Terrain & Scenery 11

Feeling a little worn out this morning, so here are some fun pictures to look at.

Ground Vehicles by Tenor Penny.  A little tiny
in terms of scale for MFZ but still cool looking.

Lord Hephaestus's Fire-Horses Carry the Royal Chariot Into the Citadel at Sunrise by Tate Whitesell.  In case you were looking for some fantasy themed pieces.

Micro Helicopters by Clark Taylor.  These are really slick.

One tiny leap for mankind... by Rod Gillies.  A possible

alternate for the lander from the Saturn 5 set.

YF-19 Excalibur by zio_creation.  Wow.  But downloads are disabled.

Review: 30404 Friendship Flower Polybag

This was a "free" giveaway on Valentine's Day at Lego stores.

Bag.  MSRP was listed as $4.99 in a promotional e-mail, which gives us a $0.05 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Two Octagonal Bar Plates, eight Corner Bricks, one Bar w/Stop, one Large Jumper, plenty of Slopes, Plates, Tiles, Clip Plates, and some Round Bricks. I like the color choices too.

Build.  Two Frames and a 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+).  Hopefully this one gets released into standard retail channels because it looks like a good starter set.

Build Journal: Zizy Vehicles

Years ago, Zizy posted a set of vehicles to his blog and they caught the imagination of the MFZ community.  Zeekhotep talked about them on his blog.  They were discussed on the Hangar.  And they've been discussed on the Discord channel as well.  Zizy calls them 1/72 scale and Zeekhotep says they're perfect for 7P scale.

After the discussion on the Discord channel I figured I'd take a crack at them and see what I could do.

Here's my first attempt at the chassis.  This worked, but the rest of the vehicle was only attached by one stud and was able to rotate out of position.

Here's my second attempt.

This version held the top steady

and didn't allow it to rotate.

Here's what it looks like fully assembled.

After assembling the proof of concept and seeing that it
worked, I decided to try and change it into a better
looking color scheme and make it look a little "sportier".

Then I went a little nuts and built a bunch more, including an "18 wheeler".

Here's a size comparison shot.

Here's the Brickshelf gallery for these builds.

Hopefully this gives you the first step you need to assemble your own.

Purity: Kre-O B5709 Armor Up Bumblebee Kreon Review

I stopped in to Dollar General after a night out with friends and I found some new sets on the shelf.  I wasn't intending on reviewing more Kre-O sets for a while but I needed the parts from this one.  I'm going to use the Non-Building Block review system for these since they look like they could be a Frame-in-a-Box.

Box. I paid $5.00 for this at Dollar General.

Instructions.

Disassembled.  Those Bar Tile Clips by the Kreon's legs plug into Lego Apollo Studs.  The Clip-On Gatlings are neat, and the Autobots symbol on the 1x1 Round Tile is neat too.

Assembled.  I'm going with 2Rd+d8 for
the Gatlings, 1Y for the Laser Targeter,
and 1B for the armor on the back.

Size Comparison.





The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It looks roughly the same size as a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  Blah.

Review: 30450 Royal Talon Fighter Polybag

In honor of the movie I'll be seeing later today, let's look at the Royal Talon Fighter Polybag

Bag.  I paid $5.00 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Lookit all those Clip Plates!  Trans-Purple Cheese Slopes, I've needed those for a year now.  The Guardians of the Galaxy Minifig guns are nice too.

Build.  I built the set, this will
 make a great 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+).  A great looking set.

Battle Report: Ice 9 @ Hobby Bunker

A friend came in front out of town last weekend.  He had expressed interest in playing MFZ, so I arranged a game at the Hobby Bunker in Malden.

Me (4 Frames & 15 Systems) = (6 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 36 points.  (Aurelii)
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Shifty Ginger (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 24 points.  (Solidboxes)

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

Narbey (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 24 points.  (Skitterers)

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

   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

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

Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): We both pass to Shifty Ginger and his Yellow frame hits my Blue frame -- whom he feels is too close for comfort -- for 1.  Again we pass and Shifty Ginger's Orange frame also hits my Blue frame for 1.  Having had enough of getting smacked, I activate my Red frame, move it towards Shifty Ginger's Green fame and one of his Stations, and I end up hitting the short building for 1 damage -- leveling most of it.  Continuing the attack on my outlying Frame, Shifty Ginger's Blue frame moves forward and hits my Blue frame for 3.  My Yellow frame hits Narbey's White frame for 1 and it moves in to cover behind the long building.  My Orange frame hits the long building for 2 damage and Narbey's White frame for 1.

Me: 36 points.

Shifty Ginger: 24 points.

Narbey: 24 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 8): I start this turn swinging.  My Red frame hits Shifty Ginger's Orange frame for 1, it Station Dances.  I seize his Purple station.  Narbey seizes my open Blue Station with his White frame.  Shifty Ginger's Blue frame moves into cover and hits my Yellow frame for 1 and it does the Station Dance.  Shifty Ginger's Green frame hits my Red frame for 1 and my Red frame also does the Station Dance.  Shifty Ginger's Yellow frame hits my Blue frame and destroys it as it limps towards the Station I had captured from him.  Narbey's Red frame moves out of cover and hits my Orange frame for 2 as it moves out of cover.

Me: 30 points.

Narbey: 28 points.

Shifty Ginger: 20 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 5): Shifty Ginger seizes my White Station that I had left undefended.  His Orange frame hits my Red frame for 4 and seizes back his Purple station.  Narbey's Yellow frame hits my Yellow frame for 1.  Shifty Ginger's Green frame hits my Red frame for 1.  My Orange frame keeps moving and hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 2.  Narbey's Orange frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  Narbey's Red frame hits my Orange frame for 2.  Shifty Ginger's Blue frame moves to another piece of cover and  hits Narbey's White frame for 2.

Narbey: 28 points.

Shifty Ginger: 28 points.

Me: 18 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 1): Narbey's Yellow frame hits Shifty Ginger's Yellow frame for 2.  Narbey's Red frame changes direction and also hits Shifty Ginger's Yellow frame but for 1.  Then Narbey's Orange frame hits Shifty Ginger's Yellow frame for 2.  Shifty Ginger's Orange frame destroys my Red frame with 2 damage.  Shifty Ginger's Blue frame hits Narbey's White frame for 1.  My Yellow frame smashes the big building with 2 damage, destroys Shifty Ginger's Yellow frame with 2 damage, then seizes back my White Station.  My Orange frame makes an attack with its SSR on Narbey's Yellow frame but comes up empty on the damage dice.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Narbey: 28 points.

Shifty Ginger: 20 points.

Me: 18 points.

Here's a couple of aftermath pictures.

And as a bonus, here's pictures of the battlefield before the game started.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was Shifty Ginger's first game.
• This was a competitive game from beginning to end.
• The final round was really tense for me.
• My attempted comeback with the final activation of the game came up a little short on the final Damage roll.
• Narbey had horrible luck with damage die rolls, and also with d8 rolls.
• It was really nice to damage a few buildings in this game.
• We had at least four people come over to the table to see what we were doing.

Review: 30405 Friends Stephanie's Hockey Practice Polybag

I was in the Greater Boston area the other day so I decided to visit the Legoland Discovery Center.  I found a few polybags that haven't hit general circulation yet.  In general the pricing for the sets they sell is competitive, but the polybgs and Pick-A-Brick cups are overpriced.

Bag.  I paid $5.00 for a $0.13 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Nothing really remarkable here.  The

Red 1x1 Round Plates in the lower right

corner are the new Flower pieces though.

Build.  A couple of small Stations.

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-).  Buy it if you're a completist .or really need the parts.

Sales Alert

Looks like Target is running a 20% off sale on select Friends, City, Classic and Duplo sets.  That means the Classic sets should be a really good deal and the City sets might  be affordable.

Here's Toys'R'Us clearance sale on building blocks this week.

Good hunting.

Review: 30499 Robot / Vehicle Free Build Polybag

I was in the Greater Boston area the other day so I decided to visit the Legoland Discovery Center.  I found a few polybags that haven't hit general circulation yet.  In general the pricing for the sets they sell is competitive, but the polybgs and Pick-A-Brick cups are overpriced.

Bag.  I paid $5.00 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Three Taps, two 1x4 Offset Plates, Bricks w/Studs on 1 Side, Antenna, Minifig Bullhorns, Clip Plates, Robot Arms, Plate w/Ladder, Blaster w/Studs on Sides & Handle are the pieces that catch my eye.

Build.

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+).  Features decent parts at a decent price.

Review: 71220 Dimensions Lord of the Rings Gimli Fun Pack

I picked this up the other day at TJ Maxx for cheap, so I decided to do a quick review.

Box.  MSRP was $11.99 for a $0.21 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  That helmet might be fun.

Parts.  Technic Bricks, Brackets, Plates, Bars, Tile Clips, Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Friction Pins, Pin Axles, Slopes, New Headlight Bricks, Dimensions Bases, 2x2 Trans-Light Blue Round Brick, Round Tiles, Flame pieces, Minifig Axe Blades, Ice Cream Cones.

Build.  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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  This is more a parts pack in my opinion.