Speed Rally 8/16/11

We had an opportunity to play another game of Speed Rally last Tuesday.  This time we tried a figure eight track where cars travelled in both directions on the straight away.  This was to encourage more people to use weapons.  

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so we were stuck using cell phones.  Fortunately Robb has a nice camera in his tablet.  Thanks for the help Robb!

The overall track.  Cars travel clockwise around the ruin and counterclockwise around the woods.  Illegal weapons use was not allowed in "the ring."  Anyone caught using them was immediately disqualified.

The Grid.  1. Brian (the Younger), grey Dodge Charger.  2. Matt, blue Honda Civic. 

3. Me, silver Chevy Hearse.  4. Todd, red Dodge Ram.  5. Robb, black Buick Grand National. 

6. Brian (the Elder), purple Lamborghini Diablo.  7.  Mike, DeLorean Time Machine.

Cars pour into the tight turn of "the ring."

Another shot of the pack entering "the ring."  It's a little tighter than I had originally planned.

After opening up with a pair of handheld machine guns, Todd stops to reload.  The back of the pack is having a tough time getting started.

Brian makes the first move in a series that will make him the most hated driver on the track, and everyone's prime target.

And the Charger lays another strip of oil, and pits for some more, as well as to patch a couple machine gun holes!

Near misses start popping up in the straightaway!

The pack leaders scream around "the ring" and headlong into a 3rd oil slick!

Another shot of the same situation.

The back of the pack spreads out, and the Lamborghini attempts to negotiate the oil.

Brian's exotic didn't make it and ended up in the grass...

 Attempting to end Brian's oil dropping day, I lined up a T- bone.  Of course I had to roll snake eyes to fail my roll and destroy my car outright!

Yep.  Definately dead.  It was concluded that the impact forced the engine into the passenger compartment, and pushed the driver into the back of the vehicle, where he now belonged.  And he even got a Viking funeral.

Later that race...

Carnage continues, with some drivers abandoning their hopes of winning to simply destroy the Oil King!

Cars pass by Brian's Charger, ramming and firing.  The damage is heavy on the Charger and eventually it is destroyed!  This being done, everyone agrees that the race is over.  Plus it was late.

Mike was declared the winner! 

The next race will be bigger, and will make use of most, if not all, of the upgrades in the rulebook.  It should be a blast!

Speed Rally 5/3/11

We played another game of Speed Rally last night, this time playing without the gridded track.  We had three new players this time, and it seemed that everyone, again, had a good time. 

It seems that the general consensus is we like playing "off- road" even more, due to the extra chaos involved.  This may be the last Speed Rally game in a while for us, but we've already got plans in the works for some "bigger and better" races.

The course.  Major features included two jumps over a river, twisting roadways through the city, and treacherous jungle terrain.

The grid. 

Position	Player	Driver	Car
1	Mike	Soccer MILF	Silver Mercedes SUV
2	Todd	Dr. Evil	Orange Chevy Nomad
3	Bob	Marty McFly	Deloean Time Machine
4	Chris	Christine	Red Plymouth Belvedere
5	Jason	Biff	Red Hemi 'Cuda converable
6	Robb	Hammond Eggs	#53 Stock Car
7	Casey	Guy Manman	#70 Plymouth Superbird

The view of the city from another angle.  Vehicles must pass between the cones in order to be counted as passing a checkpoint.

A closer shot of the jungle course.  The center is a field of tall grass.  The route is shorter, but more dangerous.

The front of the pack clears the first jump.  The silver Mercedes takes an early lead, but the #70 Superbird is quickly moving forward in the pack, already in 3rd from 7th.  Unfortunate spinout by several cars in town caused two packs of cars to form.

In the city, between the 1st and 2nd checkpoints.  Cars scramble to get back in the race.

Soccer MILF leaves oil slicks on the safest paths through the jungle, forcing drivers to find more creative routes.

Casey increases his lead as he finishes the first lap.  Soccer MILF is close behind, while everyone else battles it out in the jungle.

Hammond Eggs and Biff battle it out at the end of the 1st lap.

#70 takes a wide path through the jungle, but due to his excellent driving skills the driver still laps slower cars.

Biff uses his ram plate to soften up Dr. Evil's Nomad.  #53 polishes him off with some small arms fire.

Soccer MILF suffers a nasty spinout, allowing Hammond Eggs to close the gap.

Biff and Christine battle it out, not for field position, but to see who can spin out the most!

A last place Marty McFly harasses the #40 Superbird as it tries to finish the race.

To add insult to injury, Guy Manman rams the Delorean and then showboats after crossing the finish line.  Classy! :)

Speed Rally 4/26/11

We had another game of Speed Rally this past Tuesday night.  We played on a slightly larger table, so I modified the track slightly as well.  There were also 7 players which made things very interesting.

The starting grid; Jeff's '69 Ford Torino Talledega in white, my super cool '55 Chrysler 300 in flat black, Brian's '70 Dodge Challenger R/T in purple, Casey's '69 Dodge Charger in flat grey, Ben's super sized VW Golf GTi convertible in red (too boring to bother finding out what year, sorry!), Adam's 1999 Dodge Charger R/T Concept in red, and Todd's '81 Malibu Police car.

 An overall shot of the track.

Turn 5 proved to be tricky for several drivers.  The '69 Charger is already in the sand, the Golf is maneuvering back into the race, and under Ben's armes the 300 is off the track as well.

The police cruiser tries to pass the 300 again.  An aggressive bash stops that move.

The race leaders get cozy in the straight.

Again the 300 bashes the police car as it tries to pass.  This time the Chrysler pays the price!

Jeff and Brian start their 2nd lap.

The back of the pack.  The Charger Concept and Golf battle for position, while the '69 Charger pulls up the rear, firing a machine gun at any who are in range.

Chaos!  The villian in the grey Charger opens up again with his personal machine gun, but everyone is able to avoid the attack!

Somehow the VW breaks free of the cluster at the back of the pack and closes in on the Challenger.

The '69 Charger powers through the final loop and around the competition.

The race so far.  The Ford has a strong lead approaching the final loop and the finish line.  The Challenger isn't too far behind, and the VW is just out of the shot in 3rd.  the 300 and Malibu are about to finish their first lap, with the Chargers recovering after spinning out in the loop.

Out for blood!  The Golf passes the Challenger, but spins out.  To be spiteful, Brian rams Ben's battered car, bringing it down to 1 hit.  Smelling blood in the water, Casey lines up another machine gun shot...

And scores a hit on the Golf, ending his race day. 

At this point is was late and cars were scattered off the track in all directions due to heavy damage and taking EVERY turn too fast, so we called it.  We already had a winner anyway.  Any other place is still losing! :)

Again, a very fun game.  the course was narrow and brutal with that many cars.  Next week we will run one more race, this time withought the race track tiles!  Point limit is up to 2,500 and the course will be treacherous!

Speed Rally- 4/5/11

Tuesday we gave Speed Rally by Glory Games another play.  The first game we played using very basic pregenerated cars to get a feel for the rules.  This time each player was allowed to make a 2,000 point car for a no weapon restriction race.

For those who aren't familiar with Speed Rally, check out their website.  There is also a review on Miniature Wargaming.

Only 4 of us played, but we were limited to a 6' x 4' table so it wasn't so bad.  We do know from playing that the more, the merrier!

The track was inspired by the short course at Suzuka in Japan.  Here is a shot of the overall track:

We are running the course "backwards" today because last time we ran it forwards and we want a bit of variety.

The grid:

Pole Position: Chris (me!)  Driver: Ivan Jehrkov, Villian.  Skill: 5 Reaction: 5.  Stock car #71, Computer, Nitro Boost, Oil Slick, Hand Grenade.

2nd: Todd; Driver: Super Trooper, Hero.  Skill: 5 Reaction: 5.  Sports car Police Car, Ram, Armor, Nitro Booster, Computer, Hyper Brakes.

3rd: Jeff; Driver: Dick Cheese, Good Ol' Boy.  Skill: 5 Reaction: 5.  Sports car #15, Nitro Booster, Stunt Suspension, Hyper Brakes.

4th: Brian; Driver: Unknown, Good Ol' Boy.  Skill: 5 Reaction: 5.  Sports car Grand Torino Talladega, Super Computer, Nitro Booster, Double Engine. 

The race started off with a bit of a log jam in the first corner.

 Things space out a bit more through turns 2 and 3 as 71 and the police go in very cautiously.

I saw what kind of success 15 and the Gran Torino were having through the turns, so I decided to pour on the power.  I used both of my nitro boosts in two turns.  It looked like it was really going to pay off until I finally failed a skill roll and wiped out in the last corner.

 And being I was facing the right way I thought I'd throw down a slick across the track...

 ...which the Gran Torino idled through and the #15 Ford just drove around.

 The action after lap 1.  #15 is well in the lead, the Gran Torino in 2nd, the police cruiser trailing a distant 3rd, and #71 just about to finish its first lap.

 A low angle shot as the leaders power through turn 6.

 And the back of the pack coming out of turn 1.

 Some of the vendors attending today's race.

 Super Trooper, desperately trying to make up some ground, tries blowing through the oil slick.  It doesn't work and he spins around in a circle. 

 The leaders starting their 3rd and last lap.  The police cruiser is about a half a lap back, and #71 is AGAIN spun out on the track and in a position to be lapped.

 Dick Cheese tries to pass Ivan Jehrkov on the outside.  Ivan responds by tossing a grenade at the Mustang, forcing Dick to swerve out of the way to avoid the blast!

 The Grand Torino forces it's way past, making the pass past #15, and forcing #71 careening off the track!  It is now determined that Ivan Jehrkov is the worst villian in racing.

 And the final positions.  The Grand Torino pulls out a suprising victory by a mere 3 squares thanks to a good double engine roll and the nitro booster he managed to save for the entire race.  Super Trooper  finished 3rd, and #71 didn't even bother trying... :)

 Another shot of the track.

This is a really fun, lighthearted, beer- and- pretzles game.  I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys goofy racing that's quick and easy!