MechaTon!

[avram]

So it looks like I may be developing a new addiction, or relapsing into an old one: Lego! Vincent Baker (of Dogs in the Vineyard fame) has come up with yet another game, this one a tabletop wargame with do-it-yourself miniatures — MechaTon. He posted the alpha version of the rules a while back, but more recently has kicked them into something more final. Unfortunately, those final rules haven’t been all gathered into one document yet; they’re scattered across a bunch of posts in his blog, and I suspect some may not have been written down yet at all.

But that’s not gonna stop me from indulging my inner eight-year-old and putting together some Lego mechs! Best part is, I can design them in a specialized Lego CAD environment without having to buy the bricks till I know just what I need. (Though I have bought a few small, sub-$5 sets.) Here are my first couple of designs:

This first one isn’t complete — I don’t know what sort of weapon to put in that left arm yet. But with those rocket-studded wings, this clearly gets two green dice for movement.


This one here gets two blue dice for all that shielding, and probably two reds at artillery range. (I’m still not sure how the new ranges work.) No green; it looks slow. Note how I built out the backs of the feet to make sure that big launcher on top doesn’t make it fall over backwards.


So, once the final rules are published, I’m hoping enough CUGC people are interested that we can get a game together. Vincent explains his process for buying a mech here (design in a CAD program, list the parts, order from one of the very many online Lego vendors that sell individual bricks). As far as the CAD programs go, LeoCAD runs on Linux and Windows, and Bricksmith on MacOS X.

Comments

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

LEGO itself also has a CAD program with integrated purchase option:

http://www.lego.com/eng/factory/design/ldd.asp

I probably have enough pieces already to make a few mechs...

I have run Brick Battles a few times, using my hordes of minifigs, with some ad-hoc custome rules for ninjas and pirates.

I had the pirates (MANY of them) from eBay purchases back when I was thinking of running Steve Jackson's pirate game before I realized it wasn't terribly feasible.

[avram]

Yeah, I tried out Lego Factory, but I wasn’t happy with it — it doesn’t have the full stock of pieces, oddly enough. And the interface is awkward.

[nikotesla.livejournal.com]

It's much less interesting than we all hope. Bricklink (http://www.bricklink.com/), awkward as it is, is the way to go.

[ffilz.livejournal.com]

I've run the pirate game a bunch of times. It's loads of fun for a while, but it definitely requires a lot to play (though I've fit enough LEGO for a good pirate game plus clothes and stuff for GenCon or Origins into two suitcases). I did find the game started to lose appeal after people started grokking the system because the campaign version which is my preference doesn't reward engaging (even the battle game if played as a free for all encourages standing back and letting others weaken each other before swooping in for easy kills).

Brick Battles looks like loads of fun, though I haven't actually tried it out yet. I hope to help James run it at GenCon this year.

I'm definitely looking forward to the new improved Mechaton.

Frank

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

Brick Battles is great fun! It's also quite portable. I have a small tote bag that holds a hundred or so minifigs plus weapons, critters, and scenery bits for terrain.

I have many pirate ships (nearly all unassembled, natch) and such, but my problem is just finding the space and time to play it. I think a smallish game using only the two lowest classes of ships might be doable in something other than a con setting with a huge room devoted to it.

[ffilz.livejournal.com]

Yea, Jame's Crossroads scenario is pretty portable, though he uses base plates for the entire area which does increase the load somewhat, still, much easier than the pirate game.

If you use class 1 ships, and a few players, the pirate game can be played on a table. With a few more players, it could still easily be played on a living room floor if you move the furniture to the edge.

Of course the 20 person con games I've run would be totally impractical to run in most homes...

Frank

[lumpley.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Those rocket wings on the first one are fantastic.

Now I'm going to have to buy some of that piece.

[jl8e]

I so do not need an excuse to dig out my old lego, or, worse yet, buy more.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

CUGC'll probably go for it. Are you ever gonna play Shab al-Hiri Roach?