Dev Diary #25: Mission Walkthrough
[p]Things are moving ahead, and the game shapes up more and more. The time has come to showcase an exemplary mission in MENACE, illustrating the decisions the player must make and what to expect when engaging in the tactical combat portion of the game.
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Mission Select[/h3][p]After accepting an operation offered by one of the local Wayback factions, you have to decide what mission you want to play. The missions of an operation are aligned in a tree, so the next mission that can be chosen always depends on the previous one.
[/p][p]There are several factors to consider here. The difficulty of the mission: Harder missions have more and tougher enemies, but also give a higher mission rating. On top of that, the possible item rewards can have a higher rarity. The strategic asset: Every mission allows the player to secure a strategic asset that aids them in the remaining missions of the operation or rewards them with additional items.
[/p][p]The actual mission reward will be an item (such as a weapon or armor). Only the broad category of the expected item will be shown, not the actual item. On top of the expected item, there will always be a random item that can be chosen as a reward instead.
[/p][p]In this example, we want to tackle the “seize GTAM-site” mission. We feel confident that we can handle the difficulty, and we need a new light modular vehicle weapon for our light carrier. The strategic asset we gain will be “air defense restored,” which will make all following missions easier.
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[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Mission Preparation[/h3][p]In the mission prep screen, we can get a rough overview of the upcoming battlefield, including suspected enemy positions. As we do not have any intelligence, we won't gain intel on the type of enemies.
[/p][p]We can see the two areas we have to capture, and that the enemy units will pour in from the north. Our deployment zone is to the south of the map.
[/p][p]Speed is key in this mission. If we can take up position in the capture zones before the enemy arrives, they will be easy pickings.
[/p][p]Additionally, we must decide whether it’s worth splitting our units to try to capture both targets simultaneously or focus our efforts on one target at a time. Completing the mission fast will increase the mission rating significantly, but it is also a lot riskier.
[/p][p]As we don’t have many squads available at the beginning of the game, it will be the smarter move to move all units together.[/p][p]
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[/p][hr][/hr][h3]The Team[/h3][p]Charles Lim (Marine, Infantry):
Equipped with the MP3A9 submachine gun as a squad weapon and grenades as an accessory, Lim and his squad will act as mobile infantry inside the light carrier. He is also equipped with a solid class III armor, making him quite resilient to small arms fire. We intentionally leave the special weapon slot free, so the squad can carry one additional SMG instead, making them even more deadly in close-quarter combat.
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[/p][p]Renu Rewa (Marine, Pilot):
The light carrier is a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle that can be equipped with either a medium or a light vehicle weapon or with a transport compartment and a light weapon. In this mission, we go for the transport compartment and a machine gun. As speed is key to occupying the objective before the enemy, a medium machinegun should be enough to provide fire support against the incoming pirates.
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[/p][p]Jane Darby (Marine, Infantry):
At the beginning of the game, access to good squad weapons and body armor is very limited, so Darby and her squad will go into this mission with just the RMC marine fatigues and stanced carbines. Without body armor, the squad has to stay out of firefights as much as possible. As a special weapon, we chose a rocket launcher. If the opportunity arises, we can use it to take out pirates and their rides while approaching the objectives or to remove their cover if they have already reached a capture zone. It’s also very capable of taking out light vehicles like the dreaded pirate chaingun truck.
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[/p][p]Marta Carda (Marine, Infantry):
Marta and her squad will also join the battle without any armor to speak of, so their purpose is to hang back and use the medium machine gun to provide additional fire support. As we had some points left, we also equipped the squad with grenades to dislodge enemy units from cover if necessary.
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[/p][hr][/hr][h3]The Plan[/h3]![]()
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]The Actual Mission
[/h3][p]The first part of the plan works perfectly. The radar station is captured without enemy resistance in a couple of rounds.
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[/p][p]While en route to the second objective, there is still no sign of enemy activity. Only when the carrier approaches the GTAM site do the first pirate units get spotted.
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[/p][p]The carrier immediately engages the pirates and takes them out as they are standing in the open. Lim’s infantry squad dismounts and moves into cover.
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[/p][p]More enemy activity is spotted at the back of the site, and close air support is ordered to strafe the suspected positions. Some pirates manage to fire back, but can’t defeat the class III body armor of Lim’s assault squad.
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[/p][p]The arriving strafing run suppresses enemy activity for a moment, which is used to bring forward Darby’s squad with the rocket launcher, reducing the pirates' cover to rubble.
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[/p][p]The initial resistance is broken, and infantry and carrier waltz into the compound to keep up the momentum.
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[/p][p]Remaining pockets of resistance get cleared with SMG fire, grenades, and vehicle fire support.
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[/p][p]The objectives are successfully captured.
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[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Mission Result[/h3][p]
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This screen shows the secured strategic asset, the amount of promotion points earned (depending on the mission rating), and the possible item rewards that can be chosen. On the right-hand side, the mission rating is broken into different aspects. The amount of information in this area might still be increased.
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[/p][p]This screen shows the performance of the squad leaders and their units. Casualties taken, enemies eliminated, and if a squad leader attained an emotional state.
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[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Next Up[/h3][p]Now that the first mission is aced without any casualties, you have to select the next mission to tackle in this operation. All operations will branch out but culminate in one especially hard final mission as a sort of climax. Before taking on the next mission, new equipment can be handed out to squads, and promotions can be assigned to unlock new perks for squads.
That's it for now! We'll see you next Friday.
You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website — just scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.[/p]
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Mission Select[/h3][p]After accepting an operation offered by one of the local Wayback factions, you have to decide what mission you want to play. The missions of an operation are aligned in a tree, so the next mission that can be chosen always depends on the previous one.
[/p][p]There are several factors to consider here. The difficulty of the mission: Harder missions have more and tougher enemies, but also give a higher mission rating. On top of that, the possible item rewards can have a higher rarity. The strategic asset: Every mission allows the player to secure a strategic asset that aids them in the remaining missions of the operation or rewards them with additional items.
[/p][p]The actual mission reward will be an item (such as a weapon or armor). Only the broad category of the expected item will be shown, not the actual item. On top of the expected item, there will always be a random item that can be chosen as a reward instead.
[/p][p]In this example, we want to tackle the “seize GTAM-site” mission. We feel confident that we can handle the difficulty, and we need a new light modular vehicle weapon for our light carrier. The strategic asset we gain will be “air defense restored,” which will make all following missions easier.
[/p][p]
[/p][p]We can see the two areas we have to capture, and that the enemy units will pour in from the north. Our deployment zone is to the south of the map.
[/p][p]Speed is key in this mission. If we can take up position in the capture zones before the enemy arrives, they will be easy pickings.
[/p][p]Additionally, we must decide whether it’s worth splitting our units to try to capture both targets simultaneously or focus our efforts on one target at a time. Completing the mission fast will increase the mission rating significantly, but it is also a lot riskier.
[/p][p]As we don’t have many squads available at the beginning of the game, it will be the smarter move to move all units together.[/p][p]
Equipped with the MP3A9 submachine gun as a squad weapon and grenades as an accessory, Lim and his squad will act as mobile infantry inside the light carrier. He is also equipped with a solid class III armor, making him quite resilient to small arms fire. We intentionally leave the special weapon slot free, so the squad can carry one additional SMG instead, making them even more deadly in close-quarter combat.
The light carrier is a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle that can be equipped with either a medium or a light vehicle weapon or with a transport compartment and a light weapon. In this mission, we go for the transport compartment and a machine gun. As speed is key to occupying the objective before the enemy, a medium machinegun should be enough to provide fire support against the incoming pirates.
At the beginning of the game, access to good squad weapons and body armor is very limited, so Darby and her squad will go into this mission with just the RMC marine fatigues and stanced carbines. Without body armor, the squad has to stay out of firefights as much as possible. As a special weapon, we chose a rocket launcher. If the opportunity arises, we can use it to take out pirates and their rides while approaching the objectives or to remove their cover if they have already reached a capture zone. It’s also very capable of taking out light vehicles like the dreaded pirate chaingun truck.
Marta and her squad will also join the battle without any armor to speak of, so their purpose is to hang back and use the medium machine gun to provide additional fire support. As we had some points left, we also equipped the squad with grenades to dislodge enemy units from cover if necessary.
- [p]The first part of the plan is to rush the objective as fast as possible. In the best case, our squads will be able to establish positions before the enemy arrives and take them out on the approach. If the enemy reaches the capture zone earlier, things will get dicey. Our squads must move in aggressively and drive them off as quickly as possible, even if that means taking the risk of casualties in close combat.
[/p] - [p]The second part of the plan involves utilizing the road and the transport capacity of the light carrier to shift to the second objective zone as quickly as possible after securing the first one.
[/p] - [p]The third part is capturing the second objective zone from the enemy. Most likely, the pirates will have set up covered positions by then, so we must be prepared to destroy their cover or assault their positions with grenades. This might also be a good opportunity to use close air support to suppress the enemy as we approach.
[/p]
[/h3][p]The first part of the plan works perfectly. The radar station is captured without enemy resistance in a couple of rounds.
That's it for now! We'll see you next Friday.
You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website — just scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.[/p]