Packing...

This is what you'll be seeing at the table if you come out to Feast of Blades this weekend!

Feast of Blades Live Updates

Hey all! Feast of Blades is fast approaching and I wanted to give you all a heads up and let you know that I will be posting pictures and updates directly from the con here and on my twitter feed. I'll be getting all my things together tomorrow and be heading out early friday morning for some great tabletop gaming and plenty of MFZ!

Tactics 101: On the Offensive

Tactics 101
Being in the position of the primary attacker can be quite difficult, especially for a newer player. If you're frames aren't geared towards a high speed frontal assault, you may find yourself struggling to catch up in scoring. In this post I'll be going over a plethora of tips and tactics for the primary attacker on the table. I've gone over some basics in a previous post, but here I'll be delving deeper. Company loadouts, placement strategy, and the like.

Building For Success

When putting together a company that is geared for playing as the primary attacker, you need to keep in mind that speed and firepower are two of your biggest assets. Let's take a look at some frame builds that fit well in this type of company.

The Grunt (2d6Rd, 2d6Rh, d6B, d6G) - good candidate for SSR

This is a frame that I would strongly suggest using instead of the standard "soldier" design for your primary attacker force. Looking back at the Maximizing Damage post from a little while back, you may be wondering why I left out spotting systems for the core of a high firepower company. The answer is simple, these guys are going to be in the thick of things as quickly as possible, there is a high likelihood that they will be able to position themselves where their target will not be in cover. Even if the target is still in cover, it likely will be more beneficial to attack the cover while moving in to set up the large number of other frames that you will have coming in for a more successful attack. If you can destroy the cover, drop a spot on the target using white dice. These frames should be deployed as close to the defending forces as possible and you should close as quickly as possible. Use your direct fire system only if you cant get in range to use the hand to hand, and once you're in the thick of things don't be afraid to lose the direct fire to give you an extra d8 for movement. It will keep you mobile and able to be exactly where your opponent doesn't want you to be. Another interesting variant on this design is to use a split direct fire/hand to hand system in addition to a hand to hand system, giving you 1d6Rd and 3d6Rh. If you couple this design with an SSR you can have enough firepower to keep your frames useful as you close and then give them a bit more punch once they close the gap.

These Fat Snake Grunts are great frontline assault frames.

The Berserker A.K.A. The Swarmer (2d6+d8Rh, 1d6Y, 1d6B, d8G) - good candidate for SSR

Much like the Grunt, the Berserker is designed to be a point assault frame. While the Grunts have dedicated systems for ranged attacks, the Berserker forgoes them to be the ultimate close quarters monster. Once one of these guys get up in the defender's face there is little they can do to stop the onslaught. Double hand to hand systems provide maximum damage potential while the lack of ranged weapons allows for a d8 movement without sacrificing a defensive or a spotting system. The reason why a spotting system is more important on a Berserker than on the grunt is that hand to hand systems ignore cover, thus it is more likely that it will get attacks off while the opponent maintains cover, the spotting system assures that the Berserker will still be able to spot for it's allies.

The Battering Ram (2d6Rh, 1d6Y, 2d6B, d8G)

Another great point frame, the Battering Ram leads the charge on the enemy while providing mobile cover for it's allies in combat. It may not always be viable to retreat a heavily damaged frame from the middle of your enemy's territory and the Battering Ram can help by positioning itself between the damaged frame and it's potential attackers. Until that situation presents itself, you still have a melee capable combat frame with the ability to aid it's allies with spotting. Tactical movement with this frame is key, but if positioned correctly on the table it can make a huge difference.

Other frame builds that are good for the primary attacker: The Commando and The Mobile Cannon (from Tactics 101: Maximizing Damage).

Advance Deployment

As the primary attacker your first frame has to be placed with very specific restrictions. It has to be outside the defender's defensive perimeter, at the limit of (but within) direct fire range of one of the defender's frames, and out of cover. Some players will place this frame as close to cover as possible and try to place defensively, this is a mistake. You want this frame as close to the enemy as possible and it should be something with movement, defense, and hand to hand systems (like the three builds listed above!). The defender will have placed his stations and two of his frames before you place the point frame, so you should have a good idea of what his setup will be like. Just be careful not to leave yourself open to a defensive ambush! Remember that the defender can place his remaining frames anywhere on the table as long as they are in cover to all enemies! If you leave a spot behind your lines for him to drop a few frames you may be fighting a battle on two fronts. Your remaining frames will all have to be placed outside direct fire range of all of the defender's frames and outside the defensive perimeter. Keep your other frontline frames near your point frame so they can support him in the initial assault, keep them in cover if you can but priority should go to being able to close on the defender quickly. 

Your stations are placed after all your frames. Make sure to put them in a spot that is not easily accessible by either the defender or other attacking players. Try not to leave them undefended, but your main focus should be on taking the defender's stations away, not defending your own.

The Whole Nine Yards

Once the game begins keep attacking and do not let up. Spot early and often, even if you can't take advantage of the spot you just put on the defender's frame, it's likely one of the secondary attackers (if there are three or more players) will. If one of your frames is destroyed or you lose one of your stations you lose very little as far as score is concerned (likely only 3 points), thus don't be afraid to send your frames into the thick of things. Don't blindly sacrifice your assets though, even a frame down to it's white dice can still grab an opponent's station giving you the lead. Your focus should not be so much improving your score, but decreasing everyone else's. If you take a station you only gain 3 points, which isn't going to catapult you into the lead, but just destroying a defender's frame will drop their total by a bunch (likely 7) which will close the score gap rather quickly. Take stations when possible, but just focus on making whoever's in the lead miserable. Use everything you have, as often as you can. If your tactics, and the dice gods end up in your favor, you should come out on top.

Donated Companies

These are the four groups of frames I have donated to Creations for Charity. Keep an eye on their Bricklink Store as all four of these will be showing up for sale! Please consider supporting this awesome cause!

Tactics 101: Maximizing Damage

Tactics 101

When designing your frames, don't just slap on systems based on what looks cool, or what you think makes sense. While there is nothing wrong with doing that, we're talking about tactics to win, and looking cool does not equal winning (most of the time). I'm going to talk about what I call "System Synergy." It means getting the most out of each system on your frame's loadout to build an effective cog in your company. In this brief installment I'll be going over spotting systems a bit in regards to maximizing your damage potential. 

Spotting is what makes your attacks really effective. In general, one weapon system and a spotting system will be more efficient than two weapon systems. With spotting systems on your frames, you are much more likely to always be able to spot your targets for your other frames. Assuming you can spot consistently, a weapon system and a spot system gives you a max potential of a 12 for your attack, while two weapon systems only gives you 8. If you manage to use that spot with a frame using two weapon systems that max goes up to 14! Even against the highest possible defense of 6, thats 8 damage dice. So obviously, spotting can really pump up your firepower and you should be utilizing it as much as you can in every game. Let's take a look at some good builds that focus on using spotting systems.

"The Commando": 2d6Rh, 2d6Y, 1d6B, d8G

Unless i have a very specific tactic with a company, I really like to include one of these in each company I field. The two spotting systems make sure that whatever the highest priority target on the table is, it;s gonna get a big fat spot on it. Use this frame for station grabbing (aided by that d8 for movement), taking out squishy targets in compromising positions with the melee system, and for setting up your heavy hitters for success with a big fat spot to maximize potential damage dice. Depending on your company, you may want to add an SSR to this guy as well. That tiny bit of extra oomph and flexibility can really help keep this guy contributing every turn. The defensive system is the only system I would consider dropping for this build if you're trying to underbid someone, but even then, I would consider dropping systems elsewhere in the company before doing that.

"The Support Soldier": 2d6Rd, 2d6Y, 1d6G

Much akin to the Commando, this guy will help maximize your damage output all over the table with his two spotting systems. The difference with him though, is since he is using ranged weapons he wont have quite the durability or mobility of the Commando. So why does he have a movement system instead of defense? Simple, cover is better and minimizing damage than defensive systems are. That movement system will allow you to move around more freely and keep this guy in an advantageous position in cover more often. This is a guy you want when you like to play very tactically. Rushing him in to the fray will likely get him destroyed quickly. This is another solid candidate for SSRs, as it can up your attack dice potential in key situations. Generally, the first system you want to lose from damage is one of your spots. At that point you wont be able to tag anything on the board, but you'll still be able to consistently tag whoever you're engaging in combat with this guy. If you lose the movement you may get stuck out in the open with no cover, and if you lose the direct fire system you've got no way of shooting back.

"The Mobile Cannon": 2d6+d8Ra, 1d6B, 1d6G

But wait a minute! He doesn't have spotting systems! Hold your peaches there buddy, I know. This is the guy you want taking advantage of the spots your other guys are laying down. Two artillery systems give him the maximum potential for attack rolls with a possible 8 and being able to target pretty much anything on the table. This is the guy you want to hang back in a nice cover filled position shooting at targets that have big spots on them, and/or low defense. In the right situation, you could one-shot a frame with this guy from across the table. Why the defense and movement systems over a double spot like the other guys? They keep him alive and, ironically, less of a target. If he had double artillery and double spot, he's pretty much saying "HEY GUYS, I'M OVER HERE, SHOOT ME." When everyone is taking shots at a frame, and the frame has no way to really help defend against them, he will go down quick. I mean epic quick. If you dont put the spotting systems on him, he's just that guy that can peg me from over there. The bigger threat is all of a sudden the guy right in from of him that keeps tagging him with those pesky yellow dice. The movement helps him stay in cover or make a last minute station grab, while the defense keeps his defense score high.

One thing to always remember about spots, even if you don't have spotting systems it doesn't mean you cant spot. White dice can be used to spot frames, but they need to be out of cover to do so. Since spotting is the last thing you do on a turn, use it to your advantage against targets in cover that you pretty much have no chance of landing a hit on. Shoot at the cover and tear it apart, then after the frame is no longer in cover, spot it with those whites setting up the attack for your other frames (like the Mobile Cannon).

So next time you think about adding more weapons to your frames, think about adding spotting systems instead. It may just make the difference.

Game Night!

Here are some photos from a recent night of MFZ at one of my local game shops, the Adventurer's Quarter. I pulled in a group of guys playing Infinity once I set up and pretty much immediately had them hooked. After our first game I let them play with a few newcomers all by themselves! It's was pretty sweet to see a table fo people that had next to no exposure to the game throw down and run through the whole thing without any help! There were a couple of people that knew I was going to be there and brought their own frames which was always fun as well. I'm hoping that this can become a regular thing over at the AQ and that soon, everyone will be bringing their own frames! Big thanks the Rick and the AQ for letting me run this over there! If you're ever in the Denver area check them out! 

MFZ for Charity

Creations for Charity is, for the fifth time, accepting donations of Lego creations to raise money so that underprivileged kids can enjoy the wonderful joy that is Lego. These creations will be available for purchase on their Bricklink Store up until November 15th. Items do not go on sale until Oct 15th, but the donations are being accepted starting today.

I plan on throwing together a few small squads of frames as well as possibly some stations to donate. This is a great opportunity to get your hands on some pre-built frames while supporting a great cause. I also encourage any of you who are able to donate as well. Make sure you check them out!

Tactics 101: Playing the Numbers Game

Tactics 101

This installment is the first in what I hope to be many. I have had the virtue of playing a lot more Mobile Frame Zero than the average person thus far. I've demoed at cons and set up local games with people in my area, and thus I've seen dozens of games played in a single day. The biggest learning curve for players is generally early on, when they are still playing their first handful of games. This is an effort to reduce that curve a bit. Don't take these as absolutes on how to play, though. Try out that crazy tactic and you might be surprised that it can work in the right situation. Experience is the best teacher, and I'm just trying to share mine with you.

Less is More

"Why wouldn't I always put four systems on a frame?" Its a question I hear constantly when I'm explaining the rules to a new player. "Why would I intentionally make my frame weaker and less versatile than I have to?" On the surface it makes sense that there wouldn't be a reason to do it. Once you dig a little deeper, however, a pretty convincing reason presents itself.

The most ideal situation is where you underbid your opponent by the smallest margin possible. Undercutting by one system gives you the most gain for little lost, where as undercutting by one frame gives you the same potential gain with a much  larger loss. Giving up a frame gives you one less activation each turn, and an asset, while giving up a system only slightly weakens a frame by lessening it's durability and versatility. So what you want to shoot for, is one less system than your opponent.

Let's take a look at an example. You're playing a 2 player skirmish and your opponent brings 5 frames fully loaded with 4 systems each, so that means you want 4 frames with 4 systems each and 1 frame with 3 systems. This gives him an asset value of 4 (5-1(most systems)), while giving you an asset value of 6 (5+1(least systems)). With 8 total assets for both players that gives the attacker a score of 32 and the defender a score of 48. Thats a 16 point difference for being down a single system!

Let's look at another example. It's a three player skirmish and you have a company of 5 frames with 20 systems, 4 frames with 16 systems, and 4 frames with 15 systems. Asset values then are 21 for the primary attacker, 36 for the secondary, and 42 for the defender. You're down one frame from the primary and are one system down from the secondary and have a 12 point lead over the secondary and a 21 point lead over the primary! This means that to achieve the best possible scoring position you really need to ride the line. 

Unlearn

One of the hardest adjustments to make when playing MFZ is remembering not to play like you do in other tabletop wargames. Most tabletop wargames I've had experience with require you to completely eliminate or pacify all opponents forces. Mobile Frame Zero is not other wargames. Yes it's always a good thing to destroy your enemies, but is it always necessary? No. Is it always your best option? No. More often than not, letting your opponents win a small battle will let you win the war. 

As the primary attacker, you pretty much have to hit the gas right away and never let up. You have a very low asset value and (generally) a very large gap in score to make up. Taking stations needs to be a priority over destroying frames. For every frame you destroy, your opponent loses points. For ever station you take, your opponent loses points and you gain points. With your asset value being low, you need to close the gap as quickly as possible. Taking stations is the quickest way, and usually you take out a frame or two in the process (which doesn't hurt). Speed is everything. The longer you take, the less likely you will win. Hit hard, hit fast, and be merciless.

Secondary attackers are put in a much more tactical position. They may be behind the leader in points, but not by as much as the primary, and in most circumstances, after the defender loses a frame or two you're likely in the lead. It's going to be beneficial for you to hang back and be reactive. If the defender passes to you, pass to the primary. Let everyone else reveal their hands before you do, it might be your saving grace. Look for the primary to over extend himself, or the defender to leave his flank wide open, this is when you strike. Don't put yourself in a compromising position though, you may be everyone's number one target very quickly, always be ready. Precision and positioning are your best friends. 

Defenders have the most difficult job. They have the weakest force, and have everyone on the table aiming at them. So what's the easiest way to be successful as the defender? Give your job to someone else. "But I'm in the lead! I'm winning!" you say, "I don't want to fall behind now! Especially with a weaker company!" That may be your instinct, but you would be wrong. The primary attacker has to be relentless, the secondaries have to be cautious and purposeful, you have to be hutching crafty. How do you survive the onslaught of two plus larger companies training their sights on you? Make them shoot at someone else. Give up your point station and give someone else the lead. And while everyone is shooting at someone else, snatch that station that the primary attacker forgot about in the back, pick off a crippled frame that pushed too far forward. But what ever you do, do not attack someone head on, you will lose. The ideal scenario for the defender is to lose your point station early, and then put yourself in a position to swoop in and capture a station or two at the last second, bumping your score by up to 7 points a station (and making their former owners lose a few points too). Keep everyone off your back until the game is about to end, and then make them all groan with disappointment when you take the lead as the doomsday clock hits zero.

Now get out there are play some MFZ!

Feast of Blades Preview #2

A couple more companies I'll have out at Feast of Blades.

Builder Spotlight: 9-24-13

It's been awhile since I've done one of these! Just a quick recap of some of the interesting and/or really cool builds popping up around the community. Starting things off is the "Hunky" by DRevD. He's fairly new on the scene but has already put together a couple cool designs and not to mention has some super slick photography.

Second, we go to veteran builder AYates with his AP-99 Wolf. I love the squat, bulkiness of this frame, and the wonderful use of Hovercraft Bumpers for legs. 

Third, is a lovely little guy from Groovybones. Now, this was not built for MFZ, but is the perfect scale and is quite a lovely little build. I'm particularly fond of the color choice. Azure is not a very commonly used color and it is pulled off wonderfully here. 

Fourth and finally is regular builder LowestFormofWit with a wonderful scrambler variant using a great tan/black color scheme that I may have to steal at some point. This is probably my favorite ijad styled frame I've seen, which shouldn't be surprising due to the level of detail he puts into his frames.