusbow

COMFORT:

This is a bit more of a subjective evaluation, but as a long time crossbow user I feel it is an important issue. The Plusbow is modeled to replicate the feel of a crossbow very closely, and in terms of function is does that well. That said, it is difficult to match the comfort of the crossbow handle, stock, and fore grip. The foam slug has added between the parallel handle panels helps a bit, but a very healthy helping of it still falls short of the contours of the crossbow. I would recommend anyone building or purchasing this to really overstuff the handle, as a dearth of this padding may leave the heel of your palm sore when repeatedly cocking the +bow. Personally, I got over this very quickly and have had no blisters or abrasions on my hand after a full day of use, but it is definitely something one must consider. Additionally, the cocking handles provided, while making for a relatively easy pull, are not as easy on the hand as the curved crossbow handle. My coat hangers, on the other hand, are pure e-tape heaven.


The trigger pull is another concern. The strength of the massive plunger spring and the requisite beefy nature of the catch mechanism combine to make a trigger pull that is closer in feel to the Big Bad Bow than to the hair trigger of a crossbow. Finally, the stock is of good length, but takes a little getting used to. It, again, is a flat plastic panel as opposed to a seductively curved crossbow stock. I did find, however, that Captain Slug added some foam to the rear of his personal stock and this brought it a lot closer to its nerf predecessor in feel. While the +bow has become more comfortable to me with use, the Crossbow is certainly an easier weapon to pick up and perform with on first try.

Comfort Advantage : Crossbow

RELIABILITY/DURABILITY:

When I first received my plusbow I had two concerns about this. 1: the screws slug had used to assemble it liked to jog their way out of place with a lot of use, and the plunger handle (slug had only sent one side of it) was a little flimsy. Fortunately, slug addressed both these problems and made them complete non-issues by the second war I attended with the gun. During the second war I found myself using the +bow exclusively, and had absolutely no problems with misfires, jams (the design prohibits this really) or any kind of wear and tear. The gun performs admirably similar to its non-homemade sibling. This is about the highest praise I could give a gun because the crossbow is the most reliable nerf primary I've ever used. Add to that the fact that the +bow is machined out of higher grade plastic, and that all its parts are completely replaceable and you get a leg up in the durability department like no weapon that's come before.

Reliability/Durability Advantage: Plusbow

LEGALITY:

Ok, what the hell am I talking about? This is simple really. There are many wars where homemade nerf guns are not allowed in play. In such wars the plusbow will not be an option. On the other hand, the crossbow is an original nerf blaster and will never leave you empty handed. That said, the plusbow is so similar in function and style to a stock nerf gun, combined with the fact that it is a springer, and I think you will find more venues accepting of this weapon than they are of other homemade blasters. Still, it is something you must consider. At our annual invitational war, will the other horsemen let me use my new blaster? Doubtful.

Legality Advantage: Crossbow

POTENTIAL:

This is something that the crossbow has long dominated in. The ability not only to heavily modify the blaster itself, but also to add additional components, via integration, to its spacious shell has made it the benchmark in nerf ingenuity. Well, it's met its match. The plusbow comes in no need of modification to its primary mechanism, and offers just as many options for additional components. The rail system, which Slug has added to the gun, works precisely as it appears. Though I have not yet added anything to it myself, with an appropriate bracket adding a pistol or second barrel should be a cinch. Again, I have not yet done this and cannot directly comment on its function, but with a system already in place the +bow certainly has an edge over the crossbow which must use epoxy/goop and tape to adhere its integrations. And yet, that advantage pales in comparison to the ability to refine the primary mechanism that slug has already demonstrated to me. I have had this gun for roughly 3 weeks and slug has addressed every concern I had with this blaster. He has replaced the ever loosening screws with completely secure ones, he has given me a double sided cocking handle to replace the flimsy single sided one, and I have just been told that he will ship out a new and improved trigger design that he has been working on this week. While I doubt he can keep up this kind of tech support indefinitely, he is determined to refine this weapon into a finished product that will satisfy even the harshest critics. This gun is only getting better.

Potential Advantage: Plusbow

In summary, Captain Slug has succeeded in engineering a very suitable replacement for the Crossbow. While this blaster is not the panacea of nerf weaponry that I'm sure some Slugophiles are yearning for; it does an admirable job of mimicking the crossbow's strong suits, and improving upon them when possible. While I am not ready to declare the +Bow out and out superior to the crossbow, I would highly recommend it to anyone who does not have a crossbow, and does not want to shell out the increasingly exorbitant price to obtain one.

READ ALL MY NOTES BEFORE POSTING

I just received word from my friends at Hasbro that I have permission to share the following.


This is the NEW Nerf N-STRIKE RECON CS-6

I have edited the photos below to show what I know.


This is how the blaster comes apart. It is unknown yet, but it may be packaged in a smaller box because of this feature. There is also talk of including a case/bag/strap with it, but there is NO CONFIRMED evidence yet.


Features that I know


When the gun is cocked, an arm slides out and reminds you that it is cocked and loaded

I will answer as much as I can, but hopefully you can see it all here.



Official release date: Unknown, but probably spring 2008
Official Name: Recon CS-6 (it's an N-Strike line blaster)
I do not know what stores will carry it yet, or if any stores will have exclusive pack-ins like the bag/case/strap I talked about.
I do not know MSRP pricing yet either. I will post that when I know
It only comes with one clip right now.

That is it for now.