Game: Thunder Road

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

VikingFury — 2008-08-22T04:55:12+00:00

Woelf wrote:

Interesting Quirk
The generic wrecks that come with the game are single-piece bits of plastic molded to look like the inverted remains of a car chassis. The “roof” has a large flat spot meant to allow the wrecks to rest on the board at a slight angle without tipping or rocking about, and in the center of that flat spot is a rectangular opening that was likely intended to reduce the weight and amount of material needed for the pieces. The briefest of inspections is all you need to see which side is clearly meant to be up and which should be down. Yet, every single time I’ve played this with someone that hasn’t seen it before, without fail, at some point during the game when a board gets dumped and placed at the front they will grab several of those generic wrecks and place them on the appropriate spaces wheels-down. We’re so accustomed to seeing vehicles oriented a certain way that our minds will tell us to place those pieces how they’re “supposed to be”, despite the obvious clues to the contrary. If you’ve ever played the game, you have no doubt witnessed that very same phenomenon and/or done it yourself.

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Thread: Re: Vrrooom, vrooom... Rat-a-tat-tat! BaBOOM!

l10n0fjudah — 2008-08-21T15:36:05+00:00

Poltergeist_2000 wrote:
Let me elaborate on the above session just a bit..No need to elaborate, your session report said it all!

Edit: Although your elaboration was entertaining as well.

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

Dex1138 — 2008-07-14T19:22:02+00:00

Ah, Thunder Road. This one was in heavy rotation in my gang's Sunday gaming days back in the day.

We had a couple of house wreck rules to make things a little more chaotic. Whenever a wreck is hit (or you cause a car to wreck) you'd roll a d6 to determine where the wreck is moved to.
1-2 one space ahead and left
3-4 one space directly ahead
5-6 one space ahead and right

We also worked out a dice system for randomly placing the wrecks when starting a new board so they wouldn't always be in the same place. I forget how it went, but we'd roll dice to determine the row then more dice to find how many spaces in it would go.

My copy's sitting in a closet at my parent's house and will probably never see me play it again. I guess I should grab it next time I'm there and see if I can pass it on to someone that'll actually use it!

Thread: Re: Vrrooom, vrooom... Rat-a-tat-tat! BaBOOM!

Poltergeist_2000 — 2008-07-12T04:13:44+00:00

Let me elaborate on the above session just a bit..

David, Kevin, and I were opening game night with Thunder Road. A very common night opener for us. Get us rolling dice and in a good gamery mood.

Three quarters into the game David's cars had been dumped and it was down to Kevin and I, each with only our heavy Eliminators left.

I'm keeping a decent lead but can't shake Kevin. Almost every turn he's getting a shot at me from behind. I consider "slamming on the brakes" and letting him pass me, so I'm the one taking a shot every turn. But, decide to go with the out-run attempt anyway. I get some decent rolls and have put a nice distance between us. (I should have hit the brakes.)

On Kevin's turn, before he decides whether he should worry or not, he sends his chopper after me. It's bullet's just bounce off my heavy armor. I'm good.

Then he rolls the best roll possible. 6, 6, 6, and a 4 on the modifier die!! Not only does it repair his Challenger that was about to be dumped, but it brings his Eliminator right up behind mine.

Confident he won't roll ANOTHER 6, I goad him on... I was wrong. He rolls another 6. My Eliminator explodes into flames, and rolls itself into an unrecognizable pile of scrap metal.

Kevin takes the game.

(Confession: We did not play another game of Thunder Road after this one. But, we usualy do! This night we moved onto something else.)

Thread: Vrrooom, vrooom... Rat-a-tat-tat! BaBOOM!

Poltergeist_2000 — 2008-07-11T20:53:06+00:00

Roll.Roll.Roll. I go first.

Roll.
Vrooom, vroooom, rrrrr! Go, go ,go!
Vroooom,SMASH! Roll. Roll. KA-BOOM! Wahoo! Bwa ha ha...
Vrooom. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat... Roll... ping, ping, ping... missed.
Pass the dice.

Roll.
Vroom, vroom.... chugga chugga chugga... safely off road, away from the others...
Vroom, rrrr....rat-a-tat-tat...Roll. Roll. BOOM!! Dang!
Pass the dice.

Roll.
Vroom, rrrrr, vrooom.... rat-a-tat... ffft, fft. ha-ha! missed!
Vroom, vroom, CRASH! Roll.Roll.. Scrape, screak... Vrrmm....
Vroom, vroom...bam, bam, bam, bam.... Roll... ting ting ting.. ha HA!
Pass the dice.

Roll.

Vroom, vroom, vroom.... wahoo! Go!
Vroom, vrooom... SMASH...Roll.Roll. Ka-Blam!...Crush! Flame Flame....bwa ha ha....
Thup, thup, thup, thup....rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat...Roll. Ba-Boom! Roll, wreckage, roll!
Pass the dice.

Roll.
Vroom, vroom.... rat-a-tat-tat...Roll. BaBOOM! Tee, hee...
Thup, thup, thup, thup....rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat...Roll. thwip, thwip, thwip...Pshh! Couldn't hit the broadside of a barn!
Pass the Dice.

About 5 minutes later...
Thup, thup, thup...rat-a-tat-tat...Roll. Ting...ting...ting.... whew.
Roll. What?! 6,6,6,and a 4!?!
Repaired! Vrooom....vrooom...on my tail...no! No way your gonna roll ANOTHER 6!
Roll....6. BaBOOOoooom! Smolder, smolder.

I lose.

Big grins everywhere. Wanna play again? Heck Yeah!!!!

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

FezAZ — 2008-07-11T17:40:27+00:00

Great review. It is now on my want list. Any doubt about that was resolved when I found this sweet 80s commercial for the game. Fairly high budget for a game considering they had to work up some "mad max" style cars.
Youtube Video

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

Woelf — 2008-07-11T17:01:54+00:00

Wow, thanks everyone! When I first decided to write this review, I didn't realize there were so many others still keeping an eye out for the game - I figured this review would slip away into limbo and not see any comments or thumbs for months, if ever.

Just a note about the edit above - I fixed a few typos and "corrected" my rating. I forgot (until after posting) that I had actually given it a rating of 7.5, not 7. Given how much I like this game, plus the whole nostalgia factor, a 7.5 seems more appropriate anyways.

Poltergeist_2000 wrote:
We've been considering the exact same House Rule you suggested about repairs, though we usually play by the rules.

Another one I've been contemplating is something to distinguish each car by speed. I mean c'mon! That Doom Buggy has GOT to be faster than the Eliminator. I'm considering ALWAYS rolling the black modifier die and using the following guideline:

1) The DOOM BUGGY gets to use the modifier die all the time, off road or on.
2) The AVENGER uses the modifier die normally...only on the road.
3) The ELIMINATOR never gets to use the modifier die.

This just seems it would add to the theme. Anyone out there try this or something similar? Does it break the game?Sounds interesting, although I'd consider reversing the bonuses - give the Eliminator the permanent bonus die instead of the Doom Buggy. Sure it's a much larger vehicle, but that cylinder running almost the full length of its chassis looks an awful lot like a jet engine or rocket (think of Adam West's Batmobile). Plus, it has to start all the way in back so it could get outpaced pretty quickly without the bonus.

On a seperate note, there's one other house rule we've been using that deals with the potential for early player elimination:
Unlimited Chopper Attacks: Any player that has had all of his/her cars eliminated still gets to make a chopper attack on their turn, and also gets to ignore the "once per board" restriction.

It's a love it or hate it type of rule though, so I didn't include it in the review. It does tend to make the game take a little longer to finish and can turn things into a repair roll-off, but it also adds a lot more tension for the remaining players because they're never safe from attack. It also gives the eliminated player(s) an immediate chance for revenge on whoever it was that knocked them out...

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

Poltergeist_2000 — 2008-07-11T14:40:43+00:00

WOW, it probably took you longer to write that review than it would to play a game of Thunder Road! Thunder Road is GREAT fun. It's in my top 10.

We've been considering the exact same House Rule you suggested about repairs, though we usually play by the rules.

Another one I've been contemplating is something to distinguish each car by speed. I mean c'mon! That Doom Buggy has GOT to be faster than the Eliminator. I'm considering ALWAYS rolling the black modifier die and using the following guideline:

1) The DOOM BUGGY gets to use the modifier die all the time, off road or on.
2) The AVENGER uses the modifier die normally...only on the road.
3) The ELIMINATOR never gets to use the modifier die.

This just seems it would add to the theme. Anyone out there try this or something similar? Does it break the game?

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

anubis9 — 2008-07-11T04:12:39+00:00

Great timing!
I just barely got this in the mail (found it on ebay for $8).
The house rule is a nice addition.
Been having a great time playing this with my son.
Thanks for the detailed review.

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

Barry Kendall — 2008-07-11T02:10:34+00:00

Glad to see thiss little old gem get some friendly attention and respect. I always pictured that goggle-eyed guy with the bad teeth dropping stuff from his autogyro in the movie and we'd always designate one vehicle the "Mel Gibson Car."

It might help to drybrush some rust-colored paint on the chassis of the wrecks to pop out which side goes "up."

By golly, I'm gonna dig this chestnut out and play it. Thumbs up to you, boyo.

Thread: Re: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

A Strange Aeon — 2008-07-10T23:51:12+00:00

Great review--I've been looking for this game for awhile and your review has rekindled my interest!

Thread: Hey! That's my car! (Thunder Road, a review)

Woelf — 2008-07-10T22:14:37+00:00

Thunder Road is a racing and auto-combat game that was released by Milton Bradley in 1986. The theme is obviously and undeniably based on the second Mad Max film, but lacks any specific references or notes that would indicate the presence of an actual licensing deal.

The overall premise of the game revolves around players racing their group of cars down an endless stretch of road. In the movie, that chase involved a pack of cars chasing down a tanker truck loaded with fuel, but in this game the exact reason is never made clear so that’s left up to the player’s imagination. They could be racing toward some unknown goal (a stockpile of fuel, weapons, gold, etc.) or they could be trying to outrun some unspeakable horror (a nuclear blast, Mel Gibson’s lawyers, etc.). All the while, the cars have to avoid piles of wreckage and attacks not only from other cars, but also from the swarm of helicopters hovering just above.

Rules
The rules in general are well written, straightforward, and include a number of useful pictures and examples. At first the rulebook may seem a bit long for a game that relies so heavily on rolling dice, but there are quite a few different options available during the game so all of the information is useful.

A player begins their turn by rolling the three yellow movement dice and then assigning one die to each of their cars. You can never combine the rolls, so if you have only two active cars remaining you can only use two of the three dice. Likewise, if you have only one car remaining you only get to use one die, but you always get to roll all three regardless of how many cars you have. If any of your cars began the turn on the strip of road down the center of the board, you also get to roll the black road-bonus die. You have the option of adding that bonus to any and all of your cars that are on the road, with the restriction that they must remain on the road for the entire movement.

Cars must always move forward, either directly ahead or into one of the two adjacent spaces on either side of the space ahead. A car must always use the full number of spaces on the assigned die when possible, but zigzagging is allowed so if you want to move to a specific (closer) space, you can usually get there with some clever maneuvering. You cannot move through a space occupied by one of your other cars, but since you can move them in any order that’s never really a problem. You can move through spaces occupied by wrecks or opposing cars, but it requires a die roll.

If your car lands on or tries to pass through a space with a wreck (either a generic wreck or the remains of an opponent’s car), you must roll one of the red “combat” dice. On a 4-6 the car smashes through and may continue on without penalty, but on a roll of 1-3 it becomes wrecked itself and is turned on its side. Due to the inherent risk, smashing through wrecks is usually only something to do as a last resort.

If you move your car into a space occupied by an opposing car, you can ram it. Both players roll a red die and add that to the rank of their car. If the player that rammed has the higher total, that car can continue through the space and the opposing car becomes a wreck. If the opposing player has the higher total or it’s a tie, the rammer’s car has to stop in the space behind regardless of how much additional movement it might have. Ranks are printed on the bottom of each car: the Doom Buggy is rank-4, the Avenger is rank-5, and the Eliminator is rank-6. There is an obvious advantage to ramming with a larger car, but the margin is close enough that taking out a large car with a small one is still very much a possibility.

If you land by exact count in a space directly behind an opposing car, you also have the option of shooting at it. To shoot you simply roll a red die and compare the result to the rank of the target car; if it is equal to or greater than the rank, the shot hits and the target car becomes a wreck. If you miss, nothing else happens.

In addition to moving their three cars, each player also has one Thunder Chopper (helicopter) that can be used to attack any car in play, with the restriction that it can be used only once per segment of the board. You indicate your target by placing the chopper next to a car, and then shoot by rolling a red die (exactly like shooting with a car).

If a car survives long enough to reach the far end of the second board, the starting board segment is immediately placed in front and the car completes the remainder of its movement on the “new” board. When a previous board gets dumped like that, any player-controlled cars that were still on it get removed from the game whether they were still running or wrecks. Choppers cannot be eliminated, so if one gets dumped it is simply set aside until its owner chooses to use it again. There is no limit to the number of times the board can be recycled; as long as two or more players still have cars in play, it could go on indefinitely.

As you might expect, cars will be getting wrecked left and right, but even if all of your cars have been disabled you’re not out of the game yet. As long as you still have at least one car on the board, even if it is wrecked, you still get to roll the three yellow movement dice on your turn. If you happen to roll double sixes, you can repair any one of your cars. Repairs happen instantly and don’t “use up” any dice, so you can still use those sixes to move.

If all three of your cars get dumped off the board, you’re out of the game. In order to win the game, you have to be last player with at least one car on the board.

Components
The components in Thunder Road are decent, but nothing spectacular.

The board is made up of two separate pieces that interlock on either end, so switching them as cars progress throughout the game is nearly effortless. They’re made of cardboard that, while not particularly thick, is more than sturdy enough to hold up to typical gameplay without any fear of bending. The boards in my copy have warped just slightly, but not enough to have an impact on gameplay. Considering that this game is over 20 years old, they’ve held up amazingly well. The artwork on the boards shows mostly sand and dirt with explosion craters and scattered bits of debris everywhere, and the road is distinguished by a darker strip down the middle. Overall it’s pretty dull and drab, but fits perfectly given the game’s post-apocalyptic, theme – it is a barren wasteland after all.

Each of the three car types are made of up two or three molded plastic pieces that snap together snugly. Some of them have a tendency to fall apart if you pick them up the wrong way, but that seems to be due more to years of wear (including repeated disassemblies) than any problem with production or design. The choppers are made of two pieces – one for the body and flight stand, and another for the main rotor blade (it spins!)

The player colors (dark green/olive, dark orange/rust, tan, and white/light gray) are somewhat unusual in gaming, but fit the theme of the game very well. You really wouldn’t expect to find many bright and vivid colors like red, blue, yellow, purple, etc. in this sort of environment.

Five of the dice (three yellow, two red) are just like the ordinary six-sided dice that you can find almost anywhere. The black “road bonus” die has smooth faces with no indentations, and instead has numbers printed in white. Unlike the other dice, this one is “weighted” slightly to roll lower, with face values of 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4. That makes it a worthwhile bonus to go after but not so powerful that it’s an essential for victory.

Also worth noting is the box insert. In the version I have, that insert is a cardboard panel that fills roughly three-quarters of the box, leaving a nice space on the end for the game pieces and enough of a gap on top for the boards and rulesheet. Printed on that insert are detailed pictures and stats for the four different vehicles in the game. That information has no effect whatsoever on gameplay, but adds to the theme by giving you a better idea of what it is you’re dealing with in the game. These are heavily-modified war machines, not just your average sedan, sports car, or pickup truck.

Gameplay
Make no mistake; there is a lot of die rolling involved in this game, however, that doesn’t mean you can play it on autopilot. There are a number of meaningful decisions to be made and a surprising amount of strategy for what looks like a simple roll & move game.

Choosing how to assign your die rolls is critical. You must constantly decide whether it is better to keep all of your cars in the running and risk losing them all at once, or if it is best to focus on just one or two and abandon the rest. You have to decide when to drive on the crowded road in order to get the bonus, when to stay on the slower but less hazardous off-road areas, and when to switch from one to the other.

Blocking is a huge factor on the road because it will often force a player to choose between smashing through a wreck, ramming a larger car, or going off-road. With the odds of succeeding at the first two around 50/50 (or worse) it can be a tough choice, especially if leaving the road means you have to give up a large road bonus of three or four.

It might seem obvious to assign all of your highest rolls to your Doom Buggy because that starts the closest to the far end of the board, but it’s never that simple. There is a definite advantage to being behind so cars in the lead become targets for everyone else, and the buggies are particularly vulnerable because of their relatively low ranks. Runaway leaders become especially appealing targets, and tend to draw chopper attacks like moths to the flame. You always want to get at least one car onto the lead board as quickly as possible, but you don’t want to get too far ahead too soon. The trick is finding just the right moment to make your break and go for the win.

The choppers themselves present a conundrum. You only get one attack per board, so you have to make sure it will count. If you strike too early you might knock out the current leader, but that could just open the door for someone else. If you wait too long you might miss your chance entirely as all of the worthwhile targets have already moved on to the next board. You also have to consider what the other players might do with their own choppers. If you knock out the lead car, will everyone else turn their attention to one of yours? If you attack a high-ranked car and miss, can you trust your opponents to follow up the attack or will they ignore it this turn because all of their own cars are already “safe” on the lead board? Do you go after a trailing car in an attempt to knock it out of the game but risk a retaliatory attack from that player?

Negatives
Despite all of the good things about this game, there are a few negatives that need to be mentioned.

The main one, of course, is that despite the various strategic options available you are still ultimately at the mercy of the dice. A player that can consistently roll high will have a definite advantage, although low results are mitigated somewhat by the fact that you always roll three dice for movement. You should get at least one decent result with each roll that will help keep one of your cars in the running, even if that means you have to abandon one or both of the others. The combat dice can be especially fickle. I’ve seen a rank-4 Doom Buggy survive an onslaught of seven or eight attacks in a row, while nearby rank-6 Eliminators were dropping like flies at the mere mention of an attack.

Second, the repair rules are functional but a little too luck dependent. Doubles are seen far more commonly when rolling three dice than with two, yet double sixes seem just as elusive as ever, especially when you *need* them to get back in the game. The cars should be more difficult to repair than they are to wreck, but this is a bit much. Games can often be decided by a roll-off between two remaining players, with the win going to whoever is able to roll the double-six needed to repair his or her wrecked car and move the few remaining spaces to the end of the board.

Downtime between turns is minimal, but getting knocked out of the game very early on can be frustrating as you wait for everyone else to finish. Fortunately games rarely last more than ten or fifteen minutes even with four players, so if you do get eliminated you won’t have to wait that long to get back into it. If a repeat play isn’t expected, an early elimination could be the perfect opportunity to pick out and start setting up the next game for the night.

Suggested House Rule
House rules can be a tricky subject. While some people might tweak the rules of a game so much that it is barely recognizable, others might be “purists” that refuse to play a game by any rules except what was in the box when it was published. Most house rules simply change how a particular aspect works, for better or for worse (depending who you ask), but occasionally you’ll find a house rule that seems so essential and beneficial to gameplay that you wonder why it wasn’t in the actual rulebook.

Falling into that latter category is an adjustment to the repair rules that takes the rank of a car into account. Instead of double-sixes being the only way to repair a car regardless of rank, you can repair any car with a rank equal to or less than the doubled number. In other words, while a double-six will still allow you to repair any car, a double-five will allow you to repair only the rank-5 or rank-4 cars (but not the rank-6), and a double-four will allow you to repair only the rank-4 car. This simple change has a major effect on the later stages of a game by equalizing the three car ranks. The Eliminator is the hardest to wreck, but is also the most difficult to repair. On the other hand, the Doom Buggy is the easiest to wreck but also the easiest to repair. Splitting the difference is the Avenger. I’ve seen all three go onto victory, so instead of the Eliminator being the obvious “best” choice, the right car often comes down to which one a player likes best.

I’ve been using this house rule for many years (long before finding BGG), but what is particularly interesting about it is that a number of others here use the exact same rule. To me, a house rule carries far more weight if several different people come up with it independently than if it becomes common by spreading directly from one person to another.

Interesting Quirk
The generic wrecks that come with the game are single-piece bits of plastic molded to look like the inverted remains of a car chassis. The “roof” has a large flat spot meant to allow the wrecks to rest on the board at a slight angle without tipping or rocking about, and in the center of that flat spot is a rectangular opening that was likely intended to reduce the weight and amount of material needed for the pieces. The briefest of inspections is all you need to see which side is clearly meant to be up and which should be down. Yet, every single time I’ve played this with someone that hasn’t seen it before, without fail, at some point during the game when a board gets dumped and placed at the front they will grab several of those generic wrecks and place them on the appropriate spaces wheels-down. We’re so accustomed to seeing vehicles oriented a certain way that our minds will tell us to place those pieces how they’re “supposed to be”, despite the obvious clues to the contrary. If you’ve ever played the game, you have no doubt witnessed that very same phenomenon and/or done it yourself.

Conclusion
Overall, Thunder Road is an excellent filler game. It’s short enough that if you really enjoy it (or you got knocked out early and want revenge) you can play it multiple times in a single sitting, but if you hate it you won’t have to suffer long. It is light enough that it can be enjoyed by non-gamers and kids, but carries just enough depth and strategy that the average gamer won’t be wishing it was over the instant it hits the table. Ultimately, a really lucky player will usually be the one to come out ahead, but a good player will definitely be able to give them a run for their money.

I loved playing this game when I was growing up, and if it wasn’t for Fireball Island this would sit squarely in the number one spot among my favorite childhood games. I’ve since moved on to games that are bigger, more complex, and just plain better, but that hasn’t made this game any less fun to play. Even to this day I still greatly enjoy the rare times when this game makes it to the table.

If you ever run across this game at thrift store, at a garage sale, collecting dust in the back corner of a relative’s basement, or anywhere else, don’t pass it up. If you can’t find it, go get some of the files in the downloads section and make your own copy. You won’t regret it (unless you’re the kind of person that absolutely hates dice and loathes anything that involves luck or randomness – then you should look elsewhere.)

Rating
Since the suggested house rule has such a positive impact on the game, I’ll end this review with a dual rating:

(Rules exactly as written): 6.5
(With the suggested house rule): 7.5

Reason for edit: fixed a few typos, and other errors.

Image

coolio — 2008-06-20T02:36:57+00:00

From a Milton Bradley "Strategy & Action Games" Pamphlet

Image

petegrey — 2008-05-26T15:26:30+00:00

Green, tan and orange upsetting each other by all trying to be on actual road for the movement bonus

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petegrey — 2008-05-26T15:24:52+00:00

Midpoint of game- Green is almost finished!

Thread: Re: TV commercial

the*mad*gamer — 2008-04-16T20:33:36+00:00

Was that Michael Barnes in the commercial? The guy smiling and shaking his head near the end? HA!

Thread: TV commercial

tyoda — 2008-04-16T18:48:13+00:00

An ad for this game is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACNXu0k4XwY

Thread: Re: Chopper attacks

garygarison — 2008-03-31T08:05:26+00:00

Thanks, this helps. Played this for the first time the other day, and the game ended very quickly, with death raining down from the sky with every chopper attack. Also, our two-player game meant maneuvering was very easy on the wide-open road. For both increased play time and greater challenge when playing 1-on-1, I wonder whether each player taking two teams of vehicles is the way to go.

Thread: Re: Chopper attacks

UnluckyNumber — 2008-03-31T06:35:04+00:00

It's a free attack, once per board, and doesn't affect your cars' movement in the slightest. And no, a chopper's attack only happens after movement, when all the rest of your vehicular combat takes place.

Thread: Chopper attacks

garygarison — 2008-03-22T06:46:17+00:00

Are chopper attacks done in lieu of car movement, or is it a free attack in addition to everything else in a player's normal turn? If the latter, can choppers attack before rolling for car movement?

Thread: Re: Blast from the Past

tiger,tiger — 2007-11-05T22:13:29+00:00

For an adult the end game might get a little tedious. But for a kid, pure joy. Come on double sixes!!! YEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Thread: Ramming Attacks- Making it even more dicey

tiger,tiger — 2007-11-05T22:02:35+00:00

Each car rolls 2d6.

Multiply result 3x for monsters, 2x for cars, 1x for dune buggies.

High roll wins.

Thread: Modified Ramming Attacks

tiger,tiger — 2007-11-05T21:56:52+00:00

I don't like the fact that when ramming a big monster only gets a +2 to his role if being rammed by a dune buggy. The best way for the little guys to take out a big guy is to ram them, and it seems too easy.

How about this, add your own car value to roll then subtract enemy's car value to the total. This would give a -2 to a dune buggy and a +2 to a monster. If a car attacks monster it would be -1 to car's roll, +1 to monster's.

Image

Goodsound — 2007-09-13T17:34:24+00:00

French Edition Cover (1987)

Thread: Re: Blast from the Past

Karmic_nomad — 2007-06-19T17:16:27+00:00

OMG it even says WasteLanders on the board in the picture.
Cheers dude I love trivia like that.

Heaven't seen Mad Max for a while but I'll take your word for it. But thinking about it the spikey hair chapped looks a bit like the guy who kept getting run over.

Thread: Re: Blast from the Past

Jedit — 2007-06-19T08:11:07+00:00

Karmic_nomad wrote:
My rich mate had this as a kid, we had no idea how to play it we just moved the pieces up and down the board making up the rules as we went. What I do remember were the lovingly moulded plastic cars, that not only did you get to make yourself but were depicted doing cool stuff on the front of the box (UK version anyway)

The coolest thing about the box was the gameplay picture. It uses the pre-release boards from back wken the game was called WasteLanders. eBay, though? My copy is still near-mint SFAICT.

Incidentally, not only the guy on the cover is a clone of Mad Max. All three cars are copied from vehicles in Mad Max 2, and the chopper is based on the gyrocopter.

Thread: Re: Blast from the Past

PhilReed — 2007-06-18T23:53:30+00:00

This is a great filler. Fast and easy. Lots of destruction. I love to pull this one out.

Thread: Blast from the Past

Karmic_nomad — 2007-06-18T21:15:11+00:00

My rich mate had this as a kid, we had no idea how to play it we just moved the pieces up and down the board making up the rules as we went. What I do remember were the lovingly moulded plastic cars, that not only did you get to make yourself but were depicted doing cool stuff on the front of the box (UK version anyway)

Now much older with loads more money I managed to make a game from an abused set at a boot sale and Ebay. Then went about (sadly) trying to recapture those long-gone happy days.

Surprisingly the game is still fantastic!! It is quite simple to play but a few glances back at the instruction sheet is needed the first time you play.

The combat is fast paced and furious. It is often quite obvious an opponent is going to lose a key piece many turns before it actually happens, this allows you to turn on the psychological screws, i.e pointing out their piece's impending doom once every 28 seconds or so.

The game is simple, fun and stylish in that unique eighties fashion, with its bright red moulded piece tray and ludicrously under-sized instruction leaflet.

The only draw back I found with the game is some of the pieces can be a little hardy, meaning when you get down to the last two cars they can spend turn after turn taking chunks out of one another with no affect, then when one car is finally wrecked fortune turns to repair it.

A great system with a number of dice that guides you towards using the normally death-machine congested road.
Like so many games from that time it is complicated enough to keep you interested but simple enough to be fun.

All these years later, I still catch myself staring at the mad-max clone on the box with the cars racing behind him.

A classic!

Thread: Re: Sit tight...take hold...

Gruff Mckenzie — 2007-04-04T17:29:09+00:00

Nice suggestions. I just picked this up and it's a fun game.

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Caesar — 2007-04-03T11:49:36+00:00

Sticky Chits (by Caesar)

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Ravenwing67 — 2007-02-21T21:05:34+00:00

it's all about the juice!

Thread: Re: What numbers are on the dice, what are the starting position

Joey_Jones — 2007-01-21T02:47:44+00:00

Don't forget to post pictures of your custom board. I'd like to see it.

Thread: Re: A few minor fun additions

Joey_Jones — 2007-01-03T03:13:14+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try this out soon

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woodnoggin — 2006-12-30T22:43:27+00:00

Exciting pieces

Thread: Re: A few minor fun additions

Jack Swift — 2006-12-29T18:07:00+00:00

Very nice! Thanks for sharing this.

Thread: A few minor fun additions

paulvonscott — 2006-12-29T14:32:06+00:00

Well, we have a little group who drags this out once or twice a year and we love playing it. We have recently decided to add a few extra things into the mix.

REPAIR ROLLS - 666
For repair rolls if the player rolls three sixes then all of their wrecks on the board are repaired.

BOARDS
We have also come up with some variant boards (which I'll post here when I get the chance), which are randomly rolled and overlay the original (Road Cloased, Road Forks, Auto Graveyard and River Bridge) which seem to work okay.

BIKERS
And lastly we have come up with rules for motorbikes which we are going to playtest soon. You need a bike for each team, they are Rank 3 and start directly behind the Rank 6 vehicles of the same team.

When you roll for movement, roll an additional red combat dice for the bike. This may only be used for the bike and doesn't count towards repairs. However bikes get to add the Road Bonus die whether they are on road or off.

Bikes cannot ram, but have Rank 3 when being rammed and oll a die as normal.

They can move through a square with another vehicle on it.

They only crash into wrecks if they roll a 1.

Bikes shoot as per normal (they are two man bikes with the passenger firing).

Anyway, we're not trying to complicate it, just play with it a little.

Cheers

Paul

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Brain — 2006-10-04T01:45:32+00:00

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Brain — 2006-10-04T01:07:43+00:00

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Brain — 2006-10-04T00:56:52+00:00

Thread: Re: What numbers are on the dice, what are the starting position

Jukke — 2006-08-14T23:33:14+00:00

Well,

My holiday was in between, but i'm finished.
I've sent some pictures in with the buidling proces
and yes, it's a big board, you need 2 people to move the boards
in-game. But it's funtioning quite perfect.

I've bought some matchbox cars to use in the game
And I will send an picture of this game in action in about
a month (i'm going to move to a new house next week)

Thread: Re: What numbers are on the dice, what are the starting position

Jukke — 2006-06-04T19:31:08+00:00

Thanks for your quick response
And yes, I DO realise that the boards are switching place during gameplay.
Just want to build 2 modular boards that connect into each order.

I will place some pictures when I'm finished

Thread: Re: What numbers are on the dice, what are the starting posi

Jedit — 2006-06-04T17:57:13+00:00

Jukke wrote:
Since this game is OOP I thougt it would be a great idea to make my own "pimped" version of thunder road.
And with "pimped" I mean a 3D road in the desert with modified hotwheel cars to complete the picture.

I think this will work out just fine, all the rules are on the internet.

Er... you do realise that you have to pick up one half of the board and lay it in front of the other, yes? I'm not sure how practical this would be in 3D.

But I have two questions that I can't find in the rules:

1. What kind of dice are used, I know that there are 3 yellow dice,
and 2 red dice. Are those both D6 numbered 1 to 6?
There is also 1 black die, is this one a D6 numbered 1 to 2,
or 1 to 3?

The yellow and red dice are standard D6.

The black dice has two 1s (on opposing faces), two 2s (also on opposing faces), a 3 and a 4.

2. What are the starting positions of the cars. There is a map in the
rules but it's not in color. So can anyone tell me where each of the
cars is suposed to start.

From top to bottom:

Rank 6: red, grey, green, brown
Rank 5: grey, brown, red, green
Rank 4: brown, green, grey, red

Thread: What numbers are on the dice, what are the starting position

Jukke — 2006-06-04T17:30:25+00:00

Since this game is OOP I thougt it would be a great idea to make my own "pimped" version of thunder road.
And with "pimped" I mean a 3D road in the desert with modified hotwheel cars to complete the picture.

I think this will work out just fine, all the rules are on the internet.
But I have two questions that I can't find in the rules:

1. What kind of dice are used, I know that there are 3 yellow dice,
and 2 red dice. Are those both D6 numbered 1 to 6?
There is also 1 black die, is this one a D6 numbered 1 to 2,
or 1 to 3?

2. What are the starting positions of the cars. There is a map in the
rules but it's not in color. So can anyone tell me where each of the
cars is suposed to start.

Any help would be appreciated

Thread: Movement and ramming suggestions

Snappatoon — 2005-11-02T01:25:11+00:00

My group prefer this game with the following rule changes.

1. Reverse the starting order of the vehicles, so the big, level six monsters are in the front while the little level four buggies are at the back.

2. When moving, subtract one from dice allotted to a level six monster. Add one to dice allotted to a level four buggy.

3. When ramming an enemy vehicle, subtract one from the die roll of a level four buggy. Add one to the die roll of level six monsters.

The upshot is that the nippy little buggies have to thread their way through the tougher but slower saloons and armoured monsters. The bigger cars will tend to use ram attacks more often, as there's now more chance of a ram damaging a target.

Thread: Quick comments

drbenn — 2005-11-01T08:13:18+00:00

Every time we've played this game the player who moved first was the winner. Now we just roll to see who goes first and skip the game altogether!

Thread: Quick Comments

dragonraid — 2005-01-17T14:20:35+00:00

This game is great! If you love the Mad Max movies, or enjoy Car Wars, this is a simple and fun game. It is easy enough for kids to join in on the fun too. Also, the continual board is a good concept that helps the game have endless possibilities. Another cool thing about the game is that you can springboard from the rules and use some Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars in place of the plastic ones to help customize the game a bit more!

Thread: Sit tight...take hold...

Yib-Yab — 2004-09-23T17:59:45+00:00

Mad Max in Milton Bradley form. All these years, and this one holds up, with the help of some modified rules...even though I generally like to play games "straight."

Concept: Eliminate all the other player's armored death cars. This can be done by shooting at them, ramming them, blowing them up with your chopper, or if you can't beat em', outrace em.

Game Play: Each player controls three cars of various strength. There's the tiny "Doom Buggy," the sportscar-esque "Avenger," and the all out armored tank power of "The Eliminator." There's also the "Thunder Chopper" although it's more of a wild card element that starts off the board. The board is two interlocked rectangular pieces which form a long road. Running down the middle is a two-space wide stretch representing a worn out paved area. Players who choose to travel down this path receive a "road bonus" which includes an extra die. Players all move forward, as if in a race. If a car reaches the end of the second board, the back board is picked up, in the process "dumping" every car on it out of the game. That board is than placed in front of the one left on the table, therby creating an eternal road. As cars race forward, they can maneuver into various attack positions. If you want to shoot at a car, simply pull up adjacent to it. Roll a six sided, and if you roll equal to or higher the target's car number (printed underneath it), you got it. If you want to ram, you land on the same space, then each player rolls a six sided and adds their car's number to the number rolled. Whoever rolled highest wins. And there's the chopper, which shoots like any other car, but can simply "fly" to whatever target it wants. The only catch being it can only attack once per board (dumping doesn't affect it).

Playing it today brings back good memories of getting this one on Christmas morning, but more serious gamers might want to try some rule variations.

1. Change the repair rule. The book states that if you roll double sixes on your movement roll, you can repair a wrecked car (wrecks are left on the board). I would imagine that the smaller cars are eaiser to repair, so change this rule so that rolling doubles of a car's value number will repair it. So in other words, the Buggy's value is 4. You can repair it if you roll double 4's, 5's or 6's. The Avenger (value of 5) is repaired on double 5's or 6's. And so on. This slight twist alone makes the game more intresting.

2. No chopper attacks until the line on the second board is crossed. This keeps someone from trying to bring out the chopper too early.

3. Shoot down choppers. You can do this however you'd like. Just a suggestion.

4. Since a player rolls three six sides dice on their turn, using one for each car, it's almost impossible to outmanuever cars following you at medium range, as on three dice it's almost certain they will roll the right number to get on you or just behind you. To keep someone from burning movement points by zig-zagging, therby keeping them from overshooting you on a ramming attempt, try changing movement rules so that it takes two movement points for a car to move directly from right to left or vice versa without moving one space forward first (the spaces one the boards are staggered).

5. Here's a tricky one. If a car is wrecked, roll dice to determine how far, and what direction the wreckage rolls. Each space is touched by six spaces, so use a six sided to determine this. Then roll the road bonus die (it's highest number is four) to determine how far. Then make rolls if the rolling wreck hits another car. You can do this how you'd please.

6. Here's a wild one: Tow Cables. Devise a way to roll for a car to attatch a tow cable to a wreck (either a player's or one of the 8 pre-set wrecks), modified by the car towing and the car being towed. If attatched, the car can pull a wreck to either hope to save it from being dumped, or to drop it to an advantagous location (blocking the central road). Depending on the car being towed, movement points could be subtracted. Id think that the damaged car couldn't be repaired until dropped.

Played as it is though, Thunder Road is an nice example of a mainstream game company thinking outside the box, and making a nod to the gamer industry in the process.

Concept: B
Challenge: C (played staight, games can be over too quick)
Construction: B
Overall: B

Thread: User Review

cdwalkley — 2004-03-02T12:31:48+00:00

I played this for the first time in 14 years last weekend. I first came across this game when I was about 10. I only played it once at my best friend's house, but it made such a huge impact on me (I had never come across a game with post-apocalyptic car combat before) that I remembered it to this very day.

Then a couple of weeks ago. I found someone was selling it here and I snapped it up. Last weekend I finally got to play again.

So was it worth the 14 year wait? Hell, yeah!

Quick and easy rules, much throwing of dice and quite a bit of luck make up this game. But if you are not a fan of the above, then remember that the game comes with 12 plastic cars, 4 plastic choppers and two interlocking road sections which are swapped over during the game so you can drive forever. Oh and let's not forget a pile of plastic burnt out wreck pieces! How cool are these bits?!

But how did it actually play? To be fair I was not expecting much. After all, how could it stand up against all the games I have discovered since finding the Geek?! I think this approach worked in the game's favour. I wasn't taking it seriously so just went along for the ride.

The first game we played with one team each and quickly worked out the best strategy for winning. This basically meant it came down to dice as to who would win, but it was a blast because of the theme.

Then we played with two teams each. This greatly cluttered up the board and actually made things a bit more tactical, but both games ended quickly, with more combat and less of a race element. We played twice like this and the race was over before the end of the second board was reached! I think 4 teams would work best with four players.

But it was great fun. And after we had finished our more serious gaming, it was good to have this to fill in a few minutes while I was waiting for my bus.

Also worth remembering is the fact that, because it is so simple, it would be easy to make up a more complex set of rules if that it what you would like. But then that might take away the point...!

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Gentlemen ... start your engines and prepare for destruction! It's Mad Max in a box. This is the Milton Bradley game that you don't want to let your teenage children play if they are of driving age. It would simply make you shudder in fear when they ask if they can borrow the car for the evening. Visions of soaring insurance rates would dance through your head.

Each player begins the game with four vehicles and a helicopter. The object is to ram, bash and smash your opponent's vehicles until you are the only vehicle left operational. Dice rolls determine movement, with modifications being made for road travel, type of vehicle and obstacles (predominately in the form of wrecked and charred vehicles). It's a dice fest with little (if any) strategy. Still, it does evoke hoots of glee when you successfully flip your opponent's cars.

Players can also take the 'speed' route by attempting to out race their opponents to the edge of the two section board. When one car exits the second board, the first board is removed and any vehicles still remaining on that board are eliminated. The newly cleansed board now becomes the second board and the procedure continues until only one car is operational. The owner of that vehicle is victorious.

The game is fun for the first 15 minutes or so, but then begins to drag and degenerate into a series of virtually emotionless dice rolling. This match, too, went on a good 15 minutes too long before Spouey earned the victory.

Finals: Spouey, Keith, Joey, Dave

Ratings: Joey 7, Spouey 7, Keith 7, Dave 6