Welcome to the Wayback system, where combat isn't about honor or fair play. It's about survival. MENACE throws you into brutal turn-based tactical warfare where every decision matters and every mistake costs lives. Whether you're commanding the damaged strike cruiser Impetus or leading squads through hostile territory, mastering the game's combat mechanics isn't optional. It's essential.
The MENACE overview reveals a universe where pirates, aliens, and rogue military forces clash without mercy. Your squads face overwhelming odds, superior equipment, and enemies that cheat at every opportunity. But here's the thing: understanding the core combat systems transforms hopeless battles into tactical victories.
How Does MENACE's Turn Order Work?
Unlike traditional tactical RPGs, MENACE abandons initiative stats entirely. You control when your squads activate, creating opportunities for devastating combinations or catastrophic overextensions.
The system operates on alternating activations. You move one squad, then every hostile faction activates one of their units. This continues until all squads have acted, then a new round begins. The key insight? You can position a squad at the end of one round, then immediately activate them again at the start of the next.
Warning
Once you select a squad, you must complete their entire turn. You cannot switch between units mid-activation, so plan carefully before committing.
Smart sequencing wins battles. Position your heavy hitters late in a round to secure advantageous positions, then strike first in the following round. Conversely, activating a scout early and uncovering multiple enemy squads means waiting through all their turns before you can respond.
MENACE Combat Guide
What Makes Action Points Your Most Critical Resource?
Every action in MENACE consumes Action Points (AP). Movement, shooting, crouching, reloading, and equipment usage all draw from the same pool. Managing this economy determines success or failure.
Standard AP costs include:
- Crouching/Standing: 20 AP
- Rifle Fire: 40 AP
- Movement: Variable (displayed before moving)
- Special Weapons: 20-60 AP depending on weapon type
The brutal reality? Spending all your AP on movement leaves squads defenseless. Always reserve enough AP for defensive actions or return fire. Check the AP bar constantly before committing to actions.
Pro Tip: Weapons show their AP cost when targeted. Factor this into positioning decisions to avoid being caught with empty AP pools.
Suppression
Suppression represents the psychological impact of incoming fire. This mechanic often decides battles before anyone dies. When squads take fire, their suppression meter fills, progressing through three states:
- Unaffected: Normal performance
- Suppressed: Reduced AP and accuracy penalties
- Pinned Down: Severe movement restrictions and massive accuracy loss
MENACE Combat Guide
What most players miss: you don't need to kill heavily armored enemies immediately. Pin them with sustained fire, then flank with secondary squads. A suppressed heavy tank becomes a stationary target, unable to reposition or accurately return fire.
The Breaking Point: Units that accumulate too much suppression may flee the battlefield entirely. Their icon pulses white before they attempt to escape. Fleeing units contribute nothing to the fight, effectively removing threats without ammunition expenditure.
How To Counter Vehicle Threats
Vehicles operate under different rules than infantry. They resist suppression but suffer component damage that can cripple mobility or weapons systems. Understanding directional armor becomes crucial for survival.
Vehicle Combat Fundamentals:
- Front armor typically provides maximum protection
- Rear and side armor offer reduced defense
- Anti-materiel rifles, RPGs, and lasers penetrate effectively
- Small arms fire often proves ineffective against heavy armor
Important
Vehicles can reverse while maintaining front armor orientation. They use the stance key to pivot chassis positioning rather than crouching.
The Menace Ultimate Beginner's Guide covers additional vehicle tactics, but the core principle remains: position matters more than raw firepower.
Vehicle armor visualization
What Role Does Terrain Play in Victory?
Cover isn't universal. Buildings, debris, and natural features provide directional protection. A squad might enjoy complete safety from one angle while remaining exposed to flanking fire.
Urban environments create deadly ambush opportunities. Line of sight breaks around corners, allowing concealed units to engage at close range. Dense terrain favors defenders, while open ground benefits long-range specialists.
Manual Stance Control: The X key (default) forces squads into crouched positions, providing defensive bonuses and enabling special weapon deployment. The trade-off? Squads cannot move until they spend AP to stand again.
Resource Management
Your Squaddies pool represents available manpower across all operations. Unlike other tactical games, these aren't infinite reinforcements. Every casualty permanently reduces your total strength until you recruit replacements.
Resource Management Priorities:
- Weapons First: Upgrade offensive capabilities before defensive options
- Intelligence Investment: Electronics upgrades reveal enemy positions during planning
- Manpower Conservation: Install the Wayback Outreach Office for mission-based recruitment
- Ammunition Awareness: Every weapon has limited shots per mission
The Black Market refreshes after each operation, offering weapons, armor, and replacement soldiers through barter systems. Check it regularly for essential equipment upgrades.
Tip
Deployment points have no downside to maximum usage. Always field the strongest possible force within supply limits.
MENACE Combat Guide
Which Enemy Types Require Specific Tactics?
Different factions demand adapted strategies. Pirates use combined arms tactics with officers who "mark" your units for coordinated fire. Aliens swarm with melee-focused units but lack sophisticated positioning.
Rogue Army Priority Targets:
- Officers: Kill first to break enemy coordination
- ATGM Teams: Three-man squads that one-shot vehicles
- Heavy Tanks: 600 HP, 220 Armor, require flanking or specialized weapons
Alien Faction Weaknesses:
- Swarm Units: Vulnerable to high rate-of-fire weapons
- Bombardiers: Indirect artillery that ignores cover, eliminate immediately
- Warriors: Strong armor but predictable melee charges
The key insight? Identify the primary threat each turn, suppress or eliminate it, then clean up supporting units.
Advanced Tactics
Smoke and Shotgun Doctrine: Use smoke grenades to break line of sight, advance assault squads safely, then engage at point-blank range. Shotguns and SMGs excel in close quarters but require tactical positioning to reach effective range.
Stealth Mathematics: Concealment operates on numerical calculations. If your Concealment plus distance exceeds enemy Detection, you remain invisible. Silenced weapons maintain concealment; loud weapons reveal positions for one turn.
Explosive Solutions: Anti-vehicle and anti-structure weapons solve multiple problems. They eliminate heavy targets, destroy cover protecting enemies, and create new tactical options. Stock up early from the Black Market.
Pro Tip: Orbital support abilities don't cost AP but require full turns to activate. Pin enemies with suppression before calling strikes to prevent escape.
How Do You Recover from Disasters?
Casualties aren't failure conditions. They're learning opportunities. The Games To Play This February highlights MENACE as a standout tactical experience precisely because losses carry weight.
Post-Mission Priorities:
- Analyze squad performance statistics
- Invest Promotion Points in surviving leaders
- Replace lost Squaddies through recruitment or Black Market
- Rotate exhausted leaders to prevent performance penalties
Authority Management: Hiring new Squad Leaders costs Authority, temporarily reducing overall discipline. Balance expansion with current force effectiveness.
The Wayback system rewards patience and adaptation. Victory feels earned because defeat lurks behind every corner. Experiment with different squad compositions, learn from tactical mistakes, and remember that not every mission ends cleanly.
What separates successful commanders from casualties? Understanding that MENACE combat isn't about overwhelming force. It's about psychological warfare, resource management, and making hard choices under pressure. Master these fundamentals, and the lawless frontier becomes your domain.