(thing) by AndyAnime Sun May 10 2009 at 15:29:09

Reach Out and Crush Someone!

From Privateer Press, the creators of the d20 RPG setting Iron Kingdoms and the miniatures war games War Machine and Hordes, comes a collectible miniatures game that pays tribute to movies past and present that involve giant monsters smashing major American cities for flimsy reasons.

Core Concept


Players take on the role of a giant monster (or robot, or what have you) from a faction representing one of six agendas: Destroyers (smash stuff for the hell of it), Invaders (smash stuff and then steal it), Collaborators (smash stuff for your own mysterious reasons), Protectors (prevent stuff from getting smashed too badly), Radicals (smash stuff to advance your cause), and Fiends (smash stuff and make it as painful as possible).

Each monster is accompanied by 3 to 15 units, most of which are used to attack your opponent's monster or units, but some of which are used to support your monster and units. Players also bring 2 to 12 building figures to the game to populate the map, and provide something to smash, or to throw your opponent into. The object of the game is to kill your opponent's monster using your monsters and units.

Game Mechanics


Gameplay revolves around a pool of "Action Dice". Each turn, players can take a Unit Activation or a Monster Activation.
  • During a Unit Activation, players can spend Action Dice in the Unit Pool to spawn units on specified points on the map, move them around, or attack with them.
  • During a Monster Activation, players can spend Action Dice to move and attack with their monster. They can also use Action Dice to "power up" their monster, giving them Power Dice to use for devastating Power Attacks, or to transform them from their default Alpha form into their more powerful Hyper form. A monster is only defeated when both its Alpha and Hyper forms run out of life points.

Factions

The first core set, Rise, includes six factions, one for each of the six agendas:
  • Globally United Advanced Research and Defense, or G.U.A.R.D., is a paramilitary force backed by the United Nations, and composed of giant robots backed by high tech military vehicles. They represent the Protector agenda.
  • The Terrasaurs are Godzilla-like skyscraper-sized dinosaurs who live seemingly to destroy heavily-polluting industrial centers and densely-populated areas, and have thus earned the support of the ecoterrorist group Green Fury. They represent the Radical agenda.
  • The Lords of Cthul are squid-like eldritch monsters, a la Cthulhu, that live to spread pain and suffering. They represent the Fiend agenda.
  • The Planet Eaters are bizarre alien beings that have landed on Earth and begun devouring all the biomass they can find, smashing through cities and enemies alike. Obviously, they represent the Destroyer agenda.
  • The Martian Menace, as the name suggests, are aliens from the dying planet Mars who have come to scavenge Earth for its resources. They represent the Invader agenda.
  • The Shadow Sun Syndicate are a Japanese criminal cabal seeking nothing less than world domination. It obviously can't do that if the world is stripped bare, eaten, or otherwise destroyed, so it fights off the other factions with Zors, cyborg ninjas who grow to the size of skyscrapers in combat (think Ultraman). They represent the Collaborator agenda.

I like it!