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Old 05-16-2019, 10:49 AM   #411
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

The description specifically said it fits under the front wheels (and the vehicle is separated when a front wheel is lost) so I had originally assumed it was a spectacle, but that normally uses a hoist.

Then I thought Towing Dolly, but that has wheels so no again.

In the end I decided that is was just a rigid bar that connected two vehicles together (a tow pole). I cannot see why the loss of a front wheel is any worse than the loss of any other wheel in this case, but we can't have everything.

For reference a Tow Bar in the UK is what CW refers to as a hitch (I see from wikipedia it also means this in American Usage).
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Old 05-24-2019, 04:24 PM   #412
SydneyFreedberg
 
Join Date: May 2019
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Here in 'MURRICA, we god-fearing folks know that a tow bar is typically a Y-shaped metal mechanism with the single-point side attaching to the hitch of the towing vehicle and the double-point side attaching to brackets mounted on the vehicle being towed. (Ok, I didn't know about the brackets until I looked it up,* I can barely change a tire).

Now that I've come up with a range of highway combat vehicles from subcompact to luxury and two kinds of mechanic/salvage vehicles, what else would a self-respecting road gang need? Maybe a minibus or passenger wagon to carry well-armed goons? A Goombus?


*Some references
https://getjerry.com/advice/how-to-f...icholas-wilson
https://www.wikihow.com/Fit-a-Tow-Bar-to-Your-Car
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Old 05-31-2019, 07:34 AM   #413
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Yup. That sounds like the UK version as well, but that seems to be what the Hitch is in CW.

If I were in a road gang I wouldn't like a bus. Too big a target for one and not really OR capable (most of my road gangs don't live on the road, they just kill on it).

I suggest a lot of cheap largely unarmed OR pickups. You can even put in a smaller plant and use the HD transmission to save on weight and then can pile on loads of armour but still retain massive cargo/passenger capacity.

You can then drop off infantry at the site of your attack to support from prepared positions (just spread em out to avoid burst effects). A bunch of stationary braced pedestrians with AVRs (or even ARs) can really trash the HS of even nimble vehicles. Put on telescopic sights and they out range the vehicles. Camo netting and silencers/flash eliminators means they can't be seen from more that 1" away even if they shoot (and with a telescopic sight they can be 2" away, invisible, but still at point blank range and getting +4 on top of their +2 for stationary and braced making tire shots credible).

Consider that an AVR with extended magazine and laser scope costs $1300, has 20 shots, does 1d6 damage and has a to hit of 7. A vehicle mounted MG has the same stats but costs $200 more. When you consider the whole system pedestrians become even better value. You will spend more on a vehicle to carry an MG than you would need to spend on a pedestrian to carry an AVR.

As a last resort they can have a half dozen smoke grenades to place behind them as they bug out will greatly increase their likely hood of living through the exercise.

Actually on that basis, they don't really need to be supporting cars at all, they can probably manage on their own as long as the pickup can get them to their set-up and cart off their booty.

Fortress towns don't need armed cars to defend them, they just need well armed peds ;)
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:49 AM   #414
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Mule by Swordtart:
Pickup; Standard chassis; Off-Road suspension; HD Shocks;
Super PP with HD Transmission;
4 Hvy Duty OR tires; 2x2 pt. Plastic Hubs F; 2x2 pt. Plastic Guards B;
Driver with 10 pt Plastic CA;
Oil Jet w/25xOil;
Tow Bar; Std Hitch (6000lb); Brushcutter F.
Cargo: 2043 lb, 11 Spc;
Armour: 95 pts. Plastic (F: 25 R: 15 L: 15 B: 15 T: 15 U: 10);
Cost: $16,000, Wgt: 7,150, HC: 2, Top Speed: 95, Accel: 2.5/5.


For those times when you just need to move things. The Mule is designed for use in safe areas or when heavily escorted. When fully loaded with over a ton of cargo it is still capable of hauling another three tons of trailer or a four ton plus vehicle (8450 lb). Truly it moves the most for the least!

Ideal for those road gangs too. The bed can easily carry 6 gang members with plenty of leg room and 190 lb of equipment each i.e. all the body armour, grenades, tricked out HAVRs and booty that they can barely lug.

They are unprotected in the bed from top attacks and are at -5 for others, but they all get 360 degree arcs of fire from the bed and could fight from it. In practice they should lay down some oil to slow down their targets and then hide the pickup behind their position under camo nets. They should deploy into prepared fox holes with more camo nets and with a planned and protected escape route to the pickup.

The driver stays in the vehicle ready for a quick getaway if necessary and provides cover with a scoped rifle in case anyone is inclined to dismount to follow the ambushers (the route back to the pickup will be very tricky terrain unless the pursuer is equipped for intense OR activity). Since the vehicle won't be moving he is stationary and braced and should be capable of accurately covering the retreat until the last minute.

Cautious bandits might rig the pickup with smoke dischargers to provide additional cover.

Last edited by swordtart; 05-31-2019 at 08:57 AM.
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Old 06-04-2019, 01:54 PM   #415
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Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Quote:
Originally Posted by swordtart View Post
They are unprotected in the bed from top attacks and are at -5 for others, but they all get 360 degree arcs of fire from the bed and could fight from it.
This reminds me: At some point, I need to get my website up, so I can publish "Pickup Beds: Theory And Practice", the various ways a Pickup bed can be employed.
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Old 06-05-2019, 07:30 AM   #416
SydneyFreedberg
 
Join Date: May 2019
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Nice pickup - I think it's one pintle-mounted weapon away from a "technical." And interesting thoughts on pedestrian ambushes. One important thing Car Wars taught me about real-life warfare is the importance of infantry. I was fiddling with the rules, realizing how much bang for the buck you could get for pedestrians, and how effective they might be with adequate cover, and I asked myself, how come infantry is so cost-effective?

Because vehicles pay for armor, but infantry doesn't pay for terrain, I realized. Someone else built the building you're hiding in; God or nature made those mountains; you didn't have to. That's basically the reason why lowly foot troops, properly dug in, tend to survive all sorts of high-firepower, high-tech assaults -- witness the battle of Monte Cassino in WWII.
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Old 06-05-2019, 03:33 PM   #417
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Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

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Originally Posted by SydneyFreedberg View Post
Because vehicles pay for armor, but infantry doesn't pay for terrain, I realized. Someone else built the building you're hiding in; God or nature made those mountains; you didn't have to. That's basically the reason why lowly foot troops, properly dug in, tend to survive all sorts of high-firepower, high-tech assaults -- witness the battle of Monte Cassino in WWII.
And this is why one always reserves some "conventional" BE-capable rounds for one's BE-capable weapons. For an example: Play out the infantry assault encounter in _Grand Theft Autoduel_, with and without BE weapons.
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Old 06-07-2019, 07:42 AM   #418
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

My players discovered the issue with always going AP the hard way. They did manage to extract, but only after suffering over $19K of damage from half a dozen blokes with hand weapons and only managing to inflict a single casualty.

Unfortunately they chose to try to resolve the issue with a flechette gun rather than accepting that a MML without AP is only marginally less effective vs vehicles that one with, but is vastly more effective vs pedestrians.

That said, BE weaponry will only get you so far. Peds can also use their armour (i.e. terrain) as a weapon. Incautious and over-aggressive pursuit over slit trenches can put you upside down amongst your enemy with no guns bearing.

Personally I'd recommend just paying the $200 toll. You could be looking at armour repairs costing more than that with a single burst ;)
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Old 06-07-2019, 08:12 AM   #419
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Quote:
Originally Posted by SydneyFreedberg View Post
Nice pickup - I think it's one pintle-mounted weapon away from a "technical." ...
Durn it, I should have included one in the bed by default. Of course you could go with straight tripod mounted guns instead since you are already allowing 2 spaces for your passengers (passengers using tripods need an extra space). Each tripod gun can carry 2 spaces of weapon (or two linked single spacers)

Incidentally if you ditch the CA you could add a passenger. If you also add a sun-roof and a pintle-mount you get a cheapo turret. That can be a two spacer as well (and we rule that pintle weapons are half weight like tripod weapons).

How many pintles can you put in a pickup bed? Knee jerk reaction is one, but arguably each bed rider could have their own as long as they don't foul their own fire arcs (think Vietnam style gun-trucks). If this seems cheesy, consider that you can mount 3 sponsons as well as a turret on a car. A sponson is limited arc like a pintle, so I'd maybe allow for a pintle per turret/sponson position (i.e. once each side, one out back and a further one central - maybe the sunroof gun, but maybe that is an extra).

How many pintles can be put by a sunroof? Since they only get 180 degree arc, why couldn't you have two, one pointing fore, the other aft? You would need a passenger per gun (or have a single passenger choose which one he is manning. It's not that much of a benefit as you still have to double up the guns (and whilst weight is halved, the cost isn't).

Hmmm.. Pickups use special Open Mounts (and can use all 11 spaces for weapons and crew) Open Mount gunners take up 2 spaces and any weapon (even an MG) requires 2 crew. The description is a bit vague with inconsistencies and pickups are exceptional (though it isn't clear how)... buuuut, i'd consider read across to pintles and say you can have as many as you want.

..
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Old 06-07-2019, 02:07 PM   #420
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Default Re: The Unoffial 2056 Vehicle Guide

Quote:
Originally Posted by swordtart View Post
Incautious and over-aggressive pursuit over slit trenches can put you upside down amongst your enemy with no guns bearing.
Emphasis on "incautious" and "overaggressive". Our preferred approach was to stand-off at 11" (before _CW Tanks_ came along) and plaster the area with BE (and if we had access to a helicopter, and CBs and/or folks with grenades...).

"Think... when we were children... did you chase a snake into the cane fields?" :) (I do enjoy action movies where the villains *aren't* total imbeciles.)

Pintles On Pickups: I'd cap it at one per side. Looking at pics of such things, and using my own ride, the only way to get a 180-deg. arc on a Pintle in a pickbed is to have it mounted centrally, which precludes having pintles anywhere else (one is likely to end up shooting one's own side-pintle gunner); pintles mounted to fire out the L or R are going to run into problems with the user meeting the side of the bed if he aims much past 45 deg. from center-of-arc.
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