Editor's Note: This issue was sent via e-mail as Vol. 10, No. 3.

The Undead Autoduelist Returns

Happy Holidays. The schedule of CWIN over the past two years may seem like this magazine has been hit with twin APFSDS-loaded ATGs, but like the venerable Piranha, it is still going. After working seven days a week since September, I have a few days to attend to other business.

Let us make a deal. If I publish an issue every month in 2008, will you send me news and articles on a regular basis?
 

Blogs and Death Races

There are a few new blogs now available for Car Wars. The details are in the Web Watch section. Please support these resources.

The classic Activision computer game DeathTrack is returning after nearly 20 years. A Russian company is creating a state-of-the-art sequel. The details are in the VADR section.
 

Dark Future Returns

Thanks to the efforts of veteran Car Wars player Francis Greenaway, Dark Future, the classic, out-of-print, auto-combat miniatures boardgame by Games Workshop is now available in Adobe Acrobat format. The details are in the new Dark Future News section. Remember to check out Future Highways, the Dark Future online magazine published by Francis.
 

WADA News

The WADA Car Wars League will return in 2008. I have not decided on the specifics, but I will be sponsoring prizes, at least for the top three duelists. If I am going to purchase prizes from my own funds, the least you can do is send me regular duel reports, okay? Current news on the tournament will be posted on the WADA Web site.

Thank you to the newly-established SCRAP, a WADA chapter based in Georgia for requesting the League to return.

Start scheduling duels and races, designing cars and plan on lots of vehicular mayhem in 2008!

World Autoduel Association
http://www.serv.net/~owenmp/wada
 

Design Wish List

What weapons and gadgets from the real world, the virtual (movies, television, books, etc.) and imaginations have you always wanted to see in Car Wars? Send your ideas to CWIN. Do not consider if the rules system would be imbalanced with the variants. Open your mind and consider the possibilities. I will maintain a collection of submissions on the SWAT Web site in 2008.

Although nothing is off-limits, I recommend you consider only items that would be expected in a mid-21st century world of automotive combat with semi-realistic physics. I suggest thinking less of powerful and exotic arms (like energy weapons and military missiles) and more gadgets that provide new strategies (like ones in the James Bond films).
 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Michael P. Owen
 

Orlando man turns in missile launcher
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003843233_missile19.html

The Associated Press and The Seattle Times
Sunday, August 19, 2007 - Page updated at 02:05 AM

Photograph: Orlando Police Sgt. Barbara Jones holds a surface-to-air missile launcher that had been turned in to Orlando Police "Kicks for Guns." -- Red Huber / AP

Orlando, Florida -- Police were hoping for a good turnout at their "Kicks for Guns" sneaker exchange, but they weren't expecting a surface-to-air missile launcher.

An Ocoee man showed up and exchanged the 4-foot-long launcher for size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter, The Orlando Sentinel reported Friday.

Taking advantage of the exchange's no-questions-asked policy, the man was not identified. He told The Orlando Sentinel he found the weapon in a shed he tore down last week.

"I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it here," he said. "I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."
 
 

The 80 mph 'Mad Max' monster targeting the Taliban
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=463936&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490

By Christopher Leake
Daily Mail U.K.
Last updated at 22:22pm on 23rd June 2007

It looks more like a vehicle from one of Mel Gibson's Mad Max movies.

But this four-ton monster truck is the British Army's new weapon designed to take on insurgents on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan.

British-made, the Supacat Weapons Mounted Installation Kit boasts awesome firepower which will be unleashed early next year. British and other Nato troops are being targeted by roadside bombs and daily firefights.

Awesome: The Supacat is described by one officer as 'a serious bit of kit'

Infantry soldiers have complained existing Land Rovers provide insufficient protection from the bombers.

Now, the Ministry of Defence is buying 130 of the light-armoured beasts – which can reach a maximum 80mph – and will take delivery of the first early next year.

They will use a grenade machine gun which fires at up to 340 rounds per minute, usually in bursts of three to five rounds, at targets up to a mile away.

The Supacats will also employ a 7.62mm-calibre General Purpose Machine Gun, which fires 750 rounds per minute with a range of nearly a mile.

The vehicles, made at Honiton in Devon, will also have a mounted 0.5in-calibre heavy machine gun, which fires huge rounds more than a mile at a rate of 485 to 635 a minute. They are powered by a 5.9-litre turbo-diesel engine and will carry three or four crew.

One senior Army officer described the new super-truck as a "serious bit of kit", adding it would be a "huge boost to our long-range patrolling capability".

Senior defence sources say the Supacats will particularly come into their own against the Taliban in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, which has no roads.

Defence Minister Lord Drayson said last night: "These vehicles are well armed, swift and agile and will boost our capability with some serious firepower.

"The MoD and the Treasury have worked hard to get them to our troops in quick time, and they start going out to theatre early next year."
 
 

In police car-mower chase, bet on the cop
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21121028

W.Va. man accused of trying to evade arrest while riding lawnmower drunk

The Associated Press and MSNBC.com
Updated: 5:56 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2007

Martinsburg, WV -- A man accused of drunken driving reportedly tried to outrun the police, but his vehicle wasn't up to the task.

Michael Ginevan of Bunker Hill was driving a riding lawnmower on Runnymeade Road about a mile from his home when a Berkeley County sheriff's deputy attempted to pull him over. Ginevan, 39, allegedly sped away, and Deputy J.H. Jenkins stopped his cruiser and gave chase on foot, according to magistrate court records.

Jenkins caught up to the lawnmower after a short chase, but Ginevan allegedly wouldn't stop, so the deputy pulled him off the machine. Ginevan refused to take a field sobriety test and was arrested. Jenkins then found a case of beer strapped to the lawnmower's front, court records show.

Ginevan was charged with fleeing while driving under the influence and obstructing an officer. He was being held Tuesday at the Eastern Regional Jail on $7,500 bond.

A person who answered the phone at the jail did not know whether Ginevan had hired an attorney. There was no telephone listing for Ginevan in the Bunker Hill area.
 
 

Algae-in-a-vat may power the future
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2064607.htm?tech

Anna Salleh
ABC Science Online
Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Photograph: Green algae like this could one day help drive a hydrogen economy (Image: Solar Bio-fuels Consortium)

Photograph: A prototype bioreactor (Image: Solar Bio-fuels Consortium)
 

Genetically modified green algae could one day produce stored energy in the form of hydrogen gas, say Australian researchers, fuelling a hydrogen economy.

Associate Professor Ben Hankamer of the University of Queensland and colleagues report they have increased the sunlight-capturing efficiency of algae that can pump out hydrogen.

If successfully scaled up, the researchers say this could complement or be an alternative to our present carbon-based economy.

"We urgently need to develop and install new CO2-free energy production systems. Our systems offer one solution for this," the researchers say.

They report their findings in the latest issue of the Plant Biotechnology Journal.

The researchers have been studying single-celled photosynthetic algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii).

The algae have evolved two kinds of photosynthesis, one of which produces hydrogen gas under low-sulfur conditions.

It's this hydrogen gas that the team hopes to harvest from a bioreactor, a concentrated mass of algae in sealed vats that pumps out hydrogen whenever the sun shines.

But the researchers have a few hurdles to overcome.

A major problem is the algae are inefficient at capturing sunlight, with 90% of the light falling on them given off as heat or fluorescence.

Hankamer and colleagues report they have now used RNA interference (RNAi) to engineer a strain of algae to make the process more efficient.

Interestingly, they achieved this by silencing some of the genes responsible for producing light-harvesting proteins.

The engineered algae only use the light they need rather than wasting it as fluorescence and heat.

In a bioreactor this means the light the strain doesn't need would pass through to other light-harvesting algae deep inside the mass.

And because the new strain has fewer light-harvesting proteins, it is a lighter green than the natural one, which also helps light to penetrate deeper into the bioreactor.

The researchers also say the engineered algae are more resistant to light damage than natural strains.

This is important because given the same amount of light, the algae would survive longer and reproduce more, thus possibly generating more hydrogen gas.

Hankamer and colleagues have already patented a strain of the algae that is more efficient at converting captured sunlight into hydrogen gas.

The next step is to improve the light-capturing efficiency of this strain, says Hankamer.

"We have to improve the efficiency of the process in order to make it economically viable," he says.
 

Environmental impacts

An algal bioreactor would have obvious positives, says Hankamer.

Not only would it produce renewable energy, but he says the algae would also consume more carbon dioxide than they give off.

And unlike other biofuel systems, it would not take up valuable arable land, since the bioreactors could be put in desert areas.

But what about the environmental negatives?

"Nothing is 100% safe, whatever you do. But as far as I can see, this is a very safe system," says Hankamer, who says he has thought very carefully about the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

"I take the concerns of people very seriously who worry about GMOs," he says.

The organisms would be unlikely to escape into the environment, he says, because they are in sealed bioreactors and locating these in a desert would provide added safety.

"If they escape there they're not going to do much," he says.

Finally, he says, the plan is to burn the algal waste using a process called pyrolysis, which sterilises the algae and produces a form of stored carbon called agrichar.

The research received Australian Research Council and commercial funding.
 

University of Queensland
http://www.uq.edu.au

Plant Biotechnology Journal
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/PBI

Australian Research Council
http://www.arc.gov.au
 

Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 11:23:14 -0600
From: cleireac@gmail.com
To: owenmp@hotmail.com
Subject: Something for the Internet Newsletter

I don't know if its still going, but I ran across this piece that I thought would be interesting information for the newsletter. It seems that the algae vats were more valuable than we thought . . .

-- Hank Harwell, IOR #43
Brother Cleireac of Inisliath (SCA)
Website: <http://cleireac.infinitehosting.net/adventurestreet.html>
LiveJournal: <http://cleireac.livejournal.com/>
 

Damnation Alley Landmaster
Mad Max Movies FAQ Discussion Forum
http://www.madmaxmovies.com
Postby Bronze21 on Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:48 pm

Greetings. monstersinmotion.com is now selling the Landmaster resin model kit from Damnation Alley. It looks pretty good overall, but you'll have to cut the center section out and replace the resin with cloth if you want a correct look for the steering joint. It's $175.00 U.S. It just came out in the last couple of months.

Monsters in Motion
http://monstersinmotion.com

BRONZE21, MFP 467, Interceptor Driver
 

AM: Funk
http://www.amfunk.com

Seventh Sun Studios
http://www.seventh-sun.com
 
 

Death Race

Also Known As: Death Race 3000 (USA) (working title)

Internet Movie Database: Death Race
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452608/maindetails

Release Date: 26 September 2008 (USA)

Plot Outline: Set in a future version of America, a prisoner (Jason Statham) who is weeks away from being released is forced by his warden (Joan Allen) to compete in a brutal, deadly car race alongside his fellow inmates.

Filming Locations: Montreal, Québec, Canada

Company: Cruise/Wagner Productions
 
 

Death Track: Resurrection

Death Track: Resurrection in Development
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/deathtrackresurrection/news.html?sid=6172662

By 1C
Press Release -- This Content Was Not Created By GameSpot
Posted Jun 18, 2007 11:44 am PT

Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2007 – Leading Eastern and Central European publisher 1C Company and Skyfallen Entertainment are proud to announce the development of Death Track: Resurrection – the successor to the legendary Deathtrack, a game which is considered by many the founder of the modern combat racing genre.

Death Track: Resurrection is a combat racing title that plunges players into the not too distant future when the world is in chaos. The population is tired of traditional sports. Replaced by far more aggressive, violent and thrilling types of entertainment the public screams for more. The attention of Earth's population is drawn to a new event, the "Survival Race". This is a World Tournament that takes place in the largest cities across the globe. Spectacular road battles in powerful vehicles are performed by world-renown drivers. This tournament with its fame and money attract more and more new drivers every day.

The main character of the game is a rookie driver that enters the tournament for the first time. As this character players will soon realize that the battle on the tracks is sometimes not fair. To achieve the top results they need to believe the end justifies the means. They will have to use every weapon at their disposal to win their races and triumph over numerous enemies. The compelling single player story line will let players become immersed in a world of great treachery and stunning battles..

Death Track: Resurrection will be shown for the first time at E3 2007 in the 1C booth. Its release date will be announced later this year. For more information on 1C please contact us at the numbers above or go to our website at http://int.games.1c.ru.
 

About 1C Company

1C Company specializes in distribution, publishing and development of interactive entertainment products and business software. Founded in 1991, 1C has become the leading publisher and distributor of computer games in Eastern and Central Europe. 1C Company is widely acknowledged as a game developer and has several internal studios. Internal developments of 1C include IL-2 Sturmovik, IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, Aces Expansion Pack and Pacific Fighters. 1C Company works as a publisher and producer with over 30 independent development studios and has produced over 100 projects for PC and consoles.

The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements." The Company cautions readers of this press release that a number of important factors could cause the 1C Company's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. 1C Company and 1C logo are registered trademarks of the 1C Company. All other company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright ã 2007 1C Company, All Rights Reserved.
 
 

E3 07: Death Track Hands-On
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/deathtrackresurrection/story.html?sid=6174885&tag=exclusives;title;1

We bypass World War III to get to a time where it's perfectly fine to have a machine gun mounted on your car.
By Aaron Thomas, GameSpot
Posted Jul 12, 2007 9:44 pm PT

If you were a PC gamer during the 1980s, you might remember the car-combat game Deathtrack. At least that's what developer 1C is hoping, because it's bringing the franchise back to the PC (and most likely the Xbox 360 as well). We snagged some hands-on time with the PC version of the game at E3 2007.

Death Track (yes, two words this time) is set in a post-World War III world where people have seemingly decided that regular racing is boring. So in an effort to spice things up they've mounted weapons to their race cars. Of course, these weapons aren't just for show. After all, the easiest opponent to pass is one whose vehicle is a smoldering wreck on the side of the road.

As with pretty much all racing games, the objective here is to finish first, but you'll want to look good doing it since you earn points for doing stunts off the ramps found on each course. These points will open up shortcuts on tracks and they can also be used to purchase new weapons and upgrades. The car we drove was equipped only with a machine gun, but it was enough to take out several opponents who had the nerve to get in front of us. While we made our way around the track we snagged some nitrous pickups as well as what appeared to be score multipliers.

Death Track isn't expected to be released until mid-2008, which is probably a good thing because the demo was a bit rough around the edges. The keyboard controls worked fine for basic maneuvers, but tight turns were difficult and controlling a car in midair didn't work very well. These issues led to several occasions where we were brought to a screeching halt by a seemingly innocuous encounter with a wall. There were also a few times when our car landed on its roof and just sat upside down for several seconds after a jump.

The game did have a nice frame rate, though there wasn't much going on to tax the graphics engine. The design of our car was cool, but it didn't cast a shadow on the road and there wasn't any car damage in place just yet.

Our brief experience with Death Track was underwhelming, but with so much time between now and the game's tentative release date, we're hopeful that 1C is able to realize the game's potential.

-- GameSpot
 
 

GWM: Guns, Wheels and Madheads

New game from Qplaze -- GWM: Guns, Wheels & Madheads
http://www.phonecontent.com/bm/news/1884.shtml

PhoneContent.com
Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Qplaze Mobile Development
http://www.qplaze.com

They fight on the ruins of the past. Their cars crash in whirlwinds of lead and flames, their rockets do not know how to miss, and six barreled machine guns cut armor as if it was butter. Their mad drivers are the best, and their cars are masterpieces of art, created for battle and show.

They fight in the shadows of the cities, in fritted fragments of ancient capitals, destroyed by nuclear blasts, in Coliseums, covered by oil and gasoline.

Crowds hail them, their images fly on neon panels in the sky, and satellites which were military some time ago, transmit their battles to all over the world.

They -- relics of the last war.

Their eyes -- replaced by optical sensors, saw the rise of nuclear suns above the states of the past and dozens of local conflicts smashed the world into pieces. Through smoke and dust they watched on orbital cities received some part of the mankind, and on stars of new war lighting in the sky. Without any fear and hesitation they fought in wars of the deserts and served for Barons of roads -- new masters of burnt Earth.

Fought -- and won.

Their battle cars were perfect, their armor was heavy, and engines didn't know what tiredness is. Fire of their weapon carved the way to a new order. They defended, they gave hope... but now there's peace, and there's no need in them.

They were too mad . . . their nerves directly connected with guidance systems, their hearts equipped with hydraulic boosters and adrenalin generators, their bones armored with titanium and wires run through their muscles . . . closer to their cars than to the humans, they could only fight and win -- and were unable to stop.

And now they have what they wanted to.

They fight again, in burnt deserts and ruins of the cities, on desert beaches and waste dumps before the cameras catching all their moves. They fight for their Enclaves, as they did before, and crowds cry when see their favorites. People watch their battles all over the world - on holographic screens stretched between sky-scrapers, in tumbledown orbital cities, in virtual stadiums of global information network.

They are gladiators, warriors of fire and neon, their cars stylized as cars of former century, there are no rules in their battles which can't be violated, there are no referees - the winner lefts the arena on the four wheels, others -- in reanimation box. They don't fight for honor which they had forgot, nor for glory which they already have -- they fight because they can't live in other way.

They fight because they are mad.

Their cars are the works of art of war, stylized, armored and deadly. Each of them is the part of memory of the past, of wars of roads and deserts, of blood and glory.

Each of them is unique.

Panther - fast and maneuverable raider, car of dusty desert roads and transient battle. It can run away from homing missile, and pursue slow enemy and its weight allows ram attack - but its armor forces its driver to avoid head-on collisions.

Pacifist -- military transport, stylized as wagon -- is not as harmless as it. Well, it can't win the straight line race, but its rockets can come up anyone, its armor can withstand a few direct hits from «Zeus» cannon, and its powerful engine can take him out from any scrape.

Marauder -- heavy off-road, terror of sand-drifts, in the past it was a perfect vehicle of escort. Its arguments - powerful ram and not bad maneuverability -- would be nice to be supported with something else, like paired machine gun «Volcano».

Guardsman -- created for active defense, maneuverable and well armored, Guardsman give many troubles to its enemies. Its ram hit is not very powerful but it's hard to catch it into sight, and sometimes its rockets appear just from nowhere.

Goliath -- armored truck, used in the past for especially valuable cargos transportation. Now its trailer is cut off forever - but its armor is still hard and its speed allows him to fight with more lightweight and frail enemies.

Whirlwind -- the fastest from road warriors, red fighter, able to overtake its own rocket. Its credo - powerful and fast blow from the distance, its speed and maneuverability - it's main advantages. It is not strong in ram battle and blows exchange.

Destroyer -- the heaviest and armored of all cars, battle bulldozer, able to smash the enemy without any weapon. Its armor can withstand mortar salvo, and many enemies were just crashed by it in the times of Road wars.

They all accustomed to die and rise again in cybernetic reanimators, each of their cars was crashed and burnt thousands of times...

They are gladiators -- dying is their work.

They fight on the ruins of the past, in the shadows of the cities, before thousands of cameras and billions of people...

Features of the game:

* Futuristic battle races in ultra modern 3D performance, inexpressible speed and dynamics of battles;

* Dynamic lighting and lots of special effects, explosions, flashes and light effects;

* Seven types of weapon - from standard machine guns to heavy mortars, homing missiles and multi-barreled cannons;

* Three types of mines and five bonuses of different types - from increasing of damaging to double speeding-up and immortality;

* Battles with several enemies simultaneously in different modes - career mode with increasing difficulty and in survival mode - against continuously attacking enemies;

* Six different in their characteristics cars, requiring different approach and style of playing;

* 10 different arenas with ability of day or night battle;
 
 

Interstate Outlaws
http://www.interstateoutlaws.com
 
 

Swypeout Online Battle Racing Game

Official Web Site
http://www.swypeout.com

Online Community
http://www.swypeoutworld.com
 
 

Dark Future Online Archive

Games Workshop's Specialist Games Web Site
http://www.specialist-games.com/setcountry.htm

Dark Future

Christmas has come early! As a big thank you for all the Specialist Games players out there I’d like to present you with a Games Workshop classic that has been out of print for at least 15 years. On the Games Variants page we now have the complete Dark Future game in PDF form ready for you to download.

The PDF not only contains everything from the original release but starting on page 103 is the Dark Future supplement White Line Fever, following that on page 157 onwards are a collection of Dark Future White Dwarf articles.

As you would expect the entire 220 page PDF is a massive 26.7MB is size so keep that in mind before you download it. Something to also bear in mind before you download this file is that, even though this is a free download, the copyright remains with Games Workshop. Don’t forget, as with all content on this site, you cannot reproduce, host or sell any of the files on this website and by downloading these files you agree to abide by our terms and conditions. This is a very important point to make, because we have to protect our copyrights and if people infringe our content then that puts future releases like this in jeopardy.

I’d like to thank Francis Greenaway for compiling the files and Andrew Taylor for his work on the project as well.

Go to our Games Variant page to get the PDF (scroll to the bottom). Don't forget that Dark Future has been kept very much alive with a range of Dark Future novels by the guys at Black Flame.

Christmas is approaching fast and I have a few more updates to go up before I disappear for my end of year break, including a fantastic issue of Fanatic Online. So, stay tuned.

All the best,
Andy @ Fanatic

Terms and Conditions
http://www.specialist-games.com/terms.asp

Games Variant Page
http://www.specialist-games.com/veriants.asp

Black Flame
http://www.blackflame.com/blackflame.html
 
 

Bristol Vanguard Wargaming Club
http://www.bristolvanguard.co.uk

April 5-6, 2008: Dark Future Mini Tournament at Vanguard

November 14, 2007: Rules Pack now available for Dark Future Vanguard Tournament 'VANQUISH'
 

Southern Crescent Regional Autoduling Project (SCRAP)
 

Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:19:24 -0800
From: peacemongrel@yahoo.com
Subject: WADA request
To: owenmp@hotmail.com

Hi,

After a 15 year retirement I began teaching the game and gathered friends to form a Car Wars club, the Southern Crescent Regional Autoduling Project (SCRAP), based in South Atlanta, GA

We would like to be a part of any WADA activity or listings. You can use my address as the contact.

We are hoping to have events at Warfair 2008 and Dragon Con 2008.

Thanks,

Ray Rappaport
 

Editor's Note: Thanks, Ray for your interest. As mentioned in The Gunnery Chair, you have inspired me to start a new WADA Car Wars League in 2008. I wish you and the other members of SCRAP luck in the tournament!
 

Dueling Regulators, Iowa Vehicular Enforcement (DRIVE)
http://carwarsfan.ning.com/group/drive

DRIVE Car Wars Blog
http://carwarsfan.ning.com

* AADA Road Atlas and Survival Guide Entries
* Variant Rules
* Editorials
 
 

Styx Motors Blog
http://styxmotors.blogspot.com

* Vehicle Designs
* Variant Rules
* Editorials
 
 

Steaphan Green's Car Wars Web Site
http://www.cs.binghamton.edu/~stea/gaming/carwars

* Vehicle Generator/Manager
* Link to Eric's Car Wars Wiki