Experienced Battletech Players¶
For players familiar with tabletop Battletech but not using Total Warfare, and for those who have played tabletop but are new to Megamek, here are some suggestions from the perspective of a tabletop player starting out on Legends.
Basements¶
If you fall in buildings without receiving a damage report, you fell into a basement. The current version of Megamek is poor at communicating basement events. To get out of basements, activate the climb mode (hidden under ‘more’ in the movement tabs).
Sourceless damage¶
If in the shooting report a unit takes damage with no listed source, it is likely taking damage from a hidden unit using indirect fire. This damage can sometimes be seemingly attached to a different unit’s firing reports, so read the entries carefully.
This can also happen if LOS to the firing unit is lost, as when the target mech’s pilot is KO’d with no other units having LOS, or if the firing unit falls breaking LOS. Again, read your combat reports carefully.
Front loaded initiative¶
Legends clients use the front loaded initiative option. This means outnumbering the opponent has much less effect than under standard TW rules. Furthermore, infantry and battlearmor do their movement in a separate initiative track from other units. This has been done so that players cannot use BA as initiative sinks.
Vehicle damage tables¶
Vehicles do not suffer critical hits on location rolls of 8 from attacks on the side, nor do motive system damage rolls take attack direction into account. This means that presenting a vehicles side to the enemy is far less dangerous than under basic TW rules. Use this to rotate fresh armour to the enemy whenever possible.
Vehicle firing arcs¶
However, vehicle firing arcs are different than in TW. Mainly, the front and turret arcs are narrower, so familiarise yourself with these TacOps arcs to avoid being unable to take shots you planned for in the movement phase. Turrets can of course still pivot, but if locked or jammed, this applies to them as well. Jammed turrets can be cleared via a shooting phase button hidden under the ‘more’ button
Double Blind¶
The Legends server uses the double blind and sensor rules; they can be found in TacOps. Read them carefully to make sure you understand two things: 1: Visibility is only checked before and after a move, never during.2: prone mechs can hide behind lvl 1 hills and buildings. This means that units can sneak up on the enemy while moving mostly in the ‘open’.
It is vital to learn how to find and cover your blind spots, and also how to exploit the ones the enemy has.There are more detailed guides to double blind available, but this is the big important thing to understand: just because you can’t see the enemy, doesn’t mean they didn’t move through hexes you can see.
‘Before initiative’ actions¶
(ammo dumping, ECM/ECCM switches, turning off heatsinks etc) On the tabletop, these actions are usually declared before the initive dice are rolled but after the previous turn’s heat phase. Megamek does not allow any user input in between the heat phase and the initiative roll. Any such actions can be done at any point at which you can right click -> view on one of your mechs. If you want to be able to take such actions after seeing the weapons fire report, you will need to ensure that there is a ‘declare physical attacks’ stage.
Backwards movement level changes¶
Backwards movement on Legends can be done up and down levels, but this requires a PSR. Don’t overuse it, but be aware of the option, both for yourself and for the enemy
Heavy woods¶
Jumping into heavy woods now requires a PSR to avoid falling. This also affects BA but they will only suffer 0 damage when falling.
Enhanced AMS¶
AMS can reduce the cluster hit number below ‘2’ and thus completely destroy enemy missile salvoes.
Floating critical hits¶
Critical hits caused by special location rolls (2 for mechs, 2 and 12 for vehicles) will not cause those critical hits in a fixed location but roll to see which location they affect. This means taking a critical hit in vital areas becomes less likely, but it also allows more different disastrous results to occur (eg leg or head severance). There is little that can be done about this, just keep in mind that just because your gauss rifle is in the arm, it is not safe from a Through Armor Critical (TAC).
Engine explosions¶
Legends uses the optional stackpoling rule. Engines destroyed too badly in one turn might explode for major damage to nearby units. Be aware of this risk when kicking badly damaged units on the ground.
Firing while prone¶
Legends allows firing while prone with one arm, instead of requiring two. Keep this in mind and don’t dismiss mechs on the ground with one arm gone!
‘Skip ineligible to act’¶
Legends uses the ‘Skip units that cannot act in a phase’ option to speed up gameplay. Remember that this means that units that have had all their weapons destroyed/disabled cannot act in the shooting phase anymore, not even to spot!
Rotary AC Jamming¶
On Legends, Rotary Autocannons will jam only on a 2, regardless of the settings. This means Rotary ACs will more likely be fired (and should be fired) at a higher rate.