Battle Report: Asian Antenna Farm 3

This is our first game for 2025 after taking the last two months of 2024 off.  This was a War.

Occam's Spork (7 Frames & 24 Systems) = (6 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 54 points.
   #2 Oso Oro Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

   #5 Oso Oro Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

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

   Blue Scout Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W.

   White Scout Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W.

   Grey Scout Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W.

   #6 Oso Oro Missile Monkey -- 2W + SSR(x3).

Tom (7 Frames & 27 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 45 points.
   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W + SSR.

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

   White Light Brawler -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/2W.

   Red Anvil -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W

   Orange Anvil -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W

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

Me (7 Frames & 28 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 36 points.  (Goldbugs)

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

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

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

   Red Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W.

   Orange Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W.

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

   Pink Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.

Phungkyjams (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (5 assets) = 20 points.  (Rebricked Chevrons)
   Purple Bodyguard -- 2Rh/2Rd/2B/2W + SSR.

   Pink Swarmer -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.

   Red Swarmer -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.

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

   Light Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.

   Green Scout Stalker -- 2Ra+d8/1G/1Y/2W.
   Lime Scout Stalker -- 2Ra+d8/1G/1Y/2W.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC @ 11): Occam's Spork's #6 frame moves Northwest and hits Phungkyjams' Light Blue frame for 1 with a SSR barrage.  Phungkyjams' Purple frame jumps over the Sunflowers and hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 4.  Tom's Lime frame hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Blue frame hits Tom's Blue frame for 4 with a SSR.  Tom's Blue frame hits my Green frame for 4.  My Green frame hits the Red antenna in front of Tom's Red frame for 1.  My Red frame hits Occam's Spork's #6 frame for 6, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame hits Occam's Spork's #5 frame for 2, Station Dance.  Occam's Spork's #5 frame hits the Red antenna remains for 1, destroying it, and Tom's Red frame for 2, Station Dance.  Tom's Red frame hits my Yellow frame for 1.  My Yellow frame hits Tom's Grey frame for 3.  Tom's Grey frame hits my Green frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's White frame hits Phungkyjams' Light Blue frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame hits Phungkyjams' Purple frame for 1.  Tom's Orange frame hits Phungkyjams' Pink frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Pink frame hits my Orange frame for 1.  My Orange frame hits Phungkyjams' Blue frame for 2.  Tom's Yellow frame hits my Pink frame for 4.  My Pink frame moves Northeast and captures Phungkyjams' Flame station and Occam's Spork's (Phungkyjams') Grey station.  Tom's White frame hits my Blue frame for 2.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Blue frame for 8, destroying it.  My White frame hits Tom's Red frame for 3 and the Yellow antenna it was using for Cover for 2, destroying the antenna.

Occam's Spork: 48 points.

Me: 44 Points.

Tom: 40 points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 7): Phungkyjams' Blue frame hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 2, destroying it.    Occam's Spork's #5 frame hits my Blue frame for 1.  Tom's Grey frame hits my Yellow frame for 4.  Tom's Orange frame hits my Green frame for 1, destroying it.  Tom's White frame hits my Blue frame for 2.  My White frame hits a Grey antenna for 2.  Phungkyjams' Green frame hits the other Grey antenna for 2.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Yellow frame for 6, Station Dance.  Tom's Lime frame hits my Yellow frame for 1, destroying it, and the bamboo it was using for cover for 2.

Occam's Spork: 42 points.

Tom: 40 points.

Me: 36 Points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 3): Occam's Sporks' #2 frame moves South and captures my Pink station.  Occam's Spork's White frame hits a Yellow antenna for 2, destroying it, and Phungkyjams' Purple frame for 1.  My Red frame hits Phungkyjams' Pink frame for 1.  My ?? frame hits Phungkyjams' Purple frame for 1.  My White frame hits Occam's Sporks's #2 frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Light Blue hits my Red frame for 3.  Occam's Spork's Grey frame captures my Lavender station.  Phungkyjams' Pink frame hits my Red frame for 4, destroying it, and recapturing his Grey station.  Tom's Lime frame hits my Blue frame for 2, destroying it.  Tom's Orange frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Red frame then hits Tom's Yellow frame for 9, destroying it.  (Which is now the highest damage hit we've seen in a Rapid Attack game.)  Tom's Grey frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 2.  My Orange frame hits Phungkyjams' Blue frame for 1 and Phungkyjams' Blue frame recaptures his Flame station.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Occam's Spork: 54 points.

Phungkyjams: 36 points.

Tom: 35 points.

Me: 12 Points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Round 3.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was a War.
• We didn't use the Neutral Station rule.
• Phungkyjams was Point Attacker which was decided by a die roll.
• Frame counts are taken from this post.
• This was an experiment as we'd never played a game with this many Frames on the table before.
• It was pretty claustrophobic at the start and basically devolved into a couple of different scrums.
• This game reminds me of a game from several years ago, Missile Base Omega.
• Once again, I feel like I made my move too soon in the game.
• This game has the highest Damage total of any game so far.
• Which isn't surprising considering how many Frames were on the table.
• Although I did miss a couple of interactions in my notes.
• There isn't a Compass Rose on the table, I really need to make one for this table-setting, but I
  decided that West is the direction the radio antennas are facing.
• Flickr page.

Review: Brickcraft 72175BFS Red Long Stem Rose Bricktanicals

Seems like Brickcraft is going all in on the Seasonal building blocks market.  After the deluge of licensed and non-licensed sets back at Christmas we have several more appearing for Valentine's Day.

Box.  MSRP is $7.99, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.  I bought

these at Walmart for $4.97, for a $0.05 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Large Figure Armor, Hexagonal Windscreens, Octagonal Bar

Plate, Heart Plate, 2x2 Leaves, Round Plates, Round Large Jumper,

Tile, Antenna, Axles, Studless Slopes, Travis Bricks, Half Circle Tiles,

Chain, Axle Connector w/Clips, #3 Angled Axle & Pin Connector, 3L

Axle Connectors, 1L Liftarms, #2 Angled Axle & Pin Connectors, Tooth

Plates, Round Plates w/Flower Edge, Bar Bar Holders, Clip Bar Holders,

Bar Clips, Round Plate w/5 Petals, Barbs/Claws, and Round Bricks.

 

Build.  Station, Frame (2W), and two 1 Hit pieces 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+).  A slightly different parts set than Monday's review but it suffers from the same problems.

Review: Brickcraft 72174BFS Pink Long Stem Rose Bricktanicals

Seems like Brickcraft is going all in on the Seasonal building blocks market.  After the deluge of licensed and non-licensed sets back at Christmas we have several more appearing for Valentine's Day.

Box.  MSRP is $7.99, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.  I bought

these at Walmart for $4.97, for a $0.05 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Hexagonal Windscreens, 3L Axle Connectors, Travis Bricks,

Clip Bar Holders, Bar Clips, Large Figure Armor, Octagonal Bar Plate,

Heart Plate, Round Bricks, Barbs/Claws, 2x2 Leaves, Bar Bar Holders,

Studless Slopes, Round Plates, Tooth Plates, Round Large Jumper, Tile,

#2 Angled Axle & Pin Connectors, Antenna, Round Plates w/Flower Edge,

Round Plate w/5 Petals, Half Circle Tiles, Apollo Studs, Axle Connectors

w/Clips, Axles, Chain, and #3 Angled Axle & Pin Connector.

Build.  Station, 1 Hit piece of Cover, and a Frame (2W).
 

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+).  I like this but I feel like it needs more Clips or regular Plates to be really outstanding.

Terrain Workshop: Twisting Trees

In opposition to Wednesday's post, this build has a number of different pieces.  Somewhat inspired by some of the terrain in my Asian Antenna Farm table-setting, this uses a number of Technic pieces as the core of the build.

In its simplest iteration it starts with three Smooth 2L Axle Connectors, separated by two

2L Bars w/Stop Ring, topped off by a Flower w/Bar & Small Pin Hole.  This is 1 Hit, and

19 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide in 6P scale.  You can top this off with any part with a Bar

connection.  I chose the Flowers because I have a fair amount and it adds a splash of color.

If we swap out the Smooth 2L Axle Connectors for #2 Axle & Pin Connectors, then add four Round Plates w/3 Leaves, and two Twigs, it's now 2 Hits.  It's 26 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide in 6P scale.

The third version swaps out the Smooth 2L Axle Connectors for #3 Axle & Pin Connectors.  Still 2 Hits, only 24 feet tall but, it covers a little more real estate due to the bend of the Connectors.

The fourth version swaps out the Smooth 2L Axle Connectors for #5 Axle & Pin Connectors.  Once again, 2 Hits but 19 feet tall.  In 6P scale this version ranges

 over 16 feet though.  The balance on this one can be a little shaky though.

The fun part is mixing and matching the various Connectors and twisting the Bars so that

all the pieces are facing different angles.  Depending on the angle away from the base

and how rough the surface is you might need to use Plates to connect the bases together,

as you can see in the picture.  This version is variant three but without the Leaves

and Twigs.  It's effectively 4 Hits.  This is 24 feet tall and 10 feet across in 6P scale.

Going back to the first version, you can stand them in a bunch for a 3 Hit piece of Cover or, line them up like a wall.

Size Comparison.  I hope this gives people ideas or

techniques to use in their terrain builds. Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Giant Cattails

Let's try to build something a little more swampy than my usual fare.  This is probably the simplest build I've made in terms of number of parts.  It uses just two.  But in terms of the use of those parts I think it's fairly complex.  It's similar to one of the elements of the Dried Flower Centerpiece from the Botanicals line in that it uses the stacking nature of the Eggshell/Crown piece to great effect.

It starts out with one Antenna, then places four Eggshells on the Antenna, with a fifth facing in the opposite direction of the first four.  Put it on a base.  You're done.  Build more if you want to.  They are 1 Hit and measure 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide in 6P scale.  The fun thing about this design is the Eggshells come in ten colors and the Antenna is available in sixteen colors, so you can swap things around and make them in whatever color combination looks right to you.

So part of me thinks these look like some sort of Giant Cattail.  Another part of me thinks they look like some sort of Giant Pinecone.  Whatever you or I call them, they are pretty neat looking and will probably draw some attention once you get them on the table.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Weird Flora

For me, the build process usually starts with sorting pieces.  This creation is typical of that process.  The first item is a 3L Axle w/Stop.  I have a lot of these and I was trying to figure out how to best put them to use.  I tried slotting them through various items but there always seemed to be some sort of connection issue.  Then I got to a 2x2 Round Tile w/Hole, and used a 2x2 Round Plate to hold it on place at the stop on the axle.  I placed the axle into an Axle & Pin Connector #2 and put two 1x1 Round Plates on either side of that to bring it up to the magic number of six.

These are 1 Hit.  They are also 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide in 6P scale.  As you can see from the picture you can line them up in rows as a makeshift wall.

There are other lengths of Axle w/Stop that can be used.

This iteration is a 5L Axle w/Stop.  It's still 1 Hit.  This version

of the build is 17 feet tall and 5 feet wide in 6P scale though.

The usual size comparison.

Another size comparison.

For some reason I think of these as rounded off Minecraft-y bits of terrain.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Review: 30701 Field Flowers Polybag

This is the first polybag released for the Botanicals line.  Let's hope it's not the last.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.97 at Walmart for a $0.07 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Parts.  Small Palm Leaves, Gears, 3L Axle Connectors, Round Plate, Axle

Connector w/Pneuma Connector, 16 Petal Flower, Bars w/Stop, Extended

Weapon Hilts, 3L Axle, 2L Axles, Flower Stems, Eggshell/Crowns, Axle w/Stud,

Apollo Studs, Half Bushings, Translucent Inkwells, Cones, and a Travis Brick.

Build.  Three 1 Hit pieces of Cover, 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+).  I like this set.  There's a lot here I can use and I'll probably buy a bunch.  I see sunflowers in my future.

Review: 30710 Skid-Steer Loader Polybag

Once again we have an easily available Technic polybag.  Excellent.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.97 at Walmart for a $0.10 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Parts.  Scoop w/Hinge, Tires, "L" Liftarms, Liftarms, Corner Liftarm w/Alternating Pinholes, Thin Liftarms, Bent Liftarm, Rims, Dual Axle Connector w/Pinhole, 3L Pins, Axles w/Stop, 3L Friction Pins, 3L Axle/Pin, Axles, Friction Pins, Barrel Hinge, #6 Axle/Pin Connector, Gears, Worm Gear, Axles w/Pinhole, and #1 Axle/Pin Connector.

Build.  Battlecart (2Rd [System is Dark Bley.]).

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At.  (0)  (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: +15 (A).  I like it but, then again, I think I like Technic stuff more than the general community.  I think it's a good start but you're going to need something else for Systems, Stations, and SSRs.