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Old 02-09-2018, 11:59 AM   #31
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

We have reached an end-point in my trucking campaign based in Florida.

Until now we had ignored the poor condition of the road as the solid tyres of the convoy would be immune to debris on the road. The minor hazard from hitting a counter (or the evasive action required to avoid it) could also be ignored at reasonable speeds as the two smaller vehicles had good HC and could easily recover HS as far as it was bled away and oversized vehicles do not suffer a hazard from debris. With one of the vehicles with a wheel down however this could no longer be ignored. After some head scratching and maths we worked out that the Duellist (and thus the rest of the convoy) would have to travel at no more than 40 to ensure the HS recovery was greater than the HS bleed. Whilst they might get away with faster for short periods they couldn't sustain it over 3 miles or so. With HC 5 and driver 1, the bandits Karts would recover 6 HS per turn. With solids they could ignore the debris since even at 85 they wouldn't hit more than 3-5 per turn.

This meant that the bandits would catch the convoy long before it got to a rendezvous with some friendly forces at the county line.

How much damage could 5 recycled Killa Karts do?

The following forces are involved.
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Old 02-09-2018, 12:00 PM   #32
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

The bandits have 5 pursuit vehicles.

The rule was that the donor vehicle had to exist in the compendium as a common vehicle and what is more common than a salvaged Killa Kart. Armour could be replaced with Metal only (as forming plastic is harder than hammering on road signs). The armour is polished not specifically vs the laser (though they certainly had enough warning that their opponent is so equipped) but more because for only 10% extra cost and no weight you might as well. We assumed that most Killa Karts would be stripped of high value components (like plants and weapons) but that jury rigged alternatives would be available. Rockets are back yard chemistry and well within the capability of dreg manufactories. Gas (in this case alcohol fuel) is readily available in our Florida setting and the 100 ci plant is at the sweet spot for residual value. Radials make sense as the dregs need to be fast and agile to get in close enough to use their rockets without ramming their opponent. Solids mean they can effectively ignore the road debris that makes up their normal road environment. We assume there are enough tires of this type being swapped out by normal users that supply to the second hand market isn't really an issue.

Personal equipment will be BA rags (1DP) and cheap guns (heavy pistol / sawn shotgun etc.). They may also carry improvised two handed axes for dismantling salvage (and tearing through vehicle armour to get at the meat).

Dregs are less concerned with survival than normal road users. With high mortality from just living in the polluted ruins (water here is laced with phosphates) a quick glorious death that provides for the community is actually preferable. Dependents get full shares in salvage making this a credible option to support family. That said, as survivors of a successful raid live as kings (at least until the booty runs out), dying isn't their first plan. For this reason, the driver has component armour. This is cheaper than BA, more resilient than BA and has the added benefit of protection vs collisions and rolls.


"Killer Kart Dreg by Compendium 2.5:
Subcompact; Standard chassis; Heavy suspension;
100 cid Engine. Damaged Plant (-5 DP = 1 DP left);
4 gal. Hvy-Duty tank;
4 Solid Radial tires. Damaged Tires (-5 DP = 6 DP left);
Driver. 1x10 pt., 2 spc. Plastic CA.
6xMini Rocket, Armor Piercing. Link; Bumper Trigger;
10 pts. LR Metal and 11 pts. Plastic (F: 5/4 R: 1/2 L: 1/2 B: 1/1 T: 1/1 U: 1/1);
Cost: $2,754, Wgt: 2,272,
HC: 5, Top Speed: 85, Accel: 10.

As they favour a frontal attack the internal compartments are in order from the front: Plant, Cargo (fuel tank) then Crew.

The price is adjusted to reflect the damaged components (as per the salvage rules) - whilst tires cannot officially be repaired we have assumed they still have a residual value. Even at full cost this variant of Kart is not wildly expensive (or effective to be fair).
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Old 02-09-2018, 12:01 PM   #33
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Convoy


Medium Trike; Extra Heavy chassis; Heavy suspension;
Large Cycle PP w/PCs, Overdrive;
3 Solid tires.
Driver.
Micro-missile Launcher w/10xStandard; Micro-missile Launcher w/10xStandard; linked
2xSpike Dropper w/20xSpikes; linked
3xPaint Discharger, Paint.
Targeting Computer; Personal Gear.
150 pts. Sloped Plastic (F: 30 R: 30 L: 30 B: 30 T: 20 U: 10);
2x10 pt. Plastic Hubs, 1x10 pt. Plastic Guards F;
2x10 pt. Plastic Hubs, 2x10 pt. Plastic Guards B.
Cost: $11,200, Wgt: 2,502,
HC: 2, Top Speed: 90 (110), Accel: 5 (2.5)


Duellist ("Metropolitan Stalker" by Pentalarc)
Mid-Sized; Extra Heavy chassis; Heavy suspension;
Large PP; 1x10 pt., 5 spc. Plastic CA;
4 Solid OR tires.
Driver. 1x10 pt., 2 spc. Plastic CA.
Blast Cannon w/10xStandard;
Flaming Oil Discharger, Flaming Oil.
Hi-Res Single Weapon Computer.
33 pts. Metal and 65 pts. Plastic (F: 12/16 R: 7/10 L: 7/10 B: 7/10 T: 0/12 U: 0/7);
2x10 pt. Plastic Hubs F; 2x10 pt. Plastic Guards B;
Cost: $17,710, Wgt: 5,715,
HC: 4, Top Speed: 92.5, Accel: 5.


Sleeper Longnose with Extra Heavy Chassis,
Super PP,
6 Solid Tyres (24 points) (rear axles have Super Singles).
6 x 10 pt Hubs, 6 x 10 pt Guards, 20 pt Fifth Wheel Guard,
Bumper Spikes (F), LD Radio, Driver, Gunner, 4 Space Universal Turret,
2 linked Infra Red Pulse Lasers Turret , HRSWC to turret and Gunner.
12 dischargers (3 Smoke U & T, 1 Oil, 1 Flechette, 1 Paint L & R).
Armour F50, B20, U20, T12/20, L30, R30.
Cargo 1000 lb, 5 Space.
$144,700 16200lb

Road Master Flatbed
40' Dual-Level Flatbed Semi-Trailer, Std Kingpin, 4 Solid tyres (All Super Singles), 4 x 10 pt Hub, 4 x 10 pt Guards, Armour UF20, UB20. Weapon Box, 3 linked Flaming Oil Jet (BL,BR,B), Armour F10, T10, R30, L30, B30, U0, Cargo 64 Spaces. 5,430 lb. $ 12,985.

Whilst only a turret on the Rig might seem under-gunned, there was only one crew member available to drive and fire it. He was however Gunner 2 and twin linked IR Pulse Lasers with a HR computer were deemed to be a guaranteed hit.

The trailer is carrying 3 short ISO (we used the stats for 10 ft car trailers). These block LOS to the rear for the tractor turret.
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Old 02-09-2018, 12:02 PM   #34
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Anticipating attack the players decided to adjust their running order so that the Duellist was in the front (it has no rear firing weaponry other than the FOJ discharger), the trike is 20 yards behind and the rig 20 yards behind that. Whilst this was probably sensible, rather than just pull over, they decided to do it at the top speed of the Duellist. This meant it was exposed for several seconds to fire from the bandits that were still bunkered up in the trailer.

The rig was going to get some shots at the Killa Kart bandits before they closed to attack distances but this required turning from one side of the 2 lane highway to the other to allow the turret to fire backwards past the ISOs. For each shot fired, the bandits closed about 50 yards (10"). Even allowing for sustained fire the low profile and speed of the bandits (as the truck had to be side onto them to clear the trailer they got the benefit of half their speed) made hitting them hard. At 30" the players still hadn't got a hit in.

At this point the players had the option to dive up the Willow Oak road and try to use the ruins tactically. They wisely reasoned that in that terrain the bandits would have even more of an advantage and elected to stay on the road. Assuming they would continue this running fight, I had already worked out what would have happened over the next few turns. Now both the lasers would hit every turn and destroy the first bandit. I figured the rest would now have to run the risk of being rammed by the rig, dodging the decelerating straight line run of their erstwhile leader, maybe being able to get the angle to fire some rockets off. They would try for the damaged escorts and had a reasonable chance of getting at least one. It would have been bloody and expensive, but I had no doubt the rig would get away, probably one of the escorts and if they were lucky, maybe both.

Unfortunately, frustrated by so many misses, the players decided to stop and fight the rig like a bunker. The rig pulled round and stopped so it was effectively Jack-knifed. The escorts turned round (gingerly in the case of the duellist with its missing wheel). The trike tucked back into the lee of the trailer to protect its almost breached front. Of course now the bandits were closing down the distance by 8.5" per shot. They were in the side arc of the rig so they got -2 for their speed, -2 for the front of a compact plus range penalties which are dropping by 2 every turn. At 15" With only 2 remaining volleys before point blank hitting was becoming an embarrassment. Fortunately the next volley hit with both lasers. Unfortunately a below average roll for damage on each laser and the reflective armour halving it meant nothing got through the metal armour (penetration is by shot not by volley) and no armour was even stripped.

In the mean time the bandits in the trailer with nothing to do decide to fire their rifles at the tractors tires. Whilst they only nibble them away, clearly if something isn't done about them they will eventually chew off the wheels.

Frustrated by the effect of the reflective armour the trucker decided to instead target the front tire of the lead bandit, doubtless hoping it would spin out of control and take out all it's friends (who were within 2" of each other so this wasn't an impossibility but with HC 5...). Had he hit the tire, this might have had the desired effect, unfortunately he had reduced his chance to hit from a 5 to an 8 or better and failed with both guns (with a 6 and 7, both rolls would have hit the main body had he aimed at that instead and likely killed the Kart).

The lead bandit closes the last few inches to point blank range and lets off his volley of rockets into the side of the stationary tractor. At that range and with a stationary target that large, even a crappy rocket and a rubbish gunner has little chance of missing and sure enough all six hit, taking the tractors side armour down to below half. It insultingly sideslips past the nose of the tractor before the trucker can even consider accelerating and t-boning it.

With all bandits still moving at 85, they frantically dodge and weave into the combat. The lead bandit clearing the front of the rig, sees that damned* trike and pulls a physics defying 90 degree bend. As it is in Phase 1, its second inch causes it to T-bone the trike. At this point the benefit of even very little metal armour became apparent. Even with a DM of 2/3 for both vehicles, 11 dice of damage was still fairly hefty (almost breaching the the trike). With 15 points being absorbed by the metal the remainder killed the Dregs plant, breached the fuel tank and damaged the CA, but it didn't kill the driver. It did make it roll and burn though so we assumed it was all over for him. The dreg car started rolling in the direction it was travelling and the trike was spun around exposing it's vulnerable front to another bandit that is coming round the other side.

It all got a bit confusing here as the bandit who could have drawn a bead on the trike and utterly finished it was forced to brake violently to stop it hitting the rolling bandit. Another bandit slipped past the rig without firing to engage the Duellist, but a third was bearing down on the wounded side. Remember these were all within 2" of each other and they are still mostly doing 85, the players are pretty much static by comparison.

Luckily the arrival of this third dreg coincided with the firing action of the trucker and they simultaneously let off their shots. This time the trucker targeted the top armour of the bandit and easily penetrated it killing the driver and rupturing the fuel tank (setting the car on fire). Sadly the rocket barrage destroyed the last of the tractors side armour (damaging the plant). With no-one to steer it off it's collision course, the Kart then slammed into the side of the rig at 80.

We again had to scratch our heads, clearly the Kart was powder, but how much damage should the tractor take? If we just used the DM of the Kart the cab would have taken 26 (of the 39 rolled), but we reasoned that though the Kart took 117 points, it confettied after 42 points. We assumed here that all secondary effects such as the fire ceased to exist at this point. We felt the damage the tractor took should be an equivalent proportion of the 42 rather than the 117 and we worked out 9 points. With 3 points per internal compartment, this meant the trucker was killed (at -1 as he was already wounded from a previous encounter). He is still readable, but beyond simple first aid.

Meanwhile the three remaining bandits have moved on and are turning in the road to re-attack, two having not yet fired off their rockets. One of the bandits from the trailer has dismounted and climbed over the wreckage into the cab and is now manning the tractors turreted lasers. The lead bandit leaped from his burning and rolling vehicle and survived and is now heading to revenge himself on the trike driver.


*Unbeknownst to the players this whole series of attacks had been precipitated by the action of the trike driver who had fired on a dreg pedestrian as the cruised past the ruins the other way. This had killed a child. Now when your life is shortened to 40 years, your children are your only future. The lead dreg was the father of that child, and his only objective is to kill that trike driver, regardless of cost. The others were along for salvage (but still in that fatalist way of the Dreg). They weren't expecting to get the rig, they are trying to secure one of the escorts. Frankly if the convoy had sacrificed an escort the majority of dregs would have given up.

Last edited by swordtart; 02-09-2018 at 12:08 PM.
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Old 02-09-2018, 12:38 PM   #35
Magesmiley
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Snohomish, WA
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Good read. Hope your players had a good time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by swordtart View Post
Luckily the arrival of this third dreg coincided with the firing action of the trucker and they simultaneously let off their shots. This time the trucker targeted the top armour of the bandit and easily penetrated it killing the driver and rupturing the fuel tank (setting the car on fire). Sadly the rocket barrage destroyed the last of the tractors side armour (damaging the plant). With no-one to steer it off it's collision course, the Kart then slammed into the side of the rig at 80.

We again had to scratch our heads, clearly the Kart was powder, but how much damage should the tractor take? If we just used the DM of the Kart the cab would have taken 26 (of the 39 rolled), but we reasoned that though the Kart took 117 points, it confettied after 42 points. We assumed here that all secondary effects such as the fire ceased to exist at this point. We felt the damage the tractor took should be an equivalent proportion of the 42 rather than the 117 and we worked out 9 points. With 3 points per internal compartment, this meant the trucker was killed (at -1 as he was already wounded from a previous encounter). He is still readable, but beyond simple first aid.
FWIW, 26 was the right number by the rules - the maximum damage that a vehicle can inflict in a collision is equal to the damage that turns it into confetti (similar to how fixed objects can at most inflict damage equal to their DP in collisions) or 42 in this case, so the 26 gets used.
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