MFZ:IO Frame Companies & Aces

[darksyntax]

After the IO dry run with a couple of the Seattle Area MoF0's, I started getting more excited about building a fleet. Soren's ships in the IO rulebook are great and there are more and more ships being shared almost everyday, but not a lot of Mobile Frame Companies or Aces. From the recent dry run, it became very apparent that Mobile Frame Companies and Aces are a REALLY important aspect of IO, possibly THE most important, so I sat down to create Mobile Frame Companies and Aces of the canon frames from MFZ:RA. I'm more a mech guy than a ship guy so this was a good place to start my IO building.

Red Aces for the usual suspects


Conscript & Hi-Leg - basic Mobile Frame Companies and red Aces


Ghanat/Scrambler & Chub - basic Mobile Frame Companies and red Aces

- The Scrambler microframes were from something I'd seen somewhere else but don't recall where. I tried some other builds with little spike/tooth pieces, but these looked better overall. The microframes are a little abstract anyway.

Conscript & Hi-Leg - blue, yellow, and green aces

- Three more leg variants on the Conscripts. I like the little skeleton legs at the top the best, but it's not a very common part. These are all variations I played with a different points in the building process and offer some alternatives.
- The Hi-Leg legs can be done a few different ways (droid arms, mechanical arms), but I like the look of these the best however they do require a stressed connection in the feet.
- I used this to attach the Hi-Legs to the antenna, but a 1x1 round brick attached to the T could then attach to a headlight on the antenna. I'm sure there are other methods too.

Ghanat/Scrambler & Chub - blue, yellow, and green aces

- The Scrambler core is this piece and the antenna goes all the way through into the 2x2 dish. The dish does not connect to the core, only the antenna.


General thoughts and build notes:
- I started building these by looking back at my 4P frames and cyclone company. While most were to big to use as is, it was a good place to start for techniques. I tried too keep the Aces smaller than 4P and the microframes down to just a few pcs.
- There's been talk about how best to represent systems on models and using stat markers vs on-ship/frame company systems. I tried putting six ea of the microframes (with a key element color-coded) and eliminating the stat bricks, but it was too bulky. Three frames is enough to get an idea of what the company is and the stat bricks are easy enough to remove and replace.
- Stat bricks: While most builds I've seen use round plates like depicted on Soren's Mobile Frame Company from the rulebook, I found bricks to be easier to remove and replace. Also round for d6 and square for d8 is a good visual.
- These models are easily recolored to match your fleet or to be IO versions of your favorite RA company. With all the stats on the base, no need to have any game stat colors in the model(s).
- I tried to keep the models within the 4x4 baseplate and keep the height down. As game pieces these will require being adjacent and if possible tucked in under the ships they're hangared in or attacking so size, or the lack thereof, is important.
- I hope there's enough microbuild techniques here to get others started in building Ace and microframe versions of their own frames. There are so many great frames out there; I 'd love to see some in Ace and microframe versions.
- Hopefully these are easy enough that others can use them as-is if they don't have their own ideas for Mobile Frame Companies or Aces.

C&C solicited as always!

[gusindor]

These are cool! I could even imagine the aces being used in a small-scale game of RA.

But it seriously messed with my head that the blue, yellow and green aces were using the colors of the systems but not on the ace with that system.

[Atavism]

OK, you win, everybody go home!

Love these, they're so perfect, especially the chubs. There's something particularly adorable about the little gumdrop scrambler squads.

[darksyntax]

But it seriously messed with my head that the blue, yellow and green aces were using the colors of the systems but not on the ace with that system.

Yeah, it's all about the physical system and the stat bricks. The frame color should match the fleet.

[Rphilo]

Awesome work! I'm really looking forward to us having an IO game soon and seeing these on the table!

[Mantisking]

I really have to work on Frame companies and aces for all of my fleets.

[VitorFaria]

Those all look really nice. I have to work on some IO companies as well.

[Hackjob]

Very nice! I like the High-Leg Yellow Ace the best, but the micronized frames are really cool too. My only critique is I find the stat bricks to be visually distracting due to their size.

[darksyntax]

Thanks, all! I'm really hoping these remove the "How do I build Frame Companies/Aces?" and enable people to start playing.

My only critique is I find the stat bricks to be visually distracting due to their size.

I can see that, but in my one dry run of the rules it seemed a brick would be a larger visual indicator than a plate and the bricks are easier to remove/replace in-game with less movement to the unit (and easier to find in the dice box), but who knows; this may change. Stat indicators will probably be a personal or group preference thing. But I'm certain that it'll be stat indicators as on-model indicators are too large/busy on Frame Companies and most ships systems appear too integrated to be easily removed and reattached. There have been some modular ship ideas floated (these two come to mind), but these have been the exception.

[Blorf]

These are really well done. The only one I'm not sold on is the mini-hi-leg company group (not that I have a better suggestion right now). Everything else is top-notch.

My only critique is I find the stat bricks to be visually distracting due to their size.

I can see that, but in my one dry run of the rules it seemed a brick would be a larger visual indicator than a plate and the bricks are easier to remove/replace in-game with less movement to the unit (and easier to find in the dice box)...

I put stat indicators on a separate piece that isn't directly attached. There's no movement to the unit at all this way. I use 1×1 tiles which also keep the distraction to a minimum, but since you can pick up the whole stat piece without disturbing the unit position there's less concern with how easy they come off. Personal preference for sure, but even in :RA I've found these help quite a bit with the pace of the game.