Battle Report: Oasis 6

This is the first game of the year for our gaming group after losing multiple games of schedule jenga at the end of last year.  After sitting out for a year, I put the "Oasis" on the table for this game.  We used a couple of house rules for this game.  This was a Battle.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 40 points. (Infantry Platoon)
   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Brown Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Grey Watchtower -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.
   Grey Scouting Bodyguard -- 2Rh/2Rd/1B/1Y/2W.
   White Scouting Bodyguard -- 2Rh/2Rd/1B/1Y/2W.
   Orange Scouting Bodyguard -- 2Rh/2Rd/1B/1Y/2W.
   Blue Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W +SSR.
   Brown -- 2Rh/2Ra/2Y/2W + SSR (x2).

   Pink (Mercenary) Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Tom (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (6 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 48 points.
   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Purple Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Phungkyjams (7 Frames & 28 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points. (Panda Poly)
   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Hot Pink Static Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Delegator -- 2Ra/1B/2Y/2W.
   Light Orange -- 2Ra+d8/1B/1Y/2W.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): My Red frame captures one of Occam's Spork's Stations before the game starts. My Brown frame captures one of Tom's Stations before the game starts. My Yellow frame captures the other one of Occam's Spork's Stations and one of Phungkyjams' Stations before the game starts.  My Red frame targets Tom's Orange frame but Tom's Yellow frame is acting as Cover and the damage doesn't get through.  My Red frame then retreats East behind one of the Curvy Trees.  My Blue frame hits Phungkyjams' Green frame for 2 with a SSR, then retreats Southeast.  Occam's Spork's Pink frame hits Phungkyjams' Green frame for 2 then moves Southeast towards one of his Stations..  Occam's Spork's Blue frame moves Northeast and recaptures his Station and captures Phungkyjams' Station, then hits my Yellow frame for 2.  My Yellow frame tries to retreat to the East.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame moves East and hits my Yellow frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's White frame moves East, from between the Moai, and hits my Yellow frame for 2.  Tom's Red frame moves South and hits my Brown frame, which tries to run South, for 3.  Tom's White frame moves south and recaptures his Station then hits my Brown frame for 3, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Yellow frame moves South then hits Tom's Purple frame for 1 and the Moai it was hiding behind for 2.  Tom's Purple frame moves East and hits my Yellow frame for 2, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Hot Pink frame moves south to the edge of the oasis and hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 1 and his Orange frame -- which is acting as Cover -- for 2.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame moves South and hits my Blue frame for 2 with a SSR.  Phungkyjams' Light Orange frame shifts East to cover his Station then hits Tom's Purple for 2 and the Moai it was using for Cover for 2.  Tom's Green frame moves Northeast and hits Occam's Spork's Brown frame for 3.  Tom's Yellow frame jumps westward over a bunker and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 1, Station Dance.

Me: 42 points.
Tom: 40 Points.

Occam's Spork: 40 points.

Phungkyjams: 24 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 8): Occam's Spork's Blue frame moves West and hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Red frame moves East and recaptures Occam's Spork's and Phungkyjams' Stations.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame moves West and hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 3.  Occam's Spork's Brown frame moves Southwest then hits Tom's Green frame for 3.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits the Oil Depot for 1 with a SSR and it explodes.  The explosion pushes Phungkyjams' Green frame to the Northeast and Tom's second Station to the Southwest.  Tom's second Station also pushes Tom's White frame.  Phungkyjams' Hot Pink frame continues moving South and hits Tom's White frame for 3, Station Dance.  Tom's White frame hits Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 3.  Occam's Spork's Pink frame moves Northwest and recaptures his second Station.  Phungkyjams' Light Orange frame hits my Red frame for 1, Station Dance to the South.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame recaptures his and Phungkyjams' Station.  Tom's Orange frame scuttles Northwest over the aid trailer and hits Occam's Spork's Pink frame for 2.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Occam's Spork's Pink frame for 2, Station Dance.  Tom's Green frame captures Occam's Spork's second Station.

Tom: 45 Points.

Occam's Spork: 40 points.

Me: 35 points.

Phungkyjams: 24 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 4): Tom's Green frame moves East and captures my Red station.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Occam's Spork's Pink frame for 2, destroying it.  Occam's Spork's Brown frame moves Southeast and hits Tom's Purple frame for 2.  Phungkyjams' Yellow frame keeps moving Southeast and captures my Blue station.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Purple frame for 2, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Hot Pink frame hits Tom's Yellow frame for 2.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame hits Tom's Yellow frame for 2.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 1, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' captures Occam's Spork's Station that was under Tom's control.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame hits Tom's Green frame for 2, Station Dance, and it captures my Red station that was under Tom's control.  Tom's White frame moves South and saws Occam's Spork's White frame for 2, destroying it.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame turns around and hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1.  My Red frame hits Occam's Spork's Grey frame for 2 then moves North.  Phungkyjams' Light Orange frame hits the tree in front of Tom's Green frame for 1.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Tom: 35 Points.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.

Phungkyjams: 30 points.

Me: 21 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Round 1

Round 1

Round 1

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a Battle.
• If you're confused by the amount of Frames on the table, that's because we're experimenting with the Player Count Formula.
• We also used the Explosion Rule for the first time in several years.
• I ended up being an Accidental Defender after a roll off.
• I did not plan well for this game.
• As far as I can remember I made a couple of mistakes as well, like forgetting to use a Spot and maybe a Station Dance.
• I was planning on holding off 'til PAXU to use this squad but I didn't have anything else close to being ready.
• Guess I'll need another surprise squad for then.  :-)
• I added a few new pieces of terrain for this game.
• These trees, a new compass rosette, and a couple of bunkers by Sciamatist will be added to this table-setting.
• We chose not to move the convoy this time around.  Which is good because there was so much happening.
• This is probably the most informationally dense battle report I've written.
• It took me a few days of going back and forth between pictures and notes to get it all sorted out.
• This game has the most Station captures so far of any game I have records for.
• At one moment in the game I had 77 points.
• Flickr page.

The Explosion Rule

Since the Hangar is now gone -- taking the original posting of this rule with it -- and the rule is still being used, I figured I'd post it here.  We originally used it in this game, and recently used it again in our last game.  I'm thinking about adding it to the "Airfield Ambush" table-setting too.

The idea for this came about because Area Effect rules in Mobile Frame Zero are problematic.  Due to, possibly, dealing with multiple targets getting activated at the same time.  This rule was an attempt to duplicate the effect without the inherent issues.  It works thusly.  You declare a piece of terrain as Explosive.  It doesn't have to be Cover.  Then you decide how much Damage it will take before it explodes.  We usually go with 1 Hit because we like seeing things go "BOOM".  This is the Damage Threshold.  Then you determine how far away in ruler Units things will be effected.  This is the Blast Zone.  When the item in question is hit and destroyed you roll a die to determine how far away in Ruler Units everything is pushed.  We generally use 1d6.  This is the Blast Radius.  And by everything I mean Frames, Stations, and Cover/Terrain.  If a Frame or Station is pushed off the Battlefield in this manner it is Out Of Play and the person controlling it loses those points.

Second use.

First use of the rule.

So simply, Declare item, set Damage Threshold, set Blast Zone, roll Blast Radius, determine effects.  You can see there's a lot of ways to tweak this rule and I look forward to hearing how you use it.

Review: 76277 War Machine Mech Armor

I know I skipped reviewing the Marvel character mecha for 2023 -- I'll go back to them at some point -- to be honest I wasn't too enthused by any of them.  The first one for 2024 seems pretty interesting though.

Box. I paid $14.99 for this which gives a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Loose in box.

Parts 2.  Curved Slopes w/Studs & Wing End, Technic Plates, Bar Plates, Brackets,

Rounded Plate w/Pinhole, Mod. Brick w/Pinhole and Plate, Inverted Tiles, Round

Large Jumpers, Studless Slopes, Dishes, Double Ball Joint Plate, Round Tile, Transparent Boat Sliders, 2x2 Plate w/Studs on Side, Ball Joint Plates, Lampholders,

Clip Plates, Corner Plates, Corner Tiles w/Notch, Padlocks, Tiles, Large Cheese Slopes,

Slopes w/Cutout, Double Inverted Slopes w/Cutout, and Curved Slopes w/Cutout.

Parts 3.  Cockpit, Cockpit Shell, Bent 2x6x0.6 Plates, Wedge Plates,

Spoiler, Stud Shooters, Stud Shooter Triggers, Ingots, Half Circle

Tiles, Rounded Plates, Stadium Tiles, Transparent Round Tiles,

Cheese Slopes, Round Plates, Bar Ball Joints, and Friction Pins.

Parts 4.  Printed Tile, Tile w/Studs. Wedge Studless Slopes, Exo-Force Arms,

Studless Slopes w/Cutout, Brackets, 2L Bars w/Stop, Clip Plates, Panel, Ball

Joint Plates, and Minifig Hair (Which I forgot to include with the minifig.).

Build.  Two IO Frigates (and plenty of leftover parts).

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).  Tons of useful parts, not a lot of color variation, but a decent price point.  I will probably buy more of these.

Review: 30645 Snowman Polybag

This is one of the remaining polybags from 2023.  I found it in Target, after Christmas, on a sidekick in the Toy section.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Half Oval Plates, Brackets, Bar w/Stop, Studless Slopes, Triple Curved Wedges, Plates, Bricks w/Studs on Side, Bricks w/Studs on Side & Edges, Flower Round Plates, Inverted Double Slope w/Cutout, Round Tiles, Curved Bricks w/Cutout, Turntable Base, Cheese Slopes, Jumpers, Ingots, Turntable Top, Printed Round Tiles, Bricks, Slopes w/Cutout, Cone, Double Bar Plate, Round Plates, Clip Bar Holders, Rounded Plates, Tiles, Ball Joint Plates, Clip Plate, Large Cheese Slopes, Bar Ball Joints, and Inverted Tile.

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?  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 has a decent price point, decent parts, and decent color selection but I'm just not feeling this one.

Review: 71789 Ninjago Kai & Ras' Car and Bike Battle

It's been over a year since the last "4+" review but, since I'm using the Hard Plastic Wheels as part of another build and since this is the only other set with them in Black -- and this type of set is easy to review -- I figured I'd take a crack at this one.

Box.  MSRP is $19.99, for a $0.20 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifigs.  The sword on the right is neat.  The

Minifig Head might look cool on a Frame.

Parts 1.  Quad Bike Halves, Pins, Wheels, Dragon Head, Helicopter

Blades, Curved Slope w/Studs & Wing End, Pentagonal Tile, Bracket,

Slope, Ball Joint Plates, Clip Plates, Transparent Dishes, Tooth Plates,

Plates, Large Cheese Slope, Steering Wheel, Panels, Slopes w/Cutout,

Brick, Truncated Cone, Flames, and Transparent Apollo Studs. 

Parts 2.  Quad Bike Halves, Rims, Tires, Half Circle Plate, Wedge Plate,

Printed Triple Curved Studless Slope, 2x2x3 Brick, Wedge w/Cutout,

Bricks, Curved Slopes w/Studs & Wing End, Studless Slopes, Jumpers,

Vertical Clip Plates, Brick w/Grooves, Plate, Bar Holders w/Bar,

Lightning Piece, Steering Wheel, Minifig Swords, Pins, Panels, Bracket,

Plate w/Angled Tubes, Bar Tile, 4 Point Crystal, and Cones.

Build.  Battlebikes!  (2Rh+d8/2Y) and (2Rh+d8/2B).  Station and fire markers.

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+).  There are some good parts in here -- I bought it for one specific piece after all -- but I'm not really feeling it beyond that.

Boxes versus Cups

With the switchover to sustainable packaging for the Lego Pick-A-Brick wall, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering how the old and new carrying vessels compare.  I was too.  So let's take a look at both containers.

This is the new Large Box for use with the Pick-A-Brick wall.

This is a comparison of the new Large Box and the old Large Cup.

This is what a Large Box looks like when it's full.

And here's that Box emptied into the Cup.  So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.