Sneak Peak...

Just a little sneak peak of some of the things I'm working on for my commissions. I will be posting completed shots of these companies as I finish them for my clients!

If you yourself are interested in commissioning something from me, do not hesitate to shoot me an e-mail (MittenNinja@gmail.com), I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Chain of Command

"Welcome to the 31st OMU recruit! As a new member of the Resistance Militia on Orion 6 you need to be knowledgeable about the fascist scum that you'll likely be pointing your rifle at. The regular UMFL grunts out in the badlands shouldn't give you too much trouble, it's those damn snakes you should be really worried about. They're all hardened veterans, but sometimes you can gain an advantage by taking out the commanding officer. It's not going to make these grizzled warmongers retreat, but it might give you a moment while they regroup to change the tide of the battle. There are a few nuances to the command insignia, but if all else fails the one with the most green is the one in charge!"

Private
Soldiers ranked at either private of specialist do not wear any special colors. Privates are assigned standard loadout frames and make up a majority of the Serpent Legion forces seen on the field. Specialists only differ in the way of gear. They are usually given more freedom with the loadout of their frame to fit with their skillset.









Warrant Officer
Low ranking officers wear a splash of dark green on the left side of their frames. This can either be on the shoulder, or left side of the torso, but not both. These officers are generally given free-reign to loadout their frames with any standard issue equipment available in any configuration they choose.










Lieutenant
As we move up the chain of command, the command color switches from the left, to the right side of the frame. Again, this can either be on the torso or shoulder, but not both. Lieutenants are sometimes given non-standard issue or even prototype gear to use in combat.











Captain
Moving up to the Captain, the command color returns to the left side, but now the head is also green. The coloration of the head signifies a new rank increase while the coloration returning to the left signifies a lower rank in that "tier". These officers can carry nearly any range of gear, so be careful.









Moving Further up the chain of command continues the same pattern. A Major would be the same as a Captain, only the color would move to the right side of the frame instead of the left. Colonels have both the torso and shoulder colored on the left in addition to the head, and Brigadier Generals (in the rare instance that one would actually be on the field of battle) would have both the right side of their torso and right shoulder colored.

"You got that recruit? Remember it! It could save your life out there! Now go make sure that new Meerkat of yours in in tip top shape! The last thing you need is an actuator jam in the middle of a firefight."

Radio Silence

As some of you may have noticed, I have been more or less absent from the forums, IRC, and here on the blog as of late. Don't worry, I haven't died, come down with a severe illness, or run away to Costa Rica with a crate full of fine peaches. 

I'm in the process of filling three commissions at the moment and between the other aspects of life it's keeping me rather busy. As I complete the commissions I will be posting shots of them here so you guys can see them! So stay tuned!

New Draft

Josh has released a new preview draft of the rules! This draft not only includes some revisions to the earlier version but also includes more pictures, fluff, and advice for buying Lego on bricklink. If you haven't already gone and downloaded it. DO IT NOW.

A Digital Frontier

With Mobile Frame Zero in it's infancy, it can be hard to find other people to gather around the table and roll dice amongst a selection of Lego mecha. This has been an issue with players of other games as well, including the ever popular Dungeons and Dragons, and tools have been created to facilitate playing them over the internet.

MapTool from RPtools.net is a great piece of software for accomplishing this task. And thanks to Sagethe13th and FeralFerret over on the hanger, it is now an option for MFZ as well. I've been involved with a game or two using this setup and I can honestly say it's really smooth. There is a bit of fumbling about at first but the learning curve is shallow.

You can download the "MoFo" campaign file which has all of the macros and such here. I will be putting together a tutorial on how to setup and play a game using this system in the near future.

Build Challenge: "Triple T"

So I've started a build challenge over on the forums. It's called the "Triple T Challenge," and you must build a frame using no Travis bricks, Taps, or T-pieces. These three parts are extremely common in frame building and I thought it would be fun to see what everyone could come up with when they're forced to use other more interesting parts. Here's my build for the challenge: The RT-06 Bullfrog.

 Let's see what you can come up with! Start building and post your creation over on the challenge thread on the forums!

Happy building!

Builds and Tactics

ST-07SLCb Assault Chub

After playing numerous games of MFZ at the Denver Comiccon last weekend, I got a first hand look at how certain builds and tactics play out on the table.

The three companies I brought to the Con were as follows

Rattler Division (Starting Initiative: 24)
Fat Snake Grunts x2 (2d6Rd, 2d6Rh, 1d6B, 1d6G, 1xSSR)
Fat Snake Snipers x2 (2d6+d8Ra, 1d6B, 1d6G)
Fat Snake Scout x1 (2d6Rh, 1d6B, 2d6Y, 1d8G)
Fat Snake Knight x1 (2d6+d8Rh, 2d6B, 1d8G)

Pit Vipers (Starting Initiative: 28)
Iguana Grunts x2 (2d6+d8Rd, 1d6B, 1d6G)
Iguana Longbow x1 (2d6Ra, 2d6Rd, 2d6Y)
Heavy Assault Chub x1 (2d6+d8Rd, 2d6B)
Fat Snake Blitzer x1 (2d6+d8Rh, 2d6Y, 1d8G, 2xSSR)

31st OMU (Starting Initiative: 49)
Salvaged Chubs x2 (2d6Rd, 2d6Rh, 1d6B, 1d6Y)
Meerkat Grunts x2 (2d6Rd, 1d6G, 1d6Y, 1xSSR)
Sentinel x1 (2d6B, 2d6Y, 1d8G)

Out of all the games played, the OMU won all but 4 with the Pit Vipers winning 3 and the Rattlers winning only 1. Part of this I attribute to the fact that nearly everyone who played a game at the table had never played MFZ before and both the vipers and rattlers require certain tactics and playstyles to win while the OMU just has to not lose anything. The games where the Vipers and Rattlers won were because they effectively used coordinated and deadly attacks, making good use of spots and focused fire.

At first glace, the lack of yellow dice on the Rattlers seems like a huge hindrance, in practice it isn't as debilitating. The amount of firepower they bring to the table tends to eat through cover quickly and paired with increased mobility (every frame has a green die) they are able to maneuver around cover to line up a good shot, which means they are often able to use their white dice to lay down spots for their allies. The snipers hung back and layed down some hurt across the table. There was only one game where they ever got touched (granted that one instance it got one shotted by a salvaged chub's hatchet with 11 damage dice) and they were rarely anywhere near close enough to the thick of things to be a serious target.

The Vipers had the advantage of versatility. They had solid firepower all around (only one frame didn't have a d8 for attack) as well as two frames with double yellows. This meant they had some heavy attacks that could be very effective if focused correctly. The Iguana Grunts were awesome assault frames, swooping in quickly and dishing out the hurt while the Longbow peppered them from afar, assisting with spots wherever needed. The Blitzer hung back by the stations and used it's SSRs to pepper any incoming frames before they got in range of his huge melee damage, all the while supporting the reast of his team with his yellows.

What did I (and should you) take from this?

• One defense system can make a huge difference in how long your frame stays on the table and contributing to the fight. It may not seem like a sound investment on paper, but trust me, it is.
• Yellow dice are useful, but not always necessary. If you have the firepower to chew through cover or the mobility to get around it, your white dice will do just fine.
• Make sure you activate your frames with yellow dice before your last frame. Those spots wont do any good if you don't have anyone left to use them.
• Be aggressive and coordinated. This doesn't mean be reckless, the team who attacks relentlessly and effectively will almost always win.

Pit Viper Assault Chubs shake down an OMU soldier.

After Con Report

The first Denver Comic Con was a HUGE success. As a first year con, it pulled in over 20,000 con goers (not including kids under 10, and there were a bunch of those there too) over the weekend, which is over double the projected attendance. Every exhibitor, celebrity guest, and professional that attended was gushing over how well the event was run, and how much fun it was and that they would love to come back next year. On top of that, already on the guest list for next year's con is Stan Lee and Mr. Wheaton (he had to cancel this year due to a huge movie gig that he can't currently discuss due to NDAs). Based off of people's reactions this year I wouldn't be surprised if the con is twice as big next year. But enough about the con itself, and on to MFZ!

I was set up in the gaming area in the Hyatt across the street from the convention center all weekend. I had a sweet spot right next to the entrance of the gaming area which meant everyone that came in saw the table. I was actually really surprised how many people that stopped by had asked "Hey, is this Mobile Frame Zero?" Nearly every person that walked by was floored by the concept, and every person that sat down and learned how to play was impressed and had tons of fun. I even had a handful of people come back the next day for another game!

I had an absolute blast showing people how to play and loving how quickly they grasped the rules. I had a group of three guys sit down on Saturday night (two of them came back for a rematch the next morning, pictured above) and I walked them through the first half of turn 1. After that, they finished the whole game by themselves! They only had to ask a couple of random situational questions as they came up. I definitely want to set something up for next year. Maybe Josh and or Vincent would be able to swing by to the second year of the best new con in the country? (nudge)

You can find lots of pictures of all the MFZ that went down on my flickr stream or Ben Kim's (Thanks for swinging by each day and taking lots of pictures Ben!).

The Con Beigns!

Denver Comic Con starts today! Keep an eye on my Twitter and Flickr Stream for pictures from the chaos that will ensue all weekend long! And if you're in the Denver area come on down!

Down Periscope

In the next week and a half or so I'm going to be incredibly busy. I'm moving into a new house, getting things finalized for Denver Comic Con, and working 10+ hour shifts for the next nine days. So don't expect to see much of me in that time period. However, immediately after the nine day stretch I'll be running MFZ demos over at the Con, so expect to see plenty of stuff that weekend! I put up a poll to ask what you want to see out of my coverage of the con, so please let me know! In the mean time I'll leave you with the progress so far on the newest frame I've been working on, the Kimodo.