A Sidearm can be an excellent tool in Foam Warfare, if selected and used properly.  However, selection is not a step to be taken lightly.  Your sidearm should never be just a gun that’s smaller than your Primary.  Decisions like that can, and will get you killed.  Keep in mind when selecting a sidearm all of the elements of your blasters.

Let’s start with your chosen primary.  How do you prime it?  If it is pumped, the size of a sidearm could affect your ability to do so quickly, as the shell could get in the way.  Some Sidearms are so bulky that you cannot reach the pump on your primary at all because of the shell.  Another good question to ask yourself is how do you fire your primary?  Do you hold it with both hands while firing, or just one?  Does it require two hands?  If this is true, then your selected sidearm should probably be holsterable or carried hands-free somehow.

Continuing with the questions, what is the purpose of your primary?  Is it for Sharpshooting, General Assault, Raiding, Cover Fire, or others, etc?  The role of your primary plays in accordance with your role and style in a war.  Your sidearm should be no different.  It should compliment you, your role, and most importantly, your style.  One of the most important questions to ask yourself about your primary is what sort of rate of fire does your primary have?  If it is slow, then you may want a sidearm with a fast rate of fire to make up for your primary’s lack thereof, to help balance things out.  The same goes for high rates of fire in a primary.  You may want a sidearm with a slower rate of fire that has better range for long-distance shots, so that you can hit from a distance, and if you miss, your primary will allow you to close the gap and go in for the kill.

It depends heavily on your style of gameplay, such as how often you find yourself in situations needing a few (or a lot) of extra shots that you can pop off in rapid succession, or visa versa.  Lastly, ask yourself “Is there anything that I feel is missing from my primary?  Is there some sort of empty hole needed for my style that my primary can’t fill?”  If so, you will most definitely want to seek out a sidearm that can fill that gap.

Once you’ve considered all aspects of your primary, you should list all of the aspects you discovered you wanted or needed in your future sidearm.  This should include size, so that it doesn’t inhibit your movement or the priming of your primary, uses, so that it will compliment you, your style, and your primary, and features, which may fill in any gaps left open by your primary that you want or need filled.

The last step before beginning the sidearm shopping and selection process is considering how you want your sidearm primed.  If you primary is large or takes two hands, you will not want a sidearm that requires that you pump it.  A cocking plunger is far easier to use when your hands are full.

If you follow these steps, you will usually come up with a sidearm that not only fits your needs and style, but is also lethal on the battlefield.  If you do this correctly and choose well, you could very well be unstoppable.  And you’ll do it in style.

Yours in Foam,

-Falcon