Review: Nerf N-Force Battlemaster Mace

 Nerf's Battlemaster is one of the newest and coolest pieces in the N-Force range; it is supposed to be a mace, based on the "flanged" variety (I always thought a mace was a big ball with spikes on it attached to a stick but I have learned there are other varieties- go me and wikipedia!) with a slight futuristic design tilt. Of all the current N-Force gear that's out, this would have to be my favourite. Here's why.

Battlemaster against the Thunder Fury Sword. Same length..

The Battlemaster is a bit of a compromise between the N-Force swords and the all conquering Warlock axe. It's quite a sleek and modern looking piece for a..medieval style weapon with three contact point grey and yellow foam "blades" that are made of the same stuff the Warlock blades are made of. Straight out of the packaging, it looks cool. Noone really knows what it is, but it still looks pretty tough anyway:)

Battlemaster head. Tuff.

Battlemaster's tri "blades".

The head's foam is quite dense and durable, yet soft enough to ensure minimal harm can be caused from it (a chock to the back or arm will unlikely cause much pain, one to the face will probably still hurt). It retains it's form quite well and after numerous blows to shields, couch arms or visitor's upper bodies, shows very minimal signs of wear and tear. It's pretty strong and takes a beating, from both kids and grown ups.

Top of the grip. Makes you wanna grab it:P

My favourite thing about the Battlemaster is the grip- it's got a fantastic feeling handle that hugs your fingertips and doesn't give much room for slippage. It also looks pretty tough in a nice black grooved rubber and features the N-Force logo on the top of the handle. The neck and grip are thick enough to get your fingertips around without being too small that you feel like you're hurling around a chopstick. Noooice.

The handle. Like tyre treads. sort of.

The Battlemaster feels pretty solid to hold, and fits nicely in the hands of both grown ups and children. It has a good weight to it, so you can hold it both with a two handed staff or baseball bat style grip, but it's also not so heavy that you couldn't wield it with one hand for maximum..swingage:) With enough force, it can give your opponent a few bruises to the legs and arms so if your opponent is a wussy mummy's boy, you may want to avoid battling them..especially if their mother is in range:)

Against the Warlock Axe. Warlock IS a beast mind you.

In battle, it pretty much holds it's own very well. A friend of mine managed to be pretty crafty with the tri-blade head and used it to grab and twist swords out of his opponents (ie mine) fingertips; everyone else pretty much just bashes the hell out of whoever's coming their way with it. Personally I think on brute swinging and smashing alone, it gets owned a little by the Warlock due to sheer size, but if you were to add skill and agility into the equation, for the more skilled and crafty melee wielder, the Battlemaster is a very formidable weapon . Build-wise it's more like the Warlock, and less like the Thunder Fury swords, meaning it totally tramples on the inferior quality swords easily. 

"Lets get ready to RUMBLEEEEEEEE"

Of all the N-Force gear, the Battlemaster is probably my favourite, just edging out the Warlock mainly due to it's more futuristic appearances and cooler feeling handle. It's a great piece to throw around without having to worry about damaging it or causing (serious) injury to anyone; kids love it almost as much as geeky grown ups. It's durable yet lightweight, takes a beating and basically is just damn cool to hold. At this stage, it'd be my N-Force weapon of choice:)

Of course there's no word on how much the Battlemaster would be in Australia, but the US pricing is around 20-25 dollars. If you want one, there are plenty of places who'll ship to ya:)