Comic Con Deployment

With the Denver Comic Con approaching on the weekend of June 15th, I've been putting the final touches on two of the three companies I will be bringing with to demo Mobile Frame Zero. The third is a company being built by Soren which is shaping up rather nicely if I say so myself!

The 31st Orion Militia Unit

I still may be tweaking the companies a bit here and there, but this is two thirds of what you can expect to see on the game table out at Con! Hope to see you there!

The Pit Vipers

Not Your Typical Iguana

The ST-09 Iguana is one of two standard issue frames in use with the serpent legion (the other being the ST-07SLC "Fat Snake" Chub). Being a common frame in the Legion, it needs to be adaptable to multiple battlefield situations, which means there are a number of "standard" variants of the Iguana being fielded. Below are two of those variants.

ST-09c Recon Iguana

 2d6Rd - Heavy Autocannon

2d6Rh - Flamethrower

2d6Y - Commlink and Laser Rangefinder

ST-09d Longbow Iguana

3d6Ra - Guided RPG Launcher

3d6Rd - Poseidon Heavy Machine Gun

1d6B - Composite Armor Plating 

Building the XF-13b Grand Naga

First off, I'd like to apologize for the inactivity here over the past week or so. A combination of work and starting the process of buying a new home took up my time for a bit. With that, I'm going to be starting a new thing over here. Instead of just giving you a single breakdown shot of some of my builds, I'm going to be putting together a detailed breakdown with some setting fluff on their origins and current use. We'll start things off with the XF-13b Grand Naga.


After the riots on Quall, the Union became increasingly concerned with engagements dealing with close quarters urban environments. The Serpent Legion made finding a weapons platform to fit within that situation a high priority because their pilots were being deployed in similar situations with increasing frequency. The Skunkworks began designing a mobile frame from the ground up to give Legion pilots an edge. The result was the Grand Naga.

The first of my "cheats" for this build.

First things first. There are two "cheats" in this build that involve disfiguring some parts. Purists may scoff. But hey, I think it looks sweet, so I'm going to do it. Also, this is a very travis brick heavy build. There's 12 of them if you include the one in the shotgun, so don't be surprised if you start running low after building a few of these.

Let's begin the build with the legs. This is where my first "cheat" comes in. As you can see I've cut one of the tires to wrap it around the rear travis brick, with the radar dishes on the side creating the illusion that the tire goes into the back of the heel of the foot. That travis brick connects to a headlight, and then another travis, creating the foot. The ankle is one of the sturdiest connections you'll find while maintaining a good amount of flexibility. The only downside is there is no horizontal movement.

Next, the torso. As you can see, the central core of this is from Squieu's brilliant mini-frame. The motor piece (#4595) at the center is a wonderful place to start for torsos due to the large amount of studs hanging off it and the fact that it is also a very common piece in my experience. Three more travis bricks make an appearance here as well as some plates, cheese slopes, and tiles to complete the look.

This section of the frame is also very, very solid. There is little to no wiggle anywhere and the only piece that feels like it may fall off in any means is the 1x2 hinge piece on the crotch.

The legs attach by plugging the taps into the travis brick at the bottom of the torso.

Next we move to the arms. The tire technique here is something I use quite frequently due to the fact that I absolutely love how the matte, rubberized black breaks up the look of the frame beautifully, while adding a rounded aesthetic that is rather hard to achieve with standard brick usage. The arm attaches to the tap via a 1x1 plate w/ ring. This technique is something I've used a number of times with frames like the MkII Meerkat.

 It's a sightlier fragile connection without being too flimsy, although it gives you a lot of options for posing the arms. That plate is attached to a headilght piece and a travis brick (bringing the count to 11 with both arms at this point). Then come the standard issue weapons. We have a Molecular Blade and a Tactical Shotgun (which can be seen in more detail here). The shotgun contains the 12th travis brick of the build and could easily be used as a grenade launcher or really any number of other weapons.

The second cheat.

Bringing it all together gives you a near complete Grand Naga. There is just one more piece missing, the top. This is where the second cheat comes in. It involves cutting the ring off of a 1x1 plate w/ring and placing them into the top of the motor piece of the torso. If you're against destroying a couple of pieces, you could use 1/4 pins, although the connection isn't anywhere near as solid, and there is a bit more of a gap between the torso and the top slope. Now you have a completed Grand Naga!

The XF-13b Grand Naga is currently in the field testing stage with the Black Adders, commanded by Captain Uri Reed on Orion 6. So far, they have been invaluable tools in subduing and eliminating the  Free Colonist Terrorist movement on the planet's surface. Assuming continued excellent performance, these Nagas may be seen on the field in standard production within the coming year.

Tactics, Company Composition, and Rules

Cpt. Angelo is the commanding officer of the 31st OMU. He likes guns and peaches.
In that order.

Over the past week or so, there has been some serious discussion over on the forums.

Thanks to Vincent (aka Lumpley) we have damn near all of the rules for MFZ. This post contains the rules for setting up the battlefield and getting things started, as well as links to all of the other discussions about the rules on the forums.

So what's left after knowing how to play? Building and setting up your company! There's a discussion on Company Builds, different Weapon Loadout Theories, and Battle Simulations. I highly suggest getting in there and reading up, not only can you jump in the discussion, but the guys who made the game are putting in their two cents too. Plus, they'll be using this feedback to help finish editing the rulebook.

Oh and NEW POLL.

Fleshing Out the Setting

A Spitting Dragon uses the high
ground to find his target.

I've been thinking that I need a place to store all of the information for this setting that's a bit more organized than a blog form. Thus, I've started a thread over at the Mobile Frame Hanger to serve as a reference for Orion 6 and all of the fun info that is associated with it. I will still continue to flesh things out here, as well as post builds and news. But if you want a overview of what the setting is all about, head over to the forums and have a look!

Raising Hell

On Orion 6 it's not just the colonists and the Solar Union at odds. There are many other, smaller groups who have vested interest in the ores underneath the crust of the planet. One of these such groups is the Hellraisers. By the common man's standards they are insane, bloodthirsty, and vicious. But if you were to ask one of them (not that anyone has) they'd tell you that the rules of society that are thrust upon the people are unjust, even oppressive.

The Hellraisers started out as miners, just like everyone else on Orion 6. After a few months of heavy mining there was a cave in, trapping multiple miners deep underneath the ground. A majority of the colonists (including the foreman of the operation) decided that a rescue was a lost cause and they would not waste the resources trying to save dead men. The handful that disagreed were not the type to sit idly by and let their friends suffocate in a dark hole. The foreman tried to prevent them from going, with force, and they returned in kind. The resulting conflict was bloody, but the miners got to their trapped comrades in time to save them.

In the aftermath, the colonists put out a warning against these murderers, they were to be brought in dead or alive. Instead of trying to hide within the cities on the planet, they ventured into the badlands and forged their own society.

Today, they are a group of bloodthirsty bandits and scavengers, according to colonists. Of course, that's not how they see it...

------------------------------------------

Completely unrelated to the Hellraisers, some Military Police hardsuits based off of Tiboblok's design.

Economy of War

The Atlas Labor frame is the primary labor frame used by the colonists of
Orion 6. Extremely durable and easy to maintain, this frame still sees
use as a makeshift combat frame by some resistance members.

As the Solar Union expands it's empire out into the galaxy, the Union needs to be pulling a profit to continue doing so. Joshua described how this all goes down recently in the Mobile Frame Hanger forums. Here is the segment where he goes into some detail:

Empires put a great deal of energy into their expansion. It gets harder and harder to expand but, of course, Every linear expansion of the empire brings an exponential increase in the costs. It's just not clear what those costs are. The Solar Union is a 20th century-style soft empire. The colonies don't technically have their goods stolen; they sell them to the SU. But the SU hasn't allowed them full participation, in that they're straight up poorer. So the SU sets a "fair market price" and will only pay that — or at least "recommends" it to the corporation in charge of a particular expedition. On Quall, that corporation backed up that price with force. It's a price the SU can't afford to exceed and the colonies can't afford to get because, locally, the value of those goods has skyrocketed as they exhaust them, either by using up rare resources of by being unable to produce more without further investment.

The "abandonment" phase comes when a colony's resources have become worthless on the market because other, newer colonies are better at producing those resources. That means older colonies can't trade the goods they have for the goods they need. The Free Colonies have started setting up a parallel economy, the existence of which is a direct threat to the SU's power structure. It will have (is having? How's this going on Orion 6?) the effect of increasing the prices of the goods the SU needs because there are other buyers — other colonies. That's a direct threat to the SU's ability to continue to feed its people.

The Ijad factor into this because the only thing stopping them from being like the SU is an ethic that hasn't been challenged for millennia. The last time they had an emperor-like entity, it went very badly and they learned the lesson. No one has been able to succeed at such a venture since due to their religious prohibitions that just keep such ideas from ever catching on — until the colonists showed up on their doorstep. Let's see how long their resolve lasts. What they want is to be as big a pressure on the SU as the SU is on them so it simply goes elsewhere. That means establishing colonies in other solar systems...

Transit gates are like little colonies, yeah. Think of them as port towns; reliant on shipping for all of their goods but those produced by their immediate neighbors. When you use a transit gate to send matter or data to another solar system, it's pretty imprecise. You probably don't exactly hit orbit. And you sure don't want to try to get so precise that you lit atmosphere because who knows what your incoming velocity will be. So you go for moon distance and see what you get. Having another transit gate at the other end makes it far, far more precise. A solar system with a transit gate can bring in materials bound for any body in that system. They take years to build, yes. When a colony is established, it's the first thing a colony has to pay for. They have to feed and equip themselves, too. So they start off in debt, but with the promise of riches of their newfound colony. They start producing to get out of debt, then find the value of their output dropping, and still have to support the colony, its expensive transit gate, populated and operated by locals but policed/defended by the Terran Transit Marines. I'm sure some colonies are now considering scrapping their transit gates for the resources they contain, which furthermore makes attack less practical, but eventually those colonies will be lost to history, unable to even communicate between the stars.

To answer the question of how this is going on Orion 6: Things are getting messy. The sheer number of valuable resources on the planet has kept the cost of maintaining a Union presence within acceptable levels, while the abundance of materials that the colonists can trade to the newly formed Federation is high enough where they can get the supplies they need to fight for their independence without too much trouble.  

I haven't gotten too much into how the Ijad fit into all of this yet. Let's just say they have a more subtle influence on the events on this barren world...

The ST-09 Iguana

Here's the rundown on my latest addition to the Serpent Legion's war assets. I built this guy using the core of a Squieu Mini-Frame and and the torso is inspired by Malcom Craig's Lansen. I've been keeping with my tire kick by working them into the guns on the arms. 

The ST-09 Iguana

Stats

Twin Heavy Autocannons 2d6+d8 Rd

Linked Anti-Infantry Machine Guns 2d6Rh

Composite Armor Plating 1d6B

And here's a breakdown.

The Hunchback

Since the arrival of the Serpent Legion on Orion 6, the usual converted labor frames and makeshift weapons were not enough for the resistance militia to hold their own. A group of engineers came together to create Orion Heavy Industries in the hopes of building mobile frames for the militia to push the Solar Union's forces out of the Orion system. After reworking the Meerkat that had been used by the Trident in the initial battles with the UMFL, they began working on a completely original design, the Hunchback.

The militia had a dire need for a front line combat frame with solid firepower, durability, and the ability to coordinate attacks with it's squad. Orion Heavy Industries delivered. The OHI-04 Hunchback is an extremely durable and reliable frame that uses parts from mining labor frames at it's core. On the outside however, is a plethora of composite armor plates, two high velocity, high rate-of-fire sub-machine guns, and a communications uplink to give other militia members a bird's eye view of the surrounding battlefield. 

Stats:

Akimbo Spectre SMGs: 2d6+d8Rd

Composite Armor Plating: 1d6B

Communications Uplink: 1d6Y

Getting to Know Orion 6

Serpent Legion Intelligence Report

Classification: SI1

Planet: Orion 6
Length of day: 37 hours
Length of solar orbit: 462 days

Climate: Arid with temperatures ranging from 125 degrees Fahrenheit during the peak hours of sunlight during the summer and dropping to roughly 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the night in colder months.

Terrain: Large deserts and badlands. Very small amounts of vegetation and water volume.

Settlements: There are four major port cities on Orion 6, each is a mecca for trade, legitimate and illegitimate alike.

Current UMFL Presence: At this time, the UMFL has 2 major firebases and multiple outposts scattered throughout the planet's cities. The only major city with no UMFL presence is Niflhel, which is the headquarters of the Orion Milita and home to many of the Resistance Cells that operate across the planet.

--------------------------

The Orion Militia has begun production of dedicated combat frames in the past year. The most common of these frames is the mkII Meerkat. While similar in loadout and combat capability to the UMFL's ST-07 Chubs, the Meerkat ditches extra armor for additional speed making them ideal for hit and run tactics. 

These are extremely versatile frames pilot, do not underestimate their capabilities.

Stats:

Spectre SMG: 3d6Rd

Heavy Knuckle: 1d6Rh

1500hp Twin-Turbocharged Engine: 2d6G

1x SSR

Structure of the Serpent

The XF-13b Grand Naga is a deadly foe in close-
quarters and urban environments.

The Hierarchy of the Serpent Legion
The Legion is not your typical UMFL division for a number of reasons. The largest reason being that it technically has no ties to the UMFL whatsoever. As it is privately funded, the Serpent Legion is the known galaxy's largest PMC. Who funds such a high-tech, elite army? No one knows his real name, but he is known as the King Cobra.

The King controls the Legion from the shadows, issuing orders to his three Division Generals who are in command of Python, Viper, and Rattler Divisions. Each division is in command of roughly 750 mobile frames, 6,000 infantry troops, and 150 armored vehicles, although generally most of those forces are stationed within the Sol system. Much smaller numbers have been deployed to the colonies. In fact, there are only about 500 known Serpent Legion frames outside of Sol.

Most needs of the Union are met in the colonies by the UMFL. In the rarer cases when the UMFL is not suited to deal with the task at hand, an appropriate number of Serpent Legion personnel and assets are requisitioned to achieve results. As one would imagine, forces like these do not come cheap. It is commonplace for the Serpent Legion to set up a forward production facility on planets where lengthy operations are to take place. The Legion prefers to construct a majority of their assets onsite to avoid the costs of transport. Experimental and Prototype frames (like the Grand Naga, pictured above) are psychically sent through the gates to avoid the potential threat of their schematics being stolen by resistance members.

Even if someone other than the UMFL could afford their prices, it's very unlikely an agreement would be made. The King Cobra keeps himself and his organization closely allied with the UMFL as much politically as militarily. The Serpent is devout in it's desire to eliminate the terrorist threat of the Federation and the similar minded Free Colony Resistance Cells. Very little else is known about the going-ons within the organization and it is widely suspected that there are a number of shady deals being done by the King Cobra behind closed doors. But since no one knows who he is, it makes it hard to do anything about it.

----------------------------------

With all-terrain wheels and a light composite construction,
The XF-13b Grand Naga is much more agile that it's
size would suggest.

During initial operations on Orion 6, the Legion suffered higher than expected losses within the urban city centers where the colonists had not only better knowledge of the area, but were able to blend into the civilian population as well. Serpent pilots were being lost in quick, close-quarters engagements which needed to be addressed due to the expense (in time and money) of training each cadet. No expense was spared to create a mobile frame that would bring survival rates back into acceptable levels. The result was the XF-13b Grand Naga.

A handful of these advanced frames are currently being used by the Black Adders, a company within Viper Division led by Sgt. Uri Reed, a three year veteran with the Serpent Legion.

Stats:

High Capacity Tactical Shotgun: 2d6Rd

Molecular Blade: 2d6Rh

Composite Armor Plating: 1d6B

All-Terrain Wheeled Drive System (ATWD): 1d6G