Skycaptain-esque Robot Invasion - Rules Suggestions?

[Arundel]

Yes, I've been giving a good bit of thought on how to game the slightly different situation presented in Sky Captain. Instead of a Kaiju or two, I'd be looking at having a robotic invasion force of six or so models, let loose and rampaging through New York or some other American metropolis of the 1930s. So, with that sort of numbers I'd guess their powers would need to be downgraded several notches compared to the more typical Godzilla or Mothra type presented in the rules.

The fact that the Monster Island NYC expansion has ideas for the 1930s, as you mentioned earlier, really gets my attention. Add a hero piloting a biplane or doing something similarly heroic and I think one has the beginnings of a very enjoyable game...

[Chief Lackey Rich]

There was an old superhero PC game called Freedom Force that had a scenario where your hero team has to face off against some rampaging giant robots that would have been right at home in Sky Captain.  You can find a copy on Steam fairly cheap and it might be worth a look just for inspiration.  The whole game is has a gleefully over-the-top late-Golden/early-Silver Age feel and aesthetic.  Well worth a playthrough,

Ooh, they did an sequel I completely missed.  Buying that myself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Force_(2002_video_game)

[Arundel]

I ordered Monster Island and Escape From MI today. Quite excited.

Imagination positively fizzing, I spent some enjoyable time researching possible accessories for such a game. If anybody's interested here are some ideas: For the hordes of screaming, expendable civilians I'm considering going with N Scale railroad/architectural people - they are about 6mm as best I can tell, come prepainted and are dead cheap; for buildings I might take the easy way out and go with lego-like building bricks, the big sort meant for toddlers - they come in all sorts of day-glo colours (which I actually like), are flexible and nearly indestructible; for the military and police forces I'd likely go with 6mm WWII types, possibly from Irregular; finally, the proper sort of cars and lorries are proving somewhat elusive - modern vehicles would be a snap, but I'm wanting 1930s-1940s models - but e-bay does have several possible offerings at a decent price. Nothing is final here, of course, but it's good fun to dream about.

Rich, I greatly appreciate all the input and pointers you've offered. Thank you!

[palaeomerus]

I found a copy of them both on ebay and ordered Giant Monster Rampage 2: World War from Amazon.

These might also be of use though I am only finding them as on-demand pub or PDF right now. They ae from Ganesha Games by Andrea Andrea Sfiligoi who did Rogue Stars, Mutants and Death Ray Guns, 4 Against Darkness, and the Song of Blades and Heroes series of fantasy skirmish, dungeon crawling, and light rpg rules. .

[Arundel]

Thank you for those leads, Palaeomerus. I like the Ganesha engine a lot, and so might have to try these next. The cover on the second, Samurai Robots, looks straight out of Sky Captain!

[Jagannath]

Grab a toy robot and a toy dinosaur and stay them up from mighty monsters and samurai robots. Really fun system.