 |
Big Boys, Big Toys...or
Size DOES matter |
 |
Warning: This page is graphic-intensive. Deal with it.
Much fun was had at the Greater Corinth Off-Road Demolition Derby Track(a.k.a. Bruce Mclaren's back yard) on Friday, June 25 1999. The game was
Steve Jackson's Car Wars a "Mad Max"-type of armed demolition derby set in the not too distant future. We used several types of vehicles, optimized for maximal lethality. Topping the list was Mike G's heavy laser, which posessed the disturbing ability to shred plastic armor like a Stuka dive bomber through Sarawrap.
In previous games we had used "Micromachines" as the counters for our table top battles. Bruce and Chris (patron saints of hairbrained gaming schemes) hatched an even more devilish affair: use 1:24 scale models and plan an evening game in the back yard. Scenery was sparse; except for a few obstacles like 10 foot tall bricks (it's a scale thing) and the hulk of an abandoned alien space craft (looking suspiciously like an overturned child's wading pool), it was line-of-sight heaven from the garden to the side fence.
If you are a regular Car Wars player and would like to know the particulars, click HERE.
About the Game
For this game, we decided to play 3 on 3 teams. It worked well, although making half the players "off-limits" made it a much less target-rich environment. It took about a half an hour to get used to the scale: When you're moving almost 4 feet every turn, you have tendency to misjudge distances and over shoot a little. This first maxi-scale game was a little shorter than our micromachine games. As a pure demolition derby we leapt into the fray, and it didn't take long before some heavy damage was raked up. The worst of it came when two members of Team Red made some unfortunate control rolls, trashing their vehicles. At that point it suddenly became 3 vs. 1, and the remaining Team Red member decided discretion was the better part of living another day...
 The unusual suspects and their instruments of automotive mayhem. From left to right:
Team Red: Bruce McLaren, Mike Lewis, Chris Vanderbilt
Team Not-Red: Sam Becker, Kevin Self, Mike Goodlett.
|
|
The Evil Eye, sponsored by Doc Spok's Speks ("Because you can't kill what you can't see!") and piloted by Rodger "Road" Rash. Note the roof turret sporting the twin pulse laser. Neither Doc Spok's Speks nor Rodger Rash are in any way affiliated with the Church of the Subgenius. |
|
Here's the template we used. The car's a real 1:24 scale model, by the way; the digital camera made its paint job look almost CGI. It's a shame the resolution was good enough to pick up the detail in the trio of Vulcan submachine guns on the front of Chris' car.
|
|
Here's a shot of the battle as it is developing. We have to admit that we were darned impressed the way the game turned out with the larger vehicles. Even the wives agreed it looked pretty good.
|
|
Between races, drivers hang out at Fraggin' Fanny's Erotic Emporium (and Transmission Shop). Fanny and the girls have a reputation as top-notch.. ahem... mechanics, and guarantee to keep your motor purring. Their motto: "Stickshifts polished, pipes cleaned... No Extra Charge!"
|
|
Veni, vidi, wham! The victorious triumvirate poses for posterity. Team Not-Red claimed the Golden Hubcap of Victory by staying out of the way as Team Red consumed itself in an orgy of self-destruction. From left: Sam Becker, Mike Goodlett, Kevin Self.
|
Game Details for 
Aficionados
For this game we used scale models, like the ones we used to build when we were kids. You could get just about any kind of car for under US$10 at the local hobby or craft store. Some of the more pragmatic participants found die cast vehicles in scale that didn't require any painting; just glue 'em to a base and begin blasting!
Using 1:24 scale models required a little creativity on our part because the rules, templates and counters that come with the game are scaled for 1" x .5". Chris, our resident "clever boy", scaled the movement templates up to work with a 7.5" x 3.75" base, needed for the larger vehicles. If you are interested in playing Car Wars with 1:24 scale models and would like to get copies of the templates, please email Chris Vanderbilt. Make sure you mention you want the templates for the 1:24 scale game.
The billboards were done by Kevin Self and include the following:
Uncle Smeggy's 'Pancreas On-A-Stick'
Angel's Automotive Armaments
Mrs. Paul's Plankton Puffs (remember the mention of algae farms in the rulebook chronology?)
Church of the Subgenius
Fraggin' Fanny's Erotic Emporium (and Transmission Shop)
If you would like a copy of these to adorn your automotive arena, please email Kevin Self.
Car Wars is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, who make the coolest games in the Western Spiral Arm of the Milky Way.
