Gaslands Review

Gaslands

Post-Apocalyptic Vehicular Combat

Osprey Wargames 20 

Author:  Mike Hutchinson 

Illustrator:  David Auden Nash

„Ladies and gentlemen, weclome to this years Death Race Monte Carlo!“

Gaslands is a game of post-apocalyptic vehicular mayhem. I have been super-hyped for this game recently so when it came out 30th November 2017, I picked it up as PDF in early morning. I have all the rules read and tried out. So, here goes the review!

Osprey Wargames

Gaslands came out in the Osprey Wargames series, therefore it adheres to the general philosophy. The book has 64 pages of rules, very liberal view on basing and no official model lines. The rules are well streamlined and really easy to pick up.

                On the other hand, the author is well aware of the lack of sales support from Osprey and took steps on this matter himself. On the official website of Gaslands (gaslands.com) you can find plenty of useful downloads, articles and even the Forums section. I am looking forward to see some more support and downloadable content in the future. There i salso very vivid Facebook page with growing and thriving community full of amazing conversions.

Starting Grid!

 The setting and the rules

                The game is set in alternative present/near future. In the past years Mars have been colonized and huge investments have been made. Then, the Martian Corporations declared independence and started war with Earth. Which has been won. By the martian people. Now, Earth is just a ghetto where the poor are dwelling. To keep both, the mob and the elite entertained, the Martian Corporations broadcast all kinds of bloody sport events. Among these, the most brutal and favoured is the Gaslands, where the earth-dwellers fight each other in a vehicular spectacle in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

                The rules are amazingly well written. We know that Osprey doesn’t really shine in editorial work. In some of their games it seems there are whole articles missing and some rules doesn’t connect to other rules (probably shortcut on proofreading). In the case of Gaslands there are no omissions. Either it’s because major improvement on the side of Osprey or very careful work of the author and his team. There have only been minor issues which are easy to find out applying common logic. Also, every important article of the rules is also accompanied by the example text, so there is no confusion at all.

The spirit of the game is brutal and as the game is nigh unpredictable (which is a good thing), I believe it’s impossible to „solve the game“. The vehicles are well balanced, each type having its strenghts and weaknesses. Obstacles are destructible. The most defining rule of the game is „The Rule of Carnage“ which is on the front pages. It says that when you are uncertain how to solve some special occurence in the game, you should go the way of highest damage.

Hard chase started! The Blue Cosmic running through the checkpoint!

How it works

                Gaslands is about driving fast, regardless of once safety and shooting guns on other vehicles. The ruleset support this attitude in every way. Every turn is sequenced in six „Gear phases“ starting with Gear 1. Every vehicle activates in the gear phase set on it’s gearbox and in every lower. Therfore, if you are driving at Gear 4, you can activate four times in the turn. The vehicles are activated one by one clockwise by their controllers (multiplayer is integral part of the systém).

                When the vehicle activates, the player choose the template which is permitted to his speed (you can’t make sharp turns when you drive too fast) and place it in front of the vehicle. Then the skid check is made. For this purpouse, the game uses custom-faced dice with Hazard, Slide, Spin and Shift results. These dice give you the option to push your driving to the limits as you can use the results to drift through the turns or spin to better face your opponent with your guns and to change gear of course. This mechanic makes the game highly thrilling and fast paced!

                The most important resourse on the road are Hazard Tokens. When the vehicle collects 6 or more of those at the end of it’s activation it wipes out, halts to a stop and risk flipping. Very bad stuff! There is not much to do in order to reduce your risks (just drive safe and steady) but there are several sources giving you the Hazard Tokens. Especially the external sources (read: „your opponents“) are very tricky.

                When the vehicle moves, it can also shoot the guns you have mounted on your vehicle. You can have the weapons mounted to aim forward, rear or sides. These includes all the regulars such as rocket launchers, flame throwers, heavy machine guns and miniguns. There are also some special weird-tech weapons.

                The general scenario and the one I am really fond of is the Death Race. It’s quite simple. You need to make it through several checkpoints and who cross the finish line first is the winner. Sounds easy but don’t forget to pack your rocket launcher! Extreme racing game! The game also includes possibilities for linked games or seasons. My personal favourite is the Championship Season working the same way as F1 Grand Prix. With minigun!

Blue Cosmic tries to avoid Desert Warriors cannons on top speed...

The Best Thing!

                The best thing on this game are the modeling opportunities. Gaslands is designed to be used with the matchbox toy cars (about 1:64 scale). You can buy the models cheap in any toy store and customize as you see fit from your bitbox. The author made sure you can fulfil all kinds of stereotypes regarding post-apocalyptic cars/trucks/buses/bikes/buggies and even included rules for War Rigs and Monster Trucks. I have already converted Lamborghini Murcielágo and have much more coming!

...and crosses finish line on it's roof!

See you at the gaming table!

autor: Jiron