Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, July 22, 2011
Car Wars- Revisited?
SO I stumbled across an idea the other day. Many of the game addicts at our local store have been, ah, abandoning Games Workshop products lately. The reasons are so numerous I dare not attempt to list them, but it's safe to say that the gents in Nottingham have a reputation on par with certain Catholic priests and only one step above zealots that mutilate female genitilia.
That means abandoning a game in which I have likely invested no less than $10,000 in my life. It's unlikely that will happen.
But it does allow me to free my mind a little, step away from the rigors of hitting on 3, 4, or 5 in a U-Go-I-Go game mechanic. And that's when I was reminded of Car Wars. Do you remember? Sure you do. Except if you're under the age of 21, then this game was out when you were sperm- a mere zygote.
Car Wars was elegant in that it was a simple concept- build a car with guns and then wreck other people's cars with guns. The mechanics were a little more difficult, but it was made easier by the fact that it was played on graph paper. That's what got me thinking. We use tape measures for table top games, and the scale is usually 25mm, heroic 28mm or 30mm.
The nice thing? Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars are 1:64 scale... or 25 mm! The terrain we use is in the appropriate scale!
The only thing that would remain would be to rewrite ranges and distances by a factor of 3. The Car Wars game had the standard car fitting in a 1" x 1/2" paper chip. Toy Cars are 3" x 1+".
Now if I could only get my hands on a copy of the now out-of-print game rules...
That means abandoning a game in which I have likely invested no less than $10,000 in my life. It's unlikely that will happen.
But it does allow me to free my mind a little, step away from the rigors of hitting on 3, 4, or 5 in a U-Go-I-Go game mechanic. And that's when I was reminded of Car Wars. Do you remember? Sure you do. Except if you're under the age of 21, then this game was out when you were sperm- a mere zygote.
Car Wars was elegant in that it was a simple concept- build a car with guns and then wreck other people's cars with guns. The mechanics were a little more difficult, but it was made easier by the fact that it was played on graph paper. That's what got me thinking. We use tape measures for table top games, and the scale is usually 25mm, heroic 28mm or 30mm.
The nice thing? Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars are 1:64 scale... or 25 mm! The terrain we use is in the appropriate scale!
The only thing that would remain would be to rewrite ranges and distances by a factor of 3. The Car Wars game had the standard car fitting in a 1" x 1/2" paper chip. Toy Cars are 3" x 1+".
Now if I could only get my hands on a copy of the now out-of-print game rules...
Okay, so I'm blogging.
I've decided to start a game blog. This will be to address two personal issues:
1) I like games,
2) I hate people. In particular, you. But I hate the person next to you just as much, so there's that.
Now you may ask "why would I want to read the blog of a guy that openly hates me?" Because this blog will be awesome. And if that weren't reason enough, I figured you out. You hate people too. You may not hate everyone, but you hate somebody- and, therefore, we have something in common.
So, pleasantries aside- sit down, shut up, and read.
1) I like games,
2) I hate people. In particular, you. But I hate the person next to you just as much, so there's that.
Now you may ask "why would I want to read the blog of a guy that openly hates me?" Because this blog will be awesome. And if that weren't reason enough, I figured you out. You hate people too. You may not hate everyone, but you hate somebody- and, therefore, we have something in common.
So, pleasantries aside- sit down, shut up, and read.
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