MechWarrior Tactics Overview (Online)

Despite numerous piloting sims bearing the franchise name, MechWarrior is actually derived from BattleTech; a sci-fi series that stretches all the way back to the ’80s with a board game and associated novels. These are the sources MechWarrior Tactics draws from, planning to entice players with a more cerebral game. The folks at Roadhouse Interactive and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Games shared some details on how they plan to make an asynchronous turn-based, collectible, small-squad combat ’board game’, so read on if you’d like to know more!

Built as a browser-based game powered by the Unity Engine, MechWarrior Tactics will let players command a ’lance’ (four machines) of giant robots (BattleMechs or Mechs from here on) and pit them against the opposing player’s team. Both sides take turns moving their units, then shoot at each other simultaneously; surviving Mechs go on to the next round of combat, and the cycle continues until one player is defeated. There will be some logistics underneath that such as buying new Mechs and outfitting them to suit your needs, but the basic premise is turn-based combat.

Those of you familiar with the board game or MegaMek (its Java equivalent) may notice this sounds a lot like them, something I challenged the developers on during a Q&A session. They acknowledged the similarity, but noted they aren’t planning to just offer that game with 3D graphics tacked on. Instead, MechWarrior Tactics will tune the rules to suit a ’lance versus lance’ (four Mechs versus four Mechs) format and make the game play more quickly.. Fewer pre-game setup requirements, changes to how the turn order works, and other details are planned to make MWT a relatively fast game compared to its peers.

The other major difference is a focus on customization and collection, which will be fueled by a free-to-play/microtransaction system. Players will earn ’Scrap’ (the in-game currency) for completing matches, which can be spent on randomized card packs. These cards will include things such as weapons, Mechs, special pilots, and other items of that nature. While nothing stops players from fielding a lance of ’stock’ machines, customization will be encouraged through these cards. Of course, you can spend real money to get cards more quickly though the developers repeatedly and vehemently denied any interest in ’pay to win’ mechanics; if it’s core game content then you can get it through your choice of Scrap or real money. Of course, they did note that money will usually be the fastest route to some content since that is how the F2P model typically works.

While board game style combat is the main draw, in-depth customization will be available. They offered an example where-in the player modifies a Mech by changing its paint job, then replaces a few larger weapons for several smaller ones suited to close-range combat. You won’t have unlimited customization since each Mech chassis will have specific roles they’re suited for, but variants may be offered to fill different niches. Another example showed that weapon cards will also list a manufacturer, and using several weapons from the same manufacturer could offer a bonus to the Mech.