WaterWar.net

I am always thinking up new ideas that can give an advantage to a team and I think I have a good one, bikes.

Roles

Open field ambushes (also light underbrush with skilled riders)
Evasion
Pursuits
High speed troop and supply transport

I especially think it would be deadly in ambushes, can you think of the terror that would be caused by suddenly being charged at 20+ MPH by bicycles when you are in an relatively exposed position ?

I don't like bicycles because you give up the ability to dodge. I want to compare this to the use of mounted cavalry charges. They were highly effective when melee weapons and packed formations were king, but once ranged weapons and tactics evolved to spreading out and using high powered firearms they were obsolete. Defenders could simply take cover and shoot from a distance.

It's even more difficult to aim from a bike than from horseback, and the terrain you can traverse on bike is more limited than on horseback or on foot. Doing a drive by with a Speed Loader 1500 might be a lot of fun, but for actual battles I don't think bikes have any real use.

The way I see it bicycles are only of any use for surprise drive-by soaking, in which case they'd be amazingly effective. But apart from that they'd be useless as you're giving up manoeuvrability and handling from having to focus on both cycling and aiming at the same time.

M4 you forget that the engagement range of most blasters is only 37-39' giving most players (which are terrified noobs) only about a second (1.5 with a 2000) to hit you before you pass out of range, you're moving to fast for them to possibly hit from behind. and Steelboot even if you were ineffective in front-line dutys the fact that you can easily move at 10-12mph just cruising makes them great for rapid transport of troops and supply's to where you need them.

Good point, storm. But unless you have an organized and disciplined team, nobody wants to be the guy on the bike bringing everyone else their stuff!

I am still working battle plans (I should point out that my plans will likely never be used) that involve Bike mounted "cavalry" as I feel a skilled rider could use his bike's speed advantage devastatingly in a frontline role.

The problem with a bike is that it's very difficult to defend your sides, back, and you can't "dodge". It also takes a little while to get going again if you stop, especially at a hill. In the kind of terrain I could see a bike being effective, the countermeasures are more effective.

In the only kind of terrain where you could actually ride a bike while carrying a water gun without wiping out hard and becoming the subject of ridicule (if not a reason to call 911) for your fellow players, the enemy'd see (or if not hear) you coming from farther away than you can launch a balloon at. They'd have time to prepare themselves, and maybe pick up a stick to wedge into your spokes *insert evil grin smiley that the board doesn't have but totally should, here*. Okay, we can all probably agree that doing that would be extremely unsportsmanlike. But the point remains clear. Bikes are way too clumsy for use in water wars in my opinion, though if you can come up with an effective way to use them, that's great.

Drive-by soaking is fun. I should grab one of my brothers/friends and a soaker or two, and go on a cruse through neighborhoods, ruining people's days. That'll be a summer activity though.

SEAL, I think you were referring to this?:

I won't say anything about usage of bikes in water wars, since I've never been in any attempt to deploy them in any water war. They might be useful for transportation, but the terrain hindrance and the nature of most battlefields make them seem pretty impractical.

It's not grinning.

I don't think bikes would be very practical, other than for transportation when you don't expect to be ambushed.