Merchant purchasing methods and snake draft

GM configuration

1. Campaign > Purchasing methods has separate Merchant purchasing and Salvage purchasing defaults. Existing inventories and published salvage pools keep their saved method.

2. Open Merchant inventory, then Configure purchasing method. Choose One purchase per company per round or Priorities and automatic snake draft. Save this inventory method changes only that inventory. The saved campaign default is shown below the form. Use Edit campaign purchasing defaults to change defaults for future inventories and newly published salvage pools; there is no campaign-default checkbox on the inventory form. Switching an existing merchant inventory to a snake draft excludes already purchased stock and preserves the earlier equipment, SP debits and receipts. Previous purchases continue to count when using one-per-company rounds.

3. Resolve all unpurchased stock before selecting the snake draft. Once a company saves priorities, the purchasing method and stock are locked. Existing purchases and accounting stay unchanged; the draft covers remaining stock. Historical inventories and closed between-contract sessions remain read-only. Players cannot configure purchasing or bypass the draft with a direct purchase. A pass already recorded for this inventory remains an opt-out when changing purchasing methods.

Priorities and cost review

1. From Shop merchant inventory choose Prioritize purchases / view draft. Eligible companies come from the saved inventory company snapshot or the explicit preceding-contract participants of an open between-contract session. Players edit only their own company; GMs may record an eligible company decision.

2. Choose unique priorities from 1 (highest) to the number of available items (lowest). Mark any number of items Not interested. Review potential purchase costs saves the priorities without charging money and shows the estimate if every ranked item is received, plus a maximum without miniature discounts.

3. The estimate uses currently available models in your priority order. Another company can receive a model first, changing the discount. No awarded item can exceed its reviewed maximum. A Warchest warning appears when the maximum list cost exceeds available funds. You may confirm anyway: competing companies may take some items, and the draft skips anything you cannot afford when your pick arrives. No debt is created.

4. Use Edit priorities to return to the saved list. Accept purchase priorities confirms the reviewed costs and authorizes awarded purchases after every eligible company accepts. Accepted lists are locked. Marking everything Not interested and accepting is a pass for this inventory only; that company never rolls or buys. No decisions carry to a new inventory.

Automatic snake draft and receipts

1. Once every eligible company accepts, interested companies use the same saved 2d6 ordering as salvage, highest first, with saved tie breaks. Odd rounds run forward and even rounds reverse. Each company receives its highest-priority available affordable item, at most one per round. Choices already awarded to others drop out. Unaffordable choices are skipped. A company with no remaining choices leaves the draft.

2. All awarded purchases, SP charges, operational equipment, model assignments, stock receipts and resolved draft evidence are committed together. The completed page shows saved order, rolls, rounds, purchases and skipped choices. Revisiting or repeating acceptance cannot charge or grant equipment again.

3. Configuration, priority review, edits and acceptance update the same page with Ajax. Failed validation preserves entered priorities. If a connection result is uncertain, reload to review saved state; do not repeat acceptance blindly. Browser navigation to a different task remains normal navigation. Accepted-company waiting pages check readiness automatically while their tab is visible.