Battle Mechs - First Look

The process to create the game and reiterate took about one (1) WEEK and I just finished off version 0.1 of the game and rules.

It was a lot of FUN working with Hamish considering he had several Dice Systems that he has used for other games.

So we did a bunch of recycling and then we went a little bit overboard with all of the game's "Extras" and trying to make it an EXPANDABLE game not only a "filler-type" game - one you would want to COLLECT...

Yeah that was another of MY constraints: I wanted a game that could fit into the Living Card Game (LCG) genre.

But overall an excellent collaboration (in terms of the result and effort)!

Hello all,

I've updated some "hardware" and added some missing elements to the rules. One omission was the REWARD (Green) dice. The dice was part of the package, but it was not explained in the rules.

If you picked up the OLD (v0.1) package (ZIP), I recommend you download the newer version (v0.2).

Cheers!

Note: Same files with minor corrections/additions. To confirm what you get in the downloadable archive (ZIP) is three (3) PDFs and one TXT file (rules). The archive is less than 250kb.

The "Encounter Table" is the card with the table on it... There is only one... But I've got to re-work the rules and add clarifications...

This is still an EARLY release of the game.

Hamish wanted feedback from the Community and so far - not too much as far as responses. But thanks for taking the time to download and read the rules. Like I said I will work on "refining" them to add more clarity!

Hello All,

Following some confusion about the "Encounter Table", I have modified the Mission card to indicate which is the "Encounter Table".

For rules - it's going to take more time... I will start working on them, but it may take a while before I make that update available.

Perhaps by this weekend the new rules will be ready. We'll see...

Note: This is still an ALPHA version. It means that the rulebook and the cards are not final. We will probably rename all the Mechs and "hardware" so that they don't conflict with the Mechwarrior Saga or FASA Corporation.

We don't have a license for their IP and quite frankly, I think we can get by without using their terminology or brand (BattleMechs).

For the "poor" rules. Indeed the rules need to be more complete and better categorized into set-up, sequence of play, etc.

My and Hamish's bad for wanting to get the game out within a WEEK of conception. Obviously we wanted feedback and knew that there would be issues with the rules...

But that didn't matter, fundamentally you could still try the game.

However it is true that the rules need some work. I will be working on them soon to try to give them more clear style that even a child could play the game... That's not the goal, but why not have clear and easy rules.

We're not quite sure of the DEMOGRAPHICS for this game. Although the game has DICE, I don't think younger children will want to play - not sure. So there is a question about who is this game marketed/designed for?

There was a point that was brought up in the other Mech thread that I wanted to address. And the point was "popularity" or "over-saturation" of Mech games. To my knowledge there are NOT many Mech TableTop Games. Yes there may be many VIDEO GAMES in the genre but the amount of TableTop Games is rather limited...

Secondly there is probably ZERO Mech games that use dice as their primary mechanic. And since these dice work on probabilities as opposed to only chance, there is quite a bit a difference between this game and a more luck-based game like Yahtzee.

Even with similarities of a two (2) Dice system as we have introduced, it only breeds "familiarity" with more popular Dice games that are roll-and-move or casino style games such as craps.

Therefore there are NO games that DIRECTLY compete with this game. It is UNIQUE even if the theme may be very popular in other game segments or industries. Yes Mechs are popular - but how many do you know that rely on DICE to simulate the game? Probably zero to none...

And so I think our game is DIFFERENT from all those other Mech games... Even if there are similarities with theme - perhaps that's where all the commonality ends.

One thing is that the ENEMY Mechs use the EXACT same weapons as your Mech. As such they deal real damage - and well you could lose your Mechs IF you don't play SMART.

Hamish came up with the idea of making the "LR Ion Blaster" do +2 Damage but has only Long-Range capabilities. And so we spent a couple Fuel rolls to try to get in Long-Range distance. And that worked out, allowing us to do 2 damage to some of the tougher Mechs (for this 1st Mission).

It's not like you can just blow through all your enemies. No it takes some thinking, using all of the Mech available to you and using them smartly to make sure you cause damage (and take damage) - but allow them to survive the encounters.

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that I have uploaded and made available version 0.4 of the ALPHA. It has some "hardware" corrections for the 9000+ items and a damage change (to give you a better reason to use the Heavy Mech).

Again comments/feedback/suggestions welcome.

If you want to get a copy of the latest version, please click on the link in the Original Post.

Thank you.

Hamish has a source for custom dice that is pretty unbeatable. Even cheaper than standard dice. So the custom dice are rather affordable.

No writing you use CLIPs. These babies (for now you can use paperclips):

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/parts/slider-clip-red

Actually because of the DESIGN the rolling is based on probabilities as opposed to sheer luck. But I understand what you mean... The ODDS are in the player's favor to WIN - but if you have to battle every enemy, you are going to be pretty "beat up".

And some of your choices are "limited" in that you can only REPAIR damage at MOST 4 times. And you can only re-position your Mechs 12 times during the mission... So it's not as "simple" as you think. There is a fair bit of strategy involved.

But I understand your impressions: dice = luck. True but our dice are NOT equally likely. 2d6s bring up ODDs.

However you are right that you go from one patrol point to another - this is true. We have other missions - but are keeping those under wraps for now. If you would be able to play a "campaign" and choose which missions you embark upon and maybe play CO-OP (which is FUN) that also adds a dimension. CO-OP players are all on the same side - but in two (2) player CO-OP game you can alternate between who is the player and who is the enemy... Obviously always voting for the player to come out ahead; so to speak.

And again it is a "filler-type" game. I would have loved to make all five (5) missions available from the start. But it's not possible considering packaging constraints. We're already pushing the limits with the "hardware" mini cards adding them to the Poker box.

So remember all this game is meant to fit in a 2.5" x 3.5" Poker tuck box: 7 Custom Dice, 5 Poker cards, 9 Mini cards, 12 clips, 3 cubes, instruction sheet...

We are really "pushing" what is possible...

Was just wondering if anyone has had the time to do a couple dice rolls and playtest this ALPHA? It's really EASY to play, although playing the complete mission can sometimes be a real challenge. We're still discussing matters like heat reduction and new hardware for future missions.

But we'd like to hear from YOU, know what you think, feedback, comments...

Right - escaping is a rare option and in most cases you will want to battle the enemy mech until he is destroyed.

It's just the RANGE: distance between YOU and the ENEMY. If the enemy is too far away, he will re-roll the range dice to be CLOSER (lower value). You can roll the range dice to move further away also (at the cost of one fuel for the mech you want to use).

Enemies are like Drone, Commando, Firestarter, Enforcer, Raven, Timber Wolf. Each enemy has specific weapons (or hardware). You use the weapons to figure out if the enemy is in firing RANGE. If not he will try to close the distance by rolling the RANGE dice. If he is out of range still, he passes his turn. Otherwise if he is in RANGE, he will attack.

The rules need some additional clarifications. Don't be discouraged, it's still an ALPHA game... Very experimental. The part about hardware is not very clear - I agree. I will work on refining that sections so players can better understand the steps.

Tonight I made a solo playtest of the latest version of the game. It turns out that the new version was rather "hard". I battled seven (7) Mechs and when it came to the "Boss", I rolled a CLEAR so he had gotten away! :P

The REWARD system is improved, but some of the "hardware" (H-Ware) needs to be better explained how it can be used. For example the "Basic Cooling Unit" should be able to "cool" any Mech and used X Power for that turn.

Small things like that.

The modified EVENTs never were introduced as part of the game - I never rolled an event, was always rolling DETECTs (which were 50% odds). So I have reduced the DETECTs to 33% and CLEARs to 33%, and kept one THREAT and one EVENT.

That should make the game more fluid and less DIFFICULT when rolling always DETECTs or THREATs. I will apply corrections to make the game "smoother".