Build Journal: Warstrider

One of the time honored traditions in the MFZ community is copying other people's Frame designs.  This allows you to field something you think is cool and possibly learn new techniques at the same time.

Another tradition in the community is copying ideas, concepts, and techniques from other builders and then combining them in new and interesting ways.  That's the idea behind this Frame from Xenovirus.  They're really cool looking and I've always wanted to take a crack at building one.




But another idea occurred to me somewhere along the line.  Somehow the idea for also using the torso from Mitten Ninja's Locust frame popped into my head.  I'd already built something using that core, so I'm not sure why I wanted another crack at it.  But I ran with it anyway.

That led me to this, what I'm calling the Warstrider.

There are more pictures in a Brickshelf gallery.

Here's a size comparison picture so
you can get an idea of how big it is.




It's the combination of the idea of one person and the techniques from two more, continuing a community tradition.  :-)

Battle Report: Teslaville

After a month off, the Usual Suspects got together this past weekend.  We tried a new table setting that I call "Teslaville".

Tyler (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Quattros)
   Orange Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   White Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W + SSR.
   Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.  (Solidboxes)
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Red Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (7 Frames & 27 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points.
   Blue/Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Green/ White Medium Tank -- 2Rd+d8/1B/2W
   White/Blue Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   White Soldier  -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W
   Blue Moving Wall -- 2B/2G+d8/2W + SSR (x3).
   Green -- 2Rh+d8/2Rd+d8/2W.

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

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): Occam's Spork's Green frame closes in and hits my Red frame for 1.  My Red frame hit's Tyler's White frame for 1.  My Yellow frame, moving in from its position in the corner of the battle field, also hits Tyler's White frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's White/Green frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame moves off of my first Station and continues the attack on Tyler's White frame with 2 damage and also destroys the section of train track it was using as cover.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits my Orange frame for 1, then seizes my first Station.  Occam's Spork's Green/Blue frame hits Tyler's White frame for 4 damage, destroying it.  Tyler's Red frame hits my Green frame for 1.  My Green frame moves off of my second Station in an attempt to return fire but ends up short on range.  Tyler's Green frame hits my Yellow frame for 1.  my Blue frame turns and moves down the tracks towards Tyler's forces.

Tyler: 35 points.
Me: 30 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@7): Tyler's Red frame moves to the corner of the battlefield then hits my Green frame for 2 damage.  My Green frame attempts to hit his Orange frame but only destroy the train track it was using as cover.  My Orange frame maintains position and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Green frame hits my Red frame for 3.  My Blue frame continues to move down the tracks towards Tyler's forces.

Tyler: 35 points.
Me: 30 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@3): Occam's Spork's Green/Blue frame hits my Yellow for 1.  My Yellow frame continues to move towards Tyler's Stations.  Occam's Spork's Green/White frame moves away from his Station and hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame charges forward trying to pressure the frame guarding Tyler's Stations.  Tyler's Green frame hits my Yellow frame for 4 damage, destroying it.  Tyler's Orange frame hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Blue frame moves forward to put more pressure on Tyler's Stations.  The turn ends and I tick the clock down to zero, conceding the game.

Tyler: 35 points.
Occam's Spork: 27 points.
Me: 25 points.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We decided each section of train track would take one Hit of Damage before being destroyed.
• I finally added Artillery attachments back into my squad.  It was a mistake.
• I really needed another front line fighter, not a REMF.
• Not a really deadly game as only two Frames were destroyed.
• A fair amount of damage was dealt though.

Review: 30546 Krypto Saves the Day Polybag

Not what I was intending to post today, but I ran out of time.

Bag.  I paid $3.99 for this at Toys'R'Us, for a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

"Minifig."

Parts.  A White Travis Brick, Minifig Stud Shooters, 1x2 Mod. Plate w/Bar (open ends), 1x2 Inverted Studless Slopes, a printed 2x1 Cheese Slope, and Lampholders are all fun parts.

Build.  A weak 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?  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'm not sure it deserves this score.

Review: 41143 Disney Berry's Kitchen

Let's do a little something different for a review today.

Box.  MSRP is $5.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.10.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  That Flower Base in

Medium Azure might be

interesting to experiment with.

Parts 2. The Trans-Pink bricks are nice as are the 1x1 Mod.
Bricks w/Handle.  Apollo Studs in Gold are interesting too.

Build.  A couple of IO HVAs.
 Yeah, I know, weak.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Not really.  (-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: +5 (B+).  Not sure this set deserves this score.

Random Starships 5

Let's finish out the week with some starships!

Micro GARC Lineup by Jake.  All of these feature interesting
parts use, color use, and techniques.  They also look to
range in size between Cruiser and Frigate length.

Vorenhutz class Orbital Assault ship by Malcom Craig.  An old creation

but still a good one.  Looks to be the proper length for a Cruiser.

Dressed for Wargames... by nnenn.  This is another old one.
The picture's a little small and the ships are probably
too long for Intercept Orbit but they look fantastic.

Tiny Freighters by essaych.  Render.  These would make great HVAs.

Starship II by Adeel Zubair.  Nice color blocking, it
looks to be Frigate length, and downloads are disabled.

Terrain & Scenery 10

More pretty stuff for you to stare at this week.

Tiny Trucks by Robiwan Kenobi.  These look to be in 6P scale.

Tablescrap/Study -- Moai by Unijob Lindo.  This

is really neat, and downloads are disabled.

MicroRover by Sad Brick.  A very nice 2P -- or

so -- build that also has downloads disabled.

Micro Rover by kamalmyafi.  Render.  Looks to be 6P or 7P,

it'll have to be thinned out a bit because it will probably take

more than 10 hits to destroy it.  Again, downloads disabled.

Vehicle Stuff by Sunder_59.  A nice selection of sci-fi vehicles in microscale.

Non-Human 27

I'm feeling a little lazy this morning, so here are some neat pictures to stare at.

Mini Walker, Ecxlem by James Wysiwig.  I first saw this
years ago and I'm finally mentioning it on my blog.  :-)

M729 Scarab by Nick Brick.  Very nice.

image by e.c. macCallum.  Render.  These are neat.

The Tiny Tank by Puffer Photography.  I like

this picture, and it's Mega Bloks too!

Spiderling by Michael Raichelson.  I like the colors and the intimidating look.

Purity: Mega Bloks DTF91 Kubro Spock

Let's finish out Mega Bloks week with something a little different.

Box.  MSRP is $14.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.11.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  In the lower left corner is
an Inverted 1x2 Cheese Slope.

Parts 2.  The Black 1x2x2 Slopes w/Step are pretty interesting.

Parts 3.  The 2x4 Ziggurat Brick,
1x3 Inverted Double Slope, Angled Slopes w/Studs, Angled
Slopes w/Studs & Pin, and 1x2
Slopes w/Hole are all interesting.

Parts 4.  Double Sided
Plates and Apollo Studs!

Parts 5.  The Grey Half Moon pieces
are supposed to be Spock's Eyelids.

Build.  I managed an IO frigate after some time spent looking at the 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?  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+).  This set has some really interesting pieces, but I feel that you'd need at least two of them to make something really good from it.

Purity: Mega Bloks FFJ33 Despicable Me 3 Wild Waterski Bike

Switching franchises yet again, let's continue with Mega Bloks week.

Box.  MSRP is $14.99 which is a Price per Piece of $0.18.

Instructions.

Minion-figs.

Parts 1.  A little blurry.  The hole in the
center is too loose for a stud to attach.

Parts 2.  The Double Axle Holder in the upper right is really interesting.

Parts 3.  1x3 Double Jumper
Plates and a 2x2 Bar Tile?

Parts 4.  Apollo Studs and
Offset Jumper Plates.

Build.  A little thin, but I think 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?  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+).  About normal for a licensed set.