Cars Wars 6E - What We Know - 1st Post will be updated over time

[juris]

I second that on the awesomeness of the artwork. Also noticed smokestack on the 'Dragon'.

Seems like the artwork is going away from the 'glittering corporate' look - good.

Originally Posted by MazeMonster

Loving the artwork in today's Kickstarter email. Have fuel cell power plants gone the way of the dodo?

[Pmandrekar]

I tried out the new Car Wars as a playtest with SJ at GaryCon in Lake Geneva a week and a half ago.

The pieces that we used are prototypes, and my hope is that the plastic car bases (which are central to the game mechanic) will lend themselves to players running out and attaching appropriately scaled cars (painted with weapons attached to it) to allow for players to use their own miniatures, and add a whole layer of "What miniatures did you make for this game?" to the existing game.

The gameplay was much streamlined and designed for ease of use compared to what I played as a teenager (I haven't played Car Wars since we were doing this on a friend's hardwood floor when we were in high school... over 30 years ago). The templates that come with for tracking everything were pretty intuitive. I had a pen and paper, but didn't need them, in fact.

I built a very defensive (but not especially offensive) vehicle. We slapped together builds in about 10 minutes and then could go right into the action. I spent the entire game time avoiding fire and at the end of the game, I had suffered no damage to internal components. I lost all the armor on my right side, though.

The selection of components came down to each player having a certain number of points to spend on their car, and on their pilot/gunner combo. Better pilots and gunners led to 'tricks' they could play to reduce damage, keep control, or better target opponents. Dice pools were used to resolve the mechanic, and there was no ambiguity-- once I understood the mechanic-- how to make each roll.

So, a few quick notes. Turning involved a turning key that interacts with the plastic bases to allow for tighter maneuvers. The higher the speed you try those maneuvers, the higher the chance that you will lose control of your vehicle.

I'm planning to grab it when it comes out. I was very impressed with the design.

-P

[adm]

Originally Posted by Pmandrekar

I tried out the new Car Wars as a playtest with SJ at GaryCon in Lake Geneva a week and a half ago.

...

-P

A nice quick run down, noting that CW6E has different mechanics, did it largely feel like Car Wars?

[TheAmishStig]

Originally Posted by adm

A nice quick run down, noting that CW6E has different mechanics, did it largely feel like Car Wars?

I'm curious about that as well. Alex Yeager (one of the MIB) says yes here, but more opinions...especially enough to get a consensus...is always a good thing!

[philreed]

Originally Posted by adm

A nice quick run down, noting that CW6E has different mechanics, did it largely feel like Car Wars?

NOTE: That's a subjective question that cannot be properly answered by anyone. Each person has to decide on their own what they think Car Wars _feels_ like.

If you're talking about cars with guns, and blasting things, then yes. The new game edition plays faster and gets into the heart of the game -- blowing up your opponent -- in less time than the older edition.

The new edition focuses on time on the table in combat.

[adm]

Originally Posted by philreed

NOTE: That's a subjective question that cannot be properly answered by anyone. Each person has to decide on their own what they think Car Wars _feels_ like.

Very true, however, as

Originally Posted by TheAmishStig

... but more opinions...especially enough to get a consensus...is always a good thing!

the more data sets we have, the better mean that can be plotted. :)

Originally Posted by philreed

If you're talking about cars with guns, and blasting things, then yes. The new game edition plays faster and gets into the heart of the game -- blowing up your opponent -- in less time than the older edition.

The new edition focuses on time on the table in combat.

Which should be excellent for today's typically less focused on prep time market. We old gear heads have the older editions, that does not mean we will not play and enjoy CW6E as well.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by adm

We old gear heads have the older editions, that does not mean we will not play and enjoy CW6E as well.

TBH, I'm an old gear head myself--played a lot of CW in high school back in the 80s--and I don't have the time to play and enjoy the original, so by all means bring on the low-prep version so I can get on with driving too fast and blowing stuff up.

[Racer]

Originally Posted by philreed

NOTE: That's a subjective question that cannot be properly answered by anyone. Each person has to decide on their own what they think Car Wars _feels_ like.

If you're talking about cars with guns, and blasting things, then yes. The new game edition plays faster and gets into the heart of the game -- blowing up your opponent -- in less time than the older edition.

The new edition focuses on time on the table in combat.

The Gnome attended - expat Brit now a naturalized Canadian - & states he wasn't impressed on his Facebook page . Feels a lot of the older gaming subtleties are missing in it .
Probably brilliant for Arena matches - not so much for Road campaign running combats .
I'll have to reserve judgement until I see games on this side of the Atlantic .
Car Wars 5th Edition barely registered over here ... still finding old copies at Orc's Nest shop in London .

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Racer

The Gnome attended - expat Brit now a naturalized Canadian - & states he wasn't impressed on his Facebook page . Feels a lot of the older gaming subtleties are missing in it .

If someone cares deeply and most about spreadsheets, the new edition of the game will not "feel" like Car Wars. For those who want to play the game with friends, the new game is significantly faster, easier, and more likely to get table time with a wider number of players.

At the GAMA show last week, our sessions with retailers went over big.

[Pmandrekar]

Originally Posted by adm

A nice quick run down, noting that CW6E has different mechanics, did it largely feel like Car Wars?

So, at its core, building Cars up with improvements, based upon how many 'spaces' or 'points' they could handle with a combination of defensive, driving, vehicular weapons and then the ability to take some potshots out of the side with sidearms were all there. The games we grew up with involved hours of building cars, and then a lot of time tracking them.

The game felt very similar, but the mechanics have definitely been updated to be able to fight more battles per unit time. There is certainly the possibility for 'campaign mode' but at a demo game at a busy con, obviously, we didn't really go past that.

Everything about how the game works has been vastly simplified. My 16 year old self would have loved to have had a little key that let you figure out both the degree of the turn, and how many 'difficulty' dice that would impose on your skill roll to keep control.

I have some fond memories of using Champions Autoduel (that should date me) to do the stories of what happens when the characters step out of the cars and talk to one another, and I played in a Car Wars themed campaign for a while as a teenager.

This certainly felt like the Car Wars I grew up with, where the mechanics were simplified and streamlined for rapid play.

But that is my subjective assessment, as has been pointed out. How a game feels would depend largely upon what you 'feel' is essential to playing this game.

Now that I'm in my 40's, and an avid miniature collector and painter, I'm looking forward to playing this game in the context of converting Matchbox cars into little autoduel platforms. :)

Best,

-P