Increasing the durability of cover

will encourage players to keep frames in cover. If you place more of it, though, they’ll still be able to run from cover to cover.

Increasing the effectiveness of cover by, for instance, making it impossible to spot through will result in less damage at direct and artillery ranges and therefore more fightç at hand-to-hand range.

 

Try it!

If you make changes like these, consider the rules they interact with, then try them

Some rules you’ll be tempted by but are hereby advised to avoid:

» Don’t give anyone numerica¦ modifierç.

They’re boring and hard to remember.

Instead, give an extra colored die — a 6-çided die or an 8-çided die — aç a modifier.

» Don’t increase the number of white dice.

They make the design of frames less

important, reducing the effect of the players’ design choices.

» Don’t do anything that increases the effect of defense. It reduces the effect of

the players’ tactical choices and makes the game take longer while reducing the number of valid choices in that time.

out! Let us all know how it worked!

Rapid Attack!

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» Likewise, don’t institute a repair system that takes place during a skirmish or battle. It reduces the effect of bold

offensives, which means wise players will make fewer of them. It also encourages players to completely destroy frames because they can come back, invalidating the choice to let an enemy frame run.

» Don’t make yellow dice affect a frame’s own attack. It’s better to give bigger red

dice to an attacker. Yellow dice are to connect frameç to each other, benefitting players whose frames work together, whichever side they’re on.

» Don’t use powers that require a frame to stand still, not acting for a turn. The

cost is higher than it might appear and it slows the game substantially.

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BASIC CAMPAIGN

RULES

One battle doesn’t often settle an issue.

Sometimes a planet, system, transit gate, or political ideology doesn’t change hands unti¦ after an extended conflict. Such a conflict iç compoçed of many batt¦eç, and together those are called a campaign.

These rules will not help you resolve the outcome of such a campaign, but they will give you a way to establish continuity between games.

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If you’re playing a campaign game, do the following:

Add a single “special objective” to the game. Name it. Is it a popular religious, industrial, or political leader that one side wants to hold responsible and another wantç aç a figurehead? A prototype mobile frame? A spaceport that is the last connection to the transit gate?

Place it by consensus after everyone has placed all their frames.

» At the end of the game, at doomsday

Zero, whoever haç the çpecia¦ objective

keeps its points, as normal.

» Whether or not the player who owns that objective won the game, they can now determine characteristics for the next

game.

When you find yourçe¦f in poççeççion of the special objective at the end of the game, you can do any two of these things:

» Set an environmental constraint to some or all of the table. Any frame in

the special environment needs to have a special environment system in order to have both their white dice. Tell everyone before they’ve assembled their company for the game. For inçtance, if the batt¦e  is taking place at the edge of the ocean,

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frames with an underwater system (air tanks or impeller thrusters) work normally in the water, where frames

that don’t have that kind of system only get one white die while they’re in the ocean. If the battle is taking place in space, frames with rockets or a gyro system get a second white die while in space. If on an ice planet, only those with a heating system backpack get the second white die.

» Determine a design constraint.

You may determine that no one may

use a certain kind of system, like communication. For examp¦e, there’ç  a heavy, magnetic fog that makes it so

no one can uçe ye¦¦ow dice. Or perhapç all parties are out of ammunition and are fighting over a çupp¦y depot, ço no one can use direct- or artillery-ranged

weaponç. Or maybe acid rain haç attacked all the frames’ armor, meaning no one can have blue dice. You may also determine unilaterally the number of one- shot rockets each team may use.

» Determine a reduced average number of systems per frame. For

instance, if you determine that frames can mount an average of three systems, a company of four frames can have twelve systems, though that might mean that one frame has four systems and another has two.

» Determine if the game will be a skirmish-scale game or a full-size

Battle.

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Some fun things to do with the special objective:

» Make it follow orders. Whichever

p¦ayer ownç the objective may move it 1

die in any direction once per round.

» Make it follow its owner. When the owner moves, the special objective moves with them as long as they don’t

have to cross cover (including other frames) to do it. It can’t leave the table unless the owning frame leaves with it.

» Make it afraid. Once per round,

everyone but the current owner can,

on their initiative, move it by one in any direction.

If you’re thinking about making rules for how to settle a longer campaign, here’s some advice:

» Don’t change a player’s number of dice

or frames overall as a consequence of

a battle. Winning a battle should not give a tactical advantage to any player in the next battle.

» If you’re going to score the battles, don’t make scores rely on previous wins

And losses.

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COMMON MOBILE FRAMES OF SC 0245

 

Mobile Frames are a common technology among the colonies of the Solar Union and are becoming increasingly common on Ijad planets as well. There are thousands of models, from garage-built combat racing machines to mass-produced military machines.

Here you wi¦¦ find two Free Co¦ony frameç, two Solar Union frames, and two Ijad frameç. The firçt of each iç a baçic frame, deçigned to uçe common¦y avai¦ab¦e LEGO parts and building techniques while the second is more advanced.

 

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When the designers of the “Loper” labor frame

designed their inexpensive

WT-04Fs

Hi-Leg

mechanics have become so adept at repairing the machines that every one of them knows all of its failings and how to

and expendable masterwork

of ¦ow-coçt engineering to inflict

upon the frame-purchasing public

in SC 0226, they had no way

of knowing the effect their creation would have on the

very foundations of

the Solar Union. All

compensate for them.

The Federation Network now ringç with modificationç of the deçign, moçt

¦eaving itç flawed armç off a¦together and sometimes replacing them with other better or simpler systems.

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over the colonies,

 

 

 

 

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ST-02D

Commissar

Origina¦¦y ca¦¦ed the Conçcript, the ST-02 waç deçigned decadeç

ago for combat logistics. However, with the advent of

the modern ST-03 çtandard, the incompatib¦e 02

quickly fell out of favor. Repurposed as a labor frame to recover deve¦opment coçtç, Oçter Mobile has inadvertently been selling military

hardware ever since to every colony in the Solar Union. With the addition of a sensor package making up for its weaknesses, the Commissar now performs valuable scouting and

fie¦d command miççionç for many Free Co¦ony ce¦¦ç.

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163

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166

167

2x

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ST-07 Chub

With the founding of the United Març Foreign Legion in SC 0212 came

the need for an inexpensive and reliable mobile frame that could

be eaçi¦y bui¦t of ¦oca¦ partç and modified to ¦oca¦ conditionç. Baçed on and expanding the ST-03 çtandard, the ST-07 iç now uçed by a¦moçt a¦¦ UMFL companieç. Chubç can be found running on any power system, from power cells

to interna¦ combuçtion engineç. Outfitted with çençorç

and communication gear and a wide assortment of weapons, most Legionnaires will swear by their Chub, though none ever call it elegant.

Its extraordinary reliability coupled with its “repair with local parts” design philosophy also makes stolen Chubs popular with

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Free Co¦ony ce¦¦ç trying to obtain dedicated mi¦itary hardware.

 

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2x

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175

2x

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ST-10 Osprey

The ST-10 Oçprey iç the favored mobi¦e frame of the Terran Trade Marineç. Whi¦e it’ç bui¦t around the çame ST-3 çtandard aç much

of the Terran military, its design requirements are unique:

high maneuverabi¦ity in a 0G environment c¦oçe to çupport

infrastructure. The frame’s chassis of low-density hydrated polycarbonates and foamed titanium makes it one of the lightest, most maneuverable of mobile frames, while power is provided by a set of supercapacitors

that, while short-lived, allow a further mass reduction.

ST-10ç typica¦¦y are çerviced upon each return to

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the hangar by a dedicated crew matched to each frame and

 

pilot.

 

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X

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2

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Ghanat, aka “Scrambler”

When Ijad engineers started to address the challenges of designing a true Ijad mobile frame, the choice of the

ghanateh form — the animal traditionally raised for battle

— was obvious. The machine houses a ghanatih, itself ridden by an Ijadih, who senses and gives

commands through the ghanateh’s body.

 

The ghanateh’s top mount can carry the typical “stinger” pulse laser or any of

a wide variety of equipment while

the four limbs feature hard points

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at their tips.

 

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4X

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First Eye, aka Suzerain

Many Ijad commanders favor a sensor-heavy, forward-

¦eading mobi¦e frame, and have evo¦ved the Firçt Eye design to satisfy that need. Equipped with a set of claws for hand-to-hand combat, a sophisticated sensor

head, and reactive armor over its legs, the Suzerain is light and fast, leaping over cover and providing its pilot with the ability to both support its allies

and capture objectives while keeping a low

combat profi¦e.

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4x

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X 2x

X

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The hefty “Rainmaker” artillery piece (2Ra & d8)

 

A commonly reproduced rocket-propelled grenade (1Ra, 1Rd)

Sniper laser (2Ra)

 

 

“Peach Chucker” grenade launcher (1Ra, 3Rd)

 

“Peashooter” grenade launcher (3Ra, 1Rd)

Weaponized industrial laser (1Ra, 2Rd, 1Rh)

 

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ROBERTS

DESIGNING LEGO® MOBILE FRAMESBY SOREN

 

 

 

Knowing the proportions and connections of various LEGO parts to

each other can give a builder a lot of fine-grained options.

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Basics

Note on unitç: Un¦eçç çpecified, when I ta¦k about units high I’m talking about bricks — when I say ‘one high’, I mean one brick, or three plates. When I talk about units wide, I’m talking about studs.

Lego geometry is metric, but (confusingly) does not use round metric dimensions.

The practical upshot of this is that it takes a little bit of work to turn things at right angles or upside-down. A good rule of thumb

to memorize is that every five plates of

height equal two studs of length. Keep

that in mind when you’re mounting things at right angles to one another.

Some parts, like this headlight brick, allow you to offset parts by half a plate’s height,

whi¦e thiç 1x2

‘jumper’ plate shifts parts by half a stud’s width.

Otherç, ¦ike theçe 5-çtud 1x1 brickç and 1x2 6-çtud bricks can form a ‘core’ with parts

coming off in all directions.

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At the çize Mobi¦e Frameç are bui¦t, thiç is pretty easy to keep track of, so don’t heçitate to uçe fiçtfu¦ç of them. With the

game’s scale set so small, the ability to shift parts around by minute amounts is crucial to building aesthetically pleasing designs.

For the moçt part, you’re going to be working with plates at this scale. In fact, i would advise you not to buy parts larger than 2x3 p¦ateç un¦eçç you can think of  a çpecific uçe for them. Load up on 1x1 plates both round and square, headlight

brickç, the 5-çtud 1x, and other very çma¦¦

basic parts. It’s always easier to make larger parts out of smaller ones, and to adjust

plate. The proportions and part types in the Mobi¦e Frame Garage are a good çtarter guide to buying for tiny robots.

If you decide that you want to get deeper into the nuts and bolts, a copy of The Unofficial Lego Builder's Guide by Allan Bedford will go a long way.

a design by adding or removing a single

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Jointing

Because we’re playing a game and not designing solely for aesthetics, I would recommend that you include the bare minimum number of joints in your designs. On a humanoid deçign, e¦bowç, kneeç,  and ankles can be simulated with gaps and shifts in color, but hips and shoulders are essential.

When you build these joints, though, remember to include at least two axes of motion in order to establish a somewhat natural pose. Leg splay, either along the

Z- or Y-axeç, wi¦¦ make your deçignç more

stable and offer a greater variety of poses. Waist and neck rotation don’t affect stability, and can give you more dynamic poses.

Fina¦¦y, çome jointç, ¦ike the ST-07’ç hip and

knee, can be reassembled to allow for a

different, a¦beit çemi-fixed, poçe.

 

If you can, get joint parts that can be assembled in several different

configurationç. It’ç a¦wayç better to buy in

bulk so multiple combinations of the same three or four parts will be extremely cost- effective.

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Design

Basic Design

When you’re getting into more advanced design, never be afraid to just pick up the parts and start building. Because Lego is so idiosyncratic about color and part types, it’s nearly always more productive to work from what you have than it is to get attached to a deçign on¦y to diçcover that it’ç very difficu¦t, prohibitively expensive, or impossible to build.

If you want to do some preplanning, though,

a Sharpie and an index card work juçt fine

for scribbling out a rough silhouette and establishing proportions. Make piles of parts in the colors you want and dive in — I recommend you try to hold the number

of colors down, sticking to a palette with relatively few subtle gradations. Aim for bold, cartoonish looks, with broad detail that will be visible at a distance.

‘Readability’ in a model is a problem a lot of manufacturers of traditional wargaming stuff have dealt with (to varying degrees of success). Make weapons, shields, sensors, and other attachments visually distinct from one another — if two weapon designs are hard to tell apart, make them serve the same function — and err on the side of

 

making systems too large rather than too small. Not only will it be easier to tell what your units have, but you’re less likely to lose attachments you’ve removed.

 

The 3-1-1 Rule

Moçt companieç in MFZ fa¦¦ çomewhere in the range of 4-7 unitç. Within that range, 5 seems to be a good planning size — big enough for some variety, small enough that taking any one design out isn’t crippling.

the edge it needs. (1Y)

When designing a company, I start by figuring out what I want my ‘grunt’ to be. This is the robot that I expect to execute

capturing çtationç in Hand-to-Hand fighting, or gunning down enemy fast attackers at Direct range, I design these guys to do it.

Visually and mechanically, I try to get three identical units. If I have to expand or reduce my army, I can add to or reduce the number of these guys without losing any

essential functions. Their redundancy also makes them easier to risk in combat: losing any one of them

isn’t a big deal.

Sometimes, a piece of equipment as simple as a camera on a mast, capable of looking over walls or at a different frequency of light can give a mobile frame company

my core strategy with — if that means

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The other two are my specialists. Scouts, dedicated artillery, heavily armored defenders — I try to make them visually distinct from the other three and from each other. Even more important than being distinct from the enemy, it helps if I can instantly tell them apart and note their functions. The pairing of scout/artillery, in particular, is extremely easy to track when using very small scouts and very large artillerists — I can see at a glance which unit is where.

 

 

 

action with a fusion edge and arm-mounted amplifier. (2Rh &d8)

An ST-10 Osprey outfitted for close, ground-based

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Notable Design Problems in LEGO

Eventually, you’re going to run up against certain limitations.

Resolution: Lego, at small scales, is not eçpecia¦¦y fine-grained. It’ç very eaçy for a design that looks okay up close to turn into a confuçing b¦ob of co¦or further away. Fine distinctions and subtle detail are mostly not an option.

Parts and Color: not all parts are available in all colors - and when they are, some colors are going to be vastly more expensive than others. Monochrome with

accents is often the most visually pleasing solution.

Fragility: A great many things that look excellent are not really durable enough for extensive handling. Robots with a lot of bar and clip connections can come apart in play or take a long time to adjust, or have trouble standing. You can ameliorate this çomewhat by çetting them on baçeç - 4x4 and 6x6 p¦ateç work we¦¦.

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