Publisher: Steve Jackson Games

Game Design: Chad Irby and Steve Jackson

Format: 8-3/8" x 10-7/8" softcover book, 144 pages.

ISBN: 1-55634-316-7

This book contains the last 4th edition ruleset of Car Wars. It builds on the previous three editions (Car Wars 5th edition being a clean-slate revamp). The book has essentially four sections: movement rules, combat rules, character rules, vehicle construction.

I played Car Wars back in the first or second edition. Some of the changes and additions in this book are:

* 5-phase turn (rather than 10) with a max speed of 300 MPH

* New vehicles: hovercraft, boat, helicopter, race car

* A couple dozen new skills for a more RPG experience

* Gasoline engines and metal armor

* New weapons and accessories, lots of personal equipment

The movement and combat rules are still recognizable close to that first edition. The same Dx levels for maneuvers and hazards and although first edition vehicles would not be legal or priced correctly, they'd be really close. With all the new equipment, vehicle design can be quite tedious and it cries out for a vehicle designer.

There is one designer, Car Wars Vehicle Designer (http://www.esglabs.com/spark/downloads/vehicles/), which is an Excel spreadsheet (and caused Open Office to crash so you need a real Excel application). It only creates cars (not trucks) and cycles, though it does include options not in the Compendium (probably in Uncle Al's or Autoduel Quarterly).

Considering I have a fifth printing book, there are quite a few editing errors. A duplicate paragraph on page 8 comes to mind and there are others. Nothing critical, just annoying especially for a Steve Jackson Games product.

Things missing:

* Many weapons and accessories in various printed sources

* Many designed vehicles, included is a good starter selection

* Counters (though they are described so you could make them yourself)

* Maps (though most players drew their own maps)

* Dice (six-sided)

This is an old-school game. Heavy on simulation over playability. Still, quite playable for teens as they tend to obsess on their current game interest. It brings back memories and I'm looking forward to running it for my group.