Battle Report: Cherry Blossom Forest @ PAX Unplugged 2018

Once again, a few members of the MFZ community have gathered together at a PAX event to do battle.

Shades Corvid (4 Frames & 15 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.
   Watchtower One -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Watchtower Two -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Watchtower Three -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W + SSR.
   Medium Artillerist -- 2Ra+d8/1B/2W.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.  (Samurai)
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Black Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Lime Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Hydromancer (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.
   Oliphant (anvil) -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Pyragosa -- 1Rd/3Rh/1B/1Y/2W.
   Styx (armored swarmer) -- 2Rh/2B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.
   Rock (binary) -- 2Ra/1B/1G/1Y/2W.
   Brimstone (hammer) -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR(x3).

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

Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): My White frame jumps up on the bridge and captures Hydromancer's Station there.  He promptly opens fire on that Frame, damaging it and the bridge.  My Yellow frame moves up to the river.  My Black frame jumps over to the other side of the bridge.  Pyragosa and Styx move towards Shades Corvid's defensive formation.  Oliphant moves towards the bridge.

Shades Corvid: 42 points.
Me: 24 points.
Hydromancer: 18 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 8): My Black frame captures Shades Corvid's undefended Station.  Hydromance recaptures his Station with Oliphant.  Pyragosa and Styx make contact with Shades Corvid's defensive formation.  Shades loses a Frame.  My Orange frame moves up  to the river.

Shades Corvid: 28 points.
Me: 24 points.
Hydromancer: 21 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 6): My Yellow frame moves up to Shades Corvid's defensive formation as it breaks.  One heavily damaged Armored Spotter makes a run for it.  My White frame is destroyed during that scrum.  

Shades Corvid: 28 points.
Me: 21 points.
Hydromancer: 21 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 3): Shades Corvid's zombie frame captures my orange Station.  Then Shades Corvid loses another Frame.  Oliphant captures Shade's Station that was under my control.  Shade's Sniper frame is destroyed.  Styx captures Shade's primary Station.  My Orange frame crosses the river.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Hydromancer: 24 points.
Me: 18 points.
Shades Corvid: 14 points.

Here's a bunch of during/aftermath pictures.

Zombie Frame

Frame's Eye View

Thoughts & Observations:

• A die roll decided the Primary Attacker position.
• I didn't take notes for this game.  At first because I wanted to hurry the game along, then because we were answering so many questions it was impossible to do so.
• So any commentary on this is based on week old memories, the pictures I took, and asset tracking notes.
• This game is the debut for this table setting.
• I'll talk about how it was constructed in a later blog post.
• This was my second game against both Shades Corvid and Hydromancer.
• I loaned Shades the Stations they used in this game.

PAX Unplugged Pictures

I didn't really take a lot of pictures this time around.

Day 0 (The night before the con opened setting up the booth.)

Day 1

Day 2

Hydromancer and the Cup of Doom

Day 3

Here's a gallery I put together on Flickr of MF0 pictures I've found.
Here's some Instagram photos I found.
One post on Twitter.  Another post on Twitter.

PAX Unplugged 2018 Report

So it's the Monday evening after PAX Unplugged 2018 and I'm finally typing up my notes.

I arrived late-ish Thursday evening after getting stuck in some horrendous NYC traffic.  I helped to set up  the booth for the first time at any PAX.  Afterwards I grabbed a late dinner with boothmates Sean and Tanner.

Friday I managed to make it in early, being in a hotel across the street from the convention center helped, grabbed my gear and walked over to the Tabletop Freeplay area to set up for demos.  I ran one demo between hall opening and breaking for lunch at 1pm.  This had me worried/annoyed /frustrated but things picked up after I got back.  I ended up running six more demos, Shades Corvid ran one while I took a break, even one with Jerry Holkins watching and color commenting.  I continued giving away participation packets as I did at PAX East, ten on the first day.  After hall close I had dinner with Shades Corvid and my boothmates, Sean, Joshua and Ben.

Saturday I got in early again and set up in a different location, the "Social Zone" where there were round tables which I prefer for demoing.  I did two demos and Shades did one then we broke for lunch before the full scale game.  We gave out four participation packets for the demos we ran.  Hydromancer watched the table for us while we grabbed banh mi.  The "big game" was great.  It was just Hydromancer, Shades Corvid, and myself.  I finally got to display a table setting I had been working on for at least a year.  It seemed to attract a lot of attention as the three of us kept answering questions from passers-by.  I may be exaggerating but I think at one point all three of us were talking to curious people at the same time.  I'll try and have the battle report up soon.  We finished the game and broke down the table by 5pm.  I wandered around the con for a bit and then left when the hall closed.  I sold out of Starter Kits sometime in the afternoon on Saturday, which made me happy.    Ended up taking some quiet time for myself after the main hall closed.  Chilled in the hotel room for a bit then walked over to Cooperage Philly.  I did a little research before heading down and this place was on my radar.  The food was good and the whisk(e)y list looked interesting.  I'll see if I can drag more of the crew over next year.

Sunday I slept a little late but managed to make it into the hall early again.  Set up in the same spot as Saturday.  Started kinda slow but Shades and I managed seven demos in total, with him running two of them.  My friends Vlad and Ryan managed to make it to the table and get in a few demos as well.  The general vibe for Sunday seemed more relaxed but that may have just been me coming down from the rush that was Saturday.  I sold out of Rulers this day and also gave away seventeen participation packets.  After knocking off around 5pm I grabbed a quick bite then helped to tear down the booth after the hall closed.  A short rest at the hotel room then a very fast 4.5 hour drive home finished out my PAX Unplugged 2018 experience.

Some random thoughts.

• This con felt a little more personal to me.  Maybe because I had material for sale, or maybe because I was sharing a room.
• I felt like I didn't spend all that much time with my boothmates this year.  Probably because we were all getting pulled in separate directions and there were more of us than in previous years.
• I'm glad there was strong interest in the Starter Kits I created.
• I had ideas for an expansion pack before the con and I'll implement them for the next PAX.
• There seemed to be a lot of interest in MFZ at the con, yet the community in general seems to be at its quietest.
• I talked with Shades Corvid and Hydromancer about ideas to increase the presence of the MFZ community at PAX Unplugged in coming years.

PAX Unplugged 2018

For the next three days I'll be helping demonstrate Mobile Frame Zero at PAX Unplugged. We'll be at booth # 1925 so come see us if you're there.

The Road to PAX Unplugged 2018

In a week I'll be in Philadelphia at PAX Unplugged helping to demonstrate Mobile Frame Zero for the Indie Bazaar.  I will also be selling Rulers again and Starter sets for the first time.  We'll be at Booth 1925 on the sales floor and a table somewhere in Tabletop Freeplay.  There's a topic on the Hangar discussing the usual "big game" at PAX.  :-)  Also, I'll be arriving Thursday evening so if anyone wants to meet me for dinner that'd be cool.

The Road to PAX Unplugged 2018

The dates for PAX Unplugged have been confirmed on the website, it's Friday, November 30th to Sunday, December 2nd.  Registration opens in a little over a week.  We had a decent turnout from the MFZ community the last time.  Let's see if we can do better this time around.