Porting the Killer Kart to 6e

[HeatDeath]

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:

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.

[HeatDeath]

It occurred to me after sleeping on this, that "Subcompact" could totally be a balanced equipment card. You get 1-2 extra rerolls per attack coming in at you, but as a consequence you have less weight/spaces available, expressed as a build points cost for the card. The Uncle Al's Radar Detector already does something similar though. Same game effect and cost, different theming?

I think I ended up with a pretty good build that retains the Kart's most salient characteristic - the balance between MG damage and armor on various facings when played against itself.

[43Supporter]

Interesting design notion.

I don't think I've ever actually used the KK; my "Amateur Night" vehicle of choice was a _Sargasso_.

[HeatDeath]

Enh, a Sargasso is just a Killer Kart with 1.5x tire durability and ~2x armor all around. A trivial modification in 6e - just go up a division or two, buy wheel hubs, some more AP, and some more structure.

[Racer]

Don't bother .

While the Beetle counter was used for representing the KK in very early games , the actual counter represents a Compact .

Either Space Gamer , White Dwarf or another early non SJG magazine provided a Volkswagen Beetle expy stats for the yellow counter : A Compact with twin MGs front & two passengers .

Nearest Counter for a Killer Kart was the Dune/Beach Buggy counters from Autoduel Adventures's Hell on Wheels module . Some of the Buggies from Duel Track's Crossbows & Chassis or the Offroad Expansion Set #7 would probably do .

The actual orginal design was so poor from 1984 onwards , that we had to ban them from our games post 1986 . It's noteworthy for being just the only original Car Wars Small Box Car not to be represented in AADA 2034 Vehicle Guide - either under that name or near copy (i.e. Shogun 100/RoadMiser II or Spitfire/Flame Warrior .)

A Car (or any Vehicle for that matter) that can be taken wreaked/destroyed by a single Mine , shot from an Anti-Vehicular Rifle or while stationary by a White Phosphorus Grenade , isn't good for prolonged gameplay .

Sword Boy's son McCloud took out three KKs in a similarly priced , MG armed Light Trike to prove a point . Last one actually immobilized itself by ramming the lighter but more heavily armoured Trike .

Outside of Arena/Track speed events , Subcompacts never feature as any players vehicle in any of groups's games .
Someone once likened KKs to the 'max 3 Hp' Female Kobalds in 1st Edition AD&D ... great for 1st Level Warriors , Rogues & Priests to earn Experience Points off & not much else .

As the Fred "The Undead" Acheson character states in 'Duelling on a Budget' article in ADQ 6/4 (Winter 2038/1988) : "Well , you certainly don't see pro-Division 5 duellists fighting in Killer Karts !"
.

Nostalgia is wonderful but can be deadly ... apparently Crimean War Soldiers could actual die from it !!! ( source BBCs QI panel show ) .

[Edit] Thank you nice person for that hilarious gmail reponse to my post ! 8-D
I'm not sure in any way how 6th Edition build mechanics work , but any Car that lightly armoured is just unlikely to survive to hits from even the lightest Weapons , is unlikely for new or veteran players to actively want to use even in Amateur Nights .

[kjamma4]

Originally Posted by Racer

While the Beetle counter was used for representing the KK in very early games , the actual counter represents a Compact.

Either Space Gamer , White Dwarf or another early non SJG magazine provided a Volkswagen Beetle expy stats for the yellow counter : A Compact with twin MGs front & two passengers.

Mine had three passengers.

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...ghlight=beetle

[Racer]

Originally Posted by kjamma4

Mine had three passengers.

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...ghlight=beetle

Nice designs & thanks for link ! I had no internet in 2013 & missed that thread .

It's easy to fit two MGs & three passengers in a Compact with a Gas Engine .

Our games we have to get GM permission to use non Electric Power Plants , unless in specific scenarios which allow for them .

In Autoduel America , average Gas supplying Station or Truck Stop are far over 400 miles apart ! ( About 50 miles in Australia & Free Oil States )

[HeatDeath]

Originally Posted by Racer

I'm not sure in any way how 6th Edition build mechanics work , but any Car that lightly armored is just unlikely to survive to hits from even the lightest Weapons , is unlikely for new or veteran players to actively want to use even in Amateur Nights .

The demonstration of the process is at least as important as the end product - porting a car from one game system to a significantly different system should preserve the relative values of offense and defense, places where the car was significantly better or worse than the originating system's baseline, etc.

That being said, [and obviously the 4e meta went in a different direction] the glass-cannon-ness of the Killer Kart, which I believe I've preserved as much as possible in the 6e port, is probably the most realistic simulation of what would actually happen if two or more reasonably realistic cars went at each other with bolted-on 50 caliber machine guns. They each take a few short bursts, more to the front than the sides, and then one of them doesn't work anymore.

In either system, knowing you're /very/ vulnerable to your opponent's weapons creates an interestingly different gaming experience - with radically different tactics - than knowing you have the ablative damage capacity to maneuver deliberately for an ideal strike position while taking and surviving potentially several rounds of incoming fire. This probably plays out noticeably differently in 6e than it did in earlier versions of CCW: speed is much more of a defense in 6e than it was in 1e, and the improved ability to shield certain facings from your opponents probably helps too.

[MartyW]

So, when I wrote my Amateur Night scenario, I tried to capture the spirit of Killer Kart and several other OG Division 5 vehicles.

My cars are a modified Division 1 using 5 Build Points (a nod toward the old "Division 5" meaning) with 2 AP.

Killer Kart
Heavy Machine Gun (F)
Targeting Computer (L)
Advanced Firing Interface (R)

I do like the idea of buffing some armor placements instead of improved targeting, but I wasn't thinking that deeply when I wrote up the scenario and the scenario is only a single driver [or a gunner acting as a driver] so I went in a different direction for bonus dice or re-rolls for some vehicles.

My list of "Division 5" (OG) vehicles can be found in the Amateur Night scenario here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...6o?usp=sharing

[HeatDeath]

I just bought a hardcopy of UACFH from Amazon PoD, which is a very cool pseudo- in-universe artifact for 6e (albeit perhaps a few decades into the future from when the game takes place), even if the game rules are no longer directly applicable.

It seems like all 6e vehicles have "Extra Driver Controls" activated by a "Deadman Switch" by default.

[I'm not even certain that combo is legal in 4e, per the RAW. Deadman Switches are disallowed in AADA events per UACFH, certainly.]