Vassal Game: Sunday June 10th, 8pm EST

[Too Bo Coo]

How did the game go???

[ammulder]

Well we didn't get a full game in -- I couldn't join until pretty late, and then I needed a little help navigating Vassal. But once we got going it was good -- much violence ensued. We all had to remind ourselves about the little stuff (how much damage causes what kind of hazard/debris, speed mods for various angles of attack, results of big deceleration, and so on), and a good cheat sheet would help. That should be one of the pages in the back of the book for 6e! One driver bailed when he couldn't put out his fire, and the other two cars were both damaged. We called it on account of the time, when the two remaining cars had just passed head to head with dubious handling, and it was going to take a while to get turned around and back into place to affect each other again.

MattV noted a couple rules questions that came up in a previous post, and for Vassal games there should probably be a short writeup on the standards -- can you measure range and arc of fire before declaring an attack, in what order are attacks declared and resolved, how do you log HC/speed/accel and firing actions, etc. It wasn't hard to agree on that stuff, just might be nice to have it in writing so there's no need for consideration/debate.

[Angrytubist]

I think that with any game involving a new group, a player handout is a must. (just keep it under 5 pages please)

[MattV]

After a few minutes of bringing amulder up to speed the few turns we did went well.

Measuring arc and range before calling a shot has always been allowed in the games of Car Wars I've played. I guess other people may do it differently, but I haven't seen it and I don't think I have ever seen it questioned until now. I beleive Knightime might have brought it up as he plays a wargame that doesn't allow it.

Attacks and results are resolved in order per the rulebook.

I don't think there is much different with game play in vassal than sitting at a table and playing. Speed and HC are tracked in vassal. I guess you may want to track who changed speed and who fired per turn, but in Vassal or at a table we have always had the player themselves record or remember that. Actually, in vassal you can check the text log and I think it would show who rolled a die or if someone modified their speed.

I would like to see a turn phase clicker in vassal. Someone designed one at one time, but it was made to track who moved and fired in a phase. For some part of the time we were playing before, we weren't using a voicechat program and we would find ourselves waiting for people to finsish their moves when they were already done. The current phase/turn tracker isn't ideal as it breaks a phase into move/fire.

I think once you play one full game of vassal their won't be any questions other than rules questions. We hadn't had any problems in the past. If someone wants to write up a "how to play/rules" handout for vassal I would happily add my two cents if needed.

[kunger00]

Actually, I think measuring range uses up your firing action. Also, I think once you measure range to one target, you can't then change to another.

I'll see if I can find that as a rule somewhere because I'm not 100% positive. Of course, house/club rules are always allowed! :)

[Angrytubist]

That's the way we always played as well. I don't think its an "official" Car Wars rule, but it does speed up gameplay and is pretty "standard" for wargames.

[Chris Goodwin]

Would the standard basic targeting system not have a rangefinder as standard equipment? if not...

Laser Rangefinder: Allows the driver to determine the range to a target without using an action. $100, no weight, no space; if the car already has a targeting computer, hi-res targeting computer, or vehicular computer subtract $50; if it already has a targeting laser subtract another $50 (making it free if the car has a targeting laser and computer). Destroyed when the power plant is destroyed, or when the targeting laser and/or computer is destroyed.

[Angrytubist]

But then we're assuming it doesn't take a firing action to "Paint" the possible target with the laser.

In shooting, aiming your weapon is what takes time, squeezing the trigger is negligible.

[Chris Goodwin]

I'm assuming the system is smart enough to tag everything that might be a target within range and tell you how far away it is.

[Angrytubist]

I'm not totally against that, though I think the cost should be higher maybe in the $250-$500 range.

Generally when I've used that rule in CW its been because of "that guy" that measures all his ranges after every movement phase, then after he's wasted 10-15 mins he doesn't even shoot cause he's "Just Checking". (that gives me some nerd-rage there.)