First Hints from the Second Edition

Joshua has posted a short background blurb for MFZ2E on his blog, Xenoglyph.

You're welcome.

Battle Report: The Henge 3

Our first game of 2022 was a battle between three players.  We used the "Henge" setting because it hadn't seen use for almost a year.

Occam's Spork (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.
   Orange Fast Stalker -- 2Ra+d8/2G/2W.
   Green Fast Stalker -- 2Ra+d8/2G/2W.
   White Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

   Red Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

   Blue Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

Tom (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points.  
   Yellow Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.

   Orange Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.

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

   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Red Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Grey Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

Me (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 24 points  (Chunkies)
   Tan Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

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

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

   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

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

   Blue 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): Occam's Spork's Blue frame attacks my Yellow frame with a SSR and it just impacts on the surface, it then retreats towards the medium standing ring.  My Brown frame sprints forward and captures one of Occam's Spork's Stations.  Tom's Grey frame hits my Blue frame for 1 with a SSR and moves around the trilithon towards the small standing ring.  My Blue frame then hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 2 with a SSR and moves towards my second Station.  Tom's Yellow frame hits my Blue frame for 1 and moves around the trilithon towards the small standing ring.  My Tan frame retreats a step then hits the lintel and a megalith of the trilithon in front of Tom's Red frame for 2 damage.  Tom's Red frame hammers Occam's Spork's White frame for 5 with a SSR, Station Dance.  Replying to that attack, Occam's Spork's White frame moves towards Tom's Stations and hits Tom's White frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Red Frame hits Tom's Red frame for 1 with a SSR and also moves towards Tom's Stations.  Tom's Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 1 and moves forward to interdict it.  Tom's Blue frame shells Occam's Spork's Green frame for 3 and the menhir in front of it for 1.  Tom's ?? hits my Blue frame for 3, Station Dance.  My Purple frame hits Tom's Grey frame for 1 and moves towards the center of the battlefield.  My Red frame hits Tom's Grey frame for 2 and follows my Purple frame.

Occam's Spork: 42 points.

Me: 27 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 8): Occam's Spork's White Frame hops forwards and captures Tom's Station.  Tom's Blue frame shells my Blue Frame for 3, inflicting terminal damage.  Occam's Spork's Red frame rips into Tom's Red frame for 4, destroying it.  Tom's Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's Orange frame 3 then moves deeper into the battlefield towards a trilithon.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 3, destroying it, then moves towards Tom's Stations.  Tom's White frame moves back towards his Stations and buzzsaws Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 1.  My Tan frame hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 1, Station Dance.  My Yellow frame moves forward to maintain control of Occam's Spork's Station and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 2.  My Purple frame runs over and captures Occam's Spork's second Station.  My Red frame moves towards the small standing ring and hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1.

Occam's Spork: 35 points.

Me: 27 points.

Tom: 18 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 5): Occam's Spork's Green frame shells Tom's Blue frame for 2, Station Dance.  My Purple frame moves to the other side of Occam's Spork's Station and destroys the megalith in front of Tom's White frame with 1 damage, also hitting the Frame for 1.  Tom's White frame buzzsaws Occam's Spork's Red frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Red frame retaliates, hitting Tom's White frame for 1, Station Dance.  Occam's Spork's Red frame captures Tom's Station.  My Red frame moves to the other side of the small standing ring and hits Tom's Yellow frame for 2.  Tom's Orange frame moves to the destroyed menhir and hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 2.  My Yellow frame moves to the medium standing ring and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 1.

Occam's Spork: 42 points.

Me: 27 points.

Tom: 15 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 2): My Tan frame shells Tom's Grey frame for 2, in an attempt to hit Occam's Spork's Orange frame.  My Red frame hits Tom's Grey frame for 1, destroying it, in an attempt to hit Occam's Spork's Orange frame.  My Purple frame hits Occam's Spork's Green frame for 2 and the menhir in front of it for 1.  Tom's Blue frame shells my Red frame for 2.  Tom's White frame buzzsaws Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 5, destroying it, and recapturing one of his Stations in the process.  Tom's Orange hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 1, and destroys the menhir in front of it with 1 damage.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 1.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Occam's Spork: 28 points.

Me: 27 points.

Tom: 15 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Start 5

Start 7

Turn 1.3

Turn 1.4

Turn 2.3

Turn 4.5

Turn 4.7

Turn 4.6

Turn 4.9

Turn 4.8

Turn 4.11

Turn 4.10

Thoughts & Observations:

• Primary Attacker was decided by a die roll.
• There was lots of color pairing attacks during this game.
• Everyone managed to fire off all of their SSRs during the first turn.
• Somewhere in that first turn my notes about who did what got a little screwy.
• Each player had one Frame destroyed during Turn 2.
• There were so many wasted "4"s in damage rolls.
• We played this game in 3 hours and 15 minutes.  That's from set-up to teardown.

Review: 43186 Frozen II Bruni the Salamander

One of the old-ish Frozen sets that I picked up in a BOGO50% sale at J.C. Penny recently.

Box.  MSRP was $12.99, for a Price per Piece of $0.14.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Clamshell, Round Plates, Printed Vehicle Mudguard, Printed

Studless Wedge Slope, Round Bricks, Curved Slope w/Cutout, Tail, Inverted 

Studless Slope, Wedge Plate, Printed Tile, Tile, Plates, Hinge Plates 

w/Pinholes, Plate w/Bar Down, Flame Piece, Double Studless Slopes,

Bar Plates, Brackets, Axle/Pin Connectors #3, and Axle Connectors.

Parts 2.  Wedge Plate, Round Tile w/Hole, Boat Studs, Round Jumpers, Printed 

Boat Studs, Travis Brick, Leaves, Plates, Studless Slopes, Cheese Slopes,

 Quarter Circle Tiles, Clip Tiles, Printed Round Tiles, Axles, Friction Pins, Half

Pins, Clip Plates, Twigs, Studless Slopes w/Cutout, and Slopes w/Cutout.

Build.  Frame and 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?  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+).  I had a negative opinion of this set due to the PpP even though it has some useful parts and nice colors.

Review: 71761 Zane's Power Up Mech EVO

We've looked at new polybags so far this year.  Let's move on and review one of the new, small Ninjago sets for 2022.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifigs.  That's a new Stud Shooter Gun

and a Medium Azure Minifig Katana.

Parts 1.  Cockpit Front w/Bar Handle, 2x6x2/3 Bent Plates, Plates,

Pentagonal Tile, Tile w/Studs, Slopes w/Studs & Wing End, Bar Plate,

Slopes, Ball Joint Plates, Bricks, Bracket, and Double Ended Bar Plate.

Parts 2.  Transparent Circular Saw Blade, Wing End Slopes

w/Studs on Sides, Printed Tile, Printed Round Tile, Wing End

Slopes, Triple Slopes, Clip Plate, Pneumatic Connector w/Axle 

Connector, Exo-Force Arm, Axle/Pin, and Bar 6L w/Stop.

Parts 3.  Plates, Ball Joint Plates, Wedge Studless Slope, Inverted

 Studless Slopes, Tile, Clip Plates, Clip Tiles, Transparent

Round Tiles, and Mod. Plate 2x2x2/3 w/ Studs on Side.

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?  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+).  One more piece would have added 10 points to the score.  This is a great set that falls victim to my scoring system.

Review: 30562 Monkie Kid's Underwater Journey Polybag

This is a "Gift with Purchase" at the Lego Store for January.

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

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Quarter Circle Plates, Chest, Coral, Chest Lid, Skeleton Minifigs, Dome, Round Jumpers, Steering Wheel, Inverted Dome, Extended Weapon Hilt, Inkwells, Transparent Round Plates, Flower Plates, Clip Plates (New!), Vert. Clip Plates, Bar, Ingots, Minifig Swords, Clip Plate, Minifig Handlebar, Minifig Crabs, and Vines

Build.  Two Stations and a 1 Hit piece of 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?  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+).  It has a bunch of good parts but I feel like it's more of a supplemental set than anything else.

Mobile Frame Zero 2nd Edition Discussion

Joshua A.C. Newman has started working on the second edition of Mobile Frame Zero.  He posted the following to the Discord yesterday, 

"Hey, MoFØs! I’m starting to assemble a 2nd edition and I’d love your help! I’m looking for experiences you’ve had, but very much not solutions. • What are rules that you’ve used that you’ve had a hard time understanding in either of the MFØ books? • Have you house ruled anything? • Have you seen someone flounder learning the rules because an action has a different kind of consequence than makes sense?"

If you go to this channel you can join in the discussion.

Review: 40464 Lego Xtra Chinatown Polybag

It's been a while since I reviewed Lego Xtra polybags so let's take a look at this one.  

Bag.  MSRP was $3.99 for a $0.11 Price per Piece.

I paid $3.19, for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

No Instructions.

Parts.  Crate, Round Plates, Minifig Paint Roller, Lattice Fences, Technic

Pin Connector, Technic Half Pins, Minifig Pumpkin, Truncated Cone,

Dishes, Lightsaber Hilts, 6L Bar w/Stop, Tassel, Round Bricks w/Leaves,

Minifig Lantern, Round Jumper, Minifig Tea Pot, Minifig Tea Cups,

Tile Clip, Travis Brick, Transparent Round Brick, and Pyramid Tiles.

Build.  Three Stations and a 1 Hit piece of 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-).  While it has some neat parts, the quantities are lacking.

Review: 41946 Extra Dots 6

I purchased this at my local Lego store.  This is part of the sixth Series of the Dots line.

Bag.  I paid $3.99 for a $0.03 Price per Piece.

Parts.  Printed Round Tiles, Yellowish Green Round Tiles, Hot Pink Round

Tiles, Transparent Neon Yellow Quarter Tiles, Blue Quarter Tiles, Lilac Quarter

Tiles, Round Tiles w/Bar, Lightning Bolt Charms, and Heart Charms.

 

Build.  None, as these are all accent parts.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  No. (-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: +10 (A-).  Again, not as wide a part selection as Series 4 Extra Dots.  This set is going to be interesting due to the Round Bar Tile and Charms.

Review: 30417 Garden Flower & Butterfly Polybag

I found this, along with another polybag, in the Seasonal section at Target.  I'm not quite sure whether it's meant to be for Valentine's Day or Easter but these look to  be the first two commonly available polybags for 2022.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Round Plate, Technic 3 Blade Rotor, Octagonal Bar Plate, Round

Bricks, Bricks w/Studs on 3 Sides, Heart Plates, Studless Slopes, 6L Bar

w/Stop, Inkwells, Wedge Slopes, Transparent Round Tiles, Round

Jumpers, Clip Plates, Brackets, Heart Tiles, Flower Plates, Transparent

Cheese Slopes, Rounded Plate, Macaroni Tiles, Plate, and Leaves.

Build.  Frame and 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+).  It's a good place to start, I just feel like it's hampered a tiny bit by some of the single count pieces.