For Septembers roster update we have 24 new mecha unit profiles including the foundational Super Robot series, Mazinger Z. We are also releasing MechaStellar VER 8.4 Core Rules which streamlines some items in the Stellar Warfare section and provides another option for [Focus] as well as changes to Disengage. Lastly, there’s a large balance update that will address some points cost issues, movement and evade as well as improving the durability of some units.
Core Rules Update
Focus Action
The Focus action can now give +3 Power to a Titan. This gets rid of the reliance some Titan units had on the “All-Out Attack” pilot skill. As a result several Titan units were converted from Indomitable to Assault in order to make use of the extra action with their weapons.
Disengage
This update comes from a lot of feedback from 40k players who really wanted a way to tie up an opponent in Melee. In the previous rules it was relatively easy to break away from melee and then shoot your opponent. We still want that to be possible, since it’s not uncommon in Mecha anime, but we increased the Momentum cost by an additional 1 to compensate.
We also included another option to break out of melee to give you some tactical choice on your turn. Generic close combat [CC] weapons like fists, kick, shoulder tackle etc. push your target out of Melee, so it gives a reason to use a less deadly weapon and recreate some favorite scenes such as Char’s Zaku kick. It also allows for some flexibility in your action economy, for example a unit like Striker Eureka would benefit since a melee strike could force their opponent out of melee, freeing up an action to Focus for additional power to then fire it’s anti-kaiju missiles.
Stellar Warfare Updates
- Clarified some language
- MS & Titan deployments are now 6″ from the Warship hull or they may stay embarked
- Removed line regard Warship Cover. This was from the old Stellar Ships rule where each cannon fired multiple shots and should have pruned before last months update. Added in line regarding line of sight cover instead.
- Changed movement bonus for MS & Titans to be -1 Shot instead of -1 Accuracy to avoid penalty stacking issues with M-Particles. Penalty for M.Particles applies at more than double Sensors range now.
- To simplify things Target Lock is only required on MS & Titans outside Sensors range now.
- Clarified that missiles and other weapons that reload/recharge stay readied after firing
- The Launch action is a free action at the start of each round
- Repair is denoted as end of each round
- Warship AA guns received a range increase but decreased shots.
September Balance Patch
Super Robots
Previously our baseline for the protagonist of a Super Robot show was Frame 4, Performance 2 (4/2 for short), that will be increased to 4/3 and in some cases 4/4. This allows our Super Robots to have more staying power once we move into the Zeta Gundam era.
HP Adjustments
Adjusted HP Formulas for Frame 1 & 2 units, most units won’t see the effect but a few MS units will go from 1700 HP to 1600 HP. All Titans received +1000HP to improve durability.
Bonus HP was given for any unit where Reinforce > Frame Level. This is to offset the Evasion penalties for heavily armored units like the Full Armor types or the Chobham equipped GM Cannon II. Units affected (Dom Barrage, Gogg, Agg Guy, Zock, Full Armor Gundam x3, GM Ground Type, GM Land Combat, Desert GM, GM Cannon II, Sandrock, Heavy Arms, Eva Units, Gaghiel, Zeruel, Mechasaurus Doba)
Unit Cost update:
We discovered some edge cases where you could take a Frame 2 unit, make them Frame 3 and end up with a better unit for the same price, we then analyzed several Frame 3 units and found you could build a Frame 4 unit that was better at the same price. As a result the following cost changes took effect.
Frame 3 gets a +20pt boost. All other units are Cost+10. Special Types (Indomitable, Heavy Arms, Assault) are no longer free for Frame 4&5.
Major rebalance to Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV), Big O, Getter Robo, and Pacific Rim to keep units at 600 cost (or to keep pairs such as Crimson Typhoon & Cherno Alpha combined 600pts)
Several units from Mobile Suit Gundam had their equipment loadouts updated to stay anchored at their old cost. Lastly, Mission Packs will be updated to reflect new unit points costs.
Movement Rebalance
We went and retooled the movement system in an effort to shorten the gap between some very high movement models and well, everyone else. This was accomplished by having the Armor Reinforce level factor into movement, so units that strip off armor now move faster (GM Light Armor for instance).
You’ll notice some of the slower and middle of the pack units received minor movement increases while units with extreme movement have come down quite a bit. Overall the range of movement values has gotten more reasonable. A minor quality of life improvement is that more units of the same class (i.e Zakus, Doms, etc) tend to have the same movements, so you’ll see many suits in Zeon’s arsenal with movement 7, 9 and 14 which makes it easier to remember without referring to your sheet as often.
Adjusted Transform to have a smaller movement bonus. Adjusted Titan’s so their bonus for being Performance 5+ is +2 Power instead of +2 Movement. Units affected Val Varo, Neue Ziel, Dendrobium GP03, Striker Eureka
Evade Rebalance
In a similar vein we also adjusted Evade values for all units, since playtests with Zeta era and CCA era units were showing the Evade values were a bit on the low side. This was especially true in some of our super robot playtests using Pacific Rim and Mazinger Z units. As a result all units across the board have received a +1 Evade bonus, Attack and Raid type have lost their +1 Evade bonus but retain their high movement instead. Several Angels now have lower Movement and Evade to better reflect their onscreen appearance.
Removed the +1 Evade -1 Shooting effect when Speed>Frame for now; it may get reintegrated later. Currently it is too attractive a bonus for low Frame units, and causes an unintended side effect of making high frame units have far too high of a movement. Units affected: Zaku R2, Gelgoog Jager, GP01-Fb, GP03 Dendrobium, Tallgeese)
Combat Role adjustments
- The Battler, Attack and Raid types all receive +1d10 Melee.
- The Attacker, Raid and Sniper types all received -1 Evade.
- The Firepower type lost its -1 Evade penalty in order to close out a loophole where Battler+Heavy Arms was a better overall than Firepower+Indomitable.
- Interceptor is the only role to keep +1 Evade but will lose -1 Shooting to balance against Battler as well as -2 Move to portray a focus on maneuvering verniers instead of pure straight line movement.
- Indomitable gives +1d10 Melee, to make it competitive with Heavy Arms which received another +1 EQ Slot last update.
Mecha Unit Profiles Updates
Roster Update
- Mazinger Z – 11 new units added
- Gundam – 4 Gundam variants, 3 Gelgoog variants
- NGE – 3 Evangelion variants from different points in the show
- Big O – 3 Variant to represent the Megadeus Army seen in flashbacks
- Reorganized several sections
Weapon Updates
- CC Weapons push targets out of engagement range by default, no longer a special rule in Defend the City
- Updated Knuckle Shield to match Light Shield profile
- Adjusted Shotguns and Flamethrowers to give bonus Hits in Rapid Fire Range.
- Missile profiles updated to give similar damage values across the board.
- A beam carbine profile was brought back to be in-between the Beam Rifle and Beam Pistol, the amphibious Mega Particle Cannons like the Z’Gok and Heat Rays from Mazinger will also use this profile.
- Added beam sniper profile. All MS & Titan weapons that are 40+” now have Rapid Fire penalty, this is to represent these weapons being specialized for longer range attacks. It also adds more depth to target priority for your long range units (Guntanks and GM Snipers) and your midrange support units. Weapons affected: Sniper Rifle, Antiship Rifles, Long Range artillery.
- Indirect Fire now changed to Range 32″ – 40″+Sensors for Artillery, and 0-18″+Sensors for Remote Weapons (Wireguided / Bits / Funnels)
- +1 PEN to BR, Sniper, Beam Boomerang and Drills.
- Artillery Cannon gain +1 Shot. Beam Pistol & Stripped Beam Rifle gain RF+1.
- Power Draw reduced by 1 for Beam Cannons & Artillery Cannons used by Titans / Mobile Armors.
Mecha/Pilot Traits Updates
- Updated Fighting Spirit and Hot Blooded / Defiant which now synergize well. Fighting spirit gives Momentum when below 50% HP or M=0, while Hot Blooded / Defiant gives a more useful bonus for Melee.
- Updated Stealth, Ambusher, Showtime and similar abilities so it doesn’t rely on Ambush command. Stealth was adjusted to prevent targeting prior to the unit activation, which will help a lot when using the alternate deployment rules.
- Reduced cost on EXAM system. Update Berserker & Killer Instinct to be Reroll 2 dice vice 1.
- Rebalanced the Spirit in the Machine, Absolute Terror, & Untouchable traits to include a random d10 component, previously these traits were far too useful to deny VP at the end of a match.
- Adjusted High Sync Ratio to have an effect similar to the “Blood Pact / Cursed Dance” effect on Escaflowne to better represent how taking damage can stun the pilot; the blocks given by this trait encompass the Eva’s AT Field. A similar system will be implemented in G Gundam.
- Kaiju Blue trait given to Pacific Rim Kaiju
Latest unit profile sheets can be found on the game downloads page.
MechaStellar 