[Magesmiley]

My thoughts on the arenas:

- The Airship, Jefferson City, MO (Arena Book, p. 2). Racing arena featuring long straightaways and heavily banked tight curves.

Not too bad as a racetrack. The layout with the long and tight turns make this different enough from the racetrack in the Classic set to merit inclusion. I'd rate this one as the best of the racetracks in the choices.

- Allentown Autoduel Arena, Allentown, PA (from Arena Book, p. 4). A circular banked track with only one entrance/exit.

Simple oval racetrack. We've got one of these in the Classic set. I'd give this one a pass.

- Macon Duel Extravaganza, Macon, GA (from Arena Book, p. 8). Multiple abandoned buildings make for tight maneuvering and give pedestrians cover and a fighting chance.

Not a bad arena if you want mix it up with pedestrians and cars.

- Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, GA (from Arena Book, p. 11). Wide-open spaces on what looks like an old football field . . . perhaps because it is.

A large open arena with grass surrounded by a narrow racetrack. I'm going to have to say pass on this one - there are some oddball events you can do with multiple cars, but it really doesn't do a great job as an arena or a racetrack IMO.

- Verdun Downs, Helena, MT (from Arena Book, p. 15). Criss-cross pattern of obstacles and ditches add an off-road flavor to the action.

Another arena which is at its best when you want to mix it up with pedestrians and cars. This one features ditches and small bunker areas rather than cinderblock walls. Not bad for what it does, but I think Macon is a slightly better choice.

- The Warrior Stadium, Chicago, IL (from L’Outrance, p. 2). Duellists must climb ramps to the second tier in order to get from quadrant to quadrant on the arena floor.

This is a solid arena map which supports up to 8 duellists. Be aware that you'll have to deal with the jumping falling rules with this arena. Despite that, I think this is probably the best arena on the list.

- The Southtown Arena, Ft. Wayne, IN (from L’Outrance, p. 4). Barricades create an inner courtyard where weapon ranges are short and so are lifespans.

A decent arena that breaks up line of fire for all but turrets. I'd rate this one as above average. This will probably will make my list.

- Amex Proving Grounds, Ann Arbor, MI (from L’Outrance, p. 6). The massive central TV tower is just one more thing to dodge in an arena with tight traffic flow.

A bunch of 30 DP walls divide this arena up. There are some narrow (1 1/2") chokepoints so dropped weapons can be nasty in this one. This one lands in the middle for me - It is decent, but not top tier.

Note for Scott: if this one gets picked, make sure that you fix the location of the West gate, it is 1" too far south.

- Belle Isle Duelpark, Detroit, MI (from L’Outrance, p. 7). This not-quite-a-rectangle will have you rethinking your maneuvers or banging into the walls.

Rectangle with a couple of the corners lopped off. 4 simple walls extending out from the sides. There are six gates, but two of them are clearly superior starting positions compared to the other 4. I recommend a pass on this one.

- The Grand Rapids Municipal Arena, Grand Rapids, MI (from L’Outrance, p. 8). Dubbed a “joust arena” for its center chutes, there’s still plenty of other ways to take out an opponent.

Not a bad arena, and probably one of the more visually appealing ones. The arena has a wide open north and south half with some half-walls between. I like Southtown a bit better, but this one is not too bad. I'd say slightly above average.

Note to Scott: It might be a good idea to standardize the half walls on the maps to the light grey used on the Southtown Arena. The half walls in this arena are solid black, which most people tend to interpret as a full wall.

- The Rubberway, Akron, OH (from L’Outrance, p. 13). A two-tier arena with a pair of central platforms connected by narrow bridges.

Again, be prepared to dealing with jumping/falling if you use this arena. The central bunker works to block line of fire and also an interesting battlefield to drive over. This is probably my #2 pick of the arenas.

Note to Scott: It would be a good idea to add a set of dotted lines at the north/south ends of the bridges to denote the continuation of the walls on the first level.

- Midville Duel Arena, Midville, OH (from L’Outrance, p. 17). Banked around the edges and open in the center, can accommodate races, duels, and combo events.

Oval racetrack with a single bunker in the northwest part of the infield. Again, I'm dubious of the usefulness of another oval racetrack. I'd recommend a pass and just use the track in Classic.

- Portland Arena, Portland, ME (from AADA Road Atlas Vol. 1, p. 27). A central choke point and well-placed barriers make it hard to get a clean shot, so make it count.

I'll admit I'd forgotten about this one. This is your basic arena with a couple of triangular walls dividing the long side. There are seven bunkers dividing up the field of battle. The central choke points are narrow and dropped weapons can effectively divide the arena which could lead to drawn out battles. I'd rate this one a slightly below average and recommend Amex Proving Grounds instead.

- EFS Test Track, Lucerne, Switzerland (from ADQ 6/3, p. 32). High speeds are easy to achieve with long, wide curves and banking, making this Swiss track great for racing as well as duelling.

One of the arenas that kicked off the Arena Watch series. Another oval track. However, this one has a bit of an unusual set of inner curves and straights that can be used. So it is slightly better than Allentown or Midville. If another oval track has to be included, I'd pick this one.

- Pershing Arena, Lincoln, NE (from ADQ 8/4, p. 28). Turreted blast cannons deter rulebreakers and would-be interference as narrow passages encourage high-speed encounters.

This one resembles Grand rapids quite strongly. It has a couple of small obstacles in the corners and features 8 gates. That said, I think Grand Rapids is a more visually appealing version of this style of arena and recommend going with that one over this.

Note to Scott: The arena is described as having Blast Cannons in turrets, which aren't on the weapons list for Classic. If chosen, I suggest replacing these with ATGs. Also look at the shading - the tall bunkers are gray and the half walls in the center are black. I suggest reversing that to be consistent (and the shading isn't consistent with the triangular obstacles either).

- The Grand Pier, Avon, England (from ADQ 9/2, p. 27). English seaside resort turned arena, this two-level attraction occasionally floods the lower level for added excitement.

This is probably the only arena on the list that is truly multi-level for large portions of the arena. Be aware that you'll have to keep track of what level dropped weapons are on for this one. I'd put this as slightly above average for this list.

Note to Scott: The Arena Events talk about hovercraft and boats. Not sure if you want to replace those or leave them in if the arena is chosen.

- Columbia Coliseum, Columbia, MO (from ADQ 10/3, p. 28). A central pit can mean a quick end to those foolish enough to try jumping it.

The description and key for this one needs some work. I think that the arena has a 12"x6" elevated area with ramps spanning the length of the sides and a 7"x 1" pit in the middle of it. It has 6 gates, however 2 are better spots than the other 4 (which are a scant 4" from the adjoining gates). I'm going to rate this one as just average.

Note to Scott: If this arena is picked, please make sure you do something about the coloring/shading of the arena features. It is really hard to tell how it is laid out without rereading a few times and thinking about it.

- Harshman Memorial Stadium, Fresno, CA (from the original Car Wars). The very first arena ever, combines nostalgia with full-speed action.

This is a small (half mapsheet) battlefield. If you don't have the pocket box, the Kettering Arena (L'Outrance) p. 16 is very similar. The main things that this has going for it is that it is a small arena and also one of the first that was published. It also opens the interesting question of what is the other half of the map sheet used for. I'll rate this one as average.

So my picks:
Warrior Stadium
The Rubberway
The Airship
Southtown Arena
Macon Duel Extravaganza
Harshman

(The last two spots were a bit of a tight one - Grand Rapids, Amex Proving Grounds, and the Grand Pier were in contention for the last spots of my six, but I picked Harshman for nostalgia and also because I like small battlefields once in a while and Macon as it does a pretty decent job of pedestrian battles AND can double as a city map for Classic-only players).