Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Propaganda Wars in Mechaton/Mobile Frame Zero 2

Since my original post, other people have decided to join the fray.  Red Robot, Blorf, sBritcher, Gusindor, and even myself have jumped on the bandwagon.  Of course my designs pre-date everyone else's, so you could say that everyone else is just catching up to me.  :-)

The Krate, Kar-Tunn, TRUNDLE, Mitten, and the Stumpy are all small, affordable frames in a market clogged with oversized, overbuilt, piles of expensive parts.  ;-)  I could possibly include A YATES INDUSTRIALS may even be getting involved with his TUBs, but there's no trash talking coming from him.  Zerovirus has joined the fray with the Rumple.  Even Soren is getting in on the action, with something a little more Ijad looking!

C'mon, join us on the bandwagon, it's fun!

There's also a "clearinghouse" topic on the Hangar.  You can't tell the players if you don't have a program.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Battle Report: Bunker Battle

Blorf and MRaichelson were in Massachusetts for assorted reasons and managed to meet up with some of the usual suspects at the Hobby Bunker in Malden, MA for a game of Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack.  These are the results.

The point totals for the beginning of the game were as follows:
MRaichelson (5 frames & 19 systems) = (7 points per asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.
Me (5 frames & 20 systems) = (6 Points per asset) * (7 assets) = 42 points.
Blorf (6 frames & 23 systems) = (4 points per asset) * (8 assets) = 32 points.
Tom (6 frames & 24 systems) = (3 points per asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points.


Here's the board layout at the start of the game.  I started out near MRaichelson on the left side of the table.  Tom and Blorf started at opposite corners of the right side of the table.


Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11):
A lot of posturing and movement by all players.  I attacked MRaichelson, Blorf attacked MRaichelson, and Tom attacked Blorf.  No frames were destroyed but several were damaged.  One of my frames was reduced to just white dice after a strike from Blorf's HtH specialist frame.



End of Turn 1 pictures.
MRaichelson: 49 points.
Me: 42 points.
Blorf: 32 points.
Tom: 24 points.



Events of Turn 2 (DDC@9):
The heat was turned up in this round as MRaichelson lost a frame and a station to me.  I then lost one of my frames.  Blorf and Tom also jockeyed for position.



End of Turn 2 pictures.
Me: 42 points.
MRaichelson: 35 points.
Blorf: 32 points.
Tom: 24 points.



Events of Turn 3 (DDC@6):
This is when the balance finally tipped and all hell broke loose.  MRaichelson reclaimed his station but lost a frame.  I lost another frame as well.  Tom and Blorf began to consolidate their forces towards their side of the table



End of Turn 3 pictures.
MRaichelson: 35 points.
Blorf: 32 points.
Me: 30 points.
Tom: 24 points.



Events of Turn 4 (DDC@3):
Things went from bad to worse.  I lost another frame but captured one of MRaichelson's stations.  MRaichelson also lost another station to Tom.  On top of that he lost two frames.  Tom and Blorf got into a dust-up over Blorf's stations but no frames were lost over them.  Blorf clicked the DDC down to 1 and I decided to click it down to 0 because I couldn't see a quick way to win and we were running out of time.



End of Turn 4 pictures.
Blorf: 32 points.
Me: 30 points.
Tom: 27 points.
MRaichelson: 7 points.





Here were the stations that were most contested.  This was a hard fought game and I believe Blorf said, "You guys have made me think more about this game than any other I've played."





Thoughts & Observations:

  • We used Environmental Systems for this game.  The Blue felt areas were considered water and you needed an Environmental system to operate fully within them.
  • The Environmental Systems ended up not having that much impact on the game that we could see.
  • We also switched from full buildings to partial walls for this game.  It was pretty satisfying seeing all the broken terrain at the end of the game.
  • The Hobby Bunker is a good location for a game.  We'd be willing to go back if any of the Eastern Massachusetts MoF0s would be interested in a game.  Hint, hint.
  • There were several people who came over and took a look at the game while we were playing.  A few expressed interest, including a couple of store employees.
  • It was great meeting Blorf again, and MRaichelson for the first time.  It was also great getting to game with both of them.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Review: 41520 Mixels Torts

Let's go green today.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 which leads to a $0.10 Price per Piece.





Instructions.







Parts.  Mixel joints, Studless Slopes, Cheese Slopes a tooth plate, Robot Arms, Mod. Plates w/Vert. Arm, 2x1-2x2 Brackets, 1x2 Inverted Slopes, New Headlight Bricks, 4x3 Studless Wedge, 2x4 Flared Wing Mudguard, two Starfish, the Slope 2x1 Double/Inverted, and the funky Wedge 4x3 Cut Back w/Cutout & 2 Studs are all cool parts.  There's just not enough of any of them.






Build.  I'm calling this the Lime Rhino.

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?  No.  (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  This set ties with the Mixel Flurr set for lowest scoring Mixel set.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Review: 70722 OverBorg Attack

Let's take a break from the Mixels for a moment -- primarily because I need some parts from this set.  :-)

Box.  MSRP is $19.99 for a $0.10 Price per Piece.



Instructions and Stickers.






Minifigs.



Parts 1.  There are a few good parts
here, but the tread and the tires aren't
that great.  The 2x1 Double Clip Plate
is the big standout for me.





Parts 2.  this is more like it.  Robot Arms, Pneuma-Ts, Half Studless
Slopes, Lightsaber Handles, Small Barbs, 1x1 Round Plates, Bar
Clips, and an Octagonal Bar Plate are just some of the good bits.







Parts 3.  Larger parts here, still some useful stuff.  Multiple
Studless Slopes, those large Hero Factory spikes in the lower
left of the picture, SNOT bricks, Technic bricks, Plate
w/Vert. Bar, Gears, new Technic Helicopter Blades, etc.




Parts 4.  More small parts.  Lots of Technic Pins and Connectors, two Technic Bricks, two new Headlight Bricks, two Lampholders, two 1x1 Trans-Red Cones, and three Minifig Sais.







Build 1.  Frame, naked for ease of build.







Build 2.  Frigate.  Stats: 2Ra+d8/1Y/1Gd8/2W.




The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  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).  Full of interesting parts but it will still take a little skill to make this collection of parts into something worth putting on to the table.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Review: 41522 Mixels Scorpi

After a day off for the holiday, let's keep going with the Tan Mixel tribe.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.07 Price per Piece.





Instructions.






Parts.  The Technic Bricks are nice as are the Bricks w/Studs on one side.  More Bar Holders w/Clip, Half Bows, Cheese Slopes, 1x2 and 2x1 Plates w/Bar (closed ends), Clip Plates, Friction Pins, Half Pin w/Towball, 1x2 Plate w/Towball Socket, Lampholder, 1x2-2x2 Brackets, Inverted 2x4 Slope Double, a Tooth Plate, multiple Small Barbs, and a few Large Barbs all look interesting.






Build.  I went with something a little different this time.
I call it the Hell-Ram.  Stats: 2Rh+d8 (aft blades)/ 2B
(fore smoke launchers)/ Gd8 (multiple legs)/ 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+).  Another top scoring Mixels set.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Review: 41523 Mixels Hoogi

Here's the first review for the Series 3 Tan Mixels.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.07 Price per Piece.




Instructions.








Parts.Plenty of Tan and Dark Tan here.  Cheese Slopes, Mixel joints, Mod. Plate w/Bar (angled), Bar Holder w/Clip, and some Slopes -- regular and inverted -- plates, 2x2 Jumper plates, a couple of new Headlight bricks, and some Clip Bricks.  Looks like a good selection.









Build.  This was almost cheating.  Seriously.  I
banged this out in about five minutes during my
lunch the other day.   It even has its own 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+).  Another top scoring Mixels set.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

An Interesting Kickstarter?

Atomic Bricks on Flickr has started a Kickstarter to raise money towards creating a mold for these designs so they can be made in ABS plastic.  Now I'm generally not a fan of using minifig-scale weapons for MFZ but, I'm always a sucker for minifig shields and some of those weapons look pretty good.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Random Mechs 12

Here's a some mecha to get you over the mid-week hump.

Micro Loader by Bangoo H.  Replace the minifig parts
with a head and this could make an interesting frame.









LT-VMI Gunner by Arcandio.  Simple, straightforward,
nice.  I think a squad of these guys would be pretty affordable.
He even has a set of weapons to go along with it.


01-GD Charger 1 by Gobboleone.  This looks
like a riff on other designs we've seen.













Hammerhead Worker Mech by Gogglez.  An interesting
variation on Ironsniper's Hammerhead mech.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A New Blog

We have another entry to the MFZ Blogosphere.  Cheap MFZ is a blog dedicated to Single Set Challenges and cheap Lego.  That's a pretty nice combination.  Please join me in welcoming him to the community.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Review: 41525 Mixels Magnifo

Let's continue Series 3 with one of the purple sets.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.08 Price per Piece.



Instructions.








Parts.  Lots of Purple pieces.  Some Mixel joints, Claw Bars, Lightsaber
Bars, Tooth plates, Cheese Slopes, Brackets, the 1x2 Inverted Slopes
are nice as are the Mod. Plates w/Bar.  Oh, let's not forget the Clip Plates
and Brackets either.



Build.  I'm going to swing back to the kaiju stylings from creations from the last set of Mixel reviews for this build.  Stats: 2Rh+d8/1B/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+).  Another top scoring Mixels set.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Review: 41518 Mixels Glomp

I'm starting my run on the Series 3 Mixels.  Yes, I know these are late.

Bag.  MSRP was $4.99 which gives us a Price per Piece of $0.08




Instructions.








Parts.Mixel joints, Lampholders, Half Bows, Cheese Slopes, Clip Plates (Horiz.), Tooth Tiles, Bar Plates (closed ends) -- 1x2 and 2x1 -- and a 1x2-1x2 bracket are just some of the useful parts I see.




Build.  This is basically a variation on 
the set itself.  This one just looks a little 
more imposing to me.  Stats: 2Rh+d8 
(grabber arms) 2Y (sensor fangs) 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+).  Another top scoring Mixels set.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Review: 70232 Saber-Tooth Tiger Tribe Pack

Part of the last wave of Chima sets, this is an army builder pack.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99 for a Price per Piece of $0.14.  Ouch.


Instructions.










Minifigs.  Enh.

Parts 1.  Cheese Slopes, Clip Plates (vert.), Lightsaber handles, 1x2 Technic Bricks, a Teeth Plate, 1x1 Round Plates, 1x1 and 2x2 Round Tiles, Minifig Claws, and a shooting Minifig Gun are just some of the fun parts here.


Parts 2.  Other people have done some interesting things with the banners from these sets.  The Skis are interesting too.

Build.  Nothing.  Whatever I tried came out looking like a pile of parts.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  No.  (-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-).  Yeah, get these on sale or Clearance if you can.