Switch Theme:

Gundam Miniatures Game.  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Charing Cold One Knight





Sticksville, Texas

So I am thinking of making a game based off of the One Year War in the Universal Century timeliness using the 1/144 HGUC model kits. Would love some guidance as I work my way through this, I think it could be real fun.

-First step though, which anime do I want to use to start off with?

Narrowed it down to two, the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and the 08th MS Team.

It's hard to beat the original Gundam. However, if I am making a game that focuses on ground based mobile suit conflict, the Federation as a faction would be quite boring. The anime focuses on mainly the RX-78-2 Gundam, Guntank and Guncannon. The GM isn't very fleshed out and we don't see a lot of it's variations. Also, three of the four Federation mobile suits are prototypes piloted by main characters, so battles would be very one sided with the Zeon player losing Zakus in droves. The Zeon faction on the other hand has a plethora of mobile suit models to make for a interesting and varied force, but are almost useless against the RX-78-2 Gundam, and that player would probably end up getting disheartened pulling model after model off the table while doing very little to the Federation side (unless I scale the power of the Federation down, or make the Zeon more effective).

I think that I am going to start with using the 08th MS Team as the basis for my game. The Federation has a greater variety in the way it's forces are armed, and they use far more mass production mobile suits, allowing people to come up with their own back story for their pilots. The Zeon also have a great variety of mobile suits in this series as well, and the fights seem far more even.

-The next question, how big do I want the game to be?

I was thinking of 4-7 models per side. That roughly keeps the game at about $100-120 for a full army. I was thinking of having the models placed on circular bases, I think 90mm should work.

-What kind of game mechanic?

I want to use dice, specifically D12 dice. I think that they will give a greater variation in pilot and skill levels to serve my purpose. I also want alternating activation for this game as well, the game will be small enough that it should be easy to implement.

-Table Size?

With the models being about 4.5" tall, the weapon ranges are going to be fairly large, probably around 30-36" for standard weapons, and 12-18" for head mounted vulcan cannons. I think that 4x6 is common enough that it should work to represent skirmishes between two mobile suit squads.

...will come up with more. These were just my initial notes while brainstorming. Is this something you guys would be interested in?
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





I'm always a little shocked there isn't a good anime style mech game out there. I'd LOVE to see something akin to Armored Core but HG MSG kits are a good call for a homebrew system.

What size terrain are you thinking? 15 mm?

Mechanically, the one downside of Gundam is that there isn't a lot that separates mobile suits from any other war game. Damaged limbs would probably be the big one as well as managing ammo to necessitate switching weapons during battle.

MS08 is perfect for a skirmish kind of game and you could pretty easily make it the bedrock for some of the more exotic super suits from the series. Those things have room for more complex mechanics with NewTypes and the like, but that would be easier to design if you get the grunts to where you like them first.
   
Made in us
Charing Cold One Knight





Sticksville, Texas

 LunarSol wrote:
I'm always a little shocked there isn't a good anime style mech game out there. I'd LOVE to see something akin to Armored Core but HG MSG kits are a good call for a homebrew system.

What size terrain are you thinking? 15 mm?

Mechanically, the one downside of Gundam is that there isn't a lot that separates mobile suits from any other war game. Damaged limbs would probably be the big one as well as managing ammo to necessitate switching weapons during battle.

MS08 is perfect for a skirmish kind of game and you could pretty easily make it the bedrock for some of the more exotic super suits from the series. Those things have room for more complex mechanics with NewTypes and the like, but that would be easier to design if you get the grunts to where you like them first.


I was thinking along the same lines for bringing in other kits, since the Gundam in 08th MS Team are much more toned down that the others in the Universal Century. As the core rules are refined and I work on the balance for the lower powered suits, coming up with rules for named characters and their customized suits should be easy enough.

15mm sounds like it should work well enough.

I was thinking of splitting each mobile suit into six sections (head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg) for damage. When taking damage, roll a D12 and it is applied to that section. I also want to incorporate a called shot mechanic (with negatives to hit) to finish off off sections of the mobile suit and cripple it.

I will probably make unit cards so that damage and ammo can be tracked with a dry erase marker to make it easier.

Currently watching 08th MS Team, and I forgot how much more gritty it is than the other UC Timeline series. Love it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Plus, the Gundams in 08th MS Team have been known to be heavily customized by their crews since they were mostly made of spare parts from the RX-78-2 Gundam and parts were limited for repairs. I think guys who enjoy having variations between their suits or conversions would enjoy it more.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/06/22 21:46:17


 
   
Made in us
Infiltrating Prowler





Portland, OR

There are variations of rules for Gundam in multiple formats. I'm not saying that to stop you, just making you aware that there are resources you might look into that might have some relevance to your design process. At the very least something to take examples from for things, you don't like or do like. As a side note, I've usually considered Heavy Gear (one of the variations) for Gundam rules.

Mobile Suit Gundam w/ Star Wars X-Wing rules
Mobile Suit Gundam: Skirmish
MS Era

 NH Gunsmith wrote:
-The next question, how big do I want the game to be?

-What kind of game mechanic?

-Table Size?

With the models being about 4.5" tall, the weapon ranges are going to be fairly large, probably around 30-36" for standard weapons, and 12-18" for head mounted vulcan cannons. I think that 4x6 is common enough that it should work to represent skirmishes between two mobile suit squads.

...will come up with more. These were just my initial notes while brainstorming. Is this something you guys would be interested in?
Skirmish based size, basically the size of a typical show. Usually 2-6 Federation (less if Gundam) vs 10 Zeon.

The X-Wing game mechanics work out well for this type of game in terms of movement. I think you are better off using the smaller Gundam toys (1/400) instead of 1/144 model kits personally and playing on a 4'x4' game table.
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan





SoCal

My group has been working on a Gundam game using Team Yankee as a base, works pretty well for the style of the show.

I may be able to convince them to post them online.

   
Made in us
Charing Cold One Knight





Sticksville, Texas

Very neat! Thanks for the advice, I will look into those.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






Cheltenham, UK

Ground-based gundams with support units and d12s?

I mean, I know this is tooting my own horn and all, but it sounds like Horizon Wars is exactly the game you're looking for.

Yes, it was designed for the micro-scales of 2-10mm, but if you're not fussed about the granularity of infantry combat, it will be just fine at 15mm (1/100).

R.

   
Made in us
Corporal





Northeastern Maryland

I have my own complete ruleset and stat cards. Where you live? My game will be at Historicon in Fredericksburg, VA as well as Fall-In and Cold Wars in Lancaster, PA. In fact, check out our blog and FB page.
http://gravityfront.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MSG.thegravityfront/?ref=bookmarks

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/06/24 18:09:07


Only in death does duty end! 
   
 
Forum Index » Game Design
Go to: