What a summer! Things have been uncommonly slow in New Omaha. Could it be the calm before the storm? Who will be the storm: BLUD, ARF, or some other crazies? One thing is for sure; the autoduellists are nervous.

There's been talk in the rumor mill of an official AADA deathrace and duelling with nukes. What's the world coming to? Will there be a world left? A current rumor is that Springfield, Missouri was destroyed by a nuke. This remains unconfirmed and must be treated as hearsay.

At Omacon X NOVA hosted Chris McCubbin, the current ADQ editor. We all enjoyed having him back in Nebraska. See "The World Out There" and the "In The Arena" sections for more details. NOVA held a tournament and had Car Wars-related videos in the SIG Room. Next year the big convention in Omaha will be Impact (sounds great for autoduelling). Hope to see you there. We'll be running another tournament.

Some NOVA members have commented that Car Wars is dying a slow death. At times I agree with that view. The way things have been messed up in the past year it's easy to see why. our membership is at an all-time low. Maybe Aeroduel, Card Wars, and Car Wars Tanks will pull up the game. Otherwise it may go out with a whimper.

Well, Uncle Al still hasn't returned. But still NOVA has new inventions that are of interest to you. Let there be peace through superior firepower!

Multi-Superchargers: More than one supercharger may be mounted on a single vehicle. Acceleration bonuses and MPG penalties are cumulative plus drop two more MPG for each additional supercharger.

Multi-Turbochargers: More than one turbocharger or variable-pitch turbocharger may be mounted on any engine with the same acceleration and MPG effect except MPGs drop by an additional one for each turbocharger.

Combined Weapons System: $3,750, 4 G.E. (or 15 lbs.). This weapon combines an assault rifle with a folding stock and an IR day/night scope. The rifle has a shotgun in an under-barrel mount. The shotgun holds 10 rounds and can fire any type of shotgun shells, including shotgun-launchable grenades and sabot shells. The rifle has a 30 round magazine.

RC Mine Dropper: $1,500, 200 lbs., 6 shots, 2 DP, 2 spaces. CPS $500, WPS 10 lbs. Loaded cost $4,500, loaded weight 260 lbs. 1D6 damage, burst effect, 1 DP per mine. Incendiary loads are available at $600 and 10 lbs. each, doing 1D6+1 damage, fire mod of 3, burn duration of 2.

Each mine in the dropper takes up an additional half-space in the vehicle. Robot mines, when launched, must make a lock-on roll of 7 or better with the bonuses and penalties of a RGM. After that they will move at 55 mph. Any missed lock- on roll is rerolled at -4 against all other vehicles in the area, including the launching vehicle. Remote control minedroppers can only be mounted in a luxury or larger vehicles. Each mine has 1 DP and is targeted at -6 due to their small size and speed.

Aluminum Metal Armor (AMA): Weighs 2.5x per point of plastic armor and cost 1.5x per point of plastic armor. AMA is removed on a roll of 4-6 for burst effect weapons and 5-6 for area effect weapons. AMA will catch on fire if hit by incendiary weapons. A roll of 2 or 3 on 2D6 indicates the armor is on fire.

As you read this Aeroduel is now in the stores. Sad to say that there is still some flaws in it. Currently we're play testing Car Wars Tanks and finding it a total disaster. Introducing nukes with private armies in the game is asking for trouble. I don't think modulating Car Wars is the answer. Car Wars has never been a modular game, otherwise you have to rewrite the game. That's been tried with the Compendium and we all know how that turned out. Car Wars Tanks has no hope to see print in its present format. How many times have the tank rules been introduced and rewritten? The answer is at the end of this section.

Chris McCubbin was our guest at Omacon X and he enjoyed it very much. We got a chance to hear the dirt on SJG and its writers. Among the things he did was overseeing the Car Wars tournament, clarifying any rule changes and watching some real crazy duelling. At one of Chris's seminars NOVA got the chance to play Card Wars, a playing card version of Car Wars. NOVA was fortunate to playtest it last year and provided input on how the game held up. Card Wars will be released later this year (a perfect stocking stuffer).

Chris liked meeting another of the con's guests, John Ford. John is best known for his Star Trek novels, but I believe he wrote a story called Street Legal several years ago for Car Wars. We were happy to host Chris and hoped he had a good visit to his home state.

Iowa is in the midst of a big legislative battle over allowing more arenas in the state. Iowa is changing it's anti- duelling laws. With this an election year the mud slinging is being done with monster trucks (You got to see the commercials). The anti-duelling candidates are taking a beating. Recently the Iowa Motor Safety Association (IMSA) headquarters in Council Bluffs was firebombed. Casualties were light but the building was a total loss. There's only a few months left before the elections. The results should be interesting. Watch for the outcome in our winter issue.

We still have projects left unfinished. This hasn't been my year for finishing things. However, life can have some strange happen in a short period of time. Chris McCubbin did like the Midwest Vehicle Guide 2 and the Flashfire Circuit. Now its Mr. Blankenship's turn. Wish us luck.

July saw the arrival of the Death Knight from Colorado. He's now a member of NOVA, complete with the rest of his "small convoy". The 100+ vehicle convoy was composed of cars, tanks, and helicopters. Nobody bothered him on the highways. Colorado and Nebraska now have fewer gangs due to the Knight's move. Death Knight has set up camp in the Boneyards outside of the city walls. He is a cyborg, one of several living in the area. The Death Knight is going to set up a new business somewhere in our city.

Another cyborg made his appearance in New Omaha last July. Named the Executioner, he is employed in the NOPD and works with Robojed. The Executioner is a law enforcement borg with the power to decide the fate of known felons at crime scenes. He has displayed a fondness for head shots, preventing rich criminals from having their brains read for their clones.

The city's vigilantes have laid low after their clean up effort earlier this year. The newspapers are still looking for the Black Avenger. Nothing yet has been found of him. Batman and Ambush regularly patrol the city streets keeping a sharp lookout for the Black Avenger.

Currently there is a debate over the city's six jet-powered police interceptors. The heat has risen in the council chambers on whether they're cost-effective. The police department wants the jets, no matter what. Meanwhile watch out for them on the interstate. Their testing period ends in October. We'll have the results next issue.

Got the answer to my question? Its four times. Tanks were introduced in the Massacre at Midville article in Spacegamer #58. They were fully written out in Dragon #117 in the Tanks for the Memories article. The first SJG tank supplement was the little-seen Tanks in Car Wars that appeared in 1988. Finally Car Wars Tanks is SJG's latest try out.

The award for keeping your vehicle in control: August 4, 2040 at the Omacon X Tournament. Psycho managed to stay in control even though he did several tight bends between 40 and 90 mph. Psycho finished third overall.

Chapter with the most wins in the World Championships: The Austin Autoduelling Association/River City Autoduelling Association had more of it's members win at the Championships then any other chapter.

2036, 37, and 40: Mike Montgomery

2038: Jeff Boe

2039: Tim Ray

A total of five out of the seven World Championships held to date. Good news, though. Mike Montgomery has been retired as the first Grand Duellist.

Most Active Chapter: As reported by the current ADQ editor - the New Omaha Vehicular Association is the most active chapter in the AADA.

Play testing results in a SJG supplement: Of all the supplements NOVA had playtested the one with the most comments is Car Wars Tanks - 52 in all. The runner up was Aeroduel with 26 comments. This year has been a record for playtest results.

June 17, 2040: At 7 p.m. this date the Stratoranger II and Albatross took off from Eppley Airfield, heading westward to set a new world record for circling the globe on one charge. The vehicles were piloted respectively by Ion Storm, Ed Sal, Kelly McDowell, and Marion McCutchan. The Stratoranger II is built by Radius Motors and the Albatross is from Far Designs.

June 21, 2040: Fred Guiness was killed in a shot-out with robbers at a Qik-Pik. The NOPD reported that Guiness had a clone and is expected to be back on the force in about a month.

June 22, 2040: The world has watched in amazement as the Stratoranger II and Albatross circled the globe. They passed over Los Angeles, Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, Paris, and New York City. At 2:38 Central Time they landed at Eppley Airfield, completing their 16,000 mile flight. In total it took five days, 19 hours, 38 minutes to complete the journey. The crews were tired but very happy. They partied the night away before getting a much needed sleep.

July 7, 2040: No Gun finished first with five kills out of eight participants in the Governors Arena Division 100 monster truck contest.

July 14, 2040: No Gun finished first with five kills out of eight participants in the Washington Arena.

July 21, 2040: No Gun finished first yet again. This time he took out another five competing duellists in the Crossroads Arena.

July 23, 2040: Emergency Services Inc (ESI) introduced the latest technology in law enforcement, the Executioner. It's a cyborg specially programmed for police duties. The Executioner is to be assigned to the NOPD.

Also on this date Fred Guiness returned to duty. He commented, "I'm back, so criminals behave".

July 25, 2040: The Executioner's first day out on the streets. He foiled two kidnappers and one robbery. The arrests were done with minimal property damage. Four suspects were killed when they fled the crime scene and three more were hospitalized. The name Executioner is turning out to be an appropriate name for this cyborg.

July 28, 2040: No Gun finished first with six kills out of eight participating duellists in the Holiday Arena.

July 30, 2040: The Executioner killed one of its own technicians for tampering with ESI equipment. ESI president Brent Roskins is expected to have a press conference on this incident soon.

August 26, 2040: The Death Knight's convoy of tanks, rigs, cars, helicopters, and cycles left Denver early in the morning. Rumors abound as he leads his organization out of Colorado. Rumors have it that he is coming to New Omaha.

August 28, 2040: NOVA met the Death Knight's convoy in the Boneyards. Afterwards Joe Ratner announced that the Death Knight has relocated to New Omaha after a major battle with the ARFs, an old enemy to both NOVA and the Death Knight.

September 1, 2040: No Gun came in second with four kills at Aladdin's Castle, Las Vegas in a Division 100 monster vehicle event.

September 8, 2040: No Gun finished first by acing the three other contestants in the Arches Autoduel Park in Moab, Deseret.

September 15, 2040: As above, but this time at the Double Drum Arena.

September 22, 2040: No Gun won first place in the Armadillo Arena. He had five kills out of the eight competing duellists.

September 29, 2040: No Gun knocked out five of the competing duellists at the Astrodome Arena in Houston, Texas and finished first.

These rule changes reflect NOVA's dislike of the CWC IIs rules.

1. Gas Engines. NOVA has overwhelmingly agreed to use pre-Compendium engines. No matter what everybody else is saying, gas engines have enough problems against them without the heavier weights. So it looks like SJG hates speed demons.

2. RGMs. NOVA uses pre-Compendium RGMs. They make more sense than the present ones. In one Nightmessenger a compromise RGM system was shown, but it wasn't taken seriously by the people in Austin at that time.

3. Maneuvers Per Phase. The one maneuver per phase in the CWC is stupid, especially at high speeds. Refer to #1 for the reason. This rule is not used by NOVA and it's stated here to make it official.

With all these changes I'd almost like to go back to the Deluxe rules until the Compendium is revamped to the player's satisfaction. Where have I heard that before? I've heard other duellists before saying they'll go back to the pocket box edition because they disliked the Deluxe! Common gaming problem if I've every seen one: the gamers always wanted what they had, instead of the improved version.

Last issue we updated on NOVA's status and playing style. Here are some more insights. First is the introduction of two new members: Michael Garrity of Rhode Island and Shea Montgomery of Lincoln, Nebraska. Welcome to NOVA and all it's benefits.

Since the release of CWC II NOVA has groaned and again rewrote some rules. One involved the spoiler and airdam rules. In NOVA each subtracted D1 of hazard from maneuvers and -1 from the crash tables if the vehicle was traveling at or above 60 mph. Together they removed 2D of hazard from maneuvers and -2 from the crash tables. This makes more sense then what's been officially printed the last few years.

We generally use the updated movement and crash tables, but personally NOVA doesn't understand why they were changed in the first place. Still, I do use the Compendium first edition's movement chart. The CWC II first phase movement for slow vehicles is silly. Another silly idea is the mid-turn acceleration and decelerations.

Overall I was not impressed by either Compendiums. Both tampered with the basic game. That spells trouble in any book. Look what happened to AD&D if your not convinced. NOVA's games are a combination of all the versions of Car Wars and like everything else always in a state of flux.

The schedule is lighter this issue with the bulk of conventions taken care of last issue. Here are a few more to mention.

Quad Con '90: October 12 to 14, 1990 in Davenport, Iowa. NOVA has been invited but had to cancel due to scheduling problems. Nevertheless, a Car Wars tournament was held by the local Car Wars club.

Impact 0.3: October 13, 1990 at the Holiday Inn Central in Omaha, Nebraska. NOVA held a tournament here instead of at Quad Con. A report will be featured in NM4-4.

With the summer over most of the good movies will be showing up this winter. What is available out there is listed below.

Already out: Navy SEALS

September: Hardware

October: Highway to Hell (?)

November: Robot Jox (don't get your hopes up)

Thanksgiving: Predator 2 and Highlander 2 - The Quickening

The survivors of the two preliminary rounds slowly positioned themselves at the Aksarben Arena. They were Tim Wilwerding, Mike Dalton, Steve Barnes, Don Jacques, James Davis, and Jay Chladek. The gates were chosen randomly and the cars placed in position..

With Chris McCubbin, the current ADQ editor, helping officiate this AADA duel, the game commenced. For the first second no shots were fired. On the second turn Jay turned to fire at Tim who was himself turning away from Don's path of flaming oil. Mike and James, at the other end of the arena, entered into there own little battle. Steve and Don approached each other near the north end of the arena and exchanged fire.

Tim took some heavy damage from Jay's linked RRs and tried to escape behind a wall of FCGS rounds. Jay miraculously did tight bends safely and got behind Tim again. Mike damaged James's car heavily as they fought around an obstacle. Don pursued Steve and then broke off to join the chase against Tim. Steve changed course and headed for the obstacle battle.

Mike finished James with concentrated sabot ATG rounds. Steve caught Mike going around the corner and rammed him. Mike lost most of his front armor in that ram. Tim continued his desperate race from Jay at 90 mph with Don now joining in earnest. Mike escaped from Steve, rounded the obstacle, only to see Tim barreling in on him. Tim's ATGs finished Mike for good.

Back luck for Tim. Mike's wreck blocked the passage Tim was heading for. Tim chose to go through the obstacle tunnel instead. He lost control and rammed into the sharp edge of the tunnel entrance. Jay rammed Tim in the rear and caused even more damage to Tim's front as the car was forced further into the tunnel's masonry. Let's not forget Mike's wreck, as it was still moving and rammed Tim's side, exposing the weak rear armor. Don fired the killing blow with his BC.

With Tim finished Don became Steve's next target. Don fired off the rest of his FOJ ammo to discourage pursuit. Steve's underbody had caught fire from the burning slicks. Time was called and the duel was declared over. The winner of this event was based on who had the more intact vehicle. After a check of Don's and Steve's vehicles it was declared that Steve was the winner, with Don second and Jay third. On one point it was all agreed to that if there was more time that Don would have even money winning the event as the fire on Steve's underbody would break through and destroy the internal components of his vehicle. The other point was that although Steve had more armor points than Don the amount of Steve's front armor was half of it's original value while Don still had 2/3 of his front armor left.

More duelling slang to bring a smile to your face.

Death Machine: Any vehicle which causes someone to say "oh my God".

Paper: The remains of a vehicle that has been steamrollered, smashing them flat as a sheet of paper.

Spaceman: Any duellist that mainly relies on lasers for weaponry.

The Sheeley Effect: Rules that don't make sense, logically or gamewise. Example - a propeller-driven airplane going above mach 1 (Aeroduel).

Bug Killers: A duellist who likes to kill pedestrians. Alternately, a vehicle specifically designed to do the same. This vehicle has flechette guns or machine guns with anti-personnel ammo and point-defense grenades.

H.A.L.: Any vehicular computer, targeting or otherwise, which malfunctions. Example - your computer starts saying "that's not very nice, Dave".

In this installment we bring you a long hauler and an arena mauler.

Stratoranger II: Transport Helicopter w/CA frame, super power plant w/PC & SC, pilot, gunner, BC in turret UF and UB, 2 EWPs with 4 solar cells and 10 points of FPRP armor each, radar, radar detector and jammer, infrared, 8 extra power cells, 2 hi-res computers, extra driver controls, two pairs of maneuvering foils, improved tail assembly. FPRP armor: T104, all other locations 125 each. 10 points of rotor armor each for main and stabilizing. Accel. 5, top speed 150, HC 0; 30,693 lbs., $621,283. Range 2,600 miles + solar cells.

Firehammer: Luxury, x-hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, super power plant, 4 solid tires, driver, 2 linked ATGs w/sabot ammo front, FCGS rear, HRSWC. Sloped armor: F50, L35, R35, B45, T15, U10 with 4 10-point wheelguards. Accel. 5, top speed 110, HC 3; 6,600 lbs., $18,950.

Skycobra: Medium Microplane, 200ci engine with tubular headers, variable-pitch turbocharger, 5 gallon HD gas tank, nitrous oxide, 3 HD cycle tires, pilot, propeller rear, delta wings, ducted cowling, VMG front, VMG in each wing facing front, link for VMGs, maneuvering foils, improved tail assembly, tinted/no-paint windshield, radar, radar detector and jammer, hi-res computer, computer navigator, overdrive, LDR. FPRP armor: F46, L45, R45, B46, T45, U46. Accel. 15/25 with nitrous, top speed 330/495 w/nitrous, HC 3; 4,497 lbs., $55,696.

Phoenix VMG: Large Microplane, sports power plant, retractable landing gear, pilot, gunner/EW operator (with 96 lbs. of equipment), paired propellers wing-mounted back, pair of linked VMGs with incendiary ammo wing mounted forward, two ejection seats, rocket boosters (+10 mph), two hi-res computers, surge protector, radar, radar detector and jammer, LDR/scrambler-decoder, radio point jammer, IR targeting/painting laser front, 8 laser-reactive webs, laser jammer. Stealthkote. FPRP armor: F44, L44, R44, B44, T40, U44. Accel. 5, top speed 200, HC 3; 5,094 lbs., $55,850.

The Death Knight (a.k.a. Michael Garrity) was born on December 11, 1964, the son of two college students. His family moved around the country, living in such places like Washington DC, Rosyln, Pennsylvania, and Westfield, Massachusetts while his father completed his medical education. In 1970 the family moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island and remained there for the next 21 years.

After a two year enlistment in the US Army (Combat Engineer 1986-88) Michael enrolled in a local college and majored in law enforcement. "I've always wanted to be a cop, just like my grandfather", Michael often says. Michael graduated in 1992 and joined the Colorado Springs Police Department. He remained there until 1995 when he was appointed as a US Marshall. His new position lasted until the Short War of 2011-12 and included the notable capture of the notorious Chinese criminal Tou Lung.

After retiring in 2012 he entered the private security business and become a bodyguard/security consultant. This lasted for over 20 years. Having survived the Food Riots and all the associated troubles, Michael entered the growing sport of autoduelling in 2032. With a Hudson Hammer in his experienced hands he rapidly advanced in the local standings. He gained regional popularity with such tactics as the Feign Death Roll. In this tactic he would deliberately roll his car so that it would land on its wheels with the front facing the enemy. He first used it in the Dumbarton Slalom Arena using a car armed with a turreted RR and three MFRs up front. He rolled the car and ended up facing one of the choke points. The first car through took over 100 points of damage and virtually disintegrated. The now familiar name Death Knight was born after winning three consecutive duels at the Baltimore Joustduel Arena in 2036.

Michael, now only known as the Death Knight (DK), left the arena in 2036 and hired himself out as the proverbial blunt instrument. He first came to blows with ARF in December of 2036. He ambushed a trailer carrying part of the ARFs southwest area treasury to a new location. $30 million in cash, gold, and bearer bonds were discovered in the trailer. ARF was understandably upset. They had him killed in a road duel in January of next year. His first clone was activated shortly thereafter.

After conditioning his new clone body DK used the money captured from the ARFs and constructed a base on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. In June of 2038 he completed his base and opened up a convoy escort service. Mainly protecting the convoys coming in on I-25, DK also set out after the gang that controlled the ruins the Colorado Springs. This operation earned him numerous commendations from the state and federal agencies.

ARF tried to finish the job of killing DK in September of 2039. They mounted a massive raid on the Death Knight's base. This raid was a two-prong assault. While one force engaged the ground and air defenses another one slipped in to plant a mini-nuke on the power plant. The raid was defeated and the erstwhile bombers were killed. DK lost 50% of his offensive power in that raid.

The next nine months was spent by DK repairing his remaining forces and preparing to move his operations elsewhere. Through the generous efforts of NOVA the Death Knight secured permission to set up operations in New Omaha. On August 28, 2040, a large convoy of trucks, cars, helicopters, and motorcycles (escorted by several tanks) rolled into the city and attracted much media attention.

The Death Knight is a large man (6'4", 200 lbs). He is an honorable combatant and will always accept surrender. He will terminate those who try to take advantage of this. He is known for going to lengths to help someone in trouble. DK is a formidable warrior with the skills of Driver +3, Gunner +4, Handgunner +2, Explosives +1, Cyclist, Tank Driver, and Running. His sidearms are the cobra assault cannon with an IR night/day scope and arm brace stock and two laser-sighted machine pistols with extended magazines and AV ammo. His vehicular weapons are laser-guided rockets, x-ray lasers, autocannons, blast cannons, anti-tank guns and tank guns.

He is able to carry extra gear due to his powered assault armor. His motto is "Remember always I am Death. Come play with me." Colors are gloss black with scarlet trim. His symbol is a skeleton in armor with flaming eyes and welding a large axe in the right hand and a holstered double-barreled sawed-off shotgun on the right hip.

It's back with more reviews. This issue we cover peds. There are plenty of movies out there with cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Often overlooked are the peds. We'll take care of that oversight.

Robocop II - He's back and boy does he have problems. Throughout the movie Robocop deals with his past, the OCP Corporation, and his altered programming. You'll feel sorry that you bought the ticket. Like its predecessor this movie is filled with a lot of gunplay. The bright spot in this mess is Robocop II, the robot with the brain of an insane drug dealer. The final fight is good, as this typifies a smash'em up cyborg fight. ** (out of four)

Total Recall - Arnie's back with a new brain (we wish)!! O.K., it's just memory trouble. How would you know if someone had stolen your memories? That's the film's main question. Set in a future in which memories can be bought and implanted directly into the mind, people buy "vacations" without every leaving the memory-selling centers.

Doug Quaid (Arnold) bought a vacation memory of Mars and all hell breaks loose. Rebels, gun play, and chases abound on Earth and on Mars. A few Car Wars ideas pop up in this film, like the drills and robot taxis. Overall a good film. ****

The Toxic Avenger - Not a film thought to be related in Car Wars, but there are some scenes that fit. In the film there is a form of death race in which peds don't win. The story centers on New Jersey's only superhero and lives up to his name. Criminals have a nasty habit of being found dead in odd ways. The fast food hold-up scene is the funniest one in the movie. If your up for a laugh, rent out this film. ***

Well, so much for this issue. Hope we've done better at proofing this issue than the last few. NOVA thanks all the duellists who corresponded with us. They helped make it all possible.

Anyone who has comments on this year's World Championships and Mike Montgomery's retirement write us or SJG. Feel free to write on anything that's on your mind.

Next issue will cover the return of the regular features. In the spotlight is NOVA's Club Championship. You'll have an arena-side seat in the coverage of the most competitive duelling in New Omaha. Hopefully between other projects I can finish several other articles. When things get odd, the odd get even. Don't worry; every once in a while life does something strange. Just hope that it's good.

Drive and Fly Offensively!

Norman McMullen, President

Don Jacques, Secretary

Re-editing of Nightmessenger Vol 4, No 3 completed on 06/12/97 by Donald Jacques.

Editors: Norman McMullen, Don Jacques, and Tim Jacques.

NOVA Works: Multi-Turbochargers/Superchargers by Norman McMullen, Combined Weapon System by Michael Garrity, RC Minedropper by Cliff Christiansen, and Aluminum Metal Armor by Kelly Resato.

In The Arena: Norman McMullen.

Local Hero: Michael Garrity.

The Showroom: Stratoranger II by Norman McMullen, Phoenix VMG by Matt Schuler, Firehammer by Michael Garrity, and Skycobra by Norman McMullen.

Duel Slang: Norman McMullen and Michael Garrity.

Cube Logs: Norman McMullen.

All other sections done by Norman McMullen.

Typesetting: Don Jacques

Originally printed as a SpeedScript 3.2 document on a Commodore 64 with an Epyx extender cartridge. The issue was reentered as a WordPerfect 5.1 document, turned into a HTML document by KEYview 5.1, and edited again in Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0.

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