Even More VOID RACERS!

Sample Work In Progress Racer Play Sheet.

Fear all the little blanks that need to be filled in! Well, not really.

Welcome back!

The top third of the sheet is where all the information about the racer goes: thrust points, modifiers, places to track damage, etc. The gray box in the center is for listing weapons, with range, ammo, and any "to Hit" modifiers and spacial rules. Those familiar with MEKA TAC - GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION will notice a similarity with that game's mecha sheets.

The rest of the sheet is for tracking your racer's movement across the table each turn. As the racer's movement during the previous turn has a effect of how it may move this turn, this information needs to be recorded. Each turn has its own line.

Initiative = last turn's speed + modifiers + die roll. The higher the score, the earlier in the turn your racer activates. This is a racing game; speed is good.

TP (Thrust Points) Spent: It's a spot to jot down the number of thrust points used in the current activation. Each racer has a finite number of them, and unspent thrust points cannot be saved for later use.

Vector: This is where the shorthand notation (usually one or two pairs of a letter and a number) of where you'll end up at the end of this activation, and where you'll end up next activation if thrust points are not used. Movement is based from where you'll end up if the racer does nothing, not from where the racer starts its activation. Momentum is a cruel mistress, so plan ahead.

Speed: The number of hexes the racer enters during its activation. This is the path from where the racer starts its activation to where it ends its activation. Do not count any turns, only movement through hexes.

Facing: The racer's final facing at the end of its activation, or latest facing, as certain factors may force a change the racer's facing outside of its activation. Thrust comes out the back of a racer, so where it's pointed is important.

VOID RACERS is MEKA TAC - GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION with a slightly more complex movement system. More about that next posting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Void Racers Mini Playtest #1

Furball at the First Gate, End of Second Turn.

Had a quick playtest this weekend. As it was just one game of several others planned, it ended up only lasting a few turns. We had 4 independent players, while I refereed. The players were experienced gamers, but not regular wargamers, so their gameplay was very educational.   

The VOID RACERS Playtest Course.

The map above was the intended course, but on a small table. The players easily grasped most of the mechanics, though the movement system took a little experience to master.

Observations:

The players didn't gracefully swoop around the bottom of Gate 1 to get to Gate 2; that would have impeded shooting the crap out of each other. They passed through the first gate, then burned their thrust points to immediately go back through in the other direction. As they had all passed through the gate in the correct way, there was nothing lost by going back through the other way. It's space; you can do that.

Area effect weapons are very, very messy in close quarters.

Bigger play areas are preferred, as there is greater opprotunity for maneuvering out of weapons' range.

The game is doing what was envisioned, so work shall continue.

More Void Racers

Preview of a Sample VOID RACERS Race Course Carousel.

Racing is the core of VOID RACERS. Okay, racing while shooting at the other racers is the core of VOID RACERS. I mean, who would pay perfectly good credits just to watch a bunch of vehicles making continuous left-hand turns for hours on end without any weapons-fire? Booooring.

Race Course Basics: 

The orange line with arrows shows the intended flow of the course. The course above is "once through"; no laps.

The red line is the firing line. A racer's weapons are locked until it passes that point in the course. After that, weapons are hot and crowd goes wild! And there is nothing stopping the pilot from shooting at the slowpokes who still have their weapons locked.

The lines with circles at the ends are gates that the racer must pass though. They represent a pair of stationary buoys marking the location and size of the gate. A racer may need to pass though the same gate more than once in a race, and not necessarily in the same direction.

The green gate is the starting gate. Racers must start the race behind it and pass through it to enter the course. 

The three blue, numbered gates represent narrow areas the racers must pass through in a particular direction and order. Going through the wrong way or in the wrong sequence does not count towards course completion. Note that one gate is labeled "1 & 4", meaning that the racers must pass though it twice - when entering and exiting the loop portion of the course.

The black gate is the finish line. Again, a racer must pass in between the buoys to finish the course.

The first racer that finishes the course wins the race.  

VOID RACERS

Preview of VOID RACERS counter sheet.

I've been working on a space racing game titled VOID RACERS. It's based on Meka Tac - Giant Stompy Robots Edition, but uses a quasi-Newtonian, 2-D movement system on a hex grid. A racer's movement is carried over to the next turn. The direction and speed does not change unless the pilot applies thrust to change where it's going during the movement phase of its activation. Players are encouraged to build their own racers, which are basically space fighters. Rules for designing race courses and a campaign system will be included. The game can be used for space fighter dogfights, as well. Though intended as a miniature wargame, enough counters will be included to play without figures. It should handle up to 12 players, but that will be determined in play-testing - which will begin soon.