jeffro
Jeffro's Gaming Blog: Car Wars, Star Fleet Battles, Ogre, Battletech, and more!
In Search of the Perfect Game...
-
What we didn't like about other games:
1) Role playing-- we never quite understood the whole concept. Why have elaborate rules if it's not really a real game-- just complicated "pretend". We liked the idea of designing GURPS characters... but people that liked to 'get into' their personas just scared us.
2) Strategy Games-- We enjoyed games like Axis & Allies and Shogun... but the bookkeeping could become a bit tedious. The length of playing time was a down side, too. The strategy dimension was increased here at the expense of color on the tactical side.
3) Abstract Strategy Games-- No problem with bookkeeping here... but it takes a great deal of effort to master opening and endgame tactics. We want a game we can relax with.
4) Competitors-- SFB was neat... but had way too many rules. Also the universe was limited by the weirdness of some of the technical contradictions. Battletech was just plain goofy. It was easier maybe... but not very well designed.
What we liked about the original Car Wars:
1) It was a battle of engineers more than anything else. The technological pallette was changing every quarter thanks to Uncle Al. No other game offered this level of tinkering and trade offs.
2) The setting was actually moderately plausable.
3) There was even a very plausible reason for setting up a series of balanced fights to play.
4) You can play a team, a gang, an organization, or a corporation.
6) The concept of adventuring across an apocalyptic United States is just plain cool.
7) Something interesting ALWAYS happened. Once my ped fled a wrecked vehicle... dodged bullets and dived under another wreck... began firing at the weak underbody of the vehicle-- only to get smooshed by a dropped spike plate!!
8) It's the Compendium, stupid! The black Car Wars boxed set with "over $14.95" worth of bonus supplements is the coolest game I've ever bought. (We can't wait for a NEW compendium to come out for 5th edition!!)
What we didn't like about the original Car Wars:
1) Too much paperwork to get a game together.
2) Too many charts and rules to look at during play.
3) Rules changes made old designs obsolete way too often. The Combat Showcase is almost useless in a Compendium 2nd edition campaign.
4) Metal-armored gas-guzzling tire-shooting ram-cars. Nuff said!
What we like about the NEW Car Wars:
1) You can just get together and play.
2) Everything you need's on the turning key
3) There's no need for maps-- and thanks to SJ's PDFs, we can just tape dropped items to the tabletop!
4) Laser-Guidance-Link doesn't dominate the battlefield.
5) The fire rules are just plain FUN!
6) Each weapon exists for a purpose... and each adds something to the game.
7) The game's back to being about driving around and shooting at each other. (There was something about the later vehicle designs in the old game that just got away from that some how.)
8) Mere mortals can play Car Wars again... and referees can run games quickly and with no headaches.
9) It just looks cool!
What we didn't like about other games:
1) Role playing-- we never quite understood the whole concept. Why have elaborate rules if it's not really a real game-- just complicated "pretend". We liked the idea of designing GURPS characters... but people that liked to 'get into' their personas just scared us.
2) Strategy Games-- We enjoyed games like Axis & Allies and Shogun... but the bookkeeping could become a bit tedious. The length of playing time was a down side, too. The strategy dimension was increased here at the expense of color on the tactical side.
3) Abstract Strategy Games-- No problem with bookkeeping here... but it takes a great deal of effort to master opening and endgame tactics. We want a game we can relax with.
4) Competitors-- SFB was neat... but had way too many rules. Also the universe was limited by the weirdness of some of the technical contradictions. Battletech was just plain goofy. It was easier maybe... but not very well designed.
What we liked about the original Car Wars:
1) It was a battle of engineers more than anything else. The technological pallette was changing every quarter thanks to Uncle Al. No other game offered this level of tinkering and trade offs.
2) The setting was actually moderately plausable.
3) There was even a very plausible reason for setting up a series of balanced fights to play.
4) You can play a team, a gang, an organization, or a corporation.
6) The concept of adventuring across an apocalyptic United States is just plain cool.
7) Something interesting ALWAYS happened. Once my ped fled a wrecked vehicle... dodged bullets and dived under another wreck... began firing at the weak underbody of the vehicle-- only to get smooshed by a dropped spike plate!!
8) It's the Compendium, stupid! The black Car Wars boxed set with "over $14.95" worth of bonus supplements is the coolest game I've ever bought. (We can't wait for a NEW compendium to come out for 5th edition!!)
What we didn't like about the original Car Wars:
1) Too much paperwork to get a game together.
2) Too many charts and rules to look at during play.
3) Rules changes made old designs obsolete way too often. The Combat Showcase is almost useless in a Compendium 2nd edition campaign.
4) Metal-armored gas-guzzling tire-shooting ram-cars. Nuff said!
What we like about the NEW Car Wars:
1) You can just get together and play.
2) Everything you need's on the turning key
3) There's no need for maps-- and thanks to SJ's PDFs, we can just tape dropped items to the tabletop!
4) Laser-Guidance-Link doesn't dominate the battlefield.
5) The fire rules are just plain FUN!
6) Each weapon exists for a purpose... and each adds something to the game.
7) The game's back to being about driving around and shooting at each other. (There was something about the later vehicle designs in the old game that just got away from that some how.)
8) Mere mortals can play Car Wars again... and referees can run games quickly and with no headaches.
9) It just looks cool!
No replies - reply
Profile
Calendar