Montgomery Wins Again

Texan Claims Second Title

by Scott D. Haring

The most successful AADA World Championship tournament yet came to a thrilling conclusion in the early morning hours of July 5, when defending champion Mike Montgomery outmaneuvered a crowded field to claim his second consecutive AADA World Championship. The victory was the culmination of a months-long elimination tournament held across the United States, Free Oil States, Canada, England, and Australia.

At-Large Qualifier

The 1987 At-Large Qualifier was bigger than the inaugural Qualifier held at Los Angeles in '86 in every way. Fifty-nine eligible AADA members showed up that Friday night, beating the old record of 50. Many said they had come to Origins just to participate in the Qualifier and get a shot at the World Championship. Participants included a father-and-son pair, as well as former World Champion Duilio Ramallo. The participants were divided into eight tables, and after designs were checked and an arena chosen, preliminary battles began. Only one survivor from each table would move on to the Qualifier finals.

The At-Large Qualifier began to run into time problems when the last first-round table did not conclude until 1:30 a.m. Defensive play, and three-way situations where each duellist waited for the other two to shoot at each other, prolonged the first round. Finally, eight semi-finalists emerged: James Alan of Olmstead, OH; Matt Holz of North Plainfield, NJ; Kevin Clune of Pleasant Hill, CA; Tsuyoshi Kawahito of Los Angeles, CA; Tim Ray of Austin, TX; Bert Roberts of Annapolis, MD; Jon Walton of Greenville, SC; and John Schilling of Annapolis, MD.

These eight participants sat down around a single table and began slugging it out immediately, set up in an arena where everyone was in decent firing range of each other from the very beginning. As the clock headed toward the really early hours, more defensive play strained the duellists' nerves and the referee's health. Since the last three survivors would get into the next night's championship, most players were content to wait for the other duellists to take the offensive. Some even went as far as to hide in large smoke clouds, trying to discourage attack. But a smoke cloud is no deterrent to a ramplate at 80 mph, and as the dawn began to break over the beautiful Baltimore Inner Harbor, three duellists emerged to qualify for the world championships, now just 13 hours away - Jon Walton, Tim Ray and Tsuyoshi Kawahito.

Finals Line-Up

In addition to the three survivors from the previous night's At-Large Qualifier, 11 more Regional Champions arrived Saturday night for the big event. Only two regions were unrepresented - the Central and Southeast regions. Through an administrative mistake, two North Regionals were held, and both champions were in attendance. The Regional Champions in attendance were:

The number of participants in the final round - 14 - and the natural desire on the part of everyone to not usher in another dawn, resulted in a change in format for the finals. A modified version of the Armadillo Autoduel Arena map was used, and a point system was used. The passageways inside the central building were widened so that a car could travel them more easily, and the pedestrian passageways were blocked so that duellists on foot could not hide in the building. The passages inside the central building were marked with sex "Red" checkpoints, and the duelling grounds around the building were marked with 12 "Blue" checkpoints. The blue spots were much easier to cross than the red ones, but the blue ones were worth fewer points.

The rest of the point schedule was set up so that duellists could take a number of different paths to victory. A pure speed-and-handling vehicle could cover a lot of checkpoints, while a heavy-duty killing machine could knock out a lot of opponents. Points were awarded like this:

Participants lined up at each gate (gates had to be added to accommodate the large number of duellists) and started at 0 mph. No firing was allowed by a particular vehicle until it cleared its starting gate.

After a thrilling ceremony in which the regional champions were honored and awarded their plaques, and after all the participants' vehicle designs were checked (with a $30,000 total money limit for vehicle and personal equipment), it was finally time to start the fun. The referee announced that the tournament would end at 1:30 a.m. - whatever turn the group was on at that time would be the last one, and then points would be added up.

Fast Action

With 14 vehicles crowding the arena, it wasn't long before the mayhem started. England's Phil Radley decided to test defending champion Mike Montgomery right away, but came out second-best in a ram attack and became the first duellist eliminated. The early kill game Montgomery a quick lead, and he never looked back. Through smart use of component armor around his plant and his driver, Montgomery was able to take the best shots of a number of duellists who were gunning for him. Along the way, Montgomery managed two more kills (no one else got more than one) and pulled away with the title. final standings:

Winning Designs

One of the things we wanted to do in this report was present the designs of all the finalists in this year's AADA World Championship Tournament. Given the late hour and the hecticness of the finish, unfortunately, some designs were lost. Some participants were also reluctant to disclose their design secrets to the general autoduelling public. However, we still have a number of the winning designs, and here they are.

Steven Huntsberry was the California North regional champion, and finished in the middle of the pack in the finals. He calls his design (for obvious reasons) the Loophole Lover.

Loophole Lover - Mid-sized, X-Hvy chassis, Hvy suspension, Large power plant, 4 metal tires, driver only. 2 linked Spear 1000 MDs (one R, one L) loaded with TDX mines, 6-space cartop carrier with 6 MD magazines (3 for each MD), also with TDX mines. All mines have proximity fuses and radio/contact dual control. 2 metal mini-safes (one F, one B), spoiler, airdam, anti-lock brakes, heavy-duty brakes, heavy-duty shocks, overdrive, 4 tire chains, 6 smoke discharges, 6 AP grenades. Armor: 4 10-point wheelguards, 4 10-point wheelhubs, 7 stealthcoats (1 point in each location, plus cartop carrier), F2/0 w/ramplate, R6/16, B1/0, T1/0 U1/0 (metal/plastic). Accel. 5, top speed 90, HC 2, 5,760 lbs; $28,562.

Personal equipment - Body armor, rifle w 17 AV shots, 3 normal shots, hand grenade launcher w/5 smoke grenades, extra magazine w/5 explosive grenades, limpet mine, grenade. $1,438.

Obviously, there are a few illegalities here, ones I didn't pick up on until looking at this design closely back at the office. The first is that a Mid-size can only mount a 4-space Car Top Carrier, and the second is that a carrier cannot carry vehicular components (like MD magazines). Also, he carried seven grenade-equivalents of personal equipment. So, no letters telling me this is an illegal design; I know.

Tim Basham was one of the two representatives of the North region, and was one of Montgomery's three victims in the final. His vehicle is called the Survivor.

Surviver - Pickup, X-Hvy chassis, Hvy suspension, Super power plant, 6 PR tires, driver only. Rocket launcher in turret w/extra magazine, all shots incendiary, targeting laser in turret, laser guidance link for first 19 rockets, Paint spray back, 6 smoke dischargers (2L, 2R, F, T), Fiver optic web connected to smoke dischargers and paint spray, spoiler, airdam, targeting computer. Armor: 2 1-point wheelguards on the back wheels, 2 10-point wheelhubs on the front, 10 points component armor around the driver, F65, R51, L51, B61, T40, U10. Accel. 5, top speed 100, HC 2, 7,796 lbs; $27,886.

Personal equipment - Body armor, Fire-proof suit, portable fire extinguisher, 3 limpet beacons. $1,650.

Tsuyoshi Kawahito (we all called him T.K.) preformed well in the At-Large Qualifier, but was killed by Pete Hallenberg in the final. He did not name his design.

T.K.'s car - Luxury, X-hvy chassis, Hvy suspension, Active suspension, 350 cu. in. IC engine, carburetor, turbocharger, 4 solid tires, driver only. 2 linked MDs (one each L, R), each with extra magazine, HDOJ w/extra magazine B linked to MDs, 1-gallon duelling tank, spoiler, airdam, HD shock absorbers. Armor: 4 6-point wheelhubs, 4 10-point wheelguards, F10/10 w/ramplate, R7/12, L7/12, B6/10, T0/5, U0/6 (metal/plastic). Accel. 10 (15 @ 40 mph+), top speed 80, HC 3, 6,597 lbs; $29,025.

Personal equipment - Body armor, rifle w/AV ammo. $670.

Jon Walton was another At-Large Qualifier who did well. He concentrated on covering checkpoints, and finished tied for third. Hi calls his design the Gay Deceiver.

Gay Deceiver - Formula One, Large power plant, 4 solid tires, driver only. VMG in turret with HD ammo, Ice dropper back, Oil jet back, Smokescreen w/extra magazine back loaded with tear gas, spoiler, airdam, Anti-lock brakes, Heavy-duty shocks, links for all possible combinations of rear weapons, single weapon computer for VMG, 10 smoke dischargers. Armor: 4 10-point wheelhubs, F7/16, R7/16, L7/16, B7/16, T7/16, U0/5 (laser-reflective metal/fireproof plastic). Accel. 5, Top speed 100, HC 5, 5,995 lbs; $29,108.

Personal equipment - Body armor, rifle w/AV ammo, portable fire extinguisher. $820.

Alexander Brown came all the way from Canada with the only design to utilize a trailer, and finished in a tie for sixth. His design is also unnamed.

Mad Al Loud's car - Luxury, X-Hvy chassis, Hvy suspension, 4 solid tires, Medium power plant, driver only. 2 linked RLs front, with incendiary ammo. 2 linked corner-mounted PSs (one FL, one FR), extra link connecting PSs to RLs, Heavy-duty shocks, Heavy-duty transmission, No-paint windshield, Single weapon computer for RLs, 6 smoke dischargers, Light explosive hitch. Armor 10 points component armor each around linked RLs, power plant and driver, 2 3-point fireproof wheel hubs on front, 2 2-point wheel hubs on back, 2 10-point fireproof wheelguards back, 2 8-point metal/2-point fireproof plastic wheelguards front, F7/40, R0/41, B0/28, T0/2, U0/2 (metal/fireproof plastic). Accel. 2.5 (5 @ 25 mph+), Top speed 100, HC 2, 6,600 lbs; $22,805.

Trailer - 6' Van trailer, Light chassis, 2 PR tires, gunner. Flame cloud ejector back, 2 SS (one each R, L), 3 links to fire any pair of the three weapons, No-paint windshield. Armor: 10-point component armor for gunner and each weapon, 2 10-point wheelguards, F0, R1, L6, B6, To, U1. 1,798 lbs; $4,910.

Personal equipment - Body armor for driver and gunner, portable grenade launcher w/paint grenades for gunner, scoped rifle w/10 shots AV ammo for gunner, 2 smoke grenades for gunner. $1,710.

Ed Tunis III represented the Northeast region with an interesting design that unfortunately ran across Mike Montgomery's path. Tunis calls it the Jersey Devil.

Jersey Devil - Indy car, X-Hvy chassis, Super power plant, 4 PR tires, driver only. 3 linked MMLs front, each with extra magazine loaded with AP rockets and a magazine switch, Single weapon computer for MMLs. Armor; F23/0, R23/0, L23/0, B23/0, T0/1, U0/4 (laser-reflective metal/plastic). Accel. 5, Top speed 100, HC 5 7,195 lbs; $27,776.

Personal equipment - Body armor, rifle w/AV ammo, Laser VLAW, 2 smoke grenades. $2,210.

Next Year

Obviously, we're hoping for and even bigger and better AADA World Championship at Origins 88 in Milwaukee, WI. Check the "AADA News" elsewhere in this issue for some changes in the club and Regional tournament structure for next year.

For the World Championships themselves, we may go to a three-night format, where the first round of the At-Large Qualifier is held on Thursday night, the Qualifier finals on Friday night, and the Championships on Saturday night. This would keep the At-Large from running until 6 a.m; but many players don't get to Origins before Friday, and I would hate to leave them out.

We'd also like to find a way to check vehicle designs before the night of the finals. David Ladyman and I checked as quickly as we can (and we still let a few mistakes get by), and the finals still started later than I had hopped. I'm open to suggestion on how to solve these problems, There's still a lot of time before next August, so there's no hurry, but I would like everyone who's interested to start thinking things over now, and send suggestions in. I want the tournament to be as popular as possible, and for that to happen, it has to be set up the way you like it.

I also want to take a line or two to extend special thanks to David Ladyman for volunteering to help out my late-night refereeing. I'd have gone totally crazy without his help. And congratulations to all the players - under great pressure and trying circumstances, they showed (for the most part) good gamesmanship and a spirit of fair play that made the tournament smooth, competitive - and yes - fun.

HTMLized by Odette Mintrom, tcmom@c130.aone.net.au