Terrain Workshop: The 4x4x4 Formula

I had a bit of an epiphany the other morning on the drive to work.  Terrain Workshop: Trees 10 and Terrain Workshop: Trees 11 both feature similar starting points. They each have four base pieces and four arch pieces.  The number of leaves -- and other assorted pieces -- is where they differ.  But, that leads us to the design I built the night before that fateful drive to work.

It starts with four Log Bricks, which then lead to four 1x3x2 Curved

 Top Arches, topped by four Plant Leaves 4x3.  That's twelve

pieces which is 2 Hits.  In 6P scale it would be 12' tall, with

a 5' thick trunk, covering roughly 20 feet from side to side.

This design follows the four (trunk) by four (branches) by four

formula (leaves) of the build in TW: Trees 11.  My epiphany

was the thought that you might be able to plug any number

of parts into that formula to make a decent looking tree.

Let's try it and see.

Four 2x2 Plates, four Inverted 75 deg Slope 2x1x3, and four Round Plates w/3 Leaves.

Four 2x2 Round Plates, four Continuous Bow Arch 1x5x4, and four 6x5 Swordleaves.

Six different parts, two different trees, one design formula.  What's really necessary for this to work is that the combination of the first two pieces gets you above the Height Minimum for Cover -- which is 3 Bricks.  Since it's made of twelve pieces total it will always be 2 Hits to destroy.  And if you build it the right way, it should be Cover until it's destroyed.  You should also be able to use fairly common pieces to generate terrain with this formula.

You don't have to limit yourself to trees, either.  This is a science fiction game after all.  Four 2x1x2 65 deg. Slope, four 2x1x1.3 Curved Slope w/Recessed Stud, and four Plant Leaves 4x3.  I see this as a piece of sandstone with coral fronds growing off it.  I probably should have used a different base color though.

Going back to trees-- and common pieces -- four 3x1 33 deg. Slopes, four

2x2 Bricks, and four 1x6 Plates looks like somewhat of a Cubist nightmare

but it is still viable as tree-shaped Cover made out of fairly common parts.

And, and, and(!) to tie this into an existing table-setting to show this technique can work in multiple ways, let's build something for Alien Planet.  Although that may be cheating a bit because Alien Planet has a pretty open design space.  Anyway.  Four 2x2 Wedges by four 1x1x5 Brick w/Open Stud by Curved Plant Stem w/2 Thorns & 2 Swirls.

To recap; four base pieces, four middle pieces, and four top pieces gets you --

 as long as it's above the Height Minimum -- a 2 Hit piece of Cover.  I hope this

helps people with future terrain designs for MFZ: Rapid Attack.  Flickr Page.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 3 Revisit

After the "Road to Nowhere" game I got a chance to experience my tree designs in action.  With some of the tree designs meant to be bigger, old growth trees, them having the same amount of Hits as other -- smaller -- tree designs doesn't make much sense.  So I took a couple of days afterwards to try and figure out a way to improve them.

I made a different set of changes to this tree design, hence the separate

post.  Well, kind of.  The changes are more apparent in the taller

 version.  Here's the post about the original version for comparison.

I added four 1x2 Plates in Reddish-Brown, attaching them to the side

arches.  I also added two 1x4 Plates in Dark Tan to the top, under

the Double Curved Slopes 4x1x2/3.  This is a total of six new pieces 

which adds 1 Hit, making the new total 3 Hits.  In 6P scale this tree

is still 15' thick and 18' tall.  The leaves cover roughly 40' edge to edge.

The taller version is where I deviate from the original version.  We start with

four Quarter Cylinder 3x3x5 w/2 Arch Tops, linking them with four 1x2 Plates

on the arches.  Then we stack the updated version of the tree on top of that.

We then add in four Plant Leaves 6x5 on the upper set of arches. This is a total

of twelve new pieces, adding 2 Hits, changing the total to 5 Hits.  In 6P scale

this tree is 15' thick and 34' tall.  The leaves cover roughly 50' edge to edge.

Here's a size comparison photo to show the height change in Tree 3.2.

If the Half Round Plate 3x6 w/1x2 Cutout in Reddish-Brown ever

becomes available in more than one set I'll probably revisit this again.

I hope people like these modifications and it helps

with creating your own terrain.  Flickr Page.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 2 & 4 Revisit

After the "Road to Nowhere" game I got a chance to experience my tree designs in action.  With some of the tree designs meant to be bigger, old growth trees, them having the same amount of Hits as other -- smaller -- tree designs doesn't make much sense.  So I took a couple of days afterwards to try and figure out a way to improve them.

The one on the left is the revised version of the build from

Terrain Workshop: Trees 4.  The one on the right is the

revised version of the build from Terrain Workshop: Trees 2.

I added two 2x2 Round Plates, sandwiching the Plant Leaves 6x5

between them, then added four Round Plant Plate 1x1 w/3 Leaves

to the 6x5 Leaves.  This is a total of six new pieces which adds 1 Hit,

making the new total 3 Hits.  In 6P scale it is now 20' tall and 10' thick.

The new Plates w/3 Leaves also add a splash of color to the design.

This update adds two 1x2 Plates under the Curved Slopes 2x2x2/3

and four 1x1 Round Plates w/Flower Edge on the 6x5 Leaves.  Which

makes a total of six new pieces, adding 1 Hit, changing the total to 3

Hits.  The new Flower Edge Plates are used to -- again -- add a splash

of color to the design.  In 6P scale this tree is still 10' thick and 21' tall.

Here's a size comparison photo to show the height change in Tree 4.1

I hope people like these modifications and it helps

with creating your own terrain.  Flickr page.

New Demo Kit

For a period of time I was working on putting together a new kit for demonstrating Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack.  While I was happy with the pieces I had already assembled, I wanted something smaller.  I wanted something that would fit in one tacklebox tray and be easily portable, while still having all the pieces I needed to run demo games.  Eight years ago I put together this one but in the long run it's just too bulky.  I changed to a different one in 2017 for PAX Unplugged that was a little "roll on, roll off" luggage bag.  Better, but I still wanted one I could just grab and go.

This is the newest version on the table at PAXU 2022.

Two years ago I had started building new Frames to feature in this demo kit.  The Havok, Helix, and Hermes frames were all built specifically for it.  I wanted something similar to the core MFZ Frames in looks, but without the old IP. Each set has their own design language yet they all share the same concept -- clearly visible, color-coded Systems.

Havok

Hermes

Helix

I also have two Gundam Converge figures as part of the kit for a fourth squad.  Which allows me to present a non-Lego alternative for units while running demo games.

I also made a Station for this kit.

It has a Ruler too.

I swiped the smaller walls from my old kit and made a few larger ones in the same style.  Retiring my Art Walls was a bummer but I needed modular walls that would fit into the kit.

 The small walls are six pieces which is 1 Hit.

Large walls are twelve pieces which is 2 Hits. 

This is what it looks like all packed away.

I hope this helps people who are thinking about putting together their own Demo Kits.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 13

Let's get lost in the woods for a week.  All the designs from this week actually predate Terrain Workshop: Trees 1 Revisit but I haven't had a chance to build/photograph/talk about them before that post and the "Road to Nowhere" game.

This one is going to get a little complicated.  It all started with two Pneumatic Hose Connectors w/Axle Connector in Dark Brown that I found while breaking down some sets.  They gave me a few ideas.

The build starts at the bottom with a 2x2 Round Tile w/Hole.  An inverted 1x1x6 Solid Pillar Support is placed into this.  A 1x2 Jumper goes on top of that with two 1x1 Technic Bricks w/Axle Hole on top of that.  A 1x2 Plate is used to secure the bricks and two more 1x2 Jumpers go on top.  Four 3x4 Plant Leaves finish off the stack.  A 4L Technic Axle goes through the two Technic Bricks and the two Pneumatic Hose Connectors w/Axle Connector are placed on the ends facing in opposite directions.  The pneumatic sections of the Pneumatic Hose Connectors w/Axle Connector are both vertically oriented.  Four Plant Leaves 6x5 are attached to those.  This gives us a total of eighteen pieces which is 3 Hits.

This would be 25' tall in 6P scale with a trunk thickness of 2.5 feet.  The branches would cover 35' at their widest.  This is my most complex build so far in terms of building techniques and parts use.  I've got a few more of the Pneumatic Hose Connectors w/Axle Connector in Dark Brown so I may make a couple more of this style of tree.  Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 12

Let's get lost in the woods for a week.  All the designs from this week actually predate Terrain Workshop: Trees 1 Revisit but I haven't had a chance to build/photograph/talk about them before that post and the "Road to Nowhere" game.

This one started with the Round Plate w/Pinhole & 4 Arms Up that I had sitting in my "Tree" parts collection.  It also has three 2x2 Round Bricks, four Plant Leaves 6x5 attached to the Round Plate w/Arms, and four 3x4 Plant Leaves on the top.  This is a total of twelve pieces which is 2 Hits.

This is 11' tall in 6P scale and the trunk is 5' wide.  It also covers roughly 35' from edge to edge.

This is the shortest of the tree designs I've made recently but also fairly common in terms of parts.  I wanted to substitute a 2x2x2 Barrel for one of the 2x2 Round Bricks to add a little height but I couldn't track any down in my collection that weren't already in use.  I'll try to remember to revisit this in the future when I find one.  I may also change the leaf color to Lime to fit in with this set of trees.  Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 11

Let's get lost in the woods for a week.  All the designs from this week actually predate Terrain Workshop: Trees 1 Revisit but I hadn't had a chance to build/photograph/talk about them before that post and the "Road to Nowhere" game.

This design has its origins in the build from Terrain Workshop: Trees 10, but it makes several changes.  We start with four Log Bricks as the base of the trunk, shifting into four 1x3x3 Arches, topped off by four Plant Leaves 6x5.  This is a total of twelve pieces which is 2 Hits.

In 6P scale this is 16' tall and the trunk is 5' wide.  The branches/leaves span roughly 45 feet.  This is probably the simplest build so far in terms of parts use and availability.  That should make it pretty easy for people to duplicate.  It's a little less boxy and covers more space than the build in Terrain Workshop: Trees 10.

With the boxy trunk design, I feel like this and the TW:Trees 10 design should be spun off into a different table-setting.  Flickr page.