MEGA Bloks Dome Battleground Review for MFZ: RA

Our Big Box!

So let's be straight forward about this review. Our usual review system isn't going to work, even the modified one I use for terrain. This set is very unique, specially with my purpose in buying it so I am just going to talk about but there is some old topics to discuss as well.

The Golden Ratio? I picked this up on sale from Target at $46 or $47 but it looks like it has gone back up on the market for $49.99 so we will go with that and we have 527 pieces in the box. Do the math real quick and we have $0.09 per piece so just a penny under the Golden (aka $0.10 per piece). Now, it is mostly brick which is an interesting camo color which could be a great use for building interesting pieces of terrain or stations along with some very unique pieces that could prove usual for building frames or stations. These unique pieces I am talking about are found outside of LEGOs and will be discussed more in my parts break down.

There are also guns, knifes and a turret to build in this set that at a first glance might be usual because the Call of Duty figures look like they might be the same height as our Chubs, more about this further in the post.

This is most likely the most expensive brick building set I have bought myself and certainly the most expensive one I have bought for Mobile Frame Zero. I saw it and instantly thought it could be usual in getting a start on interesting table terrain. Of course something like this would tap into the expanded rules section of MFZ.

So many bags!

So the parts break down! I am going to make this pretty straight forward by showing pictures and slapping captions on them. First I will start with part layout pictures, starting with a wide shot with following closer shots then up close of the pieces that are unique or very similar to some common used parts from the LEGO sets.

The Soldiers have to be put together...I think I install the hands upside down...

These will make up our dome!

That is a lot of parts. I think it took be longer to make this spread then to build it.

I really like these sand bag pieces, I wish there was more...

Now for our parts close ups!

Here is the crate that came with it, I like it and we will talk more about it later.

Here we have a double sided stud 1x2 plate

Here we have a limited version of the Travis

2x2 Plate with studs on both sides

1x4 brick with studs on all the long sides but the bottom

It looks like a minifigure hand but straight and perhaps a bit longer.

1x1 plate with a rod sticking out

Looks cool...

Their version of the clip piece, the yellow is a separate piece.

Double Sided Peg Pieces and a Missile piece.

So what do all these parts make up to build? They build our dome!

The Front with some Chubs to Help with Scale

 So I just want to say that yes that is a satellite 'dish' inside the dome and that dome rotates which is pretty cool. I put some Chubs on it so we can get some idea of scale. As you can see the chubs are too tall to go under the bars but they could easily be fixed by adding some bricks or just removing them. Though they do seem a bit tall for the wall but again extra bricks could fix it if it bother you. The structure itself is 6 bricks tall so it is elevated terrain within the expanded rules for MFZ.

'Side View' With our turret and yes there is a ladder!

Here is the side view of our set including a shot of the turret. This is also where our ladder is, can you make it past the turret? More about that idea later :)

Back of Set open...and introducing my cat...

Back of the Set Closed

So my over all thoughts? I like it but when I played around with it I found some problems. When closed the dome gets in the way of trying to move frames around on the top. Also the space inside is too tight to move Chubs around. Most likely better off sealing it off. I am thinking of removing the dome and putting on a helipad (and here is your helicopter). With the right bricks added it could look like a base guarded by frames.

This isn't all though, there is more! We have a drone!

For Scale

Honestly, I got nothing. It looks cool but I don't know what to do with it...right now it is looking like parts.

Alright, let's talk about the Chub and the weapons that come in the set for the figures.

Here we have a Chub standing next to one of the figures and as you can see the Cub is very much taller. Looks like it could be a power suit for a guy. The Chub is also holding a machine gun and a knife from the set.

At this angle it is a bit easier to see the scale. I think both the knife and the gun are too small plus I had to take the stock off the gun just to make it fit into the Chub's hand. Though look at that crate!

I love this crates; I like the idea of crates made for frames to open and this looks perfect for that. Wish I could just buy a bag of these things.

There was also grenades (too small) and a trench shovel...

So final thoughts at the moment? I am happy with my purchase and I am looking forward to playing around with it to make it perfect for my needs. What about you MoF0s?

House Rule Special: Turret

So the set comes with a turret and it is something I would like to try to utilize but how? Houserules, that is how! Otherwise it could just be a cool station!

So first, mounted turret: A mounted turret is stationary. A turret first in a fixed 180 degree arch established at the start of game. The barrel of the gun should be used to show the middle of the firing arch. Taking control of a turret follows the rules of seizing a station but a frame must stay within melee range to keep using a turret.

A frame that controls a mounted turret may use the turret's d6Rd d6Rd d8Rd (too powerful?) instead of it's own weapon dice. If a frame is to use the turret's attack system then it must move after the attack. Turrets provide cover. Any confirm hit to a turret takes it out. (Maybe two, with a first hit reducing it to d6Rd d6Rd?).

Automated Turret: Automated turrets use the same rules as turrets except for the following rules. Turrets are not operated by frames but still can be seized. At the start of a game a turret is either allied to a squad (who they won't shoot) or independent (shoots everyone). When a turret is seized it changes its affiliation to the squad that just seized it. In special scenarios it may not be possible to seize an automated turret.

Moving into an automated turret's firing arch causes it turn to activate, shooting at the frame that just entered it's range. Like frames, an automated turret only actives once per round.

Not yet play tested, please let me know if you do!

Thoughts?