In this series of guest articles, Gaslands Lead Developer Glenn Ford provides some list-building and tactical advice for getting the most out of each of the new sponsors found in Gaslands: Refuelled.
GLENN: The closest thing Gaslands has to a “meta-defining build” in the Death Race scenario is the Miyazaki team that can use Powerslide (and maybe Stunt Driver) to get a performance car with Expertise well clear of the pack and then be damn-near impossible to catch. With Miyazaki on the grid, many races can become about keeping that Miyazaki performance car pinned in the pack as long as possible, or at the very least until weapons start turning on. Highway Patrol was built very much with this meta in mind. It is a team of street duelists, designed to race head-to-head with their targets and be the last ones to blink. Their main power is the ability to dish out punishing levels of hazards to their targets, wiping them out before blasting past them to the finish.
Highway Patrol are very much a racing team that wants to chase another racing team. Without a second racing team to run down they can struggle as they don’t have the hard-hitting power of some other teams. That said, a highway patrol team in the centre of a pack can force a vicious level of wipe-outs to rain down on those foolish enough not to respect the blues and twos.
Brian Freitas Freebie
Bike, Buggy or Performance Car + Hot Start
Tired of getting Smashed by second-row bruisers? Stick this build on the front row of the starting grid and now they can only Smash you in a Tailgate if their Gear is equal or higher. Hot Start on a vehicle with Max Gear 6 makes that much harder.
Example Team
- Car with Slipstream, Time Extended, Overload, Unnerving Eye Contact, Out Run, Schadenfreude and two sets of Steel Nets
- Car with Louder Sirens, two sets of Steel Nets.
The strategy here is fairly simple, pick the fastest vehicle you can see on the table as the bogey. Then have the more expensive vehicle run them down, wipe them out and then coast to the win. Leave the louder car at the back and use it to wipe out anyone who might get close to interfering with your duel at the front of the pack.
A few things to bear in mind. Sirens are dependent on the rear-firing arc of your opponents, if they can draw a line to you then they suffer its effects rather than the other way around. Once an opponent has suffered its wrath a few times they will go out of their way to keep you out of their rear arc, you can use that fact with some careful positioning to put them in a very tough situation.
Unnerving Eye Contact is a nasty perk. Denying the removal of hazards with skid dice is huge. Although it is only short range, remember that vehicles resolve all skid dice before the vehicle is picked up and moved to the other end of the template, so if you end your movement within short of an enemy vehicle they are guaranteed to be affected by Unnerving Eye Contact during their next activation. Tap their rear bumper (in the same or higher gear as them, otherwise you are forced to declare an Evade reaction) to shift up with Slipstream and then Out Run will drop a hazard on them they won’t be able to remove in their next activation. You can use template icons to manage your hazards while using your victim to shift gears. Their wipeout is inevitable.
In a Death Race, Time Extended and Schadenfreude should make managing your hazards a cinch. Your opponents will wipe out over and over, giving you votes every time they do, while you just keep rolling, implacably, behind them. They may choose to fight the law, but the law will win.
Have you been playing Highway Patrol? Got any other advice for rookie smokies? Let us know in the forums or in the official Facebook group.
Check out the rest of the Gaslands: Refuelled sponsor spotlights here.