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Some older gamers likely have a lot of nostalgia for the franchise; others may be new to the autodueling scene. Check out the totally revised game - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/car-wars-sixth-edition-by-steve-jackson-games

I am interested, even though I never played it back in the day.

Not sure if there’s enough there in this game to justify a big investment though…

From the news and gameplay videos, it is quite different from the 80s version of the game that was mired in minutia that was so typical of games of that era. Been sped up, and turned into a more X-Wing/Flightpath style game, with card decks to build and modify cars.

I would think about it, but games like Gaslands really grabbed me and won't let go.

Car Wars was one of those games that was brilliant and fun and beer and pretzels...until it made money and got popular. Then the expansions started flying and it got complex, creep set in, and all the idiosyncrasies (or bad rules if you want) got lost in the massive overload of available gear. The basic set (sold in one of those little plastic cases the size of a paperback) with the Midville map made for fun free for all playing.

Not sure it's worth a go now.

Car Wars, Star Fleet Battles, Advanced Squad Leader...80s gamers liked their bloated rules sets, but those kind of games have definitely fallen out of style. Thus, the complete revamp for Car Wars 6E. Phil Reed of SJG has already said ‘no’ to boats, tanks, helicopters, etc. this time....

Yes, the new edition plays fast, and car design is as easy as selecting the right card-components for your car.

I loved the old game, but no longer have the same patience for complex rules as I once did. This hits the nostalgia + far-better-rules sweet spot for me.

I still have Battlecars - which was ultra lite Car Wars from GW

LIke BattleTech seem to recall alot of the fun was building the cars using all the different stuff, all with pencil and paper

First impressions by Owlbear. He likes both. : http://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2019/08/car-wars-6e-and-gaslands-first.html

"Car Wars 6e uses a much more fun internal damage spray system. ... When you have no armor on a side, the damage bounces around internally in a semi-random order determined by damage cards. To me, this felt cinematic, but also realistic. Bullets bounce around and may miss the occupants completely, but take out weapons or other systems. Or vice versa. One could lose all armor on a side and still have functional weapons for a couple more turns. This was my favorite new mechanic by far.

Of course, you can wait for retail, then buy expansions piecemeal. Not to mention Hot Wheels.

BF for the free Uncle Al expansion has 12 hours left!

$74 BF has two expansions, including from SG's.
$139 BF is already as good a value as the $74 pledge plus its free add-ons, if you don't have your own terrain (playmat and road tiles).

I think it was a good plan to keep the concept of cars

How does this compare to gaslands?

Car Wars was my main wargame back in the 80’s/early 90’s. Looking at the mechanics from the vidio I watched, I don’t see a lot of the heart of the game in there. To be fair, I don’t have the time, energy, or playgroup for a hyper-dense 80’s wargame these days. Is name and nostalgia enough for me to plonk down the cash for it? Probably not. But I’ll be the first to admit, if they tried a slight update/polish on the classic game, it would fail hard these days. We’ve come a long way since then as a hobby.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
How does this compare to gaslands?

I posted Owlbear's impressions, but that's all I could find.

SJG has a classic Car Wars plus 6e pledge level. Looks like PDF versions are still available, and most of classic Car Wars components were supplied by the gamer, anyway.

Starting early (to give all of you more time to take advantage of this offer), the Cyber Monday deal is a $145 reward level that includes:

Car Wars Sixth Edition - $75 Kickstarter Special Price ($100 post-KS price)
Car Wars Miniatures Set 1 - $40 Kickstarter Special Price ($45 post-KS price)
Playmat #1 - $45 Kickstarter Special Price ($50 post-KS price)
Uncle Al's Upgrade Pack - $15 Kickstarter Special Price ($20 post-KS price)
Car Wars Armory Pack - $10 Kickstarter Special Price ($15 post-KS price)
Car Wars Road Tiles - $30 Kickstarter Special Price ($35 post-KS price)
Car Wars Dropped Weapons Pack - $20 Kickstarter Special Price ($25 post-KS price)

That's $235 worth of goodies ($290 post-KS) for only $145!

BTW, If you're playing Gaslands, look at the Road Tiles and Playmats.

EDIT: Aside from the $100 Core Set, no plans to sell the other products outside the SJG Warehouse 23 store So you might as well pay it all through KS.

 ced1106 wrote:
BTW, If you're playing Gaslands, look at the Road Tiles and Playmats.

Yes, especially the play mats!

"For those of you who have asked about getting add-on items without selecting the game as a reward, please see the new $100 reward level. Also: We have a new add-on we will be adding soon that will mesh nicely with this."

Road tile pics. Tiles are double-sided! : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/car-wars-sixth-edition-by-steve-jackson-games/posts/2701397

Ogre Battle Box sighted! 80+ miniatures for $80.

The $470,000 stretch goal has been unlocked, adding the Car Wars Linked Weapons Pack to the Double Ace rewards package. This set of cards -- two of each weapon in each of the four player colors -- expands your design options and adds more firepower to the game!

The linked weapons look like they should add quite a bit of design variety to the game. Nice.

Only 75 to go before taco...



Components overview

Always liked this game, but the old 2 D cars were better. Do I really need 3D, no and $400 to max out.

I still have my old stuff, but it's always been a bear to get the old gang to pull it out and play. As one of my friends put it "two hours for 5 seconds of carnage isn't worth it." ...And it always ends in a Ram.

I'm excited to see this new version, and I love the 3D models over the old easy-to-lose paper tokens.

Guess I'm in the minority of people who really enjoyed building cars the old way and trying out crazy concepts. *shrug* I know that would have very limited appeal in the age of short attention spans. But switching to a card game-y system? Meh.

Looks like the cards are just used to encapsulate the car option, I.e., more like x-wing than MtG.

The Car Wars card game is something else entirely.

 gorgon wrote:
Guess I'm in the minority of people who really enjoyed building cars the old way and trying out crazy concepts. *shrug* I know that would have very limited appeal in the age of short attention spans. But switching to a card game-y system? Meh.

I also enjoyed the hours of tinkering with designs and trying to find the perfect balance for the duel on the weekend. That sort of crunch is the core of the overwrought 80’s war game. Not getting that from 6th.

 gorgon wrote:
Guess I'm in the minority of people who really enjoyed building cars the old way and trying out crazy concepts. *shrug* I know that would have very limited appeal in the age of short attention spans. But switching to a card game-y system? Meh.

Check out the Car Wars reddit subforum.

And, nope, CW6 isn't going to invalidate your Classic CW games. SJG still sells PDFs for Classic CW, which was pretty much only a ruleset, and maps, at least for Arena.

Still need 75 backers for the Taco card, though!

 Nevelon wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Guess I'm in the minority of people who really enjoyed building cars the old way and trying out crazy concepts. *shrug* I know that would have very limited appeal in the age of short attention spans. But switching to a card game-y system? Meh.

I also enjoyed the hours of tinkering with designs and trying to find the perfect balance for the duel on the weekend. That sort of crunch is the core of the overwrought 80’s war game. Not getting that from 6th.

"Tinkering" is a great word choice. Because as overwrought as it was, the process for building made you feel a little like a mechanic in a way that a card-based system won't.

But this may prove to be really popular. It just might not be for me. *shrug*

 gorgon wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Guess I'm in the minority of people who really enjoyed building cars the old way and trying out crazy concepts. *shrug* I know that would have very limited appeal in the age of short attention spans. But switching to a card game-y system? Meh.

I also enjoyed the hours of tinkering with designs and trying to find the perfect balance for the duel on the weekend. That sort of crunch is the core of the overwrought 80’s war game. Not getting that from 6th.

"Tinkering" is a great word choice. Because as overwrought as it was, the process for building made you feel a little like a mechanic in a way that a card-based system won't.

But this may prove to be really popular. It just might not be for me. *shrug*

That was my feelings. What I remember and love would probably not be viable as a game today. If they re-did the game to please old grognards like me, it would probably fail. Deckbuilding might not have the same level of minutia that refining a car did, but it scratches a similar itch of customization. I know from my CCG days that tweaking a deck to play the way you want it, and keep a tight theme is a fun endeavor. And one that probably resonates better with the market these days.

I’m not backing this. It looks like fun, and I wish it the very best of luck. I’ve got a shelf full of the classic, that will probably never see the light of day again.

I backed the OGRE kickstarter, and played one game with the new set. I’ve done my part to keep the nostalgia alive. But I can’t justify doing it again for something that will probably see as much play as my old stuff.

But I still have my AADA pin on my geek coat

 Nevelon wrote:
But I still have my AADA pin on my geek coat

Would anyu of you be interested in merchandising? I'm surprised that they offered a polo shirt based on backer demand, but they did. I can pass onto them if you want pins and stuff.

They have a $100 pledge level that gets you $110 credit in add-ons. So Gasland players can get their playmats and road tiles, Ogre players can get mini's, and Classic CW gamers can get merchandising. :









As said, they also have Ogre miniatures. :





And here's the $140 level, which gets you $300+ of stuff. Core game MSRP will be $100, and no plans to sell other items outside of direct mail, SJG's Warehouse 23.

Tempting. Nice touch that they add something for people not interested in the actual kickstarter project, but the stuff around it. The OGRE stuff is a nice thing, as the whole Car Wars KS was a stretch goal from that KS. And swag is great for those just there for the nostalgia.

Honestly, I'd love to jump into this kickstarter, but with the expected ship date being November of next year (and likely to be late a few months), I'm just going to wait for retail and snag it then. That's the one downfall of kickstarting.

I definately will be on the hunt for that dice bag, after I snag the base game and tiles.