Joining the beta
Open Sign in or your invitation link. The popup has Sign in and Sign up cards, each with branded Google and Discord buttons and Continue with Email. Email reveals its fields in place. Close or Escape returns to the shared menu; Sign in reopens it. Without JavaScript the same choices use ordinary pages. Invitations are carried automatically.
Choose Continue with Google or Continue with Discord using their branded buttons, or Continue with Email. Providers use their verified identity; email-bound invitations must match that address. Unconfigured provider buttons are disabled.
The homepage opens Sign in. Use the Google or Discord account linked to your Hot Spots account, or your existing email and password. An expired, used or differently addressed invitation does not prevent an existing account from signing in and grants no new access. Open a fresh valid invitation link to accept a new invitation.
Choose Sign up to create an account; a valid invitation link opens Sign up automatically. Email registration sends a single-use 15-minute confirmation link. Confirm before the account is created. A verified Google or Discord identity can create an account when admission is allowed; invalid invitations cannot create accounts.
If you open email confirmation in a different browser, choose your password there to finish securely. Opening the link alone does not consume it.
System invitations grant GM access. Company invitations create player access and transfer only the invited company; existing account roles are retained. The GM is notified after acceptance.
Registration is invite-only until the administrator enables Open registration. Without an invitation during invite-only registration, choose Need an invitation? to join the waiting list. Public registration grants player access, not GM access or campaign membership.
Google and Discord buttons take you to the provider in the same browser tab, then return you to Hot Spots. If Email responds but both provider buttons appear to do nothing, ask the administrator to install release 205 or later and reload the sign-in page; that release fixes browser security rules blocking the redirects.
Home opens Your dashboard with the campaigns you belong to and their next tasks. Inside an Aces campaign, Campaign > Dashboard returns to this same Home page. Aces cards show the shared force and Warchest; Hot Spots cards retain their company summaries.
Finding your way
The existing menu is the default. Choose Try sidebar to use the optional sidebar on this browser for the current account. Choose Use existing menu to switch back without reloading the page. If browser storage is unavailable, the choice applies only to the current page.
In sidebar mode, Overview returns to the current campaign or company; Company Information or Shared force, Contracts & Logistics, Missions, Rules & Resources and Management show only tasks available in the current context. Choose a task to open its existing page. Change opens campaign and company choices, and Help remains available at the end of the top controls. The existing server-rendered menu is used without JavaScript.
Choose Campaign → Dashboard, then open a campaign. Campaign and company menus gain options when that context is open.
For Hot Spots, choose your company under Companies. Company holds your roster, contracts and finances; Operations holds missions, tracks and recovery. For Aces, use Campaign overview and the shared-force and Tabletop pages; no separate company is required.
Rules is the readable reference. Rules configuration edits shared definitions and is available to administrators. Admin manages site access and services.
Breadcrumbs immediately below the menu lead back to parent pages. Help is always the rightmost menu group on desktop and the last group in mobile navigation.
In Hot Spots, Company Information starts with Overview, then groups links under Roster & personnel, Contracts & missions, Finances, Settings & recovery and GM administration. GM administration appears only to the campaign GM. All menus use this categorized style: desktop menus with multiple sections use two columns; mobile and no-JavaScript menus keep the same headings and order. Mobile search matches section names as well as page names. The single-purpose Companies menu stays compact. Help includes About and Release notes under About & updates. Operations groups Mission planning, Opposing forces and Contract tools. Campaign groups Contracts & briefings, Travel & supplies and People & setup. Rules, Resources, Account, Rules configuration, Admin and Help also group related actions. Only permitted actions and nonempty categories appear.
Gold-highlighted action buttons use black text on hover or keyboard focus to keep their labels readable.
The space background is decorative. Menus and content use dark panels for readability; printed reports omit the background.
Text dropdowns let you open the full list with the arrow or type part of an option name to filter matches. Use Up/Down and Enter or click a match to select it; Escape cancels the filter. Typing alone does not change the saved selection. Numeric dropdowns retain ordinary selection.
Keep navigation available while scrolling
The shared application menu stays at the top of the window as you scroll. On narrow screens, the Campaign navigation button stays visible; open it to browse or search pages. The opened mobile menu scrolls independently.
Inventory Add row and Save changes stay directly below the menu, including when the menu wraps onto multiple lines. Breadcrumbs remain below the menu at the beginning of each page. Navigation is hidden in printed output.
Hot Spots: progress a scheduled track
Open Operations → Scheduled tracks and choose Progress track. Preparing means player rosters are not locked. Review the force that actually played, then use Validate and lock player rosters.
Record primary, secondary and other/bonus objective outcomes per company, with player/opponent VP and evidence. Not applicable covers absent objectives. The GM selects combat pay separately using the standard Hot Spots outcomes.
Record unit damage and recovery, then Player battle injuries for assigned player crews, including zero new wounds. Enter additional ordinary wound boxes only; destruction diagnostic wounds are separate. These saves retain full wounds and do not automatically kill a pilot.
Run player destruction diagnostics for destroyed player Meks and vehicles. OpFor crews are excluded. Roll once, use Piloting for Classic/Override or Skill for Alpha Strike, and resolve a GM survival decision when wounds exceed the limit.
Save combat pay as a draft, then Bonus SP and salvage purchase selections. Mark each step done. Finalize results permits reopening steps and posts the pending accounting once. Narrative branch outcomes remain on the operation page.
Only the GM records results, wounds, diagnostics and completion. Players can review their own reported crews; GM OpFor details remain private. Print reports open in a separate tab. Exercises retain standard combat pay but apply no real wounds or equipment damage.
Moving between result pages
Paginated lists use << for the first page, < for the previous page, > for the next page and >> for the last page. Unavailable directions are greyed out.
Type a page number and press Enter or leave the field to jump. Numbers outside the available range go to the nearest valid page. Filters and campaign/company context are retained. Arrow links also work without JavaScript; typing a page number requires JavaScript.
Inventory filtering and page navigation retain unsaved rows. On unit-condition reports, save the current page before changing pages. Page navigation does not save edits.
Your dashboard
After signing in, the dashboard lists your campaigns. Hot Spots cards show the date, campaign phase, current contract and last confirmed location. Aces cards show the campaign book, shared force, current stage and next actions. Blocked memberships are excluded. Administrators can reach other campaigns through Manage all campaigns.
For Hot Spots, Your next steps links to unfinished company setup, eligible contract votes and published salvage priorities that you have not marked ready. GM cards also link to track preparation, result finalization, contract settlement and advance planning. Saved votes can be reviewed until voting closes.
In Hot Spots, company balances show posted SP, not pending track credits. Merchant and briefing links open their normal permission-checked pages; a merchant link does not mean purchasing is currently open.
Use Campaign > Dashboard to return. Start a campaign and Use an invitation are separate pages. Opening the dashboard does not complete walkthroughs, resolve votes, post payments or advance campaign time.
Each Hot Spots campaign appears in its own full-width section. GMs see all companies and their players, posted Warchest balance, reputation and roster counts by unit type. Players see only their own company finances and unit counts. Counts include damaged and destroyed records; printable models are not counted as company units.
Company cards link directly to Warchest, Financial history, Equipment, Pilots & crew and the company contract. Outstanding tasks are separate from optional Available actions; saved votes and completed salvage priorities do not count as unfinished work.
Campaigns sort by your most recent authorized campaign page visit, then by the number of outstanding tasks, then by name for a stable tie. Visits are personal and persist across devices. Run Admin > Database updates once to enable visit tracking; earlier visits cannot be reconstructed. Campaigns with no saved visit sort by task count. Reading the dashboard itself does not change campaign ordering.
Home at the far left of the shared menu returns to your own dashboard. It remains visible beside the menu button on mobile and works without JavaScript.
On a GM dashboard, select the player name / View player dashboard link on a company card. The preview shows that member's companies and player tasks within the selected campaign only. It does not expose their other campaigns, impersonate them or change their onboarding or activity. Unclaimed companies can also be previewed. Links from the preview use your own GM permissions; Home and Back to my dashboard return to your dashboard.
Form layout
Dense option forms use left-aligned columns, aligned rows and consistent single-line input and dropdown heights. Larger text areas and grouped choices retain the space they need. On narrow screens columns reflow; labels and validation messages remain visible.
Descriptions, briefing ideas, backgrounds and notes follow compact options near the bottom of forms and span the available columns. Contract editors and pilot creation place these fields before the final save action; briefing ideas still support AI review before applying a suggestion.
Generate names beside a field
Name generators place results directly into the adjacent name field. Edit the name freely, then save the form when ready. Progress and errors appear beside the field. If you edit a name while generation runs, your edit is preserved.