Battle Report: Teslaville 2

We went back to "Teslaville" again last weekend.  This time with two players who hadn't had the chance to play in this setting before.

Stevenik (3 Frames & 12 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (5 assets) = 35 points.
   Orange Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Lime Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W + SSR.
   Tan Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W + SSR.

Me (4 Frames & 15 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 24 points.  (Centurions)
   Purple Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Lime Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Gd8/2W.

Tyler (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 18 points.  (Quattros)

   Purple Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR(x2).

   White Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Narbey (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 18 points.  (Skitterers)
   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): Narbey's Yellow frame hits my Green frame for 1.  My Lime frame moves forwards and into cover near Stevenik's Stations.  Stevenik's Orange frame hits Narbey's Orange frame for 2.  Narbey's Orange frame then hits Stevenik's Lime frame for 2 and hides under the tracks.  Narbey's White frame hits my Orange frame for 2.  My Orange frame rolls out and hits Stevenik's Lime frame for 2.  Narbey's Red frame moves out and attempts an attack on Tyler's Green frame.  Tyler's Green frame then hits Stevenik's Lime frame for 2.  Tyler's Red frame hits Narbey's Red frame for 1.  My Purple frame moves forward and hits Stevenik's Tan frame for 1.

Stevenik: 35 Points.
Me: 24 points.
 Tyler: 18 Points
Narbey: 18 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@6): Stevenik's Orange frame attempts to attack Narbey's Red frame.  Narbey's Red frame then tries to attack Tyler's Purple frame and retreats.  Tyler's Purple frame seizes my Station on the ground.  Stevenik's Tan frame jumps to the top of the tracks.  My Green frame moves forward, toward Stevenik's Stations.  Tyler's Red frame hits Narbey's Red frame for 3.  Narbey's Yellow frame hits the tracks and Stevenik's Tan frame for 2 damage each, blowing the tracks out from under the train.  The train falls and takes 2 damage on each car.  Stevenik's frame remains perched on the track support.  Narbey's Orange frame hits Tyler's Purple frame for 2 and moves closer to its target.  My Purple frame hits Stevenik's Lime frame for 3 damage, destroying it and seizing the Station it was guarding.  Tyler's Red frame hits my Green frame for 3.  Tyler's Green frame hits Narbey's Orange frame for 4 damage, destroying it, after destroying the Whirligig it was in Cover behind.  My Lime frame jumps in and hits Stevenik's Orange frame for 4, trying to seize the Station it's guarding.  Narbey's White frame moves forward and hits Tyler's Purple frame for 2.

Me: 24 points.
Stevenik: 21 Points.
 Tyler: 21 Points
Narbey: 15 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@1): Stevenik's Tan frame hits my Purple frame for 2.  Tyler's Purple frame hits my Purple frame for 1 with a Single Shot Rocket.  My Green frame -- going with a 0 defense in favor of placing a Spot-- jumps from the tracks to the top of a Whirligig, attacks Stevenik's Tan frame with a SSR for 3 damage and destroys it.  My Orange frame attempts to attack Stevenik's Orange frame but hits and destroys the track support instead.  Narbey's Yellow frame attacks my Green frame destroying it and the Whirligig it was standing on.  Narbey's White frame then hits Tyler's Purple frame for 2 damage, destroying it.  Tyler's Green frame targets Stevenik's Orange frame but hits my Lime frame for 1.  Tyler's Red frame then hits Stevenik's Orange frame for 2 damage, destroying it.  I seize the Station it was guarding.  The Doosday Clock ticks down to zero.

Me: 20 points.
Tyler: 18 Points
Narbey: 15 points.
Stevenik: 7 Points.

Here's a couple of pictures of some of the aftermath.

Thoughts & Observations:

• Once again each section of train track takes one Hit of Damage before being destroyed.
• Primary Attacker was decided with a die roll.
• I removed Artillery attachments from my squad again.
• I placed one of my Stations on the back of the train.  I figured the train moving would keep it away from anyone else.
• I tested out a new squad for this game, I wanted to give the Solidboxes a break.
• We got to test out falling damage on the train.
• We almost got to try out Ramming rules when Stevenik's frame jumped in front of the train but, the train had the tracks blown out from under it before that happened.
• We kinda went with the "Rule of Cool" with allowing Stevenik's frame to remain perched on the track support.  It was located directly over it and it looked neat afterwards.
• We we pretty aggressive with the Doomsday Clock as one of our players had to leave as soon as the game was over.
• This game came down to the last activation of the last frame on the last turn.  It got pretty seesaw-y in the last turn of the game.

Review: 41303 Friends Puppy Playground.

After a few unexpected purchases changing my plans for the next few weeks, here's today's review.

Box.  I paid $4.99 for this at the Lego Store, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig?

Parts 1.  The 1x2 Bricks
w/Pin might be useful.

Parts 2.  I don't have a lot of those Green 1x1 Round Plates so those are
a welcome acquisition.  A Bar Plate, plenty of Slopes, a couple Robot
Arms, an Antenna, Round Bricks, 1x2 Bricks w/Studs on 1 Side, Jumpers,
Plates, Grill Tiles, a bracket, and Axle Plate are all interesting.

Build.  A quick IO Frigate (2Ra+d8/1B/
/2W).  All Attachments are in Yellow.

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+).  Not really a surprise, other smalls Friends sets like this have scored well.

Review: 41233 DC Girls Lashina Tank

These have recently dropped to really good Clearance prices in both Walmart and Target.

Box.  MSRP is $14.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.10.

Instructions & Stickers.

Minidolls

Parts 1.

Parts 2.  An interesting mix of selection and color here.  I dig those printed 1x1 Round Tiles.

Parts 3.  More interesting colors and parts.  Pneuma-Ts!  those Trans-Light Blue Skeleton Arms!  A Travis Brick!

Build.  2Rd+d8/2Y/2W for this one.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At.  (0)  (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: +15 (A).  A decent set with good pieces and interesting colors.

Review: 70362 Nexo Knights Battle Suit Clay

Let's finish the week with another review.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.13.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  I'd use these as part of a Station.

Parts 2.  Nexagon, Mech-
Core, and Chest Plate.

Parts 3.  A fair amount of Ball Joint parts, tons of Slopes, some Technic pieces, and those new Wedge Plates are interesting too.

Build.  2Rd/2B/1Y/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?  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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  Not a bad set, it just needs more parts.

Review: 30427 Ninjago Movie Ice Tank Polybag

I finally tracked this down at Target.  It was in the Lego aisle but others have found them in the checkout aisles.

Bag.  MSRP is $3.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.06.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Taps, Inverted Studless Slopes, the Chima Gun, Lampholders, Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Brackets, Gears, and Plates w/Pin Hole (bottom) are all fun bits.

Parts 2.  New Space Torches are nice.

Build.  A combat monster 2Rd+d8/2Rh+d8/2W.

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+).  The tank treads inflate the parts count.  Without them this would be have a +15 (A) score.

Build Journal: Warstrider

One of the time honored traditions in the MFZ community is copying other people's Frame designs.  This allows you to field something you think is cool and possibly learn new techniques at the same time.

Another tradition in the community is copying ideas, concepts, and techniques from other builders and then combining them in new and interesting ways.  That's the idea behind this Frame from Xenovirus.  They're really cool looking and I've always wanted to take a crack at building one.




But another idea occurred to me somewhere along the line.  Somehow the idea for also using the torso from Mitten Ninja's Locust frame popped into my head.  I'd already built something using that core, so I'm not sure why I wanted another crack at it.  But I ran with it anyway.

That led me to this, what I'm calling the Warstrider.

There are more pictures in a Brickshelf gallery.

Here's a size comparison picture so
you can get an idea of how big it is.




It's the combination of the idea of one person and the techniques from two more, continuing a community tradition.  :-)

Battle Report: Teslaville

After a month off, the Usual Suspects got together this past weekend.  We tried a new table setting that I call "Teslaville".

Tyler (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Quattros)
   Orange Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   White Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W + SSR.
   Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.  (Solidboxes)
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Red Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (7 Frames & 27 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points.
   Blue/Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Green/ White Medium Tank -- 2Rd+d8/1B/2W
   White/Blue Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   White Soldier  -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W
   Blue Moving Wall -- 2B/2G+d8/2W + SSR (x3).
   Green -- 2Rh+d8/2Rd+d8/2W.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): Occam's Spork's Green frame closes in and hits my Red frame for 1.  My Red frame hit's Tyler's White frame for 1.  My Yellow frame, moving in from its position in the corner of the battle field, also hits Tyler's White frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's White/Green frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame moves off of my first Station and continues the attack on Tyler's White frame with 2 damage and also destroys the section of train track it was using as cover.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits my Orange frame for 1, then seizes my first Station.  Occam's Spork's Green/Blue frame hits Tyler's White frame for 4 damage, destroying it.  Tyler's Red frame hits my Green frame for 1.  My Green frame moves off of my second Station in an attempt to return fire but ends up short on range.  Tyler's Green frame hits my Yellow frame for 1.  my Blue frame turns and moves down the tracks towards Tyler's forces.

Tyler: 35 points.
Me: 30 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@7): Tyler's Red frame moves to the corner of the battlefield then hits my Green frame for 2 damage.  My Green frame attempts to hit his Orange frame but only destroy the train track it was using as cover.  My Orange frame maintains position and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Green frame hits my Red frame for 3.  My Blue frame continues to move down the tracks towards Tyler's forces.

Tyler: 35 points.
Me: 30 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@3): Occam's Spork's Green/Blue frame hits my Yellow for 1.  My Yellow frame continues to move towards Tyler's Stations.  Occam's Spork's Green/White frame moves away from his Station and hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame charges forward trying to pressure the frame guarding Tyler's Stations.  Tyler's Green frame hits my Yellow frame for 4 damage, destroying it.  Tyler's Orange frame hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Blue frame moves forward to put more pressure on Tyler's Stations.  The turn ends and I tick the clock down to zero, conceding the game.

Tyler: 35 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.
Me: 25 points.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We decided each section of train track would take one Hit of Damage before being destroyed.
• I finally added Artillery attachments back into my squad.  It was a mistake.
• I really needed another front line fighter, not a REMF.
• Not a really deadly game as only two Frames were destroyed.
• A fair amount of damage was dealt though.