My friends and I have been playing Car Wars using my variant vds every other weekend for the last three months now. First off, let me tell you that my friends looove playing Car Wars. One weekend I suggested we play something else, and I was met with an emphatic "NOOOO!" I think SJG might have a hot property on their hands here!
I let everyone know the division and rules for each match, and they email me their designs. I check them over for legality and print up a schematic for each car. Then, on Gaming Night, we have 7-9 player autoduels with me refereeing.
Here are some pics.
I've made three minor changes to my rules thus far:
1) A ramplate now does an extra +1 ram damage per die instead of an extra 1d. I found that rolling the extra die (a la bumper spikes) is awkward, and I'd prefer to just have one roll determine the total damage to both cars.
2) Wheel armor is now $800, 200 lbs., and adds 10 DP to all wheels. FR is +$400 and FP is +$800. I initially made wheel armor too cheap and realized its price should be comparable to upgrading tires. Also, wheel armor was too thin (5 DP) to offer serious tire protection.
3) The Sonic Cannon was a bit strong in playtesting, so I added the following line to its text: A Sonic Cannon does half damage to a side if the firer is not in that side's arc. So, now a Sonic Cannon typically does 3d damage to one side and half damage to an adjacent side. A skilled driver can maneuver into two of the target's firing arcs and still do the full 3d + 3d damage, though.
I gave my friends some additional toys to play with recently:
Subcompact - $600, 600 lbs., max load 2,400 lbs., 6 spaces, HC 1, normal armor ($10, 5 lbs.), FR ($15), FP ($20).
60kW Fuel Cell - $750, 300 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP, 2,400 power.
Flame Cloud Ejector - $1,000, 100 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP, 10 shots, CPS 50, WPS 5. [Does 1d-2 damage but abilities otherwise unchanged; 5e: 20 shots, CPS 25, WPS 2.5]
Gauss Gun - To-hit 5, 3d damage, $6,000, 400 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP, 10 shots, CPS 50, WPS 5.
Gauss Needler (GN) - To-hit 5, 1d damage, $2,000, 125 lbs., 1 space, 2 DP, 10 shots, CPS 20, WPS 2.5. Damage is halved against any part of a vehicle except the tires.
Ice Dropper - $500, 50 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP, 25 shots, CPS 20, WPS 2.
Microgun (MCG) - To-hit 6, 1d damage, $1,350, 175 lbs, 1 space, 2 DP, 20 shots, CPS 30, WPS 2.5. Does 1 hit of damage if it misses by 1.
Mine-Flinger - To-hit 8, $1,500, 250 lbs., 3 spaces, 4 DP, 10 shots, CPS 50, WPS 5. Maximum range 2".
Spike Gun - To-hit 8, $700, 125 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP, 10 shots, CPS 20, WPS 5. Maximum range 2".
Surge Rocket - To-hit 9, $600, 50 lbs., 1 space, 1 DP, 1 shot. [abilities unchanged from 5e]
Direct Voice Input (DVI) - $1,000. Allows one crew member to take one extra firing action per turn. This extra firing action can only be used to activate vehicular components. A weapon activated in this way fires as if it were on automatic.
Structural Reinforcement - $500, 250 lbs. A car with structural reinforcement takes -1 damage per die in a collision.