The Best Laid Plans

January 29, 2009 on 2:16 pm | In Kaiju, Monsterpocalypse, blog | No Comments

Hey, Monsterpocalypse peoples. This is DC (PPS_Dacarnix) popping in to Erik’s blog to talk about Monsterpocalypse strategies and the Monsterpocalypse strategy guide for Series 2: I Chomp NY. Before I go any further, I just want to say what a great time I have reading some of the threads in the Monsterpocalypse forums. We’ve got a great community built up so far, and I really enjoy seeing the excitement and creativity of that community. If anyone reading hasn’t had a chance to see light-up Zor-Maxim or cow-abduction Ares Mothership, you really owe it to yourself to check out some of the neat things fellow players are doing with Monsterpocalypse: http://forums.monsterpocalypse.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1015.

So on to rambling about strategy. It’s amazing how much one can learn in the first few games of Monsterpocalypse. The first time you combine abilities in an unexpected way or take back-to-back monster activations can be a real eye-opener and can add excitement and passion to the game. The first multi-monster game is another important milestone that unlocks all sorts of new tactics and possibilities. And the first tournament victory with accompanying shiny new mega form, well… I think that one speaks for itself.

Suffice it to say, we’re all at different places when it comes to the level of strategy that we currently understand in the game of Monsterpocalypse. Maybe you don’t remember any rules or abilities without looking them up, and maybe you’re ready to place in a world-wide Monsterpocalypse championship. More than likely, you fall somewhere in between.

The Monsterpocalypse strategy guides need to take that into account. We want content that is going to hit lots of readers, sort of a midline of our players. So the bulk of the strategy guide content is written to that audience. There’s information on the strengths of each monster and unit, and there are tips on how to combine them into effective armies. There are also general strategy articles, a Monsterpocalypse puzzle to solve, and preview information for the next Monsterpocalypse series to come down the road.

For players who are newer to Monsterpocalypse or who take a more casual interest in the game, we have added complete ability lists beneath each monster and unit entry and have added more of the background story of Monsterpocalypse to the strategy guide. The I Chomp NY strategy guide also contains an article about alternate scenarios, ways to play Monsterpocalypse that won’t be found at your local tournament but that will let you reenact scenes from monster movies or inspire you to create new scenarios of your own.

For cagey veterans, the strategy guide includes a new map, a new quick reference guide, and complete stats for every figure in I Chomp NY. If you also find some tidbits to help you fight with or against certain figures, then great. Even if not, however, the guide serves as a compilation of the monsters and units you can use or fight in this new series. Your own analysis will serve you as well (if not better) than ours, and in-game experience is still the best teacher of all.

So whether you just heard about Monsterpocalypse this morning, have been dominating your local tournaments for months, or anywhere in between, I truly hope that you’ll enjoy the I Chomp NY strategy guide!

Reach Out and Crush Someone,

-DC

Talkin’ Units Here: The Interceptor

May 19, 2008 on 12:19 pm | In Kaiju, Monsterpocalypse, blog | 4 Comments

While a monster-centric game, Monsterpocalypse’s units play a vital roll as well. Units to gain Power Dice, whether from securing buildings, holding Power Zones, or just destroying other units, and they can cost your opponent Power Dice by holding Negative Zones. Often these activities prove just as profitable as destroying your opponent’s units, so don’t judge a unit solely on its combat potential. With that in mind, I bring you the following unit: the Shadow Sun Syndicate’s “Interceptor”.

What it lacks in punch, it makes up for in Speed!

In combat terms, the Interceptor doesn’t offer much; its Blast 1 can be useful in combined attacks but not for much else. The Interceptor’s real advantage lies in its Speed 7, the highest among all the units in the first set. In addition, the Interceptor’s Hover ability allows it to move easily over rough terrain. This combination means the Interceptor can spawn and then move super quick to the middle of the battle map and hold valuable Power Zones or help other units secure buildings.

The Interceptor’s high Speed and Hover ability also make it a prime unit for screening your monster. As I mentioned in previous posts, just placing a few units between your monster and your opponent’s monster forces your opponent to address those units or find a way around them. Either way, he has to deal with them, and this can save your monster from some pretty devastating Power Attacks.

The Interceptor also has the Transport ability. This allows it to use an action to place “Shadow Gates” on the map. Slow-moving units, Shadow Gates can, as an action, teleport other friendly units on the map to spaces adjacent to the Shadow Gate. This gives the Shadow Sun Syndicate incredible mobility and makes it easy for them to deny their opponents Power Zones (because the Interceptors and Teleported units beat the other guys to it) or Secure Buildings (because you cannot secure a building with an enemy unit adjacent to the building).

With the ability to Teleport freshly spawned Interceptors to points halfway across the map, and then advance those Interceptors, the Shadow Sun Syndicate not only has real potential for taking and holding Power Zones and securing buildings but also some real harassment potential in denying their opponents those resources as well.

Your inside look at the Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniatures Game!

April 7, 2008 on 9:33 am | In blog | 1 Comment

Welcome to MonsterInsider.net, your inside look at the Monsterpocalypse™ CMG and all-around celebration of giant monsters! I’m Erik Yaple (pronounced like “Maple” but with a “Y”,) a game developer for Privateer Press, giant monster fan, and author of this blog.

I’ve started this blog to give you an inside look at the development of Monsterpocalypse. As we get closer to the release of the game you’ll see plenty of previews here, as well as the upcoming official site, but I’ll also be celebrating the giant monster (aka kaiju) genre on this blog. So if you’re a long time giant monster fan or you are new to the world that includes ten-story radioactive dinosaurs, stick around ’cause this is going to be big!

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