Wacky Raceland

Having now got four vehicles inspired by a certain Hanna-Barbera cartoon I decided to have a go at a wacky race using Gaslands this evening. Each vehicle was a 'team' in its own right, and I assigned each one to a sponsor, allowing me to try out perks.

From left to right:

The Anthill Mob (Slime) - Car, Forward HMG, Double-Barrelled, Road Warrior, Pinball

Dick Dastardly (The Warden) - Car, Terrifying Lunatic, Madman

Peter Perfect (Idris) - Performance Car, Nitro, Overload, Idris Nitro Perks

Penelope Pitstop (Miyazaki) - Car, Front Ram, Virtuoso, Evade, Powerslide

And here they are on the starting line. The Anthill Mob took pole position.

The end of the first turn. Despite a good start, the Anthill Mob were quickly outpaced by the other racers.

It was Dick Dastardly who broke away from the first gate, putting a few bullet-holes in Penelope Pitstop's car as he did so. To add insult to injury, the Anthill Mob rear-ended her as well, leaving them both wiped out. Peter Perfect was next to pass the first gate.

As Dick Dastardly passed the second gate, Penelope Pitstop and Peter Perfect were on his tail.

Unfortunately Peter Perfect pushed his pursuit too far and flipped over the stream, ending up facing the wrong way.

Penelope Pitstop used a series of spins and powerslides to pass the second gate. Meanwhile the Anthill Mob were having a terrible time of it. They passed the first gate, they almost immediately spun out again. By the time they recovered they were well out of it, but they did spin up to the second gate and lay down a hail of fire into Penelope Pitstop, leaving her vehicle on its last hit.

Elsewhere Dick Dastardly was heading for the finish. There was only one thing could stop him ...

Peter Perfect fired up his nitro-booster, and smashed into the side of Dick Dastardly's car. He was seriously damaged, but it wasn't enough to slow him down. Peter Perfect flipped and wiped out. Again.

Dick Dastardly crossed the line for an easy win.

I played out the race to the finish. Penelope Pitstop passed through the third gate and finished off Peter Perfect with handguns in passing to take second place. And the Anthill Mob? They ran into a rock outcrop. I ended the game at that point.

I got to use all of the perks, and they do add a certain something to the game. Dick Dastardly's combo was especially effective early on, allowing him to put hazards on his opponents in the early stages and give him an edge in the race for the first gate. Penelope Pitstop's Miyazaki perks were particularly useful as well; rerolling the skid dice for free allowed her to pick up slides and spins when she needed them, and the powerslide ability was excellent for covering ground quickly on bends. With hindsight the best strategy for the Anthill Mob was to turn around and try to intercept Dick Dastardly, rather than doggedly run the course, but I didn't think of that until afterwards.

Still, all in all it was a fun game, although I did nearly lose track of who had activated at a couple of points.