Our favorite type of Car Wars game is arena combat. Having designed many of our own arenas, we have found that some things just don't work, and others work too well. This section deals with the rules the Black Circle uses to govern arena combat.
 

BEGINNERS - If you're just starting out or if your driver was killed in the last game, you are allocated $20,000 to build a new vehicle and purchase equipment. New drivers may choose to have +1 driving skill or +1 gunner skill.

RETURNING DRIVERS - If your driver survived his or her last trip to the arena you are given the base $20,000 plus any winnings from the previous combat. You are not required to reuse or repair your damaged vehicle, as it is complicated enough to design a vehicle without having to figure repair costs.

GUNNERS - If your vehicle requires a gunner, you must hire one. A gunner with skill +0 goes for $1,000 per combat. A gunner with skill +1 goes for $2000 per combat. A gunner with skill +2 goes for $5000 per combat.

BANNED WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
      Anything with "military" in the title - too powerful
      Deadman switches - poor sportsmanship
      Poison Gas - poor sportsmanship, and a hazard to paying spectators
      Grenade launchers - calculations for using this weapon are too time consuming

PEDESTRIANS - May only earn money by walking across an obstacle once. There was a problem with a particular driver blocking access to a valuable obstacle marker with his vehicle and unloading three passengers who ran across the same marker over and over in order to rake in HUGE profits. This practice has been banned. Damn.

WHEN IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER - We plan our games to end at a predetermined time. When that time comes the game stops in its tracks. If you're headed toward a wall while rolling and burning across land mines, you're saved - because IT'S OVER.
 

Web posted by the Black Circle Gaming Society, March 1999 - February 2000.
Reprinted by the Seattle Washington Autoduel Team, February 2008.
Updated January 11, 2009; April 05, 2015; December 17, 2019.
Original URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~aardvarkz/car/speedup.html