Car Wars Design Advice

By Robert Hagmaier

I'm not going to mention any of the basic design stuff, you should have figured that out from the previous article.  Instead I'm going to focus on ... focus.  That's right, how to make your design a focused design. Most vehicles suffer from an extreme lack of focus.  Let me enumerate the various tasks that your vehicle should focus on:

1.  Killing other people.

Short list, eh?  Ok, maybe I'm being a little glib here, but the truth is, many people bring designs that aren't very good at performing that fairly fundamental task.  Here is one method of conceptualizing your vehicle:

1.  Decide HOW you want to kill people.
2.  Design your vehicle to be the BEST POSSIBLE vehicle, at that division, for that technique.
3.  Throw in any "nice extras" that you can fit/afford without compromising #1 or #2.

Allow me to elaborate.  The decision of HOW to kill people is critical. Are you planning on ramming them?  Perhaps you like the idea of laser-guided rockets.  Maybe you're partial to a tire-hunter.  Whatever concept you are using, you should ask yourself this question... "Will this concept allow me to kill people effectively?"

It's amazing to me how many designs do not allow you to kill people very effectively.  For example, I'm sure that your forest of flechette guns seems really cool, but have you considered that a flechette gun cannot destroy the wheel?  Which means, at best, you may earn a kill if your target rolls his car after you pop his tires.  Spike guns, same problem.  However, if you were to couple these guns with something like a flaming oil jet, you could have yourself a winner (dunno, I've never tried it).  How about that ATG?  Front-mounted low accuracy weapon. Hmm... seems like a flawed plan from the get-go.  You better have a real nice computer to go along with that big hunk of metal if you hope to do anything useful with it.

That leads me to the second step, designing the BEST POSSIBLE vehicle from your concept.  We'll use a Division 15 pure ram car as an example, because it's easy.  Not a lot of cash, which is OK, because ram cars are pretty cheap (pure ram car as opposed to a hybrid ram car, which also has some sort of weapon system). 

- Now, offense is a no-brainer, you're gonna buy a big ramplate.  I won't even touch the discussion between whether a metal or plastic ramplate is better, even though all intelligent people agree that a composite ramplate is clearly superior <g>.  I usually allocate a certain # of points that I would LIKE for my ramplate, then adjust it up
and down a bit as the design fleshes itself out.

- Since you are NOT a shooter, you'll want to make yourself difficult to shoot, so a small car might be best.  A compact allows you to be heavier than that all important 4000 lbs, while still being -1 to-hit. If you can slope it, that will make you -2 to-hit, above and beyond your speed, which is likely to be quite high most of the time.  It is also possible to make a ram car with a bigger body, like a luxury.  For a PURE ramcar, the ONLY advantage to this is that it allows you the “luxury” of having a roll cage and lots of Component Armor.  This option can be absolutely devastating, but it's likely to break your $15K budget.

- As a ram car, once you become a mobility kill, you're done.  So good tires are a necessity, especially when you remember that you're likely to be hitting defensive dropped weapons and obstacles.  I usually go with hubs in front and guards in back as well.  Solid tires.  At Div 15, Solid radials are cost prohibitive, so don't bother.

- Maneuverability is the key component to a ram car.  Spoiler and Airdam should be the first item recorded on your sheet, right below your Heavy Suspension.  Of course you'll put your points into Driver skill as well.  That's an HC of 5 when you are at or above 60 mph, which is not bad.

- Acceleration is also key to this design.  You are most vulnerable when you are at low speeds, so you'll want to invest in a high acceleration, possibly with a couple of small Rocket Boosters for after you nail your first opponents.  Remember that a fatal ram is going to be about 80 mph, unless you are hitting a fight-side, in which case you may need 100+ mph.  Since you are taking a small vehicle, you want the SMALLEST and LIGHTEST powerplant you can possibly afford.  A 150 cid gas engine can give a compact a heck of a kick and a 5-gal fuel tank doesn't take up any space, so that may be the best of both worlds.  You may elect to go with an electric, but remember, you're trading down on armor because electrics are heavier.  If you can afford a gas engine and get the Top Speed you want, that is the way to go.

- You're going to be taking some fairly serious hazards when you collide with folks, plus they'll try to drop your HC if they can, so HD Shocks are an expensive, but very nice option, especially if you decided to slap a Rocket Booster onto this beast.  Another thing to consider is that when you ram someone, they may have bumper-triggered defensive weaponry.  A front-mounted junk-dropper on a bumper trigger with sand ammo is a big help here.  It usually won't prevent you from hitting the dropped stuff, but it will help you from taking the penalty for it DURING the ram.  This of it this way... an 80 mph t-bone will drop your speed to 40 mph, which is a D4 (D3 if you have shocks).  BUT, if that happens on ice, it becomes a D8 (D7 with shocks).

- EVERY car you design should have SOME defense against fire, a portable FE being an absolute minimum.  In this case, your driver won't have much to do, so give him a portable and also consider a vehicular FE, if you can fit it, especially considering your gas engine.

- Other goodies to consider include Snow Tires, smokescreen (makes it harder for the shooters to hit you, but doesn't change your tactics in the least),  fireproof armor, fake weapons (deception is your best friend), active suspension (damn unlikely at Div 15), dropped weapons or dischargers (remember, a SINGLE $100 discharger placed under a mobility killed vehicle can earn you the rest of the kill).  Some people like HD Brakes or ABS, but since I NEVER decelerate on purpose, I wouldn't know.  I drive that way in real life too.

I'm not trying to suggest that the above process will result in the BEST of all possible ram cars, only that it will give you a very FOCUSED ram car.  Use the same type of process when designing whatever you have decided upon.  Every time you add something to the sheet, ask yourself if it really helps the overall design, or if the money, weight and space would be better spent elsewhere.

Start with a focused design and your success can only improve.