Review: Block Tech US72-1537 Gizmo Blocks Bun Steamer

Like the "Animal Blocks" line from last year these are small impulse buy sets that can be found at 5 Below.  They can be found either in the Toy section with the rest of the building block sets, or on a rack by the entrance, or in the aisle to the checkout with other sub $5 items.

Box.  MSRP is $1.00, for a $0.03 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Tile, Large Jumper, Large Round

Jumper, Translucent Plates, Curved Bricks w/Cutout, Double Sided

Plate, Bracket, Translucent Corner Bricks w/Cutout, Round Plate,

Translucent Corner Curved Bricks w/Cutout, and Round Tile.

Build. 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?  No.  (-5)
Score: +10 (A-).  I'm not sure this Pink matches Lego Pink.  So overall I like this line for the colors as it doesn't have much in the kinds of parts we're looking for.  That being said, the price point is excellent.

Review: Block Tech US72-1536 Gizmo Blocks Air Frier

Like the "Animal Blocks" line from last year these are small impulse buy sets that can be found at 5 Below.  They can be found either in the Toy section with the rest of the building block sets, or on a rack by the entrance, or in the aisle to the checkout with other sub $5 items.

Box.  MSRP is $1.00, for a $0.03 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Round Plates, Tiles, Brackets, Curved Bricks w/

Cutout, Macaroni Tiles, Corner Plates, Plates, Quarter

Circle Tiles, Bricks, Panels, Apollo Stud, and Bent Bar.

Build.  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?  No.  (-5)
Score: +10 (A-).  I thought this was going to be another Black set but turns out it's Dark Green!  But beyond that, the Bent Bar, and the Apollo Stud, there's not much here to get excited about.

Review: Block Tech US72-1535 Gizmo Blocks Slot Toaster

Like the "Animal Blocks" line from last year these are small impulse buy sets that can be found at 5 Below.  They can be found either in the Toy section with the rest of the building block sets, or on a rack by the entrance, or in the aisle to the checkout with other sub $5 items.

Box.  MSRP is $1.00, for a $0.03 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Tiles, Corner Tiles, Bricks, Bricks w/Stud on Side, Brick w/Studs on Side,

Curved Bricks w/Cutout, Corner Bricks, Round Plate, Translucent Round Tile, and Panels.

Build.  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?  No.  (-5)
Score: +10 (A-).  I like the Butterscotch color pieces but, there's maybe half a dozen really useful parts in this set.

Review: Block Tech US24-1967 Mount Up! Horned Arrachni

This is the second of four sets from the first release of Block Tech's "Mount Up!" line dating back to 2021.  I purchased this at a 5Below store back before Christmas of that year.  I'm not sure why they all have the same part number and SKU.  The boxes were huge.  The name of this set!  I bumped this to the top of the backlog pile because I need some of the parts for my Nonbinary Generic Squad. 

Box.  MSRP was $4.99, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1. The ubiquitous Weapons Sprue.

Parts 2.  Ball Joint Pins, Friction Pins, Brackets, Cheese Slopes, Transparent Round Plates, Apollo Studs, Round tiles, Bar Studs, Transparent Round Tiles, and Barbs.

Parts 3.  Studless Slopes, Plates, Ball Joint Plates, Bar Plates,

Cheese Slopes w/Studs, Inverted Slopes w/Cutout, and Tile.

Parts 4.  Inverted Tiles, Long Cheese Slopes, Bricks w/Studs on

Corners, Double Jumpers, Large Cheese Slopes, Pin Connectors,

Ball Joint Plates, Exo-Force Arms, Minifig Axe, and Clip Claws.

Parts 5.  Plates, Bracket, Double Sided Plate, Small Inverted Slope,

Large Inverted Slope, Bricks w/Studs on Side, Cone, and Bricks.

Parts 6.  Studless Slopes, Wedge Studless Slopes,

Tiles, Plates, Inverted Tiles, Clip Tiles, and Claws.

Build.  Two Frames (2W) and a Station.

Plenty of leftover pieces as well.

 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+).  Another excellent "Mount Up" set.  Lots of Inverted Tile and Ball Joint pieces if that's what you're looking for.  You could probably build another Frame and/or station with the parts I didn't use.

Review: 41738 Friends Dog Rescue Bike

I wasn't planning on reviewing this set but I picked up a pair of them on Clearance at a local Walmart, so I figured, "Why the heck not."

Box.  MSRP is $9.99 for a $0.08 Price per Piece.

I found it for $5.00, for a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.

Minidolls.

Parts 1.  Loose in box.  Stadium Plate.

Parts 2.  Printed Tile, Tile, Clip Bricks, Clip Plates, Plates,

Round Translucent Tiles, Clip Tile, Double Curve Slopes,

Bricks w/Stud on Side, Brick, Half Pins, and Pulley Wheel.

Parts 3.  Large Jumpers, Round Plate w/Wheel Holder, Round Plates w/3 Leaves,

Dish, Tile, Rounded Plates, Plates, Apollo Studs, Round Plates w/Flower Edge,

Round Plates, Minifig Binoculars, Printed Round Tiles, Translucent Round Tiles,

Round Plates w/Horizontal Swirl, Padlock, Flowers, Brackets, Minifig Dog Bones,

Skeleton Arms, Twigs, Bars, Minifig Shovel, Brick w/Pinhole, and Bricks.

Parts 4.  Plates, Tile w/Studs, Tiles, Bar w/Stop, Arches, Translucent Curved

Bricks, Wheels, Minifig Basket, Bar Plate (open ends), Bar Plate (closed

ends), Flag, Brick, Brick w/Stud on Side, Axle Plate, Windscreen, Tiles w/Studs

on Ends, Studless Slope, Translucent Minifig Head, Minifig Trash Can,

Window Frame, 3x4 Leaf, Minifig Bike Frame, and Curved Bricks w/Cutouts.

Build.  Two 1 Hit pieces of Cover, Frame (2Rh+d8/1B/1Y), 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+).  I feel like this set has a bunch of good parts but isn't a great foundation set.

Player Count 6

It's been two years since I last posted about my personal bugbear with the MFZ: Rapid Attack system.  In the intervening time my gaming group has actually had the chance to playtest some of my theories.  We were testing "Even Newer 1.0" and had a three player Battle that saw 21 Frames on the table at the same time.  That could happen with the original rules but that would require all three players to come in Heavy.  Which isn't likely.  Along with increasing the number of Frames on the table at any given point, the new math for calculating Frame counts also pushes up the average number of Frames in a squad needed to play.  Which isn't great for new players or those with limited resources.  We'll also run into these issues with Revision 2.4.  So that leaves one new method, from that post, of calculating Frame counts that could possibly fix my issues with the formula.

New 1.3

        Frames

Players Stations Skirmish Battle War

      2       3 5 to 7  6 to 8 7 to 9

      3       2 4 to 6  5 to 7 6 to 8

      4       2 3 to 5  4 to 6 5 to 7

      5       1 3 to 4  3 to 5  4 to 6

      6       1  N/A          3 to 4 3 to 5

N/A = Not Applicable.

The maximum number of Frames in a squad is still nine but that's also siloed off in another category so it can be ignored if need be.  The minimum number of Frames is increased so we'll have to see how that shakes out in further testing.  Depending on how that goes we could also potentially revert back to Revision 2.3 and give that a try.

Once more -- with feeling -- here's the original version for reference.

Original

                                Frames

Players  Stations Skirmish Battle

    2           3         4 to 6 5 to 8

    3           2         3 to 5 4 to 7

    4           2         3 to 4 4 to 6

    5           1         3 to 4 3 to 5

Base Premise: A core concept of Mobile Frame Zero is that there's a Defender, Attacker, and Primary Attacker.

Desired Result: A way to allow players to pick a different quantity of Frames when they come to the table that allows at least three different levels of choice -- for example 4, 5, or 6.

Battle Report: Star Command Base

This is our sixth game of Rapid Attack, as a group, this year.  We used a couple of rule variants, see the notes, and drilled down into the RAW Elevation rules.  I also debuted a new table-setting.  This was a Battle.

Tom (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 56 points.

   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Orange Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.

   Red Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.
   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

Me (7 Frames & 28 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 45 points.  (Oso Oro)
   Uno Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Dos Recon by Fire -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W.

   Tres Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

   Cuatro Recon by Fire -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W.

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

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

   Siete Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Phungkyjams (8 Frames & 32 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points.  (Farmhands)
   Orange Warrior -- 2Rh/1B/1G+d8/1Y/2W.
   Lime Warrior -- 2Rh/1B/1G+d8/1Y/2W.

   Green Warrior -- 2Rh/1B/1G+d8/1Y/2W.
   Light Blue Warrior -- 2Rh/1B/1G+d8/1Y/2W.
   Pink Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

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

   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

   Blue Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC @ 11): Tom's Blue frame captures my Blue station, and Tom's Green frame captures Phungkyjams' Energy station before the game starts.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame moves East and captures the Neutral station.  Tom's Red frame hits Phungkyjams' Light Blue frame for 1.  My Cuatro frame hits the High Roof for 2 and Tom's Yellow frame for 2, Station Dance.  Phungkyjams' Pink frame hits a Standing Stone for 1, destroying it, and my Dos frame for 1, then moves East towards the Neutral station.  My Dos frame then turns to face the tower and hits Tom's Yellow frame for 3.  Tom's Blue frame steps sideways and saws my Cuatro frame for 3.  My Uno frame uses a SSR to hit the Deck -- at the top of the ramp -- for 1 and Tom's White frame for 1, which then takes 1 Falling damage.  The ramp then collapses and my Uno frame moves North over it towards the Deck.  Tom's White frame bounds back onto the Deck.  My Cinco frame hits the Deck -- South of the tower -- for 1 and Tom's Red frame for 1.  My Tres frame moves North, hits a tree for 1, destroying it, and hits  Phungkyjams' Yellow frame for 3, Station Dance.  Tom's Green frame uses a SSR to hit the Deck -- East of the tower -- for 1, and Phungkyjams' Green frame for 1, then Phungkyjams' Light Blue falls into the hole for 1.

Tom: 70 points.
Me: 40 points.

Phungkyjams: 30 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 8): Tom's Orange frame hits my Uno frame for 3.  Tom's White frame skips North and hits the Deck -- East of the tower -- with a SSR for 3 and Phungkyjams' Orange frame falls for 1.  My Dos frame jumps backwards and recaptures my Blue station.  Phungkyjams' Yellow frame steps backwards and hits the Landing Strip that Tom's Red frame is standing on for 2.  Phungkyjams' Green frame hops out of the hole it was in and hits Tom's Red frame for 3.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame steps to the East and captures Tom's Ground station.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits a tree for 1, destroying it, and Tom's Green frame for 3, Station Dance.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame steps to the East and smashes my Seis frame for 7 with shovels, destroying it.

Tom: 56 points.
Me: 40 points.

Phungkyjams: 33 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 5): Tom's Red frame hits Phungkyjams' Green frame for 1 -- it was aiming at the Low Roof it was standing on.  My Siete frame moves Northeast and captures Phungkyjams' Energy station that was under Tom's control.  My Cinco frame hits the corner of the Tower Overhang for 2 -- Tom's Elevated station then falls to the Deck -- and Tom's Yellow frame for 1.  My Cinco frame then moves forward and captures Tom's fallen Station.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame moves around the corner of the tower and hits my Cinco frame for 6, Station Dance.  My Tres frame hits Phungkyjams' Yellow frame for 3 then shifts West into cover behind a tree.  Tom's Orange frame hits my Uno frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Light Blue frame also rounds the corner of the tower and hits my Cinco frame for 3, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Pink frame shifts to the East and captures Tom's Station that was under my control, then hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame moves East again, smashes my Uno frame with shovels for 4, destroying it, and captures my Blue station.  Phungkyjams' Red frame turns West and hits my Cuatro frame for 2.

Phungkyjams: 39 points.
Tom: 35 points.

Me: 30 points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC @ 1): We didn't actually play this Round because we'd been at this for five hours and there was no real point anyway.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Phungkyjams: 39 points.
Tom: 35 points.

Me: 30 points.

Here's several during and aftermath pictures.

Start.

Start.

Round 1.

Round 1.

Round 1.

Round 1.

Round 2.

Round 1.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a Battle.
• We used the Neutral Station rule again.
• I really need to make a new Neutral Station so I don't have to keep digging the Station out of my Demo Kit.
• We used the "Even Newer 1.0" player count formula from my "Player Count 5" blog post.
• This uncovered some issues with that formula and I'll be revisiting it in the future.
• Even though the "Deck" is only five Bricks high we considered it "Elevated" for ease/consistency of play.
• The "Landing Strip" in the middle of the tower was considered Elevated in relation to the Deck.
• The roof of the tower -- "High Roof" -- was considered Elevated in relation to the rest of the battlefield.
• We were very specific with the "Six Bricks is one Ruler unit" rule ,page 134, since there were multiple Elevated sections on this battlefield.
• It was 6 Ruler units from the ground to the High Roof.
• It was 5 Ruler units from the Deck to the High Roof.
• It was 4 Ruler units from the Low Roof to the High Roof.
• It was 3 Ruler units from the Landing Strip to the High Roof at the back of the building.
• It was 4 Ruler units from the Landing Strip to the High Roof at the front of the building (overhang side).
• And looking at the rules for Falling damage, page 135, I screwed that up a little.
• Trees are 1 Hit.
• Every time a tree was destroyed I removed it from the board and replaced it with six of these to represented the shattered remains.
• Deck Supports are 1 Hit.
• Standing Stones are 1 Hit.
• Deck Plates are 1 Hit.
• Every time a deck plate was destroyed I removed it from the board and replaced it with six random, small plates to represented the shattered remains.
• I used the phrase, "Does that make sense to you?" a lot during this game as we worked through rule interpretations.
• Speaking of rules interpretations, we even had a case of a Frame acting as Cover for terrain.
• Tom's Blue frame capturing my Blue station before the game started is one of those rare cases where placing one of the Defender's remaining Frames "inside the Perimeter or in Cover" was valid and not a wink and a nod.
• I think I made my move a Round too soon.
• Phungkyjams came on strong in the third Round.
• It was really satisfying to absolutely wreck the corner of the upper level of the tower.
• This was a fun, but challenging, game.
• I think it stands as the most complicated we've ever played.
• Flickr page.