Welcome to ROBOTECH BATTLES, the Tabletop Miniatures Skirmish Game Fansite based on the Anime series Robotech. Robotech is the American series created in 1985 from the Japanese series Macross. As the Robotech Tactical RPG game develops I will be updating this blog with insider information, design and background to the game. As much as I want to see this game progress, it cannot work without you; the fans of Robotech. This site is for the Robotech fans and Skirmish Tabletop Game fans out there.
OK Robotech Fans... Hello and welcome to new faces that are seeing this site for the first time. I hope you have made it here by your own searches or found this site through other means. Also welcome to the D6Generation listeners that have found my blog. (D6G Podcast episode 94) There is much activity going on behind the scenes for Robotech Battles. I am always looking to improve the game as well as trying to get the word out that this is a playable Robotech Tabletop game.. If you enjoy tabletop gaming and you enjoy Robotech. So download the current rules and cardstock minis (found to the right in the download section). I would be happy to hear from you on what you thought of the rules. Tell your gaming buddies that play testers are wanted.
"How do I give you feedback on the rules", You ask!? Why, "In the new Forums!", of course.
I have set up a forum for people to add their ideas and thoughts for the game as well as a place to give me better feedback to the current rules set. Do not be afraid to add your own recommendations for the game and wish listing is encouraged. The forums are really new and they are going to be improving constantly to give you a place to discuss all things Robotech and Robotech Battles.
I have lots of plans for Robotech Battles in its current format for the First Robotech War. Stay tuned for rules progress, Scenario development, The second and third Robotech Wars (Masters and new generation) and Zentraedi Uprisings.. I want to move towards getting a model line set up as well, but there is a big hurdle with licensing that I'm working on to get this game properly developed.
Register now and Stay Tuned and in the meantime play a game or two..
Thanks
Tom
Robotech Christmas - thanks to EastCoastCanuck for the pic
I would like to wish everyone Happy and Healthy Holidays.
I know that life can be tough at times.You never get enough time to truly do the things you want to do in life. But during this holiday season, please take a moment to breath.. Stop what your doing, look up from whatever your pursuing in life and look at the world around you. Look at the things that are important in life..
Family for me is the biggest thing in my life.. I do the things I need to do to support my family. I work too much, never get enough sleep and try to spend quality time with my kids.. I do this because I care. I love my family with all my heart. I would do just about anything for the people I care about. I hope you do too.
The other people that are in my life (friends, co-workers, acquaintances and other family members) also mean alot to me. These are the people you see everyday. They can be what make your "everyday" good or bad.. So today and during the holidays, wish the people in your life a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays or whatever colorful phrasing you want to use. But can you do something else for me too.. Try to actually mean it. Add some life to your greetings and salutations.. Give a smile to the people around you along with a kind word.
Because it will be worth it, I promise.
Here is to all the people that take the time to stop by and read this. May you have the time this year to finish that project you wanted to do. May you have the time to do the things that make you happy, whether it be Hobbying, Gaming, Painting, reading or whatever. Also I hope you stop by here again to find out what going on on my Blog and Robotech Battles... There is much more to come, I promise.
Also if you get the chance download the rules for a read through and possibly a quick game, I would appreciate it.
-Thomas Roache, PE
Sorry For the delay,
Go to the Download Link and Check out the new rules..
Please note that the link still says 1.3. I currently cannot update the text due to blogger.com errors.
The new files are there and they are easier to download (Only 2 files)
Also all the Mecha that will be in the initail release are available as cardstok minis. You can play every mecha thats there are rules for.
Please note that the rules can be used for almost any scale miniatures or toys that you have currently have too. If you are using 1:100 scale or larger models I would suggest doubling all measurements that are in the rules. So break out the 1:72 mecha and old Robotech toys you have laying about and start gaming.
I will be playing the new rules this weekend and I will be taking pics of the game.. I'll keep you posted.
I would appreciate Some feedback on the dowload site and the rules themselves..
You can email me direct at :
Rolachey(AT)hotmail.com (trying to discourage the spammers...)
Thanks
-Tom
Well It seems that If I try to change any of the layout of my Blog I get an Error.. It seems as though EVERYONE on this network is getting the error.. I hope it gets fixed soon.
-WilhelmRochRedDuke
So as things go, I've been busting my A$$ trying to get a huge land development project completed at work and It's been taking up all my free time.. There is big news on the project coming up soon. I hope to have good news. I'm doing some investigative work on licensing and legal work so I'll be posting more information as I get it.. Sorry for being so general, but As soon as I can get my head above water with work and Christmas shopping/decorating I'll be posting more.
Coming up:
Look for
-demo results
-pics of my demo table
-gameplay video
-release 1.4
Also all the paper figs slated for the initial release are available to download at the right side of the blog in the download section.
Thanks for checking things out.
Interesting things are developing.
-Tom
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Be thankful of your friends and family and enjoy the time off.
Make sure you wear your comfy pants and don't be afraid to eat that last drumstick.
I think I'll try to get a game in or two...
Take Care
-Tom
Monday, November 21, 2011
Their Here!!
So I finally Uploaded all the figures that will be part of the initial release. I've taken down the old files and replaced them with some better quality PDF versions. This way they paper figs are easier to download and open. This allows you to get them on the table quicker. I would suggest downloading them onto cardstack paper and either mounting them on round bases or use the tabs provided on the figs. Just cut them out and fold out the bottom tabs. You can play these figs as is, because I've tried to scale the paper figs to their actual dimensions for a 1/144 scale. I hope this helps everyone. Please let me know what you think.
Also revisions for Version 1.4 are progressing quickly. Stay tuned!!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Look, a big damn Hero
Hi people,
I'm in a bit of a hobby rut.. As much as I want to sit down and paint 500 points of Dark Eldar I have sitting on my desk.. I just can't get to it. I have plenty of tweaks to do on Robotech Battles that will take up a good portion of my freetime. Family and Life in general leaves me with not alot of freetime to work with.. I'll keep trudging along the best I can though..
I do have to say that RB the game is getting better and smoother to learn. Things have been condensed, streamlined ( I really do like that word!) and tweaked for the better. Playtest results are great and the game is feeling more cinematic every time a new game is played. Speaking of gameplay, the current way things stand is that mecha are dying rather quickly if your ganged up on.. It might sound simple but your gonna blow up quick... So the "I'll fly across the table and shoot everyone within 12 inches" approach.. won't work. When you stand still the opponent will take advantage..
Everyone should be looking for Revision 1.4 soon. This revision takes into some balance issues and will help make getting into close combat easier. I need to get the other Mecha into more playtesting as well.. So I will get the other Figs onto the download section soon.. (I know I've said that before... they are coming)
Thanks for reading
Tom
So I had a very good time at the Mechanicon Tourney. I need to say this first that the staff at the Tourney were very accommodating and put together a great convention experience for the vendors, players and people trying to get their games out there like me. Tony and his staff are a great group of people and I hope to see this event grow even bigger for next year.
I want to thank the people that took the time to try out Robotech Battles, Its very humbling when someone says that they really enjoyed your game that you spent many hours developing. I really tried to get some criticism of the game but there wasn't much..
I got to play some quality demo games and pushed to really see what my game can do. I learned alot... The outcome of my games showed that the current tweeks that were done to the zentraedi from Version 1.2 to 1.3 were a bit much. I think that there was some great flying done by all the people that played the game over the weekend but the RDF veritech jets were shot down pretty quickly from massed laser fire from the Zentraedi. Based on several discussions and a few hundred dice rolls later.. I feel that the Zentraedi are starting with too many Action points and too strong heavy lasers.. Things were a little unbalanced. Battles were done too fast, shooting rarely lasted further than two rounds, and very little close combat could be started.. Light lasers were determined to be overpowered in Hand to Hand combat also and there is just not enough that a pilot can do versus lasers.. A dodge vs lasers seems like it should come into play.
Another minor thing to add that will make gameplay a bit more cinematic is to allow for elevation changes when you transform in gravity. Last but not least it was discussed that there should be a base movement of 6 or 9 inches to engage into Hand to Hand combat. These changes and a few more enhancements will be going into the revision 1.4. This is all good news because It brings me closer to a publishable game.
I had the opportunity to speak with Chric AKA "Jawaballs", last years Mechanicon winner and all around nice guy. I chatted him up on Friday briefly and tried to set up a demo game.. Alas life got in his way and he had to cancel his Tourney games and travel back to CT for family health reasons. Things turned out OK for his wife so I'm glad for that.
You can check out Jawaballs' blog here http://warhammer40kbloodangels.blogspot.com/
I finally caught up with a longtime friend of mine Tim who is developing his own skirmish game set in the Old West, called Blackwater Gulch. Gunfights run rampant in this game and I hope to get a game in of that soon also. It looks like alot of fun. http://www.blackwatergulch.com/
OK, great topic header, I'm positive you will never see this headline anywhere else..now onto the explanation.
Most of you know (at least the people that have any interest in this blog anyway) that I'm prepping to do demos of Robotech Battles at the Mechanicon Tournament tomorrow (November 4th) and Saturday the 5th. So I'm building a table and terrain, to scale, for the games.. Not an easy process and I have a full night of airbrushing to do tonight... but all the buildings are made and in order to be finished, they still need windows.. I'll have pics to show and share soon.. The Table is portable and it can be broken down into 2 foot by 2 foot squares so I'll have no problems setting up and transporting.. no worries.
The terrain is sizable and there are maybe 17 pieces so I think I'll be able to trasnport everything without damage. So far I'm 2 for 3.. On to the Third Item... Tastykake Krimpets....
Here's the story, Last year I competed in the Mechanicon grand Tournament For Warhammer 40k.. I had some great games, played on some amazing tables and met some really great people.. Some of the people I hung out with were not from the area, so I knew the West Chester Pa area and showed them a place for a good lunch and I gave them a box of the Limited Edition Tastykake Pancake Krimpets. Never having tasted all the tastykake goodness, the box of krimpets did not last long. All in all the GT was a great experience for alot of people. I'm disappointed that I couldn't play again this year due to time constraints, but I'm there to promote my game for the time that I have.
Now the problem ... There are no Limited Edition Tastykake Pancake Krimpets this year.. none. I've checked and hunted.. They would have been out by now.. The seasonal snack cakes have all been released and now I'm seeing the christmas stuff... but no pancake krimpets... (Yes They are THAT GOOD).
Looks like I'm going to the GT empty handed with no krimpets to pass to my friends.. I guess we'll have to settle for creme filled Butterscotch krimpets (this years limited edition flavor)..
Finally, the wait is over.
Over the last two weeks I finished the tweeks, rewrites, corrections, fixing, shuffling and overall streamlining of the ruleset for this latest Version. The process was challenging but the result is a much better and easier to negotiate ruleset. (There is an appendix in the works)
This will be the version that I will be using for all play testing. You can see a full demo game at the Mechanicon GT on November4th & 5th in West Chester, PA. (shameless plug)
Some of the new features and tweeks include:
This version is the first totally color version which incorporates a more streamlined ruleset that is easier to follow and does not require as much page turning and searching for the correct rules or results.
Terrain rules have been moved to the ranged and Hand to Hand sections where they apply.
Defenitions have been revised so that you do not have to look through definitions to find additional rules.
All 6 phases of the turn have been updated to provide a better gaming experience.
The mecha for both races have been revised based on gameplay and additional balancing of the mecha's stats and firepower.
There have been many rules questions and suggestions that I have received and have helped greatly in this version. Thank you everyone that has provided input in the process. Also I would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has taken the time to download the rules and I hope that this version will give you even more enjoyment. I would also like to take a moment to Thank the members of my Gaming Group out of West Chester PA - The Green Dragons.. without their help and encouragement this project would have ground to a halt a long time ago..
Look for the additional 1/144 scale paper figs for the remaining battloids and officer pods that are in the rules. They are still coming.
Ok so I'm building a portable table for Game Demos. Actually what I building is a game mat that can be put onto a 4'x6' table. The design is based on the first episode of the Robotech Series "Boobytrap" where the Zentraedi are invading Macross Island. The table will have a large landing strip down the middle of the board with cityscape on one side and open areas on the other. To all a quick note on painting indoors.. Always let your spraypaint dry outside or use a spray booth or something.. The wife was not happy that I was spraypainting.. The fumes were pretty bad.
Back to the table.. I have alot of work to do to get a few blocks worth of buildings.. And I'll need to make alot of 3, 6 and higher story buildings so that the people trying out the game will have enough stuff to blow up.. I'm going to probably build alot of 3 story sections that I can stack to get lots of varying levels. I have three weeks and no time, it should be interesting..
I recieved in the mail BUSINESS CARDS.. {insert happy dance here} The cards look great and I have a good amount to pass around. Also the CorSec Engineering telescoping flight stand that I ordered.. It will work out great. Just the thing to allow Mecha to change elevations effectively. I'm still waiting on missile stands that I ordered from Litko. I'm looking forward to seeing those on the table also. I plan on getting alot done this weekend starting with (hopefully) a release of version 1.3 of Robotech Battles Rules and then the release of the remaining Mecha paper cutouts. Currently there are 1/144 scale cutouts and smaller "battletech" or hero scale models for download.
For the cutouts, I would suggest printing the cutouts on a heavy paper or cardstock, or you can mount paper copies on plasticard to get a stiff standing mini that can then be mounted on a round or square base. When dealing with the minis, it's a good idea to denote the front of the mecha for determinig Front Line of Sights.
Let me know what you think of the progress and let me know if you will be attending the Mechanicon on November 4-6 and I'll be demoing Robotech Battles Friday and Saturday in the evening. Let me know and I would love to discuss the game with anyone thats interested.
-Tom
The MechaniCon 2011 is a three day convention that will be held in West Chester, Pennsylvania. With over 9000 square feet of convention space, this is an event you will not want to miss! November 4-6, 2011 Featuring:
The MechaniCon 40K Grand Tournament 2011 – Throne of Skulls National Circuit Event
Friday 40K Tournament – Forge World Friendly Rules
Privateer Press Steamroller events
Blood Bowl Tournament
Battlefleet Gothic Tournament
40K Kill Team Events
Many other games and tournaments, check the web site frequently for the latest info
Vendor and Demo Room
Battlefront Miniatures and Gale Force Nine Vending Booth
Additionally
-venue is in West Chester, PA – about 30 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport, 30 minutes from Wilmington, DE
-discount room rates available at the venue
-shuttle service is available from the airport
-easy access to major roads
-main convention hall has concession stand and bar
-additional halls are across the corridor from the restaurant and bar
-great prizes, cool swag and more!
I will be holding demos of Robotech Battles on Friday and Saturday afternoon of the Con.
I want to show you this great game..
here is the write up on the Mechanicon's website:
We are happy to announce that local game enthusiast Thomas Roache will be showing off the game he has been working on. Make sure to check out demos on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 at this year’s MechaniCon!
Welcome to the Tabletop Miniatures Skirmish Game based on Robotech from the Japanese version of the Anime Series Macross. Robotech Battles is a 3D Tabletop Skirmish Game where you can either be human or the alien Zentradi. You are the pilot in control of Devastating Transformable Mecha battling for the earth’s survival, or the alien commander in control of the hordes of giant aliens bent on domination. Aerial Dogfights, missile trails filling the sky, and Mecha on Mecha combat give you the player, a taste of the Robotech Universe. Play out your favorite scenes from the series in this skirmish game where the fate of the First Robotech war can be decided on the results of your battles.
A few simple things about the game:
The game is an action/reaction based skirmish game where your pilots have the means of fully using the environment they are in to travel through the landscape (this includes up and down as well).
Missiles are the third player and act independantly once fired and be careful if they miss.
Terrain can be targeted and will blow up if your not careful.
Set-up is fast and gameplay is faster.
Work continues on the latest version of the game. This version should see new page layouts, updated rules for close combat and weapon strengths and hopefully some pics and diagrams to go with the rules.
Also on the radar are paper figs of the remaining models not currently provided.
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....
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
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..
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
OK Here it is!!
I'm glad to have this come together. I do need playtestiing done so Download and play a game or two today.
My suggestions for models to use would be Models on 40MM bases or even a GW Sentinel can stand in for a battlepod.. something roughly 4-5 inches high. I've enclosed some cutouts to use as well. The current Scale for the game is set to 1/144 scale.
Check to the right, at the download link, on the right side of the Blog to download the latest version of Robotech Battles for Playtesting.
Come back and Comment and Let me know how it looks. More importantly let me know How it PLAYS!
Ok So I'm still looking for playtestors. And I'm getting alot of interested people who want to do playtesting. That make me a very Happy Camper indeed. The more people that show interest the more this will be a game people will want to play. Trust me the game so far is quick, fun, and very much like the Robotech series. As a bonus it has the feel of Combat like in the Robotech:Battlecry console game.
With the new version it shouldn't take long to figure out the gameplay, and I will have that finished shortly. The new version will be ready to download for playtestors. Anyone that has already recieved a copy of Version 1.1 will automatically get access to Version 1.2. If you don't recieve notice then I will definately get you the location on where to download it from.
So if everyone can just be patient I will have Version 1.2 ready to playtest.
-WilhelmRochRedDuke
Ok, I played a game finally with the rule set and worked through some of the kinks.. Of course there is going to be a few kinks. But we thought the game really captured the feel of massive shooting and missles flying and buildings paying the price from all that firepower.
Some of the items that came up..
Too many action points - no additional action points generated at the start of the turn. Both player's action points are generated at the start of each plyers turn. This allows for each player to have points to react with and allows for more action point management than just shoot blow stuff up and move to the next one..
You can hold over 1 unused action point until the next turn.
terrain rules.. to simplify matters you can blow up terrain easier and there is still 4 types of terrain that you can use.
Missles within 12 inch follow the path of the target not the line from the target.
Missles within 12 inches impact that turn and not the following turn.
These and other things will be incorporated into the rules to speed up gameplay and limit confusion on how missles behave in combat.. City fights will be a bit more close quarter and space combat will see alot more missles flying around.
More playtesting required.
More to come!!
Ask pretty much any gamer out there and they at one point have heard about Robotech. Whether it be through Video games on the X-box, PS2/PS3 or whatever handheld device you have or through Roleplaying games (RPG's by Palladium) or by the Anime brought to the US by Carl Macek and Harmony Gold.
Asking around you'll get odd responses about the story but most people remember transforming planes and giant robots. (This is before Battletech and Transformers). But everyone remembers this little beauty. The VF-1S Veritech a.k.a. Skull One - flown by Roy Fokker and then later by Rick Hunter. (Names have changed from the Macross series created in Japan). This is a very iconic plane, based roughly off the f-14 jet used by the real military. After seeing it its difficult to forget. The first time I saw one of the Veritechs transform, I was definately HOOKED. I remember being at home on Saturday mornings trying to "tune in" out TV set so that the picture quality was less than 50% static on the only Station that broadcasted Robotech. It wasn't even a standard station but one of the stations that your TV picked up if the weather was right. Those were the times that I would get bits and pieces of the three story arcs (never in order mind you) and try to get the big picture of the series. I finally convinced my mother to shell out the money for the 6 VHS Tape set that was offered of the first series. This was back around 1987. I still own those disks and my sons now watch the tapes before going to bed.
I've been talking with many people about this project. It's been very enlightening and entertaining at the same time. What I need to do is the following:
I've got a game in place that desperately needs play testing.
I have a lawyer set to put together my LLC.
I've done some research on the business plan that I need to put together.
I have a comic collection that I need to consolidate and sell at auction to fund this venture.
I have a big elephant in the corner that is the IP rights that I will need to secure.. Big ELEPHANT INDEED!
In time I will need a sculptor that can put together a prototype of some of the models that have never been built before...
And I need interest... There is a community out there that is in need of a new game. Advertising will be key to all this and I have a few ideas to get that ball rolling. Soon.
Robotech Battles is a 3 dimensional Battle Game where you are in control of the conflict between Humans and Aliens; Or if you prefer Aliens on Aliens or even Human vs Human. This is a game of Aerial Dogfights, missile trails filling the sky and Transformable Mecha and devastating combat machines fighting for survival and domination.
In the year 1999, A large alien spacecraft bursts through hyperspace and enters Earth's atmosphere. The ship crashes on Macross Island in the South Pacific. The nations of the world, who are engaged in a global war, call a cease-fire to assess the alien threat. The global war officially ends and work begins to rebuild the alien Spacecraft. It is discovered that the ship is military in nature, and its crew are on average, six times the size of human beings, so the newly formed Robotech Defense Forces better be ready for anything. Development of weapons systems for use in combat against the giant alien threat begins. The construction of the Super Dimension Fortress-1 (SDF-1) is formally announced to the world, though the true nature of its underlying alien technology is kept "top secret".
FIRST POST!!
Sit Back, Stay tuned and add us to your favorites.
I'm looking to get interest in a little game I'm creating called Robotech Battles.
The premise of the game is to put you in the pilots seat of a Veritech, Battle Pod or even a battliod to wage 3D battles set in the Universe of Robotech.
I'm in the startup phases of my Games design company and as I move forward Progress will be noted here.
Currently I am looking for Game testers who are looking for a fast paced skirmish game with a low model count to start.. Contact me if you are interested in a test copy of the rules.
