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[MechaStellar] VER9.5 - Zeta Gundam Update - Free Wargame Rules for Gundam and other Mecha  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in cz
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good morning Dakkanauts,

For this month's MechaStellar update we have more units from Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. We wanted to have more time to test out the iconic mobile armors of 0083 so the Dendrobium Orchis and Neue Ziel will have to wait till next month. In their stead we are releasing the GP04 Gerbera as well as the GP04 Gerbera Tetra and the Dra-C. The GP04 is the Unit 04 of the Gundam Development Project (GP series). The GP04 was meant to be a deep striker unit with a long range beam rifle and three giant sturm boosters giving it a large amount of propellant. When the GP01 was repaired and modified into the GP01-Fb it's impressive space performance put a pause onto GP04 since it was deemed the two units would be fulfilling very similar roles.

0083 introduces the concept of Anaheim Electronics (AE) being arms merchants who play both sides of the conflict and does a more thorough job fleshing out the different parts of AE as well as the various divisions that acquired former Zeon Mobile Suit producers. The strife within the company and the sympathies towards Zeon leads to the mostly complete GP04 being transferred to the Cima fleet where it is modified into the GP04 Gerbera Tetra, the personal unit of Cima Garahau. If you ever come across a Gundam Fix Figuration box it allows you to add the additional red armor plating to transform the GP04 Gerbera into the Gerbera Tetra.

While both units are built on the same chassis we wanted to ensure they played very differently, with the Tetra being an agile close in striker with a potent beam machine gun and the GP04 being a long distance sniper type. The Beam Machine Gun was modified to be distinct from the one used by the Gelgoog Marine Commander (and the Jaeger) boasting a higher rate of fire but a shorter range. Cima retains the pilot skills she had while using the Gelgoog Marine while the GP04 is left at Pilot Level 0, although you are more than welcome to add your own custom pilot. Putting in a level 2 Pilot would cost 200pts (including the +20pts for Pilot Traits).

Lastly we have the Dra-C, a Mobile Suit cobbled together from Zaku II parts missing legs. It is a high speed assault weapon, almost suicidal in its tactics used by the Delaz fleet. The stock Dra-C is only armed with a 40mm Vulcan gun and a small panel shield salvaged from warship debris. The Custom includes a 120mm Zaku Machine gun and higher speed. Both are built using the Zaku II F2, a revised / upgraded of the standard F type Zaku, we elected to downgrade the Performance compared to the Zaku II F2 since they are missing legs and AMBAC is a very important part of MS performance in Gundam.

When running these units the extra action is key to making the Dra-C effective. While you may be tempted to use that Bonus action on Full Throttle to streak across the battlefield, remember that the Standard Dra-C is essentially a high speed Beam Saber platform. It is often best to use Full Throttle to move to LoS blocking cover, that way in the next round you may be able to engage in Melee without using Full Throttle, if you can then you can use both actions on Focus (Melee) to hit on a 3++ which will be very important if you're fighting MS from that time period like the GM Kai who have a superior Melee die pool.

Next month we're shooting to release the Dendrobium Orchis and the Neue Ziel. Big Zam will be using the new and improved I-Field ability that was devised after testing the aforementioned units.

Unit Profiles Update Summary
-New Units added: GP04 Gerbera, GP04 Gerbera Tetra, Dra-C, Dra-C Custom
-Big Zam I Field ability updated
-Fixed cost error on Tallgeese
- +1 PEN on Beam Spray Guns (and equivalent pistols). +1 Pen on Hy-Gogg MPC, (and equivalent Beam Machine Guns)

Core Rules Update Summary
-Updated Defend the City so VP are easier to achieve when playing with larger cities
-Upgraded the Unbeaten Pilot Skill to be +2d10 Melee ATK & DEF
-Clarified verbiage on Battle Damage

Here are some short battle reports for demo games at out FLGS in California for March and April.
   
Made in us
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

No update for this month. Our family is in the middle of an overseas PCS to Europe.

A large update is planned for July, provided it doesn't take too long to get settled and internet setup.
   
Made in us
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

As promised we have a large update for July. MechaStellar core rules have been updated to VER 8.2. Major changes include a revision to the Pilot system, Updates to Melee & Sniper types, Titan Armor Saves, a new Gritty MS Battles mode and a refresh of the versus mode options. You can read more about the updates in these posts: VER 8.1, VER 8.2, Pilot update.


Summary of Changes

Core Combat & Wargame Rules Updates
-Updated cost brackets for Momentum (600 per M:3 vice 500 per M:3). Momentum is capped at 10.
-Updated failed Armor Save for Titans to instead be +1000 DMG. Unified and combined Battle Damage charts for MS & Titans.
-Added two Universal Skills for Skilled and Ace Pilots only. Removed the Skill cost effect of Pilot Level. Rebalanced [M] costs on all Pilot Skills.
-Added "Target a unit in a Melee Engagement" to the "Take the Shot" skill. Removed this effect from the Sniper role.
-Rebalanced several pilot skills including Giant Slayer, Mayhem, All-Out Attack and Tear through the Ranks.
-Added Remote Weapons to Advanced Rules section
-Gunner's Gambit removed.
-Added Gritty MS Battles optional module for small games (Double HP, Shield Breaks, more Battle Damage)
-Added Infantry / Guerilla Ambush Event
-Added a page at the end to walk through Mecha Profile Sheets
-Split Core Rules into Core Combat Rules and Versus / Coop Rules
-Added Army building page
-Added Unit Upgrades for Points Matching
-Added section on battlefield size
-Added full page for Simple Battle. Revised Confrontation, Secure the Objective, Defend the City.
-Mechanics Expert and Fearsome now allow for a +100 DMG option in lieu of +1 PEN. Practiced Professional gives +1 HIT.
-Added Tactician Pilot Trait that allows you to give an ally a Focus action. Updated some MS Profiles with the new trait.
-Updated Close combat expert and Merciless Melee to give Melee 4+ and Crit 9+. Removed that benefit from the Melee role.
-Updated Gunnery Expert, Furious Fusillade and Deadeye to instead give +8" Range or +1 Accuracy.
-Updated Fighting Spirit to give a bonus when HP<50% or M=0. Bonus M+1 on Melee Attack.
-Mission Pack update to accommodate points changes

Mecha Unit Profile Sheet Updates
-Frame 3 Units received a +10pt cost increase. Cost+10 for Performance 5+ units that are also Frame 3+.
-Melee & Sniper Special Types converted into Roles. Gunner role renamed to Firepower role to prevent confusion with Sniper role.
-Heavy Arms units received +1 EQ Slot
-Rebalanced Gouf, Efreet, Kampfer, Gelgoogs, Gundam Ground Type, Mudrock, GM Command, 7th Gundam, GP01, GM Custom,
-Adjusted GM Light Armor, Stripped Beam Rifle, and GM Night Seeker to leave room for the MSV-R Vasuki variant.
-Updated Kampfer, Efreet & G-Line Assault Armor Shotgun profile. Updated Hidden Beneath trait for Alex & GP03
-Updated Slow & Laborious Trait based on player feedback. Also added it to Pacific Rim units
-Rebalanced Pacific Rim, Evangelion, & Gundam Wing Units plus Bigro and Blue Destiny Units
-Increased points costs for Barriers (I-Fields, AT Fields, etc.)
-Updated Ye Not Guilty, Cast in the Name of God, Gundanium Armor, Transform, Synch Ratio Traits
-Updated Size system to be simpler and provide a DEF bonus against smaller units
-Added Firing Arc trait to prepare for Stellar Warship release (Salamis, Magellan etc.)
-Beam Rifles improved to 400 DMG.
-Rebalanced Titan Weapon upgrades to split bonuses between Shots and a second category (Range, PEN, etc.)
-Update Frame 5 HP & ARM Saves. Removed Indomitable from Char & JR Gelgoog
-Added new Missile profile bringing the total profiles to 4. (Micro Missiles, Missile Pod, Missile Barrage & Fire Support Missiles). Rebalanced range, shots and damage for each Missile profiles.
-Update Twin-Linked (TL) high rate of fire (ROF) weapons such as TL Machine Gun, Quad Machine Gun, Big O Thunder, Micro-missiles, etc.
-Updated the Weight (WT) modifier to further reduce Movement. Removed movement penalty for standard Shields. Reduced movement penalty for Super Shields.
-All units received +1 Movement. Raid & Attackers & Performance 5+ units received an additional movement bonus.
-Added Ground Use Restriction for the upcoming Space Rules

Roster Update - 11 new units added
-Added GP03 Dendrobium and Stamen, Neue Ziel, Val-Varo, GM Variants, Zaku II Variants
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

For this month's update we are releasing the first Stellar Warships for VER 8 starting with the Musai and Salamis class cruisers from Mobile Suit Gundam. This also includes a brief module on battles in outer space where you need to plan out your forces based on the carrying capacity of your ships. Warships add some heavy firepower to your game and can be quite lethal when played right, on the flip side a Mobile Suit with an Ace Pilot can quickly lay waste to a warship if it can get close enough with an attack run on the bridge. You can read the full update here and download the latest rules and mecha unit profiles on the downloads page here.

Summary of Updates
-Released rules for Stellar Combat and Stellar Warships
-Added two new Stellar Warships - Zeon's Musai class cruiser and the Federation's Salamis class cruiser.
-All-Out Attack Pilot Skill switched from +10 Power for Titans to be double their power rating instead.
-Persevere Pilot Skill cost changed to M-1 & when below 50% reduces damage by an additional 100. This broadens the Skill to be more useful outside of low DMG attacks.
-Added note to AOE weapons that they can only destroy at most 2 pieces of cover to fix a loophole in the Rampage / Defend the City game type.
-Added note to the Cover section to instantiate that when drawing LOS units obscured receive a cover bonus
-Updated Battle Damage so Main Camera is 2-3 on the d10 roll. Added -1 ACC to Main Camera damage.
-Updated several Commands & Events (Self Destruct, Last Shooting, Narrow Escape, Missile Screen)
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts, for Septembers roster update we have 24 new mecha unit profiles including the foundational Super Robot series, Mazinger Z. We are also releasing MechaStellar VER 8.4 Core Rules which streamlines some items in the Stellar Warfare section and provides another option for [Focus] as well as changes to Disengage. Lastly, there's a large balance update that will address some points cost issues, movement and evade as well as improving the durability of some units.

Core Rules Update
Focus Action
The Focus action can now give +3 Power to a Titan. This gets rid of the reliance some Titan units had on the "All-Out Attack" pilot skill. As a result several Titan units were converted from Indomitable to Assault in order to make use of the extra action with their weapons.

Disengage
This update comes from a lot of feedback from 40k players who really wanted a way to tie up an opponent in Melee . In the previous rules it was relatively easy to break away from melee and then shoot your opponent. We still want that to be possible, since it's not uncommon in Mecha anime, but we increased the Momentum cost by an additional 1 to compensate.

We also included another option to break out of melee to give you some tactical choice on your turn. Generic close combat [CC] weapons like fists, kick, shoulder tackle etc. push your target out of Melee, so it gives a reason to use a less deadly weapon and recreate some favorite scenes such as Char's Zaku kick.

Stellar Warfare Updates
-Updates to deployment, cover, shooting penalties, launch, repair and Target Lock.
-AA Guns adjusted to have longer range but less shots

September Balance Patch
Super Robots
Previously our baseline for the protagonist of a Super Robot show was Frame 4, Performance 2 (4/2 for short), that will be increased to 4/3 and in some cases 4/4. This allows our Super Robots to have more staying power once we move into the Zeta Gundam era.

HP Adjustments
-Adjusted HP Formulas for Frame 1 & 2 units, most units won't see the effect but a few MS units will go from 1700 HP to 1600 HP. All Titans received +1000HP to improve durability.

-Bonus HP was given for any unit where Reinforce > Frame Level. This is to offset the Evasion penalties for heavily armored units like the Full Armor types or the Chobham equipped GM Cannon II. Units affected (Dom Barrage, Gogg, Agg Guy, Zock, Full Armor Gundam x3, GM Ground Type, GM Land Combat, Desert GM, GM Cannon II, Sandrock, Heavy Arms, Eva Units, Gaghiel, Zeruel, Mechasaurus Doba)

Unit Cost update
-We discovered some edge cases where you could take a Frame 2 unit, make them Frame 3 and end up with a better unit for the same price, we then analyzed several Frame 3 units and found you could build a Frame 4 unit that was better at the same price. As a result the following cost changes took effect.
-Frame 3 gets a +20pt boost. All other units are Cost+10. Special Types (Indomitable, Heavy Arms, Assault) are no longer free for Frame 4&5.
-Major rebalance to Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV), Big O, Getter Robo, and Pacific Rim to keep units at 600 cost (or to keep pairs such as Crimson Typhoon & Cherno Alpha combined 600pts)
-Several units from Mobile Suit Gundam had their equipment loadouts updated to stay anchored at their old cost.

Movement Rebalance
We went and retooled the movement system in an effort to shorten the gap between some very high movement models and everyone else. This was accomplished by having the Armor Reinforce level factor into movement, so units that strip off armor now move faster (GM Light Armor for instance). You'll notice some of the slower and middle of the pack units received minor movement increases while units with extreme movement have come down quite a bit. Overall the range of movement values has gotten more reasonable.

Evade Rebalance
In a similar vein we also adjusted Evade values for all units, since playtests with Zeta era and CCA era units were showing the Evade values were a bit on the low side. This was especially true in some of our super robot playtests using Pacific Rim and Mazinger Z units. As a result all units across the board have received a +1 Evade bonus, Attack and Raid type have lost their +1 Evade bonus but retain their high movement instead. Several Angels now have lower Movement and Evade to better reflect their onscreen appearance.

Removed the +1 Evade -1 Shooting effect when Speed>Frame for now; it may get reintegrated later. Currently it is too attractive a bonus for low Frame units, and causes an unintended side effect of making high frame units have far too high of a movement. Units affected: Zaku R2, Gelgoog Jager, GP01-Fb, GP03 Dendrobium, Tallgeese)

Combat Role adjustments
-The Battler, Attack and Raid types all receive +1d10 Melee.
-The Attacker, Raid and Sniper types all received -1 Evade.
-The Firepower type lost its -1 Evade penalty in order to close out a loophole where Battler+Heavy Arms was a better overall than Firepower+Indomitable.
-Interceptor is the only role to keep +1 Evade but will lose -1 Shooting to balance against Battler as well as -2 Move to portray a focus on maneuvering verniers instead of pure straight line movement.
-Indomitable gives +1d10 Melee, to make it competitive with Heavy Arms which received another +1 EQ Slot last update.

Mecha Unit Profiles Updates
Roster Update
Mazinger Z - 11 new units added
Gundam - 4 Gundam variants, 3 Gelgoog variants
NGE - 3 Evangelion variants from different points in the show
Big O - 3 Variant to represent the Megadeus Army seen in flashbacks

Weapon Updates
-CC Weapons push targets out of engagement range by default, no longer a special rule in Defend the City
-Updated Knuckle Shield to match Light Shield profile
-Adjusted Shotguns and Flamethrowers to give bonus Hits in Rapid Fire Range.
-Missile profiles updated to give similar damage values across the board.
-A beam carbine profile was brought back to be in-between the Beam Rifle and Beam Pistol, the amphibious Mega Particle Cannons like the Z'Gok and Heat Rays from Mazinger will also use this profile.
-Added beam sniper profile. All MS & Titan weapons that are 40+" now have Rapid Fire penalty, this is to represent these weapons being specialized for longer range attacks. It also adds more depth to target priority for your long range units (Guntanks and GM Snipers) and your midrange support units. Weapons affected: Sniper Rifle, Antiship Rifles, Long Range artillery.
-Indirect Fire now changed to Range 32" - 40"+Sensors for Artillery, and 0-18"+Sensors for Remote Weapons (Wireguided / Bits / Funnels)
-+1 PEN to BR, Sniper, Beam Boomerang and Drills.
-Artillery Cannon gain +1 Shot. Beam Pistol & Stripped Beam Rifle gain RF+1.
-Power Draw reduced by 1 for Beam Cannons & Artillery Cannons used by Titans / Mobile Armors.

Mecha / Pilot Traits Updates
-Updated Fighting Spirit and Hot Blooded / Defiant which now synergize well. Fighting spirit gives Momentum when below 50% HP or M=0, while Hot Blooded / Defiant gives a more useful bonus for Melee.
-Updated Stealth, Ambusher, Showtime and similar abilities so it doesn't rely on Ambush command. Stealth was adjusted to prevent targeting prior to the unit activation, which will help a lot when using the alternate deployment rules.
-Reduced cost on EXAM system. Update Berserker and Killer Instinct to be Reroll 2 dice vice 1.
-The Unstoppable trait on Zeruel and Slattern were using the old text, updated to the latest ability.
-Upgrade AT Field and Energy Barrier to match Gundarium and Eva Armor (PEN<7)
-Rebalanced the Spirit in the Machine, Absolute Terror, & Untouchable traits to include a random d10 component, previously these traits were far too useful to deny VP at the end of a match.
-Adjusted High Sync Ratio to have an effect similar to the "Blood Pact / Cursed Dance" effect on Escaflowne to better represent how taking damage can stun the pilot; the blocks given by this trait encompass the Eva's AT Field. A similar system will be implemented in G Gundam.
-Kaiju Blue trait given to Pacific Rim Kaiju

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/30 20:01:30


 
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

For October's update we are finishing up our Mazinger Z update with 13 additional units which can be found on the downloads page: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

We’ve also updated the MechaStellar core combat rules to VER 8.5. This is a small but important update with key changes to Indirect Fire and Obscuring cover based on feedback from players. It also makes some changes to Stellar Warfare and of course balance changes to existing units. Below is a summary of changes.


Core Rules Update
-Made several changes to Indirect Fire based on player feedback
-Clarified language on Cover and added "Obscuring" cover based on player feedback
-Adjusted "Make it Count" skill to give a Focus action to take advantage of the new +3 Power option for Titans.
-Adjusted the "Three Times as Fast" Commander Trait to give additional rerolls

Mecha Unit Profile Updates
-Adjusted AOE weapons such as Mega Beam Launcher or Deathray to have less shots at longer distances but improved range.
-Improved the Noble / Idealist, Legendary Pilot/Captain, Furious Fusillade and Merciless Melee traits
-Changed Renowned Pilot and similar traits to be upon activation instead of end of round
-Changes to melee weapons that give +X DEF. Units affected: Shenlong Gundam, Gyan EOS
-Changes to PEN 3 Melee weapons. Units affected: Talos Statue, Cherno Alpha, Scunner,
-Fixed error on PEN for Beam Sabers and similar weapons
-Fixed Bullrush trait which was using older rules

Stellar Warfare Adjustments
-The additional movement for space comes with a tradeoff of turning off Rapid Fire
-Clarified penalty for opposite direction movement in space
-Stellar Warships become Cover when destroyed

Lastly, there is a poll added to the downloads page right after the unit profiles where you can vote on which mecha series you'd like to see added to the roster next

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/10/31 21:37:30


 
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

For this month's update we are wrapping up Mazinger Z. For next month's release we have a poll up on the downloads page here to determine which series gets added to the roster next. Currently G Gundam and GaoGaiGar have the lion's share of votes.

Rules Update Summary
-Large points cost reduction for Skilled and Ace Pilots
-Army Momentum brackets back to 500/1000/15000/2000+
-Improved Universal Skill – Make it Count to instead be +1 Action or +1 Critical Hit
-Tactical Advantage streamlined to simply be +1 Critical Hit

Unit Profile Update Summary
-Adjusted traits that used to give +1 Focus to instead give +1 Accuracy such as Headhunter or Hunting for a Rival
-Fix error for beam carbine/heat attack profiles:  units affected Zeon Amphibious units, GM Command Space, Neue Ziel, Mazinger Z, Doublas M2, Glossam X2
-Fixed error on Gebera Tetra, older profile replaced with newer profile

Stellar Warships
-All ships received Move+1, HP+1000, and a Cost decrease
-AA Guns now ignore the Defense array trait

Roster & Mission Pack Update
-Mazinger Z +4 Units & Narrative Campaign Missions 1-4
-Getter Robo +9 Units & Narrative Campaign Missions 1-6

Miscellaneous
-We've put together a turn by turn gameplay example for version 8, here is the link to Round 1.

-We've also updated our Gundam Miniatures post with additional images and options for small scale figures.
   
Made in us
Beautiful and Deadly Keeper of Secrets





Ayy just wanted to congratulate you for this! This seems like a genuinely great system and I was looking for something for Gundam and this certainly seems like the most balanced attempt I've ever seen with these sorts of open styled systems!

Though I do have a personal request. Could we get the Black Tri-Stars in their Zaku (whether the I, the II, or the II High Mobility type). Would love for a cheaper option for them so I could try them in a 500 point game.
   
Made in au
Longtime Dakkanaut




I really do have to set up a game and try this, looks soo cool.

We play with 1/144 since have so many already so it’s going to be interesting.
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Sorry for the delay we've been traveling over the holidays. Happy New Years!

 ZebioLizard2 wrote:
Ayy just wanted to congratulate you for this! This seems like a genuinely great system and I was looking for something for Gundam and this certainly seems like the most balanced attempt I've ever seen with these sorts of open styled systems!

Though I do have a personal request. Could we get the Black Tri-Stars in their Zaku (whether the I, the II, or the II High Mobility type). Would love for a cheaper option for them so I could try them in a 500 point game.


Thank you so much! We're lucky to get a lot of feedback over the months that helps us do balance updates several times a year. Gundam is the favorite series for most people on the team so there's a lot of attention that goes into making sure the units perform well compared to their onscreen performances and that the rules reflect the lethality of Gundam. We had to expand the system quite a bit when we started integrating in less lethal Super Robot shows this past year.

Unit requests are always welcome in this thread! We'll get a set of Black Tri-Stars in Zaku IIs in the end of January update. We're holding off on the Zaku I and RB-79 Balls currently since we've had some issues playtesting very cheap units in the past and we want to make sure that hordes of Zaku I or RB-79 Balls don't displace Zaku IIs or GMs as the mainline grunt choice


Apple fox wrote:
I really do have to set up a game and try this, looks soo cool.

We play with 1/144 since have so many already so it’s going to be interesting.


Thank you! Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions with the rules or VP scoring. Definitely play with models you love, we mostly play with the 1/400 range but here's a recent game with the larger 1/300 scale: https://mechastellar.com/2022/12/22/mechastellar-battle-report-amuro-koji-and-ryoma-vs-zeon-aces-and-big-o/

We'll do a battle report with the larger 4.5" MSIA figures when we release the G Gundam profiles. MSIA is one of the few lines that did a good variety of G Gundam figures, although recently they did announce a Rose Gundam Kit (P-Bandai of course )
   
Made in us
Beautiful and Deadly Keeper of Secrets





 The Red Hobbit wrote:
Sorry for the delay we've been traveling over the holidays. Happy New Years!

 ZebioLizard2 wrote:
Ayy just wanted to congratulate you for this! This seems like a genuinely great system and I was looking for something for Gundam and this certainly seems like the most balanced attempt I've ever seen with these sorts of open styled systems!

Though I do have a personal request. Could we get the Black Tri-Stars in their Zaku (whether the I, the II, or the II High Mobility type). Would love for a cheaper option for them so I could try them in a 500 point game.


Thank you so much! We're lucky to get a lot of feedback over the months that helps us do balance updates several times a year. Gundam is the favorite series for most people on the team so there's a lot of attention that goes into making sure the units perform well compared to their onscreen performances and that the rules reflect the lethality of Gundam. We had to expand the system quite a bit when we started integrating in less lethal Super Robot shows this past year.

Unit requests are always welcome in this thread! We'll get a set of Black Tri-Stars in Zaku IIs in the end of January update. We're holding off on the Zaku I and RB-79 Balls currently since we've had some issues playtesting very cheap units in the past and we want to make sure that hordes of Zaku I or RB-79 Balls don't displace Zaku IIs or GMs as the mainline grunt choice
I can imagine. While the image of a horde of Balls descending upon the enemy and slowly tearing them apart with their little claws is a great image I can imagine that they'd be a vast problem when you have to balance between elite pilots and cheap grunts.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/05 06:36:03


 
   
Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Good afternoon Dakkanauts,

This month's update brings the Core Rules to Version 8.7 along with a balance patch to all units. Below are some of the important changes, the full update can be read here.

Unit Profile Sheet Readability Improvements
-Large effort in reducing Mecha Unit Profile bloat and improving readability.

CORE RULES UPDATE
-Put a cap on bonuses for Shooting Accuracy, Evade and Melee at +3. Melee Attack can now go to a 2+.
-Capped Momentum gain for destroying a unit at 1 per turn, since previously this heavily favored units with AOE weapons or units with multiple actions and could easily make a match lopsided against horde units. This change also allows lets us lower the Momentum cost for AOE weapons.
-Based on player feedback rebalanced and rewrote the Trample rules under Full Throttle / Kaiju Charge.
-Added new Commander Trait: Decimator to allow for players who want to run a very powerful model to deal with horde armies.

Melee
-Added in Glory to the Melee Clash as an option for units with very high Melee Dice pools.
-Glory allows Kaiju / Super Robots (Titans) to regain HP after Melee and allows for agile Mobile Suits to disengage and move after melee.
-Removed the reroll ability from Fortune Favors the Bold to avoid making Heat weapons redundant.
-Rewrote rotation during the Melee clash to add some more strategy for horde armies dealing with one or two powerful units.

Armor Saves
-Backported 3 Armor Saves per weapon to core rules and removed from the SRW module.
-Unified Armor Saves to be 1000 DMG on a failed save which still kills the average grunt in Gundam but allows for more cinematic recreations such as the Gundam losing its arm and head from a failed save against the Zeong.
-With Armor Saves being potentially 3x as dangerous in the base game we reevaluated the Shots and Damage for Beam weapon profiles and reduced several to bring the lethality down.
-Lastly, using Momentum to pass a failed save has been reduced to [M-1] to account for more potential Armor Saves.

Pilot Traits & Skills
-Updated the Immortal / Invincible Traits which were proving to be very unbalanced in Round 1 for Ace Pilots, even more so for Combining Robots like GoLion and Combattler V who may cycle through pilot traits.
-Upgraded the following pilot traits Immortal / Daredevil, Untouchable, Elusive, Lone Wolf, Hunting for a Rival, Mechanics Expert, Defiant / Hot Blooded, Berserker / Killer Instinct, Genuis Pilot.
-Updated Pilot Traits to remove the “X Skill costs 1 Less” ability and instead provide a similar effect without having to rely on the pilot skills optional module. Traits affected: Deadeye, Furious Fusillade, Merciless Melee, Close Combat Master, Legendary Pilot / Infamous Ace.
-Revised the Expert Evasion Ace Skill in the SRW Module to instead be +3 Evade bonus.

Commands and Events
-Based on Player Feedback Strategic Commands no longer require Momentum and instead use a separate pool of points called Influence. Using a high Momentum command often left a lot of player’s with buyers remorse later that turn when they lacked Momentum to protect their units. The Influence Pool and Strategic Commands remain an optional module.
-Split off Events from Strategic Commands into their own section. Events have 0 Momentum cost and are usuable once per game and remain as an optional module.

Stellar Warfare
-Based on player feedback changed the +5 Move in exchange for a penalty to instead be a flat +5 movement for Skilled and Ace Pilots.
-Revised opposing direction inertia rules for Space Combat to instead be [M-1] instead of an exercise in mental math. For the perpetually Momentum starved players out there worry not for Skilled and Ace Pilots get to ignore that effect.
-Updated the Captain Skills section to instead be Captain’s Orders. These three options require no Momentum and can be issued by a Skilled or Battle-Hardened Captain at the start of each round with the Design Goal of making Warships a valuable force multiplier for Stellar Warfare.
-Updated Minvosky Particle Scattering to be Reroll any Evade dice, Prevent Critical Hits & Battle Damage vice Shooting Accuracy-2. Updated range from 2x Sensors to instead 10+Sensors which is an improvement for most OYW suits and lines up with the new 16″ range which is important for several iconic weapons.

Balance Patch
-Gave Melee & Attacker units Melee+1d10. Gave Sniper units +4″ Sensors and removed Move-1 penalty. Gave Assault +1 Move.
-Adjusted Tier 2 units (Performance 5+) to have an additional +1 Move for MS & +1 Power Titans but also an additional +10 Cost. This is a wash for more Titan units. Several units were rebalanced to anchor on their previous cost or move to a new one.
-Size modifiers have moved to the top of the profile and still provide a cost adjustment, instead of an active ability they provide passive benefits to EQ, HP & Melee and a penalty to Evade for very large units.
-Remove -2 Speed = -1 Evade penalty for Titans. Series affected (Big O, Mazinger, Getter Robo)
-Adjusted Movement for Frame 3+ units to avoid penalizing those with higher Reinforce level. For many units this means their movement fluctuated by +/- 2. This also allows the RX78-2 and other heroic units to start with base movement of 10 while preventing low HP grunt units from receiving even larger speed boosts.
-Rewrote AT Fields, Infernal Form, Energy Barrier and Generating Armor to have a Momentum cost to activate allowing opponents of these armies to have an additional way to bring these units down by sapping their Momentum, similar to tactics employed against I-Fields.

Mecha Unit Profiles
-Switched Mobile Armors to MS vice Titan class (Higher Evade, Lower HP). Rebalanced Mobile Armors.
-Updated Escaflowne units from Titan profiles to MS Profiles
-Major revision to Stellar Warships whose mega particle guns have increased shots and rapid fire now.
-Based on player request added the Black Tri-Stars Zaku, Gyan Cannon and Gyan Krieger to the unit roster. Also added several OYW Aces for the Federation and Zeon.

Weapon Updates
-Adjusted all weapon ranges to be R: 8/16/24/32/40/48 etc. inches. Most weapons received either a range boost of 2-8″
-Adjusted Sniper Rifles (Physical & Beam) to be 4 Shots, Rapid Fire-2.
-Machine guns switched to Shots 6 RF+4
-Rebalanced missile profiles for Mecha & Warships
-Lowered ARM PEN for bazookas and several melee & thrown weapons.


==============================BREAK=================================


 ZebioLizard2 wrote:
I can imagine. While the image of a horde of Balls descending upon the enemy and slowly tearing them apart with their little claws is a great image I can imagine that they'd be a vast problem when you have to balance between elite pilots and cheap grunts.


Hahaha, that is a great mental image! The Fish Eye variant has always been a favorite of mine with its giant crab claws.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/02/01 15:15:49


 
   
Made in us
Beautiful and Deadly Keeper of Secrets





Lookin' good. I've been enjoying the ruleset immensely so far and I believe the armor pen changes will probably feel a bit better this way going forward. It always felt a little strange that it equalized out as much between high health things and grunts.
   
Made in it
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Italy

Awesome, glad to hear!
Armor Saves as an instant-kill effect started off in VER 4 IIRC. At the time we were testing a lot of Zeta units and we wanted to recreate how even a higher HP grunt unit like the Nemo or Rick Dias could be taken down in a single shot such as Roberto vs the Asshimar. The 1000 DMG per failed save likely would have worked back then too, but hindsight is always 20/20
   
Made in us
Beautiful and Deadly Keeper of Secrets





Just a thought on the even cheaper stuff.. Would it be possible to make it so that you can only take X many, or they have to be in a squad?
   
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Italy

We considered doing a set limit, say no more than 5 but it gets a bit tricky if someone wants to go all out and simulate a battle of Solomon or A Baoa Qu for instance and wants to field a ton of them. I took a look at the last drafts for those two units and we were working on a simple rule of thumb where the number of Zaku Is / RB-79 Ball cannot outnumber the Zaku IIs or GMs in your army. I don't think we slapped the table on whether that would be the MS-06F and RGM-79B or any Zaku or GM. Definitely needs more consideration. We've been focused on G Gundam playtests the last few months.

=================BREAK====================

For the February Update we're happy to release units from Mobile Fighter G Gundam starting off with the Shuffle Alliance. For those who haven't seen it, G Gundam is the first alternate universe (AU) Gundam series and imagines a world where countries have quite literally taken their land mass and left for outer space, all wars have been replaced with a championship gundam fight where Earth is the ring. Each country's Gundam has the aesthetic appearance of something they are well known for historically (or at least what the average Japanese resident might know them for), Spain for example is a giant bull, France is Napoleon, Norway is a Viking with a longboat it brings into battle, Canada is a lumberjack and the Netherlands is a giant windmill. Imagine pro-wrestling, kung-fu films, revenge melodrama and giant robots all mixed together. It's over the top, immensely quotable and a fun ride all around. Here's an example to pique your interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeL1_9QRufY

The Core Rules have been updated to VER 8.8 with a focus on cutting down on the mental math burden so the Focus action and several Pilot traits have been revised. We've also added in a "Finishing Blow" system to melee which adds some more strategy when dividing your Melee ATK & DEF dice for your heavyweight contenders. Below is a quick summary of updates you can read the full update here: https://mechastellar.com/2023/03/01/mechastellar-feb23-update-ver-8-8-released/

Core Rules
-Based on feedback updated the Focus option to shoot in melee to be restricted to Skilled and Ace pilots.
-To reduce the Mental Math burden updated the Focus action to provide +1 Shot/+1 Hit instead of an Accuracy bonus
-Added in Finishing Blow to the Melee Clash to add more strategy when dividing up ATK & DEF dice

Pilot Traits
-Based on Feedback upgraded Killer Instinct / Exam to have a more potent Defensive ability. Adjusted Berserker to match as the melee counterpart, adjusted Berserker Mecha Traits for Eva Unit 01, Blue Destiny and Nobel Gundam units to match the new pilot traits.
-Since our design goal was to reduce mental math we heard feedback from a lot of folks that adding in +1 Evade to pilot traits did not help with that. Immortal, Overconfident, Untouchable, Elusive & Daring Captain were swapped to instead Block 2 Shots for every point of Momentum used on Skill Defense. Also updated Jamming & Cloaking.
-Close Combat Expert and its upgraded Tier II forms were adjusted since often times a melee oriented unit who did not take those traits was often worse off than one who did (especially those with High Crit weapons), in order to provide more choice and versatility for pilots we adjusted it to provide a useful universal bonus.

Unit Profiles
-Adjusted Crushing Strength and Lashing Energy to force an Armor Save taking advantage of the new 1000 DMG Armor Save paradigm
-Updated Brawler to instead provide a bons to Finishing Blow with Close Combat [CC] weapons.
-Updated Escaflowne’s “The Cursed Dance” to differentiate it from High Sync Ratio from the Evangelion units and better represent its series.
-Updated Ye Not Guilty, Big Bang Punch and This Hand of Mine to take advantage of the new Finishing Blow system.

Weapons
-Another Overhaul of thrown weapons and short range weapons (heat rods, beam boomerangs, etc.) Since these are the common weapon for melee types the design goal was to make them desireable by Melee units. The simple solution was to sidestep relying on a Melee units low shooting accuracy and provide automatic hits.
-Adjusted high shot weapons such as Machine Guns and Gatling guns to follow a similar design paradigm
-Adjusted Artillery Cannons to match Sniper Rifles where the Max shots is 4, the upgraded cannons will instead provide a different bonus. Units affected: Guncannon, Mudrock, Dom Cannon, Gyan Cannon, Xamel, Tragos, Coyote Tango.
-Upgraded Beam Rifle & Beam Carbine/Heat Ray to have +1 RF. Gave Beam Carbine/Heat Ray +1 PEN
-Split the Micromissiles Profile into a short range high attack with overwatch for Needle Missiles (Gyan, Voltron, Mazinger) and longer range micromissiles (Macross, Shin Getter Robo, Combattler V). Downgraded Hits for Stellar Warships [AA] Micromissiles. Rebalanced several other missile profiles.

From the last poll G Gundam and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar were our winners from the last poll. I've updated the poll to include new options for the next series to add to the roster, you can vote on the game downloads page here: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2023/03/01 14:13:21


 
   
Made in it
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Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

For this months update we are continuing to add Mobile Fighters from G Gundam including: Neros Gundam, Tequila Gundam, Lumber (Grizzly) Gundam, John Bull (Royal) Gundam & Cushing drones, Pharaoh Gundam MK IV, and Minaret Gundam.. We are also working on further reducing mental math by streamlining the bonuses from melee weapons. Below you'll find a summary of updates.

Rules Update
-Based on Feedback updated the Take the Shot Skill to be [M-2] and ignore penalties while within Sensors range. Also updated optional cover rules for beam weapons firing through terrain to be ARM PEN-3 instead of PEN=0.
-Updated Unbeaten Trait to use Hits/Blocks instead of bonus dice
-Updated "Titan" nomenclature to "Super Titan" for the Super Robot fans.


Mecha Profile Updates
-Adjusted Hyper Mode to give the choice of +2 Actions or +2 Critical Hits
-While prototyping Super Robots from the Braves series realized an issue with Frame 5 vs Frame 4 Titan units. All Frame 5 Units received +2 EQ Slots to compensate. Units affected: GP03 Dendrobium, Neue Ziel, Big Zam, GP02 Physalis, Gundam Wing Units, Kaiju Slattern, Evangelions & Zeruel, Hell King Gordon, Zeus & Hades
-Fixed an error where Frame 5 Super Titan units had an extra +1000 HP.

Weapons
-Fixed an error on GP03s Mega Beam cannon
-Updated Sniper Rifle's special ability to bypass enemy Cover. Reduced Rapid Fire Penalty by 1.
-Upgraded Beam Glaive, Feilong Flag and Zero-Range Gaia Crusher.
-Adjusted Beam Daggers and Assassin Beam Saber to instead make use of Finisher
-Updated ranges for Death Rays. Units affected RX78-4, Zock, Big Zam, Wing Gundam, Sachiel, Zeruel, Getter-1
-Mental Math Reduction - Updated Melee weapons to be +Hit or +Block instead of Bonus dice

G Gundam Update
-Added 7 Units to the Roster
Gundam Fight Rules
-Added "Earth is the Ring" to the Gundam Fight rules to establish knockback and terrain damage.
-Clarified wording on Offense (Melee) that Finishing Blow+1000 DMG is an additional bonus for Focus actions. Updated the [HP-2000] effect to clarify its intended to cancel out "Concoct a Clever Plan" or the Action penalty from Mobile Trace System.
-Clarified wording on Defense (Melee) that the [M-2] can apply to Attack or Counterattack so long as the enemy fails to deal damage.
-Updated Seeking Shots to instead be +2 PEN within Sensor range.
-Updated High Mobility to reward high movement fighters.
   
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Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

For this month's update we are up finishing up the majority of the G Gundam cast with fighters from the tournament finals including Zeus, Viking, Cobra, Mandala, Matador, Zebra, Jester, Mermaid, Nether, Skull, Asura and Nobel Gundam. Based on a player request we also added in the Zeong and Elmeth this month. Based on our poll the next month will see the release of The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar.

VER 9 is around the corner. This update is focused on Super Robots and Kaiju, who will no longer be using the Power stat as a budget for their weapons, instead they will function just like a Mobile Suit. You view the draft core rules for VER 9 and the unit profiles for Super Robots and Kaiju here: https://mechastellar.com/ver9-drafts/

If you play any games with the VER 9 Draft Profiles please be sure to fill out the After Action Battle Report now on Google Forms. We use this data when it comes to balancing units, adjusting rules, and it's helpful to know what your favorite units are. At the end of the form you can leave your email address if you'd like to signup for new unit playtests. Here's the link: https://forms.gle/PJn5c66JoyJRFtTKA

Last but not least we were lucky enough to be featured on Wargamer this month. You can find the article here: https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-40k-meets-gundam-mechastellar

Roster Update Summary
-Mobile Fighter G Gundam - Added 17 Units
-Mobile Suit Gundam - Zeon - Added 2 Units

Lastly, here are two battle reports for units from G Gundam


https://mechastellar.com/2023/03/23/ms-battle-report-g-gundam-shuffle-alliance-tag-team/


https://mechastellar.com/2023/04/17/ms-battle-report-g-gundam-gundam-maxter-dragon-vs-zeus-and-royal-gundam/

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/05/01 11:39:54


 
   
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Regular Dakkanaut





This looks really exciting but 1/400 Gundam stuff has become quite expensive lately. Is there any groups trying to build a 3d printable library for games like these?
   
Made in us
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Italy

There's probably some fans out there who are doing stls, I haven't personally gone searching myself. If you haven't had any luck finding the 1/400 on ebay you can always check out buyer / Mercari.
You can also use larger figures as well, pictures above are MSIA figures, you can also use gunpla just use larger terrain to go with it.
   
Made in ca
Fresh-Faced New User




I've been building up a little force of Converge and Ensemble mobile suits, which I was planning to use with Mobile Suit Skirmish, but I might give this ruleset a shot since it seems to be more actively supported atm.

Re: STLs, I thought there would be more too. I did recently run across this guy who has a number of faithful recreations available in ~28mm scale:
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/federation-enclave-og-battlesuits
   
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Italy

Ensemble has a nice range for SD figures, I ended up picking up their Epyon since it's so rare to find a small scale version of him.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the MechaStellar rules. We're updating to VER 9 within the next two weeks. No major change to Gundam units, its primarily to simplify the rules for people who like to use Super Robots and Kaiju.
   
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Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

For this month's roster update we have the Braves series, also known as the Yuusha series. The Braves series was a long running Super Robot series from the 90s produced by the animation studio Sunrise (most well known for Gundam and countless other Mecha series) and sponsored by Takara. The Braves series produced 8 shows over the decade, each show is independent of each other but have recurring themes and designs. For this month we are releasing units from the first show, The Brave Fighter Exkizer, as well as the final and most well known show The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar.

Exkizer is an episodic show aimed at a younger audience, featuring the eponymous Exkizer who takes over the sportscar of the protagonist father in order to chase down and stop the space pirate Geisters who have taken over the bodies of giant robot dinosaurs. The arch rival of the show Dinogeist is also featured as a playable unit.

GaoGaiGar is the final show in the Braves series with very impressive production values for a 1997 TV show. It star's a Mamoru Amami, an alien child who arrives on earth in the mouth of a giant robot lion and is adopted by a local earth family, as well as Guy Shishioh, a cyborg and former astronaut who pilots the mighty robot GaoGaiGar to defeat the mechanized beings that threaten Earth and previously destroyed Mamoru's home planet.

In addition to some fantastic combination and approval sequences with the support staff GaoGaiGar is also one of the more over the top shows in the Braves series. GaoGaiGar is powered by raw courage and spirit, we see it rip the core out of enemy machines and use a gravity hammer to obliterate massive machines and even the moons of Jupiter. As such we wanted to represent such a powerful weapon well on the tabletop. Currently the Goldion Hammer is the strongest melee weapon in MechaStellar and your opponent's will certainly regret facing it. It's tempered by Momentum costs, as well as a Safety release protocol straight from the show which limits when you can use it.

Next month we'll have additional units from GaoGaiGar including King J-Der, Gekiryujin, Mic Saunders and Star GaoGaiGar. You can find the unit profiles on the game downloads page: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

The Core Rules update for MechaStellar VER9 is all complete but we'll be using the next couple days to finish proofreading the rules and unit profiles. If all goes well expect all the other series to be updated to the VER9 layout on Friday.

Lastly but not least, here's a battle report featuring the GaoGaiGar units versus a zonderized Federation force.

   
Made in it
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Italy

Good evening Dakkanauts,

Today we’re releasing MechaStellar VER9, thank you for all the feedback on the draft rules, profile and layout updates. Latest rules and unit profiles can be found on here: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

Below you will find a summary of updates for VER9 as well as a roster rebalance to go along with the new layout. The VER9 Design Goals post covers several of these updates in detail. In the interest of space I'll keep the important parts below and the full change log can be seen here.

VER 9 Core Rules Updates

-Super Titans type split into Super Titan (Super Robot) and Kaiju / Super Heavy (Jaeger, Megadeus)
-Power is no longer a requirement for Super Titans and Kaiju, they now operate the same as a MS does choosing a weapon and firing solely with actions.
-The Power stat now provides a bonus to your attacks. For Kaiju / Super Heavies it is named Havoc and provides an alternate bonus.
-Not every unit will have a Power or Havoc stat, typically it is used for very powerful units, or ones who specialize in throwing their opponents and destroying terrain.
-Updated Crash Through rules under Full Throttle & Destroy Terrain
-Cut down on mental math for Indirect Fire
-Added Throw Terrain under Shooting Attack
-Added Target Lock which gives +1 ARM PEN in Sensors range.
-Moved Expert Evasion to the core rules as replacement for Flawless Evasion for small size games. Updated cost to be [M-X]
-Updated the SRW Module
-Updated Destroy Terrain. Added Dangerous Terrain

Mecha Unit Profiles

-The new Super Titan type gains +1 Evade but have lower HP compared to a Kaiju / Super Heavy.
-Performance 5+ Super Titans now gain a Movement & HP bonus
-Rebalanced multiple units from Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Big O, Evangelion, G & Gundam Wing and a handful of UC Gundam units. Fixed errors on GaoGaiGar & Dino Geist.
-Updated Ambusher to be first attack within 24″ to close a loophole with Snipers and Artillery taking a very powerful +10pt upgrade
-Upgraded Newtype to also reroll Melee DEF dice
-HP boost to units with Super Alloy Z, Gundarium Armor & Cast in the Name of God
-Updated This Hand of Mine and similar abilities to be Round 3+ to prevent Alpha striking

Weapons

-Upgraded Beam Spray Gun, Shotgun, Needle Missiles, Gatling Guns, Heat Whips, Boomerang, Rocket Drills, Flamethrowers
-Updated Shield’s bonus Block to be vs DMG instead of PEN.
-Upgraded several weapons in G Gundam, Wing & Evangelion.

Wargame Rules & Mission Packs

-Added several options to Unit Upgrades

Unit Roster Update

-Added 5 Units from GaoGaiGar and 4 Units from Exkizer.
-Added the following units: Shin Matsunaga’s Zaku II, Gato’s Rick Dom, Roy Greenwood’s Dom Tropical Test Type, Siemen’s Gelgoog High Mobility R Type, GP02 with Antiship Rifle, Dra-C Heavy Custom, Big Zam (Mass Produced), Alex piloted by Amuro,
-Added the following units: Romeo Blue, Horizong Brave, Tresspasser (Kaiju), Getter-1 (Musashi), Boss Borot (Toei)
-Updated all mecha unit profiles to the VER9 layout to improve readability and cut down on empty space. Consolidated several profiles for Federation and Zeon and instead provided weapon loadout options. This trimmed down the page count considerably. For example The VER 8 Federation layout had 86 profiles on 26 pages, VER9 layout cuts it down to 75 profiles on 16 pages.

Here's an example of the old layout

Here's an example of the new layout

And one for GMs


This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2023/06/30 12:56:09


 
   
Made in it
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Italy

Good afternoon Dakkanauts,

For this month’s update we are adding additional units from The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar. This includes the massive King J-Der, upgraded forms of the original characters released last month, along with Gekiryujin and lastly the rock and roll robot Mic Saunders the 13th. We are also adding in our first Stellar Warships from a Super Robot series with the Amaterasu, the Izanagi and Susanoh.

King J-Der is the rival to our protagonist GaoGaiGar, he is an enemy of the 31 Machine Primevals and thus frequently finds himself fighting on the same side as GaoGaiGar. Gekiryujin is the younger counterpart to Chouryujin, who grows the most after watching the altruistic nature of Choryujin (formed by the two brothers HoRyu & EnRyu). Lastly, Mic Saunders the 13th is often the comic relief but also the more unique robot of the series, using different discs and harmonics to accomplish a wide variety of effects. You can also include his 12 brothers to form a brigade on the tabletop.

We have a post on GaoGaiGar gashapon miniatures and larger figures such as Super Minipla and Super Robot Chogokin here: https://mechastellar.com/2023/04/28/mechastellar-gaogaigar-miniatures-and-other-yuusha-series/

Next month will be a Gundam roster update.
   
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Italy

Good afternoon Dakkanauts,

For this month's update we are adding new units from Gundam Wing including some units requested by one of our all-star players that come from side story manga called Gundam Wing G-Unit, and was released in the US as Gundam Wing Last Outpost. https://mechastellar.com/2023/07/31/mechastellar-monthly-roster-update-july-2023/

First up we have the upgraded version for most of the Gundam Wing pilots including Deathscythe Hell, Altron, Sandrock Custom and Heavy Arms Custom. We are using the Endless Waltz (EW) versions for imagery but we are keeping some of the original weaponry such as Sandrocks Beam Submachinegun and Altron's Beam Stinger which were not present in the EW Movie. Heavy Arms however, we kept the greatly expanded loadout from EW because who doesn't love 4x Gatling Guns.

In addition to that we've expanded the unit roster for Oz with the Taurus and Virgo units. While the Taurus is present in the Gundam 1/400 collection the Virgo unfortunately is not. You can however find SD versions of the Virgo which we have used in playtesting, it's a little bigger and bulkier but at least the height is close enough to the 1/400 scale. These mobile dolls are powerful units and we've opted to try and make them as cheap as possible while maintaining their key abilities, this way your Gundam Wing pilots can mow them down by the dozens.

As a reminder you can always use proxy figures while playing, if you have a dozen 1/400 Rick Doms and want to use them as Virgo's instead, go nuts! Some ingenious players will use standees to hold a printed out image of a Mobile Suit, similar to what you'd see in a lot of board games where a tiny plastic clip (standee) is holding up a cardstock image instead of a traditional miniature. And of course there are always virtual tabletops.

We've also included the Tallgeese II piloted by Treize Kushrenada, the Virgo II from White Fang, and the Mercurius and Vayeate used by Heero and Trowa while they fought off Quatre in the Wing Zero. (Wing Zero & Epyon along with Burning & Master Gundam are Tier 3 units and we're holding off on those for a while longer).

Gundam Wing G-Unit / The Last Outpost is a sidestory taking place near the end of the TV series before White Fang is defeated. A colony that was developed Gundams comes into conflict with an Elite OZ unit, the Stardust Knights. We've included the custom Leos from the Stardust Knights as well as the variants for the Mecurius and Vayeate that appear in the sidestory. The principal protagonists and antagonists, the G-Units, Hydra Gundam and others will be released at a later date, they still need additional time for development and playtesting.

That's all for this month, we have another Gundam update next month then after that we will have Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!

Mecha Profiles can be found on the downloads page here: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/07/31 12:37:51


 
   
Made in it
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Italy

Good afternoon Dakkanauts,

For this month's roster update we have a long awaited update to the Stellar Warship roster for Mobile Suit Gundam. In addition to standard ship of the line units like the Magellan class battleship or the Chivvay heavy cruiser we've also expanded the roster to include heavy hitters like the Gwazine and the infamous White Base.



We've also included several variants such as the Thouroughbred, Grey Phantom and 0083's Albion as well as the iconic Zanzbiar for Char as well as Cima Garahau. You can find them on the game downloads page here: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

Gundam X is still primarily in the testing phase as we decide what Tier we want the grunt suits to be in. In the meantime the main three Gundam's from the show are available on the VER9 Drafts page. We've also included the Combattler V draft based off the last poll. You can find them here: https://mechastellar.com/ver9-drafts/

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/08/30 14:55:21


 
   
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Italy

For this month's update we have long awaited Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! This is a fondly remembered mecha show that became a phenomenon when it first released in 2007 being picked up by a large swath of the anime blogging community and soaring in popularity on various image message boards and forums being enjoyed by mecha fans and general viewers alike, it was later picked up for US Broadcast in 2008.




Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TTGL) was created by the anime studio Gainax, for most overseas fans their most notable production at this point was Neon Genesis Evangelion, TTGL was a big hit and produced a series of movies as well as some animated shorts called "Parallel Works" which took the cast of TTGL and placed them in difference universes with the fantasy-style knights or the spiral king being the most memorable shorts. The series was remarkably popular and a large number of staff on the project would then go on to create their own company called Studio Trigger. Trigger has produced shows like SSSS.Gridman as well as the recent Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

TTGL itself can be seen as a love letter and a homage to previous mecha shows. One Super Robot Series that Gurren Lagann drew most heavily from is Getter Robo. Getter Robo, following hot on the heels of Mazinger Z, was the first combining Super Robot, and combining (Gattai!) is rather quintessential to Gurren Lagann as well. Furthermore there are a number of parallels with Getter Rays and Spiral Energy, and an outside alien force trying to suppress mankind because they are afraid of their potential, along with massive scale final robots with the Getter Emperor large enough to eat planets and the TTGL large enough to throw galaxies.

It's also not the first time Gainax has referenced Getter Robo, Gunbuster's infamous pose which is echoed in TTGL was originally shown in Getter Robo G manga, and Gunbuster had a number of scrapped weapons that looked remarkably like Getter Axes while it's face and beam are quite similar to Getter Dragon and the Getter Emperor.

Some have theorized that Gurren Lagann can be considered a pseudo sequel to Getter Robo whose story never finished when its creator passed away. In Getter Robo the story ended around the plot point of "what could be trapping the Getter Emperor inside the solar system" and the answer to that in the Gurren Lagann universe is the Anti-Spirals.

Most important of all is the involvement of Kazuki Nakashima the head writer for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Allow me to paraphrase and summarize an excellent analysis some anonymous soul once offered to me in a Getter thread.

'Nakashima was the editor for Ken Ishikawa who created Getter Robo and is self-described as his number one fan. Ken'ichi Ishikawa had died suddenly and without warning, Nakashima was greatly impacted by this and was called on to speak at Ishikawa's funeral. Getter Robo which the two had worked closely on, and invented combining robots, would never be complete.

Now look at the themes of TTGL. It is about a man experiencing the sudden death of the person he most admired, and trying to continue his legacy but realizing he can't just be a copy of him and sometimes will have to do things his own way. That friend who came up with the idea of combining robots together (Simon let's Gattai!). That friend whose name starts with a K and is three syllables.

Kamina is Ishikawa himself. Ishikawa as Nakashima saw him.'


It's a very moving analysis and one I had never considered before, but it seems rather obvious in retrospect. As a fan of Getter Robo it's given me a newfound appreciation for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and the people who worked on it, especially Kazuki Nakashima whose work I would consider a wonderful tribute and farewell to his friend and mentor Ken Ishikawa.

You can find the new mecha unit profiles for Gurren Lagann and King Kittan as well as Getter Robo G on the MechaStellar downloads page. Next month will be a continuation for TTGL and we will have units for the other Gunmen and Dai-Gurren battleship. We will cover the post timeskip mecha when we start releasing Tier 3 units for other series. This month we'll also post a guide for Gurren Lagann minis and figures to use on the tabletop as well as two battle reports featuring Gurren Lagann. Hope you all enjoyed reading and best of luck on your next tabletop mecha game.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/09/30 17:01:45


 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







Thanks for the writeup!

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Made in it
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

Thanks for reading!

As an addendum to the previous post, here is the miniatures guide to using small and large figures of Gurren Lagann and the Ganmen of the Gurren Brigade while playing Mechastellar.

https://mechastellar.com/2023/10/05/ms-gurren-lagann-miniatures/

   
 
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