Author Topic: Giant Robots? Anyone?  (Read 3236 times)

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the_taken

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Giant Robots? Anyone?
« on: May 22, 2008, 10:59:10 PM »
I wondering what people's experience with table top games that revolve around Mecha has been like. My experience has been unfavorable.

WH40k Epic has really big war machines, but the focus of the game is on having massive amounts of units, end the result is that Titans are basically "bigger" GW vehicles, and not sophisticated entities. The complexity of 40Kepic comes from the strategy of the whole army, not the tactics of an individual squad like a D&D party.

Classic Battletech, AKA Mech Warrior, is a step too far in the opposite direction. Each mech is an incredibly complicated assortment of numbers, up to the point where the game actually bogs down when there's more than two mechs on the field. Additionally, the allure of this style is the same as 40K epic, where keeping track of the large number of variables and using them effectively is the big challenge.

Distraught with the lack of a suitable game, I started making my own: Battles of the Star Angels and Space Devils, in which my current PbP game is also set in.

But enough about me. What about you guys out there?

AndyJames

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2008, 11:57:36 PM »
I loved Classic BTech. I can still built a 'Mech from scratch in my head, so the number aspects of it is not a problem for me. In fact, I have modified and merged aspects of World of Darkness/Shadowrun (due to the simplicity of the dots system) into the CBT Mech system in order to create a more comprehensive RP experience (repeat after me: "Mechwarrior RPG does not exist. Mechwarrior RPG does not exist. Mechwarrior RPG does not exist.").

 :lol

Stratovarius

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2008, 12:02:30 AM »
I love, and still play, the classic battletech. For those who want a slightly easier to use version, there's the MegaMek java based game, which has all of the mechs that have appeared in official books, split across three tech levels. I would certainly considered BattleTech to be the premier large robot warfare game out there, I've just never seen one that can surpass it.
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the_taken

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2008, 01:37:21 AM »
I would certainly considered BattleTech to be the premier large robot warfare game out there, I've just never seen one that can surpass it.

I'm not done yet...

Josh

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2008, 04:14:00 AM »
Make a better giant robot Game and the world will beat a path to your door.
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Nebo

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2008, 09:28:43 PM »
Unless the giant robots are steam powered, they're not for me. And they have to be called Warjacks.

heffroncm

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2008, 11:50:56 AM »
Unless the giant robots are steam powered, they're not for me. And they have to be called Warjacks.

+1.  Billion.

Warmachine from Privateer Press fills my need for giant mecha, even though they are magical steam-powered semi-intelligent golems "driven" by a nearby mage.  The miniatures game has a lot of satisfying over-the-top to it.  It can get bogged down by infantry-heavy tacitcs, but the company is working to correct this with the latest sourcebook.

The setting is also available as a d20 based steampunk RPG, the Iron Kingdoms.

Damn, I feel like I should be getting paid I'm pimping PP so hard today.

Nebo

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2008, 09:47:24 PM »
Quote
Damn, I feel like I should be getting paid I'm pimping PP so hard today.

And they deserve every word of it.

Josh

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2008, 03:54:16 AM »

The setting is also available as a d20 based steampunk RPG, the Iron Kingdoms.


Ugh.  That book is terrible.  The world is so cool, it deserves so much better.  It is in my list of games that I would like to re-write well.
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heffroncm

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Re: Giant Robots? Anyone?
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2008, 04:30:21 PM »
I honestly haven't read the Iron Kingdoms RPG books.  I've read many articles in No Quarter that relate to the d20 game, and have a wealth of background information from all the Warmachine and Hordes books I own.  The fluff alone makes it worth running a game in that setting IMO.  I'll have to give the Iron Kingdoms books a good read next time I get access to them.