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Here’s how the strategy layer works in Menace, the turn-based squad combat RPG from the Battle Brothers devsNot that XCOM-plicated, really
Not that XCOM-plicated, really
Image credit:Hooded Horse
Image credit:Hooded Horse
“A tactically rich turn-based game with some meaty role-playing elements”, was how Staff Sergeant James Archer characterised hisMenace hands-on, back in September. The only thing missing from his account of the game was the bread needed to make that rich, meaty concoction a tasty, nourishing sandwich.
Image credit:Hooded Horse
Honestly, it allsoundspretty straightforward next to the difficulties of avoiding injury on the surface. Between missions, you’ll return to a starmap of the Wayback solar system, on which you can see planets and the factions that own them, together with any requests for aid. There’s a reputation management element - leave a faction request hanging and they might sour on you.
Faction distress calls aside, the starmap is where you’ll spend the game’s main resources. Promotion points are for levelling up squads, OCI components (that’s “Operational Capability Improvements” - you’re impressing nobody with this wanton jargon, Overhype) are for embiggening your ship, the Impetus, while authority points are for keeping a lid on your crew’s morale and mood.
Your crew are described as “motley”, which here means “a massive liability”. You might have to intervene in a bar fight, or deal with the problem of a moonshine distillery, or resolve an accident in the hangarbay. It sounds like the usualstrategy-RPGrhythm of having to decide between fixing a problem now, or letting it slide to save resources and getting into hot water later.
As for ship upgrades, these have both active and passive benefits during missions. You can equip the Impetus with facilities that let you call in a dropship strafing run or a bunker-buster missile. Other enhancements restore unit health during missions, but the must-have is probably the one that gives you sharper intelligence on enemies and their position during briefings. Menace definitely feels like a game where reconnaissance trumps firepower.
Image credit:Hooded Horse
And that’s it for the strategy stuff. Forthcoming in a future blogpost: details of the black market, where you can barter for gear, squad leaders and pilots, and of operations, which are a series of connected missions.
