First Tripod vs Tripod Clash

[OldGuy59]

I didn't get to play-test the tripod rules before the release of the Kickstarter, so I had no idea how it might play out. This past Thursday, I made use of my gaming day with Mike to try out the rules.

This was the only time I really read through the rules, and it was a bit of a surprise. Because tripods attack with pretty much only Heat-rays when combating other tripods, Black Smoke was not considered. Initially. Also, the X and Y decks are not used. X Heat-rays use the A deck for damaging tripods, and Y Heat-rays use the B deck. I assume this is done because there is no Martian damage on the X and Y decks.


Without much preparation, I dug out the City map, and threw four objectives down about mid-way across the map, to provide recharge opportunities. The objective of the game was to kill the other tripods. I didn't take many pictures, as this was a hard-fought battle (read: slug-fest), with not many memorable moments.

One shot of the close-in fighting:


We used Martian vs Martian, so the iniatives were matched. I played the Red Martians, Mike played the Green. Fucia circles were two of the four objectives.

Energy management was tough, with Heat-ray shield hits stripping away up to 5 energy cubes at a time! I hit Mike several times with nearly no effect, due to zeros on the shields, but Mike did nearly wipe out my Locust energy reserves with a few high point hits. Unshielded shots were not hard to get, but even with double damage, the high resistance gave the tripods a lot of staying power. It was the special damage that hurt. Pilot wounds were particularly crippling. Not being able to shoot on the move seriously impacted maneuver choices, and I opted to stand and fight, rather than move and dodge. We had to call the game, as we ran out of time (almost three hours). All the tripods were still on the table, although my Scarab was mauled, as was Mike's. His Locust was not too badly hit, due to lucky damage draws, but my Locust was down to 6 Energy. None of our tripods had more than a cube or two energy left, and hits were going to start crippling our machines, had we continued.

A fun, but tough, game. More pictures, next time.

[Naharaht]

Thank you for the report, Mike, because I have not tried Tripod versus Tripod yet.

[flash]

Sounds brutal Mike, haven't play the TvT option yet.

[Teaticket]

Sounds like a heavy weight slug fest. I would think a tripod with a front facing shield would get a bit of an advantage at long range. Once things get in close the dance tom use your shields must be crazy.

[OldGuy59]

Sounds like a heavy weight slug fest. I would think a tripod with a front facing shield would get a bit of an advantage at long range. Once things get in close the dance tom use your shields must be crazy.

In tripod vs tripod fights, if I read the rules correctly, there is no 'short' or 'long' range. If the beam hits, you draw a card. If on the shield, you display the card, and remove the requisite number of cubes. If not on the shield, you get a damage card, but the number is doubled! Zero to 10 points, depending on the Heat-ray.

Having a front-facing shield helps, but when you can loose five cubes in a shot, it gets tough to keep the shield up, and shoot.

Note: You loose as many cubes as you have, and no more. If you get hit on the shields with two Heat-rays, and only have one cube left, but draw a total of eight damage, you loose only the one remaining energy cube, and nothing else.

With Scarabs, you don't have a lot of maneuver options. And, reversing takes two phases of maneuver, requiring a non-offensive action card. No recharge, either (defensive action). As noted above, having at least one cube is vital for shields. Getting that one recharge cube at the end of the firing phase is not helpful!

[Teaticket]

I didn't really explain my though before. What I meant by 'at long range' was that it is easier to keep a shielded side towards the enemy. Once in close the maneuver guessing game must get hairy trying to be able to shoot and/or keep a shield between you and the enemy.

Being able to recharge one point after all firing is very helpful. When you are put on the defensive you can always start the next phase with at least one energy point, ie shields powered for the next firing phase. Not the best position to be in but in difficult times difficult decisions must be made. Keep up a powered shield or take a shot at the enemy? The situation and position sometimes make it an easy decision. Fun game!

[OldGuy59]

Hmmm... I may have messed this battle up. There is a 'Short Range' procedure we didn't follow.

If the chosen target is reached by the first half of the ruler, the shot is at short range. The player of the target draws and reveals one damage card from the deck that matchs the firepower letter of the firing tripod: if it is a 0, the player draws a second card (this time, without revealing it to the opponent).

This rule still applies to non-shielded hits, but we didn't do that. Probably why Mike ended up with so many 0s.