Vehicular Mayhem

The other day, several friends and I went to Trinidad, CO to see Mission Impossible: Fallout.  The movie was not terrible, and I actually preferred it to other installments in the same series.  Perhaps it was the large scope of the plot Hunt and company were up against, and the fact that their enemies, anarcho-primitivists, aren't overdone in film.  That said, the movie was rather predictable, and the constant objectives being achieved right at the end of the deadline got a bit old.  I'd love to see a movie where the bad guys actually end up winning, or there is no countdown to world destruction at all, and the heroes have all the time they need.

After the movie, we stopped by Frontier Games, a gaming store I had seen from the road on the way to the theater.  I was a bit disappointed by the small inventory, but I have come to understand the store is relatively new and will expand to utilize the considerable space it has.  After entering the store, I felt compelled to buy something, and eventually settled on Car Wars by Steve Jackson Games.  I had previously heard of the game and was aware it had a cult following.  Since it had remained popular since the 1980s, I figured it must have something to it, and decided to give it a try.

Box contents.

At the checkout, the single employee there (who I believe was the proprietor) informed me that he had recently picked up the game, and found it fun, but complicated.  I was warned, but still did not anticipate just how math-heavy the rules would be.  While the box contained few things (rulebook, map, counters, movement key, dice, and two vehicle sheets), the 60 page rulebook was packed to the brim with text.  Needless to say, I was intimidated, but as I had already purchased the game was intent on playing it.

I ran my first game last night, and was more than a bit anxious beforehand.  This was the first game of any sort I had ever run and did not feel especially confident in my knowledge of the movement rules.  Nevertheless, I managed to make it through and now I believe I have a decent understanding of the game.

The match was a race, using the track map contained within the starter box.  I had three players, who we will call Melvin, Juan, and Andreas for the names they chose for their characters.  Melvin picked a camper as his base, and invested in several large guns, and eight light rockets (each with only one shot, however).  Juan created his car without my supervision and was small and speedy, with two power plants.  Interestingly, he opted not to use any sort of projectile weapons, and instead had several droppable weapons (Spears, mines, and flaming oil).  Andreas' car was average in both armor and weaponry.  I (unthinkingly) started the cars off right before a curve, and placed several pedestrians waving flags to signal the start of the race in front of them.  The first few phases saw Melvin reverse, and attempt to shoot the other cars.  He failed, and the others moved on ahead.  Melvin's player left suddenly on the second turn, after managing to miss the pedestrians with his AT gun.  I got rid of Melvin by having the shot turn into a total failure by actually blowing up his car.  The race then devolved into a fight between Juan and Andreas.  Andreas appeared to have the upper hand, keeping Juan behind him, where his dropped weapons were useless.  Somehow, Juan maneuvered his way into the lead, and unleashed spears and oil on his opponent.  Andreas lost both his front tires and skidded into debris within several turns, leaving his car effectively useless.  Andreas bailed out, and Juan won the match by default.

The game was surprisingly enjoyable, despite the fact that I was not actually involved as a player.  The players, however, only managed to make it less than 1/8th of the way around the course, and only reached a top speed of 60 mph.  I contend that, had Juan been forced to focus on two enemies, the game would have lasted longer.  Nevertheless, I now feel as if I have a better grasp of the rules and that yesterday was a successful playtest.

I have decided to referee another game tomorrow night in which I will likely have five or more contestants.  We will use the arena map and I have chosen to allow each player to blindly choose their starting point.  I am very much looking forward to what happens then.

While I am certainly satisfied with the cardstock counters contained within the starter set, I think it'd be a lot of fun to use die-cast cars.  I will need to see if the ones from my childhood are still around, or if they have been disposed of.

I'd love to be able to run a game on a table like this.  Photo is from Chris at the Dice Hate Me.

While I do enjoy short, one-off races, I would like to play something of a larger scope.  I have devised a plan to game out something like the race from the classic movie "Death Race 2000".  While I very much enjoyed the characters from the movie and its recent sequel (not the Jason Statham films, which I feel lack the parodic fun of 2000 and 2050), I would likely allow players to create characters of their own, each with their own theme and goals.  If I could recruit players with the right mindset, I imagine having them battle each other, the (French-backed?) resistance, and armed civilians would be great fun.

If I had known gaming this sort of craziness out was possible, I would have bought Car Wars years ago.

I am very satisfied with my purchase, and consider it $20 well spent.  Hopefully I can get in more games of this bizarre yet entertaining game before the summer's out.