This arena has been created for use with Car Wars, and generally follows the format of arenas found in official Car Wars products. The map will be 6" x 3" when printed at 300 dpi. Each 1/4" map square represents 3" game scale - 15' of the arena floor. The crater counter will be game scale (7" x 7") when printed at 300 dpi. Thick black lines indicate concrete walls, pillars, or blocks which cannot be destroyed unless otherwise noted.

The Overlake Ottoduel Arena

Bellevue, Washington

This is the first arena opened by ex-duelist Otto Maximilian. Filling a need for easy-to-access dueling facilities, it has become popular despite its shoddy appearance and questionable safety. None of the Maximilian Arena Dueling Franchise arenas are sanctioned by the AADA, and I suggest you wear your body armor if your tickets are in the 100 level.

Maximilian bought the stadium from the bankrupt Overlake Overlords Combat Football team after the entire starting line was killed on opening day. A group of Bothel Behemoths fans in the parking lot fired a large mortar round into the Overlords' pre-kickoff huddle. The resulting chaos resulted in the deaths of 18 players and 34 fans. The crater from the blast still sits near the 20 yard line, often full of muddy rainwater.

Maximilian also bought the stadium furnishings from the Bothel Behemoths Stadium, which was purchased and torn down by another company. This gave Otto an ample (and inexpensive) supply of armorplast panels, stadium seating, and electronics to repair and maintain the Overlake facility.

The entire arena is decked out in a royal blue and silver color scheme, which were the Overlords' colors, except for several sections of orange and brown seating. These recycled Behemoths seats have been used to repair damage caused by both the mortar incident and several "under-contained fire" dueling incidents. These seats are popular with the locals, who tend to believe that "rockets never strike twice in the same place." This seems to be at odds with the nickname of the popular fan "Two Strikes", whose season tickets landed him in the hospital twice. His new seat is painted gold, and he is still a season ticket holder. He is also the only dueling fan I know of who is sponsored by the Gold Cross. (See Arena Book 1 for more information on the Gold Cross.)

Fan Facilities

The arena has plenty of on-site parking, and both the garage and lot are protected by armed guards. The ticket booth was build with ten windows, but only three are open at any one time. The ticket line is more of a mob, and fights often break out. Since spectators regularly wear body armor to the events, these fights often involve gunfire. Anyone caught firing a weapon in line is permanently banned from the facility, so resist the temptation to get involved if a fight breaks out.

There are no pit viewing areas at this arena, and pit passes are not sold to spectators. There are plenty of screens for replays and analysis in the 300 level and along the concessions area, but only the box seats and club areas on the 200 level have individual interactive displays in the seats. Most spectators will watch the replays on the 100 foot end zone screen.

The concessions are typical, if dirty and run-down looking. There is, however, a world-class body armor outlet in the building, accessible from both the arena and the street. They offer free admission to the arena with a $200 purchase. Specialties include logo armor for most of the MADF arenas, a large Helmets-of-the-Aces collection, and a special line of spectator armor with cup holders and seat-warmers built in.

There are no fan-accessible medical facilities, other than the rudimentary first aid administered by arena and concession employees.

Arena Features

I didn't get a look at the pits, but the locals tell me that they are grungy oil-stained converted locker rooms without lifts or hoists. The Overlake Ottoduel arena is more of a come-as-you-are venue, and I saw several of the more badly damaged vehicles leaving the arena behind the tow-trucks of local garages. There is apparently only one test-firing bay below the arena, so sign up early or sight in your weapons before you come to the arena.

I do not have any information on the duelist medical facilities, but I suspect that there aren't any. It appears that the professionals mostly use team staff. The Gold Cross has a booth near the elevators, however, and rumor says the booth staff are qualified for more than handing out literature. I guess an accident might change a wealthy patron or duelist's mind about coverage, and they want to be ready to act. These are just rumors, mind you.

The arena floor is recessed 15 feet below the spectators, like most Combat Football fields. The arena is also rimmed by light (5DP) armorplast, designed to stop errant shots from hand weapons. The panels are in excellent condition, however, since damaged panels are immediately replaced. This gives the fans a great view, and bolsters their sense of security. (It is a little unnerving to watch a duel through a six inch blast hole in the armorplast.)

The gates are in sorry shape, and are more symbolic (5 DP) than preventative. Vehicles running down or intentionally firing upon the gates when closed are assessed a fine for their repair.

The mortar crater in the south end is deep (treat as a D4 obstacle) and sometimes contains a contestant's wheel hub as well as a puddle. The crater is filled with flaming oil each year during Combat Football's opening week, as a memorial to the Overlake Overlords, as well as a cheap draw for fans of a competing form of entertainment.

The red lines on the map represent rows of concrete parking stops (treat as curbs) which provide low cost arena terrain without obstructing the view of the fans. They change position from time to time, but this is the configuration they were in last month. The green lines on the map mark the old goal lines, which are just white stripes painted on the arena floor.

Arena Events

Truly a public dueling venue, anyone can register for a Grudge Match. The only prize for a Grudge Match is the right to salvage the vehicles of the losers. These events are usually fought between private citizens, rather than seasoned duelists. The arena provides free legal services for those who wish to settle legal disputes in the arena.

The Grudge Matches are held all day on Wednesday, and until 6 PM on Saturday and Sunday. These matches are wildly popular with the fans, as everyday people attempt to force their neighbors to surrender without doing too much damage to their prize. Tire shooting is a popular Grudge Match tactic, but occasionally the combatants try to kill each other.

The Overlake Ottoduel Arena does not run a standard Amateur Night event, but anyone with a qualifying vehicle can enter a Grudge Match, and there is always a sign-up list for "friendly" Grudge Matches at the Under Card Cafe across the street from the arena. Deaths are more common in the team Grudge Matches, and are very rare in the duelist-wannabe free-for-all events.

Standard events run all day Friday, and Saturday and Sunday after 6 PM. The arena is scheduled for cleanup and repair Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, but you can rent the arena floor for practice or private events during this time. Spectators can purchase admission for the standard price on these days, but may end up watching the spackle-and-paint or sweeping crews for hours.

The Overlords vs. Behemoths Kickoff Classic is held every year on the anniversary of the mortar incident. Two teams of eleven cars each attempt to cross into the opponent's end zone. Each team gets two vehicles in each of the following divisions: 5, 5 Pro, 10, 10 Pro, and 15. In addition, each team gets one Division 20 vehicle, dubbed "the return man."

One vehicle from each division lines up bumper-to-bumper in each tunnel. The Overlords, of course, start in the south end of the arena and move north. The Behemoths move north-to-south. Once the duel starts, the teams sprint from a dead stop to the opposite end zone. The return man may enter the arena through either gate, but must be the last one on the field.

The game ends when one of the return men crosses the opponent's goal line, or when all moving vehicles have crossed the opponent's goal line. Once a vehicle has entered the opponent's end zone, it is disqualified if it leaves the end zone before the horn signals the end of the game.

The values of the scoring vehicles for each team are totaled to determine the scores. As the marque event of the arena, the Kickoff has the biggest prize of the year. Every living member of the winning team receives their team's score in cash. A $10,000 bonus is given to the MVP, determined by fan vote. In the case of a draw, overtime is played with the surviving vehicles, and the overtime score is added to the prize! Last year the winning team scored 117,500 in double overtime. Only six members of the team survived to collect the prize money, however. The survivors of the losing team get "I survived the Overlords vs. Behemoths Kickoff Classic at the Overlake Ottoduel Arena " T-Shirts.

"The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the Car Wars system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games. Car Wars, AADA, and Arena Book 1 are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by Steve Jackson Games. This material is used here in accordance with the Steve Jackson Games online policy."