MEKWARS: LEGENDS
TACTICAL CAMPAIGNS
The Tactical Campaign (also called a "Mini-Campaign") has formed the unique core to the Mekwars: Legends most recent seasons. This feature is meant to allow players to simulate running a roughly battalion sized force over the course of several engagements. Players must make decisions regarding when and where to commit their best units and pilots.
The Tactical campaign works off an abstract simulation of a simultaneous engagement model for the battles, meaning in simple terms that units used in one engagement may not be committed in following engagements until the Tactical Campaign is complete and the players force has withdrawn from the front lines for rest and refit.
The first time a player "goes active" or engages in an AFR-based arranged game, that player has begun his/her first Tactical Campaign. From then on each new Tactical Campaign for a player will begin the first time they go active following a rest and refit period.
Once a Tactical campaign has begun players lose the ability to purchase replacement units until the end of their Tactical Campaign. The duration of the Tactical Campaign is based on the Total Standard Battle Value of the player's headquarters (commonly known as the "hanger") at the Tactical Campaigns inception. The Total Standard Battle Value (TSBV) is determined by totaling the Battle Value of all units in the players headquarters assuming the standard pilot type for the players sub-faction.
(For example: An AFFS player has a 3/3 piloted Stalker STK-7D which has a current battle value of 2920, with a 4/5 pilot this same unit is 1872 battle value. The standard mech pilot for the AFFS is 4/5 so the Stalker will count for 1872 battle value towards his headquarters Standard Battle Value)
When a player has played games equaling in Battle value to the current Tactical Campaign Threshold which ranges from 85% of a players Total Standard Battle Value, the player will receive a single reward point (RP) for having completed the Tactical Campaign requirement. The player will have the option to either continue the Tactical Campaign using the remaining available forces in the players hanger and gaining access to the Breakthrough and Objective Raids Tactical Operations, or the player may instead elect to go into rest and refit where they may refresh and replenish their losses.
MANAGING YOUR TACTICAL CAMPAIGN
Since the Tactical Campaign system sends players into a series of battles with a finite amount of resources being aware of how to manage your combat units is vital. Players are assumed to have read the tutorial about how to construct an army or force for use in a game. During the Tactical Campaign players should note that a unit placed in one army may not be placed in a second army. More importantly players should familiarize themselves with the concept of "locked" or "engaged" units.
Mekwars Legends Tactical CampaignA unit becomes engaged or locked when it is used in a game. If the game is cancelled before it resolves then the unit will not become locked. Once a unit is committed in this manner it is unusable by the player for the remainder of the Tactical Campaign. Units salvaged from another player are always counted as "locked" for that Tactical campaign. A locked unit is displayed in a players headquarters as having a red or pink colored background (see right). Locked units may not be scrapped nor may their pilots be removed from them for the duration of the Tactical Campaign.The only way to unlock or "Refresh" a unit is when a player spends his reward point to go into rest and refit.
"TO REST AND REFIT, OR NOT TO REST AND REFIT"
When a player receives his reward point this is the question that at some point they must ask themselves. The advantages of resting and refit are obvious in that any locked units become unlocked and a player may replenish losses to his pilot pool and units, possibly reconfiguring the nature of his formation.
A player deciding to go into rest and refit must exchange his reward point for Influence Points used to bribe, coax or otherwise convince the quartermasters to resupply his forces with the units he requests. This influence disappears once you begin the next Tactical Campaign (after you leave base the quartermasters move on to the next guy) so players are strongly encouraged to remember not to start their next Tactical campaign until they have finished replenishing their headquarters.
Alternatively, a player may elect to keep his troops at the front and continue the Tactical Campaign after receiving a reward point. A player choosing to do so will have an important Tactical Operation become available to them for the remaining duration of the Tactical Campaign--The "Breakthrough" operation. This Tactical Operation has strong campaign effects and can be very valuable operations to a faction if they are successfully executed. Players will find that the surest way to ensure they have units left over to take advantage of this option is to accumulate and use veteran and elite ("leveled" pilots).
All in all, the Tactical Campaign system is meant to give players a somewhat abstract experience of commanding a battalion, cluster or Level III over a series of campaigns or tours of duty. From a game mechanics standpoint it is also aimed at keeping forces deployed varied and providing continuity for players between one game and the next. We hope you enjoy!
The Tactical campaign works off an abstract simulation of a simultaneous engagement model for the battles, meaning in simple terms that units used in one engagement may not be committed in following engagements until the Tactical Campaign is complete and the players force has withdrawn from the front lines for rest and refit.
The first time a player "goes active" or engages in an AFR-based arranged game, that player has begun his/her first Tactical Campaign. From then on each new Tactical Campaign for a player will begin the first time they go active following a rest and refit period.
Once a Tactical campaign has begun players lose the ability to purchase replacement units until the end of their Tactical Campaign. The duration of the Tactical Campaign is based on the Total Standard Battle Value of the player's headquarters (commonly known as the "hanger") at the Tactical Campaigns inception. The Total Standard Battle Value (TSBV) is determined by totaling the Battle Value of all units in the players headquarters assuming the standard pilot type for the players sub-faction.
(For example: An AFFS player has a 3/3 piloted Stalker STK-7D which has a current battle value of 2920, with a 4/5 pilot this same unit is 1872 battle value. The standard mech pilot for the AFFS is 4/5 so the Stalker will count for 1872 battle value towards his headquarters Standard Battle Value)
When a player has played games equaling in Battle value to the current Tactical Campaign Threshold which ranges from 85% of a players Total Standard Battle Value, the player will receive a single reward point (RP) for having completed the Tactical Campaign requirement. The player will have the option to either continue the Tactical Campaign using the remaining available forces in the players hanger and gaining access to the Breakthrough and Objective Raids Tactical Operations, or the player may instead elect to go into rest and refit where they may refresh and replenish their losses.
MANAGING YOUR TACTICAL CAMPAIGN
Since the Tactical Campaign system sends players into a series of battles with a finite amount of resources being aware of how to manage your combat units is vital. Players are assumed to have read the tutorial about how to construct an army or force for use in a game. During the Tactical Campaign players should note that a unit placed in one army may not be placed in a second army. More importantly players should familiarize themselves with the concept of "locked" or "engaged" units.
Mekwars Legends Tactical CampaignA unit becomes engaged or locked when it is used in a game. If the game is cancelled before it resolves then the unit will not become locked. Once a unit is committed in this manner it is unusable by the player for the remainder of the Tactical Campaign. Units salvaged from another player are always counted as "locked" for that Tactical campaign. A locked unit is displayed in a players headquarters as having a red or pink colored background (see right). Locked units may not be scrapped nor may their pilots be removed from them for the duration of the Tactical Campaign.The only way to unlock or "Refresh" a unit is when a player spends his reward point to go into rest and refit.
"TO REST AND REFIT, OR NOT TO REST AND REFIT"
When a player receives his reward point this is the question that at some point they must ask themselves. The advantages of resting and refit are obvious in that any locked units become unlocked and a player may replenish losses to his pilot pool and units, possibly reconfiguring the nature of his formation.
A player deciding to go into rest and refit must exchange his reward point for Influence Points used to bribe, coax or otherwise convince the quartermasters to resupply his forces with the units he requests. This influence disappears once you begin the next Tactical Campaign (after you leave base the quartermasters move on to the next guy) so players are strongly encouraged to remember not to start their next Tactical campaign until they have finished replenishing their headquarters.
Alternatively, a player may elect to keep his troops at the front and continue the Tactical Campaign after receiving a reward point. A player choosing to do so will have an important Tactical Operation become available to them for the remaining duration of the Tactical Campaign--The "Breakthrough" operation. This Tactical Operation has strong campaign effects and can be very valuable operations to a faction if they are successfully executed. Players will find that the surest way to ensure they have units left over to take advantage of this option is to accumulate and use veteran and elite ("leveled" pilots).
All in all, the Tactical Campaign system is meant to give players a somewhat abstract experience of commanding a battalion, cluster or Level III over a series of campaigns or tours of duty. From a game mechanics standpoint it is also aimed at keeping forces deployed varied and providing continuity for players between one game and the next. We hope you enjoy!