Tuesday, August 28, 2012

MERCS Table Project

Now that I've completed my MERCS Madness Month, I'll be working on a new MERCS Table. I mentioned I would be upgrading my MERCS terrain, so now it's time to kick-off this project!
I've got a few days off work (after working several weekend shifts for the last 4 months - woohoo!), so I'll be dedicating a good portion of my time to get this done!

There are three elements to this MERCS Table Project I'll be creating:
  • 2'x3' Gameboard
  • Buildings
  • Scattered Terrain Pieces

2'x3' Gameboard
I know in my previous post I said I'd be sticking with my Toposolitario tabletop, but I think I'll kick it up a notch and try to create a studier tabletop made from MDF. After a bit of googling, I found this gem to draw inspiration from, which is clearly an attempt to bring Topo's original papercraft design to the third dimension.
This table top won't have any built in elevators, and be considered completely flat for gameplay purposes.


Buildings
I mentioned earlier that I had received a mispacked MicroArt Studios District 5 Apartment Building, and Dan from Defiant Gaming has just let me know that he has worked his magic, and the kind people at MicroArt Studios have sent me an entire new District 5 Apartment Building set! That's the fantastic service that makes Defiant Gaming my dealer of choice! So I'll see what I can come up with, using all the bits I'll have.
After watching Snap2Cover's FAQ video, I agreed that elevated terrain that also provides half-cover elements were a no-no for MERCS. But after a little more play testing I've found that the KemVar are a balanced opponent - if you know how to handle them.
So for demos involving beginners (whom wouldn't know how to handle the KemVar's Active Camo, and wouldn't have the use of ACMs) it would be ideal to have buildings which provided elevation, but no cover. For full games, elevation with cover elements would be fine.
So ideally, my buildings should be able to cater for both situations.


Scattered Terrain Pieces
I've also already received my District 5 Apartment Walls, as well as my Hirst Arts molded sci-fi terrain pieces, which I'll be using to create full-cover and half-cover elements for my battleground.




Well, that's the plan - I'll keep you guys posted on my progress through this project.
Sync out.

2 comments:

  1. It's actually pretty easy for an elevated mini to get half cover without putting windows and walls on an elevated peice of terrain, they just need to be slightly back from the edge and they gain a cover bonus. See page 9 of the QSR's for reference.

    I can't wait to see what you have going on there!

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    1. That's true - it also explicitly states:
      Elevated targets that are two ER levels above the attacker receive Half-Cover bonuses as well [as Elevation bonuses].

      So for beginners demos, I might need to devise terrain that provides ER1 elevation with no cover... stay tuned!

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