1. Since a turret on an oversized vehicle can fire at the top of a smaller vehicle from 1 1/2" to 6" away, and fires over any vehicle 1 1/2" or closer, and since a smoke cloud is 1/2" tall (assumed from the power of "darkness" under superhero rules on Autoduel Champions), can a turreted vehicle laser on an oversized vehicle fire over a smoke cloud with 1 1/2"? Within 6"?

2. In "ADQ&A" in issue 1, it states that a powerplant may not be ignited but in the "3rd Edition Rules Changes" in issue 2, it says the powerplant will ignite 50% of the time with any weapon damage, or 100% with lasers or FT's. Which is right?

3. Will the roll cage (ADQ 3) protect the interior components at all during a ram?

- Andrew Metzger, West Redding, CT

1. If your referee wants to deal with something this complicated, go ahead. But it would be much easier to assume that the smoke rises enough to block line-of-sight for oversized vehicles, too.

2. Go with the 3rd edition rules.

3. No.

1. Can you target the driver or gunner of a vehicle if he used a hand weapon during that turn? (i.e. he's hanging out the window firing an SMG...). If so, what sort of modifiers apply?

2. If a motorcyclist rides through a tear gas cloud (and doesn't fall unconscious), what happens? (He can't crawl!). Is HC affected?

3. Suppose a car is using hand weapons (window is open)... are the occupants affected by tear gas if they drive through a cloud?

4. Uncle Albert says if a gas mask is exposed to paint, the wearer is -2 to hit until the mask is removed, yet the drawing of the mask clearly shows the mask does not cover the eyes. (Even if it did, couldn't you wipe your goggles clean in 3 turns like you normally can?).

5. Can cyclists catch on fire from laser and flamethrower hits, and power plant damage? How about a cycle fire extinguisher? Does it cost and weigh the same as a car's?

- Mike Emrick, Gainsville, FL

1. You can't target people in cars firing hand weapons. They are firing out of small, untargetable firing ports.

2. A cyclist goes to Crash Table 1 if he gets a "crawl" result, and he loses 2 from his HC for 3 turns in any case.

3. For simplicity's sake, a car's firing ports are too small to let a significant amount of gas to enter.

4. ignore the art on the gas mask; Uncle Albert's ad agency fouled up! It is silly to have a protective device against tear gas that does not cover the eyes. Look at the cover of ADQ 2 to see a better example. A pedestrian cannot load his windshield wipers with solvent, so he is effectively stuck.

5. Cycles can carry the same fire extinguishers cars can. They burn the same way too.

1. After letting go of the pedal during a 100+ mph run ("Speeding in Car Wars", ADQ 2), will there still be further damage done to the power plant considering that the engine is no longer being pushed?

2. Is there any way that the top of another car can be hit from normal mounted weaponry?

3. One of my players will sometimes do a steep drift so that his front left corner hits another player's right rear corner. What kind of collision is it?

1. The power plant should take no more damage if the vehicle decelerates at least 5 mph each turn, even if the speed is still above 100. The hazards for high speed still apply though.

2. There is no way to hit the top of an unturreted car without using an oversized vehicle or helicopter.

3. If the drifting car is going faster than the one drifted into, the collision is a rear-end. Otherwise it is a sideswipe.

When a car's maximum speed is less than 100 mph, how do the speeding charts found in ADQ 3 work? When going up a hill where the acceleration modifier is greater than the acceleration of the car, what happens?

If the power plant's maximum speed is less than 100 mph, the plant takes damage at lower speeds. Roll one die for every 10 mph over the maximum, and assess damage accordingly. When going up a hill with an acceleration modifier greater than a vehicle's acceleration, the vehicle must decelerate by the difference (which means get a good running start). This is "free" deceleration and does not count when figuring handling class and modifiers for braking.

This may seem a stupid question, and I must have just missed it somewhere, but how exactly is experience (for skill points) distributed? Does a gunner receive so many points for taking out a vehicle, less for a pedestrian, or what? And how do drivers gain experience? By causing collisions and taking out cars, or simply by just driving? What about truckers, mechanics, and cyclists?

Finally what are the maximum weight loads for each of the helicopter power plants?

- The Baron

It's in the Car Wars rules, section 16. Driving a vehicle with four or six wheels in a combat earns you one skill point in the Driver skill. Ditto for driving a cycle or a truck. Firing a vehicular weapon in combat earns you one skill point in the Gunner skill. When a vehicle is "killed" (ie it cannot move or fire), the person who fired the killing shot gets a bonus skill point in the Gunner and the person who drove the killing gets a bonus point in whatever driving skill is appropriate. No additional bonuses are gained for killing people, including pedestrians. Once ten of these "skill points" are earned, your level in that skill goes up one (Driver-1 to Driver-2, for example). Mechanics can only increase in skill by taking time out from duelling and working in a garage (see Truck Stop).

A helicopter power plant cannot lift a helicopter with more weight in pounds than the power plant has power factors.

If a vehicle loses a wheel, the HC drops by 3. Does this apply once per vehicle, or does the HC drop by 3 per wheel? If, for some unfortunate reason, Vehicle's HC is at -6 and it takes enemy fire, debris/obstacle damage, or some sort of hazard, does it make control rolls for hazards each time?

- Gary L. Privitt, Denver, CO

On a standard car, losing two wheels makes it undrivable. And if a car continues to encounter hazards (even at -6), make an additional control roll for each additional hazard (at -6).

1. How well do lasers fire in fog?

2. Is it possible to have a cargo rack on the back of your car or truck if you have a turret?

3. Is it possible to have a turret that does not take any or as much interior space?

4. What about intoxication in Car Wars?

- Floyd Rienstein, Oakland, CA

1. Lasers don't work as well in fog, but the reduction in hitting power is not significant until the fog is up to the peasoup level. The thickest fog would limit laser fire to about 4"

2. No.

3. You can get drunk while playing Car Wars; It's okay with us. We don't have any rules for it though. After the game, though, please let someone else drive you home.

1. The answer to a question appearing in ADQ 2 states that wheelguards may be installed on a motorcycle. The same question was asked in issue 4, however, and an exact opposite was given; that wheelguards are not permitted. Which is the correct answer?

2. Considering the fact that flamethrowers may not be mounted to fire to the front of a vehicle, may they be turret mounted?

3. As long as the weapon is used only when the vehicle is standing still or moving in reverse, why can't a flamethrower be front mounted?

4. Can smokescreen generators, oil jets, and paint sprays be turret mounted?

5. Section 4, paragraph 4 of the Truck Stop rules mentions the fact that "all weapons in any turret are considered linked." This is a confusing statement. Are turret mounted weapons automatically linked together free of charge? Must all weapons in the same turret be linked?

6. Is it possible to equip cupola-and turret-mounted weapons with extra magazines? If so, would the magazines occupy turret space or regular space?

7. The Truck Stop rules indicate that 3 spaces must be allowed for sleeping space in a "sleeper" style tractor, if the space is actually used for sleeping. In Car Wars Expansion Set #3 (East Midville), however, the description of the Magnum Motors "Bruiser" tractor indicates that sleeping space occupies only 2 spaces, weighs 50 lbs., and costs $200. Which set of statistics should be used when designing new tractors?

8. Is it possible to target a vehicle's tires from the front or rear? If so, would a wheelguard help to protect a tire fired at in such a way?

9. Are short-range, two-way radios standard equipment on all vehicles?

10. Are crash helmets available to the average autoduellist of 2034? If so, could you give me the game statistics of such an item?

- Dan Lambert, Inglewood, CA

1. Check Uncle Albert in this issue for the final word on cycle wheelguards. Sorry about the confusion.

2. FTs may be turret mounted, but if they fire to the front while the vehicle is moving, the vehicle's own front armor takes the damage.

3. Under those restrictions, a flamethrower may be forward mounted.

4. Oil jets drop oil on the ground, not squirt it some distance; therefore, they'd be pretty useless in a turret for anything but getting the top of your car dirty. Smokescreens and paint sprayers are OK, though.

5. All weapons of the same type in a turret must be linked, and you must pay for the link. You don't have to use it though.

6. Extra magazines take up body space not turret space, so go ahead.

7. Oops. Steve screwed up when he wrote it, and we screwed up when we checked it. Let's stay with the original definition in Truck Stop: 3 spaces, no cost or weight.

8. When targeting tires from the front or rear, add the penalty for targeting the front or rear to the -3 tire targeting penalty.

9. Yes.

10. Crash helmets are part of body armor. Purchased seperately, they would cost $40 (and include built-in radio).

- SDH and JG