Steel Rift

[Greyhart]

I listen to Tabletop Minions "Every Other Sunday" podcast (highly recommend) and Uncle Atom has repeatedly mentioned the mech combat game Steel Rift. Being a curious sort and always on the lookout for another Stompy Robot game <tm> I looked into it, read reviews, watched videos and games being played. I liked it so much I ordered a copy of the starter box and I was impressed when I received it in the mail.

It's four.. yes FOUR (I didn't stutter) pages of actual rules for play. The rest of the pamphlet sized rulebook is building mechs (or HE-Vs - Humanoid Exoskeleton-Vehicles - as the game calls them), assembling your force, scenarios, and a small bit of fluff.

It's miniatures agnostic and uses Battletech scale (1/285) models. They have their own line of 3D resin printed minis (which are quite nice) with interchangeable arms (magnetize!) and weapons. It's played on a 3' x 3' area with about 8 pieces of terrain as the "standard". A game lasts 4 turns, sometimes 5, and is objective driven for Victory Points.

It's got a relatively low entry cost as the starter box (6 models, rulebook, extras) was $80 and has enough for two people to play a normal game. You don't have to buy extra minis to get a good force together.

One of the really cool things I liked was that the box everything comes in has a foam insert so once you assemble your models you have storage for them. Genius!

Anyway, if you like stompy robots, want an inexpensive, fast playing, minis agnostic game I highly recommend it. I've already suckered.. er.. umm.. I mean introduced two of my friends to it and they're hooked. I'm working on the minis now so they should show up in my hobby thread sometime soon.

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

[Greyhart]

I finally played a game Tuesday with a friend. I had the terrain all painted but not the minis (I'm still in the process of magnetizing them) so we used Heavy Gear minis instead.

Wow.. fast and furious! It took a little more than an hour to play, mainly because we were learning the rules. The rules are easy to learn, if you're wanting more "crunch" Heavy Gear or Battletech. This is a stripped-down fast moving Stompy Bots game.

If you're interested, Death Ray Designs just released a new 2-player "Quickstart," version that's USD $45. It gives you 6 monopose minis with bases, weapons bits sprues, Quickstart rules, two premade rosters, decals, turn/firing arc gauge, 2D cardboard terrain, and a few more things I forget. All you need is dice (D10) and a 3' x 3' mat.

It's a great and inexpensive way to try the game to see if you like it. I ordered a set which I'll be using for demos at the FLGS to see if I can get some interest and maybe a following for the game.

 

[Greyhart]

A bit of thread necromancy..

I've been working steadily on my Steel Rift getting everything assembled, magnetized and painted as you may have seen in my hobby blog thread. I can't say enough about the minis. They're 3D resin prints and are very nice. I've really enjoyed painting up my force so far.

I also want to praise the people at Death Ray Designs. They're constantly on the Discord channel listening to players suggestions and feedback. The Cerberus ultra-lites were actually named by my close friend, DRD took his suggestion! They also offered to replace - free of charge - one of his minis that he had dropped and broken at the ankles. They had changed to a new, more resilient resin since the model in question was released and were willing to send him a replacement. That is customer service!

If you haven't tried the game yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. If you want your rules to crunch like Grapenuts cereal, it's not for you. If you want quick and easy to learn and play then I think you'll like it. A lot. The 2 person Quick-Start box is only $45 (15% off until Monday during Adepticon!) and gives you what you need to play, except for dice, something to measure with, and a 2' x 2' play area. It's an inexpensive way to give the game a try to see if you and your friends like it. I have a set fully painted that I use for demos. I taught my son and he's hooked. My friend and I plan on hitting a few FLGS's to demo and try to get more players.