A Battle Royale

My first large game of Car Wars was fought last night. It was certainly a fun experience, even though I only acted as referee.

This battle was fought in an arena, and all players were informed beforehand and built cars accordingly. The contestants were as follows: (I use the names of the in-game characters, most of whom were based off established fictional persons). Suzie drove a heavily armored subcompact with between 50 and 75 points of armor on each side. Her only weapon was a flamethrower on the front. Melvin chose the same car as last game, a relatively all-around passable camper van. Fred opted for a van with a laser on the hood, but he had two passengers in the rear, who had access to a mounted anti-vehicle gun and a number of grenades. The other two cars, driven by Aidan and Wooderson, had no particularly notable characteristics.

I decided to make players chose their deployments blindly. While I hoped some players would be right on top of each other, I had not counted in everyone deploying on a single half of the large arena. In retrospect, this may have been helpful In keeping the game’s length down, and having some quick action.

Almost immediately, Fred and his van (can you guess the name?) was attacked and hit by Suzie’s flamethrower and Melvin’s AT gun. Wooderson fired a long shot at Aidan, which proved ineffectual. Both of them then embarked on long, curving paths that kept them far from the fighting.

The initial fighting.  Fred's van (black) is hit by Suzie (yellow).

Suzie suffered damage at the hands of Fred’s laser, and made a dash towards the center of the arena. Melvin closed in, alternately firing and being friendly with Fred. Suzie took a looping path to bring him back to Fred (who had fled from Melvin… After attacking him) Wooderson angled towards Suzie, but was too far away to justify firing.

Suzie flees.  Fred limps away.

Aidan, meanwhile, was speeding to the other side of the stadium. I decided to introduce an order from the tournament organizers: a line would be drawn in the arena, and crossing it would result in death. Aidan turned around, but moved only 15 mph, keeping him from the fighting.

Suzie declined to attack Fred and his heavily destroyed van, and continued her curving path towards Melvin. Melvin realized this and sat in wait. Fred was killed from a distance by Wooderson, who then rammed the van, killing its last inhabitant. In an act of desperation, this unfortunate character dropped a grenade that ultimately caused several points of damage to Wooderson’s car’s armor.

Suzie destroyed Melvin’s armor and front gun, barely missing killing the driver, who escaped on foot. Communicating with Wooderson, Melvin created an agreement that would allow him to be into the former’s car. Suzie then chased down Aidan, and killed him quickly without suffering much more than a few points of damage.

Suzie closes in on Melvin (blue).  Wooderson (stripes) attacks Fred.

Melvin got into Wooderson’s car (I allowed him to get in while the car was moving at 30 mph. It was late and I wanted to give them a fighting chance) After trading few shots, the two rammed each other head on. At a combined speed of 100 mph, and using Suzie’s ramplate, Wooderson and his car were entirely obliterated. Suzie literally destroyed all armor, passengers, and cargo from front to back. Suzie survived, and still had 10 DP left on her front armor.

Shortly before the final collision.  Both cars come close.

Everyone involved had a lot of fun, and we’d like to get a chance to play this game again before I go home for the summer. The players on the losing side seem to think they have some unfinished business, and would like a rematch with Suzie.