Movement and weapons fire
Start the next turn in Shared initiative and record the tabletop initiative winner. For physical decks, record each drawn footer identifier, then begin movement. Alpha Strike and Classic both use loser first, winner last. This assistant follows the Aces front-loaded movement rule: calculate unequal groups before each pair of movements; immobile/shut-down units, emplacements and transported infantry do not consume movement selections.
During movement, all Aces cards in the currently due group appear for authorized OpFor helpers. Follow their ascending movement priorities and any commander/Special Orders. Mark each unit moved, then confirm that group. Only the acting side appears. The player roster appears during player movement, with moved/unmoved status and the number due now; it is hidden during opposition movement. Players choose which eligible units to move. Repeat until all movement is complete, then confirm the movement phase.
On Tabletop > Shared initiative, use Movement Modes directly in the eligible player unit’s row. The unit sheet offers the same controls. Movement Modes shows current damage/heat-adjusted Walk, Run (Sprint in Alpha Strike) and Jump values, with TMM below. Tap a mode to highlight its whole column and preview the weapon attack modifier, or choose Stationary. Choose Confirm movement to save it and mark the unit moved; the final unit automatically advances its activation group. If confirmation opens a damage-related piloting check, the mode and distance stay fixed while you answer the prompts; confirm movement again after the checks to finish the activation. The owner or GM may choose movement; authorized co-op players may choose for the shared force. Confirmed choices remain visible during combat and expire for the next turn. Classic requires actual Hexes moved, not movement points spent; its columns show maximum TMM while the selected result uses actual distance. Jump is disabled when unavailable. Alpha Strike sprint retains normal TMM and cannot attack; Override Run represents sprint movement and cannot shoot under the standard rules. When the GM enables Run ’N Gun, choosing Run initially declares it: the checkbox allows plain sprinting instead. Run ’N Gun adds +1 to attacks and generates +1 heat, with the sprint TMM bonus. Confirmed declarations keep their recorded rule choices. Infantry retain their system-specific movement attack modifiers. Existing Mark moved remains available for tabletop-resolved movement without a recorded mode. Without JavaScript, open the full sheet and use the same movement form.
During weapons fire, the force that lost initiative acts first. The Aces combat procedure resolves one force’s attacks before the other, even when Classic or Override is selected. This differs from standard Classic alternating fire declarations. Automated units appear one at a time in ascending back-card priority; mark fire resolved and confirm to see the next automated attacker. Exact priority/PV ties remain player choices. The assistant never switches away halfway through the automated force’s attacks.
Players can view their units and mark each unit’s fire resolved, including a deliberate choice not to fire. Current-turn attacks remain simultaneous under the game rules. After all automated attacks, resolve emplacement, artillery and battlefield-support steps as applicable. When both forces have finished, confirm weapons fire and resolve the commander’s End Phase strategy before starting another turn.
If your sign-in expires, the assistant pauses updates and keeps unsaved entries in the current tab. Choose Sign in again to authenticate in another tab; sign-in returns to the normal task screen. Return to the original tab and choose Resume this page to refresh authorization and form protection while retaining your draft. Resuming never submits a save. If a save response was uncertain, use Check earlier save before an explicit retry. Sign in with the same account that opened the tab; another account cannot apply that draft. During the opposition turn, Layout offers Stacked and Side by side. Stacked is the default: the commander front, back and readable icon legend appear across the top, with turn status and current units below. Side by side places the commander reference to the left of the current unit area on wide screens. Both layouts stack on smaller screens. Switching is immediate and keeps the current sheet and entered values. Your choice is remembered for your account in this browser and does not change anyone else's view. If browser storage is unavailable, switching still works for the current page and a local message explains that the choice was not saved. Without JavaScript, the layout links reload the selected view; the browser preference requires JavaScript. Readable priority lists from the current commander card appear beneath each Aces orders card, limited to the Red, Yellow or Blue colors referenced on that exact movement/combat face. Faces with no color reference omit these lists. The normal unit title omits its internal saved-record ID. Each authorized due unit automatically shows its correct-system sheet beside its orders; narrow screens stack them. Commander deck keeps its full-size reference. Each player unit also offers a View sheet preview: hover or focus to preview, click to keep it open, Escape or Close sheet to dismiss. Full-sheet links open a separate tab.
Native unit sheets show saved armor, structure and critical damage. Tap a location to enter damage and, if applicable, Through Armor critical. The picture stays in place through saved updates; clicking its background does not enlarge it. Use the explicit Pilot/crew boxes act directly on the sheet. Classic and Override heat scales are read-only and show the result after automatic cooling. The orders card and unit sheet align at the top, with commander movement instructions and referenced color priorities beneath the orders. Saved Gunnery/Piloting or Alpha Strike Skill is printed on the sheet. Enable damage on sheets turns on full assistance without resetting other options. Disabled tracking, finalized sorties and unauthorized opposition remain read-only. Progress and errors appear locally; Check earlier save reviews an uncertain response, and explicit retry retains the same operation receipt. Follow the system-specific critical and phase prompts and the established campaign survival workflow.
Classic and Alpha Strike sheets retain the existing base-design preview and separate saved crew/condition information; use their current damage tracker for marked damage. Scenario emplacement records retain their campaign source facts. Source-backed sheets require the exact authorized design and matching saved locations/components; changed source configurations require reconciliation rather than assigning damage to different weapons. Sheets do not substitute a different unit. Older saved aggregate damage displays as the original leading pips until individual points are edited. The no-JavaScript tracker fallback remains available.
Unit status keeps movement, TMM, attack modifiers and applicable heat guidance together. Campaign optional-rule descriptions remain in the GM options screen. Normal action buttons, including Stationary and Go prone, use gold fill with black text; selection outlines, disabled controls and damage markings retain their meanings.
Confirm movement saves the unit declaration. When every unit due in its initiative group has finished, that confirmation also advances to the next group; no second group confirmation is needed. Resolve any required movement checks first. Completing the movement phase remains a separate action.
Use the assistant
Hot Spots campaigns also open Campaign > Tabletop assistant. The organizer loads the existing locked scheduled-track roster. The assistant does not create an alternate OpFor roster or company economy.
Confirm mission-specific decks, record attending online players and enter the tabletop player count when beginning. Record which side won initiative each turn. The count may include offline tabletop participants; votes still use attending online campaign accounts.
Each role card is paired by its printed footer identity and ordinal. Front and back priorities are stored separately. For example, Ambusher (Infantry) 4/6 has front priority 286 and back priority 786. Combat uses that same card’s back.
The initiative loser acts first and the winner acts last. Players choose among their remaining eligible units. Authorized helpers see every due Aces movement card automatically. Mark each due unit moved, then confirm the completed group before the other side moves. No reveal-button save is required.
Digital role decks are split among units and physical deck copies. Collective reshuffling preserves distinct simultaneous draws. Newly arriving units retain cards already in use and use their own paired face. Physical entries reject assigning the same ordinal twice in the same role/copy/turn.
Classic uses Gunnery for card Skill and multiplies card heat quantities by five: Overheat 2 means 10 heat. Override and Alpha Strike share the existing heat instructions. TMM is unchanged. Positional decisions and printed commander conditions remain tabletop judgments.
Confirm opposition decks together
Mission opposition decks lists every saved opposition unit that uses a role deck in one table. During setup or preparation, review the preselected deck for each unit, choose any mission-specific role or subtype exception, then select Confirm all deck assignments once. Player units and emplacements do not need these role assignments.
The physical deck copy number separates multiple decks of the same type. Units with the same deck and copy number share that deck. Keep copy 1 when using a single copy; use 2 or another number for a separate copy.
One confirmation saves every editable row together. An invalid row saves none; your choices stay on the page with an error beside the saved unit ID. A concurrent session change requires reviewing the current roster before resubmitting. Aces readiness correction links return to mission readiness after the complete table is confirmed.
The organizer and authorized OpFor helpers use this table in both Aces and Hot Spots assistants when decks and initiative are enabled. Hidden opposition remains unavailable to other players. Once play starts, current assignments are locked; newly revealed arrivals may still have their decks confirmed. Arrival placement is a separate confirmation.
End-of-combat commander strategy
The assistant displays the current commander card front and back at a larger size, using the same card renderer as Commander cards. A vertical icon legend sits to the right on wide screens, with larger symbols and labels. On narrower screens the legend moves below the cards. It explains the symbols on that card; PV means Point Value and TMM means target movement modifier. Hidden commander instructions remain available only to the organizer or authorized OpFor helpers.
After combat activations, confirm artillery and battlefield support, including none when appropriate, then confirm the combat phase complete. End-of-turn strategy now shows readable condition buttons in the current card’s printed order. Choose the first condition that is true, or None of the above. The assistant does not decide tabletop distances, objectives or losses for you.
The selected condition saves once and immediately displays Commander for next turn with the appropriate card. None of the above retains the same card. A card that says Maintain this strategy offers that acknowledgement instead. The next-turn initiative form appears after strategy is confirmed; record the winner to begin the next turn.
Each retained commander deck supplies its own conditions and destinations. Selecting a new published starting card during Hot Spots setup updates its card preview without saving it; use Save commander choice to apply it. The original published card versions and saved instructions remain the rules source for the mission.
Commander orders and support
Scouring Sands assigns its commander deck and starting card. For Hot Spots, an authorized OpFor helper uses Commander deck to choose a complete published deck and starting card, or explicitly choose no commander. The mission retains those published card versions. The preview follows the selected starting letter.
A token-assignment form appears only when the current commander card assigns Move First or Move Last. It shows that instruction and only the applicable token columns. MechWarrior A has a movement instruction and requires no token confirmation; that instruction accompanies opposing movement activations. MechWarrior B assigns Move First using highest M damage, then highest Armor to break a tie. The table provides printed Alpha Strike damage/movement references and the selected system’s remaining armor; use current tabletop unit records for damage and other effects. An authorized OpFor helper selects the required unit and confirms the assignments. Jamming Chaos ignores these tokens and uses its saved letter order. If more than eleven units require an order beyond A?K, record an explicit tabletop numeric-order adjudication.
After all opposing attacks are processed, confirm Artillery Support and then Battlefield Support before continuing. The table still resolves geometry, targeting, combat rolls and printed conditions. The assistant coordinates and records the sequence; it does not simulate the battle.
Replace an unstarted Hot Spots setup
The organizer may discard only an unstarted assistant setup from Sortie preparation. Its damage snapshot remains in assistant history, and the original locked roster and report are unchanged. A playing mission or unfinished aftermath must be resolved before loading another mission.
Move First/Last and Special Orders
See Help > Special Orders and movement priorities for token eligibility, withdrawal/fleeing, objectives and the indirect-fire preparation step. The same rules apply to the Hot Spots assistant.
Pilot hits and heat on saved assistant sheets
Use Pilot/crew boxes act directly on the sheet. Classic and Override heat scales are read-only and show the result after automatic cooling. Clicking or tapping the image background does not open an enlarged editor. Classic Mek sheets use six pilot-hit boxes and the native 0–30 heat scale; click a marked pilot box to reduce the cumulative count.
Alpha Strike Mek cards use their own heat bar: 0, 1, 2, 3 and S for Shutdown. Standard Alpha Strike cards have no separate pilot-hit boxes. Override retains its own condition monitor and heat scale.
These counters use shared saved-unit tracking, require enabled damage tracking and an unfinished sortie, and remain visible after closing or reloading the sheet. The GM can use Enable damage on sheets from Shared initiative. The damage-summary page offers matching server-rendered controls.
Resolve consciousness, survival and heat effects through the normal tabletop and aftermath steps. Classic and Alpha Strike armor/component editing still uses the damage-summary page; the new native controls cover pilot hits and heat.
GM combat options
Open Tabletop > Campaign options for Aces, or Tabletop > Assistant options for Hot Spots. The GM can change the optional combat rules for the selected combat system during play. Formation-building options are not included. Save options updates the same page; if the response is uncertain, check the earlier save before retrying. If a GM changes rules while a movement prompt is open, a stale confirmation is rejected. Review latest session reloads the visible movement controls while retaining available draft entries; select the mode again to refresh the preview before confirming. Reviewing never retries a save.
Override offers Run ’N Gun, voluntary prone, prone attack modifiers, limited damage transfer, morale, detection, catastrophic motive failure, Buckshot, quad rules and tabletop initiative variants. Movement/posture, limited damage transfer and Basic Quad prone/PSR bonuses affect the tracker. Tabletop rules show their source and guidance in Campaign options or Assistant options; their circumstances and rolls are resolved at the table. In particular, catastrophic motive failure and advanced quad equipment/leg-loss changes are reference rules, not calculated movement overrides. Basic/Fast/Modified Reactions are tabletop initiative references outside the Aces deck workflow, and do not replace its printed activation sequence. Advanced quad rules also enable Basic quad rules.
When voluntary prone is enabled, the owner, GM or authorized co-op player can choose Go prone during the unit’s available movement activation before confirmation. Prone movement is crawling: Walk up to 1, TMM 0; Run and Jump are unavailable. Optional prone attack modifiers appear in the weapon modifier and target guidance. Standing retains the existing movement cost/check workflow.
Limited damage transfer discards overflow from a hit starting in an intact location. A later hit to a missing location transfers normally. Enter separately resolved TIC and M/C blocks separately. Pending damage batches keep their captured option even when the GM changes it; the next batch uses the current choice.
Classic shows its Core Rulebook optional checklist, including floating criticals. Existing Forced Withdrawal controls remain separate above. Floating criticals retain battle-start defaults; changes apply to newly started battles. Alpha Strike offers Multiple Damage Rolls or Multiple Attack Rolls, never both. Resolve variable damage on the tabletop and enter the final total once per source; a natural-12 through-armor check is still recorded through the existing critical checkbox.
Options persist with campaign preferences and the current assistant. Changes do not rewrite confirmed movement, damage history, source designs, combat values, accounting or completed receipts. Existing campaigns start with their previous rules until the GM selects additional options.
Selecting a damage location
On Classic and Override Mek diagrams, click anywhere inside the drawn body location to open the damage prompt; you do not need to hit an armor pip. Left and right limbs and rear armor remain separate targets. Enter damage and select through-armor critical when applicable. Pilot/crew boxes act directly on the sheet. Classic and Override heat scales are read-only and show the result after automatic cooling. Other unit diagrams retain their location pip targets.
Automatic Classic and Override heat
Choose a movement mode on the unit sheet before marking a Classic or Override Mek moved; there is no assumed stationary default. Movement heat is tracked from the selected mode; Classic uses actual Hexes moved for jump heat. During weapons fire, open the unit sheet and select Weapons fired, including misses, then Confirm weapons fire. This saves the choices and resolves that unit’s fire activation. If it does not fire, use Confirm no weapons fired on Shared initiative. Weapon and TIC heat comes from the authorized design. Use the same source form for external heat received, special equipment heat and water cooling when applicable; these are generated heat facts, not a final scale value.
Heat this turn shows carried heat plus movement, weapon, engine and other heat against working sink capacity. The bar fills from left to right through green, yellow, orange and red at capacity. The current heat scale remains unchanged during movement and attacks. Confirm the Heat Phase after attacks to dissipate heat once and carry the remainder into the next turn. Required shutdown and ammunition checks use the campaign dice workflow.
Pilot/crew hits use the boxes directly on the sheet. There is no separate Pilot and heat controls button. Clicking a read-only Classic or Override heat scale must not open a location-damage prompt. Alpha Strike retains its separate native heat behavior.
Movement from the overview
During the movement phase, each eligible player unit has Walk, Run (Sprint in Alpha Strike), Jump when available, and Stationary directly in its overview row. Values reflect current damage and heat; TMM and the selected weapon attack modifier appear beside them. Classic also requires Hexes moved. The selected mode is highlighted; Confirm movement saves the declaration and resolves that unit. The last unit due advances the group automatically. You do not need to open a sheet or use Mark moved as a second step.
Completed rows show their saved mode, value and TMM. Waiting or read-only rows explain who can declare movement or when it becomes available. The owner/GM and existing co-op permissions apply. Run ’N Gun and prone options follow the campaign settings. Required movement checks still pause confirmation until resolved. A rejected stale row can Review latest session in place, retaining entries and requiring a fresh mode preview before confirmation.
On mobile the same unit rows stack vertically. View unit sheet remains available for damage and other sheet tasks. Assistant depths without damage tracking retain their existing tabletop Mark moved workflow. On touchscreens, tap View unit sheet to open it; incidental hover does not cover the row controls.
Planning weapon fire
During combat, open the available unit sheet. Choose the target, enter Classic hex range or the Override/Alpha Strike range band, then declare weapons/TICs. Enter intervening woods, cover, indirect fire, spotter, secondary target and additional Other modifiers. The TN breakdown uses saved crew and confirmed movement. Aces indirect orders keep their saved target, spotter and spotting decision; terrain is measured along the spotter-to-target line.
Classic and Override use GATOR; Alpha Strike uses SATOR. Read the vertical Gunnery/Skill, Attacker, Target and Other breakdown. Attacker includes movement and current injury/heat/equipment effects; Target includes confirmed TMM. Woods, cover and indirect/spotter effects appear under Other. Override and Alpha Strike have a separate weapon-and-range matrix at the bottom of this workflow; the record sheet is unchanged. Press the range button above a column, then press Fire beside each weapon you want to use. Pressed buttons say Firing; selected buttons and the active column are highlighted. A selected weapon shows its total TN in the active column; deselecting it restores the range/weapon modifier. Other columns always show modifiers. Each row shows source heat and damage; projected heat updates immediately. All rows remain visible: unavailable bands show a dash, and inoperable or indirect restrictions are labeled. Only weapons eligible for the selected range and attack type can be selected for ranged fire. On a phone scroll the grid sideways; weapon names remain visible; scroll back to the Fire column to change selections. Classic retains actual hex range and weapon buttons. Without JavaScript use the range-header radio choices and weapon checkboxes, then Update attack preview.
Override woods uses +1 per inch or partial inch; 3 or more inches blocks line of sight. Alpha Strike uses its standard woods modifier and 6-inch block threshold. Classic accepts light/heavy woods hexes and an explicit blocked-LOS confirmation. Check firing arcs and special weapon modes on the tabletop. Only source-qualified TICs may fire indirectly.
Use Roll or enter both dice, such as 3+4, for an individual weapon/TIC. Roll next or Roll remaining in sequence saves automatic dice once and uses the dice tray. The first saved roll locks the declaration. Resolve every selected attack before confirming that declared group. A miss still generates weapon heat; target damage remains a separate location click. Alpha Strike attack 12 flags the Through Armor critical check when it hits. View target sheet for damage opens the actual target from a hit result. Continue the same attacker-target damage batch between weapon rolls; resolve its critical prompts before the next roll and confirm its damage when that attacker finishes.
Confirm weapons fire records the activation; confirm the initiative group separately. The declaration and dice remain visible while pending and after group confirmation. An older unit marked resolved without an attack journal can Review / reopen attack before group confirmation; reopening does not undo target damage. Passing before any saved dice explicitly cancels the unrolled declaration. A partial attack cannot be discarded through the pass action. Target visibility and helper permissions are rechecked for saved declarations; existing dice remain available without exposing hidden target details.
Movement is required for all full-assistance units going forward. If an older current turn has missing movement, the authorized owner or GM can explicitly record the mode actually used, with Classic hexes. Existing declarations and movement used by saved attack dice are locked here. Nothing is inferred from printed maximums. This correction does not replay prior movement actions.
Weapon selection forecasts heat if fired, without applying next-turn penalties early. Automatic attack attempts record fired sources even on misses; cooling applies once in the Heat Phase. Update attack preview and the server-rendered controls remain available without confirming fire. For special attacks resolved outside the guided workflow, select fired weapons and use Confirm fire resolved on tabletop. This records sources and heat without app dice or an invented TN; it cannot replace a partially rolled declaration. The existing manual fire-source workflow also remains available without an entered target.
Missing-movement corrections refresh authorized source facts for older saved units before listing their legal modes. A mobile unit is not restricted to Stationary merely because its saved profile predates those facts. Actual damage, heat and immobilization still restrict movement. An unavailable participant source is excluded from target/spotter choices and has a record-specific correction link; it does not prevent another unit sheet from loading. Record what was actually used; this correction cannot replace movement used by saved dice.
Grey Fire buttons cannot be selected: the weapon is unavailable at the chosen range, cannot fire indirectly for this declaration, is inoperable or has no ranged capability. The row shows the reason. Changing range clears any unrolled weapon selection made invalid by that change and removes its projected heat; returning to a valid range enables Fire without selecting it automatically. Recorded dice and their locked declarations are retained.