Mobile Frame Zero: Intercept Orbit Playtest Reports

[schoon]

I'm creating this stickied topic for people to centrally post their Alpha Bandit playtest reports. This prevents them from getting lost in the Rules Topic and makes them easily accessible to everyone.

[schoon]

As all our ships have not been realized in brick yet (though I have all the pieces for 3 cruisers to add to my 4 frigates - now just the 2 carriers remain ), we decided to give this a try virtually.

I worked up the playset for us and populated a 4-foot-diameter board with an asteroid field. I'm on defense with my Jaegers, and he's on offense with his Janissaries. The result after setup is:



The bases of the ships have the builds, and you'll be able to see them as things move around. I used grey for frame launchers (as opposed to black) to keep them from getting lost in the black of the bases.

...I'll be appending to this post as we play each turn, but it may be a while between turns, as we're both fairly busy with life right now.

Edit: base sizes have been adjusted to meet the mandates from the rules. Turn 1 results on the way...

[grafvonbarnez]

Looks great! I've got something similar (but in-the-brick) that I'm working on to post. A quick question though: what sizes are you using for Cruiser/Carrier, Frigate, Frame, and HVA bases?

ETA: If, that is, your playset bases roughly correspond to actual lego plate sizes.

[schoon]

Yes, I've made the virtual bases the same size as the real ones. I'm currently using:

• 4x6 stud for Frigates (<4 systems), which I build 8-studs long
• 6x8 stud for Cruisers (4 systems, but <2 frame launchers), which I build 12-studs long
• 8x12 stud for Carriers (4 systems, with 2 frame launchers), which I build 16-studs long
• Currently 6x8 stud for HVAs, but I could see 4x6 for these as well - depends on the build

[grafvonbarnez]

Thanks, cool! I've been using 4x8s for frigates, 4x6s for HVAs, 4x4s for frame companies, and 6x8s for both cruisers and carriers. I'm interested to see how different base sizes affect our playtests, especially that 8x12 for carriers.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Capital ships (carriers and cruisers) have bases of 8x8.
Frigates are 4x8, the long way, like you'd expect.
Companies are 4x4.

[schoon]

This is the scene at the end of Turn 1, prior to clean-up or Doomsday Clock choices...



Turn 1 Playtest observations in no particular order:

• The Spotter Ace is wickedly good
• The Defense Ace seems good if you have a key ship you want to keep safe for a turn, but this is not really a defensive game...
• The Movement Ace just doesn't seem that useful - the odds of it being in the right place when a ship needs it feel pretty low.
• The jury is still out on the Offensive Ace, but it also seems a bit weak compared to some of the other options. Frames tend to be up close and personal right after launch, and the extra range has yet to appear useful.
• It's a mad dash to get frames deployed on non-covered targets, which is fun. There will be a party at the Point Ship. (You want them all deployed so they can act!)
• Having a Carrier vs. a Cruiser with a Frame Launcher is worth it - the extra black die makes it much more likely that your frame companies will have a decent duration.
• Ships are not speedy (even Frigates), but again, that feels right.

Turn 1 was mostly Orange (me) deploying Frames, withholding an attack or two just to get them all into space before allowing Green (Eric) an activation.

The Spotter Ace rolled Y5 and Y5, and I was sure Green's Cruiser was going down, but it proved quite resilient. Likewise, my Carrier weathered Turn1 OK, despite being swarmed by Frames,

Here's the board after end-of-turn clean up, which included a capture of one of my carriers! I think Eric's frames are better positioned to get at my HVAs - I could be in trouble...



Turn 2 is going to be exciting!