"... And it's been a fantastic day here in the Killrena. First an exciting contest with the cycle crazies in the Motomangle, and now a ferocious fight in the main event!"
"That's right, Chet. Down on the arena floor, Phillips is pounding on Mancawicz and Mancawicz is having a hard time replying. "
"That's what happens when machine-guns duel with auto-cannons, Marv. "
"At the same time, Lehrner, Belans and Ventnor are going at it in a wild three-way. Holy cow! Ventnor just gave Lehrner a fatal rocket barrage! I think it 's all over for the challenger. "
"And no one's attacked Shields yet. As a matter of fact, Shields hasn't done anything since he entered the arena. "
"Right again, Chet. Phillips gave him a double dose of cannon fire and it just bounced off Shields must have nothing but armor on that car. "
"And a painting laser. What's his game?"
"Hold on a moment, Chet. We've got a signal on the radar; something incoming... "
Static.
Official AADA Ruling #9570-B: Hector Shield's posthumous win on 2/10/41 is hereby declared null and void. His use of military weaponry from outside the arena is a violation of the spirit of autoduelling, even if there was no specific ruling prohibiting directed artillery rocket re, as long as it fell in the Division price limits. Since the barrage killed all the contestants, wiped out the audience, leveled the arena and caused collateral damage to several neighboring buildings, it is hereby ruled that there were no winners in the event, posthumous or otherwise.
The two supplements Aeroduel and Car Wars Tanks introduce the immense destructive power of combat aircraft and military armored fighting vehicles – and their attendant heavy weapons systems – into the Car Wars arena. Unfortunately, some individuals have taken this literally, hauling over-muscled military weapons into AADA events. The example above is fictitious, but a Division 40 entry could afford a single-barrage multiple-tube artillery rocket launcher, off-board.
The AADA swiftly noted the potential for abuse of this new weaponry and has moved to issue new rules restricting use of such hardware. This new ruling is listed later in this article.
However, the greatest restriction on the use of military weapons is the acquisition of them. You can go down to the corner Uncle Al's and pick up a machine gun, a flamethrower, ammo for your rocket launcher, and maybe even drool over the newest gauss guns. But you won't find a Super Rocket, or a load of artillery shells, or even an full set of military body armor. At best, you might find some obsolete equipment – an old Tank Gun, or some overage artillery rockets, and so on – or perhaps some personal equipment, like an HLAW or an Integrated Systems Helmet. If price and reliability are of no consequence, they might sell it to you.
The corporations that make military equipment don't sell to "small-time" businesses like wholesale and retail outlets. They sell to other corporations, or to governments, taking orders in huge lots and collecting money in megabuck payments, operating at a scale far beyond the autoduelling business. Consequently, a duellist trying to get his hands on most military equipment will have a hard time, since he can't buy it from his regular suppliers.
There are four ways to get military hardware: buy it from the manufacturer, requisition it from the military, buy it on the Black Market, or steal it from someone who already has it.
Military manufacturers are always willing to sell, particularly standard equipment. Special-order equipment, including classified military hardware, is generally not for sale. Other than that, if you've got the cash, they'll sell you the goods.
However, manufacturers deal in bulk. They're not interested in single-unit sales. The minimum lot that will be sold is 10 identical items, and the price will be hiked higher than retail – after all, if you can afford to buy this kind of stuff, you can afford to buy an army's worth of it, right?
For a lot of 10 items, the price is 125% of regular price. Ten Super Rockets would cost $187,500 (NOTE: The official price of the Super Rocket is $15,000 each; the price of $750 in Car Wars Tanks is an error); ten HML rounds would cost $125,000. for a lot of 50 items, the cost is normal per unit. For a lot of 100 items, the cost is only 90% per unit. For lots of 1,000 items, cost is dropped to 75% per unit.
Another catch is that, even if the character bought his armament legally, he may not be able to use it legally. One thing many local governments and corporations agree on is that private individuals have no business using military armaments in their vicinity. A person who buys his hardware legally may find himself just as wanted as if he'd stole it, if he uses it in the wrong place, or against the wrong people.
Buying ten Tank Guns at 25% over retail may be too expensive for the average duellist. However, if the duellist is a member of the military, a single Tank Gun (or other piece of military hardware) can be requisitioned.
To requisition an item, a great deal of paperwork and time is needed to convince the Powers That Be in Supply that you actually need the item in question! A 2d roll of 10+ is needed to have Supply okay the request, adding half the petitioner's Fast Talk skill to the roll. The reply, whether yea or nay, takes 1d weeks to process. If the roll fails, more requisitions can be sent, at a -1 per additional requisition, each taking 1d weeks to complete.
If the character offers a cash deposit equal to the value of the requisitioned item, Supply will send it on a 2d roll of 5+. There are no modifiers to this roll, as the draconian practices of Supply may just decide that the item "isn't available" for any price. Delivery takes 1 to 3 weeks.
Of course, now that the character has his military toy courtesy of Supply, he still has to answer to his superiors about using it! After all, he bas to be a member of the military to requisition things through military channels. Paying military personnel to requisition military hardware for civilians is covered in the Stealing the Hardware section.
If you can't afford to buy from the manufacturer in bulk, and aren't in the military, then purchasing hardware on the black market is the best option. It's expensive, but it's safer than trying to steal the equipment yourself.
The first step is locating a black market salesman. This requires that the player-character start asking questions and circulating the rumor that he'd like something illegal and is willing to pay for it. Roll 2d each week of rumor-mongering; on a roll of 10+ there is a response. Add the character's Streetwise skill (if any) to these rolls. On a roll of 3 or less, the character has been "made" by law-enforcement officials. He will get a response, but it will be part of a corporate or government sting operation. The character will be kept under observation and arrested upon delivery (see below). If the referee doesn't want to send the PCs straight to jail, he can give the character with appropriate skills a chance to detect the surveillance and make his escape (probably without the contraband weaponry), or he can have the authorities approach the PCs, offering immunity from prosecution in exchange for fronting a sting against some real black marketers (in which case the characters will definitely not get to keep the arms, but they will keep their freedom).
Once contact is successfully made, the next step is negotiating availability and price. The black marketeer has the equipment the character wants on a roll of 7+, -1 per $50,000 of equipment base cost. If he bas the merchandise, the price is twice the regular price plus 1d times 50%, for an asking price of anywhere from 250% to 500% of regular price. If the black marketeer doesn't have the merchandise, he can usually try to get it. Each 50% of base price above the asking price adds + 1 to the availability roll. For example, Joe Duellist wants an HML and five AP missiles, normal cost $175,000. The black marketeer has to roll a 10+ to get it and wants anywhere from $350,000 to $875,000. If Joe Duellist offers an additional $87,500 over the asking price, the marketeer can get the weaponry on a roll of 9+.
Of course, the buyer may wish to haggle. This is resolved as a contest of Streetwise skills (see CWC II, page 40). Black marketeers have a Streetwise skill of 3 to 5. If the buyer wins, each point he wins by reduces the asking price by 25% of the equipment's normal price.
Finally, after all the money is paid (usually in advance) and the deal is cinched, the marketeer delivers the merchandise. This process takes some time. Roll 2d; on a 2-5, the merchandise is supplied as soon as the money is paid. Otherwise the delivery takes 1-3 weeks. And the equipment may not work correctly! The first time the equipment is used in combat, roll 2d. On a 2, the equipment fails disastrously (weapons backfire, electronics short out and fry other pieces of electronic equipment along with them, etc.). On a 3-4, the equipment in question just doesn't work. On a 5+, it works normally. The only way to find out if the equipment works before combat is to have a mechanic test it. This is a Medium mechanic job, and tested weapons must expend a single turn's firing (one shot) in the process. Repairing faulty military equipment is a Hard mechanic job in this case.
Of course, dealing with the black market is hazardous. Even if the buy isn't part of a sting operation, there's always a chance the equipment will be traced, as if the character had gotten it through bribery (see below). The trace attempts are at -1 to find the buyer, because the investigators usually stop at the marketeer.
This is, without a doubt, the most risky way to collect a Tank Gun. Usually, high-destruction hardware is bulky and difficult to transport – if the object desired can be carried out by a single man, it's usually safer to bribe some soldier to swipe it for you. If the hardware is too large to be man-carried, stealing it involves arranging suitable transport, as well as breaking in to the storage area (almost always well-guarded by people who already have such gear) and escaping with the goods. Of course, the only places where such material can be found belong to powerful corporations, extremely rich individuals, and military organizations – all very chancy people to cross.
Another criminal alternative is bribing quartermasters and other soldiers to "accidentally lose" the appropriate items, where the purchaser can pick them up, or ambushing the owners in an attempt to salvage the gear. This is not assured, since most corporations and militaries have organizations that pursue "lost" items, particularly big-ticket hardware (see below).
The act of bribing someone to "lose" something requires that the briber contact the bribee and offer money in exchange for the item in question. Whether the bribe works or not is determined by the amount of money offered and the security in question. On the average, paying 75% of the unit cost gives a chance of a successful bribe on a 2d roll of 8+. This roll is modified by +1 per additional 10% of unit cost offered, +1 if half the bribe is paid in advance, -1 per 5% of unit price less than 75% offered, -2 for trying to bribe Regular Army units, + or -5 for bribing corporate workers (roll 2 dice. The first is plus, the second is minus. Subtract the minus from the plus for the bribery modifier. This represents the wide variation of security in corporate operations).
If the roll is successful, the bribe has been accepted, and the delivery goes through. If the roll is missed by 1 or 2, the bribee keeps any money paid and refuses to deliver. If the roll is missed by 3, the bribee keeps the money and alerts appropriate security to the attempt. If the roll is n sscd by 4 or more, the bribee turns any money over the appropriate security. If security is alerted before the exchange, usually a "sting" is set up to trap the briber.
For example, Joe Duellist has more money than sense and wants four Laser-Guided Super Rockets on his car. He approaches a low-level administrator for MDDH, the missile manufacturer, offering $50,000 for the rockets, with half in advance. $50,000 is just over 75% of the cost ($60,800), and he's paying half in advance, so he has a base roll of 7+. MDDH security is tight (plus roll 1, n~nus roll 4), for an additional -3. The roll needs a 10 or better to succeed.
Some of the best suppliers of the black n rket get their stock by snatching and restoring the salvage that's left after a battle in a Commercial Combat Zone. This is high-risk, low-return work. The zoncs are clearcd after each battle – only the best-hidden leavings ren in for scavengers – and they're also well-patrolled against looters by heavily armed, paramilitary guard units. Even more dangerous than the corporate patrols for amateur looters are any established salvage gangs who consider a given CCZ their territory. Still, good salvage is there, for the tough and skillful.
The last option is actually trying to take military hardware by force, ambushing n litary and paramilitary convoys and units. This might work, but it allows the current owners a chance to use the sought-after equipment on the ambushers...
Military hardware costs a lot of money. The people who spend that money want to be sure what they purchased stays with them. As a matter of course, every business has its administrative methods of accounting for all materials purchased and owned. When theft is discovered, repossession organizations swing into action.
The first part of this process is discovering the theft. If the theft was blatant, like someone assaulting an arms depot and making off with the contents, the theft is known immediately. Discovering administrative theft is more difficult. Items "lost in the paperwork" have to be tracked down by their paper trail. When a duellist acquires a piece of military hardware though the black market or by bribery, the loss may be discovered and traced.
Roll for discovery a month after the loss, then again a year after the loss. A roll of 12+ is required to discover and trace the theft, +1 per $25,000 (rounded off) of material lost, +1 if bribed from a corporation, -1 if bought from the black market. If both trace rolls fail, the equipment has become permanently lost from the records. For example, Joe Duellist has his bribed super rockets. The loss of the rockets can be traced. That month, the first trace attempt is made, needing a 12, +2 for the dollar amount, +1 because of corporate accounting. On a roll of 9+, the loss is discovered and they start looking for Joe Duellist. If the first attempt fails, then another attempt is made within the year (around annual inventory time). If that attempt fails, the loss is written off. Of course, the referee may give the trace attempts positive die roll modifiers and more traces if the missing equipment is very important.
Once the loss is traced to the buyer, the appropriate organizations swing into action. The federal government handles materials stolen from the military, using the FBI and the military Criminal Investigations Division. These agents are bent on recovering the stolen hardware and putting the culprit in jail or in the morgue, in that order. If the character in question is deeply involved in illegal activities, the FBI/CID may waive punishment if he cooperates with them, becoming a government fink. This is up to the referee, but can make for an interesting plot complication.
Corporations use their own retrieval squads and bounty hunt- ers. Corporate recovery procedures are aimed at recovering the stolen goods if possible, destroying them if they can't be easily recovered, and destroying the culprit. This does not mean merely killing the character with the hot goods, but also includes wasting his clones, to make an example of him!
All of these agents are good, well-armed and highly skilled – they have to be, considering their business. Many have high Disguise skills and conceal their identities. Combat and espio- nage skills usually range from +3 to +6, and their equipment is the best their employers can provide. Bounty hunters are some- what lesser opponents, but they are numerous and hard to iden- tify. For more detail on repo operatives and bounty hunters, see the "Killers For Hire" article in ADQ 8/4.
As mentioned previously, there are many places where private use, or even private possession of military hardware is illegal, regardless of how the materials were obtained. Casual use of military hardware on the open roads is a good way for a duellist to make himself public target l. In addition to trouble from local police and/or corporate security, organizations as disparate as the AADA, the Brotherhood and EDSEL all offer generous bounties, dead or alive, on any duellist known to have used certain military armaments against members, or anywhere the organization con- siders their territory (for the AADA, this means any public road, and for EDSEL it means the whole East Coast!).
The AADA has officially prohibited certain pieces of weaponry and hardware from AADA events. No vehicle or crew member will be allowed to use these items in any AADA event. Prohibited military armaments include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:
Weapons: Gatling Cannon, Napalm Bombs, Heavy Auto-Cannon, Heavy Recoilless Rifle, Magnetic Cannon, Tank Guns (any size), Air-to-Air Missile, Super Rocket, Missile Launcher, Heavy Missile Launcher, Military Target Laser, Heavy Minedropper, Artillery Weapons of any sort.
Defenses: Laminate Armor, Reactive Armor.
Accessories: Military Radar, Military Radar Jammers, Radio Jammers, Vehicle Decoys.
Personal Equipment: Heavy Bazooka, Heavy LAW, Tripod Missile Launcher.
Selected AADA events may waive these restrictions – there is popular sentiment in the AADA to create a new Military Division, where military weapons are not only allowed but encour- aged.
Of course, if you just want to do a one-shot duel with fantastic amounts of money involved and mega-kill military weapons frying cars with a shot or two, go for it! The AADA prohibitions and difficulties in acquiring the hardware are intended for campaign play and AADA events, and are not intended to prevent having fun blowing up hordes of opponents. But beware, they'll have the same sort of firepower.