Business Cards

wish I knew where this pic came from....

OK, I know it's a minor thing but I find it extremely cool that I have ordered business cards for Robotech Battles.. They should be deliver around October 20th (Wow that's some slow shipping). This weekend I will be working on fleshing out the rules with the latest revisions. I'll be working on creating the diagrams and details needed to go along with the rules. I'm thinking of doing some watermarks for the actual rulebook pages and start laying out the rules with the diagrams and pics.. now to figure out how to do custom borders.. I'm thinking that making the rules was the easy part....

Feedback

Uh... where's the pilot?

It's nice getting emails and posts about your projects.. Especially if it is good and positive comments. I've even found a few people who are more entusiastic about my project than I am..  I'm still moving the project ahead and I'm now looking at alternate funding.. I have added a donate button and I'll be surprised if I see a dime come out of it.. (Please surprise me!) but I'll have a bit more information on how you can help this project along soon.
On the hobby side of the game. I've played with a few models from Charaworks and they represented the VF-1A's great on the table.. I like the 1/144 scale but again the game will work just as easily with 28mm scale models from Battletech or from your favorite game line. I'll be posting up some GREAT paper card models that a fan put together for the game that are around 28mm or battletech scales. (Thanks again Easy E)  you can try out the smaller scale models for your game and let me know how it goes.. The downloads will be in the Rules download section on the right side of the page.
Thanks All
-Tom

This is how good games are made.. I think.

Sorry for the lack of new posts, I'll do better..

I'm seeing more hits on the site and that makes me happy.. I'm seeing a new subcriber too. The interest is there.. Just need to get the word out. Tough to do when you don't have funding.

Moving on...

Here ia a great bit of feedback that I got on Warseer from Easy E. Thanks Easy E..

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Read part 1. Mind if I make some comments?
On a first, quick read through I was unsure about when Players did what within the Turn system. I may have missed something. I see where players calculate their Action points per pilot, and then I see when a Mecha could shoot/H2H, etc.

However, is this an I-Go-U-Go system, Alternate Activation, Action/reaction, Initiative based, etc? I'm not sure. It seems like pilots can choose to spend action points at different points, such as when they are being shot at, choosing to shoot, to avoid falling etc. However, I'm not sure who initiates all these actions.

First Off, Thank you for the comments, these will go a long way to make the game better. In the downloads section of the blog Part 1 and Part 2 go together to make the full game rules. The terrain is a big gameplay element as well.

Moving forward, I will clarify a bit more in the rules that this is a turn based action/reaction game where players are allowed to do offensive actions only in their own phase, But as long as a player has action points they may use them as they wish in any turn as long as they are physically allowed to. (The allowable actions are on the mecha stat sheets). So you may boost, dodge ect, in the offensive players turn.

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Perhaps it is covered in Part 2. Otherwise, I would love to discuss some ways to handle this going forward.

I like all the reactions a Pilot can take to getting shot. Pretty cool. There are several places where the rules reference up/down dodging to change elevations. Do you have some best practices for keeping track of this in a battle?

Elevations during a battle can be tracked on the field by way of a counter on the missile tracking sheet (there is a space there for your location) or a die showing your elevation 1, 2 or 3. But I hope to see elevation being tracked on the field with the actual model being elevated to the appropriate height with either a flight stand, elevation platform, or telescoping stand.. telescoping flight stand

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I think you might want to consider more elevations, with modifiers "To Hit" the more elevations distant you are, or perhaps impossible to hit if more than 1 elevation difference.

I love the missiles using Radar don't need LOS! That is cool.

Do the individual missile hits ever get a bit fiddly? I guess I have used a similar method for Torpedoes in Aquanautica Imperialis, but the numbers of missiles I envision in Robotech could get ugly.

Missiles are in part a big part of this game. I treat them as the third impartial player in the game. Once you fire the missiles they act independantly and blow up whatever they run into. Thanks for thinking the radar/LOS thing is cool.. it took a while to get that thought on paper.
As far as more elevations.. things tend to get more muddled as you add more height.. missiles behave differently and distances get longer.. I'm going with a quick skirmish route on the game and I want to keep things moving in game.

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Those are rule suggestions, here are some suggestions for making the game more appealing for people to play. You might want to make some Tokens for missiles barrages. The Robotech RPG's have different looks for different missiles.

I'll be placing an order for these soon. missiles. So, great suggestion. currently I use an arrow counter and die to represent the number of missiles in the volley.

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You need to "Jazz" up the rules and lay-out. You need more diagrams and examples to explain rules. You need the lay-out to follow the Turn system closely. Finally, More pictures!

All that being said, I'm totally going to try this game out when I get a chance. What size are the mecha counters? 28MM, 54mm, 20mm, 15mm? I think smaller scale would lead to more "epic" battles at range, but the show would lead me to believe 28MM with the ranges you mentioned. They felt like rather close fought things.

I couldn't agree with you more. I will be working on Jazzing up the game, adding diagrams, rules explanations and hobby tips for terrain, flight stands, gameplay pics and assorted other things. Most of all are the pictures.. There is a whole realm of pics out there that I can draw from.
Models currently are set to the range of 4 to 5 inches tall roughly 1/144 scale. I've been running things on 40mm bases...
I'm currently working on release Version 1.3 which will address the things you commented above. Also reworked, will be a more refined Close combat system with a few tweeks to Zentraedi weapon and HTH strength levels.

getting ready for game demos

As I go forward with this project, I need to get some play testing done and do some demonstration games to get more interest in the game. People won't play the game unless they know about it.
I have been trying to figure out how I can get single models to fly or hover on the game board.. After doing a walk through of my local Michael's craft store I picked up a few small items that may fit the bill.. I have also been looking at the flying base stands from CorSec Engineering.. They would look really good and their telescoping flight stands would be ideal for my game.
I plan on making some 12 inch and 6 inch stands for the flying mecha and the battliods and battlepods that can fly and hover and change elevations.
http://www.corseceng.com/
This is alot of prep work.. Now I need to come up with some missile markers.. I think I'll get some from Litko.
http://www.litko.net/products/Mini-Missiles.html

Battle Report - 450 pts - 2 VF-1a's vs battle pods

Ok I played a game of Robotech Battles yesterday with my Gaming Club, The Green Dragons.
I played a game with two of our members Killeroo and Chris. We played a city game with lots of buildings and various terrain.
The game was 450 points where I played the RDF with 2 VF-1A Veritechs against two Battle pod squads with a light missile pod each unit each, (a total of 6 pods). We each deployed and I had gotten the first turn. Killeroo and Chris each played a zentraedi squad..
The Zentraedi deployed spread out and directly opposite the corner I deployed in. Both armies were ready and we started.
The Veritechs deployed in the sky (level 3) in jet mode. The planes moved forward and fired heavy missiles at the same centralized battlepod. Hopefully the missiles will destroy something next turn. Both veritechs transformed and awaited the zentraedi's turn at level 2. Chris boosted the targeted Battlopod into the adjacent building and two volleys of missiles missed him and did a few points of damage to the building but not enough to damage it. The remaining two missile volleys were out of the 12 inch range and would reach the target next turn. I was hoping both sets of missiles would hit the pod and destroy it. The other 5 pods moved towardes my guys and were out of missile range and fired a few lasers. My veritechs boosted and dodged their way out of most of the harm but a few points of damage got through. Two points were taken from one veritech as he got to ground level.
My turn. I moved one veritech and took a sniper shot at a battlepod which dodged out of my line of sight so I missed. I shot at another battlepod and did a few points of damage. The remaining heavy missiles impacted with the building and blew up the buldng removing the terrain piece from the table. Of course the battlepod that was there got out of the building and boosted out of the blast range. Those pods are fast when they want to be. The Other Veritech at this point lined up a sniper shot and took some more points off an already damaged pod. and I shot again with some ineffectual shooting.
Zentraedi turn. lots of movement and some  missiles were fired and laser shots taken but dodging out of line of sight and some shooting down of the missiles kept the veritechs relatively unharmed.
As the game moved on, the players were getting better accostomed as to what each model could do and how they needed to react to survive. finally the veritechs shooting was taking hold and battle pods started to drop. There was some missles that did some more damage to the previously wounded veritech but it never took enough damage to be an issue. The pods remained spread out and never really took advantage of their numbers to focus fire and really damage the battloids. At one point there was a one on one battle between a missile battle pod and a battloid that transformed to gerwalk mode. The missile pod had some lousy dice rolling and was summarily destroyed (along with the building he was just standing on) while trying to boost away from a huge wave of oncoming mid range missiles. that was a very cool battle. The last two pods were dispached in hand to hand combat. One Battloid engaged the two pods and scared one off. The first turn of combat had no damage handed out and the other battloi came close to assist. The next round had the pods both attack one battloid with a point or two of damage happening to the Battloid (I think). Anyway there was alot of dodgeing and boosting as the combat happened. The last turn the engaged battloid pushed one battlepod into the oncoming other battloid's path and then dispached the remaing battle pod with some brutal hits. The other Battloid engaged and destroyed the other pod just a easily.
Wow what a cinematic game.. I had a great time and all the pods were dispatched without a loss to the RDF Forces. Killeroo and Chris both had a great time and really thought the game was a blast to play. They both agreed that if they had focused on one target, the massed firepower of the battlepods and missiles could have been more effective. As it turns out there was always just enough reactions that the veritech's could use to keep them out of harms way. Seeing the missiles fly and the amounts of lasers shooting about there should have been alot more explosions early on; there was some great defensive moves made by the zentraedi.
That was a great time. Thanks Chris and Killeroo.. hope to see you across the table again soon.

Final Thoughts..
Massed firepower will work when a player can't react to it.
Blowing up buildings is cool.
some future changes:
Transforming can take place in the movement, ranged or Hand to Hand phase.
I think the Battlepods need a boost to the damage that they can give out. Strength 5 instead of 4 for their High powered lasers and in Hand to Hand.
Engaged Combatatnts may not be further than 6 inches from their initial opponent.

Comments

As people start to see the site
I ask that you could leave some feedback, become a member and let me know what you think.
If you are having problems doing this please let me know personally- Rolachey@hotmail.com

Battlefield Ideas..

Here are my ramblings at 11:30 at night.
Currently there is three battlefields that I have included with Version 1.2 of the rules. In the future I would like to expand the battlefield to be more representative of the Robotech timeline. I made a conscience effort to place the rule set in the first half of the First Robotech War. Roughly the first 13 episodes give or take. Glovals Report wouldn't really count. So ideally I could have 13 different battlefields to set up and play on.. Some are probably similar and can be combined, where others can follow the story arc. So you could even create a Campaign setting following the episodes. I've been thinking of following the episode titles to put on the battlefield.So you may have a Blitzkreig game where your playing through corridors with a suprise attack game, or a Countdown and Boobytrap Game where you play in Macross City you get the idea.

The Social Contract

What makes a good battlefield? Is it an epic terrain board that you painstakingly built frm scratch over a 4 month period? Is it the table or mat that you bought from the store that cost a pretty penny? Is it the terrain that's been beaten up, banged around and fixed and patched more times than you can count?
Well the only person that can answer that is you. Whether your playing a pick up game of 40k or a big game of warmachine, or even a new tabletop game that your playtesting for the first time (Hello shameless plug). The terrain and the board can make your experience one that you will remember. I have played on tables that have been set up with books, rolls of duct tape and decorative boxes for terrain and I've had some great games.  I have also played some games where the terrain was finely detailed, expertly painted and you couldn't help but get drawn into the Game as if you were there, fighting along side your army.  I do know which game table I would prefer to play on. Its the table where the person I played against was freindly talkative and a good opponent. I feel lucky to belong to a gaming group that is great to play games with, they get that this is a hobby and everyone should enjoy it.
The players make the game. It doesn't matter where you play. It matters how you play.
I listen to a good number of podcasts and this topic has been covered by most of the podcasts out there to some degree. When you play a game against an opponent you are actually entering into a social contract with that person. You each have expectations of the game your about to play. When starting a game make your intentions known. Some people step up, punch in , and smash face. They are looking to table the opponent, crush their army and drive their enemies before them. Others look to play a bit of a story. They want to see a story unfold on the battlefield of good vs evil, the right vs the wrong and so forth.
There is no wrong way of playing. Play the game you want to play. Just make sure that the person that is across the table from you wants to get a result that is near enough to their expectations. The problems arise when there is competition invoved, prizes or egos involved and the expectations of each gamer don't work well together. When a competitive gamer plays a "fluff" gamer, each person has a different expectation for how the game will play out. The fluff gamer will talk and let people take back mistakes out illegal moves and generally there is alot of wiggle room so that the experience of the game is better for both players. Not a bad thing in the right setting. Competitive or power gamers will bend the game to thier expectations and be critical of moves, rules and gameplay. They are always looking for the advantage they can exploit. The win at all costs mentality will be seen often. Again this is not a bad thing in the right setting. Its never fun to see your army be on the recieving end of a curb stomp. When that happens only one person gets any enjoyment out of the game. After all this is just a game.
My advice to anyone that finds themselves out playing a game; whether it be a tabletop game, a board game or even a card game, Talk To Your Opponent. Please don't be that guy that stands there quiet and brooding that only speaks up if there is a rules disagreement and spouts rules that just so happen to always favor him.. Even in a competative environment you can have a great game when you talk to your opponent. Be social and make the hobby better by adding the social communication to your game. I guarantee you will have more fun games, even if your playing with empty toilet paper tubes and soda can terrain.
-Roache

Models - what I've been seeing

around 4 inches long and usually under $10 US.

Ok so Hopefully you have downloaded the rules and maybe have played a Game.. (I hope)
Well what did you use to play the game.. some of the cutouts that are available? Maybe some proxies or old Battletech figures.. . Sure they all will work. But I fould some cool figures that will work just fine. The problem is that they only count as Valkyries in Jet mode.
They are the Chara-works line (Macross 1/144 Chara-Works). I picked up a few from the Vol 2 series from Amazon and I wish I could find the brown VF-1A from Vol 1. Check out some of the import Toy manufacturers for 1/144 scale models or even a 1/150  or 1/200 scale - Most would work very well as long as they are under 4.5 inches tall. When this Venture really takes off, I will be getting sculpts and miniatures put together for the whole range. Hopefully I can get a foot in the door to Harmony Gold and approach them with my game. Things would go from nice to Amazing with their support.
I've been using sentinels as battle pods and you can only go so far with them and the bases are currently pretty large.
What models have you been using for your games. Let me know.