Photos Mest Beta 1.2

So here's a grab bag of various photos I have taken for the the MEST rules and the soon to be updated Beta 1.2 rules.

Hope you enjoy.

Pulp Figure WIP's for Post Apoc

Not much to update. Just a few WIPs. I've been working a lot lately.

Some Chinese Soldiers.





And some cultists.





I was going to give them some markings to denote their jobs and/or special status within the order; however, laziness got the better of me.

Beta 1.2

I've been holding off on the 1.2 version of the beta rules for MEST Tactics for about six-weeks.  I just need a few more photos to help with the example illustrations and then I'll post it at the Google Site for MEST Tactics.

• What to expect:
• Expanded sample assemblies for more genres.
• Better layout.
• Corrections to Turn Sequence diagram.
• Oodles of other small clarifications.

The rules themselves I don't think changed at all; mostly just phrasing changes.  I expect to get the new set up by 2012.04.01 at the latest.

Giant Robots Attack!

Those of you that enjoy BOTH conflict simulation games and print-and-play can mosey on over to my new Google Sites location that contains all of the current assets for the "Giant Robots of World War Two" [ GROWWII ] wargame that I created with lots of help some time ago.  I contacted my co-developer on this and got the green-light to continue development on the design.

The game is grand-tactical or operational scale for simulating conflict between battalions of soldiers, tanks, and robots of all forms between the American and German forces.  However, this is absolutely not a skirmish-level game.  It is a grognard-worthy hex-and-counter game with several innovative twists.  As I begin to flesh-out the site, I'll provide more information.

In the meanwhile, here is my Board Game Geek post on the ideas behind the game itself:
BGG Article

And here is the Google Sites:
GROWWII

Post-Apoc Terrain

My work schedule has slowed things down, so I haven't posted anything in a while now.
Here's a few photos of what I've been working on. Sort of rush jobs but I just wanted to get this stuff playable.
I'll go back and add some details to the buildings (like posters and boarded up windows) later.
Enjoy.

Two New Genres

Now that the MEST Basic Rules are out in the wild for public beta, I've been focusing on getting some genre documents generated to help solidify the Advanced Rules.  I've already got the Lovecraftian Mythos doc in the works but it needs a few more tweaks especially for the campaign rules.  It's essentially still in the Alpha stage.

In the meanwhile I've been working out two new genres that I think will properly stress-test the rules of MEST. The first is something I think will allow players to focus on campaign play using most non-lethal combat.  The second genre is something a bit more harsh but also allow focus on campaign play.  With these two I'll be able to work out the details of resource-based campaigns in a tighter fashion than with the Lovecraftian Mythos genre because recruiting and supplies will need to be much more tightly managed.

Anabasis
So the first genre will be based upon Sol Yurick's "The Warriors".  I've placed the book on order to do some research, and I setting aside some time to watch the film adaption.  I liked the film when I was much younger and I think it is evocative of faction-based clashes so popular with tabletop gaming.  The emphasis of this genre will be on team building through recruitment, and surviving the battles between gangs which - for whatever reasons - don't seem to have much access to machine-guns or pistols.  I think combat will be very interesting; characters will be vying for position using Scrums and Bonus Actions in order to make a difference.  I've taken another stab at streamlining the Grapple rules and I hope they keep the game playable.

Aggro84 put a post on Lead Adventure Forum here:
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=38508.30

Retropocalypse
This next genre is bit more free-form in that I'm borrowing from many post-apocalypse tropes such as Mad Max, Boy and his Dog, Fallout, Gamma World, and Aftermath; those last two being role-playing games from the days of yore and the first two being iconic dark-future films.  Fallout is of course probably the most familiar of the video games set in the genre and has lots of ideas worth tipping the hat to.  With this genre I get to prepare the MEST rules to deal with near-future weapons and equipment.  The genre will introduce a dystopian society where small bands of scavengers fight for th remaining scraps of civilization.  We'll get to play with super-soldiers, disfigured mutants, fealty to non-player factions, and old tech weapons.

I'll post both thematic draft write-ups on the MEST Tactics site under http://sites.google.com/site/mesttactics/attachments.  Any feedback, criticism, or ideas, are welcome.