Saturday, May 23, 2015

Axles & Alloys after-action report

A couple of weeks ago, we got together for food and gaming to celebrate Joe's birthday. In order to accomodate more than a half-dozen players, we ended up playing Axles & Alloys, a vehicle combat game based on Full Thrust.
Vehicles were equipped with weapons like machine guns, oil sprayers and even spike- or napalm-droppers. We lined up with the idea of seeing who could make two laps around the track, but over the course of the game, no one got further than a quarter-lap. Everybody was too busy shooting at everyone else.
Blake modified a bunch of die-cast vehicles straight out of the box, and there were a few more works-in-progress.
I took the cop car, naming it the Black & White & Red All Ova, and calling my driver Inspecta Specta (I was going for a Wu Tang Clan vibe).
Straight out of the gate, the mayhem ensues. Eventually, after shooting I get a chance to ram some vehicles that got in my way. The collision takes out one car and kills the driver. I then reverse to hit another car and take out its operator too. The resulting fireball kills my driver as well, before the first turn.
It's a fun game, and after seeing Mad Max: Fury Road, I have the urge to buy a bunch of Hot Wheels and convert them to post-apocalyptic battle wagons. What a lovely day!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've heard about Axles and Alloys before but have never played it. How does it compare to Car Wars, either classic or 5th?

Those car mods are fantastic.

Desert Scribe said...

It's been decades since I've played Car Wars, but I think A&A is a lot more simple. We had a non-gamer who was able to grasp the game quickly, and gamers who hand't played it before were doing their own moves and combat without help after a couple of turns.