Armageddon I 2057 - Div100 Van (Updated)

Van, C/A frame, Xhvy Ch., Hvy-Active Sus., Sport PP (PC/SC), driver, 6 SD (FP+Radial) tires, 3 space turret with ITL, LGL to 3 AP-HR & each with 3 space Rocket Magazines (12 HR total), DSP below, 8 smoke/oil dischargers, cyberlink, fake ramplate, spoiler & airdam, HD-ABS, HD shocks, HTM & Overdrive, No-Paint Tinted Windshield, 4 bumper triggers, driver has Blended BA & FP Suit; 10 pts FP CA around driver & around PP, 2 10 pt. FP WG back, 146 pts. FP plastic Armor: F30 B30 R30 L30 T15 U11; Acc 5, Top 115 (85/135); HC 4(5); 7197 lbs., $91,410

• Option - remove fake ramplate, add SD (10/explosive) back linked with back & under dischargers, remove 1 pt of WG, 7198 lbs. $91,790

Design Notes - This is an update of this (which is itself a pretty common design). 12 Shots and no defensive weapons (outside of the dischargers), the C/A frame, and light-ish armor, make this a risky car. But with a to-hit of 3 (and the great thing about the TL is that if you can keep firing it even without a rocket to get the sustained hit bonus, which would make those 9d+9 rockets a sweet smackdown.

Grenade Launcher, part 3 - Another idea

I had asked a bunch of questions about the Grenade Launcher here and the answers are here. The impetus for my questions is a combination of: (1) not understanding the grenade scatter rules and (2) wondering why the grenade launcher in car wars is so wimpy compared to the real-world munition of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).

Car Wars has impact-fuses for the GL and I thought that would make the weapon like the impact-happy RPG. RPGs are a major, hand-held, tank-killer. They were used to devestating effect in the fiasco we know as "Black Hawk Down."

What I've come to accept - to the point where I'd establish that this should be an official "game fact" - is that the real-world RPG is not the Car Wars GL but the Car Wars Rocket Launcher. This makes sense - a 'medium rocket' is 1 space, 1 shot, 50 lb, 2 die damage weapon while a 'rocket launcher' is a 2 die damage but 10 shots in 2 spaces. The unguided nature of the single shot rockets means they're large and cheap (it's just a rocket engine plus a bunch of explosives). The Rocket launcher is a smaller explosive but the aiming mechanism, plus the fuel of the launcher, makes up the full 2 spaces.

Grenade Launcher, Part 2 (Followup)

This is part 2 of the Grenade Launcher discussion, with the answers provided by the jolly-good-dudes from the Steve Jackson Games forum.

Here are the questions in bold with the answers (provided by SJGames member "Norcross"). Note, I realized after I asked the questions, that I didn't fully understand the Grenade Scatter Rules. Woops.

1. What is the range of a hand-held GL? Is it 5"? (which I've been told is the range of a hand-thrown grenade)

A hand-thrown grenade has a range of 5". Any other hand-held projectile weapon (including a grenade launcher) has a range of 20" unless otherwise specified.

2. If a (car) GL has impact-fused ammo, then does the fuse go off when the shot hits the designated target or do the grenade scatter rules apply first?

Both :-) The grenade doesn't hit until after you roll for scatter (to find out where it will hit).

3. If there are scatter rules, then what happens if the 'to hit' roll is under 7 - does that mean the shot went off into the stratosphere? And if so, this suggests firing the GL engenders two risks - whether you hit on the 7 and even then, you don't really 'hit' (Ed. this is where my ignorance shows)

That's what the scatter rules cover. The distance it scatters depends on how badly you miss your to-hit roll.

4. Does the 'to hit' of the GL, especially with impact fuses, allow using the GL like an Oil Gun? That is, by using the +4 to hit a patch of ground, the impact grenade with a Flaming Oil load is a smaller Oilgun and with a smoke-grenade load it's a 'smoke gun' (for point-shot smoke screens).

I hadn't thought of that before, but I guess you could. It wouldn't be as good as an Oil Gun, but it would be smaller. Also, the +4 only applies at point-blank range - if your target is even 1" away, you don't get the bonus.

(From Josephey) As far as the +4 for aiming at the ground, I'm not sure if it would apply with the GL because you have to pick a specific point on the ground to target (and to base scatter from). A specific point isn't as big as 'the ground,' and in my opinion wouldn't warrant a +4. Also, if you're trying to put a grenade on the ground in front of a moving vehicle you'll have to add speed mods.

5. According to this AADA News (Pyramid #30) article, NOVA has banned impact fuses because they can be used as a tire-eater. Is that a house-rule specific for NOVA or is that part of the AADA banned list?

It's a house rule. From reading the article, it sounds like they over-reacted to a unique circumstance. If the cars had been moving at real duel speeds, or had the kind of tire protection duellists normally use, the effect would have been greatly reduced.