Mechaton?

Arco · August 2010

Mechaton (Giant Fighty Robots) is a game where you build small robots (tanks, mecha warriors, walkers, whatever) out of legos and then do battle on a tabletop, using a ruleset that's best described as a very, very, very simplified version of Warhammer or WarMachine. When I say "very, very, very" simplified, I mean that the rulebook is $6 and is about 10 pages of big text. So it's very easy to learn, fast to play, and fun.

Some of the robots people build are awesome, and legos are incredibly versatile. If you go through online retailers, you can get all the legos you need to build an entire squad of robots for under $30. Then all you need are the rules, some dice, a tape measure, and friends.

I've seen Mechaton played at PAX in the past, but saw no mention of it this year. I just ordered $30 worth of legos to get started. Any other Mechaton players out there?

redhalo · August 2010

I may just bring my little robots, provided I can find my instructions and re-learn myself the game. I've only been able to play at PAX, but it was tons of fun.

PeasantDave · August 2010

I am down for meeting up with people. I was waiting to see if there are any open spots on the schedule.

strebalicious · August 2010

My son has a crap ton of Legos and enjoys building stuff, so this might be right up his alley. I might not bring anything but I'll sure keep an eye out for it.

Porntips · August 2010

I meant to give it a go last year, but never got around to it. Also, I'd probably be a little more excited if I was able to construct a lego robot that doesn't look like it was built from duplo blocks.

zkillz · August 2010

This looks awesome. Just paid for the rule book on the site. Does anyone have suggestions for sets to buy that would have a good assortment of parts for this use?

Arco · August 2010

zkillz - It's actually not advisable to buy whole sets. It's a very expensive way to go about making the mechs, because you're going to end up getting lots of parts you won't use just for a few parts you really like.

My advise would be to use the Lego Digital Designer (http://ldd.lego.com/), build your mechs, and then shop for the individual bricks on BrickLink.

BrickLink is basically a big register of stores, each one with its own inventory of legos. You can choose whichever store you want and then shop there, and they sell bricks broken down by type, color, size, etc. I found a great store yesterday called Bricksland which had a HUGE selection of parts, including a lot of the translucent bricks and hinges that make cool looking mechs.

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=catalinn

I got 463 individual bricks, in 43 varieties, for $35 with shipping. It's a fraction of the cost of the Lego store, and every piece is a piece that I know I'll use.

Kjeldor · August 2010

not sure how applicable this guide is 4 years later, but: http://www.lumpley.com/comment.php?entry=209

This looks pretty cool. I've got a whole chest of legos back at my parents house from when I was a kid, might need to haul them to my place to see what I can put together.

redhalo · August 2010

if Bricklink is as intimidating for you as it was for me, the Lego Digital Designer allows you to buy your kit directly from Lego, I found the prices to be pretty reasonable.

Arco · August 2010

redhalo wrote: »

if Bricklink is as intimidating for you as it was for me, the Lego Digital Designer allows you to buy your kit directly from Lego, I found the prices to be pretty reasonable.

BrickLick is indeed intimidating. I dug around on the internet until I found a store recommendation from a Mechaton player, and then it was very simple.

Enough legos to build at least 5 mechs and a few stations was $35, shipped. One mech in the Lego Digital Designer was $25.

S2000Gan · August 2010

This is my 3rd year at PAX and neither 08 nor 09 was I able to find ppl for the Mechaton game!!!
Would really like to try it this year!

redhalo · August 2010

Arco wrote: »

redhalo wrote: »

if Bricklink is as intimidating for you as it was for me, the Lego Digital Designer allows you to buy your kit directly from Lego, I found the prices to be pretty reasonable.

BrickLick is indeed intimidating. I dug around on the internet until I found a store recommendation from a Mechaton player, and then it was very simple.

Enough legos to build at least 5 mechs and a few stations was $35, shipped. One mech in the Lego Digital Designer was $25.

What kind of design do you got going? I made 5 mechs for about $30 with LDD a couple years back. Has inflation hit that hard?

Arco · August 2010

Just the basic, naked mech in the Mechaton rulebook, with no attachments, is $15. With attachments it can be $20-$25. Anything fancier than the naked mech is more expensive, obviously.

PeasantDave · August 2010

Actually my schedule might be a little tight this year to organize this. If someone else gets it going I might be able to jump in.

Arco · August 2010

PeasantDave wrote: »

So the possible times for me are (and I will only be able to make one of these):
Friday at noon [1]
Friday at 6 PM [1]
Saturday at noon [1]
Saturday at 4:30 PM [1]
Sunday at noon [1]

Each of these represent the start time, we would play until there is no one left. Hypothetically this means we could get several hours of gaming in with a rotating crew. Let me know what slots you would be available for.

It's really hard to say. Technically my [E] duties have me on shift all day, but I'm going to see if I can sneak away here and there (Protomen, Mechaton). I'll definitely be letting people know.

Arco · August 2010

Got my legos in the mail a few days ago and have all my bots assembled and ready for PAX! We should definitely get some Mechaton going. So excited!

mspencer · August 2010

I have a tackle box full of carefully-sorted Mindstorms pieces, almost none of which look like traditional LEGO bricks.

Would this be of any use?

(Also I could probably build a robot that can locate other robots and push them off the table onto the floor. That's probably not of any use to anyone.)

Arco · August 2010

I don't know if the Mindstorms pieces are really relevant for Mechaton, but you can always come check it out and see.

Penny Arcade

Mechaton?

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