HSHOT SPOTSSTEEL DOMINIONHOT SPOTS / CAMPAIGN CONTROL

Space playtest rules · Card builder help

Open printable rules

Override card conversion and TIC rules

A conversion reference for the Hot Spots builder. Use with your copies of Override and MechWarrior: Destiny; advanced systems may refer to Alpha Strike: Commander's Edition and other sourcebooks. Published rules and Hot Spots exceptions are identified below.

Equipment and location key

Equipment labels use Override locations. On a Mek, T means the single Torso location: Classic center, left and right torso equipment all belongs here. LA/RA mean Left/Right Arm, LL/RL mean Left/Right Leg, and HD means Head. The separate Torso Rear armor is used when the attack comes from the rear; it does not create a separate Left Torso or Right Torso equipment location.

CASE means Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment. ISCASE and CLCASE are source-data identifiers for CASE, not additional equipment types. CASE II is distinct and remains labeled CASE II. The labels identify equipment; resolve its effects using your Override and MechWarrior: Destiny rules. The card does not substitute Classic damage locations or armor for the Override locations.

Sources: supplied Override Core Rules Reference v5.3r1, printed pp. 8-10, 36 and 42 (PDF pp. 10-12, 38 and 44); MechWarrior: Destiny equipment rules, CASE entry. Names are resolved through the imported MegaMek equipment reference; source files remain unchanged.

Assign weapons, then calculate the group

Published rules: MechWarrior: Destiny, printed pp. 80-81; Override v5.3r1, printed p. 41. Observed DFA builder behavior, 17 October 2026.

  • The source TIC editor lists each recognized weapon in the selected design. Assign weapons to a TIC number to combine their output. The printed group is recalculated from its native weapon profiles; editing a TIC number does not purchase, install or move a weapon.

  • For supported direct-fire weapons, add the native damage before dividing by three and rounding up. Add native heat before dividing by five and rounding to the nearest whole number. For example, three Medium Lasers in one TIC produce damage 5 and heat 2. Splitting them may produce different rounded totals.

  • Use reviewed weapon-specific missile, cluster, variable-range, rapid-fire and special profiles rather than applying the direct-fire formula indiscriminately. The card retains range-specific maximums and the missile damage cap.

Published damage limits

Published rules: Override v5.3r1, printed p. 41 (PDF page 43).

  • A combined TIC must have no more than 5 base damage and 14 maximum damage. Count C dice toward base damage for this limit. A single weapon exceeding a limit may remain on its own TIC.

  • M dice add their rolled value on results one through three and add zero on four through six, subject to the printed damage cap. Resolve missile damage in two-point groups and any final one-point remainder. Guidance and ammunition rules can change how those dice resolve; a printed M profile is not guaranteed damage.

  • Retain the published distinctions for Streak, Artemis, cluster/slug, rapid-fire and other weapon-specific rules. Ammunition on the source design remains visible as equipment. The assignment editor does not silently select an alternate ammunition load or certify a construction.

Hot Spots grouping restrictions and exceptions

Existing approved Hot Spots rules; these are stricter source-editor checks or house extensions, not additional published DFA rules.

  • Keep each Mech arm separate from the other arm and from torso weapons. Keep front and rear fire separate. Vehicle sides, turrets and other firing arcs remain separate.

  • The source editor requires identical PB/S/M/L/X range modifiers and compatible weapon families/modes within a TIC. Destiny describes using the inferior range profile for mixed ranges; this editor retains the approved stricter Hot Spots range-matching rule.

  • The observed DFA builder rejects grouping missile launchers with direct-fire weapons; different launcher sizes within the same compatible missile family can share a TIC. For example, an SRM-2 plus SRM-4 prints 2+M2 (4) with heat 1. This follows the current Override builder rather than Destiny’s more permissive mixed-weapon example.

  • The existing DropShip ground-action exception permits repeated identical weapons in a same-facing array beyond the normal combined-TIC damage limits. Capital space profiles preserve their source bays and remain separate from this editor.

  • The editor supports up to 512 recognized source weapons and 64 TICs, with continuation pages when needed. These are application limits, not published construction limits.

Personal cards, source evidence and extrapolation

Hot Spots application behavior and source integrity.

  • Auto-Group restores the current source grouping; Sort by TIC changes the table order only. Omit removes a weapon from this personal printout, with an explicit conversion-review warning. It does not remove the weapon from the design or reduce BV.

  • Save stores assignments for your account and selected design. Preview and download work with valid unsaved assignments. Source signatures are checked again when saving and displaying the card; changed source data or profiles require explicit reassignment.

  • Existing manually configured cards remain in manual mode. Switching to source assignments leaves their manual form values available during the current edit. Manual printed groups remain available for reviewed alternate configurations; their entered values are not source-derived construction evidence.

  • Unsupported equipment remains a visible review limitation. Missing space and naval rules use the separately identified approved Hot Spots playtest conversions. This page does not claim that every BattleTech unit or equipment mode has a published Override conversion.