Terrain Workshop: Trees 10

I do a fair amount of building while sorting and this design came about as I was sorting the parts for the 40648 Money Tree set.  Three out of the four parts used to build this came from that set.

The Medium Nougat color reminds me of the color of chestnut wood for some reason.  The trunk is a 1x1x3 Brick .  The branches are 1x3x2 Arches.  The two leaves are 1x1 Round Plates w/3 Leaves.  Each section is four pieces.  Four sections gives us sixteen pieces.  Two sections out of the four are held together with a 1x2 Log Brick.  This gives us a total of eighteen pieces which is 3 Hits.

In 6P scale it's 16 feet tall and the trunk is 5 feet wide.  The branches span 15 feet and the leaves extend that slightly.  It's another simple and straightforward build in a different color than our usual Reddish Brown or Dark Brown which changes things up a bit and allows for some variance in our terrain choices.  Flickr page.

Battle Report: The DMZ 2

Three of us met up for another Battle last Sunday using a table-setting that last saw use in 2021.

Narbey (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 49 points.  (Skitterers)

   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Lime Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Me (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 40 points.  (Chunkies)
   Purple Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

   Tan Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Brown Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Tom (7 Frames & 28 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points.
   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.

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

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

   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2D/2W.

   Red Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2D/2W.

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

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): Narbey's Lime frame captures Tom's Station before the game starts.  Narbey's Orange frame hits Tom's Red frame for 1.  Narbey's White frame hits my Yellow frame for 1.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 3.  Tom's Green frame moves forward, hits a silo for 4, destroying it, and Narbey's Orange frame for 1 with a SSR.  Tom's Blue frame moves from the defense gun to an antenna and hits my Brown frame for 4 with a SSR.  My Brown frame then hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 2.  My Red frame jumps the fence, hits an antenna for 1, destroying it, and Tom's Red frame for 3 with a SSR.  My Purple frame jumps the fence and hits Narbey's Orange frame for 2 with a SSR.  My Tan frame leaps the fence, moves into the neutral zone, and hits Narbey's Red frame for 2.  My Blue frame also leaps the fence, moves into the neutral zone, and hits Narbey's Red frame for 1.

Narbey: 56 Points.

Me: 40 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 8): My Purple frame hits the platform for 1, destroying it, then moves next to the wreckage of the missile silo.  Narbey's White frame falls off the wreckage and takes 1 damage.  Narbey's Lime frame claws Tom's Grey frame for 3 then skitters back to the structure.  Tom's Grey frame captures Narbey's Station then retaliates for 1 damage on Narbey's Lime frame.  Tom's Yellow frame hits the structure in front of Narbey's Lime frame for 4, destroying it.  Tom's Green frame steps over and saws my Red frame for 2.  Tom's Orange frame hits my Red frame for 1.  Tom's White frame steps over and saws my Purple frame for 2.  My Blue frame jumps the other fence, moves up to the defense gun, and hits Tom's Grey frame for 1.

Narbey: 49 Points.

Me: 40 points.

Tom: 27 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 5): Tom's White frame saws my Purple frame for 2.  My Purple frame moves forward and captures Narbey's Station that was under Tom's control.  Narbey's White frame hits my Red frame for 2, destroying it, then skitters to the far side of the structure.  In retribution my Blue frame hits Narbey's Yellow frame for 3, destroying it, then it retreats to my Station near the fence.  Tom's Green frame steps over and saws my Yellow frame for 3.  My Yellow frame moves forward and hits Tom's Grey frame for 1.  Tom's Orange hits my Purple frame for 2, Station Dance.

Narbey: 42 Points.

Me: 40 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC @ 2): Narbey's Orange frame skitters over and recaptures his Station that my Purple frame abandoned.  My Yellow frame jumps into the structure and captures Narbey's other Station.  Narbey's Lime frame claws Tom's White frame for 2.  Tom's White frame saws Narbey's Orange frame for 3, destroying it, then captures Narbey's Station.  Tom's Blue frame moves into melee range and saws my Brown frame for 1.  Tom's Yellow frame hits my Brown frame for 3, destroying it.  My Tan frame hits Tom's White frame for 1.  Toms' Orange frame hits my Yellow frame for 1, Station Dance.  Narbey's White frame recaptures his Station under the framework.  My Blue frame moves to the defense gun and hits Narbey's Red frame for 3, destroying it.

Me: 30 points.

Narbey: 28 Points.

Tom: 27 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Start

Start

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a Battle.
• I picked out my squad and my loadouts right before the game started.
• I got exactly the damage I needed on my last attack to win.
• Oddly enough, I was the only one that Station Danced this game.
• Tom and I had a lot to make up for, play-wise, after our last game.
• Despite the last turn being very tense, I don't feel like I have a lot to mention about this game.
• Flickr page.

Review: 6033 Stuntz Bathtub Stunt Bike

When this set was revealed in 2022 a few of us in the MFZ community wondered about the possibility of using the tub piece in mecha builds.  So I finally caved in and bought one to see what it actually looks like.

Box.  MSRP is $7.99 for a $0.57 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  These were loose in the box.  Tub 

Motorcycle Fairing, and Motorcycle Body. 

Motorcycle Fairing underneath view.

 Parts 2.

Motorcycle Fairing top view.

Parts 3.   

Parts 4.  Tire, Rim, Tap, Minifig Rubber Ducky, and Minifig Handlebar.

Build.  2Rh(ducky)/2Rd(tap)/1Y(handlebars).  If you remove the 

Ducky and Tap you have two mounting points for 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?  No.  (-5)
Score: -5 (B-).  Yeeeaaah.  This is so not worth it.  I guess I was hoping for some other mounting points on the Tub Motorcycle Fairing than the Stud/Anti-Stud ones.  The Price per Piece is horrible too.

Paper Miniatures

As always, one of the entry barriers to any wargame is the initial investment in supplies -- rules, dice, minis, terrain, etc.  One idea I've been kicking around for a while is recommending people print out paper miniatures to put on stands and using them with "stat bars" to reflect Systems and Damage.  And several months ago there was a question asking about this on the MFZ subReddit.  Way back in the old days of the Battletech game the starter set included a set of these paper minis, as can be seen in this vintage box set for sale (third image).

One of the great things about paper minis is that you don't really have to worry about size.  You can have Robotech paper minis on the table next to Battletech, next to whatever.  If you don't want to purchase them, or there's no paper versions of the mecha you want to put on the table, you can always make them yourself.  Like this video tutorial on how to make paper minis for Lancer.

20mm Card Stands.

You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find images for paper mini bases, and search engines generally like me.

There is also an "Old School" DIY way of basing paper minis.  As you can see in the first link paper minis were designed in a long strip that folded in the middle that had a front, a back, and tabs at both ends that either folded over one another or attached to a base.  Back in the day people used to tape pennies to those tabs to act as a weighted base to hold the mini upright.

And if you don't little, paper standees, you can also make actual physical miniatures out of folded paper.  Here's a constructed paper mini for sale.  Here's another constructed paper mini for sale.

Terrain Workshop: Trees 9

Once again, it would seem that I am stuck up a tree.  :-)  Digging out a number of Small Bony Appendage w/Bar End parts in Dark Brown while sorting I figured they could represent the bare branches of a "Tree in Winter".  Fitting four of those into a Travis Brick, then doing it again, placing those on top of a Support, and capping it off with a 1x1 Round Plate w/Swirl leads to a total of twelve pieces which is 2 Hits and it is 26 feet tall in 6P scale -- measuring just the tree.

I guess you could also call this a "Creepy Tree" as it does look like something out of a horror movie.

Size Comparison.

A simple and straightforward build.  If you swap out the Dark Brown Small Bony Appendages for White ones you could do a snow covered version.  Flickr page.

New Survey Question

Back in 2018 I ran a series of surveys on the Hangar (R.I.P.) asking some questions about the community.  Inspired by a recent question on the subReddit, I asked another question of the community, "So, Why Don't You Play Mobile Frame Zero?"  The categories, number of replies, and percentages of the answers are as follows.

No Interest.  17 of 281 (6.0%)

I Just Like To Build Mecha.  70 of 281 (24.9%)

There Are No Players Near Me.  80 of 281 (28.5%)

I Don't Have Enough Pieces To Get Started.  53 of 281 (18.9%)

I Don't Have Enough Time.  39 of 281 (13.9%)

None Of The Above.  22 of 281 (7.8%)

Actual post on the MFZ subReddit.  There's some interesting discussion to be found there.

Random Mechs 31

Have some neat pictures after a lazy weekend.

Droid by tastenmann.  A neat little construction robot.

Nergal by pixelogre.  I know it's a bit big but I like everything

about this; the color, the stance, the look, etc.

Project Callisto by Matt Lee.  This is a fun picture

of a weapon system moving into place and firing.

K-79 Red Bear by Wiseman_Lego.  Once

again, on the big side but, it looks cool.

Lego moc. Battlemech by Jürgen Gartinger.  A solid looking build and it looks to be in MFZ scale.  This was a valid link when I originally found it but apparently the account has been deleted.

Review: Gundam Converge AMX-011S Zaku III Custom [272]

Let's do another Gundam Converge reviews.  This set is from the second wave of 10th anniversary sets which was released in July of 2022.

Box.  I paid $7.99 at Barnes & Noble for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The head could be Defense or Spotting.  The helmet vane

could be Spotting.  The shoulder panel could be Defense.  The backpack 

tanks could be Defense or Movement.  The gun could be Direct Fire,

Artillery, Spotting.  the hands could be removed for White Die damage.

Assembled.

 

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.  About the same size as a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Five.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  Another model that's a "Soldier" archetype right out of the box.