BMI:Unit Types
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Unit Types
Battle Mechs
Battlemechs
The Kings of the 31st Century Battlefield, 'Mechs are the single most common front line unit on the world of Frontier. Ranging from 20 ton Bugs to 100 ton Monsters, Mechs come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds. They are the only unit in the game that have an Internal Structure layout where the pilot can individually see his Engine, his Cockpit, and all his weapon systems. In fact, Mechs can often take hits in many critical locations and still keep on kicking. Using critstatus <location> you can keep track of what is damaged in each section. Viable sections include H, CT, RT, LT, RA, LA, LL, and LL. Battlemechs can enter any terrain they choose but may only make level 2 changes maximum without the aid of Jumpjets. Water hexex require BTH rolls to prevent falls. No other terrain type will damage your Mech however.
Mechs come in 4 classes. Light Mechs range anywhere from 20 to 35 tons. Often Scouts, they rarely can stand up long to an Assault of equal skill level for long. They are excellent at hit and run tactics however. Famous Light Mechs: Locust, Spider, Firefly
Medium Mechs come in the ranges of 40 to 55 tons. They are the most common type of unit in many cases and are the 'Grunt' Mechs of most Inner Sphere armies. Famous Medium Mechs: Centurion, Hunchback, Hermes
Heavy Mechs come between 60 and 75 tons. Packing seriously heavy firepower, they are a threat to any sort of mech. Only the next class of unit can typically outgun a Heavy Mech. Famous Heavy Mechs: Thunderbolt, Rifleman, Archer
Assault Mechs are from 80 to a massive 100 tons. With super thick armor and tremendious firepower, they are the biggest, most expensive, and the most deadly units on the modern combat field. Just about any Assault mech is a threat no matter what the situation is. Famous Assault Mechs: Stalker, Imp, Atlas
Mechs have several abilities only they can use. Unlike other units which have little to no use for Physical Attacks, Mechs often employ them with a vengence. With the ability to kick < l|r > <Target Id>, punch < l|r|b > <Target Id> and charge <Target Id>, Mechs have many weapons available to them even if they have no guns. Specialized Melee weapons such as Swords, Axes, and Maces are also available. Using the axe < l|r|b ><Target Id> and Chop < l|r|b ><Target Id>(sword) commands, you can employ these weapons in combat. The Club <Target Id> command is available should you happen to be in a forest with functional hand actuators. This gives you a free Tree-Club when all else fails.
Battlemechs often have to prone or stand depending on various situations. Standing requires a successful Piloting Roll with modifiers based on damaged leg actuators or gyros. You can use the command check stand to see what the roll to stand is and it may help you determine if you want to take the risk or not. stand careful gives u a -2 BTH on your atempt to stand (but it takes longer) while stand anyway lets u try to stand up even whith destroyed gyro or whith a BTH higher than 12+, you may try to change the direction you are lying that way but you get damage from falling again and you may injure your pilot.
There are two types of Battlemechs. The most common type is the Biped Battlemech. More then 90% of all Mechs are Biped as in they walk upright on two legs with two arms at either side. They may Torso Twist rottorso < L | R | C >(left, right, center) to move their upper body to face different headings. Unlike Quadmechs, Bipedmechs may use the punch <Target Id> command. As they only have 2 legs, they suffer greatly when one leg is destroyed. Thankfully the legs are one of the best armored locations on a Battlemech.
Quad Battlemechs have 4 legs and no arms walking awkardly on them. Quadmechs have less firepower then their Biped cousins, but have much easier time handeling terrain. Quadmechs will turn much faster then their Biped counterparts and will accellerate and decellerate at a much quicker pace. They may kick <Target Id> but not punch as they have no arms. Acts such as entering a water hex face a -2 BTH modifier as Quadmechs are far more stable. In fact, as long as all 4 legs are in place and no leg actuators are damage, a Quadmech can stand with no BTH roll. Similar to Ground Vehicles, Quadmechs can hulldown to take cover at the expense of not moving. Quadmechs have no torso twisting ability.
Ground Units
Ground Units
Ground units, such as Tanks (or tracked units), Wheeled, and Hover all play a major role in the world of Frontier. Each unit moves on the ground and each have 4 sides to which they take damage. All Ground units face some sort of restriction of movement and often have to take long turns as they are no where near as manueverable as a Battlemech. In general, Ground units are not as powerful as Battlemechs at all, but they perform excellently as a support unit or as a specialized unit in some task.
All tanks have no heat issues as they are not effected by heat. They thus cannot be forced to shutdown nor do their crews suffer injury from heat. They suffer unique critical hits which are often very deadly.
Many Ground Units have a Turret. This Turret can be turned to face any direction and fire it's weapons at the target. Simply type Turret <heading> to change the turret to face that direction. If you don`t want to manage the turret yourself simply use autoturret.
Hover Units
Hover units, or Hovercraft as some people call them are the smallest by far of all the Ground Units. They weigh up to 50 tons and are the fastest ground units around. Able to hover over water and grass alike, hovers delicate air skirts and armor prevent them from entering a wooded hex without making a successful roll to not hit a tree. No hover unit can go up or down but only 1 level change (unlike mechs and tracked units which can peform level 2 changes). Hover units are forced to do very long turns when traveling at max speed. Many hovers can carry Infantry and many are used in recon and hit-and-run missions. Generally they are no match for any unit one on one in a prolonged fight. Hovers rely on speed and hit-and-run tactics to do damage.
Famous Hover units: Drillson, Pegasus, Maxim
Wheeled Units
The mix of the crew, Wheeled units can travel over any terrain without much harm. Weighing up to 80 tons, they are unable to enter water hexes as they simply cannot float. They can, however, drive on a road and recieve a road bonus. This increases their max speed as long as they travel on the road itself. Leaving the road removes this bonus. Wheeled units are common 'grunt' units and often serve many support roles. They may Digin on any rough, forest, clear, or mountain hex which grants a +3 BTH on them from the front side and directs more attacks to the Turret section (if any). This also prevents any section but the turret from firing however.
Famous Wheeled Units: Hetzer, Striker, Demon
Tracked Units
The biggest of the ground units, Tracked units come up to 100 tons. Able to Digin, they can also move up level 2 hex changes just like Mechs. They are unable to move about in the water however. Tracked units can gain road bonuses just like Wheeled Units. Often the biggest ground units around, Tracked Units are also refered to as 'Tanks'.
Famous Tracked Units: Partisan, Demolisher, Behemoth
When fighting as a Ground Unit, try to always present the side of your unit that has the largest remaining armor toward the enemy. Unlike Mechs, tanks can generally force the enemy to pound their strongest area (although sometimes the weapons can and will hit any section). This may prove difficult when piloting a unit such as a Hover where you are constantly moving, but it is accomplishable. Your Turret is always a presented target, so feel free to make use of it. Unlike any other section, losing the turret will not destroy your unit. Once your turret is destroyed, any further hits to it will transfer to your aft. Heavy tracked and wheeled units often will find it useful to sit still and simply turn your unit to keep the strongest armor presented while pounding on your enemy.
In addition, a highly useful advantage for "tankers" to purchase is Maneuvering Ace. The increased turn rate will allow you to keep your best-armored side facing your opponent, and the ability to move laterally greatly offsets the otherwise limited mobility of ground units.
Fighting a Ground Unit often proves difficult as each ground unit is unique. When facing a hover, try to move slowly and wait until the enemy is in your short range. Hovers crit easier then the other tanks so make use of this. Tracked and Wheeled are often critted easy too but not as so as a Hover will. Try to mix in high damage or Pierce AC rounds to cripple the heavily armored Ground Units, and consider using lbx AC with cluster rounds or srm's... ground units are critically hit fairly often, and multiple hits increases the chance of criticals. It is often best to charge ground units that have dugin, or flank them since being dugin only offers the ground unit a defensive bonus in one direction. If you are piloting a battlemech, even one with only long-range guns, charging to melee range is almost always a good idea against a slow ground unit; you can kick large holes in its sides and the tank will have difficulty protecting any weak sides.
Battlesuits
The smallest unit on the battlefield, Battlesuits evolved from small Exoskeleton Recon suits to full fledged Combat Armor. While small, Battlesuits have decent armor and often mount mech-scale weapons. Their ability to swarm enemy mechs has lead to many Mechwarriors dying with the last thing they see is a Battlesuit leveling their weapon on the Cockpit. Able to manuever through any terrain like a Tracked Ground Unit (see TankInfo) Battlesuits often thrive in Forests and Rough areas where they suffer no movement loss. They are unable to enter Water (except for the special Undine Battlesuit) and may use a number of special commands.
The first special command available to Battlesuits is Hide. This command works in any Forest or Building hex. After about a one minute wait, the suit is far more difficult to find. If that suit is using Stealth Armor, it is impossible to find (without the aid of a Bloodhound Probe that is).
The second command is also the first of two unique attacks that Battlesuits can do instead of firing weapons. attackleg <Target ID> allows you to charge a unit and plant explosive charges in their leg actuators or their movement system. This command is used as 'attackleg ID'. You must be within range 1 of a unit to do this. If successful you will either do damage or crit one or more leg actuators (if a mech) or slow the unit down by damaging it's motive system (if a ground unit). Recycle from this attack is 20.
The final command, swarm <Target ID> is probably the most lethal. If successful, you swarm the enemy Mech (mechs are only target viable) and begin to find a good location to begin to hammer the unit. This takes 20 tics. After the time is up, you may fire any direct fire weapon system. All guns will fire as soon as you shoot. All will automatically hit. All hit the same location. The Swarmhits use a special Hit Location table that is unique to this form of attack alone. 2 of the 12 locations is a head while another 6 are a rear torso of some sort.
Playing as a Battlesuit is as difficult as it is rewarding. Battlesuits are easy targets in open areas and in long range battles they can do little to nothing. It is best to keep to confined short range areas or thick forests and rough hexes where enemy units will be slowed down and it will be harder for them to track you. Use Swarm and Attackleg when the time is right and not before. Keep out of sight and ambush enemies for the best results.
Fighting Battlesuits at range is an easy battle. Up close they can become deadly insects that can bring your Mech down. Ground units are safer because of the fact they are tanks (and cannot be swarmed or overheated). If swarmed you have a number of options to fight back with. The most efficent is to jump into a river and drown them. This always works. The second best is to punch them off, this forces your arms to cycle and you risk punching yourself. Another method is to Jump Jet and land violently to shake them off. This causes all your limbs to cycle however. Dropping prone is another method but this leaves you on the ground with all your limbs cycling in addition to you taking unavoidable fall damage.
Also, Machineguns, Flamers and their cousins (Heavy/Light Machineguns, Heavy Flamers, Acid Throwers) are very efficent Anti-Suit weapons as they have the chance to hit each member of a squad once per attack.
The Command thrash is available for mechs prone in a hex with a Battlesuit nearby. This flails your arms and legs about to smack the suit around. This does damage to you (if you fail the piloting roll, equal to that of a failed stand) and forces your limbs to cycle.
Famous IS Battlesuits: Infiltrator-II, Purifier, Longinus-MG Famous Clan Battlesuits: Elemental-MG, Gnome, Salamander
