Review: Gundam Converge RTX-65 Guntank Early Type (109)

Did I mention I was doing a Gundam Converge week?  I'm doing a Gundam Converge week.  This is day 2.  This kit is part of a sealed set of Vol.19 of Gundam Converge I picked up at H Mart.  I paid $64.99 for the entire set.

Box.  MSRP was $6.49 at H Mart.

Parts.  That little thing at the
bottom is a piece of candy.

Disassembled.  the cannons can be Direct Fire, or Artillery,
or even Spotting.  The head can be Defense or Spotting.
The arms can be removed for White die damage.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's a little smaller than a Classic.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Three.  (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +15 (A).  Not a bad score and a nice change of pace in terms of looks.

Review: Gundam Converge YG-111 G Self (108)

This is part of a sealed set of Vol.19 of Gundam Converge I picked up at H Mart.  I paid $64.99 for the entire set.

Box.  MSRP was $6.49 at H Mart.

Parts.  That little thing at the
bottom is a piece of candy.

Disassembled.  I can see this as a Soldier loadout.  Gun as Direct Fire, shield as Defense, backpack as Movement, and antenna as Spotting.  The arms can be removed for White die damage.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  In between a Chub and a Classic.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  A nice looking mecha and a good Frame for a game.

The Road to PAX Unplugged 2018

The dates for PAX Unplugged have been confirmed on the website, it's Friday, November 30th to Sunday, December 2nd.  Registration opens in a little over a week.  We had a decent turnout from the MFZ community the last time.  Let's see if we can do better this time around.

Getting Started 2

"How do I start playing Mobile Frame Zero?"  As with many other situations, the answer is, "It depends."

Back in September of 2015 I did another post about this issue.  This is a different take.

Just want a squad for yourself? Find the instructions/parts list for the Frame you want to build, buy those parts off Bricklink/Brickowl/Pick-A-Brick, assemble your squad, find players, play game.

Intent on starting a MFZ gaming group by yourself and providing squads for all the players? Find sets that have the parts you want/need at a price you're happy with, build Frames, build Terrain, stockpile leftover parts, find players, play game, Rinse, Repeat.

Some where in between those points? Pick and choose from both methods.

A specific thing people might want to look at is the Double Set Challenge. In that I combine two small, cheap sets to make a Frame and possibly a Station. I've also been breaking down the costs to make Defender/Attacker/Primary Attacker size squads from those sets. 

Storage? Tackle/tool boxes are good for storing and transporting squads or small collections. Have a larger collection that you want to organize in some fashion? Read this.

Review: 76101 Outrider Dropship Attack

Now that I've finally seen Avengers: Infinity War I feel comfortable posting this review.  Okay, I generally don't go in for minifig heavy sets.  But the Outriders looked interesting so I gave it a try.  Also, this is going for less than retail at Walmart so that was a strong selling point too.

Box.  I paid $12.44, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.

Minifigs 1.

Minifigs 2.  Those Outrider Neck Bracket pieces are interesting.
Not what I thought they might
be, but interesting.

Parts 1.  These were loose in the box.

Parts 2.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Minifig Stud Shooters, Tiles, Bricks w/Studs on Side, and some new Jewel pieces. 

Parts 3.  Teal pieces!  Bar Plates, Lampholders, Tiles, Slopes,
Plates, Clip Bar Holders, Clip Plates, Nipples, and Flags.

Build.  A Frame (2Rd+d8) with two Spotting
drones, a Station, and a 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?  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).  Not a bad set if you can get it at the Walmart price.

Battle Report: Stone Garden @ Paper Asylum

Last weekend the usual suspects were invited up to the Paper Asylum to play a game in celebration of International Tabletop Day.  This is how the game unfolded.

Me (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Mantids)
   Blue Soldier-- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier-- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Grey Soldier-- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   White Soldier-- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.
   Grey Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Orange Charger -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1G/2W.
   Green Charger -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Blue Charger -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Charger -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1G/2W + SSR.

Narbey (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.  (Skitterers)
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Green Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Tom (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points.
   Grey Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Colorless 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): Occam's Spork's Orange frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  Narbey's Yellow frame hits my Blue frame for 2.  In response, my Blue frame hits Occam's Spork's Yellow frame for 1 after destroying the Cover it was hiding behind with 1 damage.  Retaliating Occam's Spork's Yellow frame hits the Cover my Orange frame is perched on for 1.  My White frame hits Occam's Spork's Yellow frame for 2.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits my Orange frame for 2.  Occam's Spork's Green frame hits the Cover under my Orange frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame hits my Orange frame for 3 and the Cover it was perched on for 1, destroying both.  In retaliation, my Grey frame hits Occam's Spork's Grey frame for 1 and it does the Station Dance.  Narbey's Red frame hits my Grey frame for 2.  Tom's forces begin to advance across the battlefield.

Me: 35 points.
Occam's Spork: 35 points.
Narbey: 35 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 8): Occam's Spork's Green frame seizes my Tan Station.  My Grey frame hits Occam's Spork's Grey frame for 2.  Occam's Spork's Orange frame hits my White frame for 2.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits my Grey frame for 2.  Narbey's White hits Occam's Spork's Green for 2.  Narbey's Yellow frame hits Tom's colorless frame for 1 and it Station Dances.  Tom's Blue frame buzzes Narbey's White frame for 1.  Tom's Green frame seizes my Brown Station and also gouges Narbey's Orange frame for 4.

Occam's Spork: 40 points.
Narbey: 35 points.

Tom: 27 points.

Me: 21 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 5): Occam's Spork's Green frame hits Narbey's White frame for 5, destroying it.  My Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 1.  Narbey's Green frame hits Occam's Spork's Green frame for 4.  Tom's Colorless frame hits Narbey's Green frame for 1.  Tom's White frame slashes Narbey's Orange frame for 4, destroying it.  Tom's White frame buzzes Narbey's Green frame for 2.  In a follow up attack Tom's Blue frame shreds Narbey's Green frame for 4, destroying it.

Occam's Spork: 35 points.
Tom: 27 points.

Me: 21 points.

Narbey: 20 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 3): Occam's Spork's Grey frame hits my Grey frame for 1.  Tom's Grey frame destroys

Occam's Spork's Yellow frame with 3 damage.  Tom's Colorless hits Narbey's Red frame for 2.  Tom's Blue frame slashes Narbey's Red frame for 2.

Tom: 30 points.

Occam's Spork: 25 points.

Me: 21 points.

Narbey: 20 points.

Events of Turn 5 (DDC @ 1): Tom's Green frame destroys Narbey's Red frame with 1 damage.  Tom's Colorless frame hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 4.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits Tom's Green frame for 1 in retaliation.  Tom's White frame then destroys Occam's Spork's Blue frame with 3 damage.  Tom's Blue frame destroys my Blue frame with 6 damage.  Occam's Spork's Orange frame destroys Tom's Green frame with 5 damage.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Tom: 27 points.
Occam's Spork: 20 points.
Narbey: 15 points.

Me: 14 points.

Here's a bunch of aftermath pictures.

Thoughts & Observations:

• Once again, I used my crappy phone camera.  I only remembered today I have a regular camera in my bag.
• This was a pretty interesting game.
• I fell victim to bringing a squad I was infatuated with instead of one that was ready for battle.
• I didn't even have a plan for the game.
• The end of the game basically became a giant scrum in the middle of the battlefield.

Build Journal: Mantid

Back in February I reviewed the Pokeball Spinarack set.  I thought back then that it could form the base of a "-taur" type frame.  Last week I finally tracked down enough of the sets to attempt a new squad.

I started with my Generic frame.  One, because I've been grooving
on this design lately. And two, because it's an easy place to start.
This one was inspired by Vitor Faria's Brazilian Flag Lockon.

Here's the base Spinarack.

And this is what the combination of the two looks like.  It's a shame that the
Clip Plate and Bar Plate aren't available in Dark Blue.  The parts count is
split pretty evenly between Lego and Mega Bloks, 25 and 26 respectively.

Here's a size comparison of all three
next to my usual comparison points.

The best part is, the whole frame fits in a Pokeball!

Of course I made some changes from the original
version to the final version for my squad.

It all still fits in the Pokeball -- minus the SSR,

Here's the entire squad.