With MechaStellar VER11 released we have been hard at work updating profiles to the latest VER. Last month we did Super Robots and G Gundam. For the November update we have added in a large number of units from Zeta Gundam updating all the AEUG profiles to VER11. We’ve also added in Gundam X to the AU profiles. And we’ve updated Jaegers and Kaijus from Pacific Rim to VER11.
We’ve also added in dozens of Kaiju for various Super Robot shows and updated the Core Rules to streamline Triggers and clarify Long Range vs Close Range Attacks. This is a very important blog post so please take the time to read through it. Thank you!!!
As we mentioned before, Rules updates are now on a 6 month schedule, that way players can master the game without having to worry up minor rules tweaks each month. That said, please keep giving us feedback so we can add it into the 6 month update. Here’s the VER11 After Action feedback form: https://forms.gle/aszwjLG1S2fs1wSQA
Update Summary
Balance Patch
Adjusted Vulcans for improved CIWS but lower ATK
Adjusted points weighting for Opener weapons
Adjusted Shield Rush to be a [Crash] attack
Roster Update
20 Units from Zeta Gundam
15 Units from Pacific Rim
33 Kaiju from Mazinger / Getter Robo / Combattler V and Voltes V
With MechaStellar VER11 releasing late in August, we have finished conversions for all the classic Super Robots from VER10 to include favorites like Mazinger, Getter and Combattler / Voltes V. Additionally, by popular request we’ve also updated all the G Gundam profiles from VER10 to VER11. We’ve been posting previews daily.
Also the Solo / Co-Op campaign packs for MechaStellar have been converted to VER11!
As we mentioned before, Rules updates are now on a 6 month schedule, that way players can master the game without having to worry up minor rules tweaks each month. That said, please keep giving us feedback so we can add it into the 6 month update. Here’s the VER11 After Action feedback form: https://forms.gle/aszwjLG1S2fs1wSQA
For this month’s update we have a few format tweaks, weapon balance updates, as well as an expanded pilot upgrade system. See below for a summary of updates.
UPDATE SUMMARY
Conversions
Updated Solo Co-Op Campaign Packs for Federation vs Zeon to VER11
Patreon Subscribers have access to playtest version for Gundam IBO and SEED
Formatting
Based on Feedback Experimenting with making the profiles larger, starting with AU Gundam
Fixed some issues where text was not fitting in cells (thank you for those who caught those)
Various typo and formatting fixes
Balance Patch
Adjusted points scaling for Evade DEF and Melee DEF. Nimble Flyer & Angel Wings Cost+, Full Armor & Tracked Vehicle lower Cost. Units affected: Gouf Flight Type, Tracked Units, GP01, GP04, Tallgeese Flugel, Full Armor types.
Adjusted Combat roles due to Evade / Melee DEF. Guardian + Battler gain Close Range Sensors+4″. Guardian & Warships HP-600.
Discovered an error that affected weapons with combination triggers. Rebalanced all those weapons. Minor tweaks to some Barrage or CIWS weapons.
Removed requirement that all units must have a [CC] weapon, but they do need a minimum one melee type weapon. Adjusted HP accordingly. e.g. GMs are baseline 2100HP now.
Weapons & Mech Profiles
Fixed a weird error where Char’s Zaku II had 10d10 Zaku Bazooka
Zaku F2 and GM Command Role updated to Guardian
Updated Bigro to be Size 0
Rebalanced Big Zam & Neue Ziel, GP03 to be cheaper
Fixed an error where GP00 had Nimble Flyer & Shield
Fixed error on Gelgoog Cannon and Gerbera Tetra for HP, Slots and Weapons
Removed move bonus from GP01. Raised GP04 point cost.
Updated Beam naginata to be Counter, rebalanced Chevalier saber to be lower points
Fixed an error on Heat Hawk (Twin Heat Hawks was correct)
Updated Atomic Bazooka
Needle Missiles +10pts
Antiship Missile Rebalanced
Updated Dobergun
Pilot upgrades
Added Driven
In case you missed it, here’s some Design Goals post and a Battle Report featuring Hashmal from Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans.
With MechaStellar VER11 releasing late in August, we have a small but powerful update for September a Gundam Wing Update. In addition to updating all the VER10 profiles to VER11 we’ve also added in the Tallgeese III, as well as options to add the Glory of the Losers equipment for the Gundams such as Sandrock’s Armadillo unit, HeavyArms Igel unit, or Shenlong’s Liaoya sword.
As we mentioned before, Rules updates are now on a 6 month schedule, that way players can master the game without having to worry up minor rules tweaks each month. That said, please keep giving us feedback so we can add it into the 6 month update. Here’s the VER11 After Action feedback form: https://forms.gle/aszwjLG1S2fs1wSQA
For this month’s update we have a few format tweaks, weapon balance updates, as well as an expanded pilot upgrade system. See below for a summary of updates.
UPDATE SUMMARY
Formatting
For Elite Pilot swaps, used the last column to show how many bonus points a pilot costs.
Fixed an embarrassing typo in the upgrade rules, Ace Pilots get 6pts for upgrades not 8
Various typo and formatting fixes
Weapons & Mech Profiles
Update large beam cannon and mega beam cannon affects GP03, GP00, FA7th, HFA 7th, Virgo
Updated Heavy Beam cannon affects Neue Ziel, Guncannon II, Virgo
Updated Heavy Gatling affects Heavy Gundam, Heavyarms
Updated Fire SPT Missiles to be Opener Trigger.
Updated grenades to be AOE
Added Guntank II
Updated GM Spartan to Performance 2
Rebalanced GP01Fb, GP03, HFA 7th to have Move 8″
Updated some named pilots to use the new upgrade system
Pilot upgrades
Rename overzealous to daring. Renamed Burning Soul to Hot Blooded.
Some traits got more expensive, like Steel Resolve
Added the following traits: Hot Blooded / Burning Soul, Fearsome, Guts, Persevere, Deadeye, Swift Strikes, Tactician
Standardized the pilot point system for pilots with a special trait like Newtype, Daring, Steel Resolve etc.
Better late than never, for the August MechaStellar Monthly Update we are releasing MechaStellar VER11. You can find the update rules and profile sheets on the MechaStellar game downloads page.
It’s been a long road from the VER11 announcement to release. Check out the VER11 Roadmap post for all the design goals that went into VER11.
Overall we want this to be the best Version of MechaStellar that is Fast, Fun, and most of all easier to teach to new players. Switching to a “dice roll only” core mechanic does a lot to accomplish this, and we’ve rebuilt several systems like Pilot Skills, and Elite units to enhance this. We think both VER10 and VER9 players will find a lot to enjoy in VER11.
We also want VER11 to be a more consistent and reliable edition which is why it went through a large amount of playtesting to try and iron out all the fine details. Some feedback from our beer & pretzel style gamers is that constant rules tweaks and balance updates made things hard to follow and easy to forget rules changes. Since MechaStellar started off as a garagehammer game we want to make sure we take care of those players too. Our plan is to only update the core rules every 6 months, rather than trying to patch the game every 4 weeks. (We’re still going to be updating the unit roster each month as normal.) That said, if you find something that’s broken, please let us know so can fix it for the next update.
Unlike VER10 MechaStellar is also launching with the Gundam Build Fighters rules from day 1 which has also been expanded to include simple to follow instructions on swapping out pilots and weapons and a system to design your own custom pilot.
With that said, please enjoy MechaStellar VER11! On the initial release we have Mobile Suit Gundam Universal Century (UC) from 0079-0083. In the upcoming weeks we will be releasing Zeta Gundam, CCA, Super Robots and Warships. In October or November we will release Gundam 00 which will be the perfect accompaniment to the new Trigger Mechanic. Look forward to it!
Please vote in the update poll to let us know which Tier 3 units you would like to see next!
As an aside, as the layout editor I wanted to say thank you all for your patience. We had planned on releasing VER11 in August and the rules team finished before 01 August, but at the end of July I decided to update the format for VER11 and many profiles now use the bottom right quadrant to store the mobile suits weaponry as well an easy reference if you want to swap out pilots. While it took a lot of time to implement (almost 2 months total to update UC Gundam from 0079-0083) I think it was well worth the effort but keeping the profiles cleaner and also minimizing profile bloat.
For example for MechaStellar VER10 final, the UC profile sheets had 86 profiles for Zeon and 69 profiles for the Federation. In VER11 there are 64 profiles for Zeon and 60 profiles for the Federation (including 1 new one). In total a reduction of 31 profiles. With less profiles and more room from a cleaner layout we were also able to increase font size.
Also, due to an unfortunate glitch, all of our images got stretched and de-rez’d so I had to remove all of them and manually insert and resize all of them which unfortunately takes a lot of time. On the plus side, it gave me a chance to adjust the file size for all the images, so the Mech profiles have gone from 32mbs down to 16mb in file size.
While the end product may not seem that different from VER10, altogether it took about 6 hours a week for 8 weeks to make this all functional. I’ve learned a lot since then, and implemented a few tricks that will make updating Zeta, CCA and Super Robots much faster, so please look forward to that and thank you for listening to my layout editing gripes.
In the last few weeks while waiting for layout editing to finish, the rules team had a chance to tweak various rules and also update Victory points based on feedback from our all-star 40k players. The Dev team also did some experiments regarding break saves, to resolve a problem with shields at a low power levels (One Year War) and while it developed a novel concept, ultimately we went with the simple solution that Siege weapons now also reduce Shield level by 1. Thank you to all the playtesters who provided feedback on that.
Weapons were also tweaked to try and better align the expected damage for various weapon type, some of the siege weapons in particular were falling behind the crit weapons so various weapons were rebalanced, which is why some of the preview sheets (created 2 weeks ago) may not match the final product. Thank you for understanding!
Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered to playtest. And a big thank you to the Dev team, especially those who came out of retirement just for this update. Thank you to Red, Yuria, Kyle, Tyler, Mike, Dominique, Charles, Rob, Yoshiaki, Sandeep, Alex, Jorel and Luyi; could not have done it without you.
