Review: 41574 Mixel Compax

It's Friday and let's finish out the week with the last of the Trashoz tribe.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Plenty of Plates, a few Ball Joints, some Bricks, a couple Tires and Rims, some Slopes and Technic pieces.  Another set with wide selection.

Build.  2Rh+d8/1Y/1Gd8/2W+SSR.

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+).  Trashoz finish out on top.

Review: 41572 Mixel Gobbol

I started reviewing this Tribe of Mixels back in January.  It's come time to finish.

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

Instructions.

Parts.Plenty of Slopes, Tiles, and Plates, some Bricks w/Bar, Clip Plates, and Tooth Plates, a couple Bar Plates, Robot Arms, Flags, and Headlight Bricks.  A fair amount of different things but no great quantities of really useful parts.

Build.  I actually like 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+).  The score remains the same.

Review: 30320 Gallimimus Trap Polybag

This polybag was available at Toys'R'Us back when Jurassic World was in the theaters.

Bag.  MSRP is $3.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.14.

Instructions.

Minifig?

Parts 1.  The two printed tiles and the "elephant trunks" are really nice.

Parts 2.  Minifig Chain!

Build.  An Intercept Orbit HVA.

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?  No.  (-5)
Score: -5 (B-).  It's a victim of licensing fees.

Sales Alert

Toys'R'Us is running a 20% off sale on Halo and American Girl Mega Bloks sets this week.  They're also doing a sale on random Lego sets.

Target is also doing a sale on random Lego sets.

Good hunting!

Review: 30376 Nexo Knights Knighton Rider Polybag

Let's finish out the week with a quick review.

Bag.  MSRP is unknown because this was a giveaway at the Lego store in late January.  Let's call it $4.99 for argument's sake, which gives us a $0.12 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig

Parts.  Not really a lot here.  The new 1x2 Studless Slopes are interesting.  There are some good Technic pieces too.  I like the Orange Click Hinge Plate as well.

Build.  An 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?  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?  No.  (-5)

Score: -5 (B-).  Not a great score.  Having an accurate price might change that though.

Battle Report: Minifig Scale

I met up with Dark Cloud Blogs at PAX East for a game we had been talking about for over a year.  Way back in 2105(?) we had started talking about doing a Minifig scale game.  In simple terms that means Frames big enough to hold a standard Lego Minifig.  In more obscure terms, 14P scale.  Here are the results.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 56 points.  (MFS Crab Mecha)
   Tank Red -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   Tank Orange -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   Recon by Fire Yellow -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Brawler Green -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Brawler Blue -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Dark Cloud Blogs (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points.
   Cyclops 1 (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Cyclops 2 (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Cyclops 3 (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Cyclops SSR (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Quad Walker (mobile cannon) -- 2Ra+d8/1B/1G/2W.
   Odysseus (fast brawler) -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1G+d8/2W.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.  My forces are towards the lower right side of the board.

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): Dark Cloud Blogs (DCB) makes a play for my Station in the center of the battlefield, with Odysseus, by attacking the Green Crab Mecha guarding it.  That Frame leaps over Odysseus and claims the Station left open.  In doing so I surrender my Station but my Blue Crab Mecha comes up to try and reclaim it.  The roof gets blasted off of one of the houses.  A set of cargo containers gets blown out from under my Yellow Crab Mecha causing 1 point of Falling Damage.

Me: 56 points.
Dark Cloud Blogs: 27 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@9): I manage to destroy Odysseus after several attacks over two rounds, allowing me to reclaim my Station.  Positioning mistakes by DCB allow me to sneak in and claim his other two Stations.

Me: 77 points.
Dark Cloud Blogs: 15 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@7): DCB finally manages to destroy my Yellow Crab Mecha after a concerted series of attacks.

Me: 70 points.
Dark Cloud Blogs: 15 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC@5): DCB claims the station my Yellow Crab Mecha was guarding.  He then destroys my Blue Crab Mecha and claims that Station too.

Me: 49 points.
Dark Cloud Blogs: 24 points.

Events of Turn 5 (DDC@3):  My Green Crab Mecha claims my Station in the center of the battlefield.  My Red Crab Mecha decides that discretion is the better part of valor and abandons the Station he was protecting.  He also fires a parting shot and manages to destroy the Cyclops SSR that tried to claim it.

Me: 49 points.

Dark Cloud Blogs: 21 points.

Events of Turn 6 (DDC@1):  DCB moves Cyclops 2 over to claim his Station back.  I manage to destroy that Cyclops and reclaim the Station.  DCB claims my abandoned Station in the center of the battlefield.  He also manages to  destroy my Red Crab Mecha in a last act of defiance before theDoomsday Clock ticks down to zero.

Me: 35 points.

Dark Cloud Blogs: 21 points.

Pictures of the destruction of various Frames.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We didn't use Single Shot Rockets.
• Mainly because I forgot to make them for my squad.
• We measured the battlefield using the Ruler and marked it with Painter's Tape.
• It was actually a little small.  We were aiming for 9' on a side but we only had ended up with only enough space for 5' on a side.
• I spent the whole game moving towards whatever tactical openings I saw.
• Any time Dark Cloud Blogs left a Station open I grabbed it.
• This game was a lot of fun but probably twice as much work as a regular scale one.

PAX East Pictures 2

These were all taken by Dark Cloud Blogs.
This set is from Saturday.

This set is from Sunday.