Attack of the Umbaran MHC

[darksyntax]

carpemortis posted a great review of the Umbaran MHC polybag. Mantisking has posted his review on his blog too.

This is truly an epic set for entry-level MFZ.


I decided to spend some of my Single Set Challenge energy on set 30243. So I've started this thread to collect all of the Umbaran MHC polybag goodness under one roof. If you have an alternate model frame I invite you to add it to this thread. Alternate model or combiner, doesn't matter.

First a recap of the goodness so far. (Gents, I hope you don't mind me including your frames here.)

carpemortis included a two frame combiner-model with his review

MHC custom by Carpemortis, on Flickr
One with claws and 2 spotting lights for
And the other with 2 guns and heavy armor for


NimbusAConflict also posted a single frame combiner-model (2 sets) over in the Sales/Clearance Alerts thread

Luxemberg by NimbusConflict, on Flickr

EDIT: added Mantisking's review

[darksyntax]

The results of my first evening (sorry, pics aren't the best):

A quad more reminiscent of a Scrambler

Umbaran MHC - scrambler-ish by dark_syntax, on Flickr
(stingbeam, sensor eye, quad, rearleg armor)


The Thoth

Umbaran MHC - Thoth by dark_syntax, on Flickr

Umbaran MHC - Thoth by dark_syntax, on Flickr
(assault cannon, sensor pod, top armor plate, booster rockets)


The Anubis (EDIT: edited pic)


(laser cannon, sensor pod, pauldrons, rocket pack)

I included the leftover pieces in my pics along with the frames as reference.

[Dukayn]

Love the Thoth

[FlakManiak]

Well then... If I'm ever out with friends and I see these... I'll have to tell them to get some, if they can stand the color scheme.

[addking]

Oh man, the Anubis and Thoth both look pretty solid. I was already trying to think of a more Bipedal design (My friend got 5 of these for his company) but I'm digging those.

[carpemortis]

I can see this thread becoming a very useful resource, especially if we continue to push these as a starter set. A repository for ideas and examples on how to adapt these sets for use in MFZ.

As it happens I chose last night to play around with this set as well. Though I took a different approach. I bought 3 more sets to make a 5 frame company. The MHC by itself is a good frame, so I wanted to keep it as close to the original as possible and just experiment with modifying the system load outs. I built all 5 MHC's and then set about modifying them into a "soldier" company. The first step I took was to remove all the "stingers" and 2 of the legs on each frame. Also I flipped the "head" upside down. (To be honest, I had originally built the head upside down, and I have been doing so since day one, because instructions are for smarter people than me ) This gave me a good pool of parts to make these guys.


MHC_company by Carpemortis, on Flickr

On all of the frames I made some standardized modifications. The upside down head allows me to use the spare slopes to represent heavier armor in the front for a . I took the trans-orange rounds off the rear and replaced them with the 2x1 cheese wedge I took off the head. I then placed one of them on a blue 2x1 plate with clip, and attached it to the bar behind the head to make a spotting light for a . These combined with the 4 legs for a , gives us the basic "soldier" stats minus the weapons.


MHC_Soldier by Carpemortis, on Flickr

For the two Soldiers, I simply took the original "stinger" and modified it a bit. I flipped the rod around and used two of the blue cones to make a more "solid" looking direct fire weapon.



MHC_Arty by Carpemortis, on Flickr

The two Artillery frames use a significantly different "Stinger". I took some of the left over trans-orange rounds and sandwiched them between the modified plates in order to create the familiar "Rail Gun" look.



MHC_H2H by Carpemortis, on Flickr

The Hand to Hand frame lacks a stinger. Instead I opted to flip the slopes on the front legs over, and attach the blue 2x1 plates with clips to make battle claws.

[Kiavahr]

Bucktooth, Bucktooth (rear) by kiavahr, on Flickr

Dorsal cannon or , sloped armour , booster jet , and maybe stick the leftover pieces onto the buck teeth for target designators. I've since rearranged the gun so that it has the cone on the other end like a recoilless rifle and shortened the neck by swapping around the internals on the head. (removing the trans clear piece and the technic pin)

The Anubis and Thoth are pretty great. I'm making a loaner company out of only these kits and I might have to steal those designs!

Also, I finally thought of a use for all those cleartrans rounds that will be left over: hover vehicles.

EDIT INSTEAD OF DOUBLE POST:

So I built a Thoth, and I have to say they're pretty much perfect. Bipedal, poseable, with visually distinct systems that can be removed in any order with a twist of the wrist or thumbnail. I also really like that the default yellow system is a spotlight, because I find they're the easiest way to conceptualize the whole spotting system.

As for the build, all I did was knock one piece off the spotting system, rotate the gun so it isn't held by the barrel, and rearrange the cockpit so the two slopes pop a bit more.

Thoth Variant by kiavahr, on Flickr

I would feel perfectly comfortable fielding these guys against Chubs at a demo game.

[addking]

I built me an Anubis but forgoed the 'jet pack' (which was off center?) and used that 2x3 piece to redo the hips. Moving it down to the blue clip on the bottom, allowed me to basically do a Baker "Classic" style 3 wide set-up at 90 degrees, under the 'backpack' of the biped. Never seen an "Anubis" picture w/o a staff so I moved his weapon to the hand. Pretty happy with the outcome.

I have another poly let so after reading Kiavahr's post (and liking the original Thoth as well) I'll try my hand at one of those as well.

[darksyntax]

carpemortis, that's a nice looking company! Nice railguns.

Kiavahr, I like the velociraptor look of the Bucktooth.

So I built a Thoth, and I have to say they're pretty much perfect. Bipedal, poseable, with visually distinct systems that can be removed in any order with a twist of the wrist or thumbnail. I also really like that the default yellow system is a spotlight, because I find they're the easiest way to conceptualize the whole spotting system.

Thanks! I didn't have the 2x3 plate between the booster rockets and the armor at first, but added it so all for the systems to be removed separately. This added some height to the armor slope which I didn't like, but felt was necessary for play. I like the way you raised the front slopes; it looks better.

I built me an Anubis but forgoed the 'jet pack' (which was off center?) and used that 2x3 piece to redo the hips. Moving it down to the blue clip on the bottom, allowed me to basically do a Baker "Classic" style 3 wide set-up at 90 degrees, under the 'backpack' of the biped. Never seen an "Anubis" picture w/o a staff so I moved his weapon to the hand. Pretty happy with the outcome.

The jetpack was centered using the 1x2plate w/rail centered under the 2x3plate.


I too had a 3-wide set up early on in my Anubis design, but changed it as above for use on the jetpack. I liked these shorter legs, but it just didn't work out.


I named it for the "hood/cowl" look with the dog ears and snout. I didn't think about making a melee weapon out of the the 6L bar...hmm.

[darksyntax]

The Horus

(assault carbine, comms pack/antenna, arm/chest armor, flight packs)
The Horus is closer to Chub size than the Anubis. I think both are too thick in the torso, but I haven't found a build yet to reduce this.

Another take on a Scrambler with more "scrambler-ish" legs. Still not 100% on this, but I like it better than my first one.

[Kiavahr]

The Horus

Aw yiss.

Anyway, more Thoth! This time it's a sniper/artillery variant. It's got a lot of the same features, but a different silhouette on the table so it's obvious they have different roles.

Umbaran MHC - Thoth "Longshot" Sniper Variant by kiavahr, on Flickr

Wider and lower than the original, this one forgoes the jumpjets for low-key climbing hooks to better gain the elevation advantage undetected.
Boosted laser cannon , Climbing hooks , and a distortion field generator.
The cannon booster is the two amber rounds mounted to a 1x2 and then the jumper plate, so it's sturdy but comes off easily. Field generator is the thing on the back.

As a side note the Thoth passes Lego's construction simplicity test because I made it in LDD and everything worked! (Except that LDD doesn't have this piece yet?)

[addking]

Yeah I couldn't find that piece in LDD either. Apparently it's among the pieces not updated currently?

[Dukayn]

You could try adding it via LDD Manager.

[addking]

found it actually in the extended section - you can type in part number 99781 it'll dig it up.

[Dukayn]

Ah, cool. I will admit, I didn't even look to confirm if it was or wasn't there.

[Zareveh]

Hm, is that hexapod unit in the OP one of the set's included designs, or one you made yourself? I was trying to figure out a hexapod myself and that actually looks really cool.

[aimforthetop]

Hm, is that hexapod unit in the OP one of the set's included designs, or one you made yourself? I was trying to figure out a hexapod myself and that actually looks really cool.

That's the set as built per included instructions.

And yes, it looks really cool!

[Zareveh]

Oh! I thought it was a quad by default!

Neat! I'm gonna have to pick up a few of these!

[aimforthetop]

Oh! I thought it was a quad by default!

Neat! I'm gonna have to pick up a few of these!

Do it!! I did, and it's fun posing and balancing the little guy on his many legs.

[darksyntax]

I reworked the Horus to reduce the thickness of the torso. It's better, but I still think there's room for improvement; this might be it though with the limited parts. This rework had the added bonus of freeing up more parts for systems.


From 4 polybags I built a company of 4 basic Horus MkII frames, pooled the remaining parts, and ended up with a decently outfitted company. (I think the Rifleman config can be build from just one kit; no pooled parts.) I even managed to pull 2 mini stations together; they're almost 4x4.

Umbaran's Falcons


The loadouts are typical for me, but I leaned a little toward movement over defense imagining them as quickstrikers.
Rifleman (rifle + extra large magazine, 'Horus' skymovers, sensor mast)
Artillery (twin rapid-fire micro howitzers, pauldrons, 'Horus' skymovers)
Melee (two handheld plasma cutters, shoulder armor, sensor mast, mini 'Horus' skymovers)
Rifleman (rifle + extra large magazine, 'Horus' skymovers, sensor mast)

EDIT: I added the remaining handle in the pic above to the arty unit; on the back, under the other handle to fill in the area a bit. It looks better, but I didn't feel like taking more pics.