In the twelve years since writing the 'Dueling on a Budget' article
that appeared in ADQ 6-4 there has been many new additions and changes
to the Car Wars gaming universe. With that in mind here's a much-needed
update.
Body Sizes and Power Plants
No doubt about it. The most used vehicle sizes in division-5 are subcompacts
and compacts. Both are comparatively inexpensive in regards to body and
armor costs. From there the similarities end. Now for the specifics.
Subcompacts prior to electrical power plant upgrades
were far more limited to what they could carry. Yes, you could have a recoilless
rifle or vulcan machine gun, so long as you don't mind carrying next-to-nothing
armor. That has changed with platinum catalysts. Now a subcompact, with
a small power plant equipped with platinum catalysts, can make the most
of a heavy chassis. It's an incredible bargain considering only ten pounds
go unused. Combined with superconductors, a subcompact can fully utilize
an extra-heavy chassis without resorting to a medium power plant, a savings
of 200 pounds and an interior space. Thanks to the suspension bonus, a
subcompact can get by on a standard one and use the money that would otherwise
go for suspension upgrades on other things.
Invariably, compacts stay with medium power plants,
though there are a few designs that would work with an optioned-out small
power plant. It is the rare compact that will need a standard chassis,
so most have a light chassis and save $80 in the process. Suspension should
at least be improved, saving the heavy option if maneuvering is more important.
Thanks to their extra spaces, compacts can get sloped armor and component
armor without sacrificing much in the way of weapons.
Mid-sizes will never have to worry about maxing
out a standard chassis in division-5, so save $120 by going light. Even
so, it will still be more expensive to build a mid than a compact. Component
armor for interior components is cheaper that buying regular armor. Vehicles
from mid-sizes on up can make do with a medium power plant. Large power
plants are too expensive.
As for the other vehicles, unless it's for sentimental
reasons, you can pretty much forget them. Light chassis are mandatory,
and standard suspensions are the rule. At best you can fit a micro-missile
launcher and all the junk droppers you could want. Component armor for
everything and what's left buy regular armor.
The only gas power plant that's practical in division-5
is the 50 cid. Even then only a lightweight subcompact could carry it,
but the low weight of the engine itself would compensate for the plant's
power factors.
Tires
Two words: heavy duty. Standard tires are cheap but weak, and puncture
resistant tires are expensive. Heavy duty tires offer the happy medium
between damage points and cost. Steel-belted HD tires would be a good substitute
for PRs, especially for compacts since they could better afford the weight.
However, since steel-belting only increases the tire's DP by 25%, a HD
tire so modified only gains one DP. Going by the old 33% increase, a HD
tire would gain two points, making it a viable replacement for PRs.
Solid tires are immune to debris damage, an important
fact since junk droppers are the most used dropped weapon in division-5.
Their expense would make any car in this division that mounts them quite
austere. The same can be said for radial tires, and the money is better
spent on spoilers and airdams.
Design Styles
It's a truism that cars are built around their weapons. In division-5
there are three distinct types of cars based on the weapons they carry.
The first of these is the direct fire gunboat. Loaded with rockets, rocket
launchers, or machine guns, gunboats then pile on as much armor as their
chassis and budgets allow. Throwing lead and rockets at the opponent before
he does the same is the prime goal of gunboats.
Next comes the dropped weapons carrier. Some carry
ice or oil droppers, depositing their contents in maneuver-sensitive areas
of the arena. Others go with vision obscuring weapons, like smoke and paint.
Then there are those dropped weapons with offensive potential. Spikes of
all kinds, mines, flame clouds and flaming oil, and sticky foam. Cars armed
primarily with dropped weapons are most often used in team dueling, offsetting
their lack of direct fire weapons.
Then there's cars with a mix of offensive and defensive
weapons. In this regard, these cars emulate vehicles in higher divisions.
The dropped weapons are either used to discourage pursuit or used offensively.
A gas streamer loaded with paint can mess up the aim of pursing duelists
for three turns, while a flame cloud gas streamer could give that pesky
subcompact an instant sunroof.
On a final note, there's a subtype of division-5
car that's actually quite common: the rammer. This is especially true for
subcompacts, since their ramplates cost less than those found on compacts.
Ramplates make good additions to gunboats, enabling them to deliver a finishing
blow to a foe. A dropped weapons carrier with a ramplate gains an additional
level of utility. For a mixed weapons car having a ramplate is akin to
having a useful backup weapon. Of course, there are a few dedicated ramming
designs in division-5, and their ramplates are the heaviest.
Weapons
It was once said that manufacturers of machine gun ammunition would
never go out of business so long as there were amateur nights and division-5
dueling. To an extent that's still true today, but other weapons have taken
their share of the spotlight. A good majority of weapons available can
be found in division-5. Even expensive dropped weapons like heavy-duty
flame cloud ejectors have made an appearance in 'pop-can' cars, albeit
with reduced loads. Spike droppers with their various ammo options and
pyrophoric oil for oil jet have thrown new curves in arena combat. Below
are points to consider on some of the most used division-5 weapons.
The most inexpensive sustained rocket weapon is
the micromissile launcher. Like its larger brethren, the rocket launcher,
the MML has a to-hit of 8. Aside from that, this weapon has several factors
in its favor. First of all it's inexpensive, and the ammo variants are
less expensive than those available for machine guns. Next is weight. At
125 pounds it's lighter than even a light machine gun, and remains a bargain
even with incendiary ammo, just ten pounds heavier than a fully-loaded
LMG with normal ammo. Having only ten shots may be seen as a disadvantage,
but MML ammo does a full die of damage and is more effective against metal
armor, something that can't be said for LMGs.
What the light machine gun loses to the MML in cost
and weight it gains in accuracy and ammo. If a duel doesn't end quickly
(ten turns or less) then it comes down to who has the most ammo and the
more accurate weapon. With a base to-hit of 7, the LMG has the edge over
the MML. With a half-load of high density ammo, the LMG has the same damage
potential as a regular MG.
Oil jets are inexpensive and have low weight. The
25-round capacity is also useful. Spike droppers with standard ammo are
also cheap. Gas streamers, with their ability to be 'aimed' in their arc
of fire, are quite useful in any division. Gas streamers with paint are
doubly useful since no-paint windshields are practically unknown in division-5.
By far the most common dropped weapon in division-5
is the junk dropper. The best features are the cost, just $50, and ammunition
that's free and stays around forever. Weight is not much of a factor, since
a fully-loaded JD is the same as a MML. Compacts and mid-sizes can handle
multiple JDs and their magazines without difficulty.
Ramplates are most often found on subcompacts and
on a few compacts designs. If you want one have at least sixteen points
of front armor. Anything less won't be worth it. Do your rams with no more
than a forty mile-an-hour difference. Your ramplate will still do good
damage and most likely have enough for another ram.
Bumper spikes are perfect to those who want to do
a little extra damage when delivering a point-blank shot. For those low-speed
rams that may not even result in ramplate damage a set bumper spikes will
always do something to your foe. For those vehicles that have 10 acceleration
bumper spikes are nasty way to deliver multiple 'love taps' to a fleeing
opponent.
Single-shot rockets are cheap and effective in division-5,
since armor values are low to moderate compared to other divisions. The
armor-piercing option is attractive, but incendiary rockets are nasty,
especially if you use the alternate fire rules. Linked groups of light
incendiary rockets are your best choices in regards to accumulative fire
modifiers, but paired medium and heavy rockets are just as good. For general-purpose
use, a medium rocket offers the best in terms of price, weight, and damage
potential.
As for the other weapons, especially the expensive
ones, your vehicle will truly be built around the weapon. Having an anti-tank
gun or VFRP will put the scare into anyone around you, but you'll have
little leftover to equip your car. It all comes down to whether you want
to shoot down your opponents with direct-fire weapons or have them grab
pavement with tire-killing dropped weapons. Design your car that best suites
your style of play.
Personal Equipment
Then it comes down to the choices for handweapons and body armor. Given
that many vehicle designs are priced up the division-5 limit, the only
money left is enough to buy an explosive or paint/smoke grenade. If you
do have a good reserve of money left, then get a flak jacket or regular
body armor for starters. Some duels are decided by who has the most protection
for their driver. A point of body armor is well worth its price in ammo.
Explosive grenades are probably the best handweapons
to use in division-5. They make excellent impromptu mines and can do fair
damage against tires and light underbody armor on most cars. Next comes
paint grenades, with their double-sized clouds. Duelists will often try
to avoid paint clouds if they could help it, all due to the three-turn
targeting penalty if their windshield are painted. Smoke grenades have
their uses, especially for long-term duels. Placing smoke in crucial areas
will make it harder for your enemies to hit you, a definite plus to consider.
Submachine guns, hand-held grenade launchers, and
anti-vehicular rifles are popular handweapons used by vehicle crews in
all other divisions, so it's no surprize they found their use in division-5
as well. For those driving really inexpensive cars, like the Popcorn Shrimp,
you can go for handweapons that can hurt vehicles, like gyrosluggers and
LAWs. Remember, most of these weapons work best when the targeting penalties
are the lowest. This means firing said weapons while alongside your target
at point blank range.
The discussion of hand weapons cannot be complete
without mentioning two of them in particular. When duels comes to immobilized
opponents and no one has backed down then it comes time to take the duel
to them in a personal way. Hatchets and axes do full damage to vehicular
components. Few sights conjure up Mad Max memories better than a duelist
hacking away at an immobilize foe. You'll have to get out of your own vehicle
to do this, but it will sure settle arguments about whose vehicle came
second-best to a ten-pound axe.
Final Notes
In division-5 the breakdown of a typical duel rests on the three basic
fighting styles, which in turn are based on the three basic vehicle designs.
First there's the charging in at full speed to deliver the weapons or ram
at point-blank range. Then comes the dropped weapon gambit, sealing off
whole portions of the arena with tire-shredding, hazard-inducing solid
and liquid loads. Finally there's the one who keeps his distance and maintains
a steady rate of fire against one foe or takes opportunistic shots at damaged
cars in passing. What this all means is that duels tend to be either short
or protracted. Arena maintenance staffs find that cleaning up after a division-5
event is no different from any other division.
Despite the overall lower level of protection, there
are fewer fatalities in division-5 than in any other division. Mainly due
to the lower prize money offered in this division, duelists are more likely
to surrender in an arena duel than to try to press their luck. Conversely,
it is considered very bad form to deliberately gun down a clearly defeated
opponent, especially one that's exiting the arena floor. Such offending
duelists often become target #1 in duels, both in the arena and outside
in 'parking lot fights'. Only a few 'Pop Can' duelists earn enough to have
regular updates for their clones. In the choice between spending weeks
in a hospital and permanent death, most division-5 duelists learn to love
hospital food.
Division-5 is the easiest division to enter. Aspiring
duelists often take in their own modified personal vehicles or purchase
one at a dealership. The money required is quite low, and maintenance and
equipment costs are not excessive either. Skills and techniques learned
at this level of competition are useful later on. A dedicated duelist can
earn enough to move up to the next division. Just remember the traditional
saying of division-5 dueling - with enough tin, bailing wire and bubble
gum any nickel car can be made combat-worthy in time for the next duel.
New Equipment
Heavy Duty Junk Dropper (HDJD): $100, 50 lbs., 2 spaces, 6 DP.
10 (debris)/5 (obstacle) shots (no cost and 20/40 lbs. each). Loaded cost
$100, loaded weight 250 lbs.; loaded magazine cost $50 and weighs 215 lbs.
The HDJD has two types of 'ammunition', the first
of which is debris. When fired a HDJD drops 4 randomly selected debris
counters in a ½ " x 1" area , located as for a dropped weapons pattern.
The second type is a standard ½" x ½" obstacle counter, located
as for a spike or mine pattern. Debris and obstacle ammunition cannot be
mixed in the same magazine.
Sand ammo for junk droppers
Cost $20 and weighs 20 lbs per round for regular junk droppers. $80
and 40 lbs. per round for heavy duty junk droppers. Cannot be mixed with
regular junk dropper ammo in the same magazine. When fired, it creates
a standard ½" x 1" (1" x 2" for the HDJD) dropped weapon counter.
Same effects as sand ammo for the oil/paint gun.
Two and one-point flak jackets
The two point flak jacket costs $100 and takes 2 G.E. The one point
version costs $50 and takes 1 G.E. All other rules regarding flak jackets
apply to these versions as well.
Two and one-point body armor
The two point version costs $175 while the one point version costs
$100. All other rules regarding body armor apply to these versions as well.