Speeding
Things Up
Most
of the people who don't enjoy playing Car Wars have the same
complaint, "It's too ssslllooowww!" Even those of us who love
the game have to admit that when there are more than two
players, the game is about as fast as continental drift.
The
hints and tips below will help your game move like a jackrabbit
. . . a dead jackrabbit with snails for pallbearers . . . but
that's MUCH faster than continental drift, so read on!
Divide the
Chores
If
you have a group of regular players, you can make each of them
responsible for knowing a portion of the rules. One can bone up on
the Crash Tables, another can explore the wonders of collisions,
another can memorize targeting modifiers, and someone else can
become one with debris and obstacles (how they are produced and
the effects of running over them). This leaves the referee free to
keep track of the Master Movement Chart.
Make
Photocopies . . .
but
if Steve Jackson knocks on your door, you must quickly eat them.
Make a copy of the Master Movement Chart for each player to refer
to so that they'll know when their next move is coming up. Also
make multiple copies for the referee. He can use a new one for
each second of combat and write right on them, checking off each
phase as it occurs. Also make multiple copies of the turning key
on card stock, cut them out, and pass them around.
Make
Foolproof Range Rulers
Instead
of using a ruler or tape measure and doing the math in your head,
the handy range rulers described below will instantly show your
to-hit bonus or penalty.
¤ Tape two sheets of 8-1/2" x 11" white paper side by side to make
one 11" x 17" sheet
¤ Draw dark vertical lines at 1", 4", 8", 12" and 16" from the
left edge
¤ Draw horizontal lines every half inch
¤ Write "+4" in each of the boxes in the first vertical column
¤ Write "+0" in each of the boxes in the second vertical column
¤ Write "-1" in each of the boxes in the third vertical column
¤ Write "-2" in each of the boxes in the fourth vertical column
¤ Write "-3" in each of the boxes in the fifth vertical column
¤ Write "-4" in each of the boxes in the sixth vertical column
¤ Cut along the horizontal lines to produce 22 range rulers
(enough for everybody).
To
use, simply place the "+4" end of the ruler against the target
vehicle, and measure the distance to the closest point on the
firing vehicle.
The
finished product should look something like this . . .
That's a -1 to hit.
Micro
Machines!
They
look great and are almost the right size. Ours are glued
atop 3/8" x 1/4" diameter wooden dowels which are then glued atop
a 1" x 1/2" plastic rectangles (cut from a "for sale" sign
available at any hardware store) This keeps them from rolling and
allows enough clearance between the bottom of the car and the
plastic rectangle to allow the turning key to be used easily.
Making the
Arena
This
piece of advice may not work for everyone, but it has worked well
for us. A couple of our members work in the printing industry, and
part of the plate making process involves "pre-ruled masking
sheets" which are sheets of goldenrod colored glossy paper
imprinted with a 1" red square grid which is further subdivided
into 1/4" squares. These sheets can be quite large, depending on
the size of the printing plate they are used to produce. Often,
the scraps from this process are large enough to be used
in making arenas. You might contact a nearby printer and see if
they would be willing to sell a few sheets or even give you their
scrap.
Web posted by the
Black Circle Gaming Society, March 1999 - February 2000.
Reprinted by the Seattle
Washington Autoduel Team, February 2008.
Updated January 11, 2009; April 05, 2015; December 17, 2019.
Original URL:
http://www.mindspring.com/~aardvarkz/car/speedup.html