Game: Street Illegal

Thread: Re: Drifting!

rafial — 2008-06-20T19:43:19+00:00

More thoughts on drifting, after having played a few games. It seems that your rarely build up enough chips to make the hand limit on spending an issue. So here's another idea for a variant:

Again, drifting only happens on curves. During a passing attempt a player can drift if they have any turn cards face up that are opposite that of the current track segment. When drifting, the number of chips you spend are multiplied by (1+the number of "drift" cards). So if you are on a right turn, and have one card with a left turn symbol, you'd double the value of any chips you spend. With two left turn cards, you could triple your chip value. At the end of any passing phase that a player drifts, they must permanently discard one card from their hand, as with emergency braking (to simulate tire damage).

Again, this is all idle speculation on my part. If I ever find a group that likes this game enough to play it multiple times, I'll try it myself.

Image

dcgogo — 2008-05-11T21:19:12+00:00

first game setup

Image

Icefyst — 2008-02-13T00:43:33+00:00

Thread: Re: A light solo play review

Cory2679 — 2008-02-06T05:52:18+00:00

Brad,

Thanks for the reply. I always enjoy reading someone else's take on games. I inevitably learn something new.

tritone wrote:
I just wanted to elaborate on your statement that the Situation Icon phase introduces strategy "by randomly modifying your speed".
Actually, the randomness that I was referring to here was that at the beginning of the Situation Icon phase, one of your three speed cards is replaced with one from the top of the deck.

tritone wrote:
But against the AI you always draw two cards... THEN you have to decide whether to boost your speed by paying extra chips... THEN may draw a 3rd speed card for the Old Pro...
Thanks for the clarification. I was playing this incorrectly by drawing ALL of the AI cards before paying chips.

tritone wrote:
...it's just not as satisfying as Passing a human.
Too true. The human interaction is one of the main reasons why I enjoy board games so much.

Thread: Re: A light solo play review

tritone — 2008-02-06T00:02:15+00:00

Cory, nice light review, and I agree that it makes a nice solo game. I just played my first solo game of Street Illegal last night. I just wanted to elaborate on your statement that the Situation Icon phase introduces strategy "by randomly modifying your speed". I know what you meant... because the 8-card track is laid out "randomly" for each game you play. However what I find interesting is once the track is setup for the game, now you can see all the Situation Icons for all the track cards. This gives you significant opportunity to plan the placement of your speed cards (from your hand) into key positions on the table to maximize your chips and speed, at least for the first/next couple track cards to come. This was a little brain burning at first, but it gets easier with play.

I was pleased with the way the solo game plays. Even with 2+ players there are already AI game mechanics in the rules for playing with the (dummy) Old Pro cars. There are always 7 cars on the track, any combination of real and dummy, and in fact there are NO special rules for solo play at all... you just play against 6 Old Pros and no other humans. Brilliant!

My only criticism of the solo game is not everything works perfectly against the AI. In particular, Passing seems more of a crapshoot against the AI. With multiple players everyone can see everyone else's speed and chipcount on the table before going into the Passing phase, possibly allowing you to better prepare for Passing during the (previous) Driving phase. But against the AI you always draw two cards randomly to determing the speed of the (current) Old Pro you're trying to pass (or who is passing you). THEN you have to decide whether to boost your speed by paying extra chips, and in some circumstances you THEN may draw a 3rd speed card for the Old Pro... which could shoot his speed way up past yours and cause you to lose the passing duel. It works, it's just a different strategy than you use against humans.

But then again, even when playing with humans, unless you are playing with the full complement of 7 players, you will have to deal in this way with the Old Pros anyway... it's just not as satisfying as Passing a human.

Thread: A light solo play review

Cory2679 — 2008-02-05T11:23:12+00:00

After two previous half-hearted attempts to learn this game, I finally decided to dedicate some time to learning this game. Although this is a very simply game to play, it is a tricky game to learn. I would recommend reading the instructions a couple of times to get the feel for the game, playing a couple of races, and then go back and re-read the instructions. Once you play the game, the rules will become clear.

Street Illegal is basically a customized card game with a street-racing theme. There are two rows of cards laid out on the table. The first row is an eight-card "track" and the second row shows the positions of each of the players. Each player also has a hand of five cards that are repeatedly played and renewed from the draw pile. These cards are played to adjust the speed of your vehicle. Included chips are also used to dynamically increase or decrease your speed.

Each of the 8 games turns (one for each section of the track) is divided into three phases, Situation Icon, Driving, and Passing. The Situation Icon phase introduces some strategy (and an interesting game dynamic) by randomly modifying your speed and allowing you to collect chips. The Driving phase allows you to further adjust your speed using the cards and chips that have been collected. The Passing phase allows you to compare speeds with other vehicles and potentially improve your position.

During my solo games, I always started in last position and used "Old Pros" to fill in the remaining six positions. Each game took approximately 10 minutes to complete.

I have found Street Illegal to be an excellent solo play game. There is enough strategy to make each gain in position feel like an accomplishment, and enough randomness to make every game different.

My only complaint is with the 'uphill' and 'downhill' symbols printed on the cards. Although this does impact solo play much, they become difficult to distinguish when playing with multiple players.

Thread: Re: Excessive Emergency Braking/Nitrous - What happens?

rktboy — 2007-11-05T19:39:34+00:00

Yeah, I figured it'd be a pretty rare occurrence.

Wow, first a response from the publisher and then a response from the designer! Let it never be said that you two don't stand behind your games.

Thanks very much!

-James

Thread: Re: Excessive Emergency Braking/Nitrous - What happens?

nosferrari — 2007-11-05T19:23:28+00:00

Hi,

you are absolutely right: this situation is not covered in the rules ...

... because it is extremly rare to happen at all. Every time a player executes an emergency braking, not only does he lose one of his cards, his car is also forced to reduce the speed *below* the current speed limit.

Even if accelerating at the maximum possible rate the car will in most cases need at least two turns to be able to exceed the speed limit again - even if the terrain cards are "optimal" to achieve this. Especially when driving with only one card left in his hand the player will need a good portion of (bad) luck to achieve this.

The official race lasts about 8 terrain cards - so it is a rare situation (additionally requiring reckless driving) and so the additional text necessary to cover the situation was not worth the price (for me).

In fact there was a rule that covered this situation: it simply said, that if a player lost his last card - he crashed his car. Quite logical because you can't damage your car endlessly without losing it.

Best Regards
Heinrich

www.erlkoenig.net

Thread: Re: Excessive Emergency Braking/Nitrous - What happens?

rktboy — 2007-11-05T18:50:28+00:00

But what if a player has used nitrous 5 times and then is forced to emergency brake because they're above the speed limit for the current track section and they haven't enough chips to pay to slow down?

Thread: Re: Excessive Emergency Braking/Nitrous - What happens?

Zman — 2007-11-05T17:02:58+00:00

rktboy wrote:
I haven't had the opportunity to play this yet, but I'm just reading through the rules and it seems to me that there's a scenario that might pop up that isn't covered in the rules.

Given the starting hand size of 5 cards, what happens if a driver is forced to Emergency Brake )or chooses to use Nitrous) more than 5 times?

***I would assume you can't - since you won't have any cards in your hand to pay for the braking/nitrous oxide.

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
www.zmangames.com

Thread: Excessive Emergency Braking/Nitrous - What happens?

rktboy — 2007-11-05T16:39:39+00:00

I haven't had the opportunity to play this yet, but I'm just reading through the rules and it seems to me that there's a scenario that might pop up that isn't covered in the rules.

Given the starting hand size of 5 cards, what happens if a driver is forced to Emergency Brake )or chooses to use Nitrous) more than 5 times?

Thread: Contention

Paul Mackie — 2007-10-11T00:28:41+00:00

A spruced-up, English language version of Fette Autos, apparently with a few rules changes. In some off-line discussion since playing this, it seems that maybe the rules differences were not so significant, and in fact we may have been playing Fette Autos slightly wrong in the past. The main issue seems to be about the “cost” to execute more than one overtake in a given turn. Anyway, although there are a few clever mechanics, I’ve never been a huge fan of the original.

Because we played with seven player cars tonight, there were no “old pros” (non-player cars) in the race. Hence the player in first position at the start of the race (Alex) was in a more advantageous position. As pointed out by Pat, players in the middle of the pack had to spend more chips on average than those in first and last positions, because in addition to fending off would-be attackers from behind they would also have to spend if they were to advance their position.
I was able to make one successful challenge on Alex, but only held the lead for a single turn until he out-chipped me on the next. I was relying on a flood of chips to prepare myself for the last turn, but I read the road signs worong. From my upside-down position I mis-read a down-hill sign for an uphill one, and had no retort once I’d fended off Brian from behind.

So finishing positions were very close to starting positions. Another observation from Pat is that even though the graphics and visuals are better, the game design is not an improvement (in fact, the opposite) over Fette Autos - but this was based on the assumption that in FA a player was not required to adjust their speed down in order to execute a second overtake in a given turn.
Brad’s summary of the whole game was simpler: “Funny, but crap.”
Alex has suggested that we give this a few more playings and maybe consider a few house-rule tweaks along the way. I’m rather ambivalent, which means I won’t offer, but also won’t veto…
22 mins rules; 64 mins game time.
Results: Al (Lavender): 1st. Paul (Shogun): 2nd. Brian (Dynamo): 3rd. Then in order: Pat (Krome), Richard (Moonlight), Steve (Johnny B), Brad (Scarlet).

(Originally posted in The Mine Shaft Gap.)

Image

fsumarc — 2007-06-15T15:22:11+00:00

Street Illegal game box back

Thread: Drifting!

rafial — 2007-06-06T16:59:43+00:00

Okay, alot of folks seem to like the theming on the German version, but I must admit that I get a kick out of the cheesy "Fast & The Furious" graphics in Z-Man's version. But to keep that vibe going, it'd be cool if there could be some "drifting" flavor in the game.

Now I've only played the game once, but here's my crack at a proposed advanced rule to add drifting:

* Drifting can only be done on a curve. During the Passing/Attack phase, each tempo card in front of a driver that is the OPPOSITE of the current track increases their chip bid limit by one.

Example: attempt to pass on a RIGHT curve, Takumi has two LEFT TURN tempo cards in front of himself, and four cards in hands. He may bid up to 4+2 = 6 chips on his passing attempt (or to defend against being passed).

If anybody tries this, let us know if its fun, and if it adds flavor!

Thread: Re: night racing

rafial — 2007-06-06T16:52:32+00:00

Hmmm... I like the idea, but I think both the current track card and the following track card should be visible to allow at least SOME future planning.

Thread: night racing

420017 — 2007-05-28T11:04:48+00:00

place the first track card face up the the rest face down at the start of the game .
when each section is done turn over the next card.

simple but fun.

Amos

Thread: Re: Can you expand the number of track cards

420017 — 2007-05-28T11:00:31+00:00

No problems with more track cards we use the lot to play at the club.

Thread: chips to overtake

420017 — 2007-05-28T10:55:26+00:00

hi all
we play this game alot,but the one thing we didn't like in the rules was the paying for chips to get 10mph extra bit.

sometimes you knew if you could overtake someone and they could do nothing about it (eg not enought chips).

So here's what we do;
you pay for a "NITRO" boost.

say you pay two chips you draw two cards and put down to highest speed card as a boost.

your opponent may choose to pay 4 chips so draws four cards and chooses the highest one.

the cards and chips are the discarded after as in the rules.

it just makes overtaking a bit more uncertian.
give it ago and let me know...........!

Amos

Thread: Re: Multiple passes...

Zman — 2007-01-16T16:18:06+00:00

nosferrari wrote:
(sorry Zev for contradicting you - apparently I should have made this more clear in the rules)

****Hi, Heinrich,

You are right to contradict me. I should have checked the rules before answering.

Sorry, David, for any confusion caused by my (wrong)answer.

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
www.zmangames.com

Thread: Re: Multiple passes...

nosferrari — 2007-01-16T07:26:30+00:00

Hi,

sorry to disagree on this point. Although it is not explicitely stated in the rules it is allowed to make multiple passes.

There is a natural limit - as indicated - because you have to slow down each time *and* because at some point you will lose a fight and your turn will end.

The option to make multiple passes is quite important for the character of the game since one of the "standard" tactics consists in going to a very high speed despite the fact that the next track card is a tight curve and then trying to overtake several opponents at once - not only to gain a positional advantage but also to slow down sufficiently to survice the curve.

This is a risky maneuver but sometimes it is your only option to win.

Since Street Illegal is a re-development of Fette Autos the FAQ for Fette Autos might be useful: http://tinyurl.com/7a6ot

(sorry Zev for contradicting you - apparently I should have made this more clear in the rules)

Best Regards
Heinrich - Erlkoenig - Glumpler

www.erlkoenig.net

Thread: Re: Multiple passes...

Zman — 2007-01-16T04:18:58+00:00

DavidT wrote:
So, after making a successful pass, the passing player may return to Phase 2, drop speed, complete the phase and then pass again. How many times is this possible, though? Obviously, if you're dropping 10 mph each time you try to pass again, you'll be limited at some point, but can players keep returning to phase 2 in an attempt to pass again until they fail? Or, is it a one-time opportunity after the first successful pass?

Thanks!

*****You are allowed to make a second pass attempt if the first succeeds. But that's it. Two is the most.

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
www.zmangames.com

Thread: Multiple passes...

DavidT — 2007-01-16T01:28:03+00:00

So, after making a successful pass, the passing player may return to Phase 2, drop speed, complete the phase and then pass again. How many times is this possible, though? Obviously, if you're dropping 10 mph each time you try to pass again, you'll be limited at some point, but can players keep returning to phase 2 in an attempt to pass again until they fail? Or, is it a one-time opportunity after the first successful pass?

Thanks!

Image

GSReis — 2006-08-13T06:16:40+00:00

Racers

Image

GSReis — 2006-08-13T06:16:36+00:00

Racers

Image

GSReis — 2006-08-13T06:16:32+00:00

Racers

Image

GSReis — 2006-08-13T06:16:27+00:00

Racers

Thread: Re: Increasing Speed with Chips

Yollege — 2006-03-14T00:24:03+00:00

How great is it that you get a reply from both the Publisher and the Designer.

I love the geek .

Thread: Re: Increasing Speed with Chips

medievalbanquet — 2006-03-13T11:53:59+00:00

Great, that is how we played it. But, it wasn't clear in my mind.

Thread: Re: Increasing Speed with Chips

nosferrari — 2006-03-13T06:29:35+00:00

Hi,

Z-Man (hi) is correct.

Increasing and Decreasing speed with chips is temporary in all cases.

If trying to pass the car in front - check the speed on your cards and pay chips to increase it. The increased speed is *only* used in the duel against the car driving in front of you.

As soon as you passed the car (or failed to pass it) only the speed on your cards is relevant.

Same applies when paying chips to decrease speed temporarily.
Each time you check your speed against the speed limit - consider your speed on your cards - then pay chips, if necessary - the decreased speed is *only* used for the speed limit check.

As soon as you paid the chips for the speed limit check use the speed on your cards for attacking the next car in front of you.

See also the FAQ at www.erlkoenig.net

Best Regards
Heinrich Glumpler

Thread: Re: Increasing Speed with Chips

Zman — 2006-03-13T02:27:00+00:00

medievalbanquet wrote:

For example, I'm at 70 MPH (the track card is 80 MPH, let's say) and I use 3 chips to go to 100 MPH to pass an Old Pro at 90 MPH just in front of me. B/c I passed him I have to go to Phase 2, drive option, to reduce my speed by at least 10 MPH. Am I considered to be going 100 MPH at this point (with my chips) or am I at 70 again?

Andy

****You are considered to be going 70mph. The increase via chips is very temporary.

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
www.zmangames.com

Thread: Increasing Speed with Chips

medievalbanquet — 2006-03-13T01:46:26+00:00

It seems that the rules are confusing. At least to me...

When you pay chips to increase your speed to pass a card before you are those chips then discarded when you go back into Phase 2 (i.e. to decrease your speed by at least 10 MPH)?

For example, I'm at 70 MPH (the track card is 80 MPH, let's say) and I use 3 chips to go to 100 MPH to pass an Old Pro at 90 MPH just in front of me. B/c I passed him I have to go to Phase 2, drive option, to reduce my speed by at least 10 MPH. Am I considered to be going 100 MPH at this point (with my chips) or am I at 70 again?

Andy

Image

Joe Hermsen — 2006-01-16T03:14:59+00:00

Playing Street Illegal with toy street racers gives it a feel like the Fast and the Furious

Image

Joe Hermsen — 2006-01-16T03:11:10+00:00

Racing thru the night with my Fast and Furious racers on my homemade board

Image

fungry — 2005-11-22T16:03:56+00:00

Thread: Re: New rules from Street Illegal can be used for Fette Autos. Here they are....

Eddy Bee — 2005-09-21T16:47:27+00:00

Thanks for posting this! Look forward to trying them out with Fette Autos.

Thread: New rules from Street Illegal can be used for Fette Autos. Here they are....

shawn_low — 2005-09-19T00:04:45+00:00

I have Fette Autos and think it's a wonderful game with great components. I'm a little disappointed that the Z-Man version does away with the board and more importantly, the wooden cars in lieu of cards.

The new graphics are of the typical 'Need for Speed Underground' style CG generated.

There are some new rules from the manual that can be used in Fette Autos:

EXTENDED RULE: BETTER OLD PROS
Old Pros draw a third card even if their speed limit is below or equal to the speed limit.

EXTENDED RULE: NITROUS OXIDE
While attempting to pass, the players of a chip-betting duel that resulted in a tie may each immediately discard a tempo card from their hand and the highest tempo card wins the duel. Both players put their ﬁngers at a card in their hand and simultaneously raise their hand holding up the card – if a player does not want to use this option he simply raises his hand empty and his tempo card is counted as a zero. If the highest tempo card was the passer, he passes the driver card in front. Otherwise no cars change positions: and if the tempo cards are the same velocity, no cars change places either. Any player who discarded a tempo card in this manner may NOT redraw a card and thus effectively reduces his hand limit – similar to executing emergency braking.

Enjoy!

Thread: Street Illegal shipping now

Zman — 2005-09-15T14:36:45+00:00

Just to let you know we are shipping Street Illegal (Fette Autos) now to distributors so it should hit stores around the 23rd of September.

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
www.zmangames.com

Thread: Tao of Gaming Review

Bankler — 2005-08-14T15:57:20+00:00

[This review originally written in 2003 -- Brian]

Fette Autos belongs to the genus of racing games that don't have individual spaces. The cars are simply ordered and jostle for position. This was popularized by Knizia's Formula Motor Racing, but I believe it was introduced to the contemporary scene with McGartlin's Championship Stock Car Card Game. Each player has a car and they are ordered from 1-7. If less than seven people are playing, neutral "Old Pros" fill any empty spaces (and start in front of the players).

Each player has a hand of five cards, and three cards (left, middle, right) placed face up in front of them. Cards range from 10-60 MPH, and also have a symbol on them. The race course is comprised of track cards, which either show a curve (with a maximum safe speed), a straight (no maximum) and a symbol.

The symbol is used during the first part of each turn. All of the players simultaneously pick a card from their hand (Update -- I was playing with a rule wrong ... this card is random) and then reveal it. According to the symbol on the current track, one of the four cards (the new card, plus the three existing cards) are discarded. Some of the symbols just discard the left, right or center card (the new card replacing the old). Others remove the fastest or slowest card, which may very well be the new one. If there is a choice, the driver gets to pick the card. Then each player gets two bonus chips for each symbol matched by the remaining three cards. The chips represent drivers control, and are very important to the second stage.

After the mandatory replacement, drivers can voluntarily play a card from their hand to replace any one of their three cards (including the newest). Or a driver can discard cards from hand and refill, or stand pat. [Whenever a driver plays a card, he gets a replacement from the deck]. Then, if the current track section is a curve, players must compare their speed to the maximum safe speed. If they are over it, they must spend chips equal to the difference, if possible. It may not be possible (if a player is low on chips). Additionally, a player can never spend more chips than cards in hand (usually five). If a player can't control the car for either reason, then he must emergency brake. First, discard a card without replacement, then flip a card from the deck and replace your fastest card with it, if that slows you down. Keep tacking random cards from the deck until you are under the maximum speed.

Players make their voluntary replacement, and check speeds in order (front to back). Then they start trying to pass, from back to front. The rearmost players take their chips and then each spend "in the fist", up to their maximum number (cards in hand). Each chip adds 10 MPH. Fastest speed wins, with ties maintaining the status quo. Then the next position gets to go. So a passed player never gets a turn, and a player who passed gets to make another attempt. All chips are spent. One catch, though. A player who passes successfully must slow down (and check versus the speed limit, if in a curve) before passing again.

The "Old Pro's" attempt to pass (or defend against passes) by flipping two cards from the deck. Then the involved player decides how many chips to spend before the third card is revealed. But, if the pro is above (or at) the speed limit, no third card is flipped. Pros don't pass each other, and only attack one player a turn. Once all of the passing attempts are done, you move onto the next track card and repeat the process. Whoever is leading after the last track track (a standard race is eight) wins.

Because all of the track cards are revealed before the race, players can plan ahead -- "I'll replace the slowest with the 50 MPH traffic symbol, which matches this track, then voluntarily replace the other 50MPH with a 20MPH so that I'm only barely above the speed limit, and in good position heading into the straights..." Order doesn't change much in the curves, so a race that ends in a curve may be anti-climactic. You don't have to play a random course, A course that goes alternates curves and straights is quite challenging. The other reason that the game can end poorly is when the leader builds up a large chip reserve. Because the leading player wins ties and drivers can only spend 5 chips to modify speed, a leader in a curve can be untouchable.

But if the leader is challenged each turn, chips should be in short supply. Most turns players match only a symbol or two each turn, and start with eight. No player can spend five chips in a turn. Interestingly, the player in last place (which goes unchallenged) often makes dramatic gains on the straights, rocketing forward several positions. Last-to-first jumps on the final straightaway happen, if not often. And eight tracks mean that the race is long enough so that the players who start in back have time to overcome their position.

Fette autos has two problems. First, the rulebook is very confusing. It was my third game before I felt comfortable with the rules (and, as you see above, I got some wrong). Worse, the symbols are confusing. The 'replace left' and 'replace right' symbols are windsocks and players often get confused as to what the next card holds. Similarly, the 'replace fastest' and 'replace slowest' show hills (up and down, respectively). Putting stickers on the cards, or making tiles to be placed alongside the track cards, would help. But the worst offender is the 'rough track' card, which can mean 'replace fastest' or 'replace slowest' depending on whether the track is straight or curved. Some people don't even notice which track is which until it's pointed out (the background picture). The symbols, while well intentioned, confuse new drivers. Having played a few times, I still have to stop and think. As a small quibble, the game doesn't have a way of marking which player is which car.

But if an experienced player takes pains to explain the rules (and symbols), then I find the game enjoyable. The game does not bog down with more players. Theoretically, the game could go above seven with little issue, although you'd have to make the track longer to give the players in back more time. There are plenty of advanced rules and variants, such as time trials for starting position. (players play, but don't keep, fast cards from their hand to avoid starting in the back).

Overall, the length of Fette Autos feels about right. It runs at around 45 minutes, although once players get past their first two or three turns the game picks up speed quite nicely. I expect game time for experienced players to fall, perhaps to half an hour. Players who really get into this can find plenty to sink their teeth into, but I think Fette Auto will fall into the "We've got lots of players who want a filler" category.

PS The joke translation "Fat Cars" is apparently correct. I wonder if it means (idiomatically) "Phat cars"?

Update

It turns out I was playing with a rule incorrect. During the first part of the turn, each player flips up the top card from the deck. This decreases the amount of control, but that may be good or bad. Time will tell. Also, I got an email from Mr. Glumpler stating that Fette is slang meaning "Powerful", "Cool", or "Strong".

Thread: Session Report

RPardoe — 2004-10-11T14:33:15+00:00

Believe it or not, we still had time left. Not enough time to play Monkeys on the Moon, so Rich suggested Fette Autos. I had been curious to try the game and Dave had also expressed curiosity about this game also. This is a racing games where the cars are controlled by cards. But it is not a racing game where one is moving down the track, instead one is jockeying for position (1 ~ 7) in the race. After all, final position is really the only thing that counts in a race. There are some good detailed descriptions of game play at BoardGameGeek (e.g.. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/8156) so I will give only a quick overview. A series of cards representing the race track is laid out. These can be straight track (no speed limit) or curves (with a speed limit). Each car's speed is determined by the sum of 3 tempo cards laid out in front of the player. At the start of a turn, course hazards might randomly change one of the 3 cards. After navigating the hazards, players can then accelerate/decelerate (replace one of the face up cards with a card from their hand). If they are over the speed limit in a curve, they must pay chips or perform emergency braking. (Chips are earned by matching symbols on tempo cards with hazards on the track). After this phase, players now attempt to overtake the car ahead of them. This is done by having a higher speed than the car in front of you. The chips that are used to navigate the speed limits can also be used to temporarily boost the speed of each car, so there is a bit of bluff in the driving.

The attentive reader will have noticed that there are 7 positions in the race. In addition to the player's cars, the other slots are filled with "old pros" who have mechanistic, but poker flavoured method for determining their speed when players attempt to pass. 2 tempo cards are revealed. The player then decides how many (if any) chips to stake before a final tempo card is revealed.

The race track laid out for tonight's race was a twisty course with only 2 straight sections (section 5 and 8). The other 6 sections were all curves. Therefore, all the racers were battling speed limits and managing their chips. In the first half of the race (first 4 turns), Dave managed to gain 1 position per turn to move from 6th to 2nd. Sterling had started last but made it up 4th, before executing a nice 2 car pass in the final curve before the straight away to get to 2nd. Rich had been quickly passed (dropping from 6th to 7th), but did manage to get back to 5th passing a couple of old pros.

At the first straight away, Rich thought he could finally make a move and played high cards to get his speed up quickly. Unfortunately for Rich, the old pros were just a bit faster and they quickly passed Rich once again. At the front of the race, Dave moved into the lead, passing Sterling and the final old pro. After 5 track sections (of 8), Dave was in the lead, Sterling in 3rd, and Rich in 6th.

The next few curves saw rapid reductions in speed as the cars struggled to maintain their position before the final straight away to the checkered flag. Rich did manage to gain one spot to 5th place, but a final burst of speed saw Sterling fly past Dave to capture the checkered flag.

Fette Autos is one of those games that looks complex while reading the rules, but once played, is not that complicated. The first few rounds were spent feeling the system out, but with practice the later rounds went much more quickly. The game has advantages in that it can play up to 7 (with no old pros) and even solitaire (with 6 old pros). There is a mix of hand management and seeing the course ahead to anticipate the cards you wish to play to both get chips and to gain/maintain speed. I feel that this game was a learning game and I would like to play a few more games just to get a better feel for the game. Right now this game feels somewhere between "OK" and "Good" just need a few more plays to decide which one is appropriate for this game.

Thread: Re:User Review

shilinski — 2004-02-29T07:13:01+00:00

JeffClaussen (#8156),

I think you might be a little wrong on how emergency braking works in phase 2. I went back to reread it, and I'm pretty sure you turn over replacement cards from the tempo deck and not from your hand.

Thread: Re:Can you expand the number of track cards

nosferrari — 2004-02-23T19:12:24+00:00

Hi,

I never tested the game with more than eight track cards - but in my opinion this should not pose any problems.

In fact it is more important to use a *minimum* of eight cards - else the player starting in last position will not stand a chance getting to position 1 (even when using extended rules).

Using more than eight cards is quite interesting in fact if you do not mind the additional playing time, because players will have to be careful with their resources.

To shorten the playing time I would recommend to play simultaneously whenever possible - like in "Roads and Boats" you can mostly play simultaneously if nobody minds the playing order (except when overtaking - sure).

Best Regards
Heinrich

Thread: Can you expand the number of track cards

plach — 2004-02-17T00:32:33+00:00

Just wondering if there is any game integrity problem to expand the number of track cards from the standard 7 to some larger number to add some variety in simulating different track layouts? Anyone with any comments or experience in doing this - as to number of or any card number limitations and why such a limit would be of interest. Thanks.

Thread: Re:User Review

JeffClaussen — 2003-05-05T21:21:24+00:00

JeffClaussen (#8156), seems I need to correct one more rule error on my part. In Phase 1 (Warning Sign phase), card replacement does not come from the player's hand, rather a card is drawn from the Tempo deck and is used in addition to the player's 3-card Tempo display to carry out the adjustments dictated by the Warning sign. This seems to make game play even more random, taking more control away from the player. From initial reactions I'm getting to the game it would seem to be a step in the wrong direction, but there it is in the rules.

Thread: User Review

JeffClaussen — 2003-05-05T20:26:40+00:00

Fette Autos by Heinrich Glumpler: I’m a big fan of racing games and have some 30+ titles, ranging from donkeys to spaceships. My current favorites are Turfmaster by Albrecht Nolte (thanks, Shane), Top Race by Wolfgang Kramer and Das Motorsportspiel by Wieland and Steinke. But other than Top Race, which is an excellent family game that plays well with 5 – 6, it is often difficult to get the ideal number of players (7 – 8) to sit down and play the other two. As a result those 2 games don’t get to the table as often I would like. So when I saw Fette Autos come out of “Essen” rated for 1 – 6(7) players, I was encouraged by the possibility of another auto racing game that would work well with 6 or less.

FA is a different sort of racing game from what you might expect in that you are not going around a track racing to a finish line, you are instead jockeying for position in a line of cars, trying to hold or improve your current position in the line. This is however not a unique set up. The mechanism was used in both Formula Motor Racing by Kinzia and Stock Car Championship Racing by McGartlin Motorsport Design. FMR is a much simpler game in which your card play is directed more at impeding your opponents’ progress than in maneuvering your own vehicle, without much of a “feel” of racing. SCCR on the other hand is all about controlling your vehicle and challenging other vehicles through attempts at passing and blocking, but it seems to get burdened down in details, like how many seconds you are trailing the main group after coming out of the pits. The picture on the back of the box with the cute little kids, 8 – 9 years old, playing with mom and dad belies the actual complexity of that game. FA seems to fall somewhere in between and for me anyway, filled my head with a sense of roaring engines and shifting gears, its mechanisms more involved in evaluating immediate road conditions, reacting to them quickly, then getting on to the business of challenging the other cars. While this simpler, leaner system worked to draw me into the game, it seemed to put off or baffle most everyone else.

There are no detailed scale model cars this time, just some simple but solid components. The cars look like they were cut from wall molding but they serve the purpose well. The key components, 2 decks of cards, are on good quality stock, shuffle and handle easily, and look as though they will hold up well to frequent use. The 7-page rulebook is presented in 2 columns with rules presentation on the left, illustrations and examples on the right of each page. The last two pages are comprised of variants and an overview so there aren’t a lot of rules. But for some reason the English translation has generated 3 pages of FAQs. We had a serious problem with the rules. While the rules are for the most part are laid out well and the examples are indeed helpful, they miss one important fact; that is, what happens to the chips you use to “pay” for temporary speed changes. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As I said, FA is a different sort of racing game, its mechanisms not immediately obvious. You have to understand and appreciate what is going on in each of the 3 phases before you can hope to get into the game. Besides the cars lined bumper to bumper on the single section of cardboard track, you get a deck of Tempo cards, a deck of Track cards and a bunch of plastic chips. A Track card is either a straight or a curve. If it is a curve, it has a speed limit on it. Each Track card also has a Warning symbol representing it’s condition, to which players will need to respond. Tempo cards have speed ratings from 10 – 60kph and Warning symbols matching those on the Track cards. Typically 8 Track cards are randomly selected and laid out sequentially to represent the course. Each player is dealt 8 Tempo cards and given 3 chips. Each player must select 3 Tempo cards and place them in a specific order on the table. The total speed ratings of the 3 cards represent the speed of the player’s car. The position of the card is important because Warning symbols can affect left, right or middle Tempo cards. If for any reason one of these 3 Tempo cards is discarded, the replacement card must be placed in the position just vacated. Each Track card represents a turn and each turn is divided into 3 phases.

Phase 1 is called the Warning Sign phase. How well you prepare for and are able to respond in this phase determines how much control you can exercise in the next remaining 2 phases. The warning sign on the current track card will tell the drivers what is going to happen to the 3 Tempo cards this phase. Since you can see the Track cards before you lay out your initial 3 Tempo cards and subsequently before actually reaching each one in turn sequence, you will want to consider them whenever modifying your Tempo cards. The Warning symbol on the Track card will indicate if the card in one of the 3 positions must be discarded and replaced, or if the highest or lowest is to be targeted in order to accelerate or decelerate your car. Any card played from your hand is replaced from the draw pile. After this is carried out, the Warning symbols on your current Tempo cards are compared to that on the Track card, and you are awarded 2 chips for each that match. These chips will give you an advantage in controlling your car in the next 2 phases.

Phase 2 is called the Driving phase. This is where you adjust the speed of your car to handle the speed limitations of the curves or to open up on the straights, always thinking ahead about improving or holding your current position on the track in the next phase. First you are allowed to discard one of the 3 Tempo cards in your display and replace it OR leaving the display as it is, discard as many of your cards from your hand as you want and replace them. If you are in a curve you must now compare your speed (total of your 3 Tempo cards) against the posted limit, 70 or 90. If you are at or below the posted limit you are fine. If you exceed the limit, you must decelerate. One way is to Emergency Brake. This is bad. The very first thing you have to do is discard a card from your hand and not replace it… you hand size is permanently reduced by 1. That’s why it’s bad. Then you begin a process of discarding a card from your display, replacing it with 1 from your hand, then drawing a replacement, until your speed is finally within the limit. Alternately, you can, if you wish, avoid the whole messy E-Braking process and do this with chips except you can only use as many chips as you have cards in your hand (hopefully 5), and each chip reduces your speed by 10kph, so 50kph is the upper limit. This is where I began to have problems with the instructions. What’s up with these chips? After I pay 1, where does it go? Am I going 10kph slower for the rest of the phase, the rest of the turn, what? Do I keep the chips next to my display to indicate my “temp” speed? And what about that limit? Is that for the action, the phase or the turn?

I recently learned Battlecards by Jonathan Bjork and ran into a similar problem. In the description of combat, involving cards displaying various types of units, it states that after phase 4 the aggressor and the defender may choose to withdraw some or all of their respective forces. What it never covers in the rules is what happens to those forces that were withdrawn. It never tells the reader how to reset after a completed battle. There is a somewhat smug FAQ on their website stating that they felt this was obvious and they were somewhat disparaging of what some of the players “guessed” was supposed to happen. Here’s a news flash: even if they’d guessed right, they were still forced to guess because the rules were not explicit. Same problem here in FA. We look at the illustration and there sits the chip, right next to the cards. The description says “pay” but never defines the term. And we’re sitting there with our engines roaring and our gears grinding wondering if were going 120 or 90 and for how long, not certain how it is going to affect what happens in the last phase when more chips fly.

Phase 3 is the Attack phase. This is where players attempt to maintain or improve the position of their car in the line, beginning with the last car. “Two players are deciding simultaneously how many chips they will pay. Each chip paid increases the speed… by 10kph temporarily.” The maximum is still the number of cards in your hand. Now is this added to the number of chips I’ve already paid? How is my current speed determined… cards or cards and prior chips? And now I have +10kph chips and –10kph chips. It seems this could have been made clearer. Once you do hit upon how to do this, probably with the aid of their FAQ and some time to ruminate, it all seems so clear that you don’t quite know how you mucked it up. Well, that’s how I did it. Quite simply, chips “paid” are discarded as soon as it is determined the event is over. In the second phase you paid chips to reduce your speed to meet the limits of the curve. Your cards total 100kph, you pay 3 chips to temporarily reduce it by 30 to meet the limit of 70, everyone sees this, discard the chips. You are still going 100 but you successfully navigated the curve so far. Now in phase 3 you want to try to pass the fellow in front of you. You compare your speeds. Your cards still indicate 100, while his total 70. Now you each conceal a number of chips in your hand. This is a new event, you once again have a limit of 5 (or whatever your current hand size is), and each chip you are about to reveal is worth +10kph temporarily, for the purpose of this attempted pass/block only. Chips in hand are revealed and the value added to your card speed. If the aggressor’s total is higher, he passes. If the defender’s total matches or exceeds, no pass occurs. Chips, both winner’s and loser’s, are now discarded, event over. Speeds revert back to card totals. If the aggressor passed successfully and wants to immediately attempt another pass, this represents a new event. Beginning again with his speed equal to his 3 cards on the table, the aggressor must reduce his speed by 10kph (it’s the rule to continue passing) by discarding one, replacing it from his hand and then replenishing his hand. If his speed still exceeds the posted limit for a curve, he must repeat phase 2 to control his car. Once this is done he can attempt to pass the next car in line. New event, new chip limit, check speed of cards, etc. (If aggressor successfully passes the first car but does not choose to attempt a second pass, then no speed check against a curve limit is required and his turn is over.)

Friday we never really had the rules right. It took Friday night (Saturday morning) at the computer reviewing FAQs and examples and ruminating on same before I figured I had figured it out. But when I tried it out Saturday on that group, they seemed to have a tough time grasping it at first. Their suggestion afterwards was that it might have worked better to simply walk them through a couple of turns rather than try to explain the phases and the symbols first. Two of them were still with me into turn 4 or 5 when the pizza arrived, but one had obviously turned off to it from the start, dismissing it in his mind as too random, and as a result had been sitting across the table from me hemming, hawing and twitching the whole time. So when asked whether or not to put the pizza in the oven, I suggested we call the game at that point and eat. I like the game. The decisions in phases 1 and 2 may be obvious for the most part but you do have to attend to them, particularly with regards to building a reserve of chips. There is a variant in which players use screens to conceal their chips that I agree would make things more interesting since passing is the main game here. And when you go for it you want to enter phase 3 going fast and with a large supply of chips, preferably on a straight. That is where it seems your toughest decisions are going to be found, centering on preparing and deciding when to go for it. With only 8 turns and very few straights, I quickly began to feel pressure to conserve chips and prepare. Personally I would give it a 7 at this point except for the difficulties mentioned and the neutral reactions at best from the others. Next session I would be more than happy to slam it on the table as my one selection for the evening despite the reactions so far. But until I see some more favorable responses from those playing it, I can’t really recommend it… except it is suitable for solitaire play.

jef

Thread: Session Report

PBrennan — 2003-03-31T11:07:43+00:00

I spent half the game trying to work out what I could and couldn't do - crying out for a help card. But we enjoyed ourselves all the same. The cars look great. The game is mostly about managing the luck of the cards and doing your best around them. Sometimes things'll go great, other times
you'll be shafted. Winning those red chips to get you past those 'arghhh just missed' moments is key, but winning those is all about having the right cards as well. I'd like to play again as I thought it was fun and well themed, but it's not great by the same token. A rating of 6 after 1 play.

Thread: Re:Session Report

nosferrari — 2002-12-09T20:34:16+00:00

yudp (#4747),
Hi,
I had some feedback concerning the rules - the rules are not so self evident as we would have liked it to be. So we published a short faq file.

I strongly encourage everybody to read our FAQ - see:

www.edition-erlkoenig.de/download.htm

Concerning the tactics - there are quite a few not obvious to newcomers (you group found one of it ;-). We will publish a short tactic booklet on our web site concerning Fette Autos tactics.

One last thing: the maximum speed in a curve with speed limit of 70 is 120 km/h, because a player may only pay a maximum number of chips equal to the number of cards in his hand (usually five). If driving at 130 kmh/h or higher after maneuvering the player must do a "full brake".

Do not hesitate to contact me, if you have any questions concerning the game.

Best Regards
Heinrich Glumpler

Thread: Re:Session Report

Alan How — 2002-12-09T20:34:11+00:00

yudp (#4747),

I'm not sure if you played all the rules correctly, Dale. You can only hand in as many chips as you have cards in your hand (so a maximum of 5). This makes a maximum speed of 50 over the curve speed limit most likely (unless you want to hand in a card, which will reduce the number of chips playable).

Also, if you attempt a further overtaking option in the same turn, you need to decelerate by at least 10 miles per hour and then match or be under the curve speed limit again. So a fast overtaking manoeuvre on a curve is a great way to use up chips. You then become vulnerable to being overtaken yourself by a pro of fellow player in a subsequent turn.

But the game is well worth playing more times.

Thread: Session Report

yudp — 2002-12-09T14:02:18+00:00

We then moved into Fette Autos as it was a game that could handle everyone at the game session. It is a racing game - which like McGartlin – is more interested in your relative position among cars not how far ahead you are. Our game was fun, but there was very little relative movement of players. This may have been due to our relative inexperience with the game. The only really big move was when Luke was something like 80 over the speed limit on a curve, but was able to pay the penalty in chips. He then used his huge speed advantage to zip by three cars in one round! Unfortunately, he figured this out in the 6th or 7th round (of 8) and didn’t have enough time to try to mount a comeback nor was there enough time for anyone else to try to copycat the strategy to see if it would be successful again. Ted won and Cheryl was second – but then again, they got to start there because they were the oldest players. Not quite sure what I think of this one yet as I have only had one play so far, but I’d still try it again.