Spring is finally here, bringing with it the rules for the World Dueling Championships (or lack thereof). SJG's Car Wars website hasn't been updated in almost a full year. Balancing this is the news of a new version of Car Wars which is said to be in the testing stages. It is due to be released this summer and is supposed to be more streamlined than the Compendium (gee, Deluxe Car Wars was better than the Compendium).
    The Neo-ASPs are still at it. One of these days they're going to come to the conclusion that terrorism is a high-risk, low-yield investment. One of the people that is going to help them reach this conclusion is the King Cobra. New Omaha is fortunate to have him on the job.
 

Here are a couple of items to keep you busy until Summer gets here. Have fun.

Steering Vanes: +10% to body cost, +10% to body weight. These items allow part of the power from a hovercraft's lift fans to be thrust sideways. This enables the hovercraft to make turns at -D1 to the hazard. Notethat this effect is cumulative with an improved vertical stabilizer.

Bumper-Boats
Next to go-karts, bumper boats are hugely popular at amusement and theme parks. They are very light and easy to steer. Like bumper cars, they also use rubber armor. Cost & weight figures are listed as follows:

Cost	Weight	Max. Load	Spaces	Armor Cost/Weight
$1,500	75 lbs.	600 lbs.	4	$4/2 lbs.

Bumper boats use a specialized boat power plant, to wit:

Type	Cost	Weight	Spaces	DP	Power Factors
Micro	$250	100 lbs.	1	2	200

Bumper-boat Propeller: Cost: $15, Weight: 7 lbs, 1 DP; used only with the micro power plant. Bumper boats can only use one propeller. Acceleration and top speed for bumper boats are figured using tile formulas for boats. Bumper boats have five armor locations (F, B, R, L, U).

Dual-Purpose Artillery: Cost: +50% to weapon cost (applied before the modifiers for a long barrel), normal spaces, normal weight, To-hit: 7.
    A DP artillery piece can serve as either normal artillery or as a tank gun.
 

The latest news from SJG is that they are working on a streamlined version of Car Wars. This is not to be confused with the long-awaited Compendium 3. Instead, it is something entirely different. Currently under playtest, the results should hopefully prove to be interesting. The expected release date is this Summer. As yet,we have no news on the third Car Wars Compendium. It's to be hoped that this product will clean up the various inconsistencies which have crept into the game over the years. The Debate Board (run by our good friend Mike Owen) has nearly reached the level of 7,000 posted messages. At times, discussions on the Board can get lively and often go into great detail. Some topics of interest have been compared allowing a maneuver per inch of travel with only doing one maneuver per phase. Much attention has also been paid to the rules for fires and explosions. In comparison to this, the SJG board has been dead for months.
    The Neo-ASPs and the King Cobra continue to do battle all across the country. From time to time, King Cobra is assisted by the Mongoose; this has made things even more hazardous for the Neo-ASPs and their minions.
    With all the interest in computer games over the last two years, one is forced to wonder why SJG never did another Car Wars computer game (beyond Autoduel years ago), or got into a trading-card version of the game (along the lines of Magic). We are of the opinion that such a product would definitely hook the latest generations of gamers. After all, this does seem like a natural progression of the game. But then, when has SJG done the natural thing.
    There has been no real news on this year's World Dueling Championships yet. It seems that everyone concerned is busy with other things. Predictably, details of the duels will be late in coming. The level of forethought and caring among the AADA staff is remarkable when compared to the lack of attention that Steve Jackson has given the game. It was assumed that leaders should lead and set an example for all that follow, not the other way around.
    Over the last year or so, NOVA has been a chapter without a home, ever since Star Realm changed locations again. This has made getting together for duels a fascinating exercise in logistics to say the least. This has caused us to look for a more stable location in which to meet. Hopefully by next issue we'll have more news in this regard.
    And now a few words concerning some old members of NOVA. Mike Martini is working on building a team of Battlebots. He's looking for four team members, along with a sponsor to help him construct his engines of mechanized death. Another old member I ran into is Jim Martin, who is working on HO-scale slotcar tracks in Omaha and Sioux City. He was surprised and delighted to hear that NOVA is still alive and kicking.
 

Now Showing: Just Visiting, Enemy at the Gates, The Mummy Returns

Summer: Alien 5, Jurassic Park 3, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes

Christmas: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter

Prequels: Star Wars Episode II (the Clone Wars) and Episode III (Vader Rising)

Sequels: Star Trek 10, Batman 5, Batman Beyond, Matrix 2 & 3, Battlefield Earth 2 & 3 (say it ain't so, please)

On Video: Gel Carter, Highlander: Endgame, Driven (due out in May)
 

CyCon 2001: Was to have been held in April 2001 in Ames, Iowa. Canceled this year.

Demi-Con: Des Moines, Iowa, May 4-6, 2001. This 'Con was supposed to have hosted the Central Regional Championships. The Regionals at this site were canceled due to lack of contact with the 'Con staff

Origins 2001: July 5-8, 2001 in Columbus, Ohio. Possible site of the Racing Worlds.

Gen Con 2001: August 2-5, 2001 in Milwaukee, WI. Site of the Dueling Worlds. NOVA will also run 2051: A Godzilla Odyssey and the 2051 Tri-Racing Challenge there

Nuke-Con 2001: October, in Omaha, NE. NOVA will be running some Car Wars events here

Origins 2002: July 4-7, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. Likely site of the World Racing Championships,

Gen-Con 2002: August 8-11, 2002 In Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Likely site of the World Dueling Championships.
 

January 3, 2051: The Brotherhood of Truckers tangled with the Neo-ASPs outside of Las Vegas today. The Neo-ASPs took heavy- losses in their assault on a convoy which had unusually heavy security. The Nevada National Guard and local law enforcement authorities refused to release any details on the incident, which has led to speculation on a secret cargo of some kind.

January 6, 2051: The Nco-ASPs were at it again today. This time, they attacked the defenses around the city of Atlanta, Georgia. At very heavy cost, they managed to reach the center of the city. A great deal of damage was done to several municipal buildings before the attackers were eliminated.

January 27, 2051: Mike Garrity won NOVA's Club Racing Championship, which was held at the Iowa City Speedway in Iowa City, IA. This year, the event was a Division-30 hovercraft race. Mike defeated Lucy Ubadigbo, Norman McMullen, Don Jacques and Adrian Shipley to take the title,

February 6, 2051: Mayor Bill the Cat announced his bid for re-election today. If successful, this would be for a second term.

February 10, 2051: Local duelist Boris Static announced that he will run against Bill the Cat for Mayor of New Omaha. Any differences these two have had in the past are sure to come out as their respective campaigns take shape.

February 13, 2051: San Diego, California fended off an attack by the Neo-ASPs today. Only minor damage was inflicted before the Neo-ASPs were all killed.

February 14, 2051: Happy Valentine's Day to all and sundry!.

February 20, 2051: The King Cobra led the California National Guard to a secret Neo-ASP base located outside Anaheim. The base was wiped out and several prisoners were taken.

February 24, 2051: The City of Los Disneys in Florida caught several Neo-ASPs as they tried to infiltrate that city-state's perimeter. Quantities of explosives and electronic equipment were seized also.

March 5, 2051: A large group of Neo-ASPs attempted to take over the city of Louisville, Kentucky today. Their efforts failed due to a timely message from the King Cobra. Afterwards, the Black Mamba demanded that King Cobra show himself King Cobra replied" I will if you will".

March 6, 2051: No news is good news, we think. The Black Mamba and the King Cobra haven't yet shown themselves this month. When they do, the bodies are sure to start piling up.

March 7, 2051: The Black Mamba broadcasted a public challenge to the King Cobra. The substance of the challenge was to meet for a showdown at a time and place of his choosing. The King Cobra replied later, saying "How about Washington, D.C. on the Fourth of July?"

March 8, 2051: The Black Mamba declined King Cobra's choice of venue, saying that Washington, D.C. would be too crowded then. Instead, he offered the choice of Denver, Colorado on May 12th.

March 9, 2051: It was the King Cobra's turn to decline the location of a showdown with the Black Mamba. Instead, he said "Meet me in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day at high noon". Surprisingly, the King Cobra accepted this challenge.

March 17, 2051: Happy St. Patrick's day! There's still no snakes in Ireland, but the green beer flows like crazy.

March 17, 2051: The Illinois National Guard apprehended about 200 Neo-ASPs as they attempted to infiltrate Chicago. The Black Mamba was not among those arrested. He is said to be furious over this apparent double-cross by the King Cobra.

March 31, 2051: Mike Garrity barely won a Division-20 duel held at the Hourglass arena in Greenwich, England. He scored two kills, but was forced out of the arena by Norman McMullen. The other participants were Lucy Ubadigbo, Linda Ubadigbo and David Ubadigbo.

April 1, 2051: The St. Louis Arch was badly damaged by several bomb explosions today. The devices are believed to have been planted by Neo-ASP operatives, The mayor vows that the landmark will be repaired. Some April Fools' Joke this turned out to be.

April 14, 2051: NOVA opened its headquarters for its annual anniversary party. Many duelists and NOVA fans attended the event. Quite a few members of NOVA were in attendance, including Bill the Cat, Joe Ratner, No-Gun, Boris Static, Executioner, Fred Guinness, Psycho, Crazy, Steelfist and Teri Harlan.

April 15, 2051: Happy Easter!! This day also marks NOVA's 16th anniversary. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but it is Tax Day also... :-(
 

The last few years has seen a raging debate over the virtues of stock vehicles vs.. custom designs in the preliminary rounds for a tournament. It is my opinion that people have missed the big question, which is: what is being tested for in a tournament? Dueling ability or designing ability? If you want to test for dueling ability, use stock designs. If you want to test for designing ability, then you use custom designs. In most tournaments, you want the best duelist to win (not the best designer).
    Custom designs are a two-fold problem in tournaments. Firstly, they are time-consuming for the duelmaster in that they require him to devote time in order to check them out for legality. They also tend to drag out the preliminary rounds in a tournament. On the plus side, custom designs are usually much better built than stock models. Secondly, you want players to design for all rounds (not just for one). This makes the duelmaster and the players work more than they have to.
    Stock designs are easy to prepare when done correctly. It should be noted that they shouldn't just be picked out of a rule book five minutes before the event begins (yes, I have seen duelmasters do this). Pick anywhere from one to five different designs. This will allow for some flexibility in dueling styles. Overall, stock designs aren't perfect. The armor package or weapons load is usually lacking. Don't expect too many bricks, ramrods or tail-end charlies. However, proper use of stock designs will see the tournament's best duelist rise to the top very quickly.
    Duelmasters must also remember that they want to run the tournament as quickly as they can. This means using the least number of rounds and the shortest amount of time. One to three rounds seems to be an optimum number, with each round lasting four hours at most. Breaking a tournament into more rounds and scheduling six-hour sessions is just a waste of time for everyone involved (much like a brain surgeon trying to operate on himself).

Next Issue: Scoring a tournament.
 

The Winner's Creed:
    If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost a cinch you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost. For, out in the world we find success begins with a person's faith; it's all in the state of mind. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster hand; they go to the one who trusts in God and always thinks "I can".
--Author Unknown

"Never do your enemy a small injury"
--Machiavelli

Curvezilla: A track of many curves, crossovers and hairpin turns. Usually a level 5 track, examples are the Nissan Altima track and the Ozark Off-road racetrack.

Rice-Burner: A vehicle of Japanese or Asian make.

Meat Grinder: The preliminary, rounds of a tournament scored by points. The term describes what happens to the players and is usually applied to the World Championships in dueling and racing.
 

The Patriot
Mel Gibson is Benjamin Martin, a widowed farmer in North Carolina who doesn't want to fight the British in the Revolutionary War. His oldest son joins the fighting with tragic results. This draws in his father with even more tragic results (for the British). All together, this film is a well-done Revolutionary War movie, with lots of action and quite a few sub-plots woven into it.****

Chicken Run
The chickens want to escape from a mean chicken farmer before the inevitable happens. Their escape attempts are highly amusing and fun to watch. A savior finally arrives in the form of a rooster named Rocky (voiced by Mcl Gibson), who tries to teach them how to fly. The operative question is "can he do it". This animated film is sure to make you laugh. It is a great parody of just about every escape film ever made.***

Hollow Man
Dr. Caine (Kevin Bacon) is experimenting with ways to render himself invisible. His main problem is making the subject return to visibility afterwards. His colleagues Linda (Elizabeth Shue) and Matt (Josh Brolin) are forced into assisting with human testing of the procedure, with Dr. Caine as the test subject. Everything goes well until they try to bring him back. The attempt fails, and Dr. Caine goes mad (with predictable and bloody results). What can one expect from a film directed by Paul Verhoven? Hollow Man has great special effects, but a rather thin plotline. It could have been done much better.*
 

In an ongoing effort to broaden their horizons, the members of NOVA chose hovercraft to race at the Iowa City Speedway in Iowa City, Iowa. It was a nice, clear day on January 27, 2051; the attending racers were Don Jacques, Mike Garrity, Lucy Ubadigbo, Norman McMullen and Adrian Shipley. The event was a Division-30 race, with only two spaces of direct-fire weapons allowed. Combat was to begin after all racers had completed one full lap around the track.
    The racers formed up and had a 100 mph start. Norman had pole position, Don was on the outside, Adrian on the inside second row, Lucy was on the outside second row and Mike Garrity took up the rear. Everyone took the first two turns without difficulty, accelerating up the east straightway. Don fell behind at this time due to the low top speed of his hovercraft. Norman maintained his lead while Mike passed Lucy and Adrian. At the apex comer, Adrian lost control and slammed into the wall. His vehicle was instantly confettied.
    Finishing his first lap, Norman held onto the lead; Mike, Lucy and Don brought up the rear. On the east straightway, Mike passed Norman but Norman managed to regain the lead on the west starightway. Don completed his first lap at roughly the same time as the other racers completed their second laps. Mike and Norman were maneuvering for the lead around the apex comer when Don's hovercraft lost control at the same spot where Adrian had crashed earlier. He crashed into Adrian's wreckage and was killed instantly.
    On the fourth comer of the second lap, Norman cut his turn too sharply and lost control. His hovercraft vaulted and flipped, crashing onto its roof at the starting line at 290 mph. Mike flew over the mangled remains to score his third lap and the win.

Turns: 12

Top Speed: 290 mph (by Norman)

Finishing positions:
1st place: Mike Garrity (3 laps)
2nd place: Lucy Ubadigbo (2 laps)
3rd place: Norman McMullen (2 laps--crashed)
4th place: Don Jacques (1 lap--crashed)
5th place: Adrian Shipley: (0 laps--crashed)

GEV-I (Mike Garrity): Streamlined standard hovercraft w/4 turbofans, hvy duty boat power plant w/upgrades, 4 standard skirts, pilot, improved vertical stabilizer, 10 pts armor on each thrust fan, Sloped Armor: F15, B15, R10, L10, T10, U10. Acceleration: 20, HC: 4/5 @ 60 mph+, Top Speed: 290 mph, 7,600 lbs, $27,090.

Angel-1 (used by Adrian Shipley and Lucy Ubadigbo): Standard hovercraft w/4 turbofans, hvy duty boat power plant, 4 standard skirts, pilot, 2 LMGs linked F, HrSwc, improved vertical stabilizer, 10 pts armor on each thrust fan, Sloped Armor: F20, B20, R15, L15, T10, U10. Acceleration: 15, HC: 4/5 @ 60 mph+, Top Speed: 237.5 mph, 7,550 lbs lbs, $25,630..

Puck III (Norman McMullen), Streamlined standard hovercraft w/turbofans, hvy duty boat power plant w/ upgrades, 4 standard skirts, pilot, RL (F), Swc, improved vertical stabilizer, Sloped Armor: F25, B25, R20, L20, T5, U10. Acceleration: 20, HC: 3/4@ 60 mph+, Top Speed: 290 mph, 7,600 lbs, $29,010.

Thrown Together (Don Jacques): Streamlined standard hovercraft, 300-CI gas engine, 16-gallon dueling tank 4 standard skirts, pilot, ML (F), SWC, vertical stabilizer, Sloped Armor: F24, B24, R24, L24, T16, U16. Acceleration: 5, HC: 3/4 @ 60 mph+, Top Speed: 95 mph, 7,001 lbs, $26,864.
 

Many of you have heard me speak of what is contained within the NOVA files and archives. I have never mentioned what is contained therein, nor why they have grown so large. To satisfy this curiosity, here are the contents of the NOVA files & archives revealed.

AutoDuel Quarterly: all issues: with at least one copy of each one

Road Atlas & Survival Guide: at least one copy of each volume

Arena Book: at least one copy of each one

NightMessenger: an entire printing of original copies (going all the way back to when the NightMessenger was called the StarBurst), plus additional later copies of some issues

Supplements: playtest versions of Aeroduel and Car Wars: Tanks, plus published copies of each

Adventures: Operation: No Shoulders, plus at least a dozen other adventures of varying types

Maps: 30 laminated mapsheets of various published arenas and supplement maps, plus ten bags of unused mapsheets

New Arenas: a grand total of 52, with several ones that haven't been named. Only 20 of these have been published or posted.

New Racetracks: 41 at last count, with one-quarter of these being posted or published

Arena Circuits: Flash-Fire and Hot Asphalt circuit originals

Articles: 2 tournament articles, plus others in varying stages of completeness. A sampling includes Naval Wars and Cruise Missiles

Letters: correspondence from anyone and everyone in the world of Car Wars. Included in this total are several former AADA presidents (Scott Haring, etc), Mike Garrity (before he joined NOVA), Cheryl Stevens, Ben Scott, GHOST, SAS/Zebra, Craig Sheeley, etc.

Rulebooks: pocketboxes of Car Wars, Sunday Drivers & Truck Stop, Deluxe Car Wars, Compendium I & II, Aeroduel, Car Wars Tanks, Midville, Muskogee, Ozark Off-Road track, Chopper Challenge, Mean Streets, Reference Screens (deluxe & compendium editions), Car Wars card games (published & playtest editions),

Vehicle Guides 1, 2 & 3 plus the Military vehicle guide, Combat Showcase, at least one copy of each Uncle Albert's Catalog, all of the adventure books, Convoy, playtest copy of the cross-country adventure, a few copies of the Car Wars Calendar, Armadillo Arena, road sections, double arena set (Dumbarton & Boston)

Vehicle Designs: 5 or 6 three-ring binders full of vehicle designs, one just for racing designs and another one for Blaster Motors vehicles; the estimated total number is well over 1,000. The designers include SAS/Zebra, TRAACS, Mike Garrity, Don Viner, Ron Soller and quite a few others. The types of vehicles range from light cycles to airships as well as all kinds of military vehicles.

Miniatures: Car Wars (Grenadier), Battlecars (Citadel), Battletech (Ral Partha), along with a few from Ogre and Paranoia. Tanks, hovercraft, trucks, bikes, go-karts and battlemechs are all included. We even have a few Ogres. In Matchbox/Hot Wheels, we have four boxes full of them (over 100 vehicles total); these are used in our Godzilla adventures.

Posters: Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, You Only Live Twice, Gone in 60 Seconds, Godzilla 2000, Demolition Man, Godzilla (1997), Moonraker, Remo Williams, Hot Shots, Star Trek: First Contact & Independence Day.

Our Own Supplements: Original atlases, Midwest encounter guides, the Vehicle Registry, the FastLane and a few others that escape my memory right now
 

From time to time, we receive e-mails who think that NOVA is something we're not. One time, it was from a guy who was looking for a real go-kart (we set him straight). Another time it was from another person looking for double-decker buses. Seeing this, we are forced to wonder if our website is all that hard to figure out. Even so, we get a good laugh and keep right on going. Following are a few of our more recent inquiries, you he the judge.
 

Dear Sir:
Greetings. One of the most important factors in trucks and buses is the safety of tires, driving and not knowing about the flat tires is the most important reason in early destruction of them.
    Besides in 6-wheel vehicles it may lead to explode the next tire and accidents in roads. Also, it is important in the trucks carrying inflammable goods warmth increasing of a flat tyre causes it to inflame during a long journey .....
    After years of hard work, we have designed and made and registered a new device that will warn the flat or low tire air pressure during driving, and it can be installed on any kind of trucks and buses easily.

For more information, please e-mail to namiranf@sums.ac.ir

Best regards: Farhad Namiranian director-manager
 

Obviously, this guy needs some remedial work in writing e-mail
--The Editor
 

Hello:

I recently came across the following site: http ://www.novia.net/~desslok/nova.htm

As a member of the Iowa City Press, I am particularly interested in the track designed for Iowa City, though any information about this site and this organization in general would be helpful.
    Specifically, I would like to know who I can contact locally, when this track was designed and for what purpose, how many people from the Iowa City area are involved in this organization and how current the information on this site is. I hope to convince my editors to run a feature on this.
    Thank you for any information you might be able to offer me.

Sincerely: Jackie Hammers, Metro Reporter, The Daily' Iowan
 

Or, shall we say what you pull behind. We are of course referring to trailers. Blaster Motors has just released a line of trailers carrying their signature weapon, the blast cannon. Seeing these latest releases, we wonder what those BC-crazy designers will come up with next.

Blast-Trailer: 6' van trailer, x-hvy chassis, 2 PR car tires, 2 gunners, BC (b), 2 linked SDs w/explosive spikes (1 R, 1 L), Swc, weapon link (BC/SDs), 2 10-pt wheelguards, SlopedArmor: F37, B40, R38, L38, T37, U14, 3,358 lbs, $12,216.

Blast-Trailer II: 10' van trailer, x-hvy chassis, 2 PR car tires, 2 gunners, BC (B), 3 linked SDs w/explosive spikes (1 R, I L, 1B), Swc, weapon link (BC/SDs), 2 10-pt wheelguards, Sloped Armor: F40, B40, R40, L40, T40, U10, 5,005 lbs, $14,339.Cargo Capacity: 7 spaces, 635 lbs

Blast-Trailer III: 15' van trailer, x-hvy chassis, 4 PR car tires, 2 gunners, 2 BCs linked B, 3 linked SDs w/ explosive spikes (1 R, 1 L, 1 B), Swc, weapon link (BC/SDs), 4 10-pt wheelguards, Sloped Armor: F40, B40, R40, L40, T40, U10; 7,115 lbs, $22,425. Cargo Capacity: 12 spaces, 1,525 lbs.

Blast-Trailer IV: 20' van trailer, x-hvy chassis, 8 PR car tires, 3 gunners, 3 BCs w/HESH ammo linked B, 1 BC w/HESH ammo in universal turret TB, 2 linked SDs w/explosive ammo (1 RB, I LB), 2 targeting computers, weapon link (rear BC/SDs), smart link (turret/rear BCs), 4 10-pt wheelguards, Sloped Armor: F30, B30, RF30, RB30, LF30, LB30, TF30, TB30, UF10, UB10, 10,290 lbs, $45,680.Cargo Capacity: 12 spaces, 360 lbs.

Blast-Trailer V: 25' vim trailer, x-hvy chassis, 8 PR car tires, 3 gunners, 3 BCs w/HESH ammo linked B, 1 BC w/HESH ammo in universal turret TB, 3 linked SDs w/explosive spikes (l RB, 1 LB, I B), 2 targeting computers, weapon link (rear BCs/SDs), smart link (turret/rear BCs), 4 10-pt wheelguards, Sloped Armor: F35, B35, RF35, RB35, LF35, LB35, TF35, B35, UF10, UB10, 12,435 lbs, $49,850.Cargo Capacity: 18 spaces, 1,845 lbs

Blast-Trailer VI: 30' van trailer, x-hvy chassis, 8 PR car tires, 3 gunners, 4 BCs w/HESH ammo linked B, 2 BCs w/HESH ammo in universal turrets (TF& TB), 3 linked SDs w/explosive spikes (1 RB, 1 LB, 1 B), 3 targeting computers, weapon link (rear BC/SDs), 2 smart links (rear turret/rear BCs; both turrets to each other), 4 10-pt wheclguards. Sloped Armor: F35, B35, RF35, RB35, LF33, LB35, TF35, TB35, UF10, UB10, 16,435 lbs., $70,100.
Cargo Capacity: 19 spaces, 485 lbs

Blast-Trailer VII: 40' van trailer, 8 PR truck tires, 3 gunners, 6 BCs w/HESH ammolinked B, 2 BCs w/HESH ammo in universal turrets TF & TB), 2 linkcd SDs w/explosive spikcs (1 RB, 1 LB), 3 targeting computers, 2 smart links (rear turret/rear BCs; both turrets to each other), 4 10pt wheelguards, Sloped Armor: F100, B100, RF100, RBI00, LFI00, LB100, TFI00, TB100, UF50, UB50, 25,860 lbs, $113,350.
Cargo Capacity: 36 spaces, weight is limited by pulling capacity of tractor.

Blast-Trailer VIII: 40' van trailer, 12 FP SB solid truck tires, 5 gunners, 2 HRRs w/HESH ammo linked B, 2 extra magazines (HEAT) w/magazine switches, 2 HVMGs w/2 extra magazines each (1 RF, 1 LF), 2 pulse lasers in universal turret TF, laser battery, HVMG w/extra magazine in universal turret TB, HMD w/2 extra magazines B (all mines are proximity-fuzed), 2 HDFOJs w/2 extra magazines each (1 RF,1LF), 2 cyberlinks (1 for each turret), 3 HrSwc (1 to linkcd HRRs, 1 to each side-mounted HVMG), 5 radar rangefinders, improved fire extinguisher, 6 10-pt FP wheel hubs, 6 10-pt FP wheelguards. Composite Armor (Metal/Plastic): F24/30, B24/30, RF24/30, RB24/30, LF24/30, LB24/30, TF20/25, TB20/25, UF15/20, UB15/20, $267,050.

Blast-Bus: Mini-bus, x-hvy chassis, truck power plant, 10 PR truck tires, driver & gunner, HRR w/HESH anmo F,1 extra magazine (HEAT) w/magazine switch, FOJ (B), 2 linked SDs w/ I extra magazine each (1 R, 1 L) HrSwc, weapon link (FOJ/SDs), 10 pts CA on driver, 10 pts CA on gunner, 6 10-pt wheel hubs, 6 10-pt wheelguards, Sloped Composite Armor (metal/plastic): F20/50, B0/80, R0/65, L0/65, 10/15, U0/15. Acceleration: 2.5/5, HC: 1, Top Speed: 102.5 mph, 14,345 lbs, $55,193.

Blast-Tank: 90-space AFV hull, super AFV power plant w/upgrades, driver & 3 gunners, 3 HRRs w/I extra magazine each (all ammo is HESH) linked F, 2 ACs w/ 1 extra magazine each; in universal turrets TF & TB, 4 5-space rocket EWPs w/5 7" rockets & jettison joints in each (1 each RF, RB, LF, LB), 4 HrSwc, 3 laser rangefinders, improved fire extinguisher, 4 safety seats, Sloped Composite Armor (metal/plastic): F120/225 (10%), B30/40, RF40/60, RB40/60, LF40/60, LB40/60, TF20/30. TB20/30, UF15/20, UB15/20. Acceleration: 2.5/5, HC: 5, Top Specd: 75 mph (50 mph w/full load), 61,075 lbs, $463,370. Cargo Capacity: 25 spaces, 28,925 lbs. Note: the armor totals include the bonus for sloping.
 

Everything comes to an end eventually. Even so, NOVA will keep going on. We have got quite a few projects to accomplish this year, and hope to make inroads on all of them. One thing that helps us a great deal is all the new friends we make wherever we go; this certainly brightens our day.
    By next issue, we hope to have a new home or at least be on the trail of one. If not, we may have to build one ourselves. No matter, we WILL have a stable meeting place again.
    We'll cover the current happenings, gadgets and vehicles, along with our own brand of road-kill humor. Until then:
 

"DRIVE OFFENSIVELY"
 
 

Norman McMullen	Michael Garrity
NOVA President	Secretary

NOVA Works:
    Bumper boats: Norman McMullen, DP Artillery: Mike Garrity

The 10 O'clock News: Norman McMullen

Nuts & Bolts: Norman McMullen

Quotes & Duelslang: Norman McMullen & Mike Garrity

Cube Logs: Norman McMullen

In the Arena: The 2051 NOVA Club Racing Championship: Norman McMullen

The Showroom: Blast-Trailer l-VII by Norman McMullen, other vehicles by Mike Garrity

All other sections: Norman McMullen

Typesetting & Page Layout: Michael Garrity

Editor: Michael Garrity

The Nightmessenger is published quarterly by the New Omaha Vehicular Association, 2524 Madison St, Bellevue, NE 68005. All material is copyright 2001 by the New Omaha Vehicular Association. All rights reserved. Car Wars, Dueltrack, Boat Wars, Car Warriors, Crash City, Truck Stop, Convoy, Uncle Albert's Catalog From Hell, Autoduel and AADA are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or are used under license. The above trademarks, and the characters and situations of the Car Wars background are the exclusive property of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and are used in Nightmessenger under permission. Reproduction of any material published in the Nightmessenger without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Any reproduction of Car Wars articles published in the Nightmessenger, or any unauthorized publication of fiction using the Car Wars background without the express written permission of Steve Jackson Games is strictly prohibited. Subscription rates (for 4 issues) are: Regularly attending club members: $4.00, U.S. subscribers: $6.00, International subscribers: $12.00.

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