In this series of guest articles, Gaslands developer Glenn Ford provides some list building and tactical advice for getting the most out of each sponsor in the Death Race scenario. First up: Grant Rutherford.
Example Team:
- Pickup Truck with Rockets, Grenades, Molotovs and the Fully Loaded and Road Warrior perks (25 Cans)
- Pickup Truck with Rockets, Grenades, Molotovs and the Fully Loaded and Road Warrior perks (25 Cans)
There are a few good Rutherford teams. The one above is my preference but it’s certainly not the only good list, nor the most powerful. Clearly a tank with the 128mm Cannon and a Ram will attract some fans and the “Helicopter Hunter” team is a personal favourite (but alters the game plan too significantly to be covered in a quick tactica overview). When playing with lots of players, say five or more, we tend to play with just 25 cans each, and the list above breaks neatly into that size game too. Plus, Rutherford should be exploding things with ammo not just machine-gunning stuff.
The Pickup Truck’s heathy hull points are a huge advantage but the three crew are where it makes its money. The third build slot means that a rear-mounted mortar, if you are so inclined, could be used to deter pursuit.
With Pickup Trucks however, Rutherford players are going to need to learn the gentle art of driving with handling 2. This art has three rules. Firstly, try to avoid rolling skid dice, they are not your friends. Find templates with trivial icons and use those to shift up instead. Secondly, get into your top gear and stay there. You can hit fourth gear with one short and two medium for 3 hazards, staying there only rules out the short, hairpin and hard templasts and you can do without them. Thirdly, plan ahead. Most vehicles have more gears and will pass you, which you can live with. Your job is to ensure they don’t get beyond double long before you activate again. Also, without gear three templates, you need to plan your route. Remember, is its not an obstacle, it’ll move aside eventually.
On to Rutherford’s favourite: the Attack Step. If you are racing, get to gate one as fast, clean and quietly as you can and then make them all pay. In order to trigger “Televised Carnage” and pick up an Audience Vote: never fire your rockets unless you grenades and molotovs also have targets. Remember a vehicle without hazards won’t stay on fire so also look for molotov targets that either have hazard tokens or hit them with your grenades to give them some.
Unless you need to re-spawn, spend every vote on “Reload”. You come loaded with enough munitions to pull four re-loads, which should give you two more. This should be enough to kill pretty much everyone on the track.
Lastly, most things you hit will pick up hazards, so be aware of if and where they’ll end up if they flip, particularly when grenading targets directly behind you! The hazards from an exploding vehicle is something you can ill afford with only 4 gears.
I hope this helps you get your hands around the ivory-inlayed grip of Grant Rutherford’s style of Gaslands gunplay. Check back next week for another Sponsor Spotlight, and in the meantime: buy official Gaslands accessories!