Against The Bot Instructions V2 5

Instructions for playing Against The Bot v2.5

Created by CampaignAnon for use with MekHQ.

This article assumes you’d like to play with the most recent, up to date rules for Against the Bot (AtB),

as such, here are the following links to download the program:

http://megamek.org/downloads

Scroll down on this page until you come to the MekHQ variant for your OS of choice, then download

the program to your hard drive, extract the .zip file. Included in the newer versions of MekHQ are the

Against the Bot rules, which should be referred to for Prisoner Exchanges and other rules as needed.

This file is currently named “rules 2.31.xls.” Starting on the next page is a Table of Contents for ease of

v1.0: First version (02/21/2017). Added Part 1 (Setting up Against the Bot Rules).

v1.5: Second version (02/22/2017). Added Part 2 (Starting your first contract) and Part 3 (Extras) with

Step 3.1

v2.0: Third version (02/27/2017). Added ToC, Steps 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. Updated Step 1.16D’s info about

lance ratios, updated Step 2.4 with info about built in GM Tools RAT Generator.

v2.1: Fourth version (02/28/2017). Added Changelog, Rule References in opening paragraph and Step

3.5 (Quirks).

v2.5: Fifth version (03/03/2017): Completed Step 3.5 Custom Quirk rules, added Step 3.6 Rerolling

Battlefield Conditions and Step 3.7 The Salvage Screen

Table of Contents

Step 1.4B (Acquisition and Delivery):...........................................................................................8

Step 1.5 (Tech Limits):........................................................................................................................8

Step 1.6 (Personnel):............................................................................................................................9

Step 1.7 (Finances):...........................................................................................................................10

Step 1.8 (Mercenary):........................................................................................................................10

Step 1.9 (Experience):.......................................................................................................................10

Step 1.10 (Skills):...............................................................................................................................10

Step 1.11 (Special Abilities):..............................................................................................................11

Step 1.12 (Skill Randomization):......................................................................................................11

Step 1.13 (Rank System):..................................................................................................................11

Step 1.16D (Scenarios):................................................................................................................14

Step 1.17 (Saving your Preset):........................................................................................................15

Part 2 (Starting your first contract):....................................................................................................16

Step 2.1 (Splash Screen):...................................................................................................................16

Step 2.2 (Adding Starter Funds):.....................................................................................................16

Step 2.3 (Creating your pilots):........................................................................................................17

Step 2.4 (Generating your BattleMech roster):..............................................................................19

Step 2.5 (Assigning Pilots to ’Mechs, and ’Mechs to Forces):.......................................................21

Step 2.5A (Assigning Pilots to ’Mechs):......................................................................................21

Step 2.5B (Assigning ’Mechs to Forces):....................................................................................22

Step 2.7C (Ammunition):.............................................................................................................30

Step 2.7D (Weapon Spares):........................................................................................................30

Step 2.8 (Contract Generation):.......................................................................................................31

Step 2.8A (Transiting to your contract’s objective):..................................................................33

Part 3 (Extras):.......................................................................................................................................34

Step 3.1 (Adding Additional Forces):..............................................................................................34

Step 3.2 (Chase Missions):................................................................................................................35

Step 3.3 (Removing Scenarios):........................................................................................................36

Step 3.4 (Repairs):.............................................................................................................................37

First however, you should launch the program. If this is your first time creating a campaign, click the

“Start a New Campaign” button, and you should see something similar to the image below:

Set your preferred day and date and move on to the next step. If you don’t have one, there are several

eras to choose from. If you wish to play an Introductory Technology game (that is, using only ’Mechs

from TRO:3039) then any date before 3050 might be preferable. If you want to play in the Clan

Invasion Era, then set the date from 3049 to 3060. The FedCom Civil War is 3060 to 3067, and the

Jihad Era is 3067 to 3090. After that is the Dark Age, which runs from 3090 to 3145. For this article,

the date will be the default 3067 one above.

Step 1.2 (Presets):

Next you’ll choose your preset. As a new user you won’t have some of these options, but that’s okay.

Step 1.3 (General Options Tab):

After choosing your preset you will get the following image:

stick with the Mercenary faction. There are rules to play as a House or Clan unit in the AtB rules file.

After that comes the Unit Rating and Unit Rating Method options. Using the Unit Rating is

recommended, as this can determine contract bonuses and loans (covered later). The Method itself is

up to you, with the options of the rules in Field Manual: Mercenaries (Revised) or in Campaign

Operations. I’ll be using the FM: Mercenaries Revised rules due to the AtB rules using its rating system

for this guide.

Thirdly is the date option, which you’ve already determined and shouldn’t change unless you want

errors to creep in.

Finally, you have the option for a different camouflage. On the downloads page for MegaMek is a .zip

file containing a large number of camo styles available, if the default ones included aren’t to your

Step 1.4 (Repair and Acquisition Tab):

The default tab looks like the image below, but I’m going to cover the tab in two parts to make things

Step 1.4A (Repair and Maintenance):

The left half of the page deals with repairing your units and keeping them maintained, something

that whenever you go to the Repair Bay in MHQ, the tech assigned to that tech will be the first

available. The next option just resets to the tech at the top of the list. The third option is to allow units

to use the Strategic Operations Quirk rules. Finally in Repair, an option that is up to you to leave on or

off is the Damage/Destroy parts by MoF. Pretty self explanatory, but I recommend leaving it off if your

Techs are inexperienced.

In Maintenance, first we have the “Make Maintenance Checks” option, which follows StratOps’ rules

on maintenance, where part quality matters. Under this option are the Cycle length, which should be

a month for simplicity’s sake, as well as the modifier. The Maintenance Modifier is something that by

default can see your units coming apart at the seams with the Damage/Destroy option on. There are

several modifiers to use, but the -3 option is the easiest, with 0 or -1 being harder. Next up is the

Step 1.4B (Acquisition and Delivery):

Below is an image of how I normally set acquisition rolls:

Step 1.5 (Tech Limits):

This tab is pretty simple, though I should stress that unless you are running a really, really high end

campaign, or you are beating the Clans like a rented mule, you should leave the “Pay for Clan Parts

and Equipment” option off. This is due to how good Clan equipment is, and how rare it should be in

Mercenary hands.

Step 1.6 (Personnel):

Most of these options stay as default, especially the salary portion, though I do increase the NonCom

Since we have GM Mode on, the “Add Funds (GM)” button is available to click. Click on that and you

will get a screen similar to below. I’ve already entered the amount, what type the amount is, and why.

Next though, we’re going to hit the “Edit Statistics (GM)” option, which will let you tinker with this

Step 2.5 (Assigning Pilots to ’Mechs, and ’Mechs to Forces):

Step 2.5B (Assigning ’Mechs to Forces):

Assuming you haven’t made any changes, the TO&E tab is going to look pretty barren, like the image

Feel free to change top level force name at any time. This is your mercenary unit’s name in the

organization. You can also change the Force Icon, which denotes unit size or type. For now though,

let’s just click on “Add New Force.” To keep the organization straight, this should be the top level of

Follow the previous instructions to add your first Lieutenant to your second lance, and then your

second Lieutenant to the third lance. Once that’s complete, each lance of four ’Mechs should look

With that, your TO&E is complete for now. As you accumulate more ’Mechs, pilots, and vehicles, you

can expand your TO&E however you want.

You’ll likely have a few contracts generated already, but go ahead and generate 4 more with the GM

mode. Here are my generated contracts below. I’ve chosen an Extraction Raid for the Free Worlds

I’ll go over each portion of the contract here. The Mission Type is an Extraction Raid, which is

enumerated upon in more detail in the AtB rules document. Next are the Ally and Enemy Ratings,

which determine the skills and qualities of your ally and enemy forces. Both sides are Regular skilled,

D rated units, which means they have okay pilots and decent ’Mechs. Next we have Overhead

Compensation, which are incidental costs like food and the like. Next are Command Rights, which

don’t have too much of an effect in AtB, beyond whether you’ll have an allied bot during missions, or

extra units that join you on deployment. Transport terms covers how much it will cost you to transit to

your contract’s location. Salvage rights determines how much of the equipment you capture you can

keep. Straight Support is how much your employers cover your technical costs, and Battle Loss

Compensation is how much your employer will pay for repairs. All of these are covered in more detail

Step 2.8A (Transiting to your contract’s objective):

Now that we’ve accepted our contract, we need to get to our target. Luckily, the contract was nice

This will start your journey to your target. Once you’re ready, click Advance Day. If you want to

advance multiple days at a time, click on the Manage Campaign drop down menu and hit Advance

Multiple Days, as shown below.

You’re on you’re way to your first contract!

going to the TO&E tab, and right clicking a Force, and scrolling through the options as below.

These units will be initially deployed as Reinforcements, that take (12-Average Walk/Cruise Speed of

the force) – 1 for Jump MP turns to arrive. So if you have a lance of 4/6/4 ’Mechs you want to help

you, they will take ((12-4)-1) = 7 turns to arrive. If you want to deploy as a unified force, you can edit

the deployment like so in MegaMek:

You can do this for all of your mechs, just be aware that Against the Bot determines matches by lance,

not by company, and it does BV balance. So if you have a High BV lance, you may end up fighting a low

of less skilled, but more numerous opponents.

As we can see below, the Cauldron-Born C moves 5/8.

units.

Step 3.3 (Removing Scenarios):

If you have a Scenario type that you just don’t like, or if the scenario doesn’t play properly, you can

remove this scenario. To do so, you will need to have GM Mode on. Then right click on the scenario, as

in the image below, and mouse over GM Mode, and click Remove Scenario. This will remove the

scenario from the list.

Step 3.4 (Repairs):

After your first engagement, you’re probably going to be faced an image similar to the one below in

While you’re free to use the Mass Repair/Salvage option as seen in the image, I recommend that you

instead repair each component one at a time. This allows your best techs to work on parts, and your

techs will actually finish repairs in a timely manner. Also, as we can see by this example, I have several

’Mechs that need repairs. If you assigned a technician to ’Mech, such as the Dragonfly at the top of

Step 3.5 Custom Quirk rules (option):

NOTE: Nothing in this section is official rules wise. Please do not construe any assertions found here

Improved Targeting, there aren’t really any rules in Strategic Operations for adding them beyond point

balancing, which can be hard to make sense of, since you’re unlikely to want negative quirks. To that

end, I have a dual C-Bill/Tech check method that allows for quirks to be added to designs. This section

is still in development, so it may change between versions.

This would be expressed as (50,000 x Weapon Damage). For example, if you wanted to add both

Accurate Weapon and Improved Cooling Jacket to a Medium Laser (5 damage), both Quirk

If you wish, for whatever reason, to make C-bill costs for modifications more expensive, you can add a

multiplier that increases the C-Bill cost per quirk. So the first quirk would be at 1x, while the second

After paying the C-Bill cost, you’ll next need to make an associated Tech roll. If you’re working on a

’Mech, this would be the ’Mech Tech skill. A Vehicle would need a Vehicle Tech roll and so on. This roll

is made at the Tech’s skill + 4, with an additional modifier of +2 for Clan technology. Using a Veteran

Tech with 5+ skill to modify the Medium Laser from earlier, they would need to roll a 9 (5+4) or better

to successfully complete the modification. If the same tech was working on a Clan ER Medium Laser,

The rules for adding chassis wide Quirks follow the same rules, though their costs are different. These

costs are listed below:

Anti-Aircraft Targeting: 4 million C-Bills

Barrel Fist: 1.5 Million C-Bills per limb modified

Cowl: 3.5 Million C-Bills

Directional Torso Mount: 6 Million C-Bills

Fine Manipulators: 1 Million C-Bills

Hyper Extending Actuators: 2 Million C-Bills

Improved Sensors: 3 Million C-Bills

Improved Targeting: 6, 8, and 10 million C-Bills per range band for Short, Medium and Long

Protected Actuators: 3 Million C-Bills

Searchlight: 50,000 C-Bills

Stabilized Weapons: 2.5 Million per weapon, or 10 million per limb

Variable Range Targeting: 5 Million C-Bills

Vestigial Hands: 500,000 C-Bills

Good Reputation

Modular Weapons

Narrow/Low Profile

Nimble Jumper

Overhead Arms

Reinforced Legs

Rugged

Ubiquitous

In the event that a Quirk Modification roll is failed, the weapon or chassis immediately gains 1

negative quirk that cannot be removed. For Weapon modifications, roll 1d6 and consult the following

list:

1: Inaccurate Weapon

2: Exposed Weapon Linkage

3: EM Interference

5: No Cooling Jacket

6: Nonfunctional

Regardless of the roll, you can spend a point of Edge (if the Tech has any), to reduce the roll by 1.

For Chassis Modifications, the failed modification is more complex, though some have an obvious 1-1

Anti-Aircraft Targeting and Battle Computer: Sensor Ghosts. Additionally, AA Targeting may also

suffer the effects of Poor Targeting, as detailed below

Armor. Roll 1d6, using Cramped Cockpit as 1 and No Ejection System as 6.

Extended Torso Twist: Roll 1d6. On 5-6, apply No Torso Twist

Improved Targeting and Variable Range Targeting: Apply Poor Targeting to the appropriate range

(3-4) to Medium and (5-6) to Long.

Reinforced Actuators: Weak Actuators or Hard to Pilot

Some Negative Quirks are, like their positive counterparts, intrinsic to the design itself. These are:

Light Conditions and Weather. In the image below, you can see the original map options.

While you can’t see my units nor the enemy’s I have a series of jumping BattleMechs in this lance,

while the Bot has a primarily groundbound force. For a chase mission, this choice of terrain and map

first. To reroll, click the check box(es) next to the option you want to reroll, then click the (in this case)

button saying “5 Rerolls Remaining.” Below, I’ve rerolled.

Thankfully, with that reroll, I’ve lowered the wind conditions and not added a blizzard or something.

You can reroll as many options as many times as your rerolls hold out.

Step 3.7 (The Salvage Screen):

After you complete a mission, you’ll see a pop up like the one below:

If under the Observations note, it says that the Winner (or Defender or what have you) controls the

battlefield and you’ve won. Click yes. MekHQ then loads the image on the following page as a

separate popup.