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PaperclipPerfector  21hr ago (text post)   870 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 20, 2026

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Gaming subthread.

So.. Menace.

Very enjoyable and fun neat little game with a great gaming loop. EA. People seem to hate the idea of it getting a multiplayer and I can't understand why.

Given the bite-sized nature of the battles, it could make for a very fun MMO strategy/tactics game where each player per side fights several battles per evening, meaning the game cannot be, by design, hogged by the 16x7 no-lifer types.

Well, I won't be discussing the delightful little game here anymore as I got permabanned over thoughtlessly using a metaphor too spicy.

:-(

I hate it. Goodbye, I guess, and I hope Amadan gets a particularly insecticide resistant bedbug infestation.

I thought I'd wait until 1.0 but I've now started on it anyway.

I went straight for an ironman run despite understanding nothing about the game. I finished my first mission on a desert planet where I was supposed to protect civilians against extortion from pirates or something. I lost an entire squad of sassy black men to a sudden flamethrower attack that wiped them out in one action. I couldn't figure out how to stabilize or revive them. :( At least I saved 80+ % of the civvies.

I went for challengin/ironman for my second playthrough and my squaddie pool dropped to 12 before I figured out the correct way to play the game is to use boarding commando suits or equiv protection and special weapons only, the bigger the better.

Armor is very situational in Menace. It's dramatically overpriced, a squad decked up in armor you can rely on to tank bullets will:

  • Be as expensive as fully armed vehicle

  • Often get pinned under suppression even if the bullets do no damage

It's not impossible to make it work, but it's a noob trap by default. You're better off investing in never getting spotted or hit in the first place. Get the scouting perk on a few SLs (Darby or Kody are great for this), give them camo and optionally suppressed guns, and they can wipe the floor with most enemies or at least give you advance warning.

The one other place where armor can make some sense is in a tiny support squad. I usually have Pike with 2 men and a heavy gun (usually redundant), the armor is cheap enough when you don't use it on a full squad, and it protects against fuck ups. Pike hugs the backline to buff the heavy hitters with AP.

What's the idea with smaller or bigger squads? I had extra supply so I just made the infantry squads all 8.

I restarted my campaign and finished two missions with no losses this time. My vehicle is getting like 80% of the kills.

Bigger is better, in general. But you're constrained by supply costs. The price of equipping a squad with weapons and armor is multiplied by the number of members. If you don't have fancy gear, then a full squad can be very cheap.

You need to keep in mind that if you equip a squad with a special weapon (MG, sniper, rocket launchers etc), then you have to choose between firing their primary weapons and using the special weapon. In addition, the SL will always carry that special weapon, which means one less rifleman.

If the purpose of a squad is to mostly fire an MG or shoot rockets, then all the extra weapons, armor and even the extra squad members is redundant. A squad with 3 dudes and an MG, using said MG, has the same firepower as a full squad of 9 that's also relying on the MG.

It sounds like you're in the early game, and probably playing on the normal difficulty level. You probably don't have the fun toys that cost $$ to equip. Later in the campaign, or on the higher difficulties, you'll have tough choices. Early on, the APC will carry you, since your infantry has dogshit carbines. Especially against the more heavily armored foes. However, when you encounter enemy AT, you'll need to be more conservative and rely on infantry to a greater extent.

What I usually run early game:

  • APC with an MMG or HMG
  • 3 squads of infantry. One of them the max size, the others usually cut down to 5 or 6 men.

Middle game:

  • APC with an autocannon/laser lance
  • 2 decked out infantry squads that mainly shoot their rifles. Note that they don't have very good armor, because that's cost ineffective. Just enough to get by.
  • 2 partial squads that have a special weapon. 3-4 guys, decent armor for survivability.

Late game:

  • A mech
  • An APC/IFV
  • As many infantry squads as points allow. Could be 3-5.

You will absolutely want a dedicated scout like Darby. She's worth every penny, and one you unlock the Crocodile AMR, she's a murder machine. You'll probably want a dedicated pushing infantry squad that relies primarily on rifles to fight other infantry. But beyond that, combined arms is the name of the game and there is plenty of scope for build diversity.

Don't worry too much, you can make a lot of tactics work. One of the reasons I'm bullish on the game, especially with more content and a few balance tweaks.

Thanks for the info!

Yup I'm playing on normal and without ironman this time, and I'm still struggling with part 3 of the xenophobic mission. I need to contaminate the breeding pools, and my vehicle can't do it. Shooting them was not the solution, I found out. The damn driver can't even spend a full turn or something on getting out and doing the action. Kinda bs. The 12 turn time limit seems pretty brutal given the number of enemies close to the pools. I've tried the mission twice and given up, although I could probably have finished with a partial success.

I'm considering bringing a small squad with the rocket launcher as that seems to be effective against the big, dark heavily armored alien, assuming the rocket hits. Maybe a flamethrower to deal with the groups of small soft aliens. I had ~265 credits to spend.

Btw will the scout ability function while the SL whos' got it is inside a vehicle?

I need to contaminate the breeding pools, and my vehicle can't do it. Shooting them was not the solution, I found out.

Heh. I did the exact same thing, turns out that lead poisoning isn't quite the right kind of contamination.

The 12 turn time limit seems pretty brutal given the number of enemies close to the pools. I've tried the mission twice and given up, although I could probably have finished with a partial success.

I strongly advise giving up on perfectionism. Even with perfectly optimal, meta play, getting a full 5 stars is a crapshoot on any difficulty. I reliably get 4 stars 85% of the time, and that's entirely fine.

The 12 turn timer is, as far as I recall, a secondary objective. You can take your time. There are less finicky missions out there.

I'm considering bringing a small squad with the rocket launcher as that seems to be effective against the big, dark heavily armored alien, assuming the rocket hits. Maybe a flamethrower to deal with the groups of small soft aliens. I had ~265 credits to spend.

If you strictly need them only for the special weapon, then you can get away with the bare minimum squad size.

Do you intend for them to hoof it on foot? Which RPG are you using?

I ask because if you have them riding inside the APC, it's expensive in terms of AP to have them disembark and shoot. Most rockets need the squad to deploy first, which unfortunately ends up with not quite enough AP to fire after disembarking.

Except: Lim.

His Mobile Infantry perk is goated. He can jump out of an battle taxi and shoot twice with normal weapons, at least once with most specials. You don't even need to give him any armor, because if you play things right, he'll never end a turn outside the vic. Highly highly recommend you try that.

If I had to choose, I'd say use any AT over the flamethrower. The bugs will hard counter you, especially the Alien Warriors or the Queen, if you lack it. I never used the flamethrower, I got by just fine shooting the smaller bugs with rifles or the MMG/HMG on the APC.

265 credits will work just fine, especially for a minimal AT squad. If you don't have Lim, get them to dismount early and shadow the vic.

Btw will the scout ability function while the SL whos' got it is inside a vehicle?

I don't believe so. But you can still have the squad jump out, gain vision, and jump back in. This works best with Lim, but literally all the infantry SLs can do it.

Until very late in the game, scouting is invaluable, especially if you rely on vehicles. An unexpected RPG or other AT weapon can fuck up the APC beyond repair, or destroy it outright.

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