Basic Mech Instruction:Main Page
From BattletechMUX
This page is reserved for the New BMI
Guidelines:
- This is a collaborative effort - so please try not to step on anyone else's toes when editing etc.
- Remember that this document must be generic - not site specific. It should cover the BASICS, which should be applicable to any BTMUX site.
- The NEWBMI should serve as a stand-alone document but additionally provide a jumping off point to discussion of advanced topics. Wiki is great in that it lets us hyperlink ... let's use that facility.
| Note: There may be some small differences between the commands as documented here and other codebases. Additionally a few of the features discussed here may not always be available on every BTMUX. |
Contents |
Introduction
This Basic Mech Instruction (BMI) is intended to provide an entry level grounding in the concepts and commands used to play BTMUX. While it's sheer size may appear daunting, do not be concerned: Tens of thousands of players of all ages have grasped these concepts and enjoyed playing real-time Battletech through BTMUX and it's predecessors. As with everything, improvement and understanding comes with practice.
Terms you should Know
Here are some terms you'll see used throughout this document and/or in game.
- Mechwarrior--Mechwarriors are the Pilots of Battlemechs, often it is used on BattletechMuxs to represent the pilot of any unit.
- Real Space--Real Space is also known as RS, the RS Map, or just The Map. This is where your Unit will move about, fulfil objectives, and do battle.
- Skill Rolls--As you play the game, from time to time you will carry out skill rolls. These rolls determine success or failure at a certain task, be it firing a weapon at an enemy unit or repairing a Battlemech back at base. The rolls are carried out automatically by BTMUX.
- Base-to-Hit--Also called BTH, this is the minimum number you require when making a skill roll to succeed at that task. Some tasks are more difficult than others and so those tasks will have modifiers to reflect that. Your BTH is made up of your base skill and any modifiers required by the task you are attempting.
- Line-of-Sight--Also called LOS. Line of Sight is what your sensors can, and cannot detect. Sensors often can't detect units beyond certain obstacles, and each sensor has it's own best and worst situations. Thus, LOS is a term used to describe what you can and cannot 'see', as well as what can and cannot see you. Line Of Sight is in some respects a misnomer, in that some sensors (for example the seismic sensor) can detect units/objects which are not directly visible.
- Oplead--Oplead means Operation Lead. This is generally an experienced player that leads groups on the RS map. Not all sites/factions use opleads and opleads aren't "official" newbie helpers or such.
- Player Injury--Player Injury happens now and then. Sufficient injury may result in you ending up unconscious, which makes it easy for you to be killed or to die in the cockpit and leave a perfectly good unit behind for the enemy to salvage.
- Salvage--Salvage is any unit which has been disabled or destroyed that can be repaired or reused when returned to a bay. It is not uncommon for a player to lose a unit and find themselves facing it in combat later.
- Hex--A Hex defines each space on the map, like a square on a chess board, however, a hex defines a space large enough for more than one unit.
In BTMUX all the maps are rectangular. Frequently they are square ... but that isn't always the case - sometimes one 'side' of the map is longer than the other.
There are 3 axis on a map:
- X is across the top of the map
- Y is along the side of the map
- z is your height on the map
Whenever you display a map on your screen (using commands you'll be shown later in the BMI) this is how the x and y axis are displayed:
<------------X AXIS------------> ^ | | | Y A X I S | | | V
When you are in your unit (be it a mech, a tank, or something else) the location of your unit is defined as <x> <y> <z>. More often than not you will be in a 'ground' unit ... a mech or a tank in which case your <z> (ie your height) will be the <z> of the hex you are in, and therefore beyond your control. However - a vtol, aerospace unit or dropship (simplistically: a helicopter, fighter or spaceship) pilot must pay great attention to the <z> of the unit.
Macros
The Macro system allow you to utilize long commands with fewer keystrokes, which can be crucial in combat.
BattletechMUXs usually have a generic macro set created by the staff. To utilize the staff created Macro set, first you'll have to locate it. It will most likely be set 0 but lets make sure. Type .glist, this will list all the created Macro sets by number and name.
Here is an example of what you might see:
0 Generic Macros Kelvin McCorvin -R- 5 Mav's Macros Alex Golan -R- 11 Knightmoves WhiteKnight -R-
Once you've made sure you have the right ones type .add <set#>. The .add command adds a Macro set to one of your open personal macro set slots.
Next type .list, this is different from .glist because .list only lists the Macro sets in your personal Macro set slots. You will see the personal Macro set slot that the Macro set now occupies and also the Macro set number and name. Once you're sure you have the set, type .ex <slot#> and it will show you all the Macros in that Macro set.
This is an abbreviated example of the display:
Macro Definitions for Generic Macros 0 : fire 0 * 1 : fire 1 * ams : ams * at : addtic * ax : axe * b : bearing * bk : speed back br : brief * c : contacts * ca : sendchannel a=* h : heading se : sensor *
To use these simply type the shortform and it will automatically translate into the longform. For example
>.c
is the equivalent of typing
>contacts *
For more information on the MUX Macro system type help Macro in game or ask other players or if necessary, a staff member.
|
| Note: Throughout this guide Macros will be highlighted in Bold text. |
Mechprefs
Mechprefs is a command that lets you see how you have certain preferences set and lets you change them.
- MWSafety - determines if the unit will fire on a Mechwarrior on the map. When set ON the unit will NOT fire on a Mechwarrior.
- SLWarn - determine if the unit will warn you when it is lit by a spotlight. When set ON the unit will warn when lit.
- AutoFall - determines if the unit will attempt to avoid running off cliffs. When set ON the unit will NOT attempt to avoid cliffing.
- ArmorWarn - determines if the unit will warn when a section has low armor. When set ON the unit will report low armor.
- AmmoWarn - determines if the unit will warn when running low on ammunition. When set ON the unit will warn of low ammo.
- AutoconShutdown - determines if the unit will report contacts on units which are shutdown. When set ON the unit will report on contacts which are shutdown.
- FFSafety - determines if the unit will fire on friendly units. When set ON the unit will NOT fire on friendly units.
Example:
>mechprefs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mech Preferences
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MWSafety ON
SLWarn ON
AutoFall OFF
ArmorWarn ON
AmmoWarn ON
AutoconShutdown OFF
FFSafety OFF
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cockpit Familiarization and initial startup procedures
Status check
You've just sat down in your command couch. Now what? Well first things first check your unit's status to make sure it is in good shape. You do this by typing Status or the macro for it which is most likely .st. It should look something like this if it's a mech:
>.st
Mech Name: Jenner ID:[HF] Mech Reference: JR7-K
Tonnage: 35 MaxSpeed: 118 JumpRange: 5
Pilot Name: Yournamehere Pilot Injury: 0
SHUTDOWN
FRONT REAR INTERNAL
__ __ __
__( 7)__ __(**)__ __( 3)__
/ 8| 9| 8\ / 4| 3| 4\ / 8|11| 8\
( 4/-\/-\ 4) ( \/ ) ( 6/-\/-\ 6)
/ / \ \ / \ / / \ \
( 6| | 6) / \ ( 8| | 8)
X, Y, Z: 5, 5, 0 Excess Heat: 0 deg C. Heat Production: 0 deg C.
Speed: 0 KPH Heading: 0 deg Heat Sinks: 10
Des. Speed: 0 KPH Des. Heading: 0 deg Heat Dissipation: 0 deg C.
Temp:|.............|.....|......................|
LARM: Ready RARM: Ready LLEG: Ready RLEG: Ready
==================WEAPON SYSTEMS===========================AMMUNITION========
------ Weapon --------- [##] Location ---- Status ||--- Ammo Type ---- Rounds
MediumLaser [ 0] Left Arm Ready || SRM-4 25
MediumLaser [ 1] Left Arm Ready ||
MediumLaser [ 2] Right Arm Ready ||
MediumLaser [ 3] Right Arm Ready ||
SRM-4 [ 4] Center Torso Ready ||
A good way to make sure that it's in tiptop shape is to compare this status display to the template, check with your faction-mates for the proper command to do that. Some things to look for when checking this display are:
- Damaged armor
- Empty ammo bins
- A lowered top speed (this indicates actuator damage)
- A low number of heatsinks (indicating some have been destroyed)
- Damaged or destroyed weapons.
If you see any of these symptoms, except for the damaged armor, you may wish to check your Critical Systems. You do this with the Critstatus command. This command allows you to view the different sections of your unit and check the status of individual systems. For mechs it has the macros
- .ctc for Center Torso
- .rtc for Right Torso
- .ltc for Left Torso
- .rac for Right Arm
- .lac for Left Arm
- .llc for Left Leg
- .rlc for Right Leg
Vehicle macros are
- .fsc for Front Side
- .asc for Aft Side
- .lsc for Left Side
- .rsc for Right Side
- .tuc for Turret
Startup
Now you start your unit, do this by typing 'Startup' your unit will begin to power up. It will power up in several stages over the course of a minute or so and for a mech should look something like this:
Startup Cycle commencing... -> Main reactor is now online <- -> Gyros are now stable <- -> Main computer system is now online <- -> Scanners are now operational <- -> Targeting system is now operational <- - -=> All systems operational! <=- -
and while it's starting up you can set up your weapon TICs and Radio.
Setting up your weapons
"TICs?! What?!" A TIC (which means Target Interlock Circuit) is a way in which you can group a number of weapons so that you can fire them with a single command. You have four, number zero through three. This is extremely useful, it permits you to fire a large number of weapons simultaneously, or to group weapons by range, heat, direction of fire, or any other criteria which seems desirable.
The new commands to utilize these TICS are Listtic or .lt, Addtic or .at, Deltic or .dt, Cleartic .ct, and Firetic. Note you cannot use the firetic command to fire only one of the weapons in the TIC, if you fire the TIC with the firetic command you will fire all weapons in the TIC.
Examples
Given that our unit is the Jenner (as above)
>.at 0 0-3 Weapons #0 - #3 added to TIC 0!
This creates a TIC (TIC 0) which will permit us to fire all our Medium Lasers at one time
>.at 1 0,1 Weapon #0 added to TIC 1! Weapon #1 added to TIC 1!
This creates a TIC (TIC1) which lets us fire our LEFT mounted weapons at one time.
>.at 2 2,3 Weapon #2 added to TIC 2! Weapon #3 added to TIC 2!
This creates a TIC (TIC2) which lets us fire our RIGHT mounted weapons at one time.
>.at 3 0-4 Weapons #0 - #4 added to TIC 3!
This creates a TIC (TIC3) which lets us fire EVERYTHING at once. This is frequently referred to as an 'Alphastrike' or just 'Alpha'
|
| Note: Many mechs, this JR7-K being a prime example, cannot effectively take the heat from an Alpha and may explode, if you do fire the Alpha Strike. |
Example:
>.ffff Firing weapons in tic #3! You fire MediumLaser at the hex (3,3) - BTH: 4 Roll: 8 You fire MediumLaser at the hex (3,3) - BTH: 4 Roll: 9 You fire MediumLaser at the hex (3,3) - BTH: 4 Roll: 8 You fire MediumLaser at the hex (3,3) - BTH: 4 Roll: 6 You fire SRM-4 at the hex (3,3) - BTH: 4 Roll: 6 You hit with 2 missiles! ===================================== Your Excess Heat indicator turns RED! ===================================== You frantically attempt to override the shutdown process! You make a computer skill roll! Modified skill BTH : 6 Roll : 4 Reactor shutting down...
In the above example the pilot was lucky ... the mech only shutdown due to overheating. However in a combat situation a unit which is shut down in the middle of a fight is a sitting duck and may well not last long enough to startup again.
By creating the above TIC's we have grouped our weapons so that we can fire multiple weapons as the circumstances require: a target which is only 'hittable' by our left weapons would receive the output of 'firetic 1' for example.
It is often a good idea to group the same kinds of weapons into the same TIC but you need to take into account heat generation, range, recycle time, ammo, and how often you plan on using specific weapons.
Setting up your communications
Your radio is your connection to the world and should be setup before you head out of the safety of your bay. Lets start by checking what's set already type Listchannels or .lch. You should get something like this:
>.lch # -- Mode -- Frequency -- Comtitle A D--g 523077 PXH-3S|BAH B D--Y 80151 PXH-3S|BAH C A--- 0 D A--- 0 E A--- 0 F A--- 0
What does it mean? Well the first letter is the channel identifier. Next comes the Mode identifiers. For now you only need to know about the first letter which will be either A or D, A stands for Analog and D stands for Digital. Next you see the frequency that the channel is set to this can be any number in the range from 0 to 999999. After that you see the current communication title for that channel, this identifies you to others when you transmit.
Okay so how do I SET the frequencies? The answer is with the setchannelfreq command or .sch. You use it like this:
>setchannelfreq a=2043 Channel A set to 2043. >.sch b=943523 Channel B set to 943523. >.sch c=0101013 Channel C set to 101013.
As you can see you have to tell it not only which frequency to use but which channel you want set to that frequency.
Next you need to understand the modes. The modes are set using Setchannelmode or .scm like this:
>setchannelmode A=D Channel A <send> mode set to digital (flags:-). >.scm A=A Channel A <send> mode set to analog (flags:-).
The difference between the two is this, Digital doesn't reach as far as Analog mode does, but Digital cannot be scanned and listened to by the enemy, while Analog can. However Digital doesn't function well inside an ECM field.
Now for the title you set this by using setchanneltitle or .sct. This title identifies you to those who can hear you when you transmit. Again, it's the same command format.
>setchanneltitle D=PXH-3S|BAH Channel D title set to set to PXH-3S|BAH. >.sct D=PXH-3S|BLAH Channel D title set to set to PXH-3S|BAH.
There is a general etiquette for your comtitle as you see from the examples above. First comes the ref of the unit you're in, from the example it's the PXH-3S Phoenix Hawk. The second part is usually your Alias, which is a short version of your character name.
|
| Note: The way a faction designates it freqs varies from site to site. Check with your faction-mates for frequencies, modes, and any special Comtitle etiquette |
Setting up your sensors
Sensors are the tools that let you see and lock-on to your targets. There are eight types of sensors, five of which are available on any unit, and three which are special equipment and only available on mechs which are equipped with them. What sensors you have set determines how far away you can detect another unit, and along with terrain the chances of detecting said unit. They are also very important in combat as they help to determine the BTH you have when firing weapons at the enemy.
To set your desired sensors you use the Sensor command or .se <Sensor> <Sensor> You need only use the first letter or two letters of the sensor name. This sets your Primary Sensor(the 1st one) and your Secondary Sensor(the 2nd one). Sensors on a new unit default to V V. You can set any of the sensors in combination but you must set two sensors, even if it's just V V, or E E, the command requires two arguments. Once you have set your desired sensors it will take a few moments for your computer to switch over at which time you should see something like this:
As your sensors change, your lock clears.
This means your desired sensors are now active, but any target you had locked will need to be re-locked.
| Tip: It is very very important to remember to change your sensors as necessary to fit the current situation, such as terrain and conditions, otherwise you might find yourself being shot from short range by an enemy you never saw coming, or see the enemy but get horrible BTH. |
Sensor Descriptions
Earlier I promised descriptions of the different sensors..well here they are.
- Visual Sensor--Visual sensors are your default sensor, and your most basic. Weather determines the maximum range of Visual sensors which I have seen as low as 4 and as high as 44 hexes. They can be blocked by woods, fire, Smoke, obstacles (Elevations of 2+ higher than your current elevation), and can be blocked by water if enough of it is present. Visual sensors are bad at night-fighting unless a Spotlight is in use. These sensors are going to be one of your most-used. Visual sensors have two modes depending on how you use them. If you set them as only your primary or secondary sensors, you get 120-degree front-arc scanning mode. If you set them as both your primary and secondary sensors, they scan 360-degrees around you.
- Light Amplification--Light Amp sensors can only be used at dusk/dawn and at night. These sensors give you twice the range of Visual sensors at night. They are blocked by Fire, Smoke, Obstacles, Woods, and ANY water. These sensors have a slightly smaller chance of detecting an enemy than Visual sensors, but it's hardly noticeable and the range increase at night is well worth it. These sensors are good at night fighting. Like Visual sensors, Light Amp sensors have 120-degree scan mode, and 360-degree scan mode depending on if they are set as primary or secondary only, or both primary and secondary.
- Electromagnetic--Electromagnetic sensors have a variable maximum range between 16 and 24 hexes, they are blocked by Mountain terrain and Obstacles, they are also blocked if a large number of woods are present. These sensors are best used against heavy units, the heavier the unit, the better chance these sensors can lock them well. They are good in forests(BTH-wise), but over-all are less reliable as far as detection and BTH goes. These are one of your wildcard sensors, but they scan 360 degrees no matter if they are primary, secondary or both. These sensors are useful despite the decreased chances of detection.
- Infrared--Infrared sensors track your targets heat. They have a fixed range of 15 hexes. They scan 360 degrees like Electromagnetic sensors. They are blocked by Fire, Obstacles and large wooded areas. They are very good at hitting 'hot' targets, that is targets that are overheating, but are not efficient in woods.
- Seismic--Seismic sensors are oddball sensors. They have a maximum range of between 4 and 8 hexes, scan 360 degrees, and are not blocked by terrain. They detect only moving targets(at least 5.5KPH=speed 1) and the heavier the unit is, the better this sensors will be able to detect it. This means light-fast units can be somewhat difficult to detect and hovers cannot be detected at all, but heavier units can be easier to detect. These sensors can be somewhat unreliable as far as BTH goes.
- Beagle Active Probe(Special sensor)--BAP, as it is called, is like a much enhanced Seismic sensor, except it has a maximum range of 6 hexes that does not vary. It is not blocked by any terrain. It has a slightly varying BTH but completely ignores partial cover(this will be explained later), woods, and water. This makes it the ultimate sensor in close range, and can be a serious advantage if your mech has one, but it is fairly rare. BAP scans 360 degrees.
- Bloodhound Active Probe(Special sensor)--BLAP or BLP, is like the BAP sensor..only an enhanced version. This sensor is even more rare than the Beagle Active Probe but it has twice the range(12 hexes) and can locate ANY unit, even hidden ones. BLP scans 360 degrees.
- RADAR--This is exactly what it sounds like, Anti-Aircraft RADAR. It has a range of 180 hexes IF the units it is trying to detect are at or above elevation 10. Below Elevation 10 the range of radar varies significantly. It has enhanced BTH against aircraft/vtols and can partially negate partial cover bonuses. Also of note is the fact that radar can detect units in the process of jumping, albeit somewhat erratically depending on the elevations involved. Radar scans 360 degrees.
|
| Note: For those of you who've played the boardgame the Real-Time nature of BTMux precludes Active probes from detecting only hidden units so they detect everyone. |
|
| Tip: There is a player skill called Perception. This skill is used mostly by sensors..it helps to determine how easy it is for you to detect contacts within range. |
Congratulations ... your unit is now started and ready to go RS and stick it to the other guy!
|
| Note: Check with your faction-mates to find out exactly how to get on to the RS Map |
Navigation and Movement
Controlling Direction
Navigate
Now to get you started on how to move around. Lets start with the navigate command. The Navigate command shows you a close up of the hex you are in, it's type, location and shows a small map of the surrounding hexes. You will also see your current heading and speed. This command is a staple, you will use it quite a bit as it allows very precise piloting. Usually you can use the macro .n to instead of typing 'navigate' in full. This information is also in the Status display though it is in number form only, so using 'navigate' is better. Example Navigate command output
0 __
___________ __/][\__
/ \ Location: 6, 0, 0 __/][\][/][\__
300 / \ 60 Terrain: Grassland /][\][/][\][/][\
/ \ \][/ \][/ \][/
/ \ / \__/**\__/ \
270 ( * ) 90 Speed: 0.0 \__/ \__/ \__/
\ / Vertical Speed: 0.0 / \__/ \__/ \
\ / Heading: 90 \__/ \__/ \__/
240 \ / 120 \__/ \__/
\___________/ \__/
180
Heading
"Okay now I know how to check my heading, speed, location and surrounding hexes, how do I MOVE?" Well you primarily move with two commands. The first is the Heading command. This command changes the direction your unit will face and move in. Your heading can be any number from zero to three-hundred-and-fifty-nine(0-359). Heading Zero is heading to the top of the hex/map or 'north', 90 is to the right or 'east', 180 is facing the bottom or 'south', and 270 is left or 'west'. You can think of it as a compass with you in the middle like this:
N
NW 0 NE
300 | 60
\|/
W270-*-90E
/|\
240 |120
SW 180 SE
S
These directions don't match the 'normal' compass headings as 45 is usually North-East, etc.
Due to the hex-based map the MUX uses these make more sense.
So if you typed 'heading 180' your unit would turn to face south. 'Heading 300' would face you to the north-west. The Macro for the heading command is usually .h, so to use it you would do 'heading 180' or .h 210 Also please note, turning isn't instant. It takes time for your unit to change headings. The bigger and slower your unit is, the slower it will turn. Also note that while turning your unit will slow down as it turns, and speed up again once it achieves it's new heading, this can be dangerous as turning can give an enemy a lower BTH, though it doesn't always do so.
Speed
"Okay now I know how to face a specific direction, but I'm still not moving." You move in that direction with the Speed command. The speed command tells your unit how fast you want to move in the direction you are facing up to your maximum speed, such as 'speed 64', which is dependant upon what unit you are piloting. The Macro for speed is usually .s, you can also use the following macros to achieve unit specific pre-designated speeds. Take note that you do NOT instantly travel at that speed, it takes you time to accelerate or to decelerate to the desired speed.
- .s walk
- .s run
- .s stop
- .s back
|
| Tip: You'll notice that many people refer to unit speeds such as 4/6/0 or 7/11/7. The first two numbers are the units walk and run speeds divided by 10 and rounded off, it's the number of Hexes you move in a single round. So in game terms a 4/6 unit walks 42KPH or 4 hexes, and runs 64 KPH or 6 hexes, around every 60 seconds. The third number is the units Jump range which will be discussed next. |
Jump
The Jump command. This command is only used on units equipped with Jump Jets(also called JJ's). These JJ's allow you to have more maneuverability in certain terrains and situations such as mountains or city fighting and are considered by most to be VERY useful. To use these JJ's you need to tell your unit which direction to jump (which can be completely different from your Heading), and how far to jump, up to the number of JJ's you have mounted. An example is .j 180 4 which would jump you south 4 hexes. When jumping, your unit moves at Walk speed.
Jumping generates 1 point of heat per hex jumped, with a minimum of 3 points of heat(30 degrees) so jumping long distances generates a lot of heat. You also need to know that when you land you are at a dead stop, speed 0. This can be very very bad in combat, so use it wisely. If you want to abort your jump early, you can use the Land command, which tries to land you immediately, but forces a piloting roll, if you fail the roll you fall from the sky.
Falling, Standing, and Prone
Falling is BAD as it damages your unit and leaves you prone and vulnerable. You can fall many ways, almost always from failing a piloting roll from one thing or another such as jumping, or falling off a "cliff" which is a hex higher in elevation than the one you fall into.
"What if I've fallen?" The answer is simple: the Stand command. This command allows you to make a Piloting roll and if you succeed, stands your unit. It does not immediately stand however, it takes several seconds to fully stand, and you are vulnerable while doing so. Once again, try not to fall.
"What if there's a situation where I want to go prone on purpose, can I do that?" This doesn't happen too often, but when it does you can use the Prone command. This command drops you to the ground prone, if you are not moving, it automatically succeeds, if you are moving however, you will have to successfully roll a piloting roll in order to avoid damage.
Controlling Location
"But ... you've already shown me how to control my location!" Not quite. I showed you how to control the direction your unit is moving in, in its current hex. However the hexes themselves, and thus the map, play by the same rules. I showed you the compass above and as I said you are at the center of it. The same thing goes for hexes. So just because you are heading 300, doesn't mean you are moving towards the 300 edge of the hex. Heres a demonstration. As you can see the hexes have the same headings.
0
_______
/ \
300 / \60
/ \
/ \
270 ( )90
\ /
\ /
240\ / 120
\_______/
180
Now lets put you in the middle of the hex.
0
_______
/ \
300/ \60
/ 0 \
/ \|/ \
270( 270-*-90 )90
\ /|\ /
240\ 180 /120
\ /
\_______/
180
Looks right? yup..everything lines up. Now what happens when we put you at another point in the hex? Say..the bottom of it?
0
_______
/ \
300 / \60
/ \
/ \
270 ( )90
\ 0 /
\ \|/ /
240\270-*-90 /120
\__/|\__/
180
Obviously not all of your compass matches up with the hex edge headings now. This makes planning your routes through the map important to avoid ending up in terrain you don't want to be in and avoiding cliffs. It also makes these next command very helpful.
The Bearing command allows you to get a direct heading to the target, be it a hex, or a friendly/enemy contact. Generally it has the .b Macro and it is used this way: Bearing 250 150, or .b <ID>. If you are locked on a target or hex, you can just hit .b or type Bearing and it will give you the heading to that target by default. If used on a hex it will give you a bearing to the center of that hex.
There is also the Range command. This command tells you how far, in hexes, you are from the desired hex or target. Combined with the Bearing, the range command can help you plan routes around obstacles and harsh terrain and get you from where you are to where you want to go fast. Generally the range command has the macro .r
There is also the Vector command. This command basically combines the above two commands in to one.
|
| Note: Both the Bearing and Vector command are inaccurate if you try to use them on the hex you are in and the closer you are to the center of the hex the more they will be off, so don't do it. If you want to find the center of the hex you are in use the Findcenter command |
The World Around You
The RS Map is where all the action takes place. It is created by the games wizards (or sometimes players) with varying terrains, elevations, and objectives to make it fun and challenging for everyone from the newest noobie to the best known mechwarrior that's ever played. The MUX makes use of colors (if you can display them) and symbols to represent the map. These are the symbols it uses and what they represent, you will notice that the Clear terrain type has NO symbol. Most of these use ANSI colors which don't show up well here, but I will use them where I can and follow with their normal color where I can't.
Anatomy of a Hex
A single hex contains great deal of information which you will learn to assimilate quickly and easily in a short time.
Terrain Types
- Clear (grassland) # - Road ~ - Water @ - Building (white) = - Wall (white/grey) - - Ice(white) ^ - Mountain & - Fire % - Rough(yellow) : - Smoke(dark grey) + - Snow(white) ' - Light Forest " - Heavy Forest/Jungle / - Bridge(grey)
Here are descriptions of these terrain types.
- Clear - This is the most common type of terrain, it does not modify BTH, and does not slow you down.
- Road - Roads are usually built linking important areas of the map. They are much like Clear hexes as they don't add BTH or slow you down. However, Tracked and Wheeled vehicles get a speed modifier - ie they can travel faster over Road hexes than they normally can on other terrains.
- Water - While water varies from 0 to 9 z in depth, there are only 3 significant levels.
- Level 0 water. This can be viewed as marshland. For all unit types there are no penalties or benefits to this type of terrain.
- Level 1 water. At this depth the water covers the legs of a mech and therefore only head, torso and arm mounted weapons can be fired. For non-waterproof units level 1 (or deeper) water is unpassable. By definition mechs and submarines are waterproof (unless their armor is breeched). Other types of units are not unless they are specifically designed to be so.
- Level 2 water (and deeper) At this depth a mech is fully submerged and can only fire energy weapons. A mech in level 2 water cannot be shot with ballistic weapons and the range of energy weapons is reduced by 50%
- NOTE:
- A mech must make a successful pilot roll to enter a water hex of depth 1 or greater.
- Naval units (with the exception of submarines) and hovers use the surface of the water and the depth is irrelevant. Submarines may not use 0 z depth water.
- For mechs with heatsinks mounted in their legs water of level 1 provides additional cooling. Level 2 water improves the heat dissipation for all mechs.
- In the case of a mech or sub with breeched armor Level 1 water or deeper will flood that section and destroy any components/weapons which are there.
- Buildings - Bases, Malls, RelayTowers, or maybe your neighbor's house. Buildings are an all too common sight in thick urban areas. Generally they are multi-story structures and therefore they are normally inaccessible to units which cannot move through the z dimension (ie mechs with jump jets, or VTOLs). They can drastically slow down any unit walking upon them (except for battlesuits whom can travel without any delay). They cannot be blown down or harmed in any manner. Battlesuits only may attempt to hide in a building hex.
- Walls - Normally blocking passage into a Base or some other location of interest, walls are a common sight. The cheapest of the defensive structures, they can also be destroyed. Locking X Y H and firing gives a chance to destroy the hex and lower it by one level. This is not always successful and it may take many shots to blow a wall down. A wall can only be lowered 4 levels under it's neighboring walls before you will have to start to knock other wall hexes down to continue on. While walking on a wall, you will face no movement modifiers, but an enemy unit may lock onto your hex in an attempt to blow the wall down while you are walking on it.
- Ice - Ice terrain is exactly what you'd expect, a frozen water hex These hexes can force you to make a Piloting roll. Failing this roll can make you fall down, and can ALSO break the ice, forcing you to travel in the water underneath it. Hovers are unaffected by ice.
- Mountain - Mountain terrain is one of the worst, it slows you down to a crawl and interferes with Electromagnetic sensors ... don't use them in mountains. This terrain type can leave you a sitting duck for an ambush, or be a good place to set one. If you need to pass this terrain JJ's are highly suggested as they make it a LOT faster.
- Rough - Rough Hexes slow down everything but Battlesuits and Infantry. they don't block LOS at all but can be a pain to get through
- Light Forest - Forests slow down all but battlesuits. Hovers must roll a piloting skill roll or they will hit a tree and take damage or die. The trees of the forest block LOS, increase BTH to hit a unit in or through the forest hex(s). A forest hex may by ignited to become a fire hex or cleared to become a Rough hex. If ignited the hex will burn itself down into a rough hex after some time. Units with CamoGear and Battlesuits may hide in the forest
- Heavy Forest - These are thicker forests than light forest and slow down all units, including battlesuits, even more than Light Forest hexes do. They also block LOS and increase BTH even more than Light Forest. A hover entering this terrain must make a skill roll like Light Forest, but has a much much harder roll and a very good chance of being destroyed. CamoGear units and Battlesuits can hide in Heavy Forest.
- Fire - Fire terrain slows down all units, and increases the heat level of Mechs in the hex. If it's a burning forest or such it will also create Light Smoke terrain. Fire Terrain also blocks LOS of Infrared sensors.
- Light Smoke - Smoke doesn't slow you down, but does block LOS and increase BTH slightly, this terrain can make you switch sensors to keep LOS but otherwise is mostly a nuisance.
- Heavy Smoke - This is only created by a Smoke Mortar round. It is basically like light smoke and they don't last very long but they are very very good LOS blockers.
- Snow - During winter, snow hexes may appear. Snow hexes slow down any passing unit and forces that unit to successfully roll a piloting BTH. If they fail they are dropped to speed zero and become stuck in the snow. They make piloting rolls at set intervals after that in an attempt to escape. You can attempt to clear a snow hex with lock X Y C. Snow hexes do have the advantage of cooling off Mech Units so they are not all bad.
- Bridge - Bridge Terrain is road terrain except it is built over water. You can actually move UNDER it if you are already in the water. When destroyed the Bridge Terrain turns into Rough Terrain.
Other Units in the Hex
If another unit, be it enemy or friendly, is located in a hex you will see their Unit ID. In the case of friendly units the ID will be in lowercase, enemy units are shown in UPPERCASE.
A Few Samples
An example of a clear, elevation 0 hex.
__ / \ \__/
A mountainous, elevation 4 hex occupied by an enemy unit.
__ /CA\ \^4/
A water, elevation -2(Depth 2) hex that you are in.
__ /**\ \~2/
The Tactical Display
Tactical or .t is used to see a larger map of the surrounding area. It lets you plan where you want to go and see where around you, your friends and enemies are. This command does not show your speed and heading, or that of your friends or enemies, just current locations. As the name suggests, it is useful for tactical planning and engaging the enemy from outside the range of the small Navigate map. It can also be used for reconnaissance of areas and battles within sensor range. The basic way to use tactical is with no arguments.
It gives you a map centered on your location that lets you see your surroundings. The second way of using it, for recon, is done by using .t <bearing> <range> which gives you a tactical scan of the area surrounding the hex at that bearing and range. You can also .t <ID> to display the Tactical map centered on another unit. On the tactical map you are represented by ** in the hex you are in, and any other contacts are represented by their ID in the hex they are in, as more than one contact can be in the same hex, you will not always see all contacts on the Tactical display.
This map will be a staple during combat especially and used often otherwise. Tactical has 3 options: C, T, and L. The C option shows cliffs which mechs cannot traverse, T shows cliffs tanks cannot traverse, and L shows your current Line-of-Sight with your current sensors. The maximum Tactical scan range of your unit can usually be found by typing Look in the cockpit. The following is an example Tactical scan
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 \][/ \][/^^\][/ \][/ \][/ \][/--\][/--\][/ \][/ \][/ \][/ 0 / \__/ \^1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \-1/~~\-1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \ 0 \__/ \__/^^\__/ \__/^^\__/ \__/~~\~2/--\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ 1 / \__/^^\^1/ \__/ \^1/^^\__/ \~1/~~\-1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \ 1 \__/ \^1/^^\__/^^\__/^^\^1/ \__/--\~2/--\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ 2 / \__/^^\^1/^^\^1/^^\^2/^^\__/ \-1/--\-1/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\ 2 \__/ \^1/^^\^1/^^\^1/^^\^1/ \__/ \-2/~~\__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/ 3 / \__/ \^1/^^\^2/^^\^1/ \__/ \__/--\~2/--\__/ \__/ \__/^^\ 3 \__/ \__/^^\^2/^^\^2/^^\__/ \__/ \-1/--\-1/--\__/ \__/ \^1/ 4 / \__/ \^1/^^\^3/^^\^1/ \__/ \__/ \-1/--\-1/ \__/ \__/^^\ 4 \__/^^\__/^^\^2/^^\^4/^^\__/ \__/ \__/ \-2/--\__/ \__/ \^1/ 5 / \^1/^^\^1/^^\^4/^^\^1/^^\__/gb\__/ \__/--\-2/--\__/ \__/ \ 5 \__/ \^1/^^\^3/^^\^2/^^\^1/ \__/ \__/ \-1/--\-1/--\__/ \__/ 6 / \__/ \^1/^^\^2/^^\^3/^^\__/ \__/ \__/ \-1/--\-1/ \__/ \ 6 \__/ \__/ \^1/^^\^2/ \^1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \-2/--\__/ \__/ 7 / \__/ \__/^^\^1/^^\__/^^\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/--\-2/--\__/ \ 7 \__/ \__/ \^1/ \^1/ \^1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \-1/--\-1/--\__/ 8 / \__/ \__/ \__/^^\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\_1/^^\-1/--\-1/ \ 8 \__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/^^\^1/ \-2/--\__/ 9 / \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\^2/ \__/--\-2/~~\ 9 \__/ \__/ \__/EG\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\^1/^^\__/^^\-1/~~\~1/ 10 / \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/^^\^4/^^\^4/ \~1/~~\ 10 \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \^2/^^\^5/ \__/--\~2/ 11 / \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\^2/^^\__/ \-1/~~\ 11 \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/^^\^2/ \__/~~\~2/ 12 / \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\^1/ \__/--\~1/``\ 12 \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \^1/ \__/--\-1/``\``/ 13 / \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \-1/--\``/``\ 13 \__/``\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/--\-1/``\``/ 14 /``\``/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/^^\__/ \__/ \__/--\-1/``\``/^^\ 14 \``/][\__/][\__/][\__/][\__/][\^1/][\__/][\__/][\-1/][\``/][\^1/
The Long Range Scan
LRS is your Long Range Scan command. It is much like tactical only it covers a MUCH greater area, the problem is that it compresses all this data into a small area so it can be harder to read accurately. It also has options Tactical does not. Your Long Range Scan can be told to show you Terrain, like Tactical does, Elevations(how high the hexes are), detected units not in Tactical range and their type, and Line-of-Sight. It also has a Combined option that shows both terrain and elevation at the same time. This command is less-used than Tactical but has its uses for to be sure. The following is an example of the 'LRS m' command.
111111111122222222223333333333444444444
0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
0 ^ - - ^ ^ ^ #
~ ^ ^ 0
1 ^ ^ ~ - ^ ^ ^ #
^ ^ ~ ^ ^ ^ 1
2 ^ ^ ^ - - ^ ^ # ^ ^
^ ^ ^ ^ - ^ ^ ^ 2
3 ^ ^ ^ ~ ^ ^ # ^ ^
^ ^ - - ^ ^ ^ 3
4 ^ ^ ^ - - ^ % # ^
^ ^ - ^ ^ ^ 4
5 ^ ^ ^ ^ - % ^ # ^
^ ^ ^ ^ b - - % ^ 5
6 ^ ^ ^ - - % #
^ ^ ^ - % % 6
7 ^ - ^ % #
^ ^ ^ - - ^ 7
8 - - ^ % % # ^
^ ^ ^ - ^ ^ 8
9 ^ - ^ % # ^ ^
^ - ~ ^ % ^ ^ 9
10 B ^ ^ ^ ~ ~ ^ ^ % # ^ ^ ^
^ ^ ~ ^ ^ % % ^ ^ ^ 10
Who's there?!?!
Contacts
Now you should see the Contacts command. "You've mentioned that before!" Yes I have. Now I'll tell you what it does. When your sensors detect something you see a notice like this:
You notice DC IS PowerSuit [XB] in your Forward arc.
This is your sensors telling you they detect something, in this case, a Draconis Combine Battlesuit unit with the unit ID "XB".
Now you can hit Contacts, or it's short form which is usually .c and you'll see output like this:
>.c PS*[XB]B DC IS PowerS x: 20 y: 10 Z: 1 r: 8.2 b: 95 S: 0.0 h:270 S: PSv[OY]B LC Fafnir X: 4 y: 4 z: 0 r: 7.8 b:313 S: 0.0 h:240 S:DSF
You will see a line like this for each unit your sensors see.
Contacts dissected
Now lets go over what it all means.
The first two spaces are reserved for sensor info. P means that your Primary sensors detect the unit and S means that your Secondary sensors detect the unit. You will often, but not always, see both flags on a contact.
The third space tells you what 'firing arc' the contact is in.
- *--is Forward Arc
- l--is left Arc
- r--is right Arc
- v--is rear Arc.
Firing arcs will be discussed more in the combat section.
Now you see something like this [XB]. Inside the brackets is the Contacts ID tag. This is the ID you use to lock the target, scan the target, etc. Everyone sees' this same ID - if you need to say "HEY! Everybody shoot the Fafnir!" but there are two Fafnir's, you can just say "Everybody shoot OY!".
After that you see a single letter, in the examples above, this is B, for 'Biped'. Here's a list of what types there are:
- B--Biped(Two leg mech or Battlesuits)
- Q--Quad Mech
- F--Aerospace Fighter
- V--Vtol
- N--None
- T--Tracked Tank
- W--Wheeled Tank
- H--Hover Tank
The next two spaces are often but not always the Faction ID. In the example above the Powersuit is from the Draconis Combine, while the Fafnir is from the Lyran Commonwealth. After that is the Name of the unit as you can see.
Next comes it's map location in the form of X, Y, Z, coordinates.
Next is the Range. when you look at the Fafnir contact above, after it's coordinates you see R:7.8, so it is 7.8 hexes away.
Now comes the contacts' Bearing. This bearing is the direction you would travel to get to it.
Next is S: 0.0, this is the units speed, in this example, both are stopped.
Now comes H:240, this is the units Heading. The Fafnir, in this case, is facing 240.
After that you see S: again..what? why speed twice? The answer is simple the second S: isn't speed, it's Status. This status has many flags, and I'll give you a list now.
- D--Destroyed
- S--Shutdown
- F--Fallen
- f--Standing up
- H--Hulldown
- h--Changing Hulldown status
- E--Unit has an Active ECM
- P--Unit has an Active ECCM
- p--Protected by ECM
- e--Effected by ECM
- +--Overheating
- M--Sprinting
- m--Evading
- L--Unit has an Active Spotlight
- l--Lit by a spotlight
- t--Towing a unit
- T--Being towed
- W--Swarming/Mounted on another unit.
- J--Jumping
- G--Staggered
- N--Narc'd
- I--Inferno'd
- O--Orbital Dropping
- B--Burning
- C--carrying a Club
- X--Spinning
Okay now that you have the list, lets see what we can figure out from the example. Lets use the Fafnir. Obviously, the Fafnir is on both your Primary and Secondary sensors, is in your Rear arc, is tagged OY, is a Biped Mech, belongs to the Faction "LC", is at 4, 4, 0 on the map, is 7.8 hexes away at bearing 313, is not moving and is facing 240, so you are in his left arc..but what's this? He has the Status flags DSF, so he is Destroyed, Shutdown, and Fallen. Obviously no threat as he's dead. All that information in one line of text.
Scanning
Now lets discuss Scan. Scan is the command that will give you a detailed status readout of the unit you have targeted, or the unit you designate with scan <ID>. It usually has the macro .sc and it returns something like this:
>.sc
[SY] DC Thunderbolt Tonnage: 65
Range: 8.2 hex Bearing: 95 degrees
Speed: 0.0 KPH Heading: 120 degrees
X, Y, Z: 20, 10, 0 Heat: 0 deg C.
Type: MECH Movement: BIPED
In Rear Weapons Arc
FRONT REAR INTERNAL
Key __ __ __
** __(XX)__ __(**)__ __(OO)__
XX /OO|OO|**\ /OO|OO|OO\ /OO|OO|xx\
xx (OO/|==|\oo) ( |==| ) (OO/|==|\OO)
oo / /\ \ / \ / /\ \
OO (xx/ \OO) / \ (OO/ \OO)
================WEAPON SYSTEMS================
----- Weapon ------ [##] Location ---- Status
MachineGun [ 0] Left Arm Ready
MachineGun [ 1] Left Arm Ready
ERLargeLaser [ 2] Right Arm Ready
MediumLaser [ 3] Left Torso Ready
MediumLaser [ 4] Left Torso Ready
MediumLaser [ 5] Left Torso Ready
StreakSRM-2 [ 6] Left Torso Ready
LRM-15 [ 7] Right Torso -----
As you can see it's a lot like your own Status screen, except instead of hard numbers you see symbols that represent what that unit is capable of. Note that these symbols don't tell you ANYTHING about how much armor is usually there or how long the enemy's weapon will take to recycle, just if any of it has been damaged or is recycling. As you can see it has a damage "Key" this key tells you from bottom to top, how much damage each symbol represents.
- OO means that location hasn't been damaged yet.
- oo means that location has taken "minor" damage.
- xx means moderate damage has been taken to that location - it will not last a whole lot longer.
- XX means it has taken severe damage, this location is very vulnerable.
- ** means that location's armor has been destroyed.
If you hear someone say something such as "SY OPEN RT!" they're saying that the unit with the ID SY has no armor left on it's Right Torso. From the example above we can see that Thunderbolt SY has been in a fight, it's Right Torso has no armor left, and the internal structure there has taken damage as well. It's Right Arm has taken minor damage, it's Left Leg has taken moderate damage, and it's head has taken severe damage. If you look at the bottom section you can see that the LRM-15 has several dashes under it's status, this means the weapon is either recycling, or considering the damage to the Right Torso where it is located, more likely destroyed. If you are using a client capable of supporting it, you will see the damage symbols in the colors above. If you see a section missing it means that area has been completely destroyed.
Viewing
Now we come to the View command. View shows you if a mech has a description, it may be a description of the mechs paint scheme, or a favorite slogan of the pilot, if the site allows people to set the description themselves, it can also be set to give you Information about a contact, such as it's Faction, like "The Federated Suns", if it has a player-run organization affiliation, such as "The Davion Heavy Guards", and possibly who it's Pilot is maybe "Victor Davion".
Fight or Flee?
Now we start getting to the fun stuff. In this section we'll talk about how to decide if you want to engage a contact(s). The first thing to consider are "What are my orders?". If your boss - be it the OPlead or perhaps your Faction Head has told you to avoid combat then your decision is made for you ... you don't fight unless you can't avoid it. If, however, it's up to you - then you must consider "What is my unit capable of?" What class is it? Is it Light, Medium, Heavy, or Assault? What's it speed class? Is it Recon, Strike, or Assault? Here's a little Form to help you figure it out.
Weight-Class |Speed-Class 20-40 Tons-Light |7/11 or faster-Recon 45-55 Tons-Medium |4/6-6/9-Strike 60-75 Tons-Heavy |1/2-3/5-Assault 80-100 Tons-Assault|
The Tonnage system was the original boardgames Class system, but in conversion to Real Time as on the Mux, many people found that classifying them by Speed actually seems to work better. Weight class is still a very good measurement as well however. You should never underestimate that 100ton Atlas or Annihilator Assault 'Mech, no matter how fast you are.
Scenario 1
Okay, you've got a good idea of what kind of unit you're piloting. For simplicities sake, we're going to assume you are alone, and have a single contact. You've figured out your weight and speed class, what about your contact? Lets say you are in a JR7-K "Jenner" weight 30 tons, speed 7/11(78KPH walk speed, 118KPH run speed). Your Opponent is also in a JR7-K Jenner. All right so you're both the same weight/speed class, that bodes well. Do you know who the pilot of the Contact is? Is it a well known pilot or maybe another newbie? Lets assume it's another newbie. Again, that bodes well, you should be about evenly matched. At this point you look at range, and the terrain. Are you in combat range? Will his position and yours put him at the advantage or you? This time we'll predict you are in firing range and in the better position, on top of a hill, whereas the contact is at the bottom.
How about arsenals? Will he be able to destroy or severely damage you before you can fire? In this case no, that's good. Now that you've figured these basics out you have a chance to decide, fight or run? In this example I would say "Fight". It's evenly matched and the terrain is on your side, plus, since the other person is in a JR7-K as well, he's the same speed, running away will be difficult unless you can break LOS and then get out of range before the other guy can re-acquire. One thing that could go wrong in this situation ... he may have friends that are not in LOS or not detected by your sensors.
Scenario 2
Now lets look at the other way. You are in a JR7-K Jenner and you happen across an ANH-1A Annihilator. He's 100 tons and speed 2/3(21KPH walk speed/32KPH run speed) He's one of the monster Assault mechs. Uh oh. That's bad. You are a heck of a lot faster, but you have no chance of taking this guys armor down and weapons out before he rips you to shreds. Who's the pilot? Unlikely to be a newbie that's for sure. Again, that's not good. How about range and terrain? This time we'll put you at the bottom of a hill, and the Annihilator at the top, but out of range. Well that's the ONE good thing here, you're out of range and faster than he is by a long shot. At this point the smart decision would be to turn tail and "Flee" as fast as you possibly can, get out of LOS and hope he doesn't have fast friends nearby capable of intercept.
Scenario 3
Third example You are in your Jenner and you run across an ENF-4R Enforcer. This is a Medium weight Strike mech. It's not as fast as you are, but it's much more heavily armored, and has heavier, long-range weaponry. The pilot might be a newbie or a very experienced mechwarrior. The terrain is just a flat plain so he has a slight advantage with his range, you have speed however. This is really a toss up, it's unlikely that you could beat the Enforcer, one shot from his AC-10 could destroy you or blow off limbs, even his Large Laser could do massive damage in one hit, but he could have a fairly hard time hitting you. I would recommend "Flee" from this fight at least as a newbie, it wouldn't be impossible but it could be very difficult even for experienced players.
If you have more than one contact, I suggesting fleeing. Multiple contacts is something you really will have to get a feel for as you learn the game, as you learn unit and pilot capabilities and the map.
On the other hand, if you are working with a group of others, follow the orders of your Oplead. Opleads are generally experienced players that have a good grasp of how a battle will go and what should be done, and want you to succeed as much as you want to succeed.
HOWTO Run
Now we come to HOW to run away. This is difficult especially as a newbie. The best way to do this is to check your Tactical and LRS scans and find a city or a place with a lot of elevation changes close by, or terrain that you can cross faster and easier than your opponent can. As you learn the map you will get much better at knowing which ways are good to go and which ways are not, where troubles spots are, and where places are you might be able to turn the tables on the other guy.
The best way to run is quite simply by breaking LOS, it means you can't see him, but chances are good if you can't see him, HE can't see YOU, this gives you time to find a route out and away from the enemy. If you can't break LOS you will have a much harder time running away. You will have to use every trick of piloting you can and the terrain to your advantage to make the other guy mis-step and lose ground. Also remember that turning your rear armor to the other guy is dangerous, though sometimes necessary in order to get away. Calculated risks are what the game is all about.
Scenario
Lets take an example of a JR7-K(30 tons, speed 7/11 or 78KPH/118KPH) and the ANH-1A(100 tons, speed 2/3 or 21KPH/32KPH), except this time we're going to put you out of range, on a flat plain with a long ridge covered in heavy woods on one side, mountains on the other, and rough behind the Annihilator.
|
| Note: The LRS map displayed here is an approximation of what you would see. Colors are not entirely accurate. Additionally, while the map is an approximation of the results of "LRS C" the level 0 hexes have been left blank to permit greater clarity, ** represents the Jenner and AN represents the ANH contact |
66666777777777788888888889999999999000000000011111111112222222222666666
56789012645678901264567890126456789012645678901264567890126456789012645
90 1666556611 1233552 90
91 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 ** 1233552 91
92 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 92
96 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 96
94 1666555611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 94
95 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 95
96 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 96
97 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 97
98 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 98
99 1666556611 1233542
1666556611 1233542 99
100 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 100
101 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 101
102 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 102
106 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 106
104 1666556611 1233552
1666556611 1233552 104
105 1666556611 1233552
1166556611 AN 1233552 105
106 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 106
107 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 107
Escape Plan A
Since you are in a JR7 ... you can BACK away from him faster than he can run at you. So all you have to do is put it in reverse. The problem with this is if your in his firing range already you have to slow down to a stop before you start backing up. This gives him a very very easy shot. This is best used if you can block LOS or are out of his firing range anyway. When you can do this though, You make the Gingerbread man look like a sloth. Easy huh? Also..if you're already at a stop when he shows up and he's in firing range, you can put it in reverse...but chances are he's still going to kill you. HINTHINT: Speed saves lives.
Escape Plan B
If for some reason you couldn't back out of LOS it would be a good idea to turn and run away from the ANH and towards the wooded ridge, not directly at the ridge as this gives the ANH pilot an easy intercept route. In this case since that Annihilator is just barely in firing range you can turn, run at that wooded ridge and get up it a ways. If the Annihilator follows you he's going to become seriously slow in those trees. Once you are up a ways you can probably use your Jump Jets to jump over the top of the ridge, and break LOS.
All right - now that you're out of LOS you need to get away. Again, look for the most advantageous terrain you can find to get away from there FAST. That Annihilator may have given up or he may just be coming around the edge of those woods to re-acquire. Once you see the most advantageous terrain head there and get out of LOS of where you where he last had contact on you, which is probably where you had last contact on him, in the same way. Check your Tactical and LRS scans and move it.
HOWTO Engage
Locking and Sighting
So..you've decide to engage a contact, but you're missing crucial information. Such as how to lock your targeting system on to that contact. You do that with the Lock command, usually macro'd as .l. The Lock command set the target for your weapons, and often also allows commands that need an argument to function with this contact as the default. Use the contacts ID tag to lock it such as .l wq. this tells your targeting system that you want to target this contact, but be aware that it takes time for your targeting system to attain a full lock. You can immediately start firing, but you will incur an unstable lock BTH penalty. You will know when you achieve full targeting lock when you see something like this following example, once you've seen it you will no longer receive the unstable lock penalty.
>.l wq The sensors acquire a stable lock on DC Axeman [wq].
All right. Targeting system is locked on your chosen victim. You think the shot should be good, but you want to make sure. You can do this by Sighting the weapon you want to fire. This is done with the Sight command. Usually there are several macros associated with this command, .s0 to .s9. Sighting a weapon will give you the BTH for all weapons of that kind in that firing arc (see below for info on firing arcs). So if you sight weapon 0 (a medium laser on the JR7-K) you will know what the BTH for all your medium lasers in that firing arc are at the precise instant you Sighted weapon 0. Be aware that the BTH may well be higher or lower a few seconds later - with both units moving there is no certainty that a BTH will remain the same. Of course the BTH for a different type of weapon, even a different SIZE of the same type of weapon, will be different. When you sight a weapon you will see something like this:
|
| Note: Due to the similarity between the macros for sighting and the macro for the speed command, be careful not to use the wrong one! |
>.s0 You aim ERPPC at DC Axeman [wq]- BTH: 8
|
| Tip: The BTH you get when sighting a weapon depends on a combination of your Gunnery skill(or Gunnery/*Weapontype, such as Gunnery/Laser for the ERPPC in this example), Sensors being used, terrain, and the speed of both you and your contact, improving any of these factors will give you a better BTH |
Weapon Selection
You can sight every weapon to find out which one has the best BTH - but knowing your weapons will make it much quicker to select the appropriate one. You will want to make sure you know the types of weapons you have, their ranges, their recycle times, and available ammunition, if applicable, and take them into account when choosing which weapons to sight/fire. You will get the hang of this fairly quickly most likely.
Weapon Ranges
Each weapon has a short, medium and long range, some weapons also have a MINIMUM range, if the enemy is closer than minimum range, these weapons lose effectiveness just like if they were beyond long range. You can find the ranges of the weapons on your unit with the Weaponspecs command. usually Macro'd as .ws. These ranges help to determine your BTH. at Short range you get no modifier, at medium range you get a moderate modifier to your BTH, and at long range the modifier is a large BTH modifier, at minimum range, you get a modifier based on how far under minimum range they are. Short range weapons typically have a Maximum range of around 3 to 9 hexes, while Long range weaponry typically has a Maximum range of around 15 to 23 hexes.
Here's an example of an AS7-D's Weaponspecs report:
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Weapons statistics for Atlas: AS7-D
Weapon Name Heat Damage Range: Min Short Med Long VRT
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IS.MediumLaser 3 5 0 3 6 9 20
IS.LRM-20 6 1 6 7 14 21 30
IS.SRM-6 4 2 0 3 6 9 15
IS.AC/20 7 20 0 3 6 9 25
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- VRT in this display means Variable Recycle Time, usually referred to simply as "recycle time"
These ranges make a big difference in how effective a weapon is at a certain range. Long range weapons can hit much farther away, and often hit easier at short ranges than short-ranged weapons, however, they often have a minimum range, which makes it harder for them to hit at ranges under that minimum.
Weapon Purpose
Some weapons are meant for up close, some for plinking at range. You can usually tell this by the range and recycle time of a weapon. Especially important is the recycle time. the closer you are, the faster you want your weapons to recycle. Lets say for example you had a mech with only 2 ERPPCs, and were fighting a mech of the same size/speed/armor, with only 6 Machine Guns. Your ERPPCs have much much much longer range, but recycle at 30 ticks each, so you can put out 20 damage every 30 ticks(10 per ERPPC). Now lets look at those Machine Guns, they are very very very close range weapons, they recycle every 15 tics, this means he does 24 damage every 30 ticks(4 per machine gun every 30 ticks), this means at close range he does 4 more damage than you in the same amount of time, over time those extra 4 points add up.
Example
Lets compare a long range weapon and a short range weapon, we will use an LRM-20 and an SRM-6 the largest of the two types missile launchers. First the weapon data
Weapon Name Heat Damage Range: Min Short Med Long VRT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IS.LRM-20 6 1 6 7 14 21 30 IS.SRM-6 4 2 0 3 6 9 15 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, first things first. See where it says damage? Kinda odd that the two largest missile launchers do such low damage right? that's because it's that amount of damage PER MISSILE. That means the LRM-20 can do a maximum of 20 damage per shot, and the SRM-6 can do a maximum of 12 damage per shot. They will not always do this much damage as they have to roll to see how many missiles hit. Now that's out of the way. Lets look at ranges, As you can see LRM's have a long range of 21, which makes sense as they ARE Long-Range-Missiles (LRMs), while SRM's have a long range of 9 (Short-Range-Missiles). Now how about heat? The LRM launcher produces 6 heat, while the SRM produces 4 heat. But what about recycle time? The LRM can fire once every 30 ticks, while the SRM can fire twice as fast..once every 15 ticks. Lets even that data out a little and see what it looks like, I'll do this by multiplying the SRM-6 by 2..it can fire twice in the same time the LRM fires once, so the heat, damage, and VRT data needs to be doubled
Weapon Name Heat Damage Range: Min Short Med Long VRT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IS.LRM-20 6 20 6 7 14 21 30 IS.SRM-6 4*2 12*2 0 3 6 9 15*2 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now lets see what we come out with
Weapon Name Heat Damage Range: Min Short Med Long VRT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IS.LRM-20 6 20 6 7 14 21 30 IS.SRM-6 8 24 0 3 6 9 30 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, look at that! At short ranges that SRM-6 can do 4 more damage than the LRM can do at long range, but also generates more heat. Remember that these numbers assume that ALL MISSILES HIT, which isn't going to happen a whole lot, but isn't super rare either. Just like the SRM's/LRM's used in this example, most short range weapons do less damage per shot, but cycle faster than their long-range counterparts, allowing them to dish out more damage over all ... the difference being you have to get close to use them.
Firing
Now you know how to lock and sight a target, how do you fire? For now I'll show you the easiest way, and save the advanced stuff for later. You can fire using the Firetic command. Remember the TICs I had you set up? This tells a specific TIC to fire. You can use it by typing 'firetic #' such as 'firetic 0'. There are also Macros for this, generally .f for 'Firetic 0' which is your first TIC, .ff for 'Firetic 1' which is your second TIC, .fff for 'Firetic 2' which is your third TIC, and .ffff for 'Firetic 3' which is your last TIC. so if you hit .f you will get output that looks something like this:
>.f Firing weapons in tic #0! You fire MediumLaser at DC Axeman[wq] - BTH: 8 Roll: 5 You fire MediumLaser at DC Axeman[wq] - BTH: 8 Roll: 11 You hit for 5 points of damage in the Right Torso(Rear) You fire MediumLaser at DC Axeman[wq] - BTH: 8 Roll: 7 You fire MediumLaser at DC Axeman[wq] - BTH: 8 Roll: 8 DC Axeman[wq] is nicked by a glancing blow! You it for 3 points of damage in the Center Torso(Rear)
Heat Management
Heat management is a CRUCIAL part of combat, an overheating unit is slower, easier to hit, and has less chance of hitting its targets than one that isn't overheating. They also run the risk of shutting down and making themselves a super easy target, or exploding ammunition they may be carrying, which is usually instant death.
X, Y, Z: 10, 5, 0 Excess Heat: 0 deg C. Heat Production: 0 deg C.
Speed: 0 KPH Heading: 0 deg Heat Sinks: 26
Des. Speed: 0 KPH Des. Heading: 0 deg Heat Dissipation: 260 deg C.
Temp:..........................|.............|.....|......................|
This is part of your Status display. The parts in bold text are what you want to look for when managing your heat.
- Heat Production is how much Heat you are generating by moving, firing weapons, any engine critical hits, etc.
- Heat Dissipation is how much heat your Heatsinks can get rid of per round generally you get 10 Dissipation per heatsink, or 20 dissipation per double heat sink.
How much heat can a heat sink sink when a heat sink can sink heat? A heat sink dissipates 10 degrees, or one heat point, per minute. So for instance, if you fire a combination of weapons which emit 30 heat points and you have 30 heat sinks, it will take a minute to dissipate all the heat emitted from this firing. This is important to consider when noting that all weapons take 30 seconds at most to recharge or reload. Many mechs are built with enough heat sinks so that the initial firing of all primary weapons does not result in a hazardous heat excess. Continued firing of these weapons as they reload however will cause hazardous overheating. Remember, the number of heat sinks required to completely dissipate the heat of each weapon fired at its maximum rate is the number of heat points it emits in one minute. For those of you wondering why for instance the QKD-5K has 34 heat sinks when the combined heat points of its medium lasers is 18, there is your answer: each ML emits 9 heat points each minute when fired at maximum rate, so really only three of them can be fired in this way together, even with so many heat sinks, if the goal is never to overheat.
For another example, the ARC-4M's two Artemis fire-controlled LRM-20s are rated at 6 heat points and 30 second recharge. They thus produce 24 heat points per minute together during a sustained shelling. With 20 heat sinks on board, each minute 40 degrees of heat will remain. As 20 heat sinks puts the safe temperature at 300 degrees, it will take seven rounds at maximum fire rate to put the heat into the yellow range. Of course, merely taking a deep breath at each recycle of the LRMs before firing and reducing the rate to a round every 36 seconds will result in complete heat dissipation and the elimination of any overheating risk.
- Excess heat is how much heat is left after dissipation, it is BAD to have excess heat. Do your best to stay at or below Dissipation
- Temp display--this is the colored bar in the example above, the next definitions explain this bar.
Green Zone--This indicates you have some excess heat, It's not good, but you aren't at really dangerous levels, yet.
Temp:::::::::::::::::::::::::::|::::::.......|.....|......................|
Yellow Zone--This indicates you are at dangerous levels of heat, you will have to make a roll in order to not Shutdown, your ammo may explode, you will be easier to hit, your top speed will be lower until you can shed heat, and your BTH will increase significantly.
Temp:::::::::::::::::::::::::::|:::::::::::::|:::::|......................|
Red Zone--This indicates you are at an extremely high level of excess heat, you will have to roll a very very difficult roll in order to not shutdown, have an extremely high chance of your ammo exploding, will slow to a complete stop until you shed large amounts of heat, and have a very high BTH
Temp:::::::::::::::::::::::::::|:::::::::::::|:::::|::::::::::............|
If your heat reaches the very end of the bar...
Temp:::::::::::::::::::::::::::|:::::::::::::|:::::|::::::::::::::::::::::|
Expect to see this:
You frantically attempt to override the shutdown process! You make a computer skill roll! Modified skill BTH : 13 Roll : 4 Reactor shutting down...
As you notice, it's BTH 13...you literally cannot succeed at this roll.
You may also get something like this:
Ammunition explosion!
You have been hit for 144 points of damage in the Left Torso
Your Left Torso has been destroyed!
Your Left Arm has been destroyed!
You have been hit for 126 points of damage in the Center Torso (transfer)
Your Center Torso has been destroyed!
Your engine is destroyed!!
________________
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( ( ( ( ( ) (_ ) ) ) _) ) _( ( )
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(_((__(_(__(( ( ( | ) ) ) )_))__))_)___)
((__) \\||lll|l||/// \_))
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(/ / // /|//||||\\ \ \ \ _)
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You have been destroyed!
The best ways of controlling heat are staggering the fire of your weapons or ceasing fire all together, as well as slowing your movement. If you have your TICs set up a certain way and notice you're overheating a lot, check with your faction-mates and see if your TICs might be improved, sometimes this can be an issue. Many times however, you are just simply firing too much for your heatsinks. The only way to fix this is to watch your heat gauges and slow your fire accordingly. It's also worth noting that some units simply run hot, and having them in the green zone is probably the best you can do and still be useful in combat. Controlling your heat will be difficult at first, but with practice you will get better at it.
Physical Attacks
Okay now you need to know about the basic Physical Attacks. Physical Attacks use your Piloting Skill instead of Gunnery skill for BTH. There are three main Physical Attacks.
- Punch--A Mech may punch only if it has Hand Actuators and no weapons recycling on the arms, and that your legs are not recycling from a kick. A Punch attack uses both arms, unless you tell it which arm to use. Punches have a good chance of hitting the arms, torsos and head of a mech.
- Kick--A Kick Attack requires fully functional Hips, that you have no weapons cycling on the legs, and that your arms not be recycling from a punch. A Kick attack will only hit the opponents Legs if it is a mech, unless the mech is fallen, in which case it can hit any location. Kick can hit any location on a tank. You can specify which leg to kick with.
- Charge--The Charge Attack is an attempt to ram your opponent. You cannot have weapon recycling, must be moving, and your opponent cannot be fallen and cannot have moved from the hex they where in when you initiated the charge attack. The charge attack can heavily damage both you and the opponent and in the case of mechs has a good chance of knocking you both down. If a tank charges a mech he can only hit the Legs of the mech and a Mech cannot charge a tank.
Macros for these commands are
- .k for Kick
- .p for Punch
- .ch for Charge
You will be able to tell if your limbs are ready to attack by checking this line in your Status screen:
LARM: Ready RARM: Ready LLEG: Ready RLEG: Ready
If any of the limbs show a number instead of the word "Ready" you will be unable to use a physical attack.
Firing Arcs, Torso Rotation, and Turrets
Now lets discuss Firing arcs. Firing arcs determine which weapons may be brought to bear on the target. You have four arcs: Forward, Right side, Left Side, and Rear. Biped Mechs can rotate their torso, and many Tanks have turrets that rotate, which permit you to vary your arcs in relation to your heading, and these will come into play later but for now I'm going to show you your arcs. Note that the diagrams are geared to mechs and so show that the Side Arcs can fire into the Forward Arc as well, which tanks cannot do. These diagrams are only meant to give you a basic idea of the arcs.
What arc the enemy is in determines which weapons can fire at him. If the enemy is in your Front Arc, all forward-facing weapons can fire at that target. This makes your Front Arc the most well armed and hence you should try and keep the enemy in the front arc if possible.
If you have an enemy in your Rear Arc, only your Rear mounted weapons can fire at him, unless your mech has Fliparms. Fliparms allows arm mounted weaponry to fire into your Rear Arc. It should be noted that Rear mounted weapons are fairly rare, and this is usually the Least well armored facing, so this arc is a bad place for the enemy to be. Tanks usually have a turret, and the weapons mounted there can fire into this arc, so they are slightly better armed in this manner, but they are still just as vulnerable to rear attacks as Mechs.
Now we discuss Torso Rotation. This is done using the Rottorso command. It takes arguments R, L, and Center. it has the macros .rr, .rl and .rc This command allows you to rotate your torso up to 60 degrees(1 hex side) to the right or left from your direction of travel.
Now to the last part of our guide, Turrets. Turrets can be pointed in any direction, essentially giving you a 360 degree firing arc. The weapons mounted in the turret are generally the most powerful weapons the tank has at it's disposal. You move a turret with the Turret command. It usually has the macro .tu. Just type turret or .tu <heading> such as .tu 180 or .tu 0. You can also use the Autoturret command, this command keeps your turret pointed at your locked target automatically.
Advanced Guide
Once you are comfortable with the concepts discussed above, you may wish to look at the Advanced Guide
Command Reference
This is a list of the commands mentioned in this guide.
