Battle Report: Cherry Blossom Forest 6

This is our third game of the year  It's been roughly three years since we've used this table-setting.  It was a Battle.

Tom (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.
   Green Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

   Pink Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.

   Brown Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   White Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.

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

Me (6 Frames & 23 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 32 points.  (DGR-1 Squad)

   Brown Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Tan Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2w + SSR.
   Orange Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Lime Light Recon by Fire -- 2Ra/2Y/2W.

Phungkyjams (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points.  (Dockhands)
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Purple Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Squad Leader -- 2Rd/1B/2Y/2W.
   Red Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Armored Assault -- 2Rd/2B/1G/2W + SSR(x2).
   Lime Instigator -- 2Ra/1G/2Y/2W.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): Tom's Brown frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame moves North and captures Tom's First station.  Tom's Pink frame takes a few steps East and hits Phungkyjams' Orange frame for 1.  Tom's Green frame hits Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 3.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame hits the tree in front of Tom's Pink frame for 1.  My Lime frame hits Tom's Grey frame for 1.  My Yellow frame moves Northwest and captures Phungkyjams' Comms station.  My White frame moves North around the trees in front of it and hits Tom's Green frame for 3.  My Brown frame steps West and hits Tom's Green frame for 2.

Tom: 42 Points.

Me: 40 points.

Phungkyjams: 21 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 8): Tom's Green frame moves Southeast and kicks the mesa my Lime frame is on for 1.  Tom's Pink frame hits Phungkyjams' Orange frame for 1.  My Brown frame hits Tom's Green frame for 3, destroying it, then retreats back behind the trees.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame hits my Orange frame for 1, then moves South to capture Tom's First station that was under my control.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame hits the damaged mesa for 1 with a SSR, then runs East past the bridge.  Phungkyjams' Red frame takes a couple steps South and hits the damaged mesa again for 3, destroying it.  My Lime takes 1 Falling damage as a result.

Me: 36 points.

Tom: 35 Points.

Phungkyjams: 24 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 5): My Orange frame steps North and slashes Tom's Grey frame for 3, Station Dance, and my Orange frame captures his Second station.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame runs East and recaptures his Comms station.  Phungkyjams' Purple frame hits my Orange frame for 1, Station Dance, then Phungkyjams' Blue frame captures Tom's Second station that was under my control.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame hits my White frame for 3.  Tom's Pink frame moves around the Twin Teeth and hits my White frame for 1 and the tree it was using for Cover for 1.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Pink frame for 1 then moves Northeast to the other side of the bridge.

Me: 32 points.

Phungkyjams: 30 points.

Tom: 28 Points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC @ 3): My Tan frame, which has been moving steadily Northward, hits Phungkyjams' Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame moves South and hits Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 1, Station Dance.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits my Orange frame for 2 in response.  My Yellow frame jumps South -- over some trees -- and hits Phungkyjams' Blue frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame then hits my Orange frame for 1.  Tom's White frame hits Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 3, Station Dance.  Phungkyjams' Purple frame hits my Orange frame for 2, destroying it, then moves South to Tom's First station.  Tom's Brown frame hits Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 2, destroying it.  Tom's Pink frame moves East along the stream and hits my White frame for 6, destroying it.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Tom: 28 Points.

Phungkyjams: 27 points.

Me: 24 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Round 1.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Round 4.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a Battle.
• This was a tense and well fought game.
• We did not use the Neutral Station rule.
• We used the "New 1.3" player count formula from my "Player Count 6" blog post.
• We had Falling damage!
• I probably lost the game when I started attacking Tom's forces on the Western edge of the battlefield.
• I probably should have put together a little more aggressive force, replaced one of the Soldiers with a Brawler and moved all the SSRs onto the melee Frames.
• Speaking of SSRs, I didn't get a complete log of their use but I think the last one was used in Round 3. Which is pretty deep into the game.
• Speaking of game length, both Tom and Phungkyjams talked about going another Round when counting down the clock and I think that had an effect on how conservative I played in the final Round.
• I really need to build a Compass Rose for this table-setting.  I have some ideas percolating.
• Flickr page.

Review: Teso-X 15014 Colorful Bloom Protea

Teso Life is selling these Botanical sets under their "Teso-X" brand imprint.  But they're made by a different manufacturer entirely.

Box.  The price I paid at Teso is $5.99, for a $0.06 Price per Piece.  MSRP from Pantasy is $7.99, for a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Bag.  As you can see, this is made by Pantasy.

Parts 1.  Steering Wheels, Octagonal Bar

Plates, Wide Curved Claws, Hexagonal

Windscreens w/Bar, and Round Brick. 

Parts 2.  Large Barbs/Claws/Teeth, Clip Claws, Axle Connectors,

Perpendicular Axle/Connectors, Pin Connector, Angled Axle

Connectors w/Pinhole, Axle/Pins, Axles, Horns, Bar Claws, Clip

Bar Holders, Exo-Force Arms, Medium Barbs/Claws/Teeth,

Pin Connector w/Clips, Round Plates, and Apollo Studs.

Build.  Two Frames (2Rh+d8/2W) [Systems

are Orange.] 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?  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+).  Two Frames and Cover is a decent start.

Review: Teso-X 15011 Colorful Bloom Freesia

Teso Life is selling these Botanical sets under their "Teso-X" brand imprint.  But they're made by a different manufacturer entirely.

Box.  The price I paid at Teso is $5.99, for a $0.05 Price per Piece.  MSRP from Pantasy is $7.99, for a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Bag.  As you can see, this is made by Pantasy.

Parts 1.  Hexagonal Windscreens w/

Bar, Cones, Round Bricks, and

Triple Axle Connectors w/Pinhole.

Parts 2.  Axle Connectors, Angled Axle Connectors w/Pinhole,

3L Axle/Pins, Apollo Studs, Half Pins, Axles, Minifig Spear

Tips, Bar Bar Connectors, Bar Clips, Axle/Pin, Friction Pin, Pin

Connector w/Pin, Bars, 1L Liftarms, Bases and Levers, Round

Plates, Pin Connectors w/Clips, and Minifig Crowns w/Bar.

Build.  Frames (2Rd+d8/2W).

[Systems are Green & Light Bley.]

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+).  This could do with one more Axle/Pin but other than that it's a good set.

Terrain Workshop: Sci-Fi Metal Sunflowers

Continuing on from my "Sci-Fi Metal Trees" terrain workshop post, I have a number of the Propeller 8 Blade 5 Diameter part and I'm using them in a similar way to my Sunflower build from last year.

So the Propeller connects to a 1L Bar w/Angled Hollow Stud, and that

goes into a 2L Pin Connector w/Slot.  A 3L Friction Pin then connects

a Liftarm Spacer and another 2L Pin Connector to the first assembly.

These are 1 Hit, and are 19 feet tall (not including

the base) and 10 feet across in 6P scale.  They might

 be a good addition to my Neue Regel table-setting.

The fun part about this build is that the Propeller Blade also comes in

Orange.  I have a few of those so I made a version that looks a bit more

natural.  This one is different from the other one as some of the parts from

the first version aren't available in more plant-like colors.  For this build the the

Propeller connects to a 1L Bar w/Angled Hollow Stud, and that goes into a

Pin w/Friction Ridges & Pin Hole, which goes into a 2L Pin Connector w/Slot, an Axle/ Friction Pin then connects that to a 3L Axle Connector to finish it off.

These are 1 Hit, and are 19 feet tall and 10 feet across in 6P scale.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds. Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 35

I was going to post something else today but this was half finished and I'm feeling a little lazy.  Let's make another tree for the mill.

Starting at the bottom, a 2L Smooth Axle Connector is connected

to another 2L Smooth Axle Connector via a Notched Axle, on top

of that is a  Pin Connector Hub w/1L Axle, attached to that are two

1x2 Round Plates w/Pointed Leaf.  That totals up to six pieces

which is 1 Hit. It's 25 feet tall and 10 feet across in 6P scale. 

Size Comparison.  As you can see, this is taller than all of the usual

suspects.  If you alternate the way they face on a base, you can line

them up nicely and turn this design into a wall without actually making

a wall.  Which is one of my favorite terrain techniques.  Flickr Page.

Terrain Workshop: Deffo Sci Fi

This is one of those "What the hell am I going to do with this piece?!?" builds.  The Minifig Crown w/Bar only has one real attachment point.  But you can stack them on top of each other to create a 180 reversal of the bar sections.  The rest of the build was selecting random pieces in a trial and error session 'til something looked right.

The base is a Round Large Jumper.  Stacked into that are a Minifig Candle, a Plant Stem/Stalk w/Bar, Bar Holder, & Hollow Stud, two Minifig Crowns w/Bar, and a Peony Rose Flower.  A Plant Flower w/Bar & Small Pin Hole is placed on the end of the arm of the Plant Stem/Stalk w/Bar, Bar Holder, & Hollow Stud.  That totals up to six pieces which is 1 Hit.  It's 16 feet tall and 6 feet across in 6P scale.  Hydrangea Flowers change color based on the pH of the soil so using multiple Peony Rose Flower tops across a bunch of builds can make sense.

I have no idea where I'm going to use this yet.  I've built seven at this point

and I want a bunch more before adding them to a battlefield.  I also have

no idea what I'm going to call them.  I titled this post "Deffo Sci Fi" because they definitely look like something out of Science Fiction.  They could be

Mega Venus Flytraps, or maybe Baby Triffids, or whatever, but several

of these should look really colorful on the table.  As always, I hope this

gives people ideas or techniques to use in their own builds.  Flickr page.

Review: 42233 Technic Mighty Machines Mobile Crane

 This is a new for 2026 Technic series.  The builds being packaged in a blind box format like the Collectable Minifig Series is an interesting gambit.  Just as a "heads up" the numbers next to the QR code do not match up to the contents of the box.  I've already bought one duplicate so far.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.

QR Code.

Instructions & Game Piece.

Parts.  Liftarms, Thin Liftarms, Perpendicular Axle/Pin

Connectors, Thin Liftarm w/Frame, Axle Connector, 3L

Pin, 3L Axle/Pin, Axle w/Stud, Round Plate w/Down Arm,

Axle Connectors w/Pin, Friction Pins, Axle/Pins, Friction

Axle/Pins, Axles, 3/4 Pins, 1/2 Pins, Rims, and Tires.

 

Build.  Frame (2Ra [large cannon] 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 first Mighty Machine set with a max score.