MechaStellar VER9.5 Gameplay Example – Round 5

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 Round 5.

To back to Round 4 click here.

Round 5

Norris in the Gouf Custom is up first he moves up into rapid fire range and shoots his shield gatling gun.

• Gatling Gun into Zeta Gundam (HP 200)
• Barrage (+2 Shots) vs Guard (+2 Blocks) 
• S7 vs E7 = 0+ however with 1s & 2s are Crits so it becomes a 3+
  • 9d10 = [2,6,7,8,8,10] = 1 Crit + 3 Rapid Fire = 5 Hits
  • Cover blocks 2 Hits and the building survives on a 2+ [8]
• Zeta loses [M-3] to survive
• [M] Zeta Cannon 3 Gouf X 7

Norris now uses the Tear through the Ranks skill for [M-2] cheaper thanks to his Commander trait. He will fire his gatling gun again, but at Guncannon this time.

• Precision (+2 Shots) vs Dodge (+3 Evade) 
• S7+2 vs E+3+3 = S9 vs E+6 = 3+
• 9d10 = [1,2,5,6,8,9,10] = 2 Crits + 3 Rapid Fire = 7 Hits
• Low on Momentum Guncannon is destroyed [M+1]
• [M] Zeta Cannon 3 Gouf X 6

As the final part of Tear through the Ranks destroying an enemy now gives move+5″ which now puts Zeta Gundam within target lock range for the final bonus attack

• Gatling Gun vs Zeta Gundam
• Barrage (+2 Shots) vs Guard (+2 Blocks) 
• S7 vs E7 = 4+ because Target Lock
  • 9d10 [1,3,5,6,7,7,8,10,10]
  • After improvise becomes [4,4,5,6,7,7,8,10,10] = 3 Rapid Fire = 3 Hits
  • 2 Blocks from Cover [8] survives
  • [M-1] to survive
• EOT [M]  Zeta Cannon 2  Gouf X 6

Victory Points

Zeta Cannon 5VP

• Destroyed Gundam X (Frame 4 + Pilot 1) = 5 VP
• Gouf Custom <50% HP (Frame 2 + Pilot 2)/2 Round up = 2 VP
• Lost an Ace -2VP

Gouf X  7VP

• Destroyed Kai’s Guncannon (Frame 3 Pilot 2) = 5 VP
• Round 5 destroyed Commander +5 VP
• Lost a Critical Machine -3VP

In the final Round team Gouf X defeated Kai’s Guncannon which is worth 5VP and another +5 VP for destroying the enemy Commander. In a small game of 2v2 this is a huge amount of Victory points which pushed them to victory.

After Action Report

Zeta Cannon Player

What a very close game! Until that final turn I thought I had crushed the Gouf Gundam X team. I’m a huge fan of Guncannons and it saddened me to see an unrelenting onslaught from the Gouf’s gatling gun brought him down and almost took my Zeta Gundam as well. Just goes to show MechaStellar is a lethal game so never drop your guard!

For me I think what worked best was using Zetas very high mobility to jet around the field and lay down a lot of fire, and with their great Evade bonus they can trade fire with the enemy all day long. Zeta is no slouch in melee either, but my opponent managed to out maneuver me and get to my more vulnerable Guncannon.

Still Kai didn’t go down without a fight and he persisted longer than I expected. With the more recent updates to HP powerful prototype units can last a lot longer on the battlefield which is greatly appreciated by me.

Last but not least Control Points granting Momentum has been a huge change to gameplay, especially for small 2v2 games. Each turn we had to consider whether we wanted to capture a CP or move into a more tactical position to deal out damage. It also means more Momentum at the end of each Round which gives the player more flexibility in which units they protect in the next Round.

Gouf X Player

Wow, snatched that one from the jaws of defeat. It was a very close game and we almost finished with my opponent having both their units surviving.

For me I was actually surprised to lose the Garrod’s GX-9900, and I definitely regret not firing that satellite cannon when I had the chance, I may have kept both my units in that case. My opponent definitely surprised me when they broke out of melee pushed backwards and their grenade launcher dumped a ton of damage on the GX after a bad evade roll. Still I was able to take out their Guncannon in the following turn so I guess it’s all even.

Norris’ Gouf Custom lasted a lot longer than I expected, giving him the +100pt upgrade for Superior Instincts definitely helped him survive longer in melee with Zeta Gundam who was a brutal opponent. He has a lot of tools in his toolbox and even though he’s an outdated model by the time of Zeta Gundam he’s got enough tricks to give Kamille a run for his money.

I was also quite happy with how the VER9.4 changes to Critical Hits as well as Precision/Barrage gives Melee/Attacker units like the Gouf a lot more options with their shooting weapons. The Shield Gatling Gun ended up doing extremely well this game making a very worthwhile weapon the Gouf Custom (which is absent on the White Rose variant).

Overall I had a blast but I felt like I was on the losing end the entire game. My decision to skip that control points in Round 1 wasn’t a good idea since I was missing out on Momentum every Round until we captured the right and center one. Once we had three control points I could feel the tension go down a bit more since I had more reserves to keep my guys alive, almost all the way through Round 5.

Closing Narrative

With Kai’s Guncannon totalled and Garrod’s GX heavily damaged Kamille and Norris end up in a stand-off. With the lull in the fighting they open a comms channel, Norris breaks the silence and refuses to surrender to the Titans and won’t rest until he recovers Aina Sahelin. Kamille is stunned that Norris thinks he’s part of the Titans while Garrod chimes in about needing to find Tiffa even if he has to do so on foot. Kai is able to put the pieces together and proposed that they work together to rescue the hostages and get out of here before Jaburo explodes.

That’s all for this gameplay example. You can find other MechaStellar gameplay examples here. Thanks for reading!