So, you have a new empire, you have your jeeps, and you're raring to go kill something. Before you start off waging a war across the face of Neveron, it's a good idea that you get used to the combat interface. The best way to do this is with the newbie quest. We'll then look at the FFA tournament.

neWbie quest

The newbie quest is a good place to learn the combat interface as it provides an environment where you are using the battle map but under very few time constraints - enjoy this, it won't happen again.

Assuming you haven't already done it, you should be able to do the newbie quest by clicking the Comms tab and then the yellow Quests link. Read the blurb, and click accept mission. Scroll down and click the Continue button - you'll be taken to the map, where a zone should be shown in darker green. Click this zone to set it as your active zone, then claim it with the red button near the top right of the screen.

Right, you now have a new zone, and it didn't cost you a thing! Go back to your empire using the button at the top right of the map window. Now, you need a unit to go questing with. Let's go with a newbie jeep. Click the Units tab, and then click Vehicles.

Now, select a newbie jeep my clicking the appropriate radio button. Then select the zone called Mission Start from the dropdown menu at the top, and click the Move Unit button. Then click Move All on the page that loads.

You will now be taken back to the map. You've got a few minutes to wait while your unit is in transit, but we need to mobilise your unit. Go back to the vehicles page, and find the Jeep that is listed as In Transit (or possibly Waiting) - click its name. The unit information screen will load. At the top right, click the mobilise unit button, then click Yes when the dialog box opens.

Now, go back to the map and wait a few minutes, then press F5 to refresh the map, and your unit should have arrived (on the right it will no longer say In Transit or Waiting).

Now, click on the zone directly above yours - it will have !! in it - this indicates that there are enemy units in the zone. On the right hand side of the page, click the red Attack Zone button. The bottom pane will reload. Select your newbie jeep from the dropdown, click the attack zone button, and then click yes to the next two dialog boxes.

Welcome to the combat map! There's no real time limit, so let's take a look around using the picture below - the one which looks like it's been infested with fridge magnets.

Red first - this is the person bar. It shows you all the units you have claimed, including a picture, the name, unit ID and the Initiative (INIT). Initiative determines how long you have to make your move - each init is worth 10 seconds. When controlling multiple units, highest init is listed on the left, so be sure to use the ones on the right first so you don't run out of time.

The timer window. This tells you what phase you are in, as well as how long the phase is going to last and how long you have left to move. In duels, it is very important to move as late as you can - a difference between phase time and your time of 5 means you "won" init, ie every other unit had lower init. A difference of 6 means you tied, anything more means you lost.

Moving clockwise, the black arrow points to the friendly unit list - a list of all units which are friendly to you. You can click on the name of any unit and see its information in the data pane.

The messages window gives you messages - generally communications and reports of weapon firing.

The data pane provides info on the currently selected hex. You can select any hex by clicking on it in the map (main window, white arrow).

The enemy units window lists all enemy units that can be seen on sensors currently. You can click on the name of any unit and see its information in the data pane.

The communications window allows you to message other participants in battle.

On the main map window, the numbers represent the height - between 10 and 0 (blank). Green patches represent woods, grey ones rough, and then there's buildings.

Right, now let's get to questing. You need to go and find a tower and kill it. Wait until the timer window says MOVE, and then click the button of your jeep in the person bar. The friendly unit window will reload into the move window (below).

To move your unit, you left click on adjacent hexes on the battle map. The cyan dot shows the facing of your unit - each hex moved in the direction costs 1 move point. Changing direction (you can do this but stay in the same hex by right clicking an adjacent hex) costs 1mp per facing, and there are various penalties for changing elevation or for going through rough and woods. When you have made the move you want, click the green Commit button - until you click this, your unit has not moved.

Go North, after you clear the hill to the North West of your position you should see the enemy tower - head towards it. The tower will be in red on the map, indicating it is an enemy unit. Friendly units will always be coloured grey or blue.

You will likely find that the tower shoots at you - don't worry, it can't actually hit you. Move towards it and get to range 1 or 0. Then, wait until the FIRE phase (see timer window). Click the unit icon in the person bar, and the friendly units pane will reload into the attack pane (below). Click the icon of the enemy tower, and then the right hand side should load. Click the Fire Selected Weapons button.

Just stay still (hit the All Rest button) and keep shooting - this generally isn't a good idea in real war, but since the tower can't hit you at range 1, you're safe. If you click on the tower's name in the enemy units list, its stats will load in the data pane. You can see below what the tower I was shooting at looked like after a while. The weapons listed in red show that that weapon has been destroyed.

Eventually, you will destroy the tower - good work. You need to wait one turn after the tower dies, and then the battle will resolve, and you will have captured the zone. You will be sent back to the empire page, and get a message of congragulations - you can now build 25cf buildings, and have gained $5,000,000. You now need to send your unit home. Go back to the vehicles list, select your jeep. It will say LOW AMMO next to it. Send it back to your main zone in the same way you sent it to the Mission Start zone earlier.

Now, you have to wait 6 nevhours (36 minutes) before you can repair your unit. At that time, you go to the vehicles list and click the LOW AMMO link. The repair screen will load - select the Public Repair Bay (for n00b faction members), and click Repair Unit. Then, you're done. You will be able to demobilise your jeep in 3 days.

free for all

The free for all is an ongoing tournament arena where you pay an entry fee and receive a random unit to go and kill stuff with. Killing enemies earns you TP you can use to further your research, and reputation (rep). Money is awarded every minute for those with high rep. If nothing else, it's a good way to learn some more about combat against others in a mixture of units as you can get any mech or vehicle (except the unarmed ones).

So, let's go. Click the Arenas tab at the top of the page, then click the Tournies tab.

Note that it does cost to enter the FFA - $200,000 for a level 0, $500,000 for a level 1, etc. Click the Enter the free for all button. You will be presented with the battle map. You will not be able to move at first - you need to wait until the start of the next move phase, as shown by the timer window. Also be aware that in the FFA phases are short - typically under a minute. You have to be quick. Take a minute to find out about your unit and skills - either use the Vehicle FAQ, Mech Stat Sheet, or mattbot3's ~unitstats function in IRC chat. Also, click your coordinates in the friendly units list to have the map centre on your unit.

So, essentially, the objective is to go kill stuff. If you kill stuff, you have a chance of getting Treasure Points (TP) which you can use to get research, and your reputation will increase. If you get the top rep, then you will get your entry fee back within 20 minutes. It takes longer at lower positions on the ladder.

Things to note in the FFA:

1. People will often form gangs, especially if there's a high level empire involved.

2. If your unit uses ammo, remember it is limited. Pick your shots wisely.

3. It doesn't matter who does the damage, the rep goes to whoever puts in the final shot.

4. You need to refresh the page every few rounds so that if someone new enters, they will show up on your map.

If you get a bad unit, or you die, don't be disheartened - it's all a good learning experience.

siMulator

The final learning area for combat is the simulator, where you enter one of your units in a sandbox scenario - you will not lose your unit, it won't cost you money or skills, and you won't gain anything either. You first need to choose the unit you want to use - this is whichever unit your active character is in. So, go to the units list and find a vehicle you want to use. I'm going to go for my empire's MAN-0, to give you a better idea of what happens. Click the vehicle code of the unit you want to use - this allows you to claim the unit for use in battle.

You now need to give the soldier a name. I shall call mine Eustace. Name yours however you want, and click Continue.

You will be returned to the claimed characters page. Click the name of your newly claimed soldier. This will make him your active character (denoted by black background - mouseover picture).

Right, now we're ready. Click the Arenas tab at the top of the page, and then click the Arena Simulator link at the top right of the arenas page.

Now, let's do a fairly easy arena to start with - set the options to "Unit", "30 x 30" and "Simple" as below, then click Begin Simulation, and press the "Yes" button which pops up.

Now, for the first time you are seeing sensors as they work properly. In the quest, it was impossible to see the tower beyond a certain radius, and impossible not to see it within that radius. In the FFA, you can always see every unit. Here, you either need line of sight (LOS) or to be able to see the unit on your sensors.

Also, the terrain can be pretty crappy for your unit - unfortunately this terrain is completely random. If you get some bad terrain, just exit (person bar, on the right) and create a new sim.

Anyway, head towards the bottom right (South East) corner. Hopefully you will be able to see what's facing you - at simple difficulty it won't be much. My MAN-0 faced an AIV-T3, an SCP-A3 and some infantry (the simulator is the ONLY place they exist in Neveron). Just move and then shoot them as you did in the quest.

So, there you go - an introduction to combat on Neveron.