Car Wars Internet Newsletter
Vol. 7, No. 1
March 21, 2054
 

Web Posted December 31, 2004
Updated December 31, 2004


THE GUNNERY CHAIR
 

Back from Highway One

Surprise autoduelists. Your source for auto-combat tabletop gaming news has returned. This lab rat has been locked away to play with Bunsen burners for three months by his keepers (i.e. working seven days a week in his laboratory), but this rodent has returned to his cyberdeck.
 
 

Start Running

The Running Man, the 1987 death sport movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was re-released two weeks ago as Special Edition two-DVD package. In addition to having widescreen and fullscreen versions, The Running Man Special Edition has a "Meet the Stalkers" multimedia gallery featuring "statistics" and "facts" of the five Stalkers in the film.
 
 

Wizards Exodus

Wizards of the Coast
http://www.wizards.com

Hasbro has decided to shutdown all Wizards of the Coast and The Game Keeper stores in the United States. Currently most items are at least 30 percent off their retail prices. Now is a great time to drop by these stores and pick up copies of d20 Modern, D&D 3.5, Mechwarrior Dark Age Dice Sets, and Car Wars Fifth Edition books.
 
 

WADA Lockdown

Because of a lack of Car Wars events reported last year, the 2053 WADA Car Wars League was terminated in mid-summer last year. I apologize for not announcing this decision at the time.

For the same reason, I have decided to postpone the WADA Car Wars League indefinitely. If there is more interest and more support, I will consider running a new tournament in 2005.

Thank you for all of your support of the WADA Car Wars League concept. All of you who participated helped me accomplish the main goal of the establishment of WADA: spread the popularity of Car Wars.

The SWAT and WADA Web sites will still be maintained on a quarterly or bi-monthly schedule.
 

See you next issue with a short salvo of news and reports from the arenas and highways of Autoduel America.

Drive offensively,

Michael P. Owen
 


50 YEARS AGO TODAY
 

ARMY DEPLOYED IN BEER RESCUE
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/21/offbeat.russia.beer/index.html

CNN
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 Posted: 0744 GMT (3:44 PM HKT)

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian troops have retrieved 10 tons of beer trapped under Siberian ice, the Itar-Tass news agency has reported.

The truck carrying the beer sank when trying to cross the frozen Irtysh river, near the Siberian city of Omsk, around 2,200 km (1,400 miles) from
Moscow.

The driver and his partner managed to escape, leaving the beer-laden truck.

The rescue team of six divers, 10 workers and a modified T-72 tank from the Emergencies Ministry managed to save the load after a week-long operation.

They pulled the truck to an ice hole, opened the doors, and managed to pull out the kegs and bottles of beer.

But as they were ready to retrieve the truck, the rope tore, leaving the truck on the bottom of the river, deputy head of the Cherlak district
administration Vasily Yatkovsky told Tass.

The Rosar brewery in Omsk, part of the Interbrew Belgian group, says it is ready to take the beer back.

With temperatures around minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit) in the area, the brewery told Tass the beer was still in good
condition.

Tass quoted the brewery as saying it will sell the beer as a rarity, but with a discount.
 
 

REPORT: 'BOND-LIKE' CAR USED BY RABBIT POACHERS
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/14/offbeat.belgium.poachers.reut/index.html

Reuters News Service and CNN
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Posted: 11:48 AM EST (1648 GMT)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Belgian police have caught two rabbit poachers whose armor-plated getaway car was equipped with so many gadgets it would not have been out of place in a James Bond film.

Belga news agency said Tuesday the poachers were caught overnight with 14 wild rabbits in the back of a car that they had reinforced with metal plates to stop bullets.

The car was also equipped with an automated box ready to spring tire traps to slow pursuers. The poachers had fitted a halogen lamp on the outside to blind their prey and shielded the car's number plates with lead sheeting to avoid identification.

There was also a device to eject two old bicycles fixed on the back of the car on to the road as an obstacle to any vehicle in hot pursuit, Belga
reported.
 


WEB WATCH
 

NEW OMAHA VEHICULAR ASSOCIATION
http://novacw.com

New Files
Arena Watch: Pearl Harbor Aquaduel Arena, Thunder Valley Racetrack; Texas World Dueltrack
Supplements: Back Country Bob's 2053 Off-Road Catalog

Updated Files
Supplements: Metropolitan Motors Vehicle Guide
 


VIRTUAL AUTODUEL REVIEW
 

INITIAL D COLLECTIBLE CARD GAME

Subject: RE: Car Wars Internet Newsletter 6.12
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 23:12:14 -0600
From: Jim Hintz <hintzjim@hotmail.com>
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>

Hey Michael,

I've been trying to help contribute, but you never seem to print anything I send you. I sent you info on Initial D CCG from Alderac Entertainment that I thought the Car Wars players would be interested in but there was no mention of it. I'm willing to try and help you, but I'm not having a lot of success.

-- Jim "Napthyme" Hintz
Jim, I am very sorry about forgetting you sent me notice about the Intial D CCG. You are absolutely right. You have been one of the few readers of CWIN whom has sent me articles for submission a regular basis. I acknowledge part of the late schedule of CWIN is because of my time commitments with work. I will try to improve on my end in 2004, however having more submissions (besides from you and the other regular writers) would motivate me to get this magazine out on time. Thanks, Jim, for not giving up on me and for your support.

-- MPO
 

From: Jim Hintz <hintzjim@hotmail.com>
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>
Subject: CWIN Submission
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 00:22:55 -0600

Hello all. Glad to see the CWIN hasn't died. Thought you'd all be intrested in the new CCG (collectable card game) of auto racing from AEG called Initial D based on the Japanimation of the same name.

Take a better look at the website at this address.

Initial D Collectible Card Game
http://www.initialdccg.com

Here's what AEG's Web site has to say about it.
 

Welcome to the world of Initial D, where "The Fast and the Furious" meets "Speed Racer!" Take the role of car drivers and owners who "trick" out vehicles with killer modifications and race at one of the many tracks from the show. Once the race starts, use actions to outmaneuver and outwit your opponent to cross the finish line first. Like all great CCGs, Initial D takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.

Initial D comes in 4 different 55 card starter decks. Choose from Trueno 86, SIL-80, MR2, or the RX-7 FD Type R. Each contains a full-color rules sheet and counters.

Boosters to add to the precontructed starters are available to help you complete the 216-card set.

Starters retail for $12.99 and boosters retail for $3.29.
 

If your interested in these check out my eBay store where a lot of different games can be found. Initial D is on special order right now in the eBay store, so e-mail me for availability.

eBay Stores: Napthyme's Roleplaying Den
http://www.ebaystores.com/napthymesroleplayingden

For those who are gaming nuts, come join my MSN group where gamers seem to congrigate.

MSN Groups: Napthyme's Roleplaying Den
http://groups.msn.com/NapthymesroleplayingDenStorecommunity/home.msnw

I've been a long time Car Wars player and gamer. I want to keep Car Wars alive as much as everyone else.

Thanks for looking at my store. Let me know if I can help you find anything else.

-- Jim "Napthyme" Hintz
 


WADA NEWS
 

PLAY-BY-INTERNET AUTODUELING

Subject: Submission for CWIN
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 07:40:10 -0700
From: Ken <kendawg7@comcast.net>
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>

Hi, Michael. I'm a member of a Car Wars group on Yahoo, and today I received the following. I thought you could use it for the newsletter.
 

Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 19:13:39 -0000
From: Mike Krogh <mike_krogh@yahoo.com>
Subject: Amateur Night Last Night

I finally got a few of my friends together to play.  As an intro to the new rules, we all played as Killer Karts. The arena was set up like so:
 ________
/                   \
| O            O  |
\________/

We had six players, and one started at each tapered end, and two on each long wall. Two players joined in later in the game.

Some highlights:

* A 40-mph head-on collision that killed both drivers
* A t-bone followed by a MG burst that damaged all the way through to the opposite side of the armor
* I was rammed from behind, destroying my rear armor and minedropper. I turned away from my foe and performed a bootlegger, and unloaded my MG into his unarmored front, killing him.

All in all, it was lots of fun. Everyone picked the game up really quickly and the later rounds were especially fast. The few things that were a downside were the starting speeds (10 mph, which basically wasted a turn), the uneven starting placement of the cars (which gave the people at the ends an advantage), and the similarity of the cars (next time, next time).

TRI-STATE AUTO RALLY
http://www.geocities.com/tsarnj

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 23:32:29 -0500
From: Curt Lindmark <lindmark@optonline.net>
Subject: Re: Car Wars Internet Newsletter 6.12
To: Michael P. Owen <owenmp@serv.net>

Mike,

Sorry for all the one-way travel, but here's something that might spice up your mag.
 

Play-by-E-Mail Car Wars Hosted by the Tri-State Auto Rally

TSAR HQ is the Web site for gaming enthusiansts in the southern Jersey-Philadelphia area. While table games are about once every 2-3 months, the real pull at TSAR is the PBEMs. Located just off the main page, TSAR runs at least one PBEM continuously. We've just recently
started running two at a time (two different referees) and always have a game on the horizon.

In the future, we're looking forward to a "as live as we can make it" PBEM game, using an Internet messenger, the World Wide Web, and lots of fast typing.

Come check us out. We're here all week.

Drive offensively,

Curt Lindmark
 
 

Subject: TSAR Alive and Well
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:18:13 -0500
From: Curt Lindmark <lindmark@optonline.net>
To: Michael P. Owen" <owenmp@serv.net>

Mike,

I'm writing this to you, based on the premise that you are in charge of the WADA Chapter List.

WADA Chapter Index: Dissolved Groups
http://www.serv.net/~owenmp/wada/groups2.html

TSAR, the Tri-State Auto Rally, is currently listed under "dissolved", based on the invalidity of the IP address you have. I'd like to update you with new information.

We've gone ahead and registered our domain, so we can always be found no matter what our ISP does to our IP address (it has changed several times since it was the last address you have).

We can now be permanently found at the Web address below. Please update our entry in your record.

Tri-State Auto Rally
http://www.cwhnj.com/tsarnj

Also, I noticed that MADHAT is listed under disbanded as well. I converse with Jim Anderson on a regular basis. I took over the maintenance of the MADHAT Vehicle Designer when the original author, Chris Johnson, didn't have time for it anymore. It's now hosted at the TSAR site.

Mid-South Autoduelists and Handgunners Attack Team
http://208.182.249.7/gaming

I am the referee in PBEMs that Jim's played in, and Jim's been the referee in PBEM's that I've played in. His site is also quite active. I'm not sure the means by which you measure the activity of a site, but I'm sure Jim would appreciate his site being reclassified as active.

As an aside, we are constantly running PBEMs. You're welcome to join in. Duel 9: Sudden Death, is still taking entries.

Thanks,

Curt Lindmark