AADAQ's Sneak Peek

We've gotten an exclusive sneak peak at one of Uncle Al's newest batch of weapons, and in this article we're going to give a few tips on how best to use it. Most of the weapons are still pretty hush-hush, but the R&D boys were kind enough to whet our appetites a little by giving us this glimpse. One of the most talked about of the new batch is the Rolling Mine. The RM drops a mine, in spherical form, that travels at the speed of your vehicle and does a great deal of damage when it hits its target. It's being labelled as the final nail in the coffin for those infuriating mobility kills. Head towards your target, drop a few mines, and then divert your attention elsewhere as the mines continue on their merry way towards another 20 points. While we don't yet have any actual specifications for the weapon, we do have some words of advice from the guys who get to test all the new weapons over at Uncle Al's R&D.

Apparently, there's a little more to this weapon than meets the eye. You may be one of those guys who simply opt to drop a mine or two and let them do their thing, but a few of the more daring temp fate by playing with these little rolling balls of death. 'Herding' is what they're calling it, and it's tantamount to, literally, playing with fire. (Or, if not fire, then a really big explosion.) There are two ways to herd a mine. The first, when the mine is dropped from the front of your vehicle, is considered to be somewhat safer. A mine dropped in front of your vehicle will not slow down as a mine on its own would. The vehicle continues to push the mine along at its current speed. Ordinarily, if a driver were to turn their vehicle, the mine would keep its original direction. However, if the driver performs a D2 swerve, he or she may steer the mine slightly in a new direction. This only works with an unmodified D2 swerve (a D1 drift, follwed by a D1 bend). See figure 1 below.

fig.1

Turning with the mine.

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In the illustration above, the blue car is demonstrating the D2 swerve in three steps. The first shows the position of the mine if dropped from the front of the car. It stays centered on the car and keeps that position until the car performs a drastic enough maneuver and the two separate. The second step shows the car performing the D1 drift, with the mine not change position. (If the drift isn't performed in the maneuver, the mine would roll right off the bumper with an ordinary bend.) The third step is the D1 bend. When this is performed, the mine is conformed to the angle of the car. If you look closely, you'll notice that the mine is no longer centered on the car and has drifted slightly to the right. If this maneuver is performed consecutively the mine

will eventually roll off the bumper and be on its own. If you look below, Figure 2 shows two successive D2 swerves, and the mine beginning to slide closer to the car's edge. (Note: to aid the visual effect in each of these illustrations, the cars have been moved apart. A true depiction would show the cars touching front to back.) The D2 swerve is not a maneuver that gains you very much lateral distance. Looking at Figure 2 again, you'll see that the car is still somewhat centered on the horizontal line. Again, this maneuver is predominantly intended to keep the mine on the front of the car, and to alter its original direction. You may keep the mine positioned to the front of your car as long as you like to 'save' the round. At any time you may brake, or turn away, to 'launch' the mine forward.

fig.2

Mine begins to drift right.

Next Month:

Part 2 of our article will discuss 'catching' an opponent's mine and sending it in another direction! Much more difficult and dangerous!

Next month will also show a bit of the Lucky Homer. Another one of Uncle Al's new weapons that blurs the lines of who made the kill.