Here we have a gameplay example for MechaStellar VER9.5 using 1/144 scale Gundam figure. On one side we have Kamille’s Zeta Gundam and Kai’s Guncannon, on the other we have the unlikely teamup of Garrod’s Gundam X and Norris Packard Gouf Custom. Read on below the break for the game narrative, setup and Round 1.
Narrative
This is an alternate universe where the events of Gundam’s Universal Century and the After War era have fused together. The Zeta Gundam was completed early and Kamille took it to bust Kai and Reccoa out of the jail in Jaburo, the former Federation headquarters that the Titans had trapped to self-destruct. Kai and Reccoa managed to grab a Guncannon in retrofit among the other ancient MSX and MSV mobile suits lying around.
Meanwhile, an unlikely alliance between Garrod Ran and Norris Packard has formed. The two agreed to work together after Tiffa Adil and Aina Sahalin have been captured and held by the Titans. As they were storming Jaburo they were given reports of a new Gundam being used by the Titans.
When the two teams encountered each other they began fighting in the confusion, with Garrod and Norris suspecting that the Zeta Gundam was the new prototype Gundam the Titans were using, while Kai seeing a Gouf still bearing Zeon’s marking suspected an attack by remnants.
A battle of misunderstandings in 5 rounds.
Setup & Deployment
MechaStellar recommends a table length that is 2 to 4 times the highest units movement and generally will allow people to reach melee by Round 3 at the latest. Zeta Gundam has a base movement of 20″ so a table length can range from 40-80″. The player use a table that is 6ft long.
Each players get half of the battlefield to setup terrain and Control Points (CPs). You want to have clear fields of fire to these control points since they’re meant to be dangerous areas you want to control.
Place one dead center of the board then place the rest in pairs two at a time. The CP pairs should be equal distance apart, an easy way to do this is to say this pair of CPs are 18″ from the table edge. So on a 6ft (72″) table the center point of each CP will be 18″ from the edge and 36″ away from each other.
The CP pairs can have different distances, you can have one pair that is 18″ from the edge and another pair that is 10″ from the edge. That’s up to you and your opponent. Generally you want to have your CPs place inside your deployment zone that way you can start your turn on one and immediately capture it.
For this battle each player has half the battlefield and the deployment zone is 1/2 of that. So for a 6ft x 4ft (72×48″) table, each half of the battlefield is 36″ long and 48″ wide. Each player’s deployment zone will be 18″ long and 48″ wide.
The ZetaCannon team has Kamille and Kai hang back to make the most of their ranged attacks, while the Gouf X team has Norris up front with Garrod in the back. The Gouf player is opting not to place the Gouf on the nearby control point, while that will hurt them in the long run for Momentum generation, it will allow him to be closer to the enemy and get into melee sooner.
Mobile Suit Army Lists
The players agree to a game of 860 points. Why such an odd number? Because the Gouf Custom is 260 points rather than a nice even 250 points. The players could have pushed it to 900pts and purchased more unit upgrades but they decided to stick with the basics.
Gouf X
- Norris Packard’s (Ace) Gouf Custom (260pts)
- Super Instincts Upgrade (+100pts)
- Commander Trait – Impressive Skill
- Garrod’s (Skilled Pilot) Gundam X (500pts)
Norris being the more seasoned pilot was chosen as the Commander, while his unit is half the cost of Garrod’s he is still very capable boasting superior Melee, Movement and defenses thanks to his Pilot level and traits.
The superior instincts upgrade makes him immune to Blindside and twice per game gain +3 Blocks just as a Newtype would. This upgrade is intended to let oldtypes play on an even field with Newtypes, it’s recommended for all-star pilots like Yazan Gable, Shin Matsunaga and our Commander Norris Packard who have an incredible mastery of their machine and good combat instincts to back it up.
Lastly, Norris has the Impressive Skill as his Commander trait. This allows him to reduce the cost of all pilot skills by 1 (to a minimum of 0) except for Skill Defense. This trait makes some skills free like Accelerate while also reducing the cost of more expensive skills like Tear through the Ranks.
In this example Norris uses the Accelerate skill for free in Rounds 1 and 2 and uses the Tear through the Ranks skill at a discount later on.
Zeta Cannon
- Kai Shiden’s (Ace) Guncannon (250pts)
- Commander Trait – Resourceful
- Kamille Bidan’s (Ace) Zeta Gundam (600pts)
- Awe Inspiring Arrival Upgrade (+10pts)
Likewise, Kai Shiden, the former white base pilot and current day journalist and espionage agent was chosen as the Commander to show him lending Kamille some of his insight as team leader as they escape from Jaburo, even though he’s in a much cheaper unit. Commander traits often times benefit the whole army so it’s not a bad idea to put it on a unit who you will try to keep out of danger. In this case Kai has Resourceful, which increases starting Momentum [M] by 1 and gives a bonus [M+2] at the end of each round.
Kamille’s Zeta Gundam is the over-tuned monstrosity in this battle having excellent, shooting, melee, evade and movement. To match points with the enemy they took the 10pt upgrade awe inspiring arrival which gives them a bonus +1 Block in the first turn they are attacked. This is meant to represent the fear the enemies might feel upon seeing the new rumored Gundam.
You can find the mecha unit profiles for these units on the MechaStellar game downloads page. If this is your first time following along a game of MechaStellar it will be helpful to have a printed off copy on hand as you’re playing the game.
Key Concepts
Momentum is an army wide resource that represents your armies morale, training, expertise, luck and overall forward Momentum in the flow of battle. You gain Momentum by destroying enemy units, making a melee attack, and surviving the round.
The most common use for Momentum is to protect your units. Lose 1 for each hit you want to negate. Typically Momentum is reserved for high damage attacks like a bazooka or cannon, or versus weapons with high armor penetration such as a beam rifle or beam saber which has a chance to cause catastrophic damage. Momentum can also be used on pilot skills.
Momentum is often expresses as [M+1] or [M-1] which means gains 1 Momentum or loses 1 Momentum.
Return Fire is a crucial part of the activation system and is intended to make the game feel more like a firefight. The way it works is that anytime a unit is attacked, if they haven’t been activated yet you have to activate them next and if possible attack the unit that attacked you. Skilled and Ace pilots can ignore the targeting effect.
Attacks are an abstract concept for each weapon and doesn’t necessarily translate on a 1:1 basis. For instance a beam rifle attack makes 4 shots, you can think of that as four shots in rapid succession or a single well placed shot that would cause significant damage compared to a glancing hit. Most weapons have a base of 4 shots, many weapons also have a Rapid Fire modifier such as RF+1 where if the unit gets within 1/2 the maximum effective weapon range they gain more shots (or less shots for artillery and sniper weapons).
Shooting and Evade in MechaStellar the attacker merely needs to declare their target, the defender then needs to roll to evade their attacks. For instance if the attacker makes 4 Shots at Accuracy 10 and the Defender has Evade+3, then they need to roll a 7+ on each die to avoid being hit.
A roll of 9 or 10 automatically Evades regardless of modifiers. A roll of 1 or 2 signifies a critical hit to the Defender, which counts as 2 hits. If the target is within your Sensors range you have Target Lock so 3s also count as Critical Hits. Sniper type units typically have a much higher Sensors range.
When Shooting you can choose Precision for +1 Accuracy or Barrage for +1 Shot. Skilled Pilots improve this bonus to +2. The target can choose to Dodge (+1 Evade) or Guard (+1 Block). Ace Pilots improve this bonus to +2.
In Melee both sides have a die pool (i.e. Melee 5d10) which they split between attack (ATK) and defense (DEF). Every 5+ rolled is a Hit or a Block, while on ATK a 9+ is a Critical Hit which counts as 2 Hits. The attacker gains +1 Hit (+2 for Skilled and Ace Pilots) while the Defender chooses to either Counter (+1 Hit) or Guard (+1 Block), Ace Pilots improve that bonus to +2. Melee is dangerous for everyone involved but typically is not common till Round 3+.
Most units have 1 Action, which they use to either Shoot one weapon or to Full Throttle and move further. Units with the firepower role like the Zaku Cannon or Guntank have additional actions to either shoot an additional weapon or to Focus which lets them either target any unit or gain a bonus Hit.
Skilled & Ace Pilots have access to some very useful free Skills such as Improvise, which lets you reroll up to 2 dice; Seize the Day which gives +1 Action; or Make it Count, which gives a number bonus Hits equal to the current Round. Your Commander, even if they aren’t a Skilled Pilot can also make use of these skills.
Lastly, units have a chance to destroy terrain whenever they attack a building directly or if it is used as cover to protect against an incoming attack. The general rule is the building has to roll a d10 save and their target number to survive depends on the weapons damage. DMG 200 is 2+, DMG 300 is 3+, DMG 400 is 4+ etc. Melee weapons treat their damage as doubled.
So if you used Cover to block a hit from a DMG 700 Bazooka, the building will survive on a 7+. You can also target cover directly, forcing it make 3 saves.
Round 1
Garrod is up first. Garrod moves up and checks range (pictured above) then shoots the GX Shield Beam Rifle.
When you make a shooting attack you choose between Precision (+1 ACC) or Barrage (+1 Shot). Skilled and Ace Pilots improve this bonus to +2 and some pilot traits can improve it further to a max of +3.
Likewise the defender chooses between Dodge (+1 Evade) or Guard (+1 Block). Ace Pilots improve this bonus to +2 and some pilot traits can improve it further to +3.
Garrod chooses Precision (+2 ACC) while Kamille chooses Guard (+2 Blocks). The GX has Shooting 12+2 (S14) while the Zeta Gundam has Evade+7 (E+7). S14 vs E+7 means Kamille will need to roll a 7+ to evade each shot.
The Beam Rifle makes 4 shots, and Garrod uses the 2 remaining actions on the Gundam X for 2 Focus Actions giving +2 Hits.
Kamille rolls 4d10 = [1,1,2,8] = 3 Critical Hits and the fourth shot is evaded.
Critical hits (1s or 2s on Shooting) are worth 2 hits, so this is a potentially deadly shot right from the start.
He then uses the Improvise Skill to reroll up to 2 dice. This is a free skill usable once per Round by Skilled or Ace Pilots and even better allows you to use Skill Defense as well.
After improvise it becomes [2,7,7,8] = 1 Crit and the remaining three are evaded.
There are +2 Hits thanks to Focus for a total of 4 Hits.
Zeta Gundam is behind cover which will provide 2 Blocks vs low damage weapons. We now roll a d10 to see if the Cover survives, since the beam rifle is DMG 300 the building needs a 3+ to survive, which it does on a [3].
Zeta purchased the Awe Inspiring Arrival trait at the start which gives a bonus block the first turn it is attacked. So with 4 hits and 3 blocks, there is 1 unblocked hit which will now deal 300 DMG. Since the beam rifle is a high penetration weapon it has a chance to cause catastrophic damage which is reflected by an Armor Save.
The GX Shield Rifle is ARM PEN 8 while Zeta Gundam has Armor Save+1, it’s target number is a 7+. Zeta Gundam rolls a [6].
Ordinarily this would deal 1000 DMG for a failed save but Skilled and Ace Pilots can lose Momentum and shout “It’s not over yet” to pass any failed Armor Saves.
Zeta Gundam HP 3300/3600
End of Turn Momentum (EOT [M]) ZetaCannon 5 Gouf X 5
Note we will do a complete walk through for the first turn in Round and 2 but afterwards we will use a more abbreviated layout.
Kamille’s turn. The Zeta Gundam strages to the right and then checks LOS. The Gouf player was surprised by Zeta Gundam’s mobility, the lateral movement allowed him to see the Gouf Custom previously hidden by LOS blocking cover.
- Kamille chooses Barrage (+2 shots)
- Norris chooses Dodge (+2 Evade)
- Zeta’s beam rifle makes 6 Shots with S12 vs E+4+2= 6+
- 6d10 = [1,1,4,4,8,10] = 2 Crits and 2 Hits
- After improvise [4,4,6,8,10,10] = 2 Hits
- Kamille’s pilot trait gives +2 Hits when targeted Skilled or Ace Pilots
- Total Hits 4
- The Gouf Custom has a Shield which gives +2 Blocks
- He uses the Skill Defense for +2 Blocks losing [M-2]
- EOT [M] ZetaCannon 5 Gouf X 3
The beam rifle bores a hole through the building and part of the Gouf Custom’s shield, if it weren’t for Norris quick reflexes he might have been finished. “He must be an Ace” thinks Kamille.
Norris is up next.
Unused to working together Garrod blundered too close to Norris, disabling part of his Lone Wolf Trait which would have given a bonus [M+1] when he activated. “Keep your distance and keep your eyes on the enemy Gundam” shouts Norris.
Knowing that both enemies are too far for melee and outside RF range of his shield gatling Norris uses the Accelerate skill for free thanks to his Commander trait gaining a free Full Throttle action.
While he could move to the center Control Point and capture it for additional Momentum gain at the end of each Round the Gouf player has a different plan.
Norris uses his Rocket Anchor to pull himself closer to a building. A little trick that gets him a few extra inches of movement. That puts him within Rapid Fire range of the Guncannon. Machine Guns and Gatlings guns are unique in that they give bonus hits instead of bonus shots in rapid fire range.
- He uses the Seize the Day Skill for +1 Action and uses it on a shooting action with the gatling shield.
- The Gouf chooses Barrage (+2 Shots) while Guncannon chooses Guard (+3 Blocks thanks to Kai’s pilot trait)
- S7 vs E+3 = Guncannon needs a 4+ to evade each shot
- 2+7d10 = [1,1,3,3,3,5,6,6,9,9] = 2 Crits + 3 Hits + 3 Rapid Fire (RF) Hits
- Total 10 Hits
- Kai’s Guard will block 3 hits and he will take the remaining 7 at 200 DMG each
- Guncannon HP 3200/4600
- EOT [M] ZetaCannon 5 Gouf X 3
“Hey, Kamille can you get this guy off my back? The Guncannon doesn’t have a good track record against the Gouf.“
Kai is up next. Up close and personal with a Gouf he has Ramba Ral flashbacks
- Kai’s pilot trait gives him either [M+1] or a Focus Action when he activates. He takes the Focus action.
- The Guncannon has 2 actions, he uses one to shoot his beam rifle and the other action becomes a 2nd Focus action for +2 Hits
- The beam rifle is in Rapid Fire (RF) range (+1 shot) and has Target Lock (3s are now Crit Hits) for being within his Sensors range.
- Kai chooses Barrage (+2 Shots) while Norris chooses Guard (+2 Blocks)
- S10 vs E+4 = The Gouf needs a 6+ to evade each shot
- 3+4d10 = [1,4,5,6,9,9,10] = 1 Crit + 2 Hits + 2x Focus = 6 Hits
- For Blocks the Gouf has + 2 Shield + 2 Guard = 4 Blocks
- There are 2 unblocked hits so the Gouf Custom will use Skill Defense and lose [M-2] to negate those.
- With the Gouf surviving the barrage Kai will move 8″ backward to make it harder to get into melee.
- EOT [M] ZetaCannon 5 Gouf X 2
End of Round
- Kai’s Resourceful gives [M+2] to team ZetaCannon. They also gain [M+2] for owning 2 Control Points (CPs)
- The Gouf Gundam X team gains [M+1] for owning 1 Control Point.
- While the Gouf Custom started much closer, he may end up wishing he had that continuous flow of Momentum from Round 1 by instead starting on the Control Point.
- End of Round Momentum – EOR [M]
- Zeta Cannon 9 Gouf X 3
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