Paper tires and infinite range

[Sam Mitschke]

Jumping in with a quick answer here, but I haven't had a chance to read everything up above yet. One of the alternate rules that's coming in the Companion Book is:

When rolling for defense, add 1 blue die (instead of adding a re-roll) for every two car lengths past the first two. This almost made it into the base game and is arguably better...but was left out to keep the game moving forward for new players, in particular.

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On a side note...if you or someone you know is upset that we used two different range units in the game, we didn't. Everything is in car lengths. Range re-rolls are measured in car lengths, but *always* in multiples of two, so it's often simpler to just refer to the turning key as a whole. Any time range is specified as a number, it means car lengths. Hopefully that helps.

[Sam Mitschke]

Okay, after reading through, one other item of note:

Yes, the new Double Drum playmat is 4'x6', but — and this is a hugely significant "but" — there are walls and pillars that make it play much smaller than it's square footage, and it's far easier to stay on the asphalt in the Double Drum than it is on the road tiles.

[NexusGameTheory]

Originally Posted by Sam Mitschke

When rolling for defense, add 1 blue die (instead of adding a re-roll) for every two car lengths past the first two. This almost made it into the base game and is arguably better...but was left out to keep the game moving forward for new players, in particular.

Ahh, great to know!! Thanks so much for weighing in!

I look forward to asking my group if they want to use that instead!

[NexusGameTheory]

Originally Posted by beetle496

I would like to see the rules simplified: All defenses are dice. Speed (when not out of control) gives yellow defensive dice, add more for range, add more for partial and full cover. Ace tokens should still reman an (optional) re-roll. Cards/Crew/Accessories remain as-is.

Looks like you were pretty close to the rules that are coming out the in Companion, good job!

[beetle496]

That “car length” is the basic unit of measure came through to me from RAW. But now I want to ask: Is “range 2” (e.g., for grenades) and “range 1” (for melee) a reference to turning keys or car lengths? (I understood those to be turning keys!)

Originally Posted by Sam Mitschke

When rolling for defense, add 1 blue die (instead of adding a re-roll) for every two car lengths past the first two. This almost made it into the base game and is arguably better...but was left out to keep the game moving forward for new players, in particular.

This is what I expect to be using with my future games. Thank you.

[Sam Mitschke]

Page 8 of the rules, under RESTRICTIONS:
RANGE X — can only be used within X car lengths of a target.

Everything is in car lengths. Using the turning key to measure them is just like using a ruler to measure inches — so I get the confusion — but there is no unique measurement unit associated with the turning key as a whole. As such, a "Range 1" restriction can be measured using half of the turning key, and a "Range 2" restriction can be measured using the entire turning key.

When checking for defensive re-rolls, you get a range re-roll for every two car lengths between you and the attacker EXCEPT you do not count the first two:

1. find the total number of whole car lengths
2. subtract two
3. divide that answer by two
4. round THAT answer down to the nearest whole number

However, it's far more practical to do this by simply counting the number of turning keys that fit between the attacker and target.

[beetle496]

Thank goodness for this forum! I think I have managed to do everything wrong at least once, and that is with just from two games. I have not yet played with cover, terrain, or hazards. So many more mistakes to go!

We have adhered to the meta rule to keep things moving, so it has all still been fun!

Hand grenades, are they essentially infinite in number? (That is how we played it. The one player only used four, but that is how the game ended, so it felt OP to the three of us.)

[Jumpster]

Love that mod - will use it instead of rerolls. I can see how it can make lasers a little more confusing but it's just like "subtract 2" so no big deal. Did the reroll concept have anything to do with the number of dice needed? I'm already running out :)

[Sam Mitschke]

@Jumpster

Did the reroll concept have anything to do with the number of dice needed? I'm already running out :)

It was, in part, exactly this — good observation! The other part was that we found that most new players are more timid, keeping distance and generally not going in with all guns blazing, so it slowed things down in a bad way (the blue dice rule causes a distinct reduction to the amount of damage being thrown around). Once players have a good grasp of how to play AND get appropriately aggressive, using blue dice instead of re-rolls is straight-up the better way to do it. But the pace-of-play issue relegated it to an an advanced rule.

And you're right about the lasers — there will be a note about anything that affects range re-rolls instead affects the blue dice when this rule is in play.


@beetle496
Nothing in the game is particularly difficult, but there's a WHOLE LOT of information to parse and absorb. Glad to help! (And just in case it read poorly, my use of boldface above was not meant to be pissy — it was just to call the rule out clearly.)

[beetle496]

Originally Posted by Sam Mitschke

Nothing in the game is particularly difficult, but there's a WHOLE LOT of information to parse and absorb.

It has humbling to have such difficulty. I have learned and played other complicated games in recent years, so it may have just been me underestimating the permutations.

Glad to help!

I very much appreciate it.

And just in case it read poorly, my use of boldface above was not meant to be pissy — it was just to call the rule out clearly.

That was fine. And I think the grenade lobbing might all have been within two car lengths regardless. Well, maybe not the first one. They made an impression…