Ah, 'Tis the season for snow and Christmas; presents, food and celebrating all around. We here at NOVA hope Santa is good to you this year.
    As the New Year approaches, we think to ourselves "What happened to this year anyway? Did we accomplish anything worthy of us?"
    As you read this issue, ponder this: All of us have seeds of greatness buried within ourselves. Why not let the greatness out? After all, it could change the world completely. All it takes is one man and one decision.

Have you ever wondered why there are no garbage trucks in Midville? There are Police cruisers, taxis and Ambunaughts, but to trucks to take out the trash. Methinks this makes for a very dirty city; yet on the map there's no trash at all. By this, it is inferred that there are garbage trucks (which we never see). Until now, there have been no statistics for these vehicles. Yes, trash trucks aren't the flashy city vehicles that duelists are familiar with. But, who knows what kind of driver is behind the wheel of one of them?
 

Type	Cost	Weight	Spaces	Armor Cost/Weight
15' garbage truck carrier	$5,000	2,300 lbs.	30	30/14

The garbage carrier is loaded from the rear. It has a pair of doors, as well as a hydraulic ram to compress the trash. The ram has an operating cycle of five turns; activating the ram takes a firing action. This may be done from within the cab or by the loading doors.
    The rear doors are lifted up to empty the carrier; the carrier is emptied by tilting it upwards (the same as with a normal dump truck). A garbage carrier can mount a single turret like a normal van carrier. The only other restriction is that no more than five spaces of weaponry may be mounted inside the carrier itself; this doesn't include the turret's rotation space

Dumpster Lift: $2,000, 500 lbs, 2 spaces, 20 DP (metal).
    This item comprises a pair of hydraulic arms mounted on the sides of a garbage truck. They reach out to the front of the truck and are used to pick up and empty trash dumpsters. When in use, the dumpster lift blocks the fire of front-mounted weapons. No turrets of any size may be mounted on a carrier with a dumpster lift. A dumpster lift is capable of raising up to 1,500 lbs. Raising and emptying a dumpster takes 10 turns to accomplish. In order to do the lifting, the front end of the garbage truck must be touching the dumpster.

Garbage Truck: 10-wheel cabover, x-hvy chassis, medium power plant, 10 PR truck tires, driver & gunner, 2 MGs linked F, 2 MGs (in turret), 2 targeting computers, smart link (turret/front MGs), LD radio, Armor: F30, B30, R30, L30, T30, U20; Garbage carrier, 2 MGs in turret, 3 linked SDs w/ explosive spikes (1 R, 1 L, 1 B), Armor: F30, B30, R30, L30, T30, U20. Acceleration: 2.5/5, HC: 1, Top Speed: 105 mph, 18,000 lbs, $68,750.
    Cargo Capacity: 25 spaces, 2,015 lbs

Garbage Truck II: 10-wheel cabover, x-hvy chassis, medium power plant, 10 PR truck tires, driver & gunner, 4 MGs linked F, Swc, Armor: F30, B30, R30, L30, T30, U20; Garbage carrier, 3 linked SDs w/ explosive spikes (1 R, 1 L, 1 B), dumpster lift, Armor: F30, B30, R30, L30, T30, U20. Acceleration: 2.5/5, HC: 1, Top Speed: 105 mph, 18,000 lbs, $62,650
 

Counter-Rotating Propellers: Costs 20% of the body cost and weighs 10% of the power plant/engine's weight, adds +1 to HC and raises top speed by 20%.
    This item functions similarly to the CACR system used on helicopters. It can be used on microplanes and airplanes.

The bounties on the Neo-ASPs and the Mongoose have quite a few people out looking for them. Anyone displaying any snake-like symbols is being pursued and/or killed by unknown parties. To complicate matters, a new vigilante has entered the scene. Calling himself the "King Cobra", this person is hunting the Black Mamba (leader of the Neo-ASPs). No place is safe, as clone banks have been destroyed in this on-going conflict. The Neo-ASPs are fighting back, but have had little success. Further action is expected on both sides, and it won't be pretty.
    In the WADA, NOVA's Club Dueling Championship has sparked some confusion as to the scoring. This is because we had two club championships within the same calendar year. Because of this, the powers-that-be at WADA couldn't score our most recent CDC. The confusion arose because WADA's schedule runs from January 1 to December 31, while NOVA's schedule runs from September or October to August. Thus, we begin after the Worlds, not waiting for January to begin. Our season begins with the Club Championships. We elected to do it this way, because years ago we missed running our first CDC in time for the Regionals and Worlds. We've done it this way ever since, and have encountered no problems until recently. In the future, we may decide to change the schedule so that it coincides with the schedule run by WADA.
    In a surprise move, Adrian Shipley moved back to Omaha from Ohio in September. It looks like he'll have another crack at Mike Garrity sooner than we thought. We're glad he's back to beef up the ranks of NOVA.
    Referring again to the problem with the Neo-ASPs and the Black Mamba, stories of Neo-ASP members trying to collect the Mongoose's bounty on the Black Mamba continue to circulate. Somehow, the Black Mamba is still alive; even though every duelist and bounty hunter nationwide is gunning for him. He's vowed revenge on the Mongoose (both for himself and the late Black ASP). In one message, he commented that "the only good traitor is a dead one".
    SJG is putting out a deluxe-version boxed set of Ogre, which will include a giant-sized map to use miniatures on. That's right, the Ogres are coming back for yet a third time. Also coming out will be the new supplement, GURPS Ogre: The Factory States. We have heard rumors of something coming out for Car Wars. Credence was given to these rumors because the SJG booth at Gen Con sold all of its copies of Deluxe Car Wars this last August. There is no word on what this something might be; we'll keep you updated.

Now Showing: The 6^th Day (Arnie gets cloned), How the Grinch stole Christmas, Unbreakable

December: The Lord of the Rings, 2001: A Space Odyssey (re-release), Racer X

Winter: Lord of the Rings, 2001: A Space Odyssey (re-release)

Spring: Pearl Harbor, Driven (Stallone goes F1)

Prequels: Star Wars Episode II (the Clone Wars) and Episode III (Vader Rising)

Sequels: Batman 5, Alien 5, True Lies 2, Star Trek 10 (DS9?, Voyager? Star Fleet Academy?), Terminator 3, Highlander 4, Escape from Earth (Snake Plisskin's back in this one)

CyCon 2001: March or April 2001 in Ames, Iowa. Likely site of the Central Regional Championships.

Origins 2001: July 5-8, 2001 in Columbus, Ohio. Possible site of the Racing Worlds.

Gen Con 2001: August 2-5, 2001 in Milwaukee, WI. Possible site of the Dueling Worlds. NOVA will also run 2051: A Godzilla Odyssey and the 2051 Tri-Racing Challenge there.

Nuke-Con 2001: October, in Omaha, NE. NOVA will be running some Car Wars events here.

Origins 2002: July 4-7, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. Likely site of the World Racing Championships.

Gen-Con 2002: August 8-11, 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Likely site of the World Dueling Championships.

September 3, 2050: The Gold Cross clone bank in St. Louis was destroyed in a large explosion today. An estimated 2,000 clones were killed. A telephoned threat enabled the Gold Cross staffers to evacuate the building safely. The Mongoose claimed that one of the clones of the Black Mamba was killed in the blast. Gold Cross officials later denied that any such clone existed. It is unknown whether or not the bounty was paid.

September 5, 2050: The clone bank in KC-1 was destroyed in a huge fire, which was able to spread because the extinguisher systems had been sabotaged. The FBI is investigating the case, as several clones of federal officials were killed. Again, the Mongoose reported that a clone of the Black Mamba was killed.

September 6, 2050: The Neo-ASPs battled with the Iowa National Guard south of Des Moines today. The battle didn't last long, as the Neo-ASPs retreated before the IANG could inflict significant casualties.

September 8, 2050: Des Moines, Iowa is woken up by a large explosion that destroyed the Gold Cross facility there. This makes the third such facility to be destroyed in the space of one week. An un-traceable message from the Black Mamba taunted the Mongoose saying "Not bad. You got my clones, but missed the original". When asked for a comment, the Mongoose denied that he had any connection to the explosions.

September 9, 2050: Mike Garrity won the 2051 NOVA Club Dueling Championship. The event was a Division-20 hovercraft duel in the Milford Arena. He defeated Andy Koehler, Don Jacques and Norman McMullen to take the title for an unprecedented fifth time.

September 10, 2050: The King Cobra released a message today in which he claimed responsibility for destroying the clone banks and killing the clones of the Black Mamba. He also said the Black Mamba is his next target. Joseph Ratner opined that a scorecard is now needed to keep track of who is doing what to whom. A message from the Mongoose thanked the King Cobra for his efforts and said the bounty would be paid as soon as possible. The FBI and FCC are investigating the situation.

September 23, 2050: The Nebraska National Guard stopped an attack by the Neo-ASPs near Falls City. Light casualties were reported by the NNG. Most of the Neo-ASP vehicles were disabled or destroyed in the battle.

October 2, 2050: Reports of a huge hovercraft in the vicinity of KC-1 caused the city to be placed on full alert. National Guard forces were mobilized, but made no contact with the vehicle.

October 5, 2050: The Iowa Air National Guard reported encountering a huge flying wing near Mason City today. No shots were exchanged by either side.

October 11, 2050: The forces of ARF and the Neo-ASPs battled in northern Kansas today. The fighting lasted until the Kansas National Guard entered the fray. There were only minor losses on all sides.

October 13, 2050: The Neo-ASPs were attacked by BLUD outside St. Louis today. The festivities were broken up in short order by the Missouri National Guard.

October 26, 2050: The headquarters and the armory at the Missouri Combat Range were raided by the Neo-ASPs. Sources within the Missouri National Guard say that the Neo-ASPs are now completely re-armed and they don't understand how the security at the range was so easily penetrated. A joint investigation by the FBI and the MNG is proceeding.

October 30, 2050: Several hundred clones in the Gold Cross facility located in Wichita, Kansas were killed when their nutrient feeds were tampered with. Gold Cross officials suspect a link between this mass poisoning and the explosions at their other clone banks in September.

November 1, 2050: A mysterious virus contaminated thousands of clones at the Gold Cross facility in Denver, Colorado. All of them had to be destroyed. A link to the recent deaths of clones at other facilities is suspected.

November 4, 2050: Norman McMullen won a Division-15 duel in the Crossroads Arena in Denver, Colorado. He scored two kills and defeated Andy Koehler, Chris Brown and Karl Griffel in the process.

November 23, 2050: Happy Thanksgiving to all. Robojed apprehended several criminals who attempted to rob a Stop & Go recharge station. What made this crime unusual was the fact that the perpetrators were dressed as turkeys.

December 25, 2050: Merry Christmas everyone! Shortly after midnight, Peacemaker caught a number of Grinches who were trying to steal the Christmas spirit. Said thief wasn't successful.

December 31, 2050: Police Commissioner Death Knight reminded everyone not to fire their weapons in the air as they celebrated New Year's Eve.

January 1, 2051: Happy New Year. Last night was very quiet, with no serious incidents to report.

These car/helicopter hybrids have been around for years, but have not seen much use due to their lack of weapons and armor. In some ways, these two problems can be solved by using CA frames and gas engines. This solution is less useful than it seems at first glance, as the only power plants and gas engines that a grasshopper can use are the ones designed for use in ordinary helicopters. This isn't a real bright idea, but I can see where it came from.
    Another quirk is that the grasshopper gear has no weight, takes up space and costs a great deal of money. Compare this to the retractable skis on snow-duellers and also to amphibious modifications and you will see that this doesn't make sense.
    One question that came to me as I wrote this article is "How fast can a grasshopper go and still deploy its rotors safely?" The answer is any speed under 80 mph. Attempting to retract/deploy the rotors above that speed will cause an automatic rotor check. Which means that, if you are traveling at 200 mph and decide to try and escape into the wild blue yonder, you and your rotors have an excellent chance of parting company post-haste. This fact makes grasshopper racing much more exciting (and dangerous).
    10-15 years ago, the only power plants with enough get-up-and-go to power a grasshopper were helicopter/aircraft power plants/engines. It is plain that technology has changed. Under the current design rules, other types of power plants should be able to be used in grasshoppers, but can't be as they are banned. Also, the stats for grasshopper gear need to be updated to better suit these changes.
 

Allowable types: Hvy cycles, mid-size to luxury cars, small- to cargo-size hovercraft, speedboats, cruisers, yachts, buses, hvy & x-hvy trikes.

Grasshopper Gear (revised)
 

Size	Cost	Weight	Spaces
Light	$10,000	50 lbs	1
Medium	$15,000	100 lbs	1
Heavy	$20,000	200 lbs	2

Light grasshopper gear can only be mounted on hvy cycles. Medium grasshopper gear can be mounted on all types of cars from mid-sizes to luxuries, as well as on hvy/x-hvy trikes, small/standard hovercraft and speedboats. Heavy grasshopper gear may be used on cruisers, yachts, large & cargo hovercraft and on all buses. Vehicles with 10 armor locations must use two sets of grasshopper gear (one each in the TF and TB locations).
 

Power Plants
In the past, grasshoppers have been limited to using helicopter power plants and gas engines. We ask why when it is obvious that any power plant/engine with enough power factors will do the job. Accordingly, any such power plant/engine can be modified for use in grasshoppers. The extra cost for retrofitting a non-standard power plant/engine is an additional 10%.

Changing modes
Changing from vehicle to helicopter mode takes four turns. The change can be made safely at any speed under 80 mph. Making the change at any speed over 80 mph requires a rotor check for each of the four turns in the change. This check is exclusive of any that might have to be made because of hazards from maneuvers or combat damage.

"And when I'm worried and cannot sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep"
--Christmas song: Counting my Blessings

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy"
--Dillon, from the TV series 'Andromeda'

"We are all failures; at least all the best of us are"
--J.M Barrie

"99% of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses"
--George Washington Carver

Kirk: "Khan, you bloodsucker!! You'll have to do your own dirty work now! Do you hear me?? You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman you keep missing the target".
Khan: :Perhaps, my old friend, I no longer need to try"
--Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Mission To Mars
Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise) leads a rescue mission to Mars in order to retrieve the only survivor of the first mission, who is waiting for pick-up (along with whatever destroyed the first mission). Will the rescuers solve the mystery, or will they get killed off like the first crew?
    This movie tries to be a tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but doesn't make it. There are the usual excellent special effects, along with a plot that's thinner than the atmosphere of Mars.*

Reindeer Games
Rudy (Ben Affleck) gets paroled just before Christmas, but his cellmate is killed in prison. He takes on the identity of his cellmate in order to meet up with his girlfriend Ashley (Charlize Theron). Then, Ashley's brother Monster (Gary Sinise) convinces Rudy to help them rob a casino on Christmas Eve. After that, things do get a bit complicated. Christmas music abounds in this movie, as do double-crosses and plot twists. This movie is a formula action film; predictable and with no real suspense.*

Heavy Metal 2000
This movie is the sequel to the first one, which came out in 1981. It stars Julie Strain as Julie and Michael Ironsides as Tyler. Tyler is a space miner who finds the Key to Immortality and starts a trail of blood across the galaxy towards the Chamber of Immortality. Along the way, he stops on F.A.K.K 2 and destroys the entire colony, leaving Julie with a taste for some serious revenge.
    Blood, guts and Heavy Metal music fills this movie to overflowing. The plot is thin and the characters are two-dimensional. The movie went straight to video, and comes nowhere close to measuring up to the original. On the technical side, the animation is first-rate and does include computer graphics.**

Get Carter
Jack Carter (Sylvester Stallone) is a mobster who returns home to Seattle after his brother is killed. He finds a trail of lies and deceit concerning his brother's death, which leads to an inevitable conflict. Michael Caine, Mickey Rourke and Miranda Richardson also star in this film.
    There is no blood, however there is a great deal of implied violence, odd camera angles and obscene language. We must assume that the blood content was toned down to lower the rating.* (and this is generous).
 
 

This year's running of the CDC was held in a different arena. The Milford Arena is nicknamed the "Mini-Aksarben" because of its layout. Attending duelists were Mike Garrity (defending champion), Norman McMullen, Don Jacques and Andy Koehler. Division-20 hovercraft were the vehicles of choice for this event
    Mike and Norman entered from opposite end gates, while Don and Andy came from the sides. Don and Mike headed towards each other around the corner obstacle, trading blast cannon & rocket fire. Major damage was done to both combatants. Andy angled towards Norman and fired his rockets, missing his front. Norman held his fire as Andy rotated away, then he fired his sonic cannon at close range. Andy's rear armor took heavy damage.
    Norman Veered off and went around an obstacle as Andy had laid a trail of flaming oil. Don turned between the TV tower and obstacle with Mike following. Mike fired his RLs, damaging Don's rear armor. Entering the fray, Andy moved up behind Mike and fired his rockets; this did heavy damage to Mike's rear armor.
    Meanwhile, Norman raced across the arena near the jumps and re-entered combat. The other three duelists were coming around an obstacle and heading for Norman. Don and Mike fired at Norman's front and scored a pair of good hits. Norman veered right to clear the area, but not before firing into Mike's front. Andy put in his two cents worth, with his rockets putting some heavy damage on Norman's beleaguered front armor.
    Don followed Norman, and Mike stayed on Don's tail. Andy went straight and headed around a corner obstacle. Mike and Don fired on Norman's rear armor, doing major damage. Norman rotated his vehicle and blasted Don with his sonic cannon. This shot breached Don's front and destroyed his blast cannon. Don then surrendered to Norman and left the arena.. Rotating forward, Norman went around an obstacle with Mike in close pursuit.
    Andy was coming around the obstacle when he found Norman approaching him from the far side. Exchanging fire with Andy did more harm to Norman than to Andy. Then, there was a collision that killed Norman's driver. Mike skirted the action and attacked the badly-damaged Andy. After a brief bout of combat, Andy's driver was killed when his armor was breached by Mike's fire. The event was called at 15 turns and Mike was declared the winner.

Finishing Positions
1^st place: Mike Garrity: 2 points (killed Andy)
2^nd place: Andy Koehler: 0 points (killed Norman, was killed by Mike)
3^rd place: Norman McMullen: 0 points (accepted Don's surrender, was killed by Andy)
4^th place: Don Jacques: -2 points (surrendered to Norman)
 

C-5 (Mike Garrity): Standard hovercraft w/ 4 thrust fans, medium boat power plant w/ PCs, 4 standard skirts, pilot, 2 RLs linked F, FCGS w/ 2 extra magazines B, SWC, weapon link (RLs/FCGS), 10 pts CA on pilot, 10 pts CA on power plant, 10 pts CA on RLs, 10 pts CA on FCGS, Sloped Armor: F50, B50, R35, L35, T7, U7. Acceleration: 2.5, HC: 3, Top Speed: 92.5 mph, 7,600 lbs, $19.948.

Freakout (used by Andy, designed by Norman McMullen): Small hovercraft, medium boat power plant, 4 standard skirts, pilot, VFRP (F), FOJ (B), HrSwc, weapon link (VFRP/FOJ), Sloped Armor: F55, B55, R55, L55, T10, U10. Acceleration: 5, HC: 3, Top Speed: 115 mph, 5,295 lbs, $17,673.

Shatter (Norman McMullen), Small hovercraft, medium boat power plant, 4 standard skirts, pilot, sonic cannon (F), HrSwc, Sloped Armor: F50, B50, R45, L45, T3, U10. Acceleration: 5, HC: 115 mph, 5,294 lbs, $17,673.

BlastHover-1A (used by Don, designed by Norman): Streamlined small hovercraft, medium boat power plant w/ SC, 4 standard skirts, pilot, BC (F), SD (B), weapon link (BC/SD), SWC, vertical stabilizer, Sloped Armor: F34, B34, R34, L34, T25, U34. Acceleration: 5, HC: 3, Top Speed: 135 mph, 5,175 lbs, $19,932.

Over the years, we've made just about anything go faster than it really should. In this issue, we prove it yet again with other oddball speed designs.

Radius Motors Hyperblimp: Streamlined small airship, large airship power plant, pilot, 3 MGs in universal turret U, HrSwc, radar, radar altimeter, radar detector, radar jammer, aircraft radio, Armor: F35, B35, R35, L35, T25, U35. Acceleration: 5, HC: 2, Top Speed: 220 mph, 19,050 lbs, $85,350.
    Cargo Capacity: 7 spaces, 950 lbs
    Option: Add upgrades to power plant. Top speed is now 227.5 mph, $106,450.

Warp VI-C: Streamlined camper, std chassis, hvy suspension, thundercat power plant w/ upgrades, 4 PR racing slicks, driver, spoiler & airdam, overdrive, Sloped Armor: F5, B5, R5. L5, T3, U3. Acceleration: 15, HC: 5 (6 at 60 mph+), Top Speed: 230 mph (250 mph w/ OD), 5,494 lbs, $30,558.

Warp One-I: Streamlined station wagon, std chassis, hvy suspension, thundercat power plant, 4 PR racing slicks, driver, spoiler & airdam, overdrive, Sloped Armor: F20, B20, R20, L20, T5, U10. Acceleration: 15, HC: 5 (6 at 60 mph+), Top Speed: 217.5 mph (237.5 mph w/ OD), 5,500 lbs, 21,090.

Streak III: Luxury, x-hvy chassis, hvy suspension, super helicopter power plant w/ upgrades, 4 HD racing slicks, driver, grasshopper gear, spoiler & airdam, overdrive, HD brakes, Armor: F3, B2, R2, L2, T2, U2. Acceleration: 15 (ground), 10 (air), HC: 5 (6 at 60 mph+)/ground, 3 (air), 6,600 lbs, $63,960.

Yet another year draws to a close; and a new one will begin. Hopes and dreams fills them both, but how many come true? Let me leave you with this parting question to ask of yourself "Are you where you wanted to be five years ago?"

"DRIVE OFFENSIVELY"
 
 
 
 

Norman McMullen	Michael Garrity
NOVA President	NOVA Secretary

NOVA Works
Garbage carrier, dumpster lift & counter-rotating propellers: Norman McMullen

The 10 O'clock News: Norman McMullen

Nuts & Bolts: Norman McMullen

Quotes: Norman McMullen

Cube Logs: Norman McMullen

In the Arena
The 2051 NOVA Club Dueling Championship: Norman McMullen

The Showroom: All vehicles designed by Norman McMullen

All other sections: Norman McMullen

Typesetting & Page Layout: Michael Garrity

Editor: Michael Garrity

The Nightmessenger is published quarterly by the New Omaha Vehicular Association, 2524 Madison St, Bellevue, NE 68005. All material is copyright 2000 by the New Omaha Vehicular Association. All rights reserved. Car Wars, Dueltrack, Boat Wars, Car Warriors, Crash City, Truck Stop, Convoy, Uncle Albert's Catalog From Hell, Autoduel and AADA are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or are used under license. The above trademarks, and the characters and situations of the Car Wars background are the exclusive property of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and are used in Nightmessenger under permission. Reproduction of any material published in the Nightmessenger without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Any reproduction of Car Wars articles published in the Nightmessenger, or any unauthorized publication of fiction using the Car Wars background without the express written permission of Steve Jackson Games is strictly prohibited. Subscription rates (for 4 issues) are: Regularly attending club members: $4.00, U.S. subscribers: $6.00, International subscribers: $12.00.

""So long, and thanks for all the fish"

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