War College: Station Placement

More accurately, the title should be "War College: Station Placement for Attackers".  Beyond the normal "Keep My Stations Away from My Opponents" methodology, Station placement can be a tactical tool.  We've already discussed this a few times in talking about the Rook Maneuver but it can be more than just that.

Let's take a look at our last game to illustrate what I'm talking about.  Phungkyjams was Defender, Occam's Spork was Primary Attacker, and I was an Attacker.

Occam's Spork placed his Stations (black oval) fairly close to Phungkyjams' Perimeter but clustered the majority of his squad around his Stations.  This is good for maintaining control but isn't going to draw the Defender out of their position.

I tried two different tactics with my Station placement.  I used the Rook Maneuver for my Orange station (orange square).  I was running a majority melee-based squad so I needed most of the Defender's squad in front of me so I could execute a wave attack against it.  Phungkyjams took the bait on that one and captured it when placing one of his final two Frames.

My second gambit was to place my Blue station (blue pentagon) in an undefended position at the far end of the battlefield from my squad.  The rational behind this was to draw one of Phungkyjams' Frames out and away from the scrum that was sure to happen in the middle of the battlefield.  This would be one less Frame for me to deal with once my forces crossed the Perimeter and it would also possibly delay that Frame's engagement with any other forces on the table.  Yes, I would lose points if it was captured but that was a risk I was willing to take.  Phungkyjams didn't bite on this lure at the start but he did make a late game play for the Station.  This just shifted the timing of the force reduction from early to late game.

So, the next time you're playing and you're an Attacker, think of what benefits your Station placement can give you.

Battle Report: Airfield Ambush 6

After a seeing a comment about "we don't see enough transports" in the MFZ community a week or so ago, I had some thoughts about my group's upcoming game and which table-setting we were going to use.  After settling on "Airfield Ambush" -- which hadn't seen use in close to two two years -- I figured I'd add some things in, swap some things around, and try to generally improve a battlefield that's been around for six years.

Phungkyjams (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Strikehands)

   Bright Light Yellow -- 2Rh/2Ra/2Y/2W.
   Dark Blue Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Red Fast Swarmer -- 2Rh+d8/1G+d8/1Y/2W.

   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR (x2).

Me (5 Frames & 19 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 28 points.  (Flying Saucers)

   Brown Commando -- 2Rh/1B/1Gd8/2Y/2W.

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

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

   Blue Commando -- 2Rh/1B/1Gd8/2Y/2W + SSR.

   Yellow Stalker -- 2Ra+d8/1G/2W.

Occam's Spork (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.
   White Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Orange Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.

   Grey Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Brown Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): Phungkyjams' Bright Light Yellow (BLY) frame captures my Orange station before the game starts.  Phungkyjams' Red frame smashes the building for 3 and then runs West towards Occam's Spork's forces.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame moves North-Northeast and hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' BLY frame hits the Cargo Plane for 1.  Phungkyjams' Dark Blue frame blasts Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 6, destroying it, then moves South-Southwest towards Occam's Spork's forces.  My Yellow frame hits Phungkyjams' BLY frame for 3, Station Dance, then it floats South off the Cargo Plane.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame moves East then hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 3.

Phungkyjams: 49 points.

Me: 24 points.

Occam's Spork: 18 Points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 9): My Yellow frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 1.  My White frame floats West and captures Phungkyjams' "Fire" station.  Occam's Spork's White frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 2, while trying to hit Phungkyjams' Dark Blue frame.  Phungkyjams' Dark Blue frame hits Occam's Spork's Grey frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 3, destroying it.  My Red frame hits Phungkyjams' Dark Blue frame for 3, with a SSR, and captures Phungkyjams' "Horse" station.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's Brown frame for 1 then continues moving East to square up to a Swingwing Jet.

Me: 32 points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Occam's Spork: 18 Points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 7): Occam's Spork's White frame moves West across the ball field and hits Phungkyjams' BLY frame for 1, Station Dance.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame then takes a few steps North and captures Phungkyjams' (my) station.  Occam's Spork's Brown frame retreats between his Stations then hits the Fuel Silo for 2, destroying it, and hits my Red frame for 1.  My Yellow frame floats North across the Cargo Plane and hits Phungkyjams'  BLY frame for 4, destroying it.

Me: 32 points.

Occam's Spork: 21 Points.

Phungkyjams: 14 points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC @ 4):  My Blue frame floats Northwest over the partially wrecked building and slices Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 6, destroying it.  Occam's Spork's Brown frame continues the assault on my Red frame -- which floats West -- hitting it for 3.  My Yellow frame floats North slightly and hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 4.

Me: 32 points.

Occam's Spork: 18 Points.

Phungkyjams: 14 points.

Events of Round 5 (DDC @ 1):   My Blue frame floats West and recaptures my Orange station.  My Red frame floats West over Occam's Spork's Brown frame and bumps it for 1.  Occam's Spork's Brown frame ripostes for 2, destroying my Red frame.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame punches my Brown frame for 5, Station Dance.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame then captures my (Phungkyjams') station.  Phungkyjams' Dark Blue frame finishes its long Northwesterly trek and captures my Blue station.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Me: 24 points.

Phungkyjams: 21 points.

Occam's Spork: 18 Points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Start

Start

Round 2

Round 1

Start

Round 1

Round 2

Round 4

Round 3

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Round 5

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a Skirmish.
• We had a case of Accidental Defender.
• The idea for my squad composition has been sitting in my head for a couple of months now.
• It lacked mid-range punch, so I'll probably swap out a Commando for a Squad Leader in future uses.
• We had a successful application of the Rook Maneuver.
• In fact all three players controlled the same Station at various times throughout the game.
• I added a couple of baseplates when we used this table-setting last in 2021.
• But this is the first time I've added terrain/Cover to the battlefield since its first use.
• I've had the helicopter and the other fighter assembled for a while.
• One of the tractor trailers debuted in the Roadway Rumble table-setting.
• The other I built in the week leading up to the game.
• The micro-trees/giant bushes were built the day before.
• I also added a Compass Rose to the roof of the building.
• Which makes this the first actual use of it in one of my table-settings.
• Flickr page.

Review: 71779 Lloyd's Dragon Power Spin

After I reviewed the last one, I realized that I was actually interested in the parts in this new Ninjago "spinner" set.  So, let's have at it then.

Box.  MSRP is $10.99, for a $0.20 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

 Medium Claws, Weapon Holder, and Translucent Round Tiles.

Parts 1.  Loose in box.  Spinjitzu Minifigure

Stand w/3 Outer Studs and Ball Holders.

Parts 2.  Translucent Rock Half, Translucent Dish, Dragon Power Spheres,

Minifig Blade Tonfas, Translucent Round Bricks, Round Tiles w/Hole,

Round Plate, Round Large Jumper, Dishes, Wedge Plates, Boat Sliders,

Plates, Lampholders, Translucent Cheese Slopes, Tiles, Translucent

Round Tiles, Bar Studs, Apollo Studs, Spear Tips, and Travis Bricks.

Build.  Brawler Frame (2Rh+d8/2B) 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+).  This set only has one piece less than the other one I reviewed but I feel like it has less potential.

The Road to PAX Unplugged 2023

Once again, I'll be attending PAX Unplugged to demo Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack for Joshua and Glyphpress.  I'll be selling something new this year, Dice Kits.  I have four solid and four translucent assembled and ready to go.

I'll also have Starter Kits, Rulers, and maybe something special this time around.  I hope to see you there!

Terrain Workshop: Alien Plants 2

As with all things if doing it once is good, doing it more must be better, right?  This time around my seed part was a handful of 2x2x2 Inverted Cones in Lime -- one of the two colors available -- and I was trying to figure out how to make them useful.

I ended up putting them on a 1x1 Round Brick and putting four

Round Plates w/3 Leaves on the top.  This totals up to six pieces

which is 1 Hit.  It's also three Bricks and one Plate tall which

makes it legal to be Cover.  I think they look pretty cool and if you

assemble enough of these you can use them to form makeshift walls.

After my last Alien Plant Terrain Workshop I took another look

at these plants and started experimenting with making similar

"growth profiles".  For an immature version I subbed in 1x1 Round Plate w/Flower Edge for the Round Plates w/3 Leaves. 

For an older version I added two 1x1 Round Plates -- because

I didn't want it to be too tall in relation to the other versions -- four 1x1 Round Plates w/Flower Edge -- in a different color than the "immature" version -- and changed the color on the Round Plates w/3 Leaves.  The additional parts also serve

to increase the damage the older version can take to 2 Hits.

Here are the usual suspects in comparison to these Alien Plants.  The "immature" version is 10 feet tall and 5 feet

across in 6P scale.  The standard version is 10 feet tall and 10 feet across, and the "older" version is 12 feet 

tall and 10 feet across.   I hope this helps people with future terrain designs for MFZ: Rapid Attack.  Flickr page.

Review: 71414 Super Mario Conkdor's Noggin Bopper

Let's do a review since it's been a few weeks.  I've seen this set marked down in a few places but I picked this up a couple of months ago just for one piece.

Box.  MSRP is $14.99, for a $0.12 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

 Parts 1. Loose in box. Plate.

Parts 2.  Plates, Bricks w/Studs on Side, Wedge Bricks, Double Sided Studless Slope, Mod. Plates 2x2x2/3 w/2 Studs on Side, Brick w/ Pins on Side, Round Bricks, Large Jumper, Brick, Slopes, Large Cheese Slope, Double Jumper, Hinge Brick Base, Shell

w/4 Recessed Studs and Hole with Molded White Bottom and Spikes Pattern, Technic

Bricks w/Pinhole, Tooth Plates, Hinge Brick Top, Axle, and Inverted Studless Slopes.

Parts 3.Mod. Plate w/Trapdoor Hinge, Mod. Plates w/Rounded Corners & Feet, Plates, Tiles, Round Tile, Studless Slopes, Tile w/Studs on Ends, Round Flower Plates, Large Cheese Slopes, Axle Plate, Plates w/Pinholes, Plates w/Vertical Clips, Pins, and Panel.

Parts 4.  3x3 Round Tiles, Brackets, Technic Brick with Vertical

Axle Holes, Brick, Slopes, Stickered Tile, Large Cheese Slopes,

Plates, Cheese Slopes, Curved Slopes, Curved Slopes w/Cutout,

Clip Plate, Tile, Mod. Plates 2x2x2/3 w/2 Studs on Side, Printed

Round Tiles, Bar Holder w/Bar, and Black Bars 1L w/3 Prongs.

Parts 5.  Studless Slopes, Boat Slider, Plates, Tile, Pyramid

Tiles, Double Curve Tiles, and Bricks w/Stud on Side.

Build.  Two IO Frigates, an IO Frame Company, and two HVAs.

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'll be honest, I bought this for the Hot Pink Shell piece.  It's a decent enough set and, if you get it marked down it would have a +20 (A+) score.