two maniacs duel over wife's honor in truck stop

[Earlburt]

Earlier today I was able to induce a friend into a CW game with me. Like last time, this friend had never played before, so I kept it simple. I also didn't have any vehicle stats other than what appears in the back of Compedium 2e. In keeping with my preference for 2029 gameplay, I chose to run a Joseph Special vs. a Mini-Sherman. [The only other car options in that book are boring (KK, Stinger) or in the $ 15K range Hotshot vs. Bodyguard (but the Bodyguard is a rear-guard convoy specialist)].

The Mini-Sherman has heavier armor than the Joe, but it's only offensive weapons are 2 front MGs (SS back). The Sherman also has accel 10. The Joe has an ATG front, RL back and the PS right, accel 5... and its miserable HC2. I figured with the armor, speed and HC deficit, the Joe was sure to lose, so being a gentleman that's what I chose to drive.

In the scenario, the two drivers were hanging out in a truck stop restaurant. The Sherman driver made an untoward comment about the wife of the Joe driver and things got heated. They ran to their cars to duke it out. We used the Truck Stop map. Both cars started at 0mph. The Joe was in a south-facing hanger. The M-Sherm in an opposite north-facing hanger. They both gunned it and curved east to meet in the open spaces of the truck stop. Just before rounding the corner, the Joe flipped the paint spray onto automatic. In 3 or 4 seconds they were around the corners and in each other's firing arc. They each got off two shots in that initial pass and each scored modest hits. The paint forced the Sherman into some unwelcome maneuvering, and a hit from the rear RL put him into real handling trouble.

The Joe was already in handling trouble of course, but it wasn't a problem because he didn't get above 20mph until long into the duel. The Sherman had gunned it straight up to 60 when his handling finally dropped critically low and he failed a control roll. A severe skid nearly put him into a wall. Having learned the dangers of speed, he would not again go over 30mph during the duel.

Each car took a couple seconds straight to recover handling and then turned about for another pass east of the main building. On this pass, the Joe got in a couple free shots due to being out of arc for the other car. By the time this second pass was done both cars had damage all around, but the left of the Sherman was the only breach. The Sherman was scoring a higher percentage of hits per shots fired, but the Joe was getting more shots off being able to use both front and back weapons and the bigger hazards inflicted from each hit evened out the base handling differences. After this 2nd pass, the Sherman used his SS to good effect to minimize gratuitous mauling from the rear.

Both cars swooped away from each other and made a final pass in the narrow alley between the main building and west wall. As they entered the lane, both cars were doing 30 and were handling ok. The Joe was low on ammo both front and back. They each scored front hits on the approach. In what turns out to have been a miscalculation, the Sherman (headed south) chose to avoid the right-mounted paint spray and hugged the building. However, this exposed his breached left which the Joe hit as they passed.

With his power plant obliterated, the Sherman decelerated to 5 and pivoted to get off some final shots. He didn't inflict any significant damage, but he did cause a couple control rolls, even at the low speed of 30. The Joe failed one and spun out. One skid damage roll was a 6 and he lost a tire. He did manage to recover control (aimed away from the wall to boot) so he got away without further incident, having only to drive around and force surrender from the immoble Sherman's rear.

I then remembered the fire rule though, and we retroactively checked for a fire in the plant. Of course a fire started, so by the time the Joe would have limped around the building, the Sherman would have been well cooked. Had I remembered the fire rule immediately, the Sherman driver probably would have bailed rather than get off those parting shots and the Joe would not have spun out. C'est la vie. Even with that final set-back, the Joe driver restored his wife's honor and will ~only~ have to replace all his armor and his tires. Good thing he's in a truck stop already.

After a fifteen minute run-down on the rules, the game itself took about two hours-- 26 seconds in game time. My friend agonized over some turns. He also grasped the rules well... even fiddly things like the pivot. Indeed, grasping the rules may well have added to his ability to agonize. Were we to run this game again, I think it would take more like 90 minutes.
~~~

Lessons learned--
... not much really. I was surprised that the Joe's HC didn't cause it more trouble. Also that the advantages of mulptiple weapon facings overcame both his ammo and armor deficiencies. In some ways this was like my last cat-and-mouse game-- ultimately, the side with bigger (cumulative) guns won.

[43Supporter]

I have a Joseph Special mod you might like -- apparently, the designer pulled
the Large plant out, and installed a Super, to give it Accel. 10 and TS 120.

Notice I say nothing about Suspension upgrades.... :)

At the low speeds you were using, HC isn't that big a deal; past that, the JS
has all the advantages. If the MS had kept up its speed and gone for shoot-
and-scoot tactics, it might have won.

[Bierwulf]

Nice writeup. Sounds like it was a lot of fun.