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Game Info
Year
1981
Players
2-4
Age
10+
Playtime
120 min
Collection
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
Drive offensively! Car Wars is a game featuring freeways of the future in which the right of way goes to those with the biggest guns. Players choose their vehicle — complete with weapons, armor, power plants, suspension, and even body style — then they take them out on the road, either to come home as "aces" or to crash and burn. If a driver survives, his abilities improve and he can earn money to buy bigger and better cars. Advanced rules let players design their own customized cars, trucks, and cycles.
This entry covers Car Wars and Car Wars Deluxe, the first two editions of the rules. See also:
Car Wars Compendium, a.k.a. CWC and CWCII, for the third and fourth editions of the rules
Car Wars (Fifth Edition) for the revised and simplified edition of the game
Mini Car Wars, an introductory version of Car Wars originally printed on a single sheet of paper, requiring only a pencil and six-sided dice.
Car Wars Series for a complete list of expansions and supplements (including Autoduel Quarterly, the forty-issue Car Wars magazine)
Featured Videos
Review
GTS 2013 - Mage Wars
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–6 of 6
Video fUV7fLJN4a4
Watch It Played Review at 0:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65439 · mention_pk 159110
Click to watch at 0:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- The base game is not a collectible game, so players know exactly what is coming with the set.
- The game includes a four-player version, though it requires two box sets.
- The planning stage allows players to choose two spells from their entire spellbook.
- Expansions and supplemental materials are available to enhance the game.
- The game has active forums and training videos available online.
Cons
- To play a four-player game, two box sets are needed.
- The rules for four players require an additional board beyond the base game.
Thematic elements
- Mages battling other Mages
- arena
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance System — Creatures have action markers that are flipped when used, indicating they are spent for the round.
- Area Control — One of the expansion mages (Warlord) works on board control, generating more soldiers and becoming more powerful as they take over the board.
- card drafting — Players choose cards to populate their spellbook before the game starts.
- Dice rolling — Dice are used to determine attack success, damage, and special effects.
- hand management — Players select spells from their spellbook during the planning phase to cast.
- set collection — Spell books are built by selecting cards, with costs associated based on a mage's training and spell school.
- Variable player powers — Each mage has unique abilities and stats, including the size of their spell book and their training in different spell schools.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- hi welcome to GTS distributions come and play day here in Seattle my name is Rodney Smith from watch it played and I'd like to invite you to join me as we take a look at one of the many games being featured here at this event
- The idea is you are a mage, you put together your own spells, you've gone through all this training and you're going to the arena to battle other mages.
- This is not a collectible game so when you buy the game you know exactly what's coming with the set.
- The planning stage so you're going to grab your spell book and rather than randomly draw you actually go through and pick this is what's neat so you you have access to everything in the book.
- The game ends when you drop the other Mage so you could cuz you're in range so 0 1 2 oh you could just bypass the oh the strength well I feel like it's a closing move unn I at least at least take a little knock at your yeah I'm going to do that can I go after so I'm going to roll these up let's see I see a seven oh I see some Critical Hits oh nice okay so I'm understanding this correctly these two can't be blocked even by the Mage right okay and this is going to be possibly block and then if I had armor on her right totally I could possibly ignore those numbers
- Every mage has a card that has all their stats so the very first stat is the most important it's the size of your spell book okay so this says 120 points you then check her training which is in light which is what that symbol means so trained in the Holy school um dark spells Cost Triple during spell book creation yes so it means that she really likes the holy spells she really doesn't like the dark spells yes well if we were to look and grab a couple of spells out of this in the upper right hand corner it shows what so this is a holy spell and what level so two so for her to include this in her book cost her two points no problem very simple however when we put armor on her or added that to her spell book this is an elemental air school for one point so in this case she pays double because she's not directly trained in it
- Mage Wars dot com
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video gLCZkCx8464
Watch It Played Discussion at 10:38 sentiment: other
video_pk 65296 · mention_pk 158942
Click to watch at 10:38 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
null
Pros
- Arcane Wonders produces exclusives for Kickstarters, dice tower promos, and cards handed out at conventions, but promises that eventually they'll print the promo cards as expansions.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I hate exclusives the term means to exclude essentially I love promos though paid for or not because the main part of promos is that they're Promotional and you receive them For Your Love of the Game and you can get one if you fail at getting it the first time it may cost extra money or require going to a convention but they are findable assuming that they're not exclusive promos I just like this comment because I think well first of all there is some gray area isn't there because some promos are so hard to get they may as well be exclusive
- I don't have the extras the upgraded components all the extra figures that separate campaign and I'm going to try to get them if I can but if I don't then I'm G try to recognize the existence of some other product out there somewhere in the world and somebody else having it should not affect my enjoyment of the product that I have in front of me if I like this game not having some other element of it shouldn't change that I what I'm saying is I think a lot of it's psychological and I don't want psychological tricks or compulsions to overwhelm my enjoyment of anything
- my completionist side always seeks out the promos to go with a base game I will say that I have yet to have a gaming experience where I said wow that promo really makes this game shine most of the time we're not thinking of who played what card promo component during a certain turn because it doesn't add that much to the overall experience it's just those times that I'm admiring my collection when the Sinister completionist side comes out
- I don't want psychological tricks or compulsions to overwhelm my enjoyment of anything
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ymgQiX1caoM
UndeadVikingVideos Discussion at 2:50 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 31422 · mention_pk 92578
Click to watch at 2:50 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- strategic resource/risk management in high-octane battles
- Vehicular combat arena with customized cars and battle logistics
- tactical play with a lightweight narrative backdrop
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combat: Damage Based — combat using weaponized cars and damage tracking
- movement_planning — pre-planned actions with tactical positioning
- Pattern Movement — pre-planned actions with tactical positioning
- Resource management — managing money, repairs, and upgrades
- resource_management — managing money, repairs, and upgrades
- vehicle_customization — modifying cars with weapons, armor, and components
- vehicular_combat — combat using weaponized cars and damage tracking
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we play our own version of Dn D that we created in high school
- you absolutely need somebody who isn't willing to just play it safe
- there you go. Um that's the person you need that person in your gaming group
- be the fool, allowing themselves to be the idiot and then creating the friction that the players have to get through
- be willing to let their character be the fool, and not go too far to become a nuisance
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video S0E4paTiMRA
Tabletop Minions Discussion at 1:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9472 · mention_pk 27997
Click to watch at 1:39 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- nostalgic appeal
- deep customization
- tactical vehicle combat
Cons
- shipping delays
- complex rules
Thematic elements
- car combat and customization
- Post-apocalyptic United States highways; vehicular combat
- retro-futuristic
Comparison games
- Gas Lands
- Bolt Action
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Customization and equipment — Extensive options for weapons, armor, and gadgets to modify vehicles.
- Terrain-driven scenarios — Games can be set with varying terrain and mission goals.
- vehicle combat — Players control customizable cars with weapons and armor, engaging in turn-based battles.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- kickstarter is a great thing for what it's meant for
- I'm not against crowdfunding and I'm not against kickstarter I'm against big companies like hasbro and coolmini or not and stuff like that who just use it as basically a marketing thing
- supply chain from china is just drying up right now
- kickstarters are slow down due to shipping issues
- there's a lot of talk about the shipping container costs and how that affects pricing
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video l0hG5fR959c
Tabletop Minions Discussion at 8:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 424 · mention_pk 1279
Click to watch at 8:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- iconic, foundational vehicle combat game
- fun at local clubs and gatherings
Cons
- older mechanics can be verbose to learn for new players
Thematic elements
- vehicular combat with customized cars and weapons
- Post-apocalyptic road-war environment
- driven by competitive, fast-paced chase scenarios
Comparison games
- Gaslands
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card/map-based combat with miniature vehicles — classic setup uses map panels and cardboard/chits for combat actions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- all the money like they have this huge raffle for all this stuff that gets donated all that money goes to charity
- Gaslands has far less paperwork when I used to play Car Wars
- Kill Team is kind of my jam right now as far as skirmish games are concerned
- Nova Open is a great convention
- Squats would be back and Age of Sigmar would be a thing
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 0BvMMMeoios
Tabletop Minions Discussion at 13:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 488 · mention_pk 1433
Click to watch at 13:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Classic, iconic concept with a lot of nostalgia
- Tends to scale well on smaller boards
Cons
- Original format can feel antiquated to new players
Thematic elements
- Vehicle duels with weaponized customization
- Futuristic car combat on a road-drenched arena
- B-movie feel, arena-style skirmishes
Comparison games
- Gaslands
- Ogre
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Vehicle customization and battle scoring — Guns, armor, and gadgets are slotted into a car chassis for battles
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Gaslands is a very cool game and it's like 20 bucks
- it's going to be probably more accessible to more people certainly
- I really like the kind of bidding system about how you who goes first
- you can't take Kill Team rules for most models too which is cool
- it's almost like X-wing Star Wars X-wing
- Gaslands is a very cool game and it's like 20 bucks and you go to town
- Kill Team is the way to go... it's the next logical step
- it's not about swapping a lot of weapons as much anymore
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–6 of 6