When it comes time to engage in mech to mech combat, we will be using the "A Game of Armored Combat" rules, which have been in existence for a very long time. With that being said, however, there are many optional rules, unique exceptions, etc, which don't lend themselves to play by post, so there will be some streamlining and modification from the base system to ensure that battles can move along at a reasonable pace while allowing players to still take part in the battle.
First and foremost, we will utilize the tool, Megamek, to track and calculate effects in battle. This avoids human error, allows for an impartial judge, and will give visual clarity for fights by generating maps for each combat round. That being said, there are some differences, so if you are familiar with the source rules, you'll still want to read the following to check the differences.
It's worth noting that if you don't understand all of this, that's ok - the process at core is fairly simple, the only hard and fast requirement is knowing how to move and pick a target, and the GM will do his best to make up for any errors and ensure the player isn't harmed by unexpected modifiers or issues.
Mech Combat!
It's one of the big selling points of the setting, so obviously, it's going to come up. So how do we go about it? First and foremost, the battles play out in a series of combat rounds, until one side emerges victorious, or both teams disengage. Each round observes the following turn structure:
Status
Movement Phase
Simultaneous Shot Declaration and Shooting
Enemies move
We'll cover each phase in turn.
Status Phase
The Status phase is a simple step in which the current heat levels of each mech will be listed, any unconscious pilots attempt to wake up, and any important damage or criticals (crits) may be alerted to pilots. This phase is largely automatic, and won't require player input.
Movement Phase
During this phase all players will give their planned movement path, indicating with written instructions how they wish to spend their Movement Points (MP), whether advancing forward, turning left or right, backing up. This can range from walking to running, or even using jump jets.
Do note that usually enemies will have moved before players (see Enemies move), which is an advantage for players: This means you know where they are moving to and you can react. This allows player characters to know the range their enemies will be at, how hard they might be to hit and to give you a chance to hit them in the back, etc. This is very useful! However, sometimes you may encounter a BOSS. When a BOSS is present, their forces will still go first, but the BOSS and the player(s) fighting them will roll initiative. This involves a 2D6 roll adding adding the PC's Tactics skill as a static number E.g. 2d6+3 if your Tactics skill is 3. The BOSS will add their Tactics skill to their own roll. This may mean that sometimes a BOSS will move after their own units and the PC's units. Please be careful when fighting a BOSS!
For moving, each mech will have a listed speed. This shows how fast it can walk, run, and jump (in this order). A mech will have either two or three movement values, as only some mechs can jump. The Grand Dragon Battlemech below has a movement of 5/8. This means it has 5 MP when walking, and 8 when running. A jump mech might have 6/9/6, meaning it can walk 6, run 9 or jump up to 6.
Each point of forward movement costs 1 MP.
Turning 1 hex face costs 1 MP.
Backing up costs 1 MP, but you cannot move more than your walking distance (So for this Grand Dragon, 5 MP)
Jump Jets can travel in any direction, with 1MP per hex travelled, and land facing in any direction.
In this example, the Dragon would note its movement as either:
• Forward, Forward, Right, Forward, Forward, Forward, Forward
• FFRFFFF
In this example, the Wasp has a movement of 6/9/6, so it is making a jump. During the movement phase it would be noted as moving in the following way:
NE (North-East), NE, NE, NE, NE, SE - land facing SE.
This covers basic movement, but certain moves may have additional effects or requirements - most of these will be handled automatically, but the ones players should be aware of are listed below.
Terrain: Certain terrain increases your movement cost when entering a hex. Light woods cost 1 additional MP to enter, and heavy require 2 additional MP to enter. Going up or down a height level also costs 1 additional MP. E.g. Moving from height 0 to height 2 would cost 3 MP rather than the usual 1 MP. You cannot change height by more than 2 for any one hex change.
Jump jets ignore Terrain and height costs when moving. You just pick a spot within range and go there by the shortest route, choosing any facing at the end.
Piloting Rolls: Some events may cause a pilot to have to take a piloting roll - many of these are outside their control, but a handful are possible by player choice, and those are listed below:
Mech is prone and is attempting to stand up.
Mech ran with a damaged leg/hip/foot actuator.
Mech jumped with damaged leg/hip/foot actuator.
Mech attempted and failed a kick attack.
Generated Heat:
A mech will also generate heat when moving, but usually not a great amount. When walking a mech generates 1 point of heat, and when running, it generates 2. Jumping, however, will generate 1 heat per hex travelled, and always generates at least 3. This will be tracked automatically, but is worth remembering if your mech is struggling to lose heat. So, jumping 6 hexes will generate 6 heat and may not be the best idea if you're hot!
Simultaneous Shot Declaration and Shooting
After players have chosen their movement, they should then select which targets they wish to shoot, and with which weapons.
Each shot has a handful of requirements to be successful.
Line of Sight:
The first thing a mech has to do when attempting a shot is determine if it has line of sight. When using an LRM with a spotter, you may skip this step.
In order to have Line of sight, you must be able to draw a line from the centre of your hex to the target hex without passing over obstacles of height 2 or more, or passing through 3 points of woods. (Light woods are 1, and heavy are 2). If a unit is in the woods, they don't count for blocking Line of Sight.
Range:
The next step is determining if you are within range, which will also determine any accuracy penalties. Each weapon will have a different range band, listed with the weapon on the mech information sheet. Each weapon has a short, medium, and long range. You may target an enemy within any of those ranges, but medium and long range will be more difficult shots.
In this example, the Grand Dragon is attempting to fire a medium laser with a range of 3/6/9, meaning that both targets are within short range, as they are within 3 hexes. The other consideration is firing arc - each weapon has an arc based on where it is placed on the body of the mech, as referenced below:
Head + Torso + Legs: Forward
Arms: Forward+Side
Rear Torso: Rear
Most mechs can also swivel at the waist, turning a single hex face left or right before firing its weapons. This doesn't change the facing of the mech, and will return to forward in the next movement phase. Some mechs cannot do this, and that will be noted on their mech information sheet.
Attack Roll+Modifiers:
This will be handled automatically, but the basic concept of this roll is that a pilot rolls 2d6 and attempts to beat their target number. This is based on their gunnery skill, so if a pilot has a gunnery skill of 4+, this would mean that their base target for attacks is 4 or higher on 2d6. The target number may suffer a variety of modifiers, but the primary modifiers will either be listed in the scenario briefing or listed below:
Movement (Attacker):
Stationary: 0
Walked: +1
Ran: +2
Jumped: +3
Prone: +2
Movement (Defender):
Target moved: (Varies, will be listed in status phase post by GM)
Target Jumped: +1
Immobile: -4 (this includes buildings such as turrets)
Target is a VTOL: +1
Range:
Short: 0
Medium: +2
Long: +4
Minimum Range: +1 for each hex inside minimum range
Misc:
Indirect Fire: +1 (+2 if Spotter fired this turn)
Spotting for another mech: +1
Shooting into or through light woods: +1 per light woods
Shooting into or through heavy woods: +2
Cover (height 1 in front of you, such as a building or hill) and you're at the same height or higher than your attacker: +1 and any leg hits are negated
Damage:
When a weapon hits, a location on the target will be chosen by die roll (handled by Megamek) and it will suffer damage equal to the damage of the weapon. Missiles may not all hit the target, so a volley may deal less than max damage. For each point of damage, the location will lose a point of armour, or, if there is none left, a point of structure. If that is enough to destroy that location, the damage will then move inward toward the centre of the mech until all the damage is allocated.
If a hit is rolled with a natural 12 (2 sixes) or deals damage to structure, there is the chance a critical hit will damage mech systems with myriad negative effects. When this occurs, it will be noted by the GM.
Heat:
When a weapon is fired, it generates an amount of heat equal to the 'heat' value of the weapon.
Enemies Move
At this point the enemy will move using the same rules as players, a new status phase will begin with the appropriate information and map being posted, and players will be free to post their movement and shooting plans.
MISC:
Heat:
As a mech heats up it will begin to suffer deleterious effects, ranging from decreased mobility to degrading accuracy, to a forced shutdown or even possibly an ammo explosion. Each turn a mech will remove an amount of heat equal to the heat sink value of the mech - any heat left over will carry over to the next turn and potentially inflict negative effects. These negative effects are listed below, but generally it is considered wise to stay below 14 excess heat. For example, a mech that generates 11 heat, but has 10 heat sinks, would begin the next turn with 1 point of excess heat - no danger for now, but potentially dangerous in future if heat generation further outstrips heat sinking.
The GM will note any issues the mech is experiencing in the status phase.
Ammo:
Each mech has a listed ammo quantity. This value stands for the number of salvos available, not individual rounds - so a mech with an LRM10 and 12 shots of LRM10 ammo will be able to fire the full volley of 10 missiles 12 times.
Notes
If players for some reason attempt to move in a way that involves them both ending up in the same hex, the GM will randomly choose one to reach the hex first, the other will stop 1 hex short.
If for some reason a player has chosen a target they cannot actually hit (no LoS or impossible to hit TN) the GM will swap to a 2nd choice, if listed, or use ghosting instructions. If they neither are given, then the GM will choose to swap target or have no target, as seems most reasonable to the GM at the time. If in doubt, explain what you'd like to achieve in your post, and the GM will utilize that in choosing alternate actions.
Controlling Lance Mates
There are two ways you can control lance mates in combat and the choice is yours for which you wish to use, depending on how hands on or hands off you wish to be. You can change your choice for each combat, but you cannot change the choice mid-combat. In other words, if you choose to only give General Orders in turn 1, you cannot then give Specific Orders in turn 2.
1) Specific Orders - You treat lance mates like you do your own character. For each you state exactly where they will move to, what weapons they will fire and at whom. This is the best choice for players who would like to control everything.
2) General Orders - The hands off choice that is best for players who want to only focus on their character. These orders can be very general or quite specific, but it is up to the lance mate to decide how best to carry them out. Some examples would be: "Move onto the hill and give covering fire", "harass the enemy from the flank", "follow me along the road", "jump into the heavy woods and kick that tank!", "engage the enemy at will" and "charge!". Lance mates will try to follow your orders to the best of their ability according to the GM's viewpoint.
