Mother’s Day NerfWar TurfWar

On Sunday, May 11^th, picnickers were having a quiet and relaxing afternoon celebrating Mother’s Day at Griffith Park when they became spectators to a massive NerfWar TurfWar. Joining together in their love of all things Nerf, over 100 Nerfers from the surrounding Los Angeles area arrived decked out in their favorite loadouts, shields, foam swords, and battle gear. These Nerfers had a blast as they gathered in the park, divided into four teams (Blue, Green, Black, and Red) and played Nerf war games over the course of three hours.

This year marks the 7^th year that NerfWar TurfWar has gone on. Hosted by Max Landis, NerfWar TurfWar grew from a small battle he did with a few friends into a huge event after he made it public on Facebook. The hundred or so warriors made sure to keep things organized and enjoyable for themselves and the spectators. They marked off the boundaries of their battlefield and even gathered to serenade “Happy Birthday” to kids having a birthday party nearby.

While it was chaotic fun with so many people, NerfWar TurfWar focused on honorable and epic battles. The participants monitored when they took damage, losing the use of their limbs when shot in the arm or leg, and lying down prone for the round when hit in the head or chest. As Max Landis described when interviewed by Bryan Mahoney, “This has led to situations where armless, legless people are the only survivors and they have to crawl a quarter mile to get each other.” Other than a few blisters and bumps, there was only one major injury, when one Nerfer managed to slip badly early on in the games and broke his collarbone.

The war games played during this year’s NerfWar TurfWar included a fast and furious Mexican Standoff as well as a Zombie round, where players could come back to life after a certain amount of time. According to the poll on their event’s Facebook page, next year’s battle games will involve Capture the Flag, Melee Only, and Base Defense. So if you live or are in the Los Angeles area around Mother’s Day of next year, consider joining their group for an awesome afternoon of Nerf gun warfare.

If you’re nowhere near California but are still interested in having a Nerf gun battle, all it takes is getting some friends together and finding somewhere to play! In order to have a great time and show everyone how Nerf battles are an epic and fun pastime, Max Landis advised that “The most important part of Nerfwar Turfwar is to act like adults and not like children.”

For your own Nerf War, a fun group game is Attack and Defend, where the teams have a time limit wherein they must capture or defend a certain location. There is also the Hunger Games battle, where the teams put all their weapons and ammo into a pile, run at the same time to get what they can, and the last person standing without getting tagged is the winner.

For more information, you can look on their NerfWar TurfWar Facebook Event Page and check out some video footage of their epic Nerf War this year. Would you start a NerfWar TurfWar style event in your own area? Let us know in the comments!