Terrain Workshop: Sci-Fi Metal Trees

This is sort of a throwback to my Neue Regel table-setting and also kind of another "New Beginning" post.

I have a ton of the Hero Factory Weapon w/Jagged Blade part and I've used them before as "trees".  As I've mentioned multiple times before, I like using big, clunky, and unconventional parts in builds so they won't sit around taking up space in my parts bin.  Although in the prior usage I classified each one as one piece for the rules regarding Cover.  This time around each one is going to be 1 Hit, as is.  The hard part for this build was finding enough of the 1x1 Brick w/Axle Hole and assembling bases for them to mount into.

Size comparison.  These are 1 Hit each -- as mentioned before -- and 25

feet high, from the base, and 12 feet wide in 6P scale.  Although, I will

say the bases are a little unstable in that orientation so I may change the

direction the "blades" face and see if that improves the balance any.

Here's a few of them together.  I hope this gives people ideas

or techniques to use in their terrain builds. Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: The Evolution of Star Command Base

The idea for this, once again, started with something mentioned by Occam's Spork.  Although it was a conversation totally unrelated to MFZ.  That led to me looking at an old toy called the "Star Bird Command Base".  Which led to me building another table setting.  Tom's also to blame for this due to an interesting discussion about Elevation and Highly Durable Terrain after a game almost a year ago.

Start.  Here we lay out the parts I have on hand to get an idea of what I need to fill in the space on the battlefield.  I originally thought about putting this in a water setting but I had bought trees from the PaB Wall for a different project.  I may put together a set of Blue baseplates to represent water in the future but I'll need to build some other terrain to replace the trees.

Phase two.  All the supports for the "deck" are in place.  I'm figuring them at 1 Hit each.  I now have eight trees per baseplate.  They're 1 Hit each and, as you can see in the picture, they can be arranged into walls and patterns to block out space.  I also have a section of LURPS that, with the addition of some small plates, will be 1 Hit each.

Phase three.  Now I start work on the building.  It came together in roughly six sections.

One.  Ground floor.  9 Hits.

Two.  Second floor/Landing

Deck.  5 Hits.

Three and four.  Landing Deck walls.  11 Hits each.

Five.  Third floor/Observation deck.  6 Hits.

Six.  Fourth floor.  8 Hits.

This build went together pretty quickly.  Having some of the parts on the local PaB Wall and being able to "raid" my local Dollar Trees for other parts in bulk made for fast assembly of the base terrain.  The building took a little longer but it's an example of why you buy sets and store the unused parts for later.

Here's the Battle Report so people can see how it all came together and how it played.

I have a Drone's Eye video of the whole thing assembled but it's twice the size limit of Gmail attachments so I'm not sure how I can share it.

I hope that this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds for future games.

Terrain Workshop: Wing Trees

Today we're going to experiment with using 9L Wings w/Stylized Feathers as parts for trees.  I first started working with these parts almost ten years ago.  I called them "Alien Trees" back then.  I'm coming back to them because of a recent review, and the chance to experiment with more terrestrial colors.

The Original.

In the original build I used each 9L Wing as a piece so a group of six was 1 Hit.  This time around I'm adding in 1x1 Round Plates w/Open Stud to help "bulk up" the design and to lessen the amount of 9L wings you may have to procure.  I didn't use them when I first built these because -- I think -- they

were only available in White at the time.  And I didn't have very many.

I feel like this time around it looks like a fold-out paper tree

from a greeting card.  This version of the tree is 2 Hits, is 23

feet tall, and covers 15 feet from edge to edge in 6P scale.

You can give them a boost in height by replacing some, or all, of the 1x1 Round Plates

w/Open Stud with 1x1 Round Bricks.  One layer of Round Bricks would add 2 feet in

6P scale while keeping the amount of Hits the same.  Two layers of Round Bricks

would add 4 feet in 6P scale while keeping the amount of Hits the same.  I used 1x1 

Round Bricks w/3 Bamboo Leaves to add a little ground clutter around the tree.

These are all made from Make-It Blocks parts but you can easily do the

same in Lego.  Except for the Reddish-Brown wings, unfortunately.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Review: 30699 Mini Ninja Combo Mech Polybag

This was a Gift With Purchase at the Lego store for the second half of May 2025.  I'm not sure what the availability is elsewhere but, once again, a cool mech polybag gets limited availability in the United States.

Box. MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.06 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Technic Bricks, Rims, Studless Slope, Ball Joint

Plates, Rounded Plates, Plates w/Pinhole, Jumpers, Corner Tiles w/Cutout,

Clip Plates, Padlocks, Tiles, Ingot, Wedge Studless Slopes, Pins, 3L Friction

Pin, Translucent Round Tiles, Round Plates, Stadium Tiles, Cheese Slopes,

Translucent Cheese Slopes, Studless Slopes w/Cutout, and Quarter Circle Tiles.

Build.  Frame (2W).

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). Frame-in-a-Bag with plenty of leftover parts.

Review: 71049 F1 Racecar Collectible Blind Box

We've been talking about these on the MFZ Discord ever since their existence was leaked so I figured I'd review one just to see how they are.

Box. MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.17 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Car Frame, Minifig Helmet, Minifig Head, Spoiler Plate, Printed Rims,

Tires, Handlebar(?), Printed Studless Slopes, Printed Tile, Cheese Slopes, Plates,

Tile w/Pin, Inkwell, Quarter Circle Tiles, Sud w/Bar, Clip Plate, and Axle/Pins.

Build.  IO Frigate.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Above. (-10) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? No. (-5)
Score: -5 (B-). One, it's a blind box.  (Yes there are QR code scanners but if you don't have time or access they don't help.)  Two, that PpP is horrible.  Three, unless you like spaceships or cars I don't think this is going to do much for you.  I do like the colors in this one and some of the others though.

Review: Make-It Blocks Block Chick

I found this in the Seasonal section of one of my local Dollar Tree stores a few weeks ago.  They were switching things over to Summer/4th of July so this is probably gone already.

Box. MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.

Parts 1.  Plates, Double Jumpers, Tiles, Studless Slopes, Bricks w/Studs on

Side, Wedge Studless Slopes, Bricks, Bricks w/Stud on Side, Slopes w/

Cutouts, Bricks w/Studs on Corners, Large Cheese Slopes, Brackets, Quarter

Circle Tiles, Cheese Slopes, Stadium Tiles, Tooth Plates, and Round Tiles.

Build.  Frame (2W), and Station.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). That is a lot of Yellow.  It has a lot of SNOT pieces but no Hinge type parts so that reduces the usefulness.  I really like those Orange wedges though.

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower 2.4

Make-It Blocks has released a second line of Flowers themed sets.  Let's finish this week with the last of the four sets and a return to two parts bags.

Box. MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Plates, 8x3 Palm Leaves, Round Bricks, Studless Slopes, Apollo

Stud, Bar Plates, Clip Tiles, Wedge Studless Slopes, Curved Slopes w/Cutout,

Bricks w/Stud on Side, Travis Bricks, and Plant Stem w/3 Stems & Bar Holder.

Parts 2.  Plates, Round Large Jumper, Tiles, Wedge Studless Slopes, Ball

Joint Plates, Brackets, Padlocks, Inkwell, Cheese Slope w/Stud, and Panels.

Build.  Frame (2W), 1 Hit piece

of Cover, and a Station.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  It's weird that clone brick manufacturers are producing the 1x1 Round Plate w/Towball pieces and Lego hasn't made such a useful part for at least two decades.  Anyway.  This set has a bunch of useful parts and I'm always a fan of Orange.

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower 2.3

Make-It Blocks has released a second line of Flowers themed sets.  It's midweek and we're continuing to review the Flower sets which can be found at Dollar Tree. 

Box. MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Plates, Round Tiles, Truncated Cone, Corner Plates, Rounded Plates,

Tiles, Bar Stud, Wedge Studless Slopes, Cheese Slopes, Double Sided

Round Plates, Cheese Slope w/Stud on Slope, Brackets, Round Plates, Bricks 

w/Stud on Side, Panels, Inkwell, Axle & Pin Connector, Axle Connector, 

Axles, Three Way Axle & Pin Connector, and Angled Axle & Pin Connectors.

Build.  Frame (2Rd/1Y)[Systems are Green],

Station, and 1 Hit piece of Cover.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). This is the only one of the new Flower sets that hasn't featured Ball Joint Plates so far.  There are plenty of other useful parts in this set though.  The Green Axle Connectors should be excellent for making other forms plant life as terrain.

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower 2.2

Make-It Blocks has released a second line of Flowers themed sets.  I reviewed one last week, let's spend this week reviewing the remaining three sets.

Box. MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Plates, Octagonal Bar Plate, Clip Panels(?), 8x3 Palm Leaves,

Round Plates, Round Large Jumpers, Tiles, Round Palate w/4 Petals,

Brackets, Apollo Studs, Flower w/Bar, Inkwell, Double Sided Plates,

Wedge Studless Slopes, Bars, Bar Clips, Ball Joint Plates, Dish,  Axle

& Pin Connector, Clip Claws, Panels, and Bricks w/Stud on Side.

Build.  Frame (2W), Station,

and 1 Hit piece of Cover.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). Those Clip Panels have an Anti-Stud connection on one side and Axle Hole that goes through that.  I see myself using them a lot.

Review: Make-It Blocks Flowers 2.1

Make-It Blocks has released a second line of Flowers themed sets.  After Wednesday's brief intermission in Make-It Blocks reviews, let's dig into this new series.  This time around some of them have two parts bags.

Box. MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Plates, Octagonal Bar Plates, 8x3 Palm Leaves, Inverted Round

Tile, Dome, Round Large Jumper, Round Plates w/3 Leaves, Brick

w/Stud on Side, Wedge Studless Slopes, Tooth Plates, and Panels.

Parts 2.  Round Tile w/Pinhole, Round Large Jumper, Round Plate, Tiles, Plates, Bar Plates, Clip Plates, Brackets, Bar, Wedge Studless Slopes, and Round Bricks.

Build.  Two Frames (2W), a Station,

and one 1 Hit piece of Cover.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). This is a nice start.  I didn't make more than one Frame for the prior MIB Flowers series so this is pretty cool.

Review: Dynamic Planning Getter One

I bought this because I was curious and it was on Clearance.  There doesn't seem to be much information online on the companies behind this toy but there are plenty of sites selling it.

Box.  I paid $11.99 at Newbury Comics for this.  Retail was $42.99.

Instructions.

Contents.

The axes could be Melee or

Spotting.  The gun could be

Direct Fire, Artillery, or Spotting.
I'm not sure there's anything that's

Removable and I don't want to find out.

You could possibly fold in the ears and

retract the head nodules and arm spikes

to represent White Die damage.  Or you

could just go with a Stat Bar instead.

Size Comparison.  It's twice as large as

a Chub.  You'll probably have to switch

to a Six Stud Hinge Brick ruler if you

want to use models like this in a game.

The Questions:

Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Maybe.  It's a lot bigger than a Chub.  (-5)

How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Two.  (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: -15 (C).  Oof.  It's been a while since we've had a score like that.  And I didn't even pay retail for this!