All Fired Up by Kevin Stein Note: The following rules should be considered optional for any Car Wars campaign. Like any rules that add more realism, these are much more complicated than the current rules. If your group of players wants to use them, please do. But the old rules are still perfectly good. Decide which set is best for you, and have fun. - SDH

My friends and I have been playing Car Wars now since it was first available on the market, and have found it one of the most enjoyable, innovative, and downright fun games we have ever played. But now for the real purpose of this article. I would like to do something about the absolute uselessness of that infamous weapon, the flamethrower. The flamethrower is big, heavy, has no real combat range, and is just plain dangerous to have around. For every reason that you could give to use a flamethrower, about a dozen more could be given on why not to use it. The machine gun, overall, is a much more effective and efficient weapon. The main use that comes to mind for using a flamethrower is to set your opponent on fire. However, it is stated in the rules that ten points of damage is required to set a vehicle on fire, which on average would require three flamethrowers. It is generally more efficient to buy an equivalent number of RRs or RLs and simply blow the guy up. However, since I disagree more with the ten-point rule than with the actual flamethrower itself, I have devised a method, though more complicated, that is more realistic for setting things aflame. These rules have been playtested and proven effective.

Check the table on page 33. Weapon Type is, obviously, the type of weapon being used. The Fire Modifier is the number that must be rolled on two six-sided dice or less to set a vehicle on fire. The Burn Duration is the number of one-second turns after the turn in which the vehicle is hit that the vehicle driver must keep rolling two dice to see if the vehicle has been set aflame. All fire modifiers are cumulative.

Vehicular Fire Table

Example: On turn one, Billy's Intimidator gets hit by a single flamethrower shot. A FT has a fire modifier of 4, so Billy must roll above a 4 on 2d6 to avoid frying. He rolls an 11, making it easily. On the second turn (after some nifty maneuvering to avoid getting hit by that flamethrower again), Billy is hit from behind by a laser. The laser has a fire modifier of 1, but this is also the first turn of the flamethrower's three-turn burn duration - that's 4 more for a total of 5. Billy rolls a 6, and thanks his lucky stars.

Things are getting a little hot now, so Billy decides to take off. Unfortunately, he eats another laser shot as he's fleeing, and a pedestrian steps out of a doorway and lets him have it with a portable flamethrower. The laser counts for 1, the portable flamethrower is good for 3, and the first flamethrower hit is still burning bright for 4 more, giving a total fire modifier of 8. Billy rolls a 3 - bad news. If he has a fire extinguisher, it will get its chance to work at the end of the turn. If not...

The bookkeeping may become a little complicated, but these rules are a good substitute for those players who want a little more realism for their game. Total up all the fire modifiers that apply in one turn and make one roll at the end of the turn. Fireproof armor has no chance of being set on fire, but if the armor is breached and internal components are affected, these rules would apply. Power plants struck by FT or laser fire still catch on fire automatically, as per the 3rd Edition rules.

This system could also be used as an option for determining whether or not a building has been set on fire. Some building materials (steel and concrete, for example) would have a negative modifier on the fire modifiers of all weapons that hit it (like -2 per weapon, maybe). Wood, on the other hand, would be about a +6. Pedestrians burn fairly easily - give them a +5.

Issue 2/3 Index