Gaslands: Getting Started in the Wastelands

[Ish 5,765]

Gaslands: Refuelled is a tabletop miniature wargame of post-apocalyptic vehicular mayhem, played with die-cast toy cars, competing in a deadly televised game show to win fame, glory, and a ticket to the off-world colonies. But what does a budding road warrior need to get started with Gaslands? Well, you really don't need much beyond the rulebook, toy cars, and some dice.



#1 - The Rules (Must Have)
Gaslands: Refuelled is the most recent version of the rules, having been released in late September 2019. It contains everything a road warrior needs to build and customize their vehicles, rules for how to race them, campaigns, sponsors, and so forth. The original Gaslands rulebook, which I call the "blue book," came out in November 2017. The rules haven't changed all that much between the two, with Refueled serving more of a "v 1.1" update than a whole new edition of the game. If you already have the "blue book" and only plan to play once in a great while, you don't really need to buy the new book. On the other hand, it has a greatly expanded page count, clarifies some ambiguous rules, and is much prettier... It's also only $30.00 MSRP. 

Where to Get It: You can buy it directly from Osprey Games or from a third-party like North Star Figures. You can also ask your Friendly Local Game Store to special order a copy for you.

#2 - The Cars (Must Have)
Gaslands is intended to be played with die-cast toy cars, the rule book never specifically names any particular brand, but basically they mean Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars from Mattel. Keep in mind that keep Hot Wheels and other die-cast toy cars are not precisely scaled models. They're usually about 1:64 scale, although individual cars can be anywhere between 1:54 to 1:87 scale (and a fair few are completely made up fantasy designs that don't really have any scale). This means you can use darn near anything you want as long as it is the approximate size of a Hot Wheels car. Brands like Green Light, Johnny Lightning, and Jada Toys are usually more true to scale (they also cost more) and some of the "licensed" Hot Wheels specialty lines like Star Wars or Pixar's Cars will also cost more and have funny scales.
Where to Get `Em: You can buy Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars damn near everywhere: Wal-Mart, Target, Fred Meyer, 7-11, Safeway... Typical cost is about a buck. Special mention must also be made of thrift stores (like Goodwill) or garage sales which can often yield buckets of these cars for pennies a piece. 

#3 - The Dice (Really Ought to Have)
Gaslands is played with garden variety six-sided dice (that most of us will already have bushels of) as well as special Skid Dice. The Skid Dice are a key part of game-play as you'll roll them every time you maneuver your vehicles -- which happens a lot in a racing game! It is possible to use normal six-sided dice in lieu of specialty Skid Dice, either converting them via a chart in the rulebook or even just printing out some stickers that you attach to regular dice. However, given that Skid Dice are so essential to game play and the fairly low cost of buying them, I'd call them a must have.

Where to Get `Em: You can buy Skid Dice from North Star Figures (five pack for £8.50) or from any one of dozens of sellers on Etsy (varies between $5.00 to $10.00 depending on quantity, color, et.)

#3 - Maneuver Templates (Nice to Have)
Along with the Skid Dice, Gaslands' other main gameplay element is the Maneuver Template. Similar to games like X-Wing or Wings of Glory, movement of your cars in controlled by a series of templates. You can find a set of them in the back of the rule book for photocopying or download them and print them yourself. I played the game for over a year with just a set of paper templates glued to some thin card stock and cut out. But for the best durability and aesthetics, you can't go wrong with a proper set of "real" templates.

Where to Get `Em: You can buy Templates dozens of sellers on Etsy (average price seems to be $10.00) or from third-party sellers like Litko

#4 - Da Bitz (Nice to Have)
Modifying toy cars into terrifying post-apocalyptic murder machines is as seriously fun part of the hobby. Although Gaslands does not have any WYSIWYG rules, it's generally good sportsman ship to have weapons on the model that somewhat resemble the weapons on it's sheet... Machine guns should look like machine guns, missiles should look like missiles, and so forth. 

Where to Get `Em: I don't think I need to explain to any of you the glorious things that can be done with a full bitz box, super glue, and a deranged imagination. That's probably the first stop you should make when looking for bitz. You can also get a lot of mileage from bitz of scrap packaging, old broken electronics, and other "trash" found around the house. But having said that, if you want to get some bitz specifically made for Gaslands models take a look at North Star Figures, Ramshackle Games, Ground Zero Games, Dice Mechanic Games, and of course: Etsy. 
 

[Sgt. Rock 1,080]

I really want to try this game. Everyone is giving it rave reviews, and the cost of entry is so low, even if I only played occasionally, I wouldn't feel like I was wasting my money by not using the models. Are you planning on running any demos at game night any time soon?

[Ish 5,765]

@Inquisitor66 is running a Shadowrun RPG campaign every other Tuesday, which I plan to play in. My plan is to play Gaslands on the opposite weeks... Although I'll probably still bring my cars and other kit on Shadowrun weeks, just in case. I've got the rule book, skid dice, regular dice, templates, and a crate load of cars... all of which I am more than happy to share, so there is not excuse not to come give it a try. 

The Gaslands Refueled rulebook is $30 hard copy and a mere $21 for the ePub or PDF if you buy directly from Osprey... Add a set of Skid Dice and some Hot Wheels, you're looking at $40. You can barely get a single squad of WH40k models for less than $50 these days!  

[Sgt. Rock 1,080]

That's kinda my thinking. A game I can be fully invested in for less than Grant's face appeals. And my new 3D printer is arriving on Sunday, so I can print my own templates and bitz.

[Ish 5,765]

Oh yeah, a 3D printer can make all sorts of Gaslands stuff for pennies... But that’s not exactly the sort of thing one wants to put on a “How to Get Started” list.

[Sgt. Rock 1,080]

True, not everyone has access to such a marvel. But it does make my cost to entry significantly lower.

[Dark Trainer 1,116]

The club is getting a set of dice and templates that should be around to use too. I'm building some cars now, and just got my book. Excited to get a learning game in too!

[Dark Trainer 1,116]

REUSABLE Dashboards

I found some nice color Gaslands dashboards (The PDF is missing some dashboards). You can print them as normal and throw them out, OR, you can use the method I used with dry erase and reuse them cheap. See my finished product below (I made mine double sided).

 

I simply used that PDF linked above and made a word doc that allowed me to screen capture the dashboard image and copy it into either a 3x4 or 3.5x5 plastic toploader sleeves made by Ultra Pro.

Like these:

• 3x4: https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-Loaders-Sleeve-Promo/dp/B07GX5SN9J/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=3x4%2Btoploader&qid=1574539728&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1
• 3.5x5: https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-Loader-Sports-Holder/dp/B07PBRHH17

I used the 3.5"x5" because I already owned a bunch. If I was buying new sleeves, i'd probably go 3"x4" next time as they are still slightly larger than the standard template.

Here's the docs I created for the 3.5x5 sleeves: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pEJYek3-vkACrBNKv84FXAwKZ6Yd9REG

• There's 4 per page on my edited docs. Download all the docs and simply delete the images you don't want to print to save ink.
• You could also print them as is and trim the yellow off if you wanted to use in smaller sleeves (or simply make the images smaller in word by double clicking the image and change the height/width setting on the top right of Word)

Print and cut them out. If you want to save space, I slipped 2 per sleeve (front and back).

• For example, I might have Helicopter on one side and Gyrocopter on the other. Allows me to use less sleeves.

That said, then you just need some fine point dry erase markers and you're all set (highly recommend Expo brand and low odor).

• https://www.amazon.com/Expo-80675-Low-Odor-Assorted-7-Piece/dp/B00006IFIM/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=dry-erase+markers+fine&qid=1574540144&sr=8-7
• You could also go with wet erase if you don't want to deal with smudging. Just requires a wet wipe. Again, Expo makes good markers.

That's it.

[Dark Trainer 1,116]

Fixed the above post with updated dashboards. 😀

[nicodelius666 0]

Hi, I want to translate dashboards but there are only images inside the docx, can you provide the source files?

[Sgt. Rock 1,080]

Threadomancy!

Birthday gift the first, from the lovely lady, the night before. Will be testing the waters with her and then start doing burnouts at Ordo occasionally.

[Ish 5,765]

I’ve been feeling the need for speed lately. 

[Dark Trainer 1,116]

On 10/27/2020 at 8:42 AM, Ish said:

I’ve been feeling the need for speed lately. 

Same! Gaslands is a blast! Especially that last 4 man game we played. So much carnage. No winners, just losers...everywhere! 😄

[Ish 5,765]

The viewers at home were the winners! Carnage like that is quality television that the whole family / wasteland farm commune / mutant cannibal cult can enjoy.