IV. Units

Ranging from cyborgs to hovercraft to sensor arrays, your units fight for your hero on the field of battle. Your units are as important as your hero himself. While your hero gains rank, your units earn commendations. While your hero gains access to new unit chassis types, your units gain access to advanced equipment, such as weapons and armor (unit equipment is discussed in Section VI).

Your hero can own and manage 48 combat units. In a single battle, your hero can command only six units plus one unit for every 20 points of Tactics. For example, if your hero has 30 Tactics, he can fight with up to 7 units at one time.

A. Unit Divisions

Each unit belongs to one division of warfare: Infantry, Mobile, Aviation, Specialist. Heroes have no restrictions on which divisions of units they use. Heroes advance in each division as units they own in that division advance (see Section V.D.1). For example, a hero who commands only Infantry will gain levels in Infantry rapidly, but will not gain any levels in the other three divisions.

The chassis types (see Section VI) available to a hero depend primarily on his level in the appropriate division. For example, the dedicated Infantry commander will be able to buy new types of Infantry units quickly, but will only very slowly gain access to advanced Aviation, Mobile, and Specialty units.

  1. Infantry

    Infantry are bipedal and either cyborgs or robots. They tend to be cheaper than units of other divisions. While many commanders feel Infantry are inherently inferior to other types of units, this is not necessarily the case. More chassis types are available for the Infantry division than any other, allowing Infantry commanders to better adapt to specific needs. Additionally, Infantry units generally advance in levels faster than other units.

    Very limited population resources make the use of human infantry impractical. The cyborgs employ biodrives, or biological engines, for locomotion. These biodrives can be selectively bred for a variety of specialized purposes. The fully mechanized robots employ traditional engines.

  2. Mobile

    Mobile forces are comprised of armored trikes, tanks, and hovercrafts. Depending on the particular chassis, they are often either faster or more heavily armored than Infantry and are more expensive to purchase and maintain. Mobile units tend to be more specialized and, in general, more effective than Infantry.


  3. Aviation

    Unlike Mobile and Infantry units, fortifications and rough terrain do not inconvenience Aviation units. Additionally, Aviation units are capable of greater speeds than their ground based counterparts. Many weapons are incapable of targeting aircraft through the dense atmospheric interference, allowing Aviation units to rain terror on their opponents without fear of retaliation. However, Aviation chassis types are the slowest to advance and are often more fragile than Mobile and Infantry units.

  4. Specialist

    The Specialist division includes units with very unique roles in combat. Specialist units include medics, artillery, sensor arrays, and transport ships. Most specialist units are poorly armored and require other units to assist and protect them. Unlike units of other divisions, many specialist chassis types are available even at low rank. Because of their unique and powerful applications, the side with the higher quality specialists will often be victorious. However, too many specialists will leave an army very vulnerable to conventional attacks.

B. Buying, Selling, and Repairing Units

Premade units are purchased at the Factory. At the Factory, each chassis type comes fully equipped and is battle-ready. Left-click on the division tab (at the top of the screen) and then the unit chassis you are interested in to view some information on that unit's typical use. Greyed-out units are those that your hero cannot yet purchase but will be able to recruit in the near future.

The bottom right of the Purchase Unit Screen shows the cost of the selected unit and your available resources. After you purchase a unit, by either pressing the "Purchase" button or double-clicking on the picture of the desired chassis,you may give it a unique name so that you may easily distinguish it from other units in battle. Unit names can be changed anytime the unit is redesigned. Premade units can be redesigned at the Lab (see Section VI).

Any unit can be sold in the Factory for 1/2 of its original cost. All items equipped by a sold unit are lost, so be certain to sell its items first (at the Lab) for maximum compensation for your scrapped unit.

Any unit can be repaired at the Factory. Repair costs are based upon the initial cost of the unit, the amount of damage sustained, and the level of the unit. Additionally, destroyed units cost 100% more to repair. In your faction's capital, repair costs are typically negligible due to subsidization of repair costs by the faction. At Factories in allied or neutral capitals, conquered terrain, or, especially, enemy capitals, repair costs can become exorbitant, especially for advanced units.

Note that the division tabs are used whether buying, selling, or repairing units. For example, to repair an Aviation unit, enter the Factory, choose Repair, and then select Aviation to see your damaged aircraft.

C. Units Attributes

Like heroes, units have attributes that can change throughout the course of play. Unlike heroes, however, units can use equipment to augment many of their attributes. Unit equipment is discussed in more detail in Section VI. Primary attributes that define units are:
  1. Health: Them amount of damage the unit can endure before destroyed.

  2. Level: The skill or training level of the unit. Units advance in level through their victories in battle. Unit level has two primary effects on unit capabilities. First, a unit gains a health bonus equal to 3 times its level. Second, a unit's maximum technology level (see Section VI) is governed primarily by its level. Higher level units cost more to repair.

  3. Experience: A percentage representing progress towards the next level. Through combat losses, a unit may have negative experience. In this case, the percentage is still relative to progress to the next level. For example, a level 5 unit with -20% experience must gain twice as much experience to reach level 6 as a unit with 40% experience.

    Note that 'experience' is directly related to 'experience points' but that the two are not the same thing. For example, a 10% experience point bonus would change an experience award of 10% to an experience award of 11%.

  4. Kills: The number of enemy units that this unit have destroyed. Kills provide their owning hero with bragging rights but have no direct effect on game play.

D. Deploying Units

For combat purposes, units are deployed in groups called squads. Before entering battle, you will be able to choose which squad of units you wish to use. For example, one squad might be heavily armored infantry units while another might contain your anti-aircraft aviation units. Because only one squad fights at any given time, you may assign a unit to more than one squad. Up to five squads can be specified.

Newly purchased units are automatically deployed into squad one (up to the maximum number of units per squad as dictated by your tactics). The F1 key or the unit button will activate the Deployment Screen, which allows you to change which of your units belong to which squads. Destroyed units cannot be deployed

The upper region of the Deployment Screen shows your deployed units. The number in the center of your deployed units shows which squad you are examining. The numbers near your units (or '-' or '=') shows the hot key that will be used in battle to select that unit. Below this hot key region are your reserve units. The arrows at either side allow you to scroll through your reserves.

The bottom region shows specific battle-related information on the selected unit, if any. Left-click on a unit to select it. Double-click on a deployed unit to remove it from that squad. Double-click on a reserved unit to deploy it. Units can also be dragged to specific hot key locations.

When you repair destroyed units, they will automatically be redeployed to squad one, if possible.

You should always deploy to each squad as many units as your tactics allows in order to maximize your success in battle. [Multiple squad feature not yet implemented].