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what is the best shield

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:24 pm
by K3YD0N
what do u guys think: with shields with out, what material, how big, and what design

are shield even plausible for a water war?

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:04 pm
by HBWW
Transparent plastic by far, which is often not available anyways.

Some groups detest the way shields affect the game and ban them, allowing only using the blaster to block shots. Whether or not they work depends on a number of factors such as your hit rules, mobility needs, playing environment, etc.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:31 pm
by martianshark
Plastic easily wins. The rest aren't very practical.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:35 am
by atvan
I voted plastic because I actually have used one in small skirmishes vs. My brother. This was several years ago when our arsenal was 2 whole Max-D 3000s. I actually used one of those flying saucer sleds, the circular ones. It worked pretty well, even though it wasn't transparent, and was handy as my brother had a longer reach/range that me, and was faster.

Cardboard shields would be good for the same reason that people say cardboard tanks are better. A cardboard shield made of cereal box cardboard would be good because it is not invincible, and could be destroyed by accurate shooting to one spot on the shield for some duration of time. I may construct one just to get a feel of how it performs in battle.

Off topic- Martianshark, what is the gun in your new profile pic?

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:55 am
by K3YD0N
I can see that shields make for good blocking slow evading big target and reloading would be slow

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 5:49 pm
by martianshark
atvan: That's the Water Warriors Gorgon, the most awesome gun available.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:24 pm
by HBWW
I also have an old sled lying around, non-circular, and I took some string and tied up a handle on it. It's still cumbersome to use, but it gives fairly good vertical coverage.

If you want to use destructible shields for gameplay purposes, cardboard would be good.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:50 pm
by atvan
Martianshark: I didn't see it on the first page of isoaker's listing, and was too lazy to hit the [2], lol.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:15 pm
by K3YD0N
Old sleds would be good if u got a ton of people like a first row of people with shields that make gaps ( but still a solid wall )and they squirt water in-between the cracks while a second row helps them refill while the first row holds the shield up, also u could have a third row lanching water balloons over the sheild wall and long ranged blasters but powerful shoot water over the wall to land on the other side, to make it go faster have a finnal row carring water buckets to people who need to refill.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:58 am
by atvan
Good luck getting enough people to do that. Also, the people in the back could easily be hit by arcing the shot of the other team. They would not be able to see the shot to dodge it with so many shields in the way blocking their view. If the people were dependent on the others in the system, it would be easy to take out the people in the back, then pick off those who needed the eliminated people. Also, those in the back would be easily picked off in such a tight formation. Also, the people attacking the formation would not be seen through the formation, and thus much of the water of the formation fighters would be wasted. Then a few attackers could take down the formation with weaker weaponry.

However, if everyone carried a shield on their back, they could still do shield formations, as well as flanking and other maneuvers. I may try carrying a shield like this in my next battle, depending on the circumstances. If you take a flying saucer sled, and tie a strap between the two handles, you can sling the sled over your back. This would protect your back from ambush shots, as well as being able to hold the shield for a frontal assault.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:43 pm
by Nitro123PG
I belive mobity is more important when it comes to sheilding. The saucer would be best as it allows you still be mobile and dodge shots if needed and yet your are still provided adequete protection. A large sled such as a tabogan would hinder you more than help.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:53 pm
by atvan
Yeah. Think about ancient shields. Most of them were round and about the size of a flying saucer sled. I even my flying saucer sled for a shield size circle for a school project.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:41 pm
by K3YD0N
U said that you could easily be flanked but what if you used clear plastic shields with a slight curve at the top to deflect arced shots and if you had men in a circle formation with shield men all around also you could give the water ballooners circle shields to deflect water from above and to form a shield wall over the top of the formation

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:05 am
by atvan
If shots can't come in, shots can't go out, for the most part. The shields you speak of would be sort of heavy, and if you manage to hit use person who carries a sheild, the formation falls apart. Also, there would be no stealth in this maneuver and if somebody was out of step, the formation might be taken out, or worse, everyone might trip and fall. If everyone carries an individual shield, the can do many of the things of the big formation, as well as more mobile maneuvers, as every is armed and free to move, to flank, or to pincer.

Also, clear platic clear enough to make a see-through shield out of will probably be to flimsy to make a good shield.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:50 am
by DX
The only thing I can see shields useful for is making the enemy waste water. The shields large enough to actually protect you have important, obvious drawbacks. They are also virtually worthless in the open, you need a chokepoint or other restricted area where the enemy HAS to confront you. If you're the team behind the shields, don't just assume the enemy will fight you head-on. They will flank, rush, dance, and try to create opportunities.

If the formation is almost watertight, don't assume they will fight at all. They'll just draw back and recast the location of the next engagement. If a player needs to be totally invulnerable, they don't need to fight water wars. Part of the fun is the risk and the vulnerability. Without a challenge, why bother.

Good dodging agility is better than shields anyway. It is quite possible to go 3, 4 wars without being hit. Fight a bunch of high-level Nerf wars with homemades and slingshot-weighted darts that come at you like bullets. Then come back and watch your ability to evade streams of water skyrocket. Good dodgers are almost always the toughest kills, much more so than the best shield wielders.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:26 am
by wetmonkey442
I think we are all failing to recognize the usefulness of shields built out of tree bark.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:48 am
by atvan
Lol wetmonkey

@DX- I thought the opposite- shields would be best on open ground where there is no cover. You carry the cover with you. Plus, if both teams have personal shields that don't completely cover you, then that seems fine, as kills can still be made, especially with flanking maneuvers.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:27 pm
by martianshark
The only thing useful about bark is that it's camouflage. Plastic lasts forever, can be made camouflage if you want, can be any shape, can be clear, is smoother, is stronger, is lighter, and is just way better.

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:01 pm
by atvan
Lol shark, I think he was kidding

Re: what is the best shield

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:25 pm
by martianshark
He did vote for bark though.