So I guess when I said "I'm making good progress with Mythic Bastionland as my main focus" I awakened the dormant curse of distraction, because I spend yesterday dicking around with MAC Attack. Yes I even wasted time with a little cover mock-up.
Well you know how this goes by now. This enemy can't be fought, it must be fed.
So today's post is a Battle Report for a playtest of MAC Attack. This isn't designed to teach the game, as much as give a general impression of what a small clash looks like.
If you want to follow along with the rules then go and read them, they're only a few pages.
Recent Changes
This is one of those games I keep tinkering away at in the background, so it's a sort of game design by a thousand cuts method. Since I last posted about the game the big changes are:
Simplified movement options
Simplified MACs, which now all get 6 modules
Simplified weapon ranges
Reworked weapon types to give more variety
More interesting hardware choices
The Forces
For this one we're using the minimum viable force of 3 MACs with a few Auxiliary Units to round us up to 50pts each. We're using the random scenario generator included in the doc.
THE GREEN COMPANY Mercenaries sent in to disrupt a local militia group. The Grizzly is a ridiculous melee MAC loaded up with one-shot explosives to fire off as they close in. The Buzzard is a long range fire support MAC also packing one-shot X-type weapons alongside their MagCannons, accuracy enhanced by an Optics module. The Python is a cloaked sniper MAC, ideally sitting in cover taking long-range shots at slow-moving targets.
BUZZARD (16pts) Class 2 MAC 1: LP3 MagCannons 2: LB2-X MacroRockets 3: LB2-X MacroRockets 4: Optics 5: Coolant 6: Coolant
PYTHON (10pts) Class 1 MAC 1: LP4 IonBeams 2: Optics 3: Cloak 4: Patch 5: Patch 6: Insulant
THE RED MILITIA Local defence forces trying to regroup at a nearby stronghold.
The Shocker is designed to fire off as many piercing shots at possible, best used against slow moving targets. The Quicksilver uses thermal weaponry to flush enemies out of cover or overload the heat capacity of rival MACs. The Guerrilla is held together cost-reducing Patch modules and packs a nasty punch with a single salvo of cluster bombs, reduced to a somewhat pathetic gun array when those are expended.
3x HEAVY INFANTRY SQUADS (9pts) Infantry 2x SP1 IonGun
QUICKSILVER (11pts) Class 1 MAC 1: SB3-T Burner 2: LP1-T PlasmaGun 3: Servo 4: Patch 5: Radiator 6: Radiator
GUERRILLA (10pts) Class 1 MAC 1: SB3-X ClusterBombs 2: SB1 GunArray 3: Cloak 4: Radiator 5: Patch 6: Patch
The Battlefield Marked with 9 potential deployment positions as per the scenario generator.
Green Objective Destroy the Red Guerrilla MAC, piloted by a charismatic militia recruiter.
Green Deployment Turn 1 - Grizzly and Tanks enter from point 1. Turn 2 - Buzzard enters from point 2, Python enters from point 4.
Red Objective Extract the Shocker MAC from point 1, where they are able to call in for support.
Red Deployment Turn 1 - Shocker and Infantry enter from point 7. Turn 2 - Quicksilver enters from point 6, Guerrilla enters from point 9.
Twist: Coldsnap - MACs Cool an extra Heat in the Cooldown phase.
In MAC Attack objectives are checked at the end of each turn from the end of Turn 3 onwards. If both sides complete their objective on the same turn then the side that sustained the fewest points of casualties wins. Here Red will have to juggle keeping both the Shocker and Guerrilla alive. The latter especially really isn't built to sustain much fire, so the question is whether Green can force these two units into a fight.
Do you wish your MACs were more authentically... bad?
Play with Bad MACsmode, where each MAC must have a Flaw.
Expect the full post here and on the blog next week. Thanks for reading Bastionland Presser! Subscribe for free to receive new posts straight into your inbox.
