Here we have the upstart Badland Circuit. Their combat arena is a bit haphazard, but the quality of the competitors has managed to draw the sponsors despite that.
Competing today are the season favorites, The Adders piloting a Paxton Gladiator and a Territorial Arms Black Mamba. They face of with the newest team to make the pro-league, the Fire Ferrets (not affiliated with probenders). The Ferrets are running a Territorial Arms Dartjäger and a NorthCo Hunter XMG. Whoever is backing the new kids isn't afraid to layout the credits!
It's been a careful start, the Adders don't underestimate anyone and have been waiting for the rookies to make a mistake. But the Ferrets have things to do and have been puting the Hunter's Panzerfaust to good use while the Dartjäger heads for the jump ramp.
It's been a lot of fun so far, hopefully I can for ish it up this afternoon.
Saw this and thought, 'Someone is playing Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack'? I'm not familiar with Heavy Gear Arena though. I was interested in HG years ago, and interest seemed to dwindle out in my area, so never really got into it. Actually I assumed HG had gone the way of OoP, but now, thanks to your post, I have yet another thing to delve off into...
ReplyDeleteJohn Risus I've played two games so far, and I'm glad I finally got into the ruelbook. The thing that has set Arena apart is the combo system. Most wargames, mechs included, have special traits or abilities. Those are here too. The mech frame list and weapon list is extensive. The movement rules took longer for me to grasp than they should have, but they make sense.
ReplyDeleteBut the combos are what grabbed me. They allow you to chain together special moves as long as you keep succeeding on the skill rolls or until you've hit your pilot's max combo. Imagine the scene in the Matrix when neo walks into the building they are holding Morpheus in. When the metal detector goes off and all hell breaks loose. As Neo transitions from one move to the next, and bullet casing fall in his wake. That's the feel that the combo chains are meant to evoke, and for me it certainly succeeded.
Geoff Osterberg, that sounds pretty cool. Is it a single buy in thing or do you have a bunch of aplat/army list books to 'get into it'?
ReplyDeleteJohn Risus it's a single book. The text indicated that there would be more expansions, but as far as I can tell poor sales ended the system after the one book.
ReplyDeleteGeoff Osterberg my son is old enough to start building with standard sized legos. Is there a good place to buy a big set for "general purpose" building, or am I better off scouring eBay for random lots of them?
ReplyDeleteSpencer Salyer eBay is a good place for bulk Legos. They do sell the Creator Sets that come with 700 pieces for around $40. You can find more for cheaper, but for your son I'd go with official and new to avoid lead content in Asian market knockoffs or dirty used sets.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Geoff! I found the "classic" sets in various sizes that look like a good starting point.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be some highly rated generic sets on Amazon that fit well. One was from a Californian company, but I didn't notice if they were actually made in USA or not. I hadn't considered lead issues, so thanks for bringing that up. We do have immune issues in our family, so we would take precautions with used sets. Thanks for the tips. ;-)
If only I still had my own childhood collection with plenty of the medieval / fantasy pieces!