Game Overview

Game Name: Mechs vs. Minions
Publication Year: 2016
Designers: Cantrell, Ernst, Librande, Saraswat, and Tiras
Artists: Danny Beck and Tysen Henderson
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)

This mission took up my entire table as I spread out the tiles. I had to reorient everything, but the compass helped to normalize play from any direction. Simple and nice.

I knew I needed to do maximum damage from afar. Thanks to Corki, that became a reality: Ripsaws away!

The Worst Controls

Granted, Corki was in pretty bad shape. This sequence of moving and rotating was comical! But it was a nightmare since the goal was to get everyone in the same far row.

It took a mixture of attacks and movement in order to move across the play area and take out every minion.

A single enemy who made it through spelled instant defeat. These minions were fast, and kept spawning!

Heimerdinger was in a slightly better position. He managed to move enough and take out plenty of minions all around him without suffering much damage.

Putting It Altogether

Between Corki and Heimerdinger, their final command lines were pretty impressive! Minus all that damage. Ha!

Actually, it’s rather interesting to make the most of the damage cards. Many of them can be terrible, yet it’s possible to get extra movement. Vroom, vroom!

I love the strategic decisions that come from the command cards. Using a bunch of low-level options can work nicely, yet it’s important to work up to the higher-level stacks.

As the command lines grow, each mech often takes on some sort of specialty. Heimerdinger mastered lightning!

Lining Up Properly

What a frustrating sort of ending! I had to move all of the mechs from the far right to the far left… And this is only a small sliver of the play area. It was, indeed, a journey.

I got 3 of the Mechs to the correct row, and then things just refused to line up. At the same time, everyone destroyed about 10-15 minions per round. Take that!

I believe it took 4 full rounds to get everyone in the right place. But there they were, successful at last.

Although there were a couple of minions in sight, they weren’t a danger. There was another mission to uncover…

Crafty Ziggs

Recall the unique schematics cards that each mech possesses? Ziggs had a pair of interesting additions!

His Hex Charge was never used, although I kept it around as a backup plan. He was ready to save everyone in the worst-case scenario! How he does love bombs.

Fuel Scoops was a lot more practical. This ability allowed a particular command card to expand. Rather than just shooting forward, it also had backward capabilities.

Many missions introduce new schematics, but each mech may only use 2 per mission. So many options!

Session Overview

Play Number: 9
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Operation: Hammer Keeper (Mission 4)
Required Play Space: 52″ x 34″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 2 Hours
Outcome: Win

Uh-oh. The epilogue sounded a little foreboding! I staged my own little “junkyard” from the available components for a little more atmosphere. Hurray for success! It took a lot of planning, yet the finale was quite satisfying.

Affordability

Price & Value

8

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

10

Originality

Design & Theme

10

Quality

Components & Rules

10