Tactical Tag in Tennessee
- tiviachick
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 9 minutes ago
When I first heard about the laser tag arena at WarZone Ax N Tag in McKenzie, TN I was immediately interested in making a trip. After all, I had never actually played using the Laserwar laser tag system and this location was promising to be something a little different. I must say, this was a completely unique experience!
Laser Tag Day was a perfect opportunity (or more accurately, the very next morning, which I think we can reasonably call Laser Tag Weekend) and on the heels of my Friday adventures I woke up bright and early to hit the road for Tennessee! Owner Mark Bowlin and his staff coordinated an opportunity for me to play against some local college students, so I was joined by members of the Phi Delta Sigma fraternity and Lambda Sigma sorority from Bethel University. Go Wildcats!
Macy, Jacey, Kyle, Hansford (president of the fraternity) and Alana would be my teammates/competition for my very first experience playing Laserwar, which was documented on video by Sean Anthony Hines and Morgan who came out to film the activities. Spoiler alert…when this video team follows you around while playing laser tag they make you look like a rock star!
Yes, playing at WarZone Ax N Tag is exactly as much fun as it looks! So let’s start from the beginning.
When I got there I was greeted by Christie and Chris who gave me a tour of the business, which includes much more than just laser tag. But you know me… laser focused as I made a beeline for the row of Laserwar taggers on the wall.
And the vests! These are completely different from any other laser tag vest I have worn. There is a process to putting it on from connecting the top clip, then the waist with two chest harness pieces and even arm bands securing it to your torso.
I think I’m ready!
Christie showed me a few of the features of the tagger, which is Laserwar’s AK-12LT model.
I am taking note now whenever I see manufacturers putting flashlights on their phasers and here’s another one that has incorporated that feature.
I spent some time familiarizing myself with the buttons and the display features.
Then, I started focusing on the sounds of the equipment and what I would need to be attentive to in the game. Here is what the system sounds like.
When you land a tag, your opponent’s vest goes from steady colored lights to flashing white during the tag, however it takes multiple tags to deplete an opponent’s shields all the way down to deactivation, so I didn’t focus on the number of tags as much as I did simply “tag until they’re down”.
Christie explained the equipment and the mechanics of the game.
Before heading into the arena we all familiarized ourselves with the equipment.
Then, it was time to check out the arena. It’s roughly 3000-4000 square feet of space, but a nice use of linear wall space in the first area makes it feel larger.
How did I get such a good view of the top? Well, I made my way up into the playable area of the crow’s nest, looking out onto the arena.
This is quite a view!
In practicality, more can be accomplished by tagging from below (it does take some effort to get up there and it’s more of a challenge with a tagger). I simply prefer the mobility of playing on the lower lever and enjoyed finding the windows and little nooks where I could get the best angles during the game.
We started with a game of two-team deathmatch. This was exhilarating!
I used tagger number 22 and found myself with the overall top score of the game while playing on the blue team (even though in total score the “Undead” were edged out by the “Inquisition” team).
The leaderboard view gave a more detailed breakdown of the individual results.
Christie explained the statistics that we were looking at by category.
Nice way to come out of my first game of Laserwar! I examined the statistics further on the game printouts while the others explored the other attractions at this facility.
I enjoyed seeing the variety of game
possibilities that were available for us to choose.
When the group was back together, we opted to play an elimination game called Hunger Games, where we would start on teams, but it would all boil down to the last man standing…or last woman standing, as the case may be. ;)
This was a fun game format, although elimination games do tend to end quickly. However, we all thoroughly enjoyed getting to try something new and have some varied laser tag experiences here.
While my mind was focused primarily on my interest in their main tactical arena, it was interesting to see that they offer a second arena space, which is more geared towards kids. It is splattered with neon paint under black lights for a retro 90s vibe. They have a variety of kid-friendly home market laser tag phasers for use here too.
Here they can do Nerf Wars or Gellyball and have an option well suited for younger players.
They also have a rage room (when you simply MUST destroy a washing machine in ten minutes!) and axe throwing (which, as a former Lumberjack Princess, you would think I would be better at), so there are multiple attractions available to enjoy here.
Mark gave me some history of the business. It was first opened as a laser tag site, roughly around the time of the pandemic under different ownership before being passed along to a second owner whose son operated it only for parties. When Mark bought the business this past June he knew it would have to be able to accommodate customers beyond just parties, so he provides opportunities for walk-ins and groups, but also expanded to include this wider variety of activities. The Laserwar equipment he uses for laser tag was purchased by the previous business owner, but according to Christie, they still get support from Laserwar and are pleased with what the system has to offer.
Mark has indicated to me that he believes this is a rather unique set of gear to be operating. My limited experience with this brand had previously come solely from experiencing it at IAAPA. I almost feel like I can see the aesthetic inspiration that carries over to Cybertag (a product also manufactured by Laserwar), which I have played before. Unique experiences are what I find most interesting, and this visit provided me with plenty!
Everyone had a blast checking out all the things to do at this site that really does have something for everyone. Want to see proof? Check out extended videos Sean created! See them in the War Zone Ax N Tag Facebook…
Shout out once again to Sean Hines and see more of his amazing video work at https://linktr.ee/justmesoulo.
So, as you can tell, my extended Laser Tag Day experience at WarZone Ax N Tag was a lot of fun! Getting to try a system I’ve never played before was the main reason I went, but the memories of a great experience are what will stay with me from this visit.
Thank you to Mark, Christie, Chris and the whole team at WarZone Ax N Tag. What an awesome way to round out my International Laser Tag Day adventures!
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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