Y'know, like Chromehounds

[Nester64]

This question has probably been asked before here, but I can't find it, so I'll ask it myself.

What I'm looking for is a game like Chromehounds. One mech per player, and the mechs themselves tend toward the less elegant side of the scale.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of playing it, Chromehounds was a game that let you build a mech from the ground up. Each Hound was composed entirely of interchangeable parts, meaning a wheeled sniper could trade weapons with a bipedal artillery piece or a hovercraft scout. Battletech's mech-building rules appeal, but the core assumptions for what a mech is capable are unsatifactory. Even the most nimble Hound had a stately grace to it as it crushed houses and trees. That 'land cruiser' feel to the game scratched an itch I didn't know I had, and I'm looking for more of it. Most of the giant robot games are closer to the 'super-robot' end of the scale, though, with mostly humanoid robots... that's not what I'm looking for.

I don't want a glorified suit of armor that can daintily paint a child's porcelain doll. I want war machines so big and clumsy that designers hardly ever consider adding manipulators to them at all. I don't want elegant machines inspired by and modeled after organic life. I want gun emplacements that can incidentally walk, crawl, roll, hover, or otherwise drag themselves to the enemy instead of waiting for the enemy to come to them.

I figure that this is the place to ask, since hopefully people who like something very close to what I'm looking for might have seen it on the way here and can point me in its direction.

[Nester64]

I don't much care about the genre or mechanics, as long as I can adapt them to a 1 player/1 mech level with some finangling.

I was going with battletech because the system lends itself to all sorts of scales. Where one strategist usually makes decisions, I can easily delegate action decisions to the pertinent player, and where none of my players are concerned I can either query the group as a whole, or make the decisions myself as makes the most sense.

While I'm here, though, I'll shop for something with a better feel for what I'm going for if at all possible.

[Red Pins]

It sounds a lot what you're looking for are more of the 'Primitive' or 'Retrotech' units representing the earliest units created in the game, like the Mackie.  You should be able to find info here and at the Sarna battletechwiki.

[Nester64]

Yeah, but retrotech severely limits the design potential of mechs. They're on the edge of Battletech, not the focus. And even in that category, a lot of Retromechs have strongly humanoid forms and useful manipulators.

I really like Battletech's crunch; its customizability is second-to-none, at least from what I've found. I'm thinking the best way to go is to refluff the setting like what I've already started, and cut out the things that offend my delicate aesthetic sensibilities, like functional hands on giant robots

[Red Pins]

Hm.  Ok, more "Lost in Space", and less 2015 "Battlestar Galactica".  How about the Dark Age Clicky-tech minis?  The Legionaire?

[Mattlov]

There are some other games like that out there, like Mech Attack.

But what you really are looking for really is Battletech.  Play some MegaMek against the bot.  Stomp through some buildings.

But a video game, there isn't much.  The MechAssault games on the Xbox gave you a more arcade feel, but you could blow up buildings.

[Nester64]

There are some other games like that out there, like Mech Attack.

But what you really are looking for really is Battletech.  Play some MegaMek against the bot.  Stomp through some buildings.

But a video game, there isn't much.  The MechAssault games on the Xbox gave you a more arcade feel, but you could blow up buildings.

I was looking for a tabletop game, but you're probably right about Battletech. I've never found anything as indepth as Battletech's creation rules, and nothing I've found captures the feeling I'm looking for as well as Battletech does.

[Daemion]

I might recommend Mecha Front. But, I've only glanced at the rules, and it's more open table-top than hex-map.

Dream Pod Nine's stuff is very anime, but that's the point.

Adeptus Titanicus is out of print and doesn't do much about destroying buildings.

There are plenty of games with the right kind of minis but focus too much on the larger strategic aspect, like world conquest in Risk 2210.

You may have to take the time and do a ChromeHoundTech fan ruleset and TRo.

[Nester64]

I might recommend Mecha Front. But, I've only glanced at the rules, and it's more open table-top than hex-map.

Dream Pod Nine's stuff is very anime, but that's the point.

Adeptus Titanicus is out of print and doesn't do much about destroying buildings.

There are plenty of games with the right kind of minis but focus too much on the larger strategic aspect, like world conquest in Risk 2210.

You may have to take the time and do a ChromeHoundTech fan ruleset and TRo.

Many thanks! I'll take a look at these.

I'm not too concerned about being able to actually destroy buildings, I was just being poetic with describing the clumsy land-cruiser feel I'm going for.

[Daemion]

Well, I feel your pain. There aren't enough WarBot games out there. Most people want to dabble in the fantasy or family games because of the larger customer population.

Oooh. Forgot about Reaper Miniature's CAV. Not very much in the way of hand-actuators there, though the options for different motive types is missing for CAVs, too. They have them for their tanks and other vees.

And, there's RoboTech: RPG Tactics. I like the minis, but, though I helped play-test the game, I'm not necessarily fond of the execution for gameplay.

But, I'm sorely disappointed in the fact that there are no Gundam-esque huge Mobile Suit type board games out there, either.

What's really neat is that I can use BattleTech to accommodate a lot of those, and keep the feel of their settings.

[Mattlov]

Adeptus Titanicus is out of print and doesn't do much about destroying buildings.

Not for too much longer.  Rumor is a new version comes out late this year or early next year.

[Mattlov]

Oh yeah!  There was also a Kickstater for a Mech Command RTS board game.  Might want to look that up, too.  I think there was a Armored Core board game out there, too?

An Armored Core video game might scratch that itch a little, but it's more like an RPG/RTS kinda game.

[Nester64]

Oh yeah!  There was also a Kickstater for a Mech Command RTS board game.  Might want to look that up, too.  I think there was a Armored Core board game out there, too?

An Armored Core video game might scratch that itch a little, but it's more like an RPG/RTS kinda game.

I'll look up the Mech command game, but if there is an armored core tabletop game out there I'll have to pass on it.

My experience with armored core is that AC feels like land-bound versions of aerial dogfights, while I'm looking for something far more slow-paced.

I didn't know about the rerelease of Adeptus Titanicus, but I am now looking forward to it.

Ultimately, I think I'll have to tweak the rules of battletech to get what I want, since it's the closest.