NIGHTMESSENGER
The somewhat-quarterly journal of the New Omaha Vehicular Association
Summer/Fall 2053
Volume 17, #2 & 3

OPENING FIRE

Summer finally arrived between all the rain showers, then Fall crept in with tempting temperatures that dropped lower with each passing day. Car Wars 5th Edition is somewhere amongst the collection of days that comprise Summer and Fall, but no-one knows where it is, and no-one is looking for it. Meanwhile, the AADA is still shutdown, awaiting the arrival of the late 5th Edition. Strangely, SJG doesn't seem to mind.
      This issue is shorter than usual due the lateness of the previous issue and the dearth of news and events of the previous months. Overall, there is not much happening at the moment in the world of Car Wars.


NOVA WORKS

Nothing new this issue.


THE WORLD "OUT THERE"

The ARF/ASP War has wound down as the participants spent themselves in pyrhric battles. BLUD and BLUR have grown in strength, closing off whole sections of towns and cities for their late night events. These two groups have increased their activities in every major city and state in North America. Most of these disgruntled drivers are in their late teens or early twenties. The NOPD have been kept busy due to the increase in BLUD and BLUR activity. Thankfully no major damage has happened within city limits.
      As stated before, Car Wars 5th Edition has gone missing in action and the AADA is in a similar state, shutdown and awaiting the 5th Edition to be released before restarting. At this rate it may never happen. The Dueling Debate Board has slowed greatly, and 5th Edition discuss is practically a taboo subject. Robert Deiz and Eric Freeman, self-acclaimed Car Wars personalities, haven't shown up in the debates lately.
      Mike Garrity is still deployed with the National Guard, but not in the Middle East due to equipment problems with his Guard unit.


10 O'CLOCK NEWS

No news is good news. Nothing to report this issue, but rest assured there will be something next time.


CONVENTION CALENDAR

Origins 2003 - Columbus, Ohio. June 26-29, 2003 with only one Car Wars event run by non-SJG GMs.

GenCon 2003 - Indianapolis, Indiana. July 24-27, 2003 with no planned Car Wars events.

Nukecon 2003 - Omaha, Nebraska. October 3-5, 2003. NOVA will be unable to run any Car Wars events due to scheduling problems.


MOVIE RELEASES

Now Playing - The Hulk, Matrix Reload, 2 Fast 2 Furious, X-Men 2, Bulletproof Monk, The Italian Job (remake), and Bruce Almighty.

Summer - Johnny English, Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life (a.k.a. Tomb Raider 2), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Terminator 3, S.W.A.T., and 28 Days Later.

Christmas - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Harry Potter 3.

Prequels - Star Wars Episode 3: Vader Rising (2005)

Sequels - Mad Max 4, Aliens 5, Batman 5, Spiderman 2, X-Men 3, Star Trek 11, Matrix Revolutions, and The Mets 0 (zero).

On Cubes - Star Trek Nemesis.


NOVA PROJECTS

Currently we are backed up on our projects. This includes the winter issue of the Nightmessenger, along with 1st Nebraska Supplement, Subs in Car Wars, and the Metropolitan Motors vehicle supplement. Rest assured these supplements will see the light of day as soon as possible.
      Our recent change in servers has given NOVA much more web space for arenas, vehicle designs, and supplements. Other projects in development include Godzilla articles, Modular Speedway System, Duelslang collection, and Combat Rock. The NOVA flag has been put on the back burner for the time being. We do have the NOVA banner available for conventions.


NUTS & BOLTS
Standard Arena Equipment

Not every arena has standard equipment they issue to duelists. Most just allow them to take whatever fits under division cost. If you love handweapons in a duel then take in a lower costing vehicle. Some duelists have a good handgunner skill to go along with their vehicular gunnery skill. It's a rare duelist that uses a portable flamerthrower or laser rifle, but they have been seen. Submachine guns and grenade launchers are the norm. When the duel reaches an impasse or is going at slow speed is when a sword-wielding opponent or martial arts master can make the difference between victory or defeat. Some duels are decided outside of vehicles altogether, relying solely on fist fighting.
     For Amateur Night events with rookie duelists it's nice to have some standard equipment for them. Personally, I like body armor, heavy pistol, knife and three explosive grenades. For more fun, replace the pistol with a submachine gun. With the ability to damage vehicular components the SMG can decide the end of a duel if the conditions are right. Even a knife thrown at a critically damaged tire can make for a memorable end to a duel. The battle at the end of the movie Robot Jox is an example of a duel being decided outside the vehicles involved.
     Eventually all characters drawn up for the game will get their own personal equipment, traits, and skills. Otherwise you'll have a world of John Generics. A flamethrower-equipped martial arts master will definitely add spice to a convoy mission and other adventures. Keep this in mind for your next gaming session.
IN THE ARENA
2053 NOVA Club Dueling Championship
April 19, 2053
Milford Arena - Battle, Nebraska

NOVA celebrated its 18th anniversary of being a Car Wars chapter by holding its club dueling championship. With the AADA shut down for 18 months the duel was held to upkeep tradition and the spark of autodueling alive. Aksarben was being renovated, so the duel was held at the Milford Arena.
     The duelists involved were Don Jacques, Andy Koehler, Norman McMullen, Marty Koehler, and John Smythe. Division 30 cars was the venue and the gates were selected. John started at the NW comer gate, Andy NE, Marty SE, Don west center gate and Norman at the south end gate. Moving at 30 mph, Andy went north around the obstacle in his corner of the arena, dropping oil. John went south around his obstacle while Don went between a pair of obstacles, dropping a load of heavy-duty oil and spikes. Norman trekked northeast around his entry obstacle as Marty north between a pair of obstacles, then headed west to face Don.
     Closing on Marty, Don dropped another full load of his rear weapons and fired his blast cannon. Marty's front armor was moderately damaged, and in turn did heavy damage to Don with a heavy sonic cannon. Norman angled in and scored a solid hit on Marty's left side with a blast cannon shell.
     Andy turned south towards the TV tower, leaving a trail of oil that he soon turned off. John crept along at 30, heading for the TV tower as well. Don and Marty traded shots again, with similar results. Drifting right, Don dropped more oil and spikes, blocking off a passage between the TV tower and the big southern obstacle. Norman was heading right for Don, but both duelists drifted to avoid a sideswipe. However, to avoid Don's heavy-duty oil slick, Norman did a hard swerve to the north. Don turned NE to go around the east central obstacle.
     Norman drove north and cleared the TV tower, only to get hit by John and Andy. John's HVMG did minor damage to Norman's left side, while Andy's ATGs did heavy damage to the front. Turning east to go past the jump, Andy was followed by John. Norman went NE and fired at Andy's front, but missed. Norman then circled around to chase John and Andy.
     Since no-one was nearby and he was going in a straight line, Marty went over Don's oil, thus discovering it was pyrophoric oil. Marty's tires and underbody armor received light damage. Don finished his turn around the obstacle and faced both Andy and John (unable to fire at the moment because he was out of arc). In an exchange of fire, Andy sustained light front armor damage while Don's front was ripped open by Andy's ATGs. The blast cannon, power plant, driver, and the rear spikedropper were destroyed as well, earning Andy the first kill in the duel. Since the heavy-duty oil jets were set on automatic, a thick trail of oil was left behind Don's car as it came to a stop against the jump.
     John ran through Don's oil, the resulting pyrophoric burn damaging the tires and underbody. He then found Norman in his rear arc and fired his rear rocket launchers. Norman's metal-armored front only lost one point from the rocket volley. Norman set his sights on Marty, turning around the west side of the TV tower. Marty had at this time gone around the obstacles in the SW corner.
     Andy picked his way through the debris and dropped weapons between the east and SE obstacles to get back into the duel. Norman caught up to Marty and fired, doing moderate damage to Marty's back armor. Marty dropped some oil and went around an obstacle, dropping more oil in the process in an effort to make Norman veer off. Before doing so, Norman fired again, doing more damage.
     John slowly make his way through another patch of oil and debris, finding Andy in his sights. He fired and missed. Norman's left tires did made contact with Marty's oil, and in the process discovered it was pyrophoric as well. The left tires received minor damage. Indeed the oil was practically everywhere, as Norman's maneuvering had his right tires come into contact with more pyrophoric oil. They were not only damaged, but caught fire as well.
     Andy came through the south central obstacles and sighted Marty, but neither fired due to the angles and relative speeds. Marty turned north with Andy following, this time the firing solution favored Andy. With his back armor already weakened, Marty surrendered to Andy.
     The fight for second place was a different matter. Norman and John decided to settle the matter with hand-to-hand fighting with knives. Norman sliced off a chunk of John's flak jacket early on, but John ripped open Norman's body armor a few turns later. After several more turns Norman did enough damage to John to render him unconscious, placing Norman and John second and third place respectively.

Time elapsed: 15 turns (duel) and 11 turns (knife fight)

Finishing Positions:
1st - Andy Koehler (Killed Don, Accepted Marty's Surrender)
2nd - Norman McMullen (Won Knife-Fight Over John)
3rd - John Smythe (Loss Knife-Fight With Norman)
4th - Marty Koehler (Surrendered To Andy)
5th - Don Jacques (Killed By Andy)

For the second year in a row, Andy came though the duel with the least amount of damage. His anti-tank guns with APFSDS ammo is illegal in NOVA duels, but was allowed for this event due to an inspection oversight. Regardless, we are proud to crown Andy as our club champion.

Vehicles:

2051 Warhammer: Luxury w/CA Frame, x-hvy, chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/SCs, 4 PR radial tires, driver, 2 linked ATGs front w/APFSDS ammo, OJ w/pyrophoric oil rear, SWC, HTMs. Armor: F70, L50, R50, B60, T8, U9. 10 points of CA each for power plant and driver. 4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 90/67.5 w/HTMs, HC 3; 6,535 lbs., $29,840. (Used by Andy Koehler, designed by Mike Garrity)
NOVA legal 2051 Warhammer - Change ATG ammo to HEAT or HESH ammo and add 20 points of armor. $29,740.

Blastfighter 46: Sedan w/CA Frame, x-hvy, chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/SCs, 4 solid tires, driver, BC w/magazine front (all HESH ammo), Sticky Foam Sprayer rear linked to BC, HD brakes, HTMs, SWC. Sloped metal/plastic armor: F18/30, L7/30, R7/30, B7/30, T0/5, U0/10.4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 92.5/70 w/HTMs, HC 2; 6,120 lbs., $29,604. Personal equipment: body armor $250. (Used and designed by Norman McMullen)
Version A - replace sticky foam sprayer with OJ w/pyrophoric ammo. $29,604.
Version B - replace sticky foam sprayer with SD w/catalytic ammo. $28,804.

2052 Moose: Luxury, x-hvy, chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/SCs, 4 solid tires, driver, HVMG w/magazine front, 2 linked RLs rear, HD shocks, HRSWC - HVMG, SWC - RLs, HTMs, fire extinguisher, HD brakes, no-paint windshield. Sloped armor: F55, L30, R30, B35, T10, U10. 2 5-point wheelhubs front, 2 5-point wheelguards back, 8 points of component armor for driver. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 90/67.5 w/HTMs, HC 3; 6,597 lbs., $29,820. Personal equipment: flak jacket $150 and explosive grenade $25. (Used by John Smythe and designed by Don Jacques)

Thunderbolt 30: Luxury, x-hvy, chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/SCs, 4 PR tires, driver, heavy sonic cannon front, OJ w/pyrophoric ammo rear, HRSWC, 2 SfD w/bumper trigger each (1 left, 1 right), 2 paint dischargers (1 left, 1 right) linked to SfD, HTMs. Sloped armor: F65, L40, R40, B50, T5, U5. 10 points of component armor each for driver and power plant. 4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 90/67.5 w/HTMs, HC 2; 6,595 lbs., $26,590. (Used by Marty Koehler and designed by Mike Garrity)

Oilfield Trailblazer: Luxury, x-hvy, chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/SCs, 4 FP SB PR tires, driver, BC w/magazine front (all ammo HESH), SD w/catalytic spikes back, 2 linked HDFOJ w/pyrophoric oil (1 left, 1 right), link - SD to HDFOJs, !ink - BC to rear weapons, HD brakes, HTMs, HRSWC. Armor: F70, L47, R47, B47, T9, U10.2 6-point wheelhubs front, 2 6-point wheelguards rear. Accel .5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 90/67.5 w/HTMs, HC 3; 6,596 lbs., $29,740. Personal equipment: body armor $250. (Used and Designed by Don Jacques)


QUOTES

"The whole secret to a successful life is to find out what it is one's destiny to do, then do it" - Henry Ford

Litany Against Fear
I will not fear.
Fear is the mindkiller.
I will face my fear.
I will let it pass through me.
    - Dune Saga

USMC Rules For Gunfighting

1) Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all your friends who have guns. Bring their friends who have guns.

2) Anyone worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

3) Only hits count. Close doesn't count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4) If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.

5) Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)

6) If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7) In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived and who didn't.

8) If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.

9) Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting is more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

9.5) Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel pisses in the flintlock of your musket."

10) Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11) In combat, there are no rules, always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12) Have a plan.

13) Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work.

14) Use cover or concealment as much as possible. The visible target should be in FRONT of your gun.

15) Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16) Don't drop you guard.

17) Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.

18) Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.)

19) Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20) The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21) Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

22) Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.

23) Your number one Option for Personal Security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24) Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4".


THE SHOWROOM

2051 Gunfighter - Luxury, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/PCs and SCs, 4 PR Radial tires, driver, AC w/extra magazine front, HRSWC, Sticky foam Sprayer back, SD w/extra magazine left (all ammo explosive), OJ w/pyrophoric ammo right linked to SfS and SD, HTMs. Sloped armor: F70, L45, R45, B55, T7, U7 with 4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 92.5/70 w/HTMs, HC 3; 6,595 lbs., $28,948.

Blastfighter 33.5 - Sedan w/CA frame, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, large power plant w/PCs, 4 SBPR tires, driver, BC w/extra magazine front (all ammo HESH), SfS w/24 round back, SD w/extra magazine back (all ammo explosive) linked to SfS, SWC, SfD w/bumper trigger left and right, HTMs. Metal/Plastic armor: F18/50, L0/50, R0/50, B0/60, T0/6, U0/6 with 4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5/10 w/HTMs, top speed 92.5/70 w/HTMs, HC 2; 6,105 lbs., $29,976.

2052 Sledge - Mini-Bus, x-hvy. chassis, small truck power plant, 10 PR tires, driver, gunner, 75 mm tank gun w/extra magazine front (all ammo HESH), SfS back, sonic cannon in universal turret, links - TG to SfS to sonic cannon, 2 SWC. Sloped armor: F50, L50, R50, B50, T50, U26 with 6 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 2.5/5, top speed 102.5, HC 0; 14,400 lbs., $57,665.
    Version A - Replace SfS with OJ (pyrophoric ammo). $57,665.
    Version B - Replace SfS with SD (catalytic ammo). $56,865.


CUBELOGS

2 Fast 2 Furious
     Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), ex-police officer, has to help the authorities to take out a Miami druglord with the help from an ex-con and an undercover agent. Like the first movie this flick is full of street races and car stunts. Great stuff, if a little over the top at times. If you liked the first movie you'll enjoy this one. Also starring is Tyrese and Cole Hauser. ***


CLOSING FIRE

The end is near for at least this issue. Next time we will hopefully have more to talk about. Everyday is a new day with a new adventure.

Drive Offensively!

Norman McMullen                                    Don Jacques
NOVA President                                       NOVA Secretary



CREDITS

In The Arena - Norman McMullen

USMC Rules For Gunfighting - Mike Garrity

The Showroom
    2051 Gunfighter & Blastfighter 33.5 - Mike Garrity
    2052 Sledge - Norman McMullen

All other sections - Norman McMullen

Typesetting - Don Jacques

Editors - Don Jacques and Norman McMullen

The NightMessenger is published quarterly by the New Omaha Vehicular Association, 2524 Madison St, Bellevue, NE 68005. All material is copyright 2003 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.

Website Address: http://novacw.com/nova.htm
E-mail Address: nova-cw@cox.net

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