TECHCOMMANDER:
Mechanized Strike Vehicles
Download the TechCommander 3.0 beta rules HERE!
WELCOME!
TechCommander is a fast paced, super destructive, sci-fi action game. It features mecha units (“mechs” / big, piloted, stompy robots) called Mechanized Strike Vehicles (MSV). MSV units are customizable, featuring fast-swap weapons and gear and can act twice per turn.
The game also features vehicles and tanks which are auto stabilized to fire accurately on the move.
Finally, the game includes power armored ECBS infantry which use jet packs for increased mobility, have personal shield and stealth systems, and operate in agile cloud units called “rally groups.”
As a player you take the role of a “Tech Commander” training and running missions from your command center using a virtual, holographic rendition of the area of operation and relaying orders to the battlefield via secure remote link.
There are two basic game types to pick from:
Skirmish games
Skirmish games are played more like a traditional war game with forces facing off to eliminate the enemy and achieve objectives. In skirmish games players will want to make every shot count and focus on killing opposing command units while keeping friendly command units alive. Each player gets 4 base actions with additional actions granted to the player by command units. Thus, especially with larger forces, players will want to incorporate command capable units in the forces they take. For a basic skirmish, the players will each field 12AC worth of units.
Deathmatch Games
These are meant to represent TechCommanders facing off in a simulated training match with lots of action in a compressed time. Units are spawned into the battlefield and in many cases may immediately be surrounded by enemy units. Players will need to think fast and make the best choice among many bad ones to maximize a point lead over other players. This is a great way to learn a lot about weapons and gear, as players can spawn in reinforcements to replace units lost in battle every turn. If an idea did not work the first turn, the player can try something new the second. People not familiar with competitive deathmatching might think that deaths don’t matter in this format, but an experienced deathmatch player knows you can’t win by feeding opponents easy points!
Purchase the TechCommander 2.0 rulebook here
TechCommander is currently in beta for the third edition
Designer’s notes on the third edition
When I set out to write a sci fi game back in 2008, It was as a gift to my sci fi loving friend, Dave. You see, we’d played years of mech and power armor games - both on tabletop and video games. At the time I was very involved in producing Sailpower and it took up a lot of my time. Dave said he’d missed geeking out with mechs and making custom cool stuff like we did in the video games. And he thought if I made my own sci fi game it would be cool.
The wisdom on the street at the time was the only way to make a sci fi game was to spend a boatload of money. 3D printing was not as accessible as it is now, and to achieve the goal I decided to jumpstart my mech building process by kit bashing all new mech designs out of sailing ship parts I’d already made for Sailpower. I decided to lean into the custom thing and used peg on weapons for a fast build/ hot swappable feel. The resulting models were big 28mm mecha that would turn heads at conventions where the game was played.
Gameplay wise, I wanted to get away from the old-school, paper-heavy, slower-paced games and make something fast and destructive! Even though we achieved that, the models were still hand sculpted, big, pricey, resin models. Many of my players loved the game but could not afford to get enough models to get a big game going on their own. The sad thing was I had a fun game that was hard to produce and not easy for a player to build a collection for.
Aware of this, in 2016 I re-sculpted all the designs digitally. Originally, I was thinking I might be able to have them produced somewhere, I quickly pivoted to 3D printing them in FDM (filament printing) in 28mm scale. The resulting models were much lighter than the old resin cast ones, but they still took hours, if not days, to print a big unit. We knew eventually we needed to release the game on a smaller scale.
The obvious scale to go for was 10mm. The models would still be larger than the old lead/tin mono-pose figures that were standard to sci fi games of my youth, but small enough to fit a big battle on a table and to make collecting models more accessible. The final piece to making 10mm models was the rise of low-cost SLA/MSLA/DLP photo resin printing. This makes it possible to produce models that cost a mere fraction of what the older models did. To better suit this new scale, we also decided to go with bases. It makes the gameplay easier, and the models less prone to falling over on the tabletop.
I also thought for the 3rd edition I’d update the game a bit with more mobile devices, drones, and AI. When I wrote the 1st edition in 2008 the iPhone was only a year old!
So, whether you are new to the game or played this in years past, I hope you enjoy the new scale and enjoy battling in the TechCommander Universe!
Brian Carnes, Designer TechCommander
