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Old 12-04-2021, 12:13 PM   #1
HeatDeath
 
Join Date: May 2012
Default Porting the Killer Kart to 6e

The "Killer Kart" is an iconic Car Wars 1-5e vehicle. Typically represented using a VW Beetle chit, it's the first vehicle many people ever used in Car Wars. Here follows an account of the process of porting it to 6e.

4e Killer Kart: Subcompact, Std. chassis, heavy suspension, medium power plant, High Density tires, Armor F5, R3, L3, B3, T2, U2. Just a driver, no cargo. Front mounted standard machine gun. HC 3, accel 10 mph/turn.

A 4e Killer Kart has side and back armor equal to just under what it's main weapon averages out to. The Standard Machine Gun in 6e does 3 Blue + 1 white, with wrenches = tries. So the expected damage is 2.5 stars (1 expected star coming from the white die, which will not-infrequently manifest as a wrench). So a 6e Killer Kart should have AP equal to just under the expected damage from a standard MG, or about 2.

[There's a temptation to drop the armor points to 1, to match the existing Division scheme, but then the MG would be proportionally too powerful. Remember, Killer Karts usually face each other, so that proportionality is important - a Kart driver should expect MG salvoes from his opponents to pretty much strip his sides or back. The front should be able to just about handle two. The 1:4:1 division builds are optional, and even the record sheet cards don't follow them, so I'm not too worried about that.]

A 6e Killer Kart should have somewhat more protection in front than to the sides or back. Just about double. We can accomplish this effect with a Light Ceramic plate - 1 BP, 2 points of durability, no defense bonus dice. As much as I'm tempted to employ Steel Plate here, it would strengthen the front out of proportion to the sides.

In 4e the Kart's tires have been buffed from the standard baseline with 50% extra durability. 6e wheel hubs aren't enough to accomplish this effect, but the similarly named 2 BP High Density radials seem in the right ballpark.

And this gives us our build for a 6e port of the Killer Kart:

Code:
Killer Kart (AP: 2, BP: 7):
Front mounted Standard Machine Gun (2 BP), 
Front mounted Light Ceramic Plate (1 BP), 
Front mounted Splitter (1 BP), 
Rear mounted Spoiler (1 BP), 
High Density Radials upgrade (2 BP).
Just like a 4e Killer Kart, you have a small car, with 1 front mounted MG, side and rear armor that can just about withstand 1 MG burst, front armor that can withstand about twice that, the car itself is just a little harder to hit than baseline, and can maneuver slightly more aggressively than baseline, and whose tires are noticeably more resilient than baseline.

[As a nice bonus, you can take it as given for an amateur night setup, or let players add 1 BP of their choice for a proper division 2 car with a small degree of personalization.]

It's interesting that it ends up being a Division 2 car. In 4e, Killer Karts cost $3848, which puts them in Division 4.

These might be a titch more destructive than 4e Killer Karts: the driver's hand cannon is gonna do almost as much damage as the gunner's front mounted MG. ��

I'm genuinely curious to see how these Killer Karts play out against each other. It's possible the splitter may make the machine gun frustratingly ineffective, but it'll be fun trying it.

Last edited by HeatDeath; 12-04-2021 at 10:53 PM.
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