“Below is part 5 of the fictionalized Essendarium replay. It has so far been a blast to write and I hope you are enjoying it as well.”  -Jeff

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By the Wednesday before the race, the paddock area was almost half full of teams. Before mid-day the fifth team arrived on the scene, the Gelato Division from Ultima Thule, one of the many post-apocalyptic binary cities that had sprung up for mutual protection and economic benefit across the land.  

The enigmatic and silent leader of the team, st.mo, as usual refused to meet with the assembled press corps and instead oversaw the unloading and setup of his team. Once he was sure that all had gone well with the team’s preparations, the spry but limping commander retired to his large traveling bunker, a massive black unmarked Coachman draped in armored plates with dark-tinted bulletproof glass. In the garage his crisp black-clad engineers and high-tech mechanics began tinkering on the flat black cars.

While st.mo is wholly unapproachable and silent, the Gelato team members are remarkably jovial and friendly. Dasher Carsten is a grandson of the former Mythos Motorsports legend of the same name and number. Tyrone the Monster and Baba Booey are huge cut-ups in interviews and therefore highly sought after by the media for an entertaining quote. High Voltage Current is always energetic and a great interview and Cannen Rock, with his Hollywood action star physique and square jaw, is always in demand. But perhaps there is no one more interesting than the Fur Machine, more properly known as RE-T33KS YL-IME. One of the first, and last, genetic crossovers; Fur Machine is the genetic hybrid between a human and, well… something else. His unassuming, wise-cracking disposition makes him a highlight interview and a spokesman for all hybrids.

While so much work is done by the teams preparing during the week, the race itself is fairly quick. Races are usually to 12 points, but occasional long races are run to 15.

Teams are awarded a point for every 10 laps that a car completes (this is represented by one lap in the game), plus 1 point is awarded for each enemy car that a driver knocks out of the race.

There is also a countdown timer to prevent stalling tactics or to account for some players not utilizing the racing mechanics and instead going heavy on the combat and ignoring the race component. After all cars have been activated (thus ending the turn like in Thunder Alley or Grand Prix), each team scores 1 VP. However, no team may win in this manner and as soon as any team is down to needing 1 VP, the countdown is suspended and play now continues until the winning point is scored. This can set up some wild finishes with lead cars zooming towards the finish line while those further in the back seek to locate some wounded car that they can score a quick point on.

Carla and I would like to thank those below that sponsored drivers on the Gelato Division. We also wish to offer a huge thanks to Stig who has helped us with editing and support for years now. Stig, thank you very much.

Gelato Division

st.mo – Ultima Thule (Stig Morten Breiland)

Dasher Carsten (71)                                    Carsten Bohne

ad79 (79)                                          Stig Morten Breiland

Tyrone the Monster (061)                          Tyrone Boyd

Fred “Baba Booey” Mund (143)                 Richard DeBaz

RE-T33KS “Fur Machine” YL-IME (99e)   Matthew Stevenson

Andrew “High-Voltage” Current (AWC)    Brian Current

Cannen Rock (CRS)                             John Rockwell

Rome Parker (19)

There is still one driver spot remaining on the Gelato Division. If you are interested, for $20 you receive the following benefit.

• Driver Naming Rights allowing you to name one driver and assign that driver a 1 to 3 digit ID.

If this interests you, please contact Jeff Horger at jagrcz68@aol.com and we can get the ball rolling. There are still also drivers available on the Green, Yellow, Orange/Red, Light Blue, White, Pink and Light Green teams. Carla & I are happy to help all of you that want to be a part of the Thunderverse onto a team.

If you just want to play the game, we need your votes with your wallet on the GMT P500 right now. We’ve made the cut but there is absolutely no reason to not get your game reserved early. If you back it now the discount is pretty substantial ($72 down to $49) so now is the time to let your voice be heard. https://www.gmtgames.com/p-623-apocalypse-road.aspx

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