| What
is This ? |
3X Car Wars is a set of
rules and modeling suggestions
for playing the superb Steve Jackson game of Car
Wars with
toy cars, such as the ones created by Hot Wheels, Matchbox, etc. It's a
simple enough process, and it doesn't cost very much.
Included here is are tips on adding the wonder of three dimensions
to your autoduelling.
This page originally included information
exclusively for just one
modeling
scale (3X), since that was the scale that I had always played with.
But much of the Car Wars community plays at a
smaller 1.5X scale, and there are even some
"Size DoesMatter"
advocates who play at 16X scale.
After some remodeling, the 3XCW pages have been
updated to cover all three of
these scales (but I'm keeping the site name the same):
- 1.5X, or "Micro Machines" scale
- A great scale if you're short of space, since the arenas
and counters are only 50% larger than the original size. Widely
available Micro Machines models just fit on counters of this size.
- 3X, or "Matchbox" scale
- You'll need a bit more room for a decent sized arena, but
the plentiful supply of auto models in this scale make it very
attractive. Matchbox cars fit on counters that are three times the
standard size.
- 16X, or "Tonka" scale
- The ultimate scale for grabbing the attention of
passers-by. Tonka trucks and action figure vehicles usually fit on
counters that are a whopping sixteen times the standard. A wide variety
of vehicles are plentiful in this scale, as are very fashionable
pedestrian models! You'll need a whole lot of room to play
16X though.
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| Features |
Rules Modifications:
What you have to do to make Car Wars work
at larger scales.
There really isn't much to it -- you don't even have to know
how to multiply (but it would help).
Modeling Tips:
The whole
point of this is to allow players to play with and adore little shiny
toy
cars, just like kids do. This section has tips on modeling from both
myself and the ever-helpful autoduellist community.
Also included in this section are some 3X scale roadway templates
which were submitted by an avid duellist.
You can print them out and use them as a starting point for a
on-the-road event.
Photo Gallery:
A collection of model and event pictorals, including some great 3X and
16X vehicles.
Legal: The
usual disclaimers.
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| Note |
This is not a complete game; just a few suggestions on how
to adapt
Car Wars to a larger scale. In order to use this stuff, you must have
the
complete Car Wars rules:
- CAR WARS Compendium, 2nd ed.
- This is the main rule book for Car Wars shooting,
maneuvering, and
crashing, and it also contains car, cycle, car trailer, truck, boat,
hovercraft,
helicopter, and racing car design rules. This, or some other source of
the rules is needed, along with the suggestions here, to play 3X
Car
Wars.
- Uncle Al's Catalog From Hell.
- This supplement includes all of the design rules above, and
also introduces
lots of new weapons and accessories for your vehicle, new design rules
for jets and tanks, and detailed rules for jumping cars off of ramps.
The
regular rules of play are not included here, however. If
you've
never played Car Wars before, you should consider this text optional --
it just has a lot of extras. But if you play often, or you ever play in
an actual tournament, consider it mandatory: your opponents will.
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| Links |
- Steve
Jackson Games makes Car Wars, GURPS, and any other game
that uses
one-second turns. You'll
find a lot of Car Wars information here, as well as some links to other
fan pages, AADA chapters, etc.
- Michael Owen of SWAT
maintains the most comprehensive set of Car Wars links
I have ever
seen, and publishes an electronic newsletter devoted to the game.
Check here for, well, just about everything.
Michael Owen of SWAT
http://www.ior.com/~owenmp/cwlinks.htm
http://www.seanet.com/~owenmp/swathome.html
- Hot
Wheels and Matchbox are
the
two
most
popular
suppliers
of 3X-scale models.
You can check out their most recent releases on their web sites.
There's even a neat interactive truck design feature at the Matchbox
site, but I couldn't find the options that would let me select weaponry
....
- These folks use 1.5X-scale
miniatures for Car Wars. And there's
a bunch of good scenery ideas here too, including some great
billboards.
These folks
http://www.why.net/users/myself/silly/carwars/carwars.htm
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Copyright © 1998 by Doug Maltais, all rights reserved.
shots fired on the 3XCW page (and
still no armor breach!)
The 3XCW pages were last updated on June 1, 1998.
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