Game: Battlecars

Thread: Re: Death Race (movie)

alfblack — 2008-11-11T05:18:58+00:00

Yeh, Watched it. I'm a car combat fan.

Could have been better. But it's ok.

weak story though

Thread: Death Race (movie)

zombiegod — 2008-09-18T19:00:47+00:00

A remake of Deathrace 2000, but not 'quite' as corny. There is however enough high octane action to keep you entertained throughout, and I thought it was one of the best car chase/driving type films I've ever let wash over me. Well worth turning your brain off for 1.5 hours and getting immersed in.

If you enjoyed Mad Max, or any of the Automotive Duelling boardgames such as Battlecars, Car Wars, Rush 'n' Crush, Wreckage, Dark Future, Thunder Road etc I thoroughly recommend you check this out.

Youtube Video

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zombiegod — 2008-08-08T18:31:34+00:00

Citadel Battlecar Miniature

Thread: Re: Pavement Pizza

sedge — 2008-07-27T13:55:09+00:00

Hehe nice. We've had exactly the same situation, with the same smeary result. Gold.

Thread: Pavement Pizza

zombiegod — 2008-07-27T11:31:16+00:00

This session produced probably the most amazing finish we have ever witnessed in a game of Battlecars. Below is the low-down of play.

The small yellow vehicle 'Yellow Peril' began with the sole intention of dropping some serious passive weaponry at point blank distance. Just the ticket for the other vehicle to be ripped to shreds by Spikes and Mines.

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The blue vehicle 'Blue Murder' was decked out to the max' with Rockets, Shells, and Flame Throwers, a steady trundle around the streets would be all it needed to avoid the 'mine layer' & stay safe, as it slowly reduced the yellow vehicle down to a twisted hulk of burnt metal.

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Yellow took some slight armour damage due to the inevitable fire from blue. The return fire that ensued also made serious dents in the blue cars body panels.

Eventually Blue Murders heavy weaponry ran out, (so much for loading up with the big stuff!) With his Shell collection depleted, the Blue Murder vehicle slowed to a halt and the player exited his car.

Seeing the yellow vehicle head down the avenue, the blue Pedestrian coolly walked out from the cover of a nearby building, pulling out his pistol and loading a round into the chamber. The front armour of the yellow vehicle was damaged enough for a few well placed shots to do at least some damage to the engine or front internal components. Yellow Peril was a fair distance away, travelling at quite a lick but blue knew there was a safe distance between them.

The M.G. of Yellow Peril rattled off a round which kicked up dust and asphalt at blues feet. Blue returned the fire, the shot on target, damaging Yellow Perils Super Charger slightly. Next turn he would head back for cover and try shooting from there.

With the fire/return fire phase over blue waited for Yellow Peril to finish its movement phase where the vehicle would continue on its path to rest but a few clicks short from blues feet.

But what's this?!?!?!

Yellow has the crazy idea of performing a 135 Degree turn at the last moment. Not a cat in hells chance of succeeding at this ludicrous speed.

The turn is an inevitable fail. The tyres burn rubber taking 2 damage apiece as the vehicle skids onwards. Blues eyes widen for a final moment as the vehicle careens over him, smearing him into the asphalt before it fishtails to a stall.

"ROADKILL!"

An absolutely astounding finish to the game. A downright low and dirty finish, which turned out beautifully for yellow. The idea to perform the 135 Degree manoeuvre was a perfectly legal and genius decision by my opponent.

This sort of manoeuvre 'to gain an extra couple of extra spaces on the board' is something I have never contemplated doing. Sure it wont work or even be used every game, but it's another strategy to be considered.

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Thread: Re: Mine, All Mine

Luftwaffe Flak — 2008-07-24T21:53:47+00:00

Why is it I think about this song when I read this: (mainly the intro monologue)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9RrHMTTbw

Great session report! All the best, Jonathan

Thread: Mine, All Mine

zombiegod — 2008-07-24T17:23:32+00:00

With 2 players we went for a fairly condensed track in the way of Terrain. Buildings were condensely placed, with single lanes covering 50% of the board. The other half was left fairly open & devoid of scenery should anyone decide to go for a bit of a burnout. To round it all off getting to the other half of the board was only achievable by navigating through a single point. Should anyone wish to get to the other side it would take some careful manoeuvring to get through. A few dead ends were also included in there to protect & shelter anyone with a battered machine.

The smaller M.G. turreted car (Yellow Peril) comes in quickly from the open side, armed to the gills with passive weaponry. Its intention is to drop mines at key points, blocking off some of the narrow roads a space or two in front of the other car in the hope it won't be able to stop in time.

The larger vehicle (RedruM) has other plans. A load of Shells are packed under the bonnet. Enough to destroy the rear side panels and more besides, then its side mounted Flamethrowers will be activated to destroy the exposed fuel tank.

RedruM reaches a T-junction after quite nippily circling a large building, Yellow Peril is pressed for space to drop a mine in his opponents path. This calls for a change of plan, Yellow Peril decides to go for a head on ram which immediately totals the front of each vehicle, reducing them both to 0 speed in the process. A couple of M.G. & Shell shots are hastily exchanged at each others exposed front sections as each player three-point turns away and heads for the hills.

The drivers circle the streets and come back in for another bout. Yellow Peril speeds up and passively drops a Mine in front of RedRum to cut off the path he is on. He also foolishly tries to throw in a couple of nifty tight turns to get out of the way of his opponent. The first one goes smooth, but the next 'tight' time saver results in an over-steer which sends him into a spin out, stalling his car to 0 in the process.

RedruM decides to round the opposite corner and slows his vehicle to a standstill. A plan is forming.

The driver exits the vehicle and jogs across the separating buildings roof, a few wild M.G. shots inevitably do little damage, but one lucky final shot is all it takes to rupture the fuel tank of Yellow Perils armourless rear. The plan is going well, back to the car to baptise it with a final burst of holy cleansing fire.

Instead of wasting his M.G. shots on his sheltering opponent Yellow Peril heads back round the building towards the parked car, to drop off another mine. His plan being to block the car in totally, and pick away with rounds of M.G. fire until the car is like Swiss cheese. He drops off the Mine and stops one point out of range, line of sight is blocked by the buildings corner.

A Mine is on the tarmac in front of RedruMs hood. The driver sees the plan yet his car slowly begins to crawls towards it. Once the damage is taken victory will be his, as he lets rip with wave after wave of high velocity Shells and Flame. The car accelerates and enters the Mine square. Three tyres are destroyed in a ripping blast, not such a big deal, speed is no longer required with this weaponry and the target in sight. The centre section is hit for 4 damage, an 8 is rolled and the driver is ripped to shreds by the shrapnel blast. The car shudders to a halt and the game ends with Yellow Peril victorious.

Thread: Re: Hit the gas tank!

Hendal — 2008-07-24T16:17:15+00:00

Sure sounds like a fun game, I am looking into this one, thanks

Thread: Hit the gas tank!

zombiegod — 2008-07-24T09:59:58+00:00

This was a pretty quick gaming session. Both of the vehicles had Autosteer, resulting in a fairly fast paced, high manoeuvring game.

The turreted vehicle (which had been performing very well in previous games) had quite a difficult job trying to catch the other player off guard, constantly making close manoeuvres and trying to deploy unavoidable Passive Weaponry underneath his rival. The central underside section of his opponents vehicle was the main target area, weak enough to blow apart quickly and leave the driver exposed to damage from even more Mines.

The other vehicle was fitted with Rockets and Flame Throwers. Taking out the rear section of his opponents vehicle and then flaming it was his intention.

A few rounds of 'bang on target' damage were exchanged. The turreted vehicle luckily survived a blast of Flame on its damaged fuel tank and also a direct hit from a Rocket in the same place.

With its fuel tank 100% damaged, the crippled turreted vehicle headed off for cover and drove down a long narrow stretch between two buildings. Dropping a Mine behind and straight in front of his opponent was a good move.

The other vehicle had no time to brake, so pressed on forwards - hell for leather, straight over the Mine. This caused a little damage to the Weapon Pod in the centre section & destroyed one of his Flamers.

Back out into the open, the Flamer vehicle drew alongside the leaking turreted vehicle as the driver from hell sent a blast of Flame billowing out over the other cars rear section. The turreted vehicle had no chance to save itself as a huge explosion mushroomed skywards, instantly killing the occupant and reducing the machine to a wreck.

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zombiegod — 2008-07-08T16:18:24+00:00

Thread: Optional Rules from Swedish Gaming Mag Sinkadus

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-06-10T20:23:49+00:00

This one is from issue 6 in February 1987. No author is given. I've condensed the text somewhat.

Bootlegger Reverse
Too make a bootlegger reverse a car must have a speed of 2, 3 or 4 dots, and can't have any destroyed tires. When you enter the space where you want to make the maneuver, make a skid check. Note that if you perform a bootlegger at speed 4 each tire will take one point of damage.

If the result is 0 or less you succeed, and can turn your car to position 9, 10 or 11 according to the table on p. 4 in the rules. [This is the table that shows car direction after a skid.] The car then moves one dot in the original direction and its speed is reduced to 0. You can't fire any weapons after initiating a bootlegger.

If you fail the skid check you skid as normal. Heavy-duty brakes and servo steering have no effect when performing a bootlegger.

The following are from issue 10, November 1987, the same issue as the campaign scenarios. The author is not named, though it could be Olle Sahlin since his name is the one given for the scenarios.

Automatic Miss
Any unmodified roll of 1 for a ranged attack automatically misses.

Night-Fighting
Fighting in moonlight modifies all attack rolls with -1 per two dots of range. Fighting in complete darkness increases the penalty to -1 per dot.

Burning Oil Slicks
A burning oil slick works like a combined oil slick and smoke screen. It has no effect beyond this on moving vehicles, but stationary vehicles, pedestrians and trees are attacked as by a flamethrower each turn they spend there. The oil slick burns for five turns and is then removed.

Timed Smoke Bombs
This weapon works like a normal smoke screen, except that when fired the driver sets a delay of 1-5 turns for it. In the initiative phase on the indicated turn the bomb explodes and is replaced with a smoke screen as usual. An unexploded smoke bomb can be carried by a pedestrian; it counts as a heavy weapon and can only be thrown one dot.

Smoke Grenades
A smoke grenade looks like a handgrenade but works like a smoke bomb; however, it always has a one-turn delay.

Scoped Rifle
A scoped rifle is a heavy pedestrian weapon. It does 1d8/4 damage, has five shots, and uses the same to-hit numbers as a rocket.

Thread: Re: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-06-03T06:50:34+00:00

No problem.

I'll try to get to typing up the optional rules from the magazine in the next few days.

Thread: Re: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

taurus — 2008-06-02T14:48:51+00:00

Thanks a lot for the effort mate!

Thread: Re: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-30T15:20:12+00:00

Scenario 3: The Road Warrior

The document describes a vital transport that must be protected or stopped. Either way, Team A will be the escort and team B the interceptors.

This time the board represents an infinitely long completely straight highway in the south of Texas (or wherever you want it to be, I suppose). You create it by putting four boards in a row with the longer sides touching so that the road is 11 dots wide. If a vehicle gets close enough to one edge along the road that you need more space, just move the section farthest away so you have more space.

Use all the narrow terrain pieces to mark the middle of the road. You can cross this area but it's fairly dangerous: the skid factor (not sure if that's the term in the English rules, but I think you can figuer it out) is equal to the speed of the car.

Team A enters on the right side of the road from one edge, all in one row with Goliath (see below) in the middle, all with speed 4. Team B enters on the other side of the row from the opposite edge, all in one row and with speed 5.

Goliath is a heavily armored computer-controlled vehicle without weapons. Goliath moves straight ahead at speed 4 at all times (with one exception; see below).

Team A's objective is to protect Goliath, and Team B want to board it. The first team to reduce all their opponents' max speed below 4 wins.

Goliath cannot be damaged in any way. Crashing into Goliath is like hitting a normal vehicle except Goliath takes no damage. It will lose speed, though.

If Goliath hits another vehicle it will take 3d8 damage, and is thrown its speed/2 dots away. Use the normal table to determine which direction the vehicle is pushed; however, if you roll 9 or more it has ended up under Goliath and is completely destroyed. Then roll again to see which direction the vehicle is facing and reduce its speed to 0. Goliath's speed is reduced to 2 for its next turn, and then increases back to 4.

Goliath always moves last each turn, always four (or two) dots straight ahead.

Any vehicle that leaves the board along the sides of the road get stuck in the deep ditches and are out of the game.

Note: Originally there was a fourth scenario, but that isn't presented in the magazine. According to the notes it featured a 3D map picturing part of a harbor in Stockholm and was about the size of ten regular boards.

Thread: Re: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-30T15:00:03+00:00

Scenario 2: The Wild Hunt for the Map

Somewhere in the ravine is a very important document. Find it first!

Use the same map as in the previous scenario. Place one of the smallest buildings in the center of the board.

Remove all damage from all drivers and weapon modules, and refill them with the same weapon types. Remove an additional 2d8+8 damage markers from each car. (Note: This is only for the winners of the previous scenario. The losers apparently start with fully repaired vehicles. I'm not sure why.)

One team starts with two vehicles each at the north and east edges, the other team with two each at the other two. (You'll have to decide for yourselves which direction is north.) As in the previous scenario they start at the edge of the board at speed 4.

The winning team is the first to leave the map with the important document, which is hidden in the small building. Finding the document takes one turn, and obviously requires someone to leave their vehicle.

Thread: Re: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

taurus — 2008-05-30T10:59:11+00:00

I say Keep'em coming!!!

Thread: Swedish Campaign from Sinkadus

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-29T20:05:38+00:00

This is a campaign originally created by Olle Sahlin for a gaming con in Stockholm in 1987. I'll try to get everything in, but I will summarize some parts, and I probably won't post everything today.

General Rules

The campaign is designed for two teams of four players each, with each player controlling one car. Naturally it's possible to use other numbers of players. Also note that two complete games are required to get enough cars and gameboards, though spares can be created with a copier.

Turns should alternate between the teams, though this may change when drivers are killed.

Weapons are placed as usual, with each team sharing the counters from their game. Weapons are halved in size, meaning one module can hold for example four rockets or eight grenades. (There are no details on how to handle this practically, other than that an eliminated weapon only leaves half as many empty spaces. I guess you could make your own counters.)

When a driver is knocked unconscious he is out for 1d8 turns and then wakes up.

Scenario 1: Shoot-Out At Dead Gulch

Layout: Two maps are placed with the short ends against each other, and then the other two are placed with their short edges against the joint, creating a cross. The free short edges are entrances into the Dead Gulch ravine, and all other edges are solid cliff wall.

All houses from one game are placed face-down around the maps, representing rocks. These can't be damaged in any way, and pedestrians can't hide in or on them. Driving your car into a rock affects the car like hitting a house. None of these should be along the entrance edges. There should be free passages of three to four points along the crossing ravines.

The grass tokens from one game should be placed along the cliff walls, representing the more difficult terrain there.

A car can leave the board through any entrance, and will return at the same speed through an entrance secretly chosen when the car leaves the board.

The teams enter from the two edges farthest from each other. They start on any dot next to their entrance at speed four.

Points for this scenario:
50 Dead enemy driver
20 Unconscious enemy driver
40 Undrivable enemy car
10/unit Reduced speed on enemy car
1 Each point of armor damage on enemy cars
2 Each other point of damage on enemy cars

Originally the scenario was timed and ended after two hours.

The winning team should keep their cars in the same condition for the next scenario. Stay tuned...

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-29T19:40:29+00:00

The scenario I was thinking of is actually part of a campaign consisting of three scenarios for two teams. Since there's quite a lot of text I think I'll make a new thread for the whole thing.

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

taurus — 2008-05-29T06:39:42+00:00

No problems mate, take your time. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you (and I guess I won't be the only one )

Best regards,
thibault

Edit: I suggest that everyone who's interested in the scenarios and rules comparison thumbs or tip the post right above this one. Let's give Anders a good reason to be nice )

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-28T18:51:00+00:00

I'll have to get back to you on the scenario information - there were more scenarios than I thought and my computer time at home is limited the next couple of weeks.

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-28T13:15:29+00:00

I can tell you right away that the car weapons are the same (rockets, grenades, machine guns, flamethrowers, mines, spikes, oil and smoke), but other than that I'd have to check the rules. I'm not sure if I'll have time for a detailed rules comparison the next few days but I will try to dig up the scenario and summarize it here.

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

taurus — 2008-05-28T12:47:41+00:00

First, thanks Anders and Jan (bambaladam) for the PMs and replies.

Since you guys asked, yes there is something I'd be interested in: a side by side comparison of the 2 editions. Universalhead has done a reference files that contains all rules (from the Games Workshop english edition) in a 3-pages easily readable format:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/12603/Battlecars_...

¤ If one of you would be willing to compare these and the swedish rulebook and post the discrepancies here, that would be AWESOME. I'm willing to offer insanely high amounts of GG (9.33 - that's all I have ) to the first person who posts this.

¤ Also, this picture http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/132405 shows all car weapons counters from the english edition (4 missile weapons, 4 passive weapons). Any difference in car weaponry in the swedish edition?

¤ Anders, I'd indeed be highly interested as well in this escort scenario you are refering to.

I'm asking a lot, I know. You shouldn't have pushed me.

bambaladam wrote:
Let me know if you need anything else.
AndersGabrielsson wrote:
If there is anything else you want, just let me know!

Nice!

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-26T17:03:14+00:00

The Swedish rules for pedestrian weapons are as follows:

Each driver gets one heavy weapon and two light weapons, or four light weapons. You can use a full round to take weapons and ammunition from a dead or unconscious pedestrian, but you can't go over the carry limit (as above).

The weapons are as follows:

Weapon Damage Ammo Weight
-------------------------------------
Automatic rifle 1d8/2 3 Heavy
Handgrenade 1d8 1 Light
Bazooka 1d8 1 Heavy
Pistol 1 3 Light

From the quick look I had at a thread on the pedestrian rules here there may be some slight differences there, but nothing that really matters I think - you can only leave your car if it has speed 0, the first turn you only move one space and after that you can move up to two spaces (with buildings and trees counting double), you're not affected by passive weapons, there's a -2 to hit you, and if you're hiding in trees that take damage you take as much damage yourself. If you're in a building you can only be fired upon if you've fired yourself the same turn and you take half damage if hit. It takes two turns to move an unconscious or dead driver out of his car and one turn to get into it. Two conscious pedestrians can't be in the same space, and a pedestrian hit by a car is killed with no damage done to the car.

As to other rule changes I can't say, since I only have the Swedish edition. The other optional rules include some very basic campaign rules and rules for exploding weapons and burning trees.

IIRC there was a scenario for the game in the gaming magazine published by the company who made the Swedish edition of the game, involving one team escorting an experimental cars and some others trying to destroy it. I could try to dig that up if anyone's interested.

Edited to add: The damage for handgrenades was later reduced to 1d6.

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

AndersGabrielsson — 2008-05-26T09:38:52+00:00

I got your PM and I'll have a look at the rules when I get home from work.

From what I remember, each driver got a certain number of points for handheld equipment, including the pictured pistol and handgrenade but also a bazooka-type weapon IIRC.

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

taurus — 2008-05-20T23:21:06+00:00

You know what strikes me? The image has been uploaded 1 year ago and noone asked this before! I guess it's a detail that is easily overlooked if you figure that you know what the pic is about ("Okay so this is a picture of the damn chits I already know by heart, now where is this "next" button again?").

Regards,
Taurus

[Edit: Since I'm a total nerd I have started sending PMs to every swedish owner. I hope you guys won't get mad at me for sending PMs to each and everyone of you if ever you find out that one of your fellow citizen has already answered this post ]

Thread: Re: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

sedge — 2008-05-20T21:41:07+00:00

Cool! Never seen them but would love to know too.

Thread: Swedish edition additionnal weapons?

taurus — 2008-05-20T10:36:26+00:00

Hi folks,

Here's a quick question for someone familiar with the swedish edition of the game. In the image section, you can find this:
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I wonder what are the rules for the pistol and for the grenade! Anyone kind enough to put them here? Also, are there any other new weapons / rule changes in this swedish edition?

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Taurus

Image

zombiegod — 2008-02-19T11:53:29+00:00

Updated Playsheet by Universal Head (universalHead)

Thread: Re: Universal Head Battlecar/bike sheets updated

taurus — 2008-01-26T16:34:34+00:00

By the way, I've just uploaded a modification of the battlechairs sheets to match the new color of the updated cars & bikes sheets. People who'll keep on using the older sheets might want to stick to the first version of the battlechairs cards, although I corrected a small issue as well.

Thread: Universal Head Battlecar/bike sheets updated

UniversalHead — 2008-01-25T23:01:20+00:00

I've updated my Battlecar and Bike playsheets - thanks to Thibault Bloch (taurus) who found the error (engine and tyre damage speed adjustments).

Thread: Re: batletrucks rules

Toffer — 2008-01-22T21:53:30+00:00

After some playtesting and discussion with other gamers here in NZ, back home in the UK and on the net I have made some changes/clarifications to the rules. There is still more to do and hope to put the final copy of the truck rules on the web in the next month or so.

Toffer

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

Toffer — 2008-01-08T09:29:30+00:00

Car wars is in depth. There are elementas of role play and the ability to personalise and add character to your games. You can have games that last days or even weeks with the posibility for campaigns and linked games. there are also many more types of vehicles you can use. All in all a great game with masses of scope for some really interesting games.

BattleCars is the kind of game that can be played in 30min if you really want. But can last longer. However its not the kind of game you you would have to leave and pick up again tomorrow. It is relatively simple to understand with no real expectation for character generation or role play (but you can put this in if you wish). I think its just as much fun as car wars but for different reasons. A great game for a wet afternoon or evening session.

Thread: batletrucks rules

Toffer — 2008-01-02T21:33:52+00:00

Hi I have added a file called battletrucks rules and cards. They are rules my brother an I have come up with to use trucks in battlecars. Please could people comment on them good or bad. I want to get a few ideas from other gamers so I can update the rules later. Please comment below. Thanks

Toffer

Thread: Re: Mirror, Signal, Manouvre, Fire Rocket Launcher!!!!

Sternenfahrer-MUC — 2007-12-09T23:14:13+00:00

I played this a lot, years ago.

We did some tournament rules, where you could earn money by destroying things, and where arment doesn't come for free, but you needed to pay for it. You'd better made those rockets count, because they used to be the most expensive weapons! :-)

Furthermore, we copied the starting deck of cars, and rearranged them, to get some new options to go for.

Thread: Mirror, Signal, Manouvre, Fire Rocket Launcher!!!!

zombiegod — 2007-12-09T15:53:18+00:00

Battlecars is a driving game set in a post apocalyptic future. The games objective is simple, be the last player to commandeer a moving vehicle. But this isn't as easy as it sounds, as you and your other opponents vehicles are armed to the gills with a ridiculous arsenal of heavy weaponry.

Arming your vehicle is achieved by placing the required weapons on your vehicle playsheet. Playsheets are divided into blocked areas where such things as damage, speed, and weaponry are recorded. The more blocks available on your sheet the easier it will be to soak up damage sustained, or fit on more weapons. Just remember the heavier armoured load bearing vehicles are usually slower - in as much as they don't have features like auto steer, turbo charge, power brakes, etc.

Weaponry is divided into two categories, missile and passive. Missiles cover weaponry such as machine gun, rocket, shell and flame, while passive weapons are laid behind or to the sides of your vehicle, and consist of smoke, oil, mines and spikes.

The players dress the board before play commences by placing terrain on it as they wish. Terrain comprises grass, which makes turning a little precarious, and buildings and trees, which must be steered clear of if you value your vehicles bodywork.

Once your vehicles playsheets are decked out with whatever weapons you can cram in, it's time to place your car counters on the board corners and get moving. The board is comprised of a grid of intersecting points and lines, which your vehicle moves, turns and fires along. Turning depends on the speed you are currently moving at, if while driving at a low speed you wish to turn at a 90 degree angle it will be a simple case of moving along the line. But try it while moving at quite a pace and you stand the risk of skidding along before turning, maybe into a building or another car, or simply spinning out altogether and reducing your speed to 0 leaving your vehicle facing in entirely the wrong direction in the process.

As players begin careering around the board they begin to take advantage of their weaponry and armour. Dropping passive weaponry in the hope of some unfortunate driving over them and sustaining tyre/internal damage, which slows them to a crawl, firing and returning ridiculously large rockets at each other (usually at point blank range in our games), or simply pressing the pedal to the metal and ramming someone at the highest speed they can muster.

Every hit taken causes damage to vehicles. The armour that surrounds the vehicles soaks this up at first, but once that is breached the internals take the brunt. The vehicle is divided into three sections, front, middle and rear. It's up to the attacker which area is targeted, but some areas are more armoured than others. It's pointless wasting machine gun fire at a heavily armoured front end, but this type of weapon will soften up flimsy side or centre sections nicely before sending in the big boys. Some passive weaponry, like mines, damages internal components, even if the armour hasn't been breached, and spikes and oil damage tyres to good effect, sometimes also resulting in skids, sending players slamming headlong into things.

Internals comprise of such things as engine, the weaponry itself, fuel tank, and any little extras like power brakes, turbo, and yourself 'touch wood'. As the engine and tyres begin to get mangled your vehicle will begin to slow. The weaponry may detonate if hit with a shell or rocket, firing off into who knows what? The fuel tank, once ruptured, is probably the most dangerous thing to be around. Flame that licks against any square of the back section of a vehicle with a damaged fuel tank (armour blocks included) has a good chance of totalling a vehicle and also the player in the process.

Trees and buildings may be used to cover a sheltering Pedestrian if need be. Pedestrians are players, armed with 3 machine gun rounds, who have left their vehicles (while at 0) for any reason, be it at risk of their vehicle blowing up, for a quick pot shot at another player/vehicle, to commandeer another players vacant vehicle, or even for a quick game of chicken against a speeding motorist. But be warned, cover is also liable to attack by ramming or weaponry, and small areas of cover soak up damage very quickly, any excess damage being carried over to the sheltering player.

All in all, an amazing game. After twenty odd years I still come back to this little gem more than any other game I own. The mechanics are spot on.

I have occasionally found the rules a little vague in places, but the expansion BATTLEBIKES does clear some things up. I have also placed another quick reference sheet in BGG that clears up most inconsistencies I can think of.

I have heard of people claiming, "armour values are too high" and "weaponry isn't sufficient enough to get through the high armour values", but believe me, a skilled player can plough through learner opponents with ease, and the ruptured fuel tank ruling when applied correctly certainly makes for an interesting target.

The components are nothing to write home about. The game does look decidedly one-dimensional and flat. Games Workshop did release some BATTLECARS Citadel Miniatures, which do crop up on eBay from time to time, sometimes included in the base game auction itself. These do make the game more playable, especially from a handling and visual point of view.

I have also glued the building counters onto blocks of wood cut to the same dimensions which goes some way into elevating the game into the realms of 3D. These can be seen in the BATTLECARS BGG photo's.

Finally the counters can be quite fiddly. Wherever possible I prefer to use 'Damage Blocks' rather than counters. These are sheets I have designed which are cut to cover large areas of damage. Rather than place say 12 single counters on the playsheet I use a single 2X6 block. These can be found by following the BGG link to the Yahoo group. Alternatively you could laminate the sheets and simply cross out the damage with a dry-wipe marker. I would like to try this one day as I believe it would work to good effect.

Overall: 10 Oil Slicks out of 10

Thread: Re: Rules Summary....

UniversalHead — 2007-12-04T00:16:26+00:00

My rules summary summarizes all the rules, without the fluff. They're written for people who own the game and need a quick reference or a refresher course, but all the rules are there.

Thread: Rules Summary....

pekin2121 — 2007-12-03T21:43:38+00:00

Is the rules summary posted here on BGG enough to play the game or is a full rulebook required?

I recently picked up a copy of the game on ebay, knowing the rules were missing. I've never played the game, so I'm not sure if the rules summary is leaving much out.

Thanks

Thread: Battlekart & Blister

zombiegod — 2007-12-02T12:16:03+00:00

Here are a few more pictures of the minute Citadel Miniature Battlekart, & a shot of a blister pack.

Image

zombiegod — 2007-11-30T19:50:12+00:00

Battlecart, Just shy of 7mm's.

Image

zombiegod — 2007-10-31T10:39:29+00:00

Image

zombiegod — 2007-10-31T10:38:59+00:00

Black Sun Issue 1 - Rules for Battlechairs

Thread: Re: Rare Supplement

zombiegod — 2007-10-30T10:31:06+00:00

That would be great. Any chance of uploading scans to the photo's section?

Thread: Re: Rare Supplement

ciccillos72 — 2007-10-30T01:23:39+00:00

Heya Folk! I have that Black Sun issue 1 with Battlechairs expansion! Let me know if you still need this rule supplement!

!!

Antonio!

Thread: Re: Battle bike rules

Cyberchrist — 2007-10-15T06:11:06+00:00

Battle Trucks ???

Great !

Image

Jeff_B — 2007-07-30T19:06:24+00:00

Battlecars Card

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

Jokerman — 2007-06-04T21:57:03+00:00

For Depth and versitility Car Wars hands down. Once you know the rules the game is not laboured in an way. The supplements {uncle Als etc} are just a hoot and done in a showroom catologue style. Also the expansions give you almost limitles scope. I have Battle cars and wreckage and after getting into Carwars they seem shallow. I am talking about the first Carwars not the Diecast Dinky size reprints. If you can lay your hands on the VERY rare Uncle Alberts cat from hell this contains near enough all the rules you will ever need. Also deluxe edition Car wars and maybe a map or two {sunday drivers couple of arenas etc.} Still Loving it..........

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

zombiegod — 2007-05-18T17:25:56+00:00

Definitely closer to Wreckage, but better than.

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

Lord_Prussian — 2007-05-18T14:50:51+00:00

Thanks for the responses! I've played Car Wars extensively in my younger days and Wreckage more recently. I was just wondering where Battlecars falls in the spectrum between the two. It sounds like it's closer to Wreckage.

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

BashiBazouk — 2007-05-18T14:24:39+00:00

I would say: contained.

Similar game but two sizes of rectangular board, obstructions to be placed. Much simpler car design. Simpler driving/combat mechanics. Basically an arena duel. If you want a quick, easy to set up autoduel fix, it's good. If you want an almost RPG like customization and depth then stick with car wars.

Thread: Re: Battlecars v. Car Wars

WalkerRedEye — 2007-05-18T14:22:15+00:00

in short it is not nearlly as detailed

but that does not mean it is a bad game, battlecars is more tongue in cheek than car wars, though in my opinion equally as fun

car wars allows vehicle design, battlecars has no rules for this (but does have nice car sheets that you can place damage and ammunition counters on, car wars had rectangualr boxes you drew you own things onto) althoguh this would probably not proove difficult if you wnated to try, though you would not get the nice car (or bike) sheets

car wars uses a turn that is in increments of a second allowing for accuracy (at the expense of time playing) and great detail in maneuver and speed battlecars has a much simpler move, shoot, return fire, return fire mechanic

car wars was supported but reams and reams of additional rules for boats and helicopters and tanks and trucks and formula one race cars all battlecars ever got was battlebikes

battlecars never feels laboured which car wars can do (allthough do not get me wrong i enjoy both) and has a much lighter feel to it, it is not exactly humourous but doesnt take itself too seriously car wars never really feels silly, although ofocurse elements funny and dsilly things do indeed happen

carwars will take at least a little setting up to play battlecars you can just grab a car sheet splash some weapon counters down on it, set up a litle townscape and play

so in summing up battlecars: beer and pretzely but very fun car wars; serious more time investment but still fun

hope this helps

Thread: Battlecars v. Car Wars

Lord_Prussian — 2007-05-18T13:49:11+00:00

How does this compare to Car Wars?

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inrepose — 2007-05-15T21:29:41+00:00

Top Down Overview of Battlecars

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inrepose — 2007-05-15T21:28:24+00:00

Battlecars Collection

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inrepose — 2007-05-15T21:25:40+00:00

Battlecars Trucks form Games Workshop

Thread: Re: Battle bike rules

kevinrolfe — 2007-04-28T16:37:42+00:00

do you still have that copy od the battlebike rules as i am working of a set of rule for Trucks to go with the original rules

Thread: Our Session 08/15/06

jjloc — 2006-08-16T22:11:26+00:00

Players
Gene
Nick
Cory
Jeff (Me)

We all get our cars equiped with artillery and place them to begin the game.

Cory goes first moves here car
I move my car
Gene
then Nick

Cory on her second turn is face to face with me and take a shot with machine guns. I return fire. Minimal damage to either car.

I on my turn fire a rocket at Cory and she returns fire with machine gun.
I had a poor roll so I do minimal damage to her car and her machine gun again does minimal damage.

Gene moves his car
Nick moves his car

Cory on her third turn decides to ram me, both cars take significant damage to the front end.

My turn use my flame thrower on Cory, significant damage to her front end.

Gene moves
Nick moves

Cory does a 3 point turn and fires at me with machine guns.
I don't return fire

My turn fire at Gene with Machine gun, minimal damage.
Gene returns fire with machine gun, minimal damage.

Gene moves closer to me
Nick moves

Cory fires at me again with machine guns, rather good hit this time.
I return fire with rocket, significant damage to her side.

Gene fires at my left front. significant damage to my car
I return fire with machine guns.

Nick moves and fires at Cory, significant damage.
Cory fires back, misses

Cory fires at Nick, minimal damage with machine gun.

I fire at Gene with machine gun, minimal damage.
Gene returns fire, siginficant damage.

Nick moves and drops mines.

Cory fires at me, my engine is stalled -- damn it!!!
I cannot return fire as I have no weapons on that side of my car.

I fire at Gene with machine gun, he returns fire with shells, more damage to my car.

Nick moves around a park (trees).

Cory fires at me, thus more damage.

I drop spikes and jump out of my car.

Gene moves towards Nick, who is hiding - big wussy.

Nick moves

Cory moves two, right beside my pedestrian and shoots her flames.
OH MY GOD I'M ON FIRE!!!!!!!!! and I die.

After 2 hours of this very boring game we declare Nick the winner as he has the least amount of damage being the big pansy that he is.

This is a good concept for a game, but the bits are horrible and the rules are hard to decipher at first.

Might be good if was rereleased and updated to modernize it.

Thread: Re: Official Pedestrian Citadel Miniatures

zombiegod — 2006-04-28T23:03:27+00:00

No he's reaching for a gun. 5mm and the detail gets a little lost.

Thread: Re: Official Pedestrian Citadel Miniatures

WalkerRedEye — 2006-04-28T13:47:34+00:00

is he(?) missing an arm?

Thread: Official Pedestrian Citadel Miniatures

zombiegod — 2006-04-28T09:28:11+00:00

I managed to locate one of these rare figures by Games Workshop. The trouble is the picture was considered way too bad for BGG to accept. I think the people who denied it don't have any idea of the scale of the piece.

Anyway here it is hosted on another website:

Thread: Re: Pedestrians

sedge — 2006-04-24T10:09:32+00:00

As I may have posted previously, in my group we have abandoned To Hit rolls entirely hence the -2/-4 thing isn't a factor for us.

Interesting about the trees though. We have always treated them as buildings in that you have to wipe out the building entirely (such a bugger with those big 16pt ones!) before any damage carries over to the guy hiding in the corner.

Regarding the victory conditions we played the same as zombiegod - last one with a car/bike which can still chug along. Of course by the end of the game often people have abandoned cars which still in theory function and it's always funny to carjack someone else's car and then try and squish em.

Of course, being the kind of game that encourages dynamic rules, often we would play "last man standing". To help avoid the problem of having a couple of people alive at the end with no ammo we adopted a rule allowing 6MG rounds to be carried by each driver. Helps but not foolproof. More dynamic rules..... we made it that you can 6 carry spaces worth of whatever you like (ie 1 Rocket + 2MG, 1 Shell + 1 Flame etc.). The flame being d8+3 is always good to carry as it's a surefire way to toast the sucker.

More dynamic rules...... seeing as each driver has 3 life points - effectively 3 points of armour right? And seeing as they can travel at a speed of 2 - which is often faster than a car towards endgame.... surely they can rush headlong at another pedestrian/vehicle/whatever and Ram them right? (even though I know the rules say that when a pedestrian is squished the car takes no damage). And just look at the pictures with those big spiky helmets and stuff! That would really hurt! Surely you can ram with that, right? This also helps solve the problem of having too many people alive as you get to ram and usually right yourself off in the process.

I remember we actually had a sort of league leaderboard thing happening with points attributed for things such as how much damage you inflicted during the course of the game..... getting a kill was bonus...... suiciding was I think worth more than anything.

We wouldn't allow two pedestrians on the one spot with the following exception: If a car is stationary a pedestrian can hop on top of it and fire point-blanc at the occupant.

We also used to allow drivers to strip other vehicles of ammo. Normal movement rules apply (ie 2 points per turn). So you can hop out from your vehicle, jump into the mangled one next door, grab 6 'spaces' (you know what I mean) worth of ammo and jump back into your vehicle with your slavaged booty. This also helps to make sure you don't run out of ammo.

And we always played firing only along the movement lines. Why would you wish to tinker with the existing rules?