Battle Report: The Henge

A thousand years have come and gone but time has passed me by.  Stars stopped in the sky, frozen in an everlasting view from a better, vanished time.  They left the planet long ago, the elder race still learn and grow.

Back in November of last year I posted a Build Journal that alluded to a greater idea.  This is that idea.  I wanted to combine menhirs and trilithons with an idea inspired by this review.  It's some sort of weird cross-pollination of Mesoamerican ballcourts with whatever is frothing around in the depths of my fevered imagination.

Me (4 Frames & 14 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (5 assets) = 35 points. (Sirens)

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

   Soldier Two -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

   Recon by Fire Four -- 2Ra/2Y/2W + SSR.

   Recon by Fire Five -- 2Ra/2Y/2W + SSR.

Marin (5 Frames & 18 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 24 points.
   Blue Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Red Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Purple -- 2Rd/2B/2W.
   Pink -- 2Rd/2B/2W.

Narbey (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 18 points.  (Skitterers)
   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

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

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

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rh/1B/1G/1Y/2W +SSR.
   Green Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Meara (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 18 points.  (Slytherin Scramblers)
   Red Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.
   Grey Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.
   White Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.
   Blue Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Yellow Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Chuck (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 18 points. (Hexen)
   Red Swarmer -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

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

Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): Meara's Blue frame intercepts my #2 frame and slashes it for 5.  Narbey's White frame moves away from the edge of the battlefield and hits my #4 frame for 2.  Narbey's Green frame chases Chuck's Yellow frame and claws it for 2.  Narbey's Orange frame hits Meara's Blue frame for 1 then moves to the medium standing ring.  My #1 frame moves towards the side of the battlefield and hits the menhir in front of Chuck's Orange frame for 1, destroying it.  Chuck's Orange frame hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 2.  Chuck's Blue frame moves away from the large standing ring and hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 3.  Marin's Purple frame hits Chuck's Red frame for 1.  Marin's Yellow frame moves forward slightly and hits Meara's Red frame for 1.  My #5 frame hits the menhir in front of Narbey's Yellow frame for 2, destroying it, and the frame for 3, also destroying it.

Me: 35 points.
Marin: 24 points.

Meara: 18 points.
Chuck: 18 points.
Narbey: 15 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 6): Meara's Blue frame continues slashing my #2 frame, destroying it with 3 damage.  Meara's Red frame moves away from the standing stone it was using as cover and slashes my #4 frame for 1.  Chuck's Yellow frame hits Narbey's White frame for 1 then moves towards Narbey's Station.  Chuck's Blue frame hits Meara's Red frame for 1 then also moves towards Narbey's Station.  Chuck's White frame moves forward and captures my Station, then hits my #4 frame for 2, destroying it.  Meara's White frame slashes Chuck's Orange frame for 3, Station Dance.  Meara's Yellow frame captures Chuck's Station.  Narbey's Orange frame moves away from the medium standing ring and hits Meara's Blue frame for 2.  My #3 frame hits Chuck's White frame for 3, Station Dance.  My #1 frame hits Chuck's White frame for 1, then sprints over from the side of the battle field and captures my Station back.  Meara's Grey frame hits Narbey's Orange frame for 1 with a SSR.  Marin's Pink frame hits Meara's Red frame for 1 then moves beside my Station.  Marin's Blue frame hits Chuck's Red frame for 5, destroying it.  Marin's Red frame moves towards the center of the battlefield and hits my #1 frame for 2, Station Dance.  Marin's Pink frame captures my Station.

Marin: 28 points.
Meara: 21 points.

Narbey: 15 points.
Me: 14 points.
Chuck: 12 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 3): Narbey's Orange frame hits Meara's Blue frame for 1, then moves closer to large standing ring.  Meara's White frame moves away from Chuck's Station and closer to one of the smaller trilithons then hits Marin's Pink frame for 1 with a SSR, Station Dance.  Meara's Red frame moves closer to the small standing ring and slashes Marin's Pink frame for 1.  Narbey's Red frame approaches Meara's Station and hits Meara's Blue frame for 2.  My #5 frame hits Marin's Pink frame for 1, Station Dance.  Chuck's Orange frame hits his Yellow frame for 1 and Narbey's Green frame for 1.  My #1 frame takes a few steps and punches Marin's Pink frame for 4, destroying it.  Chuck's White frame hits Marin's Red frame for 1 then moves beside my Station.  Meara's Yellow frame slashes Chuck's Orange frame for 2.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Marin: 24 points.
Meara: 21 points.

Narbey: 15 points.
Me: 14 points.
Chuck: 12 points.

Here are a few aftermath pictures.

Thoughts & Observations:

• The opening stanza to this battle report brought to you by my butchering of Neil Peart lyrics.
• Harkening back to the Greenfield Games game I got put into the Defender position by a die roll.
• I was forced to drop a Frame.  My original squad included another Soldier and had a different SSR distribution.
• Primary Attacker was also decided by a die roll.
• We had two spectators -- hopefully future players -- for this game.
• For the first time ever I put stickers on my Frames.
• It would appear I was the only one to destroy any Cover.
• Everyone seemed to enjoy the new table-setting.

Review: 75196 Star Wars Microfighter Series 5 A Wing vs. TIE Silencer

Reaching into my backlog pile, I find the last set in the fifth Microfighter series.  I held off on purchasing this one for a while due to the price.  I think I finally caved when it went on sale.  This is also the first Microfighter series that I've reviewed in entirety.

Box.  MSRP is $19.99, this gives us a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions 1.

Instructions 2.

Minifigs.  

Parts 1.  Wedge Plates, Plates, Plates w/Pinhole, Round Plates, Double Bar Plate, Inverted Slope w/Cutout, Bar Fence, Slopes, Minifig Wrench, and Flickfire Missiles.

Parts 2.  Round Plates, Round Tiles w/Hole, Plates, Slopes, Wedge Plates, Panels, Jumpers, Grille Tile, Minifig Pistol, Round Plates, Cones, Clip Brick, Brick, Bracket, Plates w/Pinhole, and Axle Pins.

Parts 3.Plates w/Cutout, Plates, Wedge Plates, Kylo Ren Lightsaber Blade, Bar Plates, Clip Plates, Inverted Slopes, Inverted Plates w/Pinholes, Brackets, Brick w/Studs on both sides, Plate w/half studs, and Flickfire Missiles.

Parts 4.  Tiles, Clip Plates, Lightsaber Handles, Plates, Grille Tile, Cheese Graters, Tile, Printed Slope, Barraki Eyes, and Cheese Slopes.
  

Build.  Two Frame and two 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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  Two Frames, two Stations, and plenty of spare parts.  If only the price was better.

Build Journal: Collaborative Terrain

I had an idea on the way home one night about terrain in MFZ games.  There's a microscale building standard called Micropolis.  People use this standard to assemble collaborative builds at Lego conventions.  I figure our community could make something similar.

Remembering Zeekhotep's Scale Reference Page, I put this together when I got home.  It's 10 Bricks tall by 12 Studs wide.  That makes a square 3.75" by 3.75".  A ten by ten group of these makes a square 37.5" on a side.  It has 1x1 Technic Bricks on each end of the third and eighth rows for connection points.

As an example, I built in two attachment points
for connecting Cover.  I made a quick wall --
attached to those points -- that can take one Hit.

Here's a two Hit building attached to the base in the same way as the wall.

This is another section with a small hill built into it connected to the original section.  The transition is a little jarring but it shows the possibilities.

As I mentioned in the second paragraph, a ten by ten group of these makes a square 37.5" on a side.  Eleven by eleven would be a square 41.25" on a side.  Twelve by twelve would be a square 45" on a side.  If a group of people planned ahead of time before meeting up at a convention they should each  be able to create and bring a number of sections then assemble them to manufacture a collaborative battlefield.

The Road to PAX Unplugged 2020, Take 2

The dates for PAX Unplugged 2020 have been released.  The con is 39 weeks away.  The reason I'm still talking this is I want to run a tournament for Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack at this con.  I'm going to keep talking about this up until the con actually starts.

I know that Micah, Ed, Joe, Chris, Templeton, Ryan, Vlad, Pete, Erin, and Peter are all down for this.  And also Vitoria from Brazil is trying to make it.  That's four tables of three players each.  That would be even more games than the last count and it would be an actual international tournament!

Wouldn't you like to get in on this?  Wouldn't you like to see our community on multiple tables in the Miniatures Area at PAX Unplugged?  Start planning now.  Let's make this happen!  Peter even made a hashtag for it.  #InternationalMobileFrameTournament 

Review: 40375 Xtra Sports Accessories Polybag

Continuing on with recent Lego Xtra polybag purchases.  This one is more minifig oriented than Monday's review.

Bag.  I paid $3.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Printed Tile, Tiles, Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Slopes, Log
Bricks, Arch Bricks, Minifig Hockey Sticks, Bow & Arrow, Skis,
Helmets, Trophy, Rollerskates, Ski Poles, Skates, and Round Tiles.

Build.  Three pieces of 1 Hit Cover.

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-).  Some good parts, but I don't feel like it's as immediately useful as the Botanical Accessory pack.

Review: 40376 Botanical Accesories 2 Polybag

A year and a half ago the Lego Xtra polybags were released.  There was an article that came out before they were released about botanical pieces being made from sustainable products.  I haven't heard anything about that decision being reversed, so I wonder if these parts are made that way.

Bag.  I paid $3.99, for a $0.12 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Quarter Circle Plate, Fences, Large Jumper, Small Trees,
Branches, Arch Brick, Grass Stems, Leaves, Round Brick, Plate,
Flower Stems, Round Bricks w/Leaves, and  Flowers.

Build.  I'd consider the Trees 1 Hit cover along with the piece in the middle.

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 bad if you're in a hurry and need some terrain.

Battle Report: Alien Planet @ Paper Asylum

We returned to the Paper Asylum for the fourth year in a row for our second meet up of the year.

Pete (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Pink Bunny Brigade)

    Red Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Blue Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Swarmer -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange -- 2Ra+d8/1B/1Y/2W.

PJ_Nichts (5 Frames & 18 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.  (mecha)
   Blue Fast Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Orange Fast Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1G/2W + SSR.
   Silver Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Green Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Spotter -- 1Gd8/2Y2W.

Jesse (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.
   Planty (brawler) -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Birdie (brawler) -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Tiny -- 2Rd/2Ra/1B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Roy -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Wuhan -- 2Rh+d8/2Rd/1Y/2W + SSR.

Me (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points. (Seraphim)

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

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

   Purple Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Brown Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.

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

Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): PJ Nicht's Orange frame runs over from his Stations and clubs my Yellow frame for 3.  Pete's Red frame hits my Purple frame -- as it runs up and challenges his Blue frame -- for 2.  My Brown frame turns to the right and hits Roy -- in cover behind the Bladetrees -- for 2.  My Orange frame hits Pete's Blue frame for 2.  Tiny hits my Green frame for 1.  Planty moves away from the Juicebar station and swats PJ Nicht's Orange frame for 1.  Wuhan peeks out from behind a Flower Tree and hits my Green frame for 2.  PJ Nicht's Silver frame advances down the battlefield and blasts Pete's Orange frame for 4.

Pete: 42 points.
PJ Nicht: 35 points.

Jesse: 35 points.
Me: 24 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 8): My Blue frame moves behind the stand of Serrated Leaves then hits Pete's Orange frame for 2, destroying it.  Pete's Red frame blasts my Purple frame for 4, and destroys it in retaliation.  PJ Nicht's Orange frame clubs Tiny for 2 and captures the Juicebar station.  PJ Nicht's Blue frame defoliates Planty for 2, as Planty makes a move for PJ's Stations.  PJ Nicht's Silver defoliates Planty again -- for 2 -- with a SSR.  My Orange frame hits Pete's Blue frame for 3.

PJ Nicht: 40 points.
Pete: 35 points.

Jesse: 30 points.
Me: 21 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 6): PJ Nicht's Orange frame captures the Cosplay Gear station and clubs Wuhan for 1.  PJ Nicht's Silver frame keeps advancing and captures Pete's Orange station.  Pete's Blue frame hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Blue frame retaliates and hits Pete's Blue frame for 4, destroying it.  PJ Nicht's Green frame hits my Yellow frame for 3, destroying it.  Roy, from behind the Barrelbushes, hits Pete's Red frame for 1.  My Green frame punches Tiny for 4, destroying it.  My Brown frame blasts Planty for 4, destroying it.  The Doomsday Clock it ticked to zero.

PJ Nicht: 50 points.
Pete: 21 points.
Me: 18 points.

Jesse: 15 points.

{I forgot to take pictures of the last round and aftermath.}

Thoughts & Observations:

• I think my MFZ resolution for the year will be to play with a different squad in each game.
• Not different loadouts, different Frame designs.
• We got a late start, I probably should have gotten the game going sooner.
• As Primary Attacker I should have had a better plan of attack.
• I should have pulled the "Rook Maneuver" and placed my Stations inside Pete's perimeter then tried to swarm his position.

Review: 75194 Star Wars Microfighter Series 5 First Order TIE Fighter

I actually didn't need any parts from this but I did need another blog post to fill out the week, so I dug this out of my backlog pile too.

Box.  MSRP was $9.99 for a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Round tiles, Slopes, Plates w/Door Rail,
Brackets, Plates, Clip Tile, Half Pins, Tiles, Apollo
Studs, Headlight Bricks, Bricks, Flick Missiles,
Barraki Eyes, Hose Nozzles, and Minifig Gun.

Parts 2.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Plate/Tile,
Brackets, Plates w/Pinholes, Printed Dish,
Technic Brick w/Pinhole, and Slopes.

Build.  IO Cruiser without Systems.

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+).  A little Plate heavy for RA but a good starting point for IO.