Machinas: Two more cars WIP

While Ed and I fiddle with the Machinas rules, I've been modding a few cars. Here are my two newest conversions. The first one started off as a '57 Chrysler 300c. It's not my favorite car, so I didn't want to put too much into it. But after giving it a simple but elegant gun up front a a nice little over-under deal in the back, the little gunship is kind of growing on me. I just might keep this one ("Keep this one?" Yes: Part of the Kickstarter for Machinas might involve me giving away a few cars to bigger backers. We'll talk later.)

The second car is one I'm definitely keeping; it's a dedicated ram car. It started off as a '57 DeSoto Adventurer. I chopped the top, leveled it off and added a pilot's compartment (and a ram, of course.) I normally wouldn't chop the top off one of these cars (these are the more costly ones), but I have another Desoto Adventurer coming in the mail ... along with five other cars.

Both of these cars can be built in Machinas (and might actually do well in a race). Part of the fun of Machinas is creating your drivers and tricking out your cars. You will be limited in what you can build; You only have so many points to use to buy equipment for your cars and personality traits for your drivers. In addition, cars have maximum weight allowances. You can actually go over this maximum, but it will cost you speed. My ram car for example has a maximum weight allowance of 7 (weight is abstracted.) The Spiked Ram weighs 4. I'd also give my car the Heavy Armor Upgrade which weighs 4 as well. I've gone over my weight allowance, which you can do, but now my car will be slower since it is overbuilt.

This would be a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. The ram adds to my "Bashing" ability, and the armor upgrade takes away from both an opponent's Bashing (which makes my ram even stronger), and from his "Shooting" (to help protect me from my own Shooting weakness.)

So building your cars is easy, but you'll have to balance what you want to do with how much you can pay for and how much your car can carry. Not everything has weight- there are certain types of ammo for your guns, better quality tires - and driver traits don't weigh anything, of course.

With around 70 different choices for your car and driver, there should be plenty of options and combinations to keep you busy.

Or you could just put Quad .50s on your car and call it a day.

Machinas update: After the Horsemen

This one is for you "After the Horsemen" players. I'm looking at the rules for using Machinas to run chases/running battles in your ATH campaigns; what Ed has sent to me looks great.

You do the usual rolls for determining your enemy types and composition, then the chase is on using Machinas rule! In Machinas, you race until you win or survive. In the ATH chase, you can call off the chase, pick off cars (well, if your the wolf- didn't think about it - can you be a wolf in ATH? It's one of the few THW games I don't own ... surprisingly), or take the chase to the last man.

The chase can also be stopped, and you can climb out of your car and go toe-to-toe. Once the battle is over, opposing cars can be stripped for equipment and fuel (if the damaged vehicles haven't exploded, that is.)

As I mentioned, I don't own ATH, but reading the few bits Ed sent me to look at, I think the two systems will compliment each other nicely. Hey, and I saw motorcycles in there. I didn't put motorcycles in Machinas (like I should have), but I think Ed is on the ball here; A good "Road Warrior"-esque chase is nothing without motorcycles. I'll ask Ed about it.

Machinas: Slade's Silvers

I've finished painting my Plymouth Belvedere and retro-fitting and repainting my 53 Cadillac with a new turret. Both vehicles are being added to my own faction for racing/fighting in Machinas. I call them Slade's Silvers. I went for a look of World War II bare aluminum aircraft, but that was only after I have built and painted my Driving Fortress. The Fortress is not for racing, not yet. The car fills two spaces, and we don't have rules for multi-spaced vehicles yet. But the other three cars are a all I need to play a faction.

New camera and old Machinas

So I went shopping for a new battery for my old camera, and no one- and I mean NO one - sells it (ok, I found the battery on Amazon, but I don't want to wait.) So I figured it was time to get a new camera, anyway.

Luckily, I found a Canon Powershot SX150is on clearance at Target for $80 (retail $199.)
It's still a handheld, one-click kind of camera, but this one has the ability to manually set F-Stop and Aperature values, which I couldn't do with my older Powershots.

It also came with a much larger memory card. My old camera would only hold about 20 photos that were around 4000 pixels wide. (I don't take many vacation shots, so I never bought a new card for my old camera.) The new one seems to hold around 4,000 photos at 4,000 pixels!! (Is that right?!) I guess a few years makes a big difference in the context of technology.

The photo here of my old, old Warhammer Empire gunners was taken straight out of the box- not bad. Not bad at all.

Ok, on to old news. Since I'm deep into Machinas, I've also been working on a few cars. There are the Firelane and the Belvedere, but there are also a couple of my older cars that I've decided to retrofit (to better reflect at least one of the new signatures: Tail guns.) The pickup originally had a poor-looking set of rocket pods. I added the glass turret because I want to add this truck to my Slade's Silvers faction (the one with the Driving Fortress.) And I've added a lower profile gun turret to my 53 Cadillac. The older more traditional mounted .50 that was originally on the car looked fine, but I was always afraid of breaking it off by accident. I DID save the .50 though- I have a couple ideas for it for later. And yes, both of these turrets traverse.

On second thought, I prefer the turret on the Cadillac. The turret is not as oversized as it looks in the photo. Also, it is able to traverse a full 360 degrees (just clearing the cab).

Looks like the Caddy is going to Slade's gang (hence the extra baggage on the back), and the pickup is going on the Machinas circuit.

All of the turrets on my cars are interchangeable, so if I change my mind here again, it's just a matter of swapping out turrets.
(all of my turrets have the same diameter of brass rod drilled into the bottom. The rod plugs into a hole I've drilled through solid greenstuff ((for stability)) that's been pressed into the vehicle- you can see the bed of gs in the photo.)

Machinas: Lap 2

Lap 2 of my race report is posted over at the 2-Hour Blog.

Also, I've begun paint work on my two latest cars, but I won't have pics just yet; my camera might need a new battery (one of them little coin-type batteries.) At least, I hope that's what's wrong with it. I might need a new camera- this one has been with me since the beginning of this blog.

Machinas WIP: Firelane and Belvedere

The Ford Fairlane is now armed with a large flamethrower, so I've changed the car's canonized name to Saint Ford's "Fire"lane. The Firelane also has an extra gas tank mounted on the trunk (live dangerously? Why not. No worries- there's a small boilerplate behind the tank.)

The Plymouth will simply be Saint Plymouth's Belvedere. It has been armed with a spiked ram (I had a few spikes leftover from making my Thunder Apple,) and a fixed forward gun mounted in a substantial fairing. I also took out the old engine and removed the hood to fit in a larger engine complete with blower.

I'm not yet sure what color the Firelane will be, but I plan to make a "Silver" faction (which so far only includes Jack Slade's Driving Fortress and the Fires of Saint Chevy (pictured here,) to which I plan to add the Belvedere. She'll get a nice silver coat along with a tigershark mouth on the front fenders. (one of my pickup trucks, I also plan to redo and add to the silver faction.)

Machinas: Glossary and new cars

Just some random information here while I waste time between races.
Glossary of fluff (my hardcore followers already know most of these terms):

The Known Wasteland: As opposed the the Wasteland, the "Known" Wasteland is a small republic that sits within view of Mount Losalamos, the tallest mountain of the "Only Mountains," and home to The Oppenheimer.

The Oppenheimer: The one true god of the Known Wasteland.

Seven Hills City: Known by the Church as Septimontium, Seven Hills City is the capitol of the Known Wasteland. It is also home to the greatest racing arena, the Circus Acceleratus, a half-mile gravel oval with stone walls, banked turns, and seating for 100,000 spectators.

'57 Ford Fairlane and '58 Plymouth Belvedere as they appear before
"The Light," (the apocalypse.)

Infernal: When the Church discovered that explosive fire was required  to operate the newly discovered vehicles, it dubbed them, informally, the "Infernals."

Brother Pilot: Since the Infernals are religious relics, only priests are allowed to drive them. When a priest finally takes the wheel of his infernal, he formally loses his name and gains the name "Brother Pilot." All drivers are known as Brother Pilots.

These diecast cars are made by M2 Machines. They are a little more pricey,
but they have hinged doors and hoods, and detailed engines which can be
easily removed and/or replaced with other engines.

Savvy, Tech and Speed: These are the attributes you'll use when racing. Savvy and Tech are applied to Brother Pilots while Speed is applied to the Infernal. Savvy is a measure of natural driving ability, and Tech is a measure of mechanical knowledge on the fly and in modifying and arming the car in the garage. Speed is a measure of an Infernal's momentum and raw power.

Passing: Passing is just that, passing an opponent. But a pass attempt could also be an attempt to line up your sights to bash or shoot at an opponent.

Bashing: One of your combat options is to ram an opponent; cars with spiked or other rams are advised to bash, especially if they are outgunned. Bashing could also be by a lead car preventing a pass attempt by trying to sideswipe an opponent.

Shooting: You don't need much of an explanation of this one. Guns come in all shapes and calibers: Small .30 fixed forward guns, twin and quad .50s, small tanks guns, or even a simple .357 for the Pilot. Shooting also covers missiles and rockets as well as the ability to deploy some defensive measures.

Retro Apocalypse: Not a term used in the rulebook, nor an original concept. Machinas tales place in  a post-retro-apocalypse; in this background, the apocalypse took place in 1959, so you'll only find vehicle models from 1959 and before. Also, only weapons, items, engines and other relics will be from before 1959. Don't worry, Machinas works with any car from any year; But if you want to be hardcore, use pre-1960 American models.

Machinas Death Racing: Race report

I'll be posting race reports over at the 2-Hour Blog, (blog for Two Hour Wargames.)
I'll post a few items here every once in a while about the background of the Machinas world and other thoughts about the game. So feel free to ask questions.
You can find the race report here!

Two Hour Wargames' "Machinas: Death Races in the Wasteland"

'59 Cadillac with Big Block engine, Cluster Rockets and Gatling.

That’s right, death racing fans, Machinas is soon to be a published ruleset.
I’ve been working with Ed Teixeira over at Two Hour Wargames on “Machinas: Death Races in the Wasteland.” We don’t have a release date yet, but we’ve been working on the rules the past few months, with editing and tweaks the past couple weeks.

The plan is to offer Machinas initially through Kickstarter, after which “Machinas” will be sold through Two Hour Wargames. If there’s enough funding, there are even plans to offer cast weapons you can use to customize your 1/64 diecast vehicles! (And if you’re a big backer, you’ll probably end up with one or two of my original Machinas cars.)

So what is Machinas?

Machinas is a death racing game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, inspired by, among others, “Road Warrior,” “Death Race,” “A Canticle for Lebowitz,” and “Ben Hur.” Ben Hur? Yes, in fact, I created Machinas as a modified version of “Charioteer,” the chariot-racing game, also by Two Hour Wargames.

'53 Chevy with Spike Ram and Fixed Foward Gun.

What separates “Machinas” from similar games?

One of my favorite parts of “Charioteer,” from which “Machinas” is derived, is its innovative pack-racing mechanic. In most racing games, the board is either a complete track or a long road, meaning you need wither a large table to accommodate a track, or you need a stack of road sections placed one after another as the race progresses. The problem with stretching out your gameboard in this manner is that you also stretch out the race; strong leaders pull away from the pack and weaker drivers lag way behind, essentially pulling players out of the action. In Machinas, all the competitors race in a pack that stays together as the race progresses. Instead of physically moving all the cars around a large track, a marker keeps track of where on a lap the pack is currently located.This keeps the action tight and intense from start to finish.

This is what a typical game of Machinas looks like when using
miniatures. You can also play using counters or cards. The
terrain denotes which side is the inside of the track.

Keeping the cars in a pack also keeps the playing surface small. Since you only need a space that is five-cars wide and long enough for as many cars as you want to race, the game can fit on a small table. With the small footprint, “Machinas” can be played with cars as small as 6mm to as large as 1/24 scale. Though, 1/64 diecast is what the rules are designed for (mostly because those cars are cheap, widely available and just the right size, but there is no scale conversion necessary if you want to go big!)

But “Machinas” isn’t just a racing game. Half the challenge is staying alive to finish the race, and there are customizations available to help you survive and win; the game features close to 70 signatures to modify your car with, including an array of weapons, defensive options and car upgrades (bigger engines, roll cages, extra armor etc.) There are also more than 20 signatures to customize your drivers; your car isn’t just a car, there is a personality behind the wheel.

There are four main factions (Blue, Yellow, Red and Green)
for when you race in a campaign or in team events.

Some of the driver signatures, such as Faint of Heart, are detrimental (and offer a challenge) to the player: A Big Block engine on a car protected with a Big Slab and armed with Twin .50s with Tracer Ammo isn’t worth squat if your driver loses his cool anytime his car gets bumped.


Players can race on city tracks or ancient wasteland highways. There is also a campaign system where you can play either a driver or Crew Chief, whose career careens through the Wasteland and, Oppenheimer willing, all the way to the Circus Acceleratus during the Festival of Saint Machinas!

'49 Mercury with Missiles, Heavy Armor Upgrade and a Fixed Forward Gun- the gun is there, trust me.

Coming soon!

By Two Hour Wargames. Release date TBA. Details to follow.

Thunder Apple and the Brady Tank

Just a couple more cars I finished for death racing. I have proper Seven Hills (my post-apoc background) names for these cars, but as I was painting them, they earned the pet names Thunder Apple and the Brady (Bunch) Tank.

The Apple's tailgun was made by glomming on some green stuff and shaping it into a covered turret.  The a simple gun barrel was glued into the slot. The ram is plasticard with spikes shaped from green stuff.

The Brady Tank's gun started off as a Flames of War tank piece. I replaced the barrel with brass rod (to add strength.)

I specifically did these for an upcoming publication; that's probably all I can say for now. But in the next few weeks, I'll fill you in on the details.

Thunder on the horizon

Engines rumble, shaking the dust off rusted relics. Brother Pilots prepare for the mid-season Machinas Sprints. A prayer to The Oppenheimer and a cheer from the crowd begins the race!

(Just a few for-fun photos with flavor text.)

It's usually not advisable to try to pass between two heavily armed Infernals.

The Icon of Saint Mercury brought the only rockets to today's race.

Saint Chevy's Custom takes the lead with the Sedan of Saint Mercury in second. The Icon and Saint Cadillac's Winged One square off for third.

A safer view- but in the Machinas there is no glory in safety.