MechaStellar: Updated Mech Creation Part One

It’s been a year so let’s run through some major changes to Mech Creation. In this post we’re focus on a Mech’s Frame Level and the derived stats that can come from that.

In the past there was a cutoff where certain formulas would change. For example Frame 3+ suits had more expensive Performance and Pilot Skill. Similarly, Frame 4+ units got more bang for their buck when it came to the Reinforced EQ option. We’ve since leveled the field on points cost, and made Reinforce scale with every Frame level instead of a cut off. Below are some changes.

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MechaStellar: Quick Update

Hi folks, before we start talking about the updated version of the rules I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the things we had a chance to test over the last year.

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Battlefield Report: Assault the Hidden Base

Start Superoverhead All

NOTE: I took a break from blogging for a bit as my duties at work increased. These drafts are from the VER 2 rule set, we’ve since had many playtests and made it to VER 5 which is a very different game. We’ll have more to post in the future.

This past weekend we busted out some of favorite terrain to give this scenario another try. It involves one force dropping into a forest to assault a hidden mountain base replete with anti-aircraft guns. It also gave us a chance to continue testing Shield rules and see if we wanted to adjust things. Here’s the Battle Report with a round by round summary.

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MechaStellar: Pilot Skill – Shooting and Evade

Gundam Zeong When it comes to designing a Mech in MechaStellar there are three pillars to build off of. Frame Level, Performance Level, and Pilot Level. We use these three categories to build just about any suit. We have grunt suits with ace pilots (Low Frame, High Pilot), Prototype Units with inexperienced pilots (High Frame, Low Pilot) and all-rounders like my favorite the GM Custom (Mid Frame, Mid Performance, and Mid-High Pilot Level).

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MechaStellar: Playtest Report – 0083 Space Skirmish

Gelgoog Marine Cima

One very nice benefit to the stay at home order is that we’ve had a lot more time around the house to take care of chores, cook some really healthy meals and work on some hobbies. Following some successful Zeta tests where we were able to try out a new Skill system that was a bit more engaging giving player’s more agency we decided to do another round of testing this time using some newly minted 0083 suits.

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Mechastellar: Deciding when to Twin-Link

Guncannon

In today’s post I’d like to talk about choosing equipment for your Mech. Right now, my wife and I are watching through 0083 A Stardust Memory (Mayfly of Space). For me it’s a rewatch after about 10 years, for her it’s the first time so it’s a new experience for the both of us.

When I’m designing Mobile Suits I usually try to wait until I watch the series they are in again. In the case of MSV-R type suits, I don’t want to work on them unless I’ve recently read the sidestory they’re in or played in a game that does them justice. There are many version of Gelgoog available to choose from, and now that we’ve entered space in the show it’s given me a chance to start designing the Gelgoog Marines.

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Mechastellar: Gundam – Designing Grunts

Char vs GM

For today’s post I’d like to talk about some of the design principles and rationale in how I build suits to populate the battlefield. Mainly the grunt suits. In this post we’ll tackle suits from the Gundam Universe.

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MechaStellar: Playtest Report – Zeta

Zeta Test Units 1 — 1/400 Scale Gundam Suits – Easy to find and make for great War Gaming

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to playtest a large number of games and game mechanic redesigns. One large benefit of social distancing and the California stay at home order means we have a lot of time for indoor hobbies. The pictures above and below show some the units we were using in various tests.

Zeta Test Units 2 — I have a few 1/1200 Gundam battleships from our trip to Japan 2018. Amazingly we got them for under $5 each. They’re old kits that require glue to assemble but make for fun set pieces.

This marks the third time we were playtesting Zeta suits and its a refreshing change of pace from the One Year War (OYW) suits that are far less mobile. It also means we have to revise our tactics because our units are sturdier with a plethora of Gundarium alloy and far more mobile, especially transforming suits.

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MechaStellar – Pilot Skill – Melee

Ramba Ral

During our Zeta playtesting we wanted to try out a new system for Melee that involved wagering Skill. Here’s the proof of concept we tried with the Gundam and the Gouf, a classic melee duo.

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