Thoughts on AADA Scoring

In current AADA scoring, gaining two and a half kills, if you are still in control of your vehicle, will win you the duel instantly.  Reaching two kills will start a 5 turn timer that, if no one either kills you or reaches the two and a half kill mark in that time, will also declare you the winner.  This is applicable if there are three participants in the duel or eight.  This was put in place to try and fit duels into a four hour gaming convention window.  It works well in this regard.  However, I think that it does not produce a clear victor in the duel.  In an average duel of six to eight participants, you can be declared the winner and vanquish less than half your opponents.  If the duel were to go to the very end, you could get your two and a half kills and an opponent could get three and a half in an eight way duel and not kill you in the process.  This promotes designs and strategies around gaining quick kills in favor of endurance.  In my opinion, this has led to an increase in the use of designs whose primary weapon system is designed around the ramplate.

A dedicated ram car can be very deadly in the arena, no doubt.  The inherent weakness of its philosophy, though, is that when you hit someone and deal out potentially massive damage, you lose some of your defense at the same time.  The theory is that you give more than you take.  However, a successful attack still leaves you weaker when it is time to face the next opponent, making you less able to engage the next opponent and eventually leaving you unable to engage with your primary attack.  This is fine for a quick duel where it is a race to get to a certain point total, but not so good for the long haul.

I’m not sure I have a perfect solution.  If the primary goal is to fit a duel into the time slot of a convention, then a race to a point total is the most effective means to accomplish that.  If, however, the time restrictions are removed, I feel that to declare a true victor in an eight way duel, you would need to score four and a half kills to win instantly and score at least three to start a five turn countdown.