Meka Tac – Giant Stompy Robots Edition at Fall In!

<< Convention Game >>

There will be a Meka Tac – GSRE game at HMGS-E Fall In!

F: 307 Giant Stompy Robots - Rumble In The Rubble

Scheduled for Friday, November 6^th, at 1pm. It’ll be an 8-player game, two mechs per player (up to 16 mechs on the table), and with all the bells and whistles: action cards, strategic support cards, pilot skills, and the soon to be released mission cards. It will be open table with terrain – both town and country - but could just as easily been played on hex maps. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting articles about the game, examples of mechs, and new rules.  

<< CONVENTION GAME UPDATE! >>

A quick shot of both the table and the mecha for the upcoming game. A couple tweaks were all that was needed. And a few more lengths of road.

 The final dress rehearsal held at the club

before next week's game at FALL IN!

By next week there will be over 30 mechs to choose from.

<< Mecha >>

Mecha are the primary fighting machines on the battlefields of Meka Tac - GSRE. They vary in size and shape, though most are anthropomorphic, and range from 3 to 6 stories in height. A mech’s size – from 2 to 12 – determines the mech’s speed, armament, reaction time, toughness, and capacity. Think of the mech size number as 10s of tons, and you have a traditional anime giant, stompy robot. The Meka Tac lets players purchase weapons and other systems, enabling them to use mech figures they already have in their collection.

The figure is a long out-of-production “KMM-22 Warlord” (1018) for the Mekton II rpg. Cast in 3 pieces: main body and 2 saws. Height: 48mm. Mounted on an MDF hex base. I wish this range would come back into production.

And here is mech sheet for use in Meka Tac – GSRE with stats for use on an open table with terrain. All the information about each mecha is printed on a mech sheet. It can fit on a 4” x 6” index card, or “fit to page” on a 3'” x 5” card. 

In the left column you find:

Mech Size – The number that determines (among other things) how mechs are built. A mech size of 8 give the mecha 8 spaces to place weapons and other systems. Mech construction does not deal with weight or cost, just how many spaces the components take up in the mech’s frame. Except for a few critical hit effects and some special systems, the game isn’t concerned with specific parts of the mech like the head, arms, legs, or torso.
 

Move Points – Determined by mech size. A size 8 mech has a base move of 10, and +8 move points for having jump jets. 

Initiative Mod – Based on mech size. A d10 is rolled for each mech plus its initiative mod and any other modifiers. Mechs then activate in order of highest to lowest initiative roll. Smaller mechs tend to activate before larger mechs.  

Size Class – Mechs come in three size classes: small (mech size 2 – 4), medium (5 – 8), and large (9 -12). This mech is a medium. Certain systems like jump jets and flight systems take up more space or are not available the larger mechs.  

Punch/Kick – Size class also dictates how much damage the mecha inflicts in melee. Even if all its weapons are depleted or destroyed, a mech can still punch or kick an opponent. 

The center of the mech sheet lists all the weapons and other systems.

Melee Weapon – Sword, axe, club, etc. In this case, it’s a saw mounted on each of the mech’s forearms. Each has a weapon arc of 180° centered on the left [L] and right [R] side. Left and right arcs overlap the width of the base, as do front [F] and back [B] arcs. On a successful to hit roll of 7 or higher (7+) on a d10, they do 2d6 points of damage to the target. All attacks are rolled separately. The range is hand-to-hand (HTH) so the attacker must be in base-to-base contact with the intended target to strike. Ammo is unlimited, so each saw can be used once per activation.  

Rail Gun – A decent-sized slug thrower loaded with artificial intelligence (AI) ammunition, granting a +1 on to hit rolls (+1 TH). Some weapons have the option of high explosive (HE) ammunition with a 3” blast radius area effect (3” AE) damaging all mechs in a 6” diameter circle centered on one target mecha, or armor piercing (AP) ammo that does an additional point of damage (+1 DAM). One rail gun is mounted on each arm, under the saws. Like the melee weapons, each has a weapon arc of 180° centered on the left [L] and right [R] side. A successful hit does 2d6 damage to the intended target, and they have a range of 16”. Ammunition is limited to 10 rounds each.

A note on weapon arcs: all the weapons could have just as easily been set to the front 180° arc, but as they were arm mounted, so left and right fit the look of the mech. Torso mounted weapons tend to have front arcs. Weapon arcs can also represent that force’s training doctrine. The above mech could have all its weapons forward facing. It’s up to the players. Just once arcs are set, they cannot be changed during a game.

Jump Jets – This gives the mech 8 additional move points, and the ability to leap through the air or skim over the ground. Vertical and horizontal movement may be mixed in the same activation, and regular move points can be used for jumping. The only restriction is that the mech must land by the end of its activation. If not, then the mecha could take falling damage depending how far up they were. Mechs using move points from jump jets or flight systems are +1 to be hit by all attacks until their next activation.  

The right column is where the rest of the recordkeeping happens.

Pilot Hits – A pilot can take six points of damage. Or, more accurately, the cockpit can absorb 5 points of damage, and the pilot only 1. The pilot is always the last point of damage taken on a pilot hit. If a piloting check is needed, it’s the current number of remaining pilot hits or less on a d6 roll.

Mech Hits – How much abuse the mech can take before being destroyed and becoming a cover-granting piece of terrain. This mech can take 80 points of damage. Yes, it’s mech size x 10. 

Next article about the Meka Tac - GSRE rules may be found here!

<< FREE STUFF!!! >>

The current version of Meka Tac – Giant Stompy Robots Edition is available IN THE DOWNLOADS SECTION, in the GIANT STOMPY ROBOTS portion of rivetsandsteam.com as well as PDFs of all the cards and counters, quick reference sheets (QRS) and other resources. The second edition is in the works.  

A portion of Giant Stompy Robots Forum (a parallel development) has been set aside for discussing Meka Tac! Please stop by and post your questions, after action reports, and photos of your games!

<< END 105 >>