It was demo'd recently at the WTC here in Malines, so spending to much money on a ticket and parking, I just had to check it out.
So, back from way to sweltering heat (sorry, forgot to make pictures, with the WTC 40k doubles and XWing in full swing, it was insanely busy there).
Got myself a demo in (Epyon, Vidar and Char's Zaku, I love my bad boy suits), and the game plays really smooth. Now, the biggest difference between UW and GA is the deck, you only have a deck of 9, and can draw tops 6 per game, meaning 1in 3 chance you won't get your uber card. There are generic handy cards, but also "better then those" but specific Gundam only cards. In general, you will have your 3 specific cards in a deck, and then 6 generics, but it comes down to if you get the right one at the right time, or are stuck with one resulting in less cards drawn. For example, Barbatos Rex's card is super when he is taken out, but if he is largely ignored until after the start of round 2, it's a dead card.
Now,m the way you win the game is based on two factors: on the one hand, you can knock Gundams out and score their VP's (they do come back, so they can in turn go after your heavily wounded victor), but also by killing / saving Garrison markers. These are scattered around the board depending the deployment scenario maps, and are a bit like "surge objective bonusses" to your VP tally.
I doubt you can win alone by garrisons, as the map I so far saw has tops 10 of each (yours and the enemies) , while a Gundam rakes in between 6 to 10 VP every time he is knocked out.
Warscroll wise, every suit has a special attack that triggers on crits (9 or 10 on a d10), which often gives an extra point of damage per crit in your roll (average you roll about 5 dice with all trinkets active), and you hit standard on 4+, though terrain gives an added +1 if you are higher up then your opponent. Ofc, 1s always fail. One shotting mobile suits is not as easy as one might think as such, so expect even when focussed upon by the enemy with all his suits to activate with yours at least. This due to the "tracker"...
... which advances whenever you do "something", depending the action. A "heavy action" suit probably activates twice, tops thrice, during a round (appear on round 3, shoot for +4 advance, activate again and go in the end phase). A medium suit like the RX78 starts at tracker 2, and if you just keep slashing and moving with it's beam saber you'll get 4 activations out of him, making it for example ideal to go garrison hunting for a round.
Game length wise, this is a bit of a dual one. IF you know above average of the rules, you will be looking in the basic 3vs3, 2 phase game at around an hour to an hour and a half to get through the game. BUT, the set up requires a longer process then Underworlds, as the terrain and all the tokens need to be placed on specified locations on the map, and every map "area" can come with some special rules (not the base scenario mind you, but from scenario 2 you get water areas etc, and later on it will also move into space).
Is it like Underworlds? Well, yes and no, the core feels the same with hexes and cards and a board, BUT the amount of deckbuilding is far, FAR less. You basically have to decide which 6 cards you take along the specific unit card (yeah, and it is "Championship" mode on that part mind you, no idea if the generic cards will come loose later down the road) BUT those generics are not that overpowered you really "need" them all, and often are very likewise to each other. It's the unit specific cards that can decide the battle, as well as the pilot you can put inside your Gundam and his skills / bonusses.
As a rule of thumb on what I saw, pilots gell better with their actual suits, so Heero Yuy in Wing Gundam is way better then putting him in for example Gundam Aerial from another series in the franchise, as his skills go along with the abilities of his suit. They actually though that thing out...
.. so yeah, is it fun: Yes. is it cheap: Yes, but with the intense release schedule and if (like me being an anime and Gundam freak) you want to buy them all, the first 4 months will hurt you. After that, release is about one Deluxe box (battles from the series with about 10+ models) per half year, and a warband expansion box (3 figures) about each 1.5 months. Luckily, even with imports and all, they managed to keep it at a decent price level, an expansion box is the price of an UW warband, a Deluxe box (apart from the on purpose cheaper first one to get the game going) costs the price of a GW Cogfort or big monster.
That basically makes you look at an initial investment of everything from release until Easter 2027 of a 2k Warhammer AoS or 40k army, just spread out more and all that you already have is perfectly playable as you just add to your collection instead of needing that army in one go to start playing.
Is it as such the same as Underworlds? No. The same as a mainstream GW army? Also no. It occupies a spot in between I would say, both in difficulty as in price cost. Am I sold? Not answering that objectively, I am full with anime tattoos on my body incl Gundam one, so I can't answer that fairly. Would i recommend it to people looking for a casual game: yes, especially if you go the scenario and "in fluff route" that can give great fun moments. Is it competitive? To early to tell as only 6 suits have their stats known so far, but it does seem that any combination between 3 very heavy hitters or 3 light generic soldier style suits might get the job done, thanks to the Tracker system, and it shows they developped it for 3 years as the weapons and actions seem to keep it pretty balanced (sorry GW, playtesting IS your greatest weak spot).
And that's my two cents on it.
Got myself a demo in (Epyon, Vidar and Char's Zaku, I love my bad boy suits), and the game plays really smooth. Now, the biggest difference between UW and GA is the deck, you only have a deck of 9, and can draw tops 6 per game, meaning 1in 3 chance you won't get your uber card. There are generic handy cards, but also "better then those" but specific Gundam only cards. In general, you will have your 3 specific cards in a deck, and then 6 generics, but it comes down to if you get the right one at the right time, or are stuck with one resulting in less cards drawn. For example, Barbatos Rex's card is super when he is taken out, but if he is largely ignored until after the start of round 2, it's a dead card.
Now,m the way you win the game is based on two factors: on the one hand, you can knock Gundams out and score their VP's (they do come back, so they can in turn go after your heavily wounded victor), but also by killing / saving Garrison markers. These are scattered around the board depending the deployment scenario maps, and are a bit like "surge objective bonusses" to your VP tally.
I doubt you can win alone by garrisons, as the map I so far saw has tops 10 of each (yours and the enemies) , while a Gundam rakes in between 6 to 10 VP every time he is knocked out.
Warscroll wise, every suit has a special attack that triggers on crits (9 or 10 on a d10), which often gives an extra point of damage per crit in your roll (average you roll about 5 dice with all trinkets active), and you hit standard on 4+, though terrain gives an added +1 if you are higher up then your opponent. Ofc, 1s always fail. One shotting mobile suits is not as easy as one might think as such, so expect even when focussed upon by the enemy with all his suits to activate with yours at least. This due to the "tracker"...
... which advances whenever you do "something", depending the action. A "heavy action" suit probably activates twice, tops thrice, during a round (appear on round 3, shoot for +4 advance, activate again and go in the end phase). A medium suit like the RX78 starts at tracker 2, and if you just keep slashing and moving with it's beam saber you'll get 4 activations out of him, making it for example ideal to go garrison hunting for a round.
Game length wise, this is a bit of a dual one. IF you know above average of the rules, you will be looking in the basic 3vs3, 2 phase game at around an hour to an hour and a half to get through the game. BUT, the set up requires a longer process then Underworlds, as the terrain and all the tokens need to be placed on specified locations on the map, and every map "area" can come with some special rules (not the base scenario mind you, but from scenario 2 you get water areas etc, and later on it will also move into space).
Is it like Underworlds? Well, yes and no, the core feels the same with hexes and cards and a board, BUT the amount of deckbuilding is far, FAR less. You basically have to decide which 6 cards you take along the specific unit card (yeah, and it is "Championship" mode on that part mind you, no idea if the generic cards will come loose later down the road) BUT those generics are not that overpowered you really "need" them all, and often are very likewise to each other. It's the unit specific cards that can decide the battle, as well as the pilot you can put inside your Gundam and his skills / bonusses.
As a rule of thumb on what I saw, pilots gell better with their actual suits, so Heero Yuy in Wing Gundam is way better then putting him in for example Gundam Aerial from another series in the franchise, as his skills go along with the abilities of his suit. They actually though that thing out...
.. so yeah, is it fun: Yes. is it cheap: Yes, but with the intense release schedule and if (like me being an anime and Gundam freak) you want to buy them all, the first 4 months will hurt you. After that, release is about one Deluxe box (battles from the series with about 10+ models) per half year, and a warband expansion box (3 figures) about each 1.5 months. Luckily, even with imports and all, they managed to keep it at a decent price level, an expansion box is the price of an UW warband, a Deluxe box (apart from the on purpose cheaper first one to get the game going) costs the price of a GW Cogfort or big monster.
That basically makes you look at an initial investment of everything from release until Easter 2027 of a 2k Warhammer AoS or 40k army, just spread out more and all that you already have is perfectly playable as you just add to your collection instead of needing that army in one go to start playing.
Is it as such the same as Underworlds? No. The same as a mainstream GW army? Also no. It occupies a spot in between I would say, both in difficulty as in price cost. Am I sold? Not answering that objectively, I am full with anime tattoos on my body incl Gundam one, so I can't answer that fairly. Would i recommend it to people looking for a casual game: yes, especially if you go the scenario and "in fluff route" that can give great fun moments. Is it competitive? To early to tell as only 6 suits have their stats known so far, but it does seem that any combination between 3 very heavy hitters or 3 light generic soldier style suits might get the job done, thanks to the Tracker system, and it shows they developped it for 3 years as the weapons and actions seem to keep it pretty balanced (sorry GW, playtesting IS your greatest weak spot).
And that's my two cents on it.
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