The wargames team enjoyed creating robots using the new Automatron deck. In part one, Charlie and Ethan talk about their favorite crazed creations…
Charlie’s Favourite Robot - Psibot
When you think of a robot in Fallout, you probably think of walking tanks that leave a path of destruction in their wake. This view, common amongst the denizens of the wasteland, barely scratches the surface of what Automatrons can do. These wonderful cocktails of various technologies can push the limits of possibility, turning science into something almost magical. I present to you: The Psibot.
This Automatron doesn’t look like much at first glance. It lacks any real damage dealing potential, it cannot utilize heavy weapons, and its health and armor are as low as any Automatron’s can possible be. However, this contraption is more than the sum of its parts.
The entire point of this Automatron design is to disrupt the enemy to such an extent that damage dealers can finish off the confused enemy units. It’s fast enough to zip between cover, with the ability to hover over difficult terrain with ease, while using its two weapons to cause chaos in the enemy ranks.
The first of these weapons is the Robobrain Mesmetron. This is the reason for the Robobrain Head being included, and the most powerful ability the Automatron has in its arsenal. With this hypnotic ray, the Automatron can temporarily bend an enemy model to its will, causing it to perform certain quick actions out of turn and in the Robobrain’s favor. At its most basic, the Mesmetron causes enemy units that it hits to move, potentially moving them out of cover and into dangerous situations. Equip the Automatron with a few mines, throw them down and puppet enemy models to walk straight on top of them. Evil and beautiful. What's more, enemy units can also be compelled to Attack, or even Use Expertise under the control of the Automatron. A missile launcher can be turned against the enemy that chose it, or an engineer can deactivate the objective that it just activated. Diabolical.
This isn’t the only trick my robot has up its mechanical sleeve. In addition to the Mesmertron, it’s also equipped with a Hand Cryojet. A truly fascinating weapon, it also focuses more on disruption than damage. Use the Mesmetron to move one enemy into contact with another, then freeze them both with a good shot from the Cryojet. The two models will be slowed, worse at any test they attempt, take at least two energy damage in an Orange AoE, and are unable to prepare. So many tactics can be disrupted with an effect like this triggering, leaving the Automatrons teammates to clean up the weakened units.
At the total price of 116 caps, this confusing contraption is on the cheaper side of Automatrons, meaning you can throw several of these at your opponent to cause even more chaos. Why invest in strong weapons when you can use the enemy’s own weapons against them?
The Psibot is fast, strong and decent at all Expertise skills. Want a more up and personal approach? Swap the cryojet for a melee weapon, such as a Hand Vice Grip. Your Automatron will gain a bonus damage dice for being STR 7+, hit on a 9 or less, and have the ability to force an enemy to disengage to trigger an additional attack. All will bow to your hypnotic power, whether they want to or not.
Ethan’s Favourite Robot -Sprkz
All great ideas begin with a spark of inspiration. This is not one of those ideas. Sprkz began life as a means to counter other Robots that generally have a higher Physical Armour but lower Energy Armour.
Sprkz is a modified Assautron, fitted with a Sentry Bot Head. This is because the Sentry Bot Head is cheaper than most for the skills it provides. Sprkz isn't designed to be a graceful killing machine, rather, a hastily constructed means of dishing out a lot of Energy Damage. With this in mind, the Assautron Legs and Assaultron Torso are perfect, giving Sprkz a decent amount of health and the speed it needs to cross the battlefield.
Armed with a couple of interesting Energy Weapons, it's the Mods attached to Sprkz that gives it its character, while the Sub-Routine: Combat Analysis allows Sprkz to perform Critical Attacks without the need to purchasing Heroic. However my favorite component is the Tesla Coils, meaning at the end of its activation Sprkz has the chance of dealing even more energy damage to anything within Orange of it. Shocking right? (Couldn’t help myself)
Sprkz isn't a cheap robot. To combat this I purposely kept a few screws loose and decided to make Sprkz Clunky. Reducing its total caps cost to 226, a decent payoff for the chance of unpredictability right? RIGHT? *maniacal laugher ensues...*
By Ethan Heywood and Charlie Perkins.