"A knife fight in a phone booth."
This year's dueling regional can be safely described as being odd at
times. Mike Garrity, reigning world champ, decided to join the competition
instead of just watching. Division 10 trikes, the vehicles used in Regional,
offered a refreshing change of pace from cars. Then there was the Milford
Arena, noted for its challenging confines. Competing in this year's event
was Don Jacques, Allan Dudding, Norman McMullen, Travis Taylor, Jason Meacham,
Mike Garrity, and Chadd McCaw.
All the duelists entered the arena at 30 mph and
accelerated. Norman's first recoilless shots hit Travis' left side, doing
minor damage. Mike started to lay spikes between the northeast obstacle
and the outer wall, while Chadd placed flaming oil next to the south center
obstacle's east side. In response to Norman's fire, Travis fired his hot
smoke discharger and turned away, placing the smoke between himself and
Norman. Still laying spikes, Mike fired on Allan, doing very minor damage
to the rear armor. Mike then turned off his spikes for the moment.
Don and Jason squared off, with Don doing medium
damage with his light machine guns to Jason's armor. Jason's response was
firing his ATG, which missed. Mike continued his attack on Allan, but missed
with his LMGs. He settled instead on following Allan around an obstacle.
Chadd rounded the large central obstacle and went west, still dropping
flaming oil. Don hit Jason again, but only doing minor damage. Travis ranged
on Don, firing but missing with his rocket launcher. Allan received a hit
from Norman, his armor moderately damaged by RR fire.
Mike chased Allan around the NE obstacle, scoring
light damage with his LMGs. While Don's fire missed Travis, Jason fired
his ATG at Chadd, scoring medium damage. Chadd returned fire at Jason,
inflicting medium damage. Norman's next RR salvo missed Travis, who was
thankful that this armor hadn't been breached . . . yet.
Allan slowed as he neared Mike's spikes. Likewise,
Mike slowed and closed in on Allan, firing away with his LMGs on Allan's
back armor, doing good damage. Meanwhile, Norman's RRs hit Travis' back
armor, but the damage was only average. Travis turned south while Norman
went north near the outer wall.
More spikes were dropped by Mike, intent on sealing
off Allan's escape route. Travis came up against Chadd and rammed him,
killing the driver. Now with his front tire, armor, and RR destroyed, Travis
skidded to a stop against the southwest obstacle. Chadd's wreck exploded,
showering the area with debris. Don and Jason went head-to-head, firing
at each other at close range. Jason scored medium damage on Don's front
armor, while Don's return fire destroyed Jason's front armor and ATG. Both
went around the east central obstacle, with Jason going north while Don
went south. Norman went around the northwest obstacle.
Mike slowly closed on Allan, who had stopped near
a gate in the corner. Jason charged into the corner, hitting a patch of
Mike's spikes for minor tire damage. Don avoided Chadd's trail of flaming
oil and went between the obstacle and TV tower. Norman and Don traded shots
head-to-head, doing average damage to each other. Norman went east while
Don headed towards the west.
Back to the corner, Jason accelerated and t-boned
Allan, which in turn pushed Mike's vehicle (which had closed to point-blank
range of Allan) into the outer wall. Jason, sans front tire, armor and
power plant, then slid to a stop in Mike's spikes. Mike pivoted to face
Allan, who then fired his RL into Mike's left side, doing average damage.
Norman arrived, firing his RRs on Allan's left side to score some moderate
damage.
Mike tried to get out of the corner, dropping some
more spikes as he went, but Allan fired again. The RL round breached Mike's
armor and killed the driver, but not before firing one last LMG volley,
breaching Allen's armor and destroying the power plant. Norman broke off
his attack and began to circle around to line up for another shot. Don
began to circle the SW obstacle so he could get a shot at Travis' front.
In response, Travis threw his trike into reverse. At a speed of 2.5 mph,
Travis cleared the obstacle just enough so his left MFR could be brought
to bear on Don. He fired, but only two MFR rockets hit, doing minor damage.
Don replied with his LMGs, peppering Travis' back armor with light damage.
Chadd's debris field did some damage to Don's tires, but that didn't slow
Don down as he continued to go around the obstacle.
Allan came to a stop next to Mike's trike. Unable
to bring his weapons to bear on Norman, Allan counted himself fortunate
when Norman decided to head towards Travis and Don. Still scrapping pavement,
Travis fired his right MFR in a final bid to damage Don before he was out
of range. Only minor damage was done. Chadd's flaming oil had turned to
smoke at this time, enabling Norman to pass through it without any harm.
Don completed his circle of the SW obstacle and fired on Travis' front,
killing the driver. The officials called the game as this point, declaring
Don the winner.
Time: 19 turns.
Finishing Positions:
1st - Don Jacques (firepower kill - Jason, full kill - Travis.
3 points).
2nd - Allan Dudding (full kill - Mike, was maneuverability
killed by Mike. 1 point.)
3rd (tie) - Norman McMullen (no kills, 0 points) and Travis
Taylor (killed Chadd and was killed by Don, 0 points).
4th (tie) - Jason Meacham (firepower kill by Don. -1 point)
and Mike Garrity (maneuverability kill on Allan and killed by Allan, -1
point).
5th - Chadd McCaw (killed by Travis, -2 points).
Vehicles:
Forearms (Don Jacques) - Light Trike, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension,
medium cycle power plant w/SC, 3 PR tires, cyclist, 2 linked LMGs left,
2 linked LMGs right, link between both sets of LMGs. Sloped Armor: F28,
L32, R32, B27, T4, U6. Accel. 5, top speed 92.5, HC 2; 1,920 lbs., $9,811.
Whoopass (Allan Dudding) - Heavy Trike, hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, super cycle power plant w/PC, 3 SBPR tires, cyclist, RL front, MFR left linked to MFR right. 10 points of CA around cyclist and 10 points of CA around power plant. Armor: F50, L35, R35, B34, T5, U10. Accel. 5, top speed 92.5, HC 2; 3,076 lbs, $9,066.
Quicksilver (Norman McMullen) - Medium Trike, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, large cycle power plant, 3 PR tires, cyclist, RR left linked to RR right, SD w/explosive ammo rear, targeting computer, link - RR to SD. Sloped Armor: F23, L22, R22, B23, T3, U4. Accel. 5, top speed 92.5, HC 2; 2,307 lbs., $9,980.
Wham Bam (Travis Taylor) - Medium Trike, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, large cycle power plant w/PCs, 3 PR tires, cyclist, RR w/HESH ammo front, A/P MFR left linked to A/P MFR right, HsD (rear), targeting computer. Armor: F30, L26, R26, B25, T21, U10. Accel. 5, top speed 95, HC 2; 2,283 lbs, $9,746. Designed by Geoff Hatten.
Nighthawk (Jason Meacham) - Heavy Trike, std. chassis, hvy. suspension, super trike power plant, 3 PR tires, cyclist, ATG w/HESH ammo front, HsD rear, SWC, 10 points CA for cyclist, 10 points CA for power plant. Sloped Armor: F25, L17, R17, B20, T16, U11. Accel. 5, top speed 110, HC 2; 2,722 lbs., $9,997. Designed by Geoff Hatten.
Death Scarb (Mike Garrity) - Medium Trike, x-hvy. chassis, hvy suspension, large cycle power plant w/PCs, 3 PR tires, cyclist, LMG left linked to LMG right, SD right w/extra magazine linked to SD rear, SWC (used when LMGs are fired in the trike's front arc). Sloped Armor: F45, L30, R30, B40, T7, U10 with 10-point cycle wheelguard front and 2 10-point wheelguards back. Accel. 5, top speed 80, HC 2; 2,510 lbs., $9,912.
Saber (Chadd McCaw) - Light Trike, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, medium cycle power plant, 3 PR radial tires, cyclist, RL right, FOJ rear, SWC. Sloped Armor: F30, L20, R20, B25, T13, U10. Accel. 5, top speed 100, HC 2; 1,597 lbs., $8,653. Designed by Mike Garrity.