Light but keenly dense. Grand Armor hones itself on exciting, crunchy and tense combat rules. Personally, I am always a fan of mechanics that interact with each other like cogs in a large system. This review comes from playing two sessions with friends (5+ hours total).

Grand Armor is a game about pitting giant machines at each other. The RPG is at its strongest when you go head-to-head at critical conditions (Heat pushed to the limit, Shields down, Structure nearing failure and Meltdown imminent). It's a game geared toward feeding Pilots into overwhelming missions where their tactics and teamwork can be put to the test. If you like Into the Breach, Titanfall and Robotech, you will like Grand Armor.

Jovian Opera, the upcoming expansion for Grand Armor is already taking the initiative to deepen a good game with an introductory scenario. For newcomers to the genre to exploit the tension in a handcrafted setting and battlefield where Grand Armor seems to excel.

Where this tension and excitement could be enhanced lies in the less integrated elements:

Protocols bring a powerful twist to combat but often feel like isolated accessories (Hyper Protocol becomes a must-have to resolve combat ahead of the enemy and Barrier can feel like a dump stat). With some tweaking, Protocols have the potential to give your Grand Armors a unique identity and role on the field.

Damage Types (excluding Concussive) have minimal impact in battle. If each damage had its own twist like Concussive, this could add more excitement to your loadout. For example, taking a direct hit from a Radiation Weapon with your Energy Shield down could also hurt your Pilot's Vitality. It can help distinguish Weapons with minor stat differences (Beam Hatchet, Durasteel Knife and Plasma Rifle are downgrades compared to their counterparts).

Pilot vs. Mecha Combat frequently came up in our two sessions but never happened. And the rules do not account for it. So Titanfalls fans looking to hijack and rodeo the enemy will need to do some improvisation.

As a microlite game at this scale, it makes sense not every element will have the physical space to shine. I am looking forward to Jovian Opera and what comes next for Grand Armor.