anyway.

1. Where? o3. There's been some snooping around uncomfortably close to my home that totally does not exist!

2. What? The control station for a key jump-gate through which 90% of The Smoke passes and lots of commerce is conducted.

2a. Condition? Control of the flow of Smoke.

2b. Physically? It's a bunker that houses controls for the jump gate.

3. Fight site? A gigantic, potato-shaped asteroid whose surface is extremely craggy and unstable.

3a. Rockets? 2? I'm not sure what the strategery is around this so I'll go with the number I pulled out of my ass.

3b. Attachments? I'm considering special space-attachments. What's the effect?

3c. All that apply? We can keep trying the initiative thing.

4. Limits? The surface doesn't allow for hand-to-hand fighting. No ability to brace yourself over the brittle substrate (unless your contact points have these organ attachments that secrete a biomechanical goo that momentarily cements you to the porous rock: something we have declined to share).

You're just doing this so I have to make completely different models, aren't you?

Vincent wrote "3c. Select all that apply:
__ no ranged weapon => green d8
-OR-
__ no declared target => +1 move
__ artillery weapons are area-effect
__ additional initiative die => additional go (w/ no move)"

So are these the new rules you're playtesting?

Space attachments:

Without a space attachment, a mech in space rolls only 1 white die. With a space attachment, it rolls both white dice.

A space attachment counts as an attachment, same as any other. It counts against your max of 4 for a mech, it gets shot off for damage, it counts for purposes of points per.

The battlefield can be part space part not-space, too, at your call. Like, half asteroid and half space.

Mantisking: yep!

There's one more, too, but we're using it across the board, it's not optional for Rob to choose. It's Eric Provost's defense-spotting rule:
* Don't subtract 1 from your defense;
* Don't subtract 1 from your spot;
* Attack = Defense does 0 damage of its own, but lets you use a spot if your target has one.

It's extremely likely that this'll be the official rule in the next edition of the game, while the other 3 will be optional.

Vincent wrote "There's one more, too, but we're using it across the board, it's not optional for Rob to choose. It's Eric Provost's defense-spotting rule:
* Don't subtract 1 from your defense;
* Don't subtract 1 from your spot;
* Attack = Defense does 0 damage of its own, but lets you use a spot if your target has one."

How has that been working?

Vincent wrote "It's extremely likely that this'll be the official rule in the next edition of the game, while the other 3 will be optional."

Cool!  I taught a friend to play a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hoping to get a game in sometime this weekend.

Color-wise, it'll be in space, but I don't wanna take that rule.

Joshua: My purpose is 99% strategic, 1% to fuck with you.

Do you want to use regular movement or vector movement?

Ooooh.

Is that something toggleable between sides? I.e., can that be something that I can deny you but keep myself?

I suppose so? It seems odd to me in-fiction but it'd be fine gamewise, so whatever.

Before you decide:

For vector movement
Move 1 or 2 = 1 thrust
Move 3 or 4 = 2 thrust
Move 5 or 6 = 3 thrust

Ramming
Your velocity relative to your target can improve your hand to hand attacks. Measure from your vector marker to your target's with the ruler; count each full segment. Treat the count as a spot on your target. There are no collisions otherwise.

Oh, hey, which of these is in effect? One should be:
1. No ranged weapon => green d8 (the rule as written)
2. No declared target => +1 move (an interesting alternate rule)

Mantisking, re Eric Provost's defense-spotting rule: So far, it works great. I endorse it.

I can't decide about vector thrust, so let's leave it out for now.

I'm good with no ranged weapon = green d8.

"* Don't subtract 1 from your defense;
* Don't subtract 1 from your spot"

I whoot for this; I've been using this rule for 1?? years.

"__ artillery weapons are area-effect"

How much?

So... When's the next edition coming out?

This summer I think.

Area effect: 6s on the damage dice hit the target mech, plus they also hit any other mechs within 1.

Vincent wrote "This summer I think."

Possible Gencon release?

Vincent wrote "Area effect: 6s on the damage dice hit the target mech, plus they also hit any other mechs within 1."

Hmmnn, interesting.

Vincent, you rock my world, man, but your map hurts my eyes. Would you like a new one?

Wait'll you see it after 4 more battles! It'll be even more illegible. Can you believe it?

Easily!

"additional initiative die => additional go (w/ no move)"

How many additional initiative dice is the limit for getting an additional go?

If for 2 extra, i.e. a half strength mecha with only 2 attachments, I think it's neat idea well worth testing.

I literally don't have any appropriate models or any good ideas of what to make for tomorrow.

To make things worse, I have a strategy in mind, but no forces to enact it.

Fuck, Joshua, I hope I didn't ruin the game for you!

Sisterhood tactical space encounter suit, for the delivery of zero-G mercy.

It is an all encompasing armored, (hostile)environment,hard suit, in stealth black.  They do however wear a black skirt around the waist.

Hey, Joshua: Have you considered making mechs with only spotting, movement, and armor? I've been wanting to do that for a multipleyer game.

yrs—
—Ben

@ Darrin; Hmmnn, spin the head block around and replace the 1x1 plate with a trans-black cheese slope to represent the face-plate of the space suit?

Yeah that would look good as well.  I was just trying to give Joshua a simple solution for the models he already has.

Vincent wrote "additional initiative die => additional go (w/ no move)"

I've been thinking about this, wouldn't it make more sense to have an additional move instead of another attack?  It makes sense in genre, with lighter mechs flitting about the battlefield while the bigger ones are lumbering through.

Oh no. Movement is actually pretty tightly balanced in the game. Doubling any mech's range of motion totally upsets the tactics of the battlefield.

The ability to run all the fuck over and steal objective after objective and not have to defend them is terrible.

PS: I have my build-plan for tonight.

I have a highly risky strategy laid out! This will induce tummaches for sure!

Darrin, that is brilliant and wonderful.

The bone blades carried by the encounter suits are prepaired by immersing them in a heavy metal rich suspension which is then electrically polarised.  This has the effect of filling all the empty space within the bone with a strong yet flexible alloy.  The blade is then given a very thin coating of a by-phase carbide epoxy.  When complete the new "Silver Sister" will cut through the hull of a smoke frieghter.  This process takes months and is only done to honor the most highly decorated sisters who fell while administering "mercy."

By the way, every time I see, or type "mercy" in quotation marks, I hear Roy Orbison's voice in my head.

Pics for the builds for tonight.

Darrin, that's good color. I think it explains why the knives are so effective in general.

Ok, here

are the pics from this session.

Oops. My link is apparently fucked. Let's try again