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Old 10-12-2021, 12:02 PM   #1
Werdna
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Default Good Build Combos?

My kids and I are building our own cars with the cards we have and it's pretty fun. We've played 4-5 games with different build costs. While most weapons seem pretty balanced, there are some powerful interactions. I wanted to call out a few, and ask if anyone else had some good ones.

1) For higher point builds, Veteran Driver (cost 4) gives 2 ace tokens at turn start and allows for 2x defensive re-rolls for every ace token spent. Combine that with useful accessories/upgrades that give ace tokens each turn (skimmer, spoiler, high density radials), and you have a pile of ace tokens all the time and a great chance of getting some nice defensive shields.

2) Piling on to #1, throw 2-cost plastic cladding on a side for an additional blue defensive die (50% chance for a shield) that would be a top priority re-roll if it misses. With enough armor, the plastic cladding may stick around for a while, granting an excellent added defensive die for just 2 cost (the downside is the 1-HP structure, so best when you have a lot of armor or are protecting a less-shot-at side, like the rear vs. let's say heavy ceramic plate for your big gun/s side). This assumes you are stacking ace tokens.

3) On lower-cost builds, Machete (2 points) is a gunner who adds a black die to shred weapons that he fires. He's normally just okay, but pairs very nicely with the 3-cost LMG w/Incendiary rounds. It gets a free tire damage and wrenches cause fires (unavoidable!), but normally that's not great because wrenches are 1/6 on Red dice and 0/6 on Yellow dice. However, they are 4/6 on Black dice! So a 3-cost weapon w/ Machete shooting has 1 guaranteed tire damage, solid damage from the RYY roll, and a great chance of setting a fire (5/6). It's a pretty good interaction.

Curious to hear what others are finding works well.

Andrew
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Old 10-12-2021, 01:17 PM   #2
Magesmiley
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Snohomish, WA
Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Number 1:
Possum (4 point driver) and airless tires.
Get some structure and don't worry too much about control, tire damage, and speed defense dice. Spend the rest on offense.

Spinouts = bigger turns. Expect it to be bigger when you maneuver. At speed 3 you've no risk of flipping, and its fairly tolerable at speed 4.
You can do a LOT with only D1 maneuvers and spinouts when tire loss doesn't affect your max speed.

Number 2:
Foam, smoke, and a big weapon.
Leave a bunch of smoke and foam in the core part of the battlefield. Use them to provide cover. Cover provides free shields in defense. Which hurts lower damage weapons a lot more than high damage ones.
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Old 10-13-2021, 04:57 PM   #3
corwyn
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Still waiting for my set but has anyone tried really high end cars like Division 8-10? How did it play out?
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Old 10-14-2021, 10:43 AM   #4
Magesmiley
 
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Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Quote:
Originally Posted by corwyn View Post
Still waiting for my set but has anyone tried really high end cars like Division 8-10? How did it play out?
We've done a 32 point game here. A couple of us in my regular group did a high point game back at FnordCon 1 too.

It was... a lot of dice. I'm still tinkering with strategies and experimenting.

One general conclusion (from just the DA box) that I reached at FnordCon1 that seems to still be holding true is that speed overall is a better defense than most of the structures that grant dice.

That and I'm grossly underwhelmed by drop weapons. With the possible exception of foam.
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Old 10-14-2021, 11:56 AM   #5
kjamma4
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Chicagoland Area, Illinois
Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magesmiley View Post
That and I'm grossly underwhelmed by drop weapons. With the possible exception of foam.
Which probably should have been the most underwhelming dropped weapon!
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Old 10-19-2021, 04:05 AM   #6
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Frederick, MD
Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Dropped weapons were always such a mess in CCW that we disallowed them in arenas. I had not even opened the Dropped Weapons Pack.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magesmiley View Post
That and I'm grossly underwhelmed by drop weapons. With the possible exception of foam.
This post got me curious enough to open the box, and look at the cards. (Oops, almost missed a gun to add to my binders.)

Where are the rules on foam? Spikes? Smoke? The rule sheet explains the basics for dropped weapons, and mines in particular. Paint and Oil have instructions on the cards themselves. Spikes (and wreckage) have ‘2’ in the corner, so presumably that’s tire damage, but it seems like the rules should say-so explicitly? Am I being dumb? (It has happened before.)

I can guess at the meaning for the other various icons, but should there not be a explanation key someplace? Is there an errata page?
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Old 10-19-2021, 06:28 AM   #7
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Default Dropped Weapons

Quote:
Originally Posted by beetle496 View Post
I can guess at the meaning for the other various icons, but should there not be a explanation key someplace?
Okay, I found it the explanations for some of the icons on p. 6 (under Terrain and Hazards), some on p. 15 for Collisions (under Obstacles), and the rest on p. 19 under Cover.

From the icons, Foam is a light obstacle (so, not a collision; the car pushes through) which provides full cover (because it blocks sight lines). I read elsewhere that the Foam is not pushed, but is removed from play (since it pops). Is this detail written down someplace?

Last edited by beetle496; 10-19-2021 at 06:34 AM.
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Old 10-19-2021, 11:02 AM   #8
JimTullis
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Quote:
Originally Posted by beetle496 View Post
I can guess at the meaning for the other various icons, but should there not be a explanation key someplace? Is there an errata page?
Try PAGE 4 of the rulebook for a Key to most ICONS.

As far as I know Spikes and Wreckage are just Hazards with no special rules other than the rules for Hazards on Page 6.

I haven't looked at the card that creates Foam. Unless there are special rules on that card, Foam should work like any Light Obstacle and your car will push it around until the Foam takes damage from the push or it hits anything else. Once it hits something else it will "pop".

Foam is also DEADLY TOXIC or TOO THICK TO SWIM IN since pushing pedestrians into it or pushing it onto pedestrians will cause both to "pop" and be removed from the game.
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Old 10-19-2021, 02:13 PM   #9
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Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Quote:
Originally Posted by beetle496 View Post
Dropped weapons were always such a mess in CCW that we disallowed them in arenas.
[shrug] The main problem with DWs in _CW_ was: The only way to clear one was to run over it; this made them far too powerful, even in open arenas like Buffalo. I came up with a brace of "clearance" rules back'n'th'day to fix that:

-- Any DW counter inside the zone of a weapon doing Fire damage is destroyed. [Read David Drake's "The Dancer In The Flames" for details on why the word "destroyed" is used, rather than "detonate".]

-- Concussion Grenades: Roll on the CG Effect table; destroy a DW counter on a "unconscious" result, or detonate it on a "stunned" result. "Unconscious" takes precedence over "stunned", if both appear in a result. ["Bangalore Torpedo".]

-- Direct Fire: Inflict damage equal to the DW's DP to destroy it.
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Old 10-19-2021, 05:03 PM   #10
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Default Re: Good Build Combos?

Please keep discussion of earlier editions in the appropriate forum.
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