My first project chose itself. While browsing the local used media shop, Jelly’s (a store that deserves its own post), I stumbled onto a copy of Steve Jackson Games‘ Fifth Edition Car Wars for one dollar. The book, Division 5 – Set 3, included everything you need to play but dice, and who doesn’t have plenty of those lying around the house.I’d played a fair bit of the classic black box car wars back in the day, but bailed when rules bloat crushed the fun out of it. The 5th Edition, though, now that’s a different story. With only three movement phases per turn, and rules that fit into a small booklet, the complexity looks to hit the sweet spot for an old guy teaching his young pup a few new tricks.
Best of all, the game is scaled for use with 1:64 Matchbox cars. The miniatures are waiting for me at any local toy store, supermarket, or drug store. I say drugstore, because the ten vehicles I wound up with all came from Walgreen’s in-house name brand toys.
Another trip to Jelly’s a few weeks later turned up a second set of Division 5 cars, and a ten spot for the Division 5 Vehicle Guide means that I have 16 different base designs to choose from. More if you count the variations on each vehicle.
And here’s the box that will serve as the home of this first foray back into the wilds of miniature wargaming. It measures 10″ by 15″ by 7″ deep, which is the perfect size for the rule books.
Now all I need are some cars, terrain, and opponents.
Cheers on your choice of Car Wars with Matchbox cars! That's how I did it back in the day, and I intend to liberate some of my son's Hot Wheels cars to glue guns on (he won't mind a bit) for another go sometime. (Though I've a lot of 10mm sci-fi and fantasy figs to paint up first.)