thread: 2006-03-14 : Board Setup in Mechaton
On 2006-03-16, Ninja Monkey J wrote:
Vincent, if I may?
Thanks.
Russel and Tris, I got come Battletech models when I was a kid. My cousin and I would get them, build them, and tromp around a hex map with made up rules. Games took about 45 minutes to an hour. The strategic options were poor with our rules, but the game was fun, us being 8 and 10 and strategic options being less important that stomping and smashing.
A few years later, I met someone with the published rules. The strategic options were no better, but the game took three to six times as long. Plus, it was less awesome: less kabooming and whooshing.
I've played Car Wars (a lot, actually), FASA Renegade Legion (not so much), and Warhammer 40k (rather a lot). These games are terrible, horrible blights on the very idea of a strategy wargame. For all their fiddly rules and ponderous turn lengths, they are neither realistic nor interesting. All the jazz comes in making your car, tank, mecha, and marines.
A game of Mechaton takes about two hours, has lots of shit-talkin', strategizing, awesome weapons, and cool models. The fiction matches nicely with what you see on the board, the strategies are always exciting and sometimes subtle, and the outcomes are often unexpected.
The game is going that way because Vincent (and I, actually) care about how good the game is. It's something we've both always wanted and, in fact, was the first thing we bonded over when we first saw each other after living far apart for a couple of years. It matters to us that the decisions are interesting, the action's exciting, the models look cool, and nothing crap winds up taking your attention. There are no mooks because they're lame. If there are ever mooks (we've got some mook rules that we might try out) it's because they're specialized and a liability, not because they're a good way to grind down a mecha.
As a proud playtester, I give you this pledge: Mechaton Will Not Suck.
I can say this with some confidence because it already doesn't.
This makes gns go "Yeah"
It's probably the years of WH40K abuse talking. The best strategy for 40K was to buy the last army they released because each new army had a surefire counter for any army released earlier. I used to rock with my Orks against Space Marines. Then the Space Wolves chapter book came out and a group of scouts wasted my general. Sigh.
This makes NinJ go "Warhammer isn't a game you play..."
... it's a game you get played by.
In Soviet Rasshia...
This makes SF go "Warhammer, feh!"
I bought lots of books because, frankly, I fell in love with an illustration of a Golbin Squig-rider. Played a bunch of games before realizing that uber special characters always seemed to win. But we played with homemade cardboard counters, so all I lost was the time spent making cool graphics I can use again some day, instead of a garagefull of models.
This makes NinJ go "Yeah, I played for the minis."
I just loved building the minis. Banners were my passion.
