Monday, August 31, 2015

Review: 41541 Mixels Snoof

Monday brings us to another review of another set from this Series.

Bag.  MSRP $4.99 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.



Instruction.









Parts.  Plenty of Slopes -- regular, Inverted, and Studless -- including a 2x3 w/Curved Top, Mixel Joints a Boat Stud, a Jumper, a couple Quarter Travis bricks, a couple 1x1 Round Bricks, a couple of 1x2 Technic Bricks, a couple of Flick Missiles, a few Plates of different types, a couple of Clip Plates, and 2x1 Plates w/Bar (open ends), a Large Trans-Light Blue Barb, and a couple of Trans-Clear/Blue Minifig Swords, w/Jagged Edges.



Build.  Pretty ugly, but it works.

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 max Mixel for the Blue tribe.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Review: 41544 Mixels Tungster

Let's finish out the week with another Series 5 Mixel review.

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



Instructions.








Parts.  Plenty of Mixel Joits, Tooth Plates, Lampholders, Slopes, Brackets, Plates, Barbs and Tiles.  A couple of 1x2 Bar Plates (closed ends), and a 2x1 Double Clip Plate (horizontal) round it out.







Build.  A biped Frame with 2Rd (left blaster) 2Rh
(right claw) 1Y (sensor wings) 2W for stats.
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 Mixel set.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Battle Report: Mano-A-Mano 2

Tom and got together two weekends ago for MFZ, unfortunately the other members of the group couldn't make it.  To make up for that lack we managed to play a pair of games on our own.  This is the second of those games.

Tom (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.
Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points.








Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): Tom captures one of my Stations.

Tom: 56 points.
Me: 21 points.




Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 9): Tom destroys my Red frame.  I capture one of Tom's Stations.

Tom: 49 points.
Me: 21 points.






Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 7): I capture another one of Tom's stations.

Tom: 42 points.
Me: 24 points.


Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 5): Tom destroys my Blue frame.

Tom: 42 points.
Me: 21 points.

Events of Turn 5 (DDC @ 3): I recapture one of the Stations that Tom captured.  I tick down the clock to end the game because there is no way for me to win.

Tom: 35 points.
Me: 24 points.

Thoughts & Observations:
  • Games go pretty quickly when there's just two experienced players.
  • I played a little better this time and managed to break even in scoring.
  • Once again, I thought I took pictures of every turn but turns out to not be the case.  I'm going to have to keep a physical log of the pictures I take and see if there's something wrong with my camera.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Review: 41536 Mixels Gox

The first of the third Mixel tribe for this Series.

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



Instructions.








Parts.  Plenty of my second favorite part Mod. Plate w/Bar (open ends), those "new" Hero Factory Claws, Robot Arms, Plates, Mixel Joints, a few Slopes, a few Tooth Plates, a Technic Connector, a Technic Gear, a 2x2 Turntable, Technic Axles, Large Barbs, Grille Tiles, and several Modified Bricks.









Build.  Mecha Devil Horse.  Plenty of attachment points on this one.


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 one for the top Mixel pile.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Battle Report: Mano-A-Mano 1

Tom and got together two weekends ago for MFZ, unfortunately the other members of the group couldn't make it.  To make up for that lack we managed to play a pair of games on our own.  This is the first of those games.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 56 points.
Tom (7 Frames & 28 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 30 points.


Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11):
Tom destroys my Gold frame.  He also does three damage to my White frame.


Me: 49 points.
Tom: 30 points.








Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 9):
I seize one of Tom's Stations.  He destroys my Bronze frame in retaliation.  My heavily damaged White frame start making its way to Tom's other Stations.

Me: 49 points.
Tom: 27 points.









Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 7):
Tom seizes one of my stations.

Me: 42 points.
Tom: 30 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 5):
Tom reclaims the Station I captured but I steal another one of his in return.  He then grabs my other two Stations along with destroying my Black and White frames.

Tom: 36 points.
Me: 14 points.

Events of Turn 5 (DDC @ 3):
Tom destroys my Red frame to clear me off the battlefield and cement his complete victory.

Tom: 39 points.
Me: 0 points.








Thoughts & Observations:
  • I played way too aggressively this game.
  • To be honest Tom simply outplayed me.
  • I could have sworn I took pictures of every turn.
  • Trying to build hills in terrain can be problematic.
  • We used the Elevation rules but I don't think they ever really came into play.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Review: 41540 Mixels Chilbo

Let's start out the week with another Series 5 Mixel review.

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



Instructions.









Parts.  Plenty of Mixel Joints, Plates, and Slopes, a couple of Quarter Travis Bricks, plus one 1x2 Trans-Clear Brick, some Barbs, A couple of Tooth Plates, Googly Eyes, and a handful of Bar Holders w/Clip.




Build.  This one's naked but
there are plenty of spare 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?  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+).  We're back on top with the first max score for Series 5.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Review: 41542 Mixels Spugg

I suppose I should start the Series 5 Mixel reviews before they disappear off the shelves.  :-)

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.10 Price per Piece.


Instructions.









Parts.  We have a couple new parts here.  The 2x2 Round Jumper Plate in the lower left and the 3L Technic Pin w/1L Axle in the lower right.  These go along with the Mixel Joints, Slopes, 1x2 Technic Bricks, Quarter Travis Bricks, Plates, Tooth Plates (some Transparent Orange even), 2x2 Plate w/Pin (on bottom), 1x2 Clip Plates, Barbs, Red Spike, and 1x2 Bricks w/Studs on side.






Build.  A quick Frame build here.  Stats: 2Rd + d8
(arm guns) 1B (armored torso) 1Y (sensor pod) 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).  Another one for the second best Mixel pile.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Purity: Brickforge Review 4

At this point the rating system I set down in the second Brickforge review has become somewhat superfluous as the items I'm reviewing aren't really built for the sizes we use.  Therefore, they're basically greebles.  That being said, sometimes greebles are what sets one build apart from the rest.


Sipping Glass.  This could make a useful muzzle on some sort of a rifle.  It has no problems connecting and fits at both scales.

Rating: A+ (+20)








Gemstone.  It could be used as a greeble or maybe part of a Spotting attachment.  No problems connecting and fits at both scales.

Rating: A+ (+20)









Test Tube.  Possible uses as a greeble, part of a Spotting attachment, or ammunition for a weapon.  Fits both scales and has no problem attaching.

Rating: A+ (+20)








Lens Piece.  These are slightly different from the regular Lego 1x1 Round Tiles, being slightly bigger and rounder.  They're also available in a few different colors than their Lego counterparts.  Fits both scales and has no problem attaching but there has been some sprue flash on some of the pieces.

Rating: A (+15)



Warning Light.  I think this is my favorite piece in this review.  It's great for greebling or color marking.  Combine this with the Flask from the last review and you get a great looking SSR.  Fits both scales and has no problem attaching.

Rating: A+ (+20)