It's upon us again. The world championships will be held Aug. 20-23, at the combined Origins/Gen Con convention in Milwaukee, WI. this gives us as extremely long tournament season - let's make the most of it. I expect every active chapter to hold a championship, and every region with an active chapter to have a regional.
Club Championships should be held between January 1 and April 1. You should have the name of your champion in to ADQ no later than May 1st, so he can be announced in ADQ 10/2 in June. Early birds who want to beat the rush can report their champion by Feb 1, and the announcement will appear in ADQ 10/1, in March.
In addition to seeing their names in ADQ, club champions will receive advanced placement in the World Championships and multi-round regionals. In addition, this year's club champions will receive a one-year extension of their ADQ subscription (alternate bribes will be for lifetime subscriber).
Regional championships will be held between April 1 and Aug . Championships held between April 1 and July 1 need to be scheduled and reported to ADQ by Feb. 14th. Regionals scheduled during the month of July need to be reported to ADQ before May 1. These deadlines are very important! if you don't schedule your regional in time to make these deadlines, your tournament will not be announced in ADQ, and it then becomes your responsibility to let all the AADA members in your region know where the tournament is being held. Good luck.
It is very important that regional announcements include a name, phone number and complete mailing address for the person who will act as a contact point for the tournament. We'll be contacting those who volunteer to organize a regional by phone, to confirm the details.
Results of all regional tournaments need to be reported to ADQ absolutely no later than Aug. 10. Remember, you're not really an AADA champion until your victory has been reported to ADQ.
Regional Champions get recognition in ADQ, advanced placement at the Worlds, and a handsome trophy recognizing their achievement.
Any club hosting a regional championship will also get its charter fees waived for 2042-2043.
Tournament referees (local or regional), when you report your results to ADQ, please remember to include the winner's complete address, so we can send him his prize. Also, please include at least a couple of paragraphs describing the highlights of the championship duel.
All championship duels should strictly follow the official tournament rules published in ADQ 9/1. If you don't have a copy of those rules already, you can obtain one by sending an SASE to Autoduel Quarterly. Especially important points from the official rules are:
1. Tournaments should be Division 5-30 (no Division 80 blitzkriegs!).
2. Only equipment and designs from the Car Wars Compendium Second Edition should be used (no heavy artillery from Car Wars Tanks or Aeroduel allowed!).
3. Complete information about the tournament, including division, arena design, scoring system and any special restrictions, should be available to competitors well in advance of the actual duel.
Next issue we'll have a complete list of AADA chapters for regional organizers (so if you've been planning to start a local chapter, but dawdling, dawdle no longer). We'll also have a few tips on organizing a successful regional. The actual rules for the 2042 World Championships will be published in ADQ 10-3.
Note to Foreign Duellists
This year, for the first time, there will be separate Canadian, Australian and European regionals, rather then one, generic "foreign" regional competition. If you're interested in hosting one of our foreign regionals, make sure you make your intentions known well in time for the deadlines above.
The 2041 World Championships:
Tactics, Stratagems and
How I Got There
By Todd MacDermid,
2041 AADA World Champion
I started duelling just five years ago, and have seen my tactics progress considerably since starting. My first vehicle ever was Division-5 van with a turreted ATG and no armor! Since then I've improved a little bit, and was luck enough to travel down to Baltimore, and duel against those guys I'd heard of from ADQ.
I'd never duelled against any of these people, except of course the rest of the GHOST guys, so it was nice to find some guys that had duelled some of the people we'd be going up against. The Kniffins gave us an idea as to what we could expect, which was very helpful.
Well, I was impressed by the number of new and interesting vehicle design ideas that went by each round, so I'll review those that were popular, or particularly interesting. I may skip by some worthy vehicle designs, but ultimately I hope to get most of the unique ones out into light of day, and see some really weird designs next year.
In the first round, options were obviously limited by the six choices available to competitors. The most popular choices were a laser-armed compact, and an HDFT armed Lux. One surprise that I had was that no one took the mid sporting a Flaming Oil Gun system that would later dominate the third round.
Because most of these vehicles carried their weapons on their left side, the action tended to flow in a counterclockwise direction around the drums. one effect of this is that those picking the ramcar had a field day, confettiing most vehicles that got near. After the field was thinned out, the patterns tended to settle into these directions, with very few kills scored.
The Second round saw quite a few ramcars, high speeds and stunts, like the one pulled by Mr. Messervy with his jump jets (see ADQ 9/3). These duels tended to be won by the speedboxes, however, who could avoid most engagements because of the ban on dropped weapons.
In this round, my car was a ramcar with one incendiary HR to give me a little extra offensive punch, and to cover my rear. I made a lap, which provided to be my saving grace, and scored a point. I then saw what I thought could be a profitable situation when Heath Culp T-boned another competitor, leaving his side open to me. It looked like I could give him a T-bone, but he was able to amazingly turn into me, and gave me a head-on, killing both of us. In retrospect, my tactic should have been to swerve instead of bend.
Luckily for me, there was a lack of club champions turning up to take places in round 2, so most of the competitors went to round 3, The 1 point I netted was enough to advance.
Round 3, held in the ST. Paul Duellodrome, saw the first use of the oil gun, which was loaded with HT Flaming Oil ammo in this round. Many people had taken light tires, depending on their Guards/Hubs to fend off tire hits, which were by-passed by these weapons.
This was not the first time I had used the tactic, and when I had used it in the GHOST duels at home, it had blown the competition away. All of the GHOST people had the same thinking, so the arena was not a friendly place for tires that day. Only four would advance from this round, and when time was called, five people remained, The odd man out was Darryl Kniffin who tried at the last second to jump off a ramp and shoot through my roof with a gyroslugger, but couldn't get my top in his arc.
Don Lavante took a new tack by loading his vehicle with 2 HDSS, and on regular, Producing a smoke counter 2 ½" wide in one shot. He also had IR system, allowing him to see perfectly. With the new -1 per ½" rule, this could become a popular tactic in large arenas. Unfortunately for him, he ventured out and was pounced on near the edge.
There were many similarities in the cars that showed up at the finals of the other direct fire weapons than vehicular Shotguns, and all seven had either fake or real ramplates. This isn't a real surprise when you realize how powerful a weapon the ramplate is, and that the VS is the lightest, cheapest, most accurate weapon that can inflict vehicular damage. With points being awarded for shooting targets over the arena, the VS was the most sensible choice.
Before the duel, I figured that if someone landed (a D3 hazard) on ice (D4 to hit, +D2 for the hazard) and oil (another D@), it would come out to a whopping D11 hazard, assessed upon landing. gave the player +8 on his crash table roll, making this hazard an almost automatic vault. The Oil Gun was the best to place, they had a 5 to hit!
The killing began when Dan Harting tried a lower level jump, and Paul Alfonso moved in to collect the kill. Dan vaulted, as was expected, and landed on his turret, knocking his car out of the running. Most people went to the upper level after that event.
Paul stayed, however, and suffered the same fate when he tried the same type of jump, with myself collecting the kill that time. He later said that he had been paying so much attention to were Brian Morrison was that he completely forgot about my car, and thought he had a clear shot at a jump. Right after I fired the OGs, the infamous three-way collision on the upper jump occurred, which eliminated 60% of the current survivors. The cause was a tremendous case of not looking before one leaped. The RCADA guys were wiped out, eliminating my biggest source of worry for the event. The duellists at the table voted unanimously afterward to immortalize the moment in the holographs at the center of Hammer Downs. At this point, five of the seven cars had perished in just under 6 seconds.
Brian and I finished the duel up, which was completed when I T-boned him, and got his fuel system. The arena was scheduled for 175 points, I believe, but the grand total was more like 60. Since everyone died so quickly, only the top three finishers had positive point totals.
For everyone who showed up at the 2041 Worlds, I had a great time, thanks. For everyone who didn't, c'mon on over to Milwaukee in '42. You'll have a great time. We're ready to take on any challenge at most any time. Sorry RCADA had to go, things were just getting interesting. Actually, very few of the big names were there I was hoping to see more people from out west, but I'll settle for next year.
Here's the winning vehicle for the 2041 Worlds:
Der Autojager - Luxury, x-hvy. chassis, 200 cid engine w/tubular headers, 5 gal. duelling tank, hvy suspension, 2 plasticore tires front, 2 solids tires back, driver, gunner, PG right w/ extra mag (one load HDFO, one load ice), magazine switch, OG loaded right linked to PG, VS, SWC from driver to VS, SWC from gunner to linked PG, Armor (metal/plastic) F:9/20 (ramplate), R:6/24, L:0/10, B:4:14, T:0/1, U:0/10, 2 10 pt WH back, 2 19 pt WG back, IFE, Spoiler, Airdam, HD Brakes, Overdrive, 1 fake grenade, 10 pt CA around driver, gunner, Acceleration 10, HC 3, Top Speed 80/100, 6,600 lbs., $29700.
More NOVA Wars
Here's the situation. In ADQ 9/2 NOVA, the gadfly AADA chapter in Omaha, issues a challenge to meet the RCADA in a head-on, team-to-team duel at next year's combined Origins/GenCon convention. In ADQ 9/3, the RCACA unexpectedly disbands, but not without a few final digs in NOVA's direction. You'd think it migt end there, but no . . .
First, NOVA president Norman McMullen's response to RCADA president-For-Life Tim Ray.
"Mr. Ray, your comments were unneeded. NOVA still wants a grudge match against as many ex-RCACAers as you can dig up. We will not have a match with GHOST, because we have no beef against them. MADD and Craig Sheeley are not worth the ammo."
IN the meantime, several other parties have decided to interest themselves in this affair. First, Robert Deis, President of TRAACS, challenges NOVA with:
"We at The Regional Autoduelling Association of Colorado Springs Are a small but skilled chapter, and have waited a long time for a chance to take you on in a man-to-man combat. I have read your "house rules" and can tell you that they show a basic lack of understanding of the rules of the game. We pick up your gauntlet and slap you with it.
"Our finances and mobility are limited, but Genghis Con in Denver, CO this February is a place where we could meet. We'll use rules published in the Car Wars Compendium II, and play it by the book. ADQ variants and the events can be discussed just between us, if you can make the trip and accept the challenge.
"Drop me a letter. I'll be waiting.
"Robert Dies, TRAACS President, 2114 E. La Salle St. D217, Colorado Springs, CO 80909."
Ouch. Robert Dies obviously knows how to hit a gamer where it hurts - questioning their knowledge of the rules! But has he pushed it too far?
Next there's this, from even closer to NOVA central
"The SAS ZEBRA Division is 'officially' announcing a challenge to NOVA.
"We believe you are becoming a pest. Let's see what you got.
"For more insults and information, contact SAS Zebra, 312 S. Dakota, Ames, IA 50010."
Hmmm. Sounds like a classic case of a newcomer trying to establish a rep by taking on the old guns. Hey, guys, how about chartering your own club, before you go challenging AADA chapters?
And finally, as if this wasn't already absurd enough, we get this.
"Attention, Omaha Losers! This is the one and only Black ASP (no autographs, please). I intend to demonstrate that your so-called "Ogre Mk III" is a piece of overpriced rubbish. I formally challenge you to a tanko-a'-tanko duel with my new Adder-2 tank, August 9, 2042, on neutral ground - North Kansas! If you decide not to show, I'll understand - losers!"
Looks like NOVA has a busy 2042 in store . . .
And while we're on the subject of NOVA, on a distinctly more civil note, NOVA has announced the winners of the first annual NOVA Awards. The proud winners are Chapter of the year, to GHOST, of course, and the Psycho Award to Miles Messervy, for "grand showmanship in the preliminary rounds" of this year's worlds. (For the complete story, see ADQ 9/3.) Winners should contact NOVA c/0 Norman McMullen, 701 S. 22 St. #73, Omaha, Ne 68102.
GODS Wins
Promotion
Contest
Those of you with long-range memories recall that 'way back in ADQ 8/3, we announced a contest for the best in-store promotion by a sponsored club. We're happy to announce that the winner is the Grater Orlando Duellists Society, of Orlando, FL, for their remarkable diorama. "Pack Attack." Here's GODS' own description of the scene.
"While cruising South on Interstate 4, looking for trouble, members of the Grater Orlando Duellists Society engage in their favorite pastime of "Mousestomping." Their target, a lone Los Disneys transport, puts up a spirited fight, while a Los Disneys Security Service intercept Chopper attempts to even the odds.
"The poor shmucks on the side of the road (salvaging the ammo and equipment of an earlier kill) are about to be blown to Highway 1 when an out-of-control GODS car slams into the stacked mines and ammunition the 'ghouls' have so far salvaged.
"Just another typical day in the 2041 world of . . . Car Wars!"
