Post by Techpriest on May 23, 2015 22:53:50 GMT -5
Ran some demos at ConQuest in KC today. Used some of the playtest rules. Overall the day went really well. It was a bit slow when some guy named George RR Martin was hogging all the attention but was a fun day and I am pretty sure I have some new members for my game group. We normally play with BattleTech figures but I don't like to take them to conventions so we used MechWarrior figures, they are prepainted and fairly sturdy. I did mention that the game is designed for paper figures and showed the picture on the cover. The younger players with lots of time and little money were excited by that. The older players seemed more interested in picking up some MechWarrior figs or dusting off their old BattleTech minis.
SML sticks, I made three 18" sticks and marked them at 6" and 12". Using rules suggested in another thread. We use those for range rather than measure in inches. Still love the system. It makes it easier to remember ranges. The target is in one range so when rolling to hit all weapons will have the same to hit number. We use different colored dice to identify weapons and roll all to-hits at once. The new players picked up on it very quickly.
Close Combat. Gave one mech a melee weapon. After the first game I made a note that it was cool, but pointless. If you are that close the odds are normally in your favor to attack with a weapon, even better if you can attack with several. Why should I give up my 2 lasers and a cannon to get 1 melee attack? Next game I was facing the Kodiak (heavy mech with claws). He over-heated and ended up losing his weapons so he charged at me and slashed a large dent in my mech. So that are a few cases where melee might be handy. If you keep track of ammo that might also be a handy backup weapon. In a "King of the Hill" scenario when things might get crowded as well. I am reluctant to say it is under-powered because a future warfare game should not be a mech melee game, so for now I plan to keep it the way it is. The Close Combat rules I used are from the 2.0 rulebook that some of us have gotten to look at, it pretty much is the ramming rules but you do not have to move, weapon gives bonus to hit.
Aircraft. Rules here. I had one Yuma attack helicopter in the games. Everyone was very impressed when it entered the battle but it really did not live up the expectations. The best use was by a friend that kept it out of range of the enemy and just launched missiles with the help of a spotter mech with an RGMS. For the 12 points I would rather have had another medium mech.
The movement of the VTOL is 5, so it can rush up to 10 but since it is a vehicle it can't also shoot. It was chasing a mech across the battlefield and had a heck of a time. The mech moved 8 and shot, the VTOL 10, gaining 2" on it. The mech 8 and shot, the VTOL 5 and shot but fell back 3". Both the player using the VTOL and the player running from it were surprised by the outcome of the chase. I am thinking the slowest VTOL should be 6 (match fastest light mech), with 8 common for attack craft. If the Yuma could dash across the battlefield at 16, then engage the fleeing mech, matching it's pace and firing every round it would be worth the points. The fragility and inability to hide behind cover should offset the advantages, 3-4 hits from any weapon should take it down. Will try that next time we play.
We did not try any high level flight. The system looks like it will work well, I just did not want to add the confusion for the new players.
I think I sold a few copies of Mech Attack today. Everyone liked the fast play aspect and loved the armor grid system. I would ask for a cut but the game is only $5 so the commission check would probably be less than the postage to send it
Another happy player!
SML sticks, I made three 18" sticks and marked them at 6" and 12". Using rules suggested in another thread. We use those for range rather than measure in inches. Still love the system. It makes it easier to remember ranges. The target is in one range so when rolling to hit all weapons will have the same to hit number. We use different colored dice to identify weapons and roll all to-hits at once. The new players picked up on it very quickly.
Close Combat. Gave one mech a melee weapon. After the first game I made a note that it was cool, but pointless. If you are that close the odds are normally in your favor to attack with a weapon, even better if you can attack with several. Why should I give up my 2 lasers and a cannon to get 1 melee attack? Next game I was facing the Kodiak (heavy mech with claws). He over-heated and ended up losing his weapons so he charged at me and slashed a large dent in my mech. So that are a few cases where melee might be handy. If you keep track of ammo that might also be a handy backup weapon. In a "King of the Hill" scenario when things might get crowded as well. I am reluctant to say it is under-powered because a future warfare game should not be a mech melee game, so for now I plan to keep it the way it is. The Close Combat rules I used are from the 2.0 rulebook that some of us have gotten to look at, it pretty much is the ramming rules but you do not have to move, weapon gives bonus to hit.
Aircraft. Rules here. I had one Yuma attack helicopter in the games. Everyone was very impressed when it entered the battle but it really did not live up the expectations. The best use was by a friend that kept it out of range of the enemy and just launched missiles with the help of a spotter mech with an RGMS. For the 12 points I would rather have had another medium mech.
The movement of the VTOL is 5, so it can rush up to 10 but since it is a vehicle it can't also shoot. It was chasing a mech across the battlefield and had a heck of a time. The mech moved 8 and shot, the VTOL 10, gaining 2" on it. The mech 8 and shot, the VTOL 5 and shot but fell back 3". Both the player using the VTOL and the player running from it were surprised by the outcome of the chase. I am thinking the slowest VTOL should be 6 (match fastest light mech), with 8 common for attack craft. If the Yuma could dash across the battlefield at 16, then engage the fleeing mech, matching it's pace and firing every round it would be worth the points. The fragility and inability to hide behind cover should offset the advantages, 3-4 hits from any weapon should take it down. Will try that next time we play.
We did not try any high level flight. The system looks like it will work well, I just did not want to add the confusion for the new players.
I think I sold a few copies of Mech Attack today. Everyone liked the fast play aspect and loved the armor grid system. I would ask for a cut but the game is only $5 so the commission check would probably be less than the postage to send it
Another happy player!
by Barry Stockinger, on Flickr