Car Wars 6e -- I Just Dunno

[Cyrano]

Just got the link to the "pre-backer-backerkit" from SJG.

I was and early an enthusiastic supporter of its reboot of TFT.  They delivered a terrific product on time that exceeded my expectations.

I think they're going to screw this one up.

Too, too much in the promotional video about how "Car Wars" was a spreadsheet with cars and how it had to be modern and mesh with the contemporary board game scene.  They argue that the early naughties reboot didn't do enough to move the franchise forward.  Problem?  It gets lost in the modern boardgame maelstrom. Based on the models and what I've been able to see of gameplay, it's certainly shallower, likely a bit simpler in the worst way, and will not generate the nerdy joy of building your very own death jalopy and unleashing it on friends.

Ah, but I should be cautious.  Many remember this game very fondly -- I certainly do - and perhaps that memory will be sufficient.  It is also gratifying to hear them speak of how "Car Wars", for those who were not there, was once for SJG what "Munchkin" now is.

I'll be over here with my "Uncle Albert's" catalogues and ADQs.

[panzerde]

The beauty of the TFT reboot is that they didn't change the game, they just made it better looking and added to it. This isn't a reboot, it's a completely different game with the original name.

Hard pass.

[Arctic Blast]

This is their attempt to get some of the attention away from Gaslands (which is a blast to play, incidentally). I don't know how successful it's likely to be because most people who are already playing that are pretty happy with it.

Okay, having taken a look at some of the stuff on their Facebook page, I really don't see it. I can buy the Gaslands core book for around $30 Canadian and have it up and running with some Matchbox cars and a few random items as blocking terrain. That's the appeal of that system : it isn't expensive to get into it at all, but you can throw down as much as you want on customizing your Matchbox cars and coming up with tracks and what not.  Plus, you can run it for a dozen people if you want to. So why in the Hell am I going to drop $75 US for this thing that works for 4 players maximum?

They're trying to compete with a product that already has an established player base and which is massively customizable in terms of player counts and game modes. Besides SJG and Car Wars diehards, I don't see who the market for this even is.

[Cyrano]

Well, though not for us, it's soaring already with over $250,000 pledged on the first day.

I wish them no ill will, but your point about Gaslands is very well taken. It's the system I think I always wanted "Car Wars" to be and is a far more reasonable investment.

The TTS set is excellent in the bargain.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I bought Gaslands, tried it, hated it.  Rollng dice to shift gears?  No thanks.  Having said that, I don't care for the direction they took 6e Car Wars.  Looks to me like they oversimplified it and copied way too much from Gaslands while throwing out way too much that was Car Wars.  I might pick up the minis and maps and use them with the original rules.

[bayonetbrant]

this would've been the campaign to back

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/pocket-box-games-of-the-eighties/description

[Cyrano]

I bought Gaslands, tried it, hated it.  Rollng dice to shift gears?  No thanks.  Having said that, I don't care for the direction they took 6e Car Wars.  Looks to me like they oversimplified it and copied way too much from Gaslands while throwing out way too much that was Car Wars.  I might pick up the minis and maps and use them with the original rules.

Classic "Car Wars" with Dueltrack it is, then.

[Barthheart]

this would've been the campaign to back

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/pocket-box-games-of-the-eighties/description

I literally have everything in the $200 Car Wars reward level in that campaign.....

[Arctic Blast]

and of course it's making scads of money in the latest example of "I don't understand gamers at all".

[Cyrano]

FOMO has an awful lot to do with it, I think.

[Capn Darwin]

Just buy a copy of Battle Cattle. It's like Car Wars with weaponized bovines. I am not a fan of the over simplification (dumbing down) of gaming in general over the years. Sad state of affairs. 

[BanzaiCat]

Huge fan of Car Wars back in the day. In fact I did a bunch of Car Wars nostalgia articles back at The Other Site^TM some time ago.

[mirth]

Huge fan of Car Wars back in the day. In fact I did a bunch of Car Wars nostalgia articles back at The Other Site^TM some time ago.

Never saw them. Where were they posted?

[BanzaiCat]

Pretty sure this is yet another "what front page" joke, but here: http://grogheads.com/tag/car-wars

[mirth]

Pretty sure this is yet another "what front page" joke