Tuesday, June 24, 2008

TADA logo (work in progress)


Here is a conceptual design of a logo for the Toronto Autoduel Association.


*Please note that TADA is not even remotely endorsed by, or affiliated with, any of the following: Chuck Norris, Steve Jackson Games, Bally Technologies and Midway Games, The United States Hotrod Association, Monster Jam, Mothers Against Drinking and Driving, The Australia Sport Rotorcraft Association, Bikini Babes with Machineguns (real or imagined).

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Los Jinettes Della Nocce

With the disruption of government and corporate control following The Collapse, many working class and industrial urban areas became a low priority for law enforcement and military organizations. The people living in these areas had quickly to develop their own means of, not only resisting the depredations of looters and raiders, but providing and securing the means of their day to day survival: food, water, clothing, power, etc. Where local grassroots and labour organizations pre-existed the collapse, these often became the preferred means of governance for surviving communities of the poor and the dispossessed. In the area of the Southern United States and Northern Mexico, a strong alliance formed between many of these communities, nominally led by members of old steel- and auto-workers syndicates: The Free States of America. The FSA supports many semi-independent gangs of bikers, truckers and road warriors, both for its own defense and for conducting raids on the local City-States and their property. One of those gangs is called Los Jinettes Della Nocce. The Jinettes are committed, highly organized, and well supplied with mid-quality low- to mid-tech equipment. They favour large numbers and teamwork.


Left to right: 1) Crazy Ivan ramming/mine-laying sedan, Mack the Knife all-round support sedan, 2) Cap'n Ahab frontal support pickup, 3) The Big Chill all-round support sedan, 4) Nuclear Dan frontal assault/mine-laying sedan

The Fuzz

Following The Collapse, a vast range of mercenary companies competed for the role of protecting the resources still under the control of the remaining corporate infrastructure of the Southern United States. By the time that infrastructure had more or less settled into its current state, a network of loosely aligned foritified and gated City-States, one organization had emerged as the clear winner of this cut-throat Merc War: The Fuzz, an extremely disciplined, dedicated force made up mostly of ex-police officers with a clear mandate to maintain law and order at all costs, both within, and on the highways connecting, the City-States. The Fuzz are ruthless, highly skilled, and well supplied with good-quality mid- to hi-tech equipment. They favour massive firepower and low casualty risks. The most notorious Fuzz members are the Sanctioned Operatives, highly specialized combat drivers, often recruited from outside the Fuzz's usual pool of cadets, given preferential treatment, huge salaries, and first choice of the best hi-tech equipment provided by the corporations of the Southern City-States.


From left: 1) Mercury prototype hi-speed pursuit vehicle, 2 & 3) Johnny Law standard issue pursuit vehicle, 4) Miss Demeanor custom off-road pursuit vehicle, 5) The Popemobile custom Sanctioned Operative interceptor.




Thursday, June 19, 2008

Welcome to TADA.


Hello to all viewers.

This is the current online home for the nascent Toronto Autoduel Association.

We modify 1:64 scale cars (matchbox and hot wheels size) for use in a post-apocalyptic tabletop battlegame.

We play a slightly modified version of the old Steve Jackson Game, Car Wars (need I say it's under copyright?)

Our inspirations include the movies Mad Max (and sequels), Escape from New York, Omega Man, and Death Race 2000, among others. We are already living in the future.

"Drive offensively."

yours truly,

Richard Branson, June 19, 2058 AD

Introducing "The Guns of Brixton"!


Front Row, L to R:

Spanish Bomb, Richard Branson, Brand New Cadillac, Stagger Lee, Rudie Can't Fail

Back Row, L to R:

Billy Boy (behind the Bomb), Koka Kola, and London Calling

Joe Strummer is in front of the pipe and Mick Jones is in the watchtower.

The Guns of Brixton came together as the aging members of The Clash took stock of mid-twenty-first-century life in Great Britain, and decided it was a load of bollocks. At an average age of one hundred years old, they were still full of rage but long in age. They managed to gather a few younger guns together among the many children born to a communist cult of Clash fans. Billy Boy, Stagger Lee, Rudie, and Jimmy Jazz came along with Johnny Casbah and an Spanish dude called 'Flaming Phil' driving a Fiat. They stole and armoured an old London Bus, an outsized Volkswagen Bug, an off-road truck, a motorcycle and a large ATV/trike, along with some hefty, if old-fashioned military surplus gear, including a recoilless rifle for the truck and a heavy-calibre cannon for their bus, "London Calling."

It was then that their fortunes really turned: they heard from an old lost friend, Richard Branson, who despite his amazing commercial successes with Virgin Imperial had also decided that corporate-dominated City-State life in the mid-twenty first century was a load of bollocks. In a bid to come back to the 'good' side, Branson offered Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon and Joe Strummer the same patented Virgin anti-aging therapy he had been using for years and returned them miraculously to middle age. Branson in turn was so impressed by their vehicle mods that he had to modify his own Mercedes 300S as well.

As a prelude to blasting Virgin corporate headquarters sky-high, Branson and the Guns of Brixton pulled off a heist that was the story of 2055 for the global gossip-news networks, stealing valuable computers, lasers and rocket propulsion systems from Branson's laboratories. Using Branson's goodies, Topper Headon was able to rig up a high-tech laser targeting system for his old bazooka, while Rudie mounted his rifle in a computer-controlled turret. Jimmy Jazz grabbed a huge experimental laser and bolted it to the front of his 'Brand New' Cadillac, along with a couple of table lamps (this was his tacit tribute to 'the Duke' in "Escape from New York'). Branson himself mounted heavy laser-guided rockets with armour-piercing warheads on each of the gulllwing doors of his car.

Hijacking a small transatlantic freighter, they managed to make the move to America to escape her majesty's secret police. Deciding 'The Clash' might be a little too obvious for an undercover, anarcho-syndicalist punk resistance organization, they dubbed their new collective entity, 'The Guns of Brixton.' The Guns are currently residing in an undisclosed location in a quonset hut bunker. They maintain loose communications with a global network of other outriders, and take every possible opportunity to make life difficult for corporate and state entities.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008