Battlecars is a simple
wargameWargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
based upon the
Mad MaxMad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
genre of a post-apocalyptic world dominated by aggressive, warring
gangA gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
s. It was first published by
Games WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
in the early 1980s and the game designers were Gary Chalk and
Ian LivingstoneIan Livingstone OBE is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. He is a co-writer of the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and co-founder of Games Workshop....
Each player has one or more "battlecars" that are equipped with
machine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s,
flamethrowerA flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s, spike droppers and the like, with much taken from the cinematic
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
mythologyThe term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of modified vehicles.
The simple game mechanics allowed for quick and entertaining game play, with damage being marked off using card counters. The game was too simple for some more mature players, given its relatively basic rules and lack of capacity to design unique vehicles. It is possible that the game was intended to capitalise on the popularity at the time of
Car WarsCar Wars is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in late 1980 .-Game play:In Car Wars, players assume control of one or more automobiles, which may include any powered vehicle, from motorcycles to semi trucks. Optional rules include piloting...
game published by
Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
. The game was not successful and has been forgotten by the general public. The production values of the game, however, were higher than those of the early versions of
Car WarsCar Wars is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in late 1980 .-Game play:In Car Wars, players assume control of one or more automobiles, which may include any powered vehicle, from motorcycles to semi trucks. Optional rules include piloting...
.
One expansion set for this game was released, Battlebikes introducing motorcycles and also handling some errata.
A licensed,
Swedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, version of the game was published by
Target GamesTarget Games was a Swedish publisher of role-playing games active from 1980 until the year 1999 when they went into bankruptcy proceedings.-Publications:...
under the name Combat Cars.
In the autumn of 1984, Games Workshop released Battlecars as a computer game for the
ZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. It was written by SLUG (a Harlow co-operative of ex-programmers from
Red ShiftRed Shift was a video game publisher active between 1983 and 1985. They were well known for their strategy games and had a close working relationship with Julian Gollop and Games Workshop.-History:...
). It was launched alongside two other Games Workshop titles, D-Day and Tower Of Despair.
Later in the 80s Games Workshop released an expansion boxed set named Battlecars for its
Dark FutureDark Future is a 1988 miniature wargame by Games Workshop. It is set in an alternate reality where the United States—and indeed the rest of the world—is falling apart. Society is going to ruins, and the natural laws of physics are breaking down...
roadfighting miniature game, however this was just a set of 4 Sanctioned Op Interceptors and 4 Renegade buggies with no rules or templates whatsoever.