Building Armies

Now let us assume that you bought the units as listed on the `shopping list`_. Before you build your armies you have to select the camo for your units.

Now you should start building your armies, to do so enter your HQ tab and click ‘Create New Army’. You can now add units to that army by either right clicking on an empty slot in the army and select a unit from the drop down menu (see. below), or by dragging and dropping the unit into an army slot.

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The Commander

The Commander is assigned on a lance level (canon unit). This means that you get 1 Commander for 1 lance of mechs, or 2 Commanders for two lances of mechs. If you field more than one lance, but less than two you still receive only one CMDR. Same applies to mixed formations. You should make sure that your Commander is placed in a mech that ensures a high survivability. If you lose your +2 initiative bonus you are suffering a serious handicap.

Note

The number of Commanders that you can field can be influenced by your focus.

If you have multiple mechs available to fill the Commander position make sure that he has the maximum possible survival potential: e.g.

  • Sniper before Brawler
  • fast and/or jumpy over slow
  • standard engine over light engine over XL engine
  • energy based over ammunition based or Gauss equipped.

Army BV Modifiers

There are a couple of things that can raise the BV of the armies you assemble:

  • C3 networks
  • Clan tech
  • Leveled pilots
  • TAG

Building an Army - Key points

When choosing the units for each army, make sure that you:

  • Fill all roles
  • Stay around 9.500 BV
  • Check Legality (50% rule)
  • Have a battleplan/philosophy

While you add units that might fit the roles the overall army composition (army comp) might turn out inferior due to the lack of proper units/designs at your disposal. To correct that problem swap units from one army to another and check them for feasibility. At this point it is strongly recommended that you show your army to your more experienced faction mates. To do so right click on the army name (Army #1) in the Hangar and select “Show to Faction”. It will paste the contents of that army into the Faction HPG and your faction mates can give you advice. You should do this for every army (3-4 at a time) every Military Campaign! You will also note other players including the very experienced ones doing this before they go into battle to make sure they haven´t overlooked something.

To get the right mix and balance remember these points:

  • Do not mix multiple high BV units into one army! It will result in a lack of material. You will get overwhelmed by a superior number of inferior units. Add these special units as an extra to an average army to balance it out. E.g. a captured heavy Clan mech with a veteran pilot will cost you approximately 3-4.000 BV. Adding one to a sub-par army will result in a protective shielding of your new toy, while giving the army an edge it would have lacked otherwise.
  • Use reconnaissance in each army. To take advantage of the Line of sight (LOS) use (if available and appropriate) Beagle Active Probes (BAP), VTOLs and jumping mechs to building roofs or hills (hint: make sure that you don not expose yourself to be shot down!). Try to keep one of either in each army. What that means to you is, if you can manage to hide your force, except the VTOL, you can maneuver into position and completely ambush your opponent. Knowing where your opponent is, while he doesn´t know where you are assures victory.
  • Build your army around a philosophy. Anticipate what your game plan would be. Do not build one “uber-army” at the cost of having 2 trash armies! It means that you will definitely loose more battles than you win.
  • BV efficiency is key. Put the right pilots in the right mechs and don’t count on finesse tech like C3.
  • C3. One master/hitter and one spotter. Period.
  • Get your armies reviewed. Once you have built your armies using the available units in your hangar you should sit back and review them. Tinker around with swapping individual units for a better range or movement composition of the army, swap pilots to enhance the BV ratio, double check on autoeject and ammo, etc. etc. etc. When you have done this and are sure that you and your forces are ready for action, show your armies to your faction mates to have a review. While you have composed your armies to the best of your knowledge and ability you might have missed an important detail.

Note

Use your faction mates´ experience to improve your army building!