Web Posted December 31, 2004
Updated December 31, 2004

Reliable as a Heavy-Duty Transmission

Hello again ammunition addicts. Once again you are receiving a short issue because of a low amount of content available and my continued effort to return this newsletter to a semi-normal schedule.
 

Receiving Feedback

Because Car Wars Fifth Edition is on hold indefinitely and interest in WADA has waned, what do you want in this newsletter each month? Please send me your ideas and I will try to implement them.

What are you doing with Car Wars? Are you playing in dark alleys or simply reading the rulebooks and reminiscing about glory days when autodueling was popular? Have you migrated to other systems such as Redline d20 or Wreckage?

What are ideal settings for roleplaying in the Car Wars world? What systems work best for Car Wars? Do you use only Car Wars material or do you add cyberpunk aspects?
 

Would you like to see the combat system of Car Wars revised to allow more detailed Chassis and Crossbow battles? Would you also like to see more engine, vehicle and campaign options in a new version of Chassis and Crossbow?

Please send me some feedback on these questions so I can make this magazine more enjoyable for you.

I have updated the WADA Chapter Registry. Please inform me of errors and omissions.

The next issue of CWIN, Vol. 7, No. 7, is being released next Sunday, July 25th. Vol. 7, No. 8 will be published on its on-time scheduled release of August 1st.

Drive offensively,

Michael P. Owen

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001976250_satlets10.html

Letters to the Editor
The Seattle Times
July 10, 2004

The other guy's problem

I finally figured out why I hate hybrid cars.

Last week, I passed a gasoline-electric that was holding up rush-hour traffic. The driver had this smug look on his face and was doing a cruise-controlled 62.5 in the 60-mph fast lane while talking on his hands-free cellphone. It irritated the hell out me.

I'm not prone to road rage, but this was a four-lane freeway for (gosh) sake!

I recognize this enviro-socialist was within the letter of the law, but he was not within the "spirit of the fast lane." As a car guy, this is important (to me).

Obviously, he wasn't a car guy, but that really isn't the point. After all, I don't hate everyone who isn't a car guy, and if it were just a matter of being held up in traffic, there is plenty of blame to go around -- including my wife's grocery-getting SUV. (At least she picked an older Jeep ZJ with a lift kit, and if you try real hard, you can pretend some kind of "off-road driving experience" when you're stuck in traffic.)

So, this incident prompted me to consider the true source of my irritation. It was simple. Hybrids as "societal saviors" reduce the automobile to nothing more than transportation. What a waste. The concept of "performance" (real or imagined) is completely missing.

And he had that stupid smug look on his face. Arrrggh!

-- Richard Smith, North Bend
 
 

1:64 WEAPONS FOR MAD MAX/CAR WARS TYPE CONVERSION
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=19505

The Miniatures Page Message Boards
http://theminiaturespage.com

captain arjun
Date: 14 Mar 2004 7:44 a.m. PST

I'm thinking of doing something in this period with 28mm em4 figs and Hot Wheels 1:64 cars, and was hoping I could get some info on where I can get some weapons for these in the same scale.

Cheaply.

Thanks.
 

ming31
Date: 14 Mar 2004 8:38 a.m. PST

A lot of Hot Wheels are not scaled for 28mm, choose carefully. I have used old Dark Future weapons and a lot of scratch building. All you really see is the end of the barrel. Cut ends off weapons and stick them on.
 

Velbor
Date: 14 Mar 2004 9:14 a.m. PST

My own modus operandi is to sculpt a blister or teardrop shape onto the bodyshell with a hard putty like milliput then drill a hole for a wire barrel.

A useful large gun barrel can be had by stripping down a plastic disposable lighter for the turned brass nozzle.

GWs plastic weapons have their advocates.

28mm is a difficult scale to get diecasts to fit with. Genuine 1/64 and 1/43 look too small and too big. Luckily quite a few manufacturers make toys to fit the box. Look at Matchbox "1/64" for real-life small cars. Possibly Hot Wheels for motorbikes. Bburrago and Maisto for real-life large cars. Needless to say , take a figure with you to the shops and get his opinion!

See below for inspiration. The black one is my baby.

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/pipexdsl/o/aoqz52/skunk/
 

D6 guy
Date: 14 Mar 2004 9:26 a.m. PST

Look at Stan Johansen's site.

Stan Johansen Miniatures
http://www.stanjohansenminiatures.com

He has "Mad Max" type figs, and vehicle conversion kits and weapons.
 

dumelow
14 Mar 2004 2:14 p.m. PST

I co-ran a 25-28mm Mad Max demo game at the Burton DBM show (21st and 22nd Feb.). Though strictly speaking 1/72nd scale (a figure is 1" high times by 72 = 72" or 6' which is around average human height) we used the biggest cars we could get (up to 1/48th scale). Any smaller than about 1/60 ish and the vehicles look rediculously small for the figures even though they are to the correct scale. We used a mixture of figures, EM4 miniatures do some Mad Max style ones and I even used some heavily converted GW ones. For the vehicle mounted weapons we used a combination of brass rods (for the dart gun on the red car) and spears (for the harpoon guns) if you are sticking to the story line most of the weapons are personel mounted so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
 

The Game Crafter
14 Mar 2004 8:41 p.m. PST

I use the 1/43 scale vehicles they are a little large but I have not found anything closer and I have been running Road Warrior type games since the mid 80s I scratch build most of my weapons, though lately I bought some 25mm WWII and Vietnam weapons and added them to some of my vehicles they work great
 

Phoenix
14 Mar 2004 9:14 p.m. PST

Some questions pertaining to 1/43: Do table sizes get in the way? Like how do you handle the situation where some car gets up to 100 kph and ends up offboard or hitting the "edge of the world?"
 

captain arjun
14 Mar 2004 10:48 p.m. PST

Thanks for the replies, guys!
 

Velbor
15 Mar 2004 4:47 a.m. PST

Phoenix -- Off the edge = Out of the game .

As most movement/time scale/ fire rate rules are based on pure conjecture (if it looks right). I just use 1/64 scale rules as is.

Unless you are playing a continuous road style game, you do need a fair amount of space.
 

Hundvig
15 Mar 2004 8:42 a.m. PST

The "off the table" thing isn't a problem if you're playing in an enclosed arena, ala Car Wars duelling. Smacking a wall at 100 mph is an excellent lesson in physics.
 

Kitchen Wolf
Date: 15 Mar 2004 8:53 a.m. PST

There are ordnance kits for 1/72 aircraft available from manufacturers such as Italeri, for those of you that like to mount rockets on the roof rack.
 

dumelow
Date: 15 Mar 2004 11:29 a.m. PST

For the compound asssault from mad max we used a 6' x 8' table with the approximately 2.5' x 2.75' compound in the middle. For the tanker chase we used a rolling road moving back 8" each turn (max. car speed being about 24" plus add-ons such as nitrus oxide, etc.). The rules we used were our own specifically written for the setting.
 

The Game Crafter
Date: 15 Mar 2004 6:43 p.m. PST

I try to stay away from running road battles though I use sectional road pieces about 2 feet long for the straights and 2 feet square for the turns. I prefer to run open area off road games on a ping pong table 9 by 5 area negative modifiers for speed of shooting vehicles tend to keep speeds down. Since I use a three action per figure per turn rule, drivers have to spend actions to drive the car off road or on and gunners have to use actions to hang on a dune buggy or jeep bouncing over hills and rough terrain at high speed.

Hanging onto a vehicle ala Rat Patrol is not a very effective gun platform if a vehicle careens offthe board depending on the scenario it is either out of the game or does not return until a random number of turns later.
 

aliensurfer
Date: 16 Mar 2004 9:02 a.m. PST

I have Dark Future and that used the rolling road idea. What rule sets are out there that don't, that could be used to say simulate two near-future/low-tech gangs having a turf war or similar?

Thanks,

Alien
 

captain arjun
Date: 23 Mar 2004 7:05 a.m. PST

Thanks to all who replied.

I've put up a pic of my converted Hot Wheel '64 Chevy Impala at my club gallery page.

http://wargames.spyz.org/napnuts/Arjun/My_car_001

The chain gun is from the eM4 ganger heavy weapon set.
 
 

GAMMA FODDER'S BLOG
http://www.gammafodder.com/mt/archives/2004_01.html

Comfort Films for a Small Mind
January 17, 2004

Thanks to a recent CD ROM collapse, non-existent driver support and a very generous gift from Mizalaina , I am now the proud owner of a LG DVD / CD-RW ROM drive. Seconds after installing the necessary DVD player software and finding the hack online (no one pays for software, do they?), I spent the afternoon stripping movie stills so that I could present:

Stupid Scenes from Stupid Films from the Stupid Man Who Loves Them (Top 5)

These are by no means my favourite films nor ones that I consider high art or bottom feeding pop trash. They're the films that I love to watch again and again, in various states of inebriation and sobriety, clothed and not-so clothed, usually with a ring of powdered Doritos cheese around my lips. Think of these films as my audio-visual comfort food, pre-packaged and greasy; the best thing to enjoy while sitting on the couch in your PJs on yet another cold winter night.

No. 4. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Second in the Mad Max trilogy, this film was responsible for losing more of my hard-earned paper route wages than any other. After seeing this film in the early 80's, I spent most of my money on buying over-priced Steve Jackson cardboard cut-outs and paper arena maps for Car Wars and spent most of my free time trying to convince my close friends to play it. The tabletop game never captured the adrenaline rush of mohawked Australians driving rusty pickup trucks under the wheels of Mel Gibson's 18-wheeler, so it was shamefully abandoned. The film, however, never left my canon of mindless couch-based manliness and I still watch it on a regular basis.

Favourite Scene: The near-endless car chase battle of good guys versus the wasteland horde, led by the Ayatollah of Rock n' Rolla himself, Humungus.
 

LUNATIX LOOP
http://www.leacock.com/locust/index.html
http://www.plenarygames.com

Lunatix Loop will be published by Plenary Games in 2004!

Plenary Games, a new publisher of strategy games such as Fresh Fish, is planning on releasing Lunatix Loop in 2004. Look for more details here, or at the Plenary Games website.

The Armed & Dangerous expansion has been put on hold. Look for it (as well as other goodies) to be rolled into the Plenary Games release of Lunatix Loop.
 
 

MAD MAX 4: FURY ROAD

Mad Max Movies FAQ
http://www.madmaxmovies.com

5-Jul-2004

* According to Yahoo Entertainment news, Mad Max 4 is back on again, and Mel is ready to start shooting.

Yahoo! Australia and New Zealand Entertainment
http://au.news.yahoo.com/ent/woolworths.html.
 

ARJUN'S GALLERY: THUNDERDOME
http://wargames.spyz.org/napnuts/Arjun
 

BATTLECARS E-BOARDGAME
http://www.e-boardgames.com/Cars/battlecars.htm
 

EVASIVE DRIVING
http://www.righteouswarriortemple.org/New%20Folder/ed.htm
 

FREE RPG LIST: POST-APOCALYPTIC GAMES
http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/bykeyword/postapocalyptic.html