The Hailfire is certainly elite. It is very practical in a war and it will achieve good money for nerf. Its main feature is probably the ammo capacity with eight places for clips it provides ammo for a long time which is essential for stretched out nerf wars that tend to occur. The other feature that is handy to do with the clips is that when you push the handle it swaps the clips so you don't have to move it around manually. This means quicker reload time so you can keep firing which is also essential in a nerf war.
Another feature that sets the Hailfire apart from other "machine" guns is its size. Other guns in this caliber are unwieldy and large. I find it brilliant that its capacity is larger than any gun (barring the vulcan chain mod) yet it is easily manoeuvred and easy to aim. It is lighter than other guns in this group which brings us to the next pro: batteries.
The Stampede, Vulcan and other guns in the Hailfire's group usually use six D batteries. Six D batteries weigh eight hundred or so grams (allaline). This battery size and how quick the stampede or vulcan gobbles them up tends to put people including parents off those sorts of guns. This is also a minus in the middle of a nerf war trying to attack when you can't even lift your gun. This compared to 96 grams worth of AA batteries in the Hailfire and you start to realise what a beast the Hailfire really is.
So basically it has all the features of the other machine guns packed into the one gun right? Wrong! The gun has some downfalls where other guns are more tactical and helpful in a nerf war.
Firstly the amount of tactical rails is terrible. Like the vortex partner of the stampede the Hailfire has one tactical rail. While other available blasters in this caliber have four or several the Hailfire has an amazing amount of one. Also the placement of this one tactical rail is terrible the handle gets in the way of lights or lasers and sights are useless as the firing is a lot lower than the tactical rail.
The second downer is that it needs a sight. You have to hope your shooting them you can't aim you have to shoot three or more bullets unless your lucky, to get the target. This ok because it's not a sniper but still it would be better if it had as good a sight as the stampede. This is an improvement nerf need to include in their next blasters.
Despite its weaknesses the Hailfire can be deployed very well. A tactic that I usually try to deploy with a team mate is that one of you fire while the other loads so you don't lose ground, cover basically, but with the Hailfire, you have seemingly an endless amount of ammo you can cover multiple people. Have them to reload then once their done you reload. This is especially helpful for defending bases and indeed holding a position. Another tactic that you can deploy is stretching out the war. Continue to fire and have them firing, covering your team mates who have fully loaded their guns, until the enemy seem to be loading then make use of the other team members and get them to creep up on them and slaughter them. It. It's probably the best gun for endless cover and the enemy can't make progress.
But how do you fight it? Coming up against the Hailfire is a strenuous task. Overpowering it is a tough job I admit but when deploying the correct tactics can lead to its downfall. The best chance you have is your first shot. Make sure your first shot is lined up as well as possible. It is hard to fight a longer war with it.
Another tactic that can be deployed well is getting at the person from two angles. Having to fight against two people is hard. It is probably the best way of attack against it.
The Hailfire is simply put... A beast.
God bless and happy nerfin' Ethan
