Sunday Drivers

Catherine and I gave Gaslands a go this morning, partially so she could learn the game, partially so I could try out one of my new vehicles and partially to see if the game will fit on our dining table.

The answer to the final question is, yes. Just.

We played with about 50 cans (points) each, with a ute and a car apiece. The cars were identical - armour and an HMG. Catherine had Mr Apollo, whilst I had Georgia Lee. Catherine's ute, Bulls On Parade had a ram on all facings (the excavator strapped to the back) whilst mine The Marvellous Engine Of Resistance had a front-ram, armour and a rear-facing HMG.

The track was a simple oval.

We scattered from the start-line in order to avoid collisions at too early a stage, but I couldn't resist piling on the speed when Bulls On Parade presented its side to me. The collision thoroughly smashed Catherine's vehicle, but left us both running, as neither of us had amassed much in the way of hazard tokens at this stage.

The cars accelerated and headed towards the first gate together. Meanwhile Bulls On Parade tried to make a run for it, but I spun The Marvellous Engine Of Resistance around and rammed it again, reducing it to its last damage point.

As Georgia Lee passed the first gate its guns activated, and a short burst wrecked Bulls On Parade.

Catherine boldly rammed The Marvellous Engine Of Resistance with Mr Apollo, accelerating to full speed to do it. She made the first of a series of blinding damage rolls and reduced my ute to its last hit, whilst taking surprisingly little damage back. Both vehicles wiped out, leaving them well behind in the race.

Georgia Lee looked to have an easy ride, and I easily took her through the second gate. But approaching the third saw me go out of control crossing the ditch, and the resulting flip piled me headlong into a rock outcrop. This stopped me cold, and reduced me to a couple of points of damage. By the time I got moving again, Catherine had brought up Mr Apollo, and she used a well-timed spin to bring her gun to bear and roll another ridiculous load of damage, destroying Georgia Lee.

I was working The Marvellous Engine Of Resistance through the gates, and slowly catching up by some reckless driving. But Catherine pushed Mr Apollo to its limits in her race for the finish line. This was the beginning of her spectacular finish; a straight run followed by a spin at the end ...

... followed by accelerating to top speed. You can see The Marvellous Engine Of Resistance coming in from the right, as I tried to cut the corner and beat Catherine to the line.

But she was too quick for me; a car can travel one speed higher than a ute, and she used that extra phase to cross the line before I could catch her.

Catherine really enjoyed the game, quickly picking up how to manage the templates and the handling dice, and using skids and slides to her advantage. The fact that she rolled well above the average whenever she inflicted damage helped as well. My ute is primarily equipped for ramming, but by the end of the game I was so low on hits I couldn't risk doing it even if I had the chance.

I think we'll be playing this again, maybe with some more exotic weaponry and a few perks.