Oren Firestein
United States
Washington
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It's certainly difficult to keep track of all the different editions of Car Wars, but this is the last one that actually included rules for building one's own cars. That makes this the best version of Car Wars currently extant.
For those not familiar with Car Wars, it is a tabletop miniatures game set in the post-apocalyptic near future. Inspired partly by Mad Max and partly by bad drivers, the game supposes contests between souped-up, heavily-armed cars - imagine the Indy 500 with flamethrowers and turretted machine guns. Of course, no race in Car Wars would actually last 500 miles before most or all of the cars were reduced to scrap/confetti.
Car Wars Compendium is a compilation and revision of the base rules along with a number of other supplements released over the years. It includes rules for designing, maintaining, racing, and fighting cars, along with a fairly thin RPG tacked on to cover the drivers (as if they would survive long enough to gain experience  ). The book also includes rules for trucks, boats, helicopters, and hovercraft, which seem to be there more for completeness than for any actual utility. Really, the game is about cars.
A large part of the fun is in designing cars, which is what the newer editions lack. In designing a car, one must balance the constraints of price, weight, and space in trying to put together a vehicle that can go fast, absorb punishment, and retaliate in kind. Contests generally have a limit on the amount that can be spent on the entrants (in order to keep the race balanced), and this limit informs the choice of chassis. Of course, there are limits to the amount of weight one can put on a given chassis, and extra weight reduces acceleration and top speed. The choice of car type also determines how much space is available for an engine and the car's armaments. Of course, one must remember to leave money and weight available for armor, and accessories run the gamut from the basic spoiler and airdam to jump jets and the kamikaze bomb.
Once all the players have their cars, it's time to start the race. Race formats vary (and are decided entirely by the players). One race might just be laps around a track, while another might be a pure brawl, and a third might involve doing figure-eights on an offroad track with jumps and water hazards. Races proceed in one-second turns, which are subdivided into five phases. Cars take turns moving (depending on current speed), and each weapon can fire once each second. A large part of the game is trying to main control of one's car - no easy task when swerving around at 120 mph and taking hits from an anti-tank gun. Ramming is also a significant element, whether the ram is a nudge from the side or a spine-snapping T-bone collision with a ramplate at 150 mph (which will likely invoke the confetti rule as the victim breaks up into lots of tiny pieces).
The rules are sometimes overly complex (and occasionally baffling), but overall the game is still quite playable. The game does maintain its theme convincingly, and it is full of little thrills like the look of terror on a driver's face as he sees the car rushing toward his freshly perforated side armor. Besides, how else are you ever going to get the chance to machine-gun the jerk who just cut you off?
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Sarcophilus Harrisii
Unspecified
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tabletop miniatures game!?!
Why in my day, our cars were flat cardboard chits. That's the way it was and we liked it!
Humor a side, does the compendium come with all the cardboard vehicle chits?
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Rich Hart
England
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
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I had this (and probably still do) as part of Car Wars: Deluxe Edition and we had a hoot with it for 2 summers before we ran out of patience with long battles and races being spoiled when the paper map creased or when the cardboard chits moved. Still, this game really did make us all smile alot
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Jeremy Stomberg
United States
Roseville
Minnesota
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A friend here at work just gave me the complete original Pocket Box set (plus a few extra baggies full of counters) for my birthday. I can't wait to get together with some folks after work and play the oldschool way, before X-ray Lasers and Reactive Webs, etc.
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Mark Slater
United Kingdom
Newport
Newport, South Wales
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I have Deluxe Ed too, also got Dueltrack, that added petrol cars, for really fast +100mph machines.
And good old Uncle Alberts Catalog. Great equipment books in the style of an actual catalog with Adverts and everything!
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Tim Mossman
United States
Montgomery County
Maryland
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We played 20+ years ago with the original little plastic box edition, with the similar sized expansions.
ShallowBlue wrote: The book also includes rules for trucks, boats, helicopters, and hovercraft, which seem to be there more for completeness than for any actual utility. Really, the game is about cars.
Absolutely, I never felt the need to add tanks or aircraft. Although we did enjoy the Truck Stop expansion. Nothing like cruising down the road in a Winnebago Warrior.
ShallowBlue wrote: A large part of the fun is in designing cars, . . .
Amen.
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Jeremy Stomberg
United States
Roseville
Minnesota
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Ah, the fun of a motorcycle gang trying to take down a fully armed and armored 18-wheeler on a busy highway! Now THAT'S Car Wars!
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William Hostman
United States
Eagle River
Alaska
Gaming in Greater Anchorage area, Alaska since 1978. Looking for Indy-willing RPG players in Eagle River (or willing to drive to Eagle River). Geekmail me if interested.
Yes, this really is what I looked like when I uploaded that avatar. Not that it's quite current anymore.
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Small package trade running between big cities....
Road duels...
Character interaction...
This game straddled the line between board game and RPG. I ran it more as an RPG.
As for blowing counters... buy a stack of magnetic backs for business cards, and mount counters on that. It is about 2mm thick. Makes for nice counters. Then tape down your map on thin sheet steel. Wind will not be an issue again!
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William Hostman
United States
Eagle River
Alaska
Gaming in Greater Anchorage area, Alaska since 1978. Looking for Indy-willing RPG players in Eagle River (or willing to drive to Eagle River). Geekmail me if interested.
Yes, this really is what I looked like when I uploaded that avatar. Not that it's quite current anymore.
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BashiBazouk wrote: tabletop miniatures game!?!
Why in my day, our cars were flat cardboard chits. That's the way it was and we liked it!
Humor a side, does the compendium come with all the cardboard vehicle chits?
Not as such.
The later editions of Deluxe included the compendium, the maps from Truck Stop and Crash City/Sunday Drivers, and the counters from all the above, plus a healthy dose of cardstock road sections, boat wars counters, and aeroduel counters.
The Compendium was also available separately, with no counters/road sections/mapsheets.
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We doubled the scale and used model railway cars for HO scale, glued onto pieces of cardboard. If I were to do it again, I would go for Hot Wheels and Dark Future Cars. I remember I made a turning key for that scale as well.
I tried to find my copy of Car Wars in my old stuff, but it seems to be gone. Too bad, really, I enjoyed plying this game some twent yeras ago.
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Austin Searles
United States
Sammammish
Washington
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sorry no chits in this one, but warehouse23.com does have a pdf of chits to get.
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