Mecha Combat
No free turns. Every action spends Action Points, and firing gives none back — the whole fight is an AP economy fought across four destructible parts.
Action Points — the whole game
This is what makes it Front Mission and not a shooter. You do not get a free turn: every action spends Action Points, and firing does not give any back. Your four choices each turn:
| Action | AP | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | costs AP | Shoot a weapon at a chosen part. Heavy weapons cost more AP than light ones. |
| Guard | +3 AP | Brace: reduce incoming damage this turn and bank AP for later. |
| Rest | +6 AP | Recover the most AP — but no defense, so you eat whatever comes. |
| Consumable | costs the turn | Use a backpack item: repair a part, dump in AP, pop smoke, clear a burn. |
The core tension: your best weapons are the ones you cannot afford to fire every turn. A Maul costs 6 AP a swing; a Machinegun costs 3. Spend a turn resting to load up for a big hit and you are open for that turn. Guard banks less but keeps you covered. Every turn is that trade.
Target the part, not the mecha
You do not shoot "the enemy" — you shoot a part. Each has its own HP and armor, and breaking each one does something different.
| Break this part | And… |
|---|---|
| An arm | The weapon it holds goes offline — this is how you disarm. |
| The legs | Evasion collapses; your later shots land far more often. |
| The body | The wanzer is destroyed — the kill, but usually the best-armored part. |
How to think about it
Cripple, do not brawl. Two arms down beats half a body bar. Open on whatever keeps them dangerous — the arm holding their heavy gun, or the legs holding their evasion.
Match aim to weapon. A Marksman Arm rescues the inaccurate heavy hitters; a steady Guardian Arm keeps a reliable gun firing after it has been shot at.
Respect the AP economy. Never fire yourself empty in front of a fresh enemy. Bank with Guard when pressured, Rest only when you can afford the exposure.
See the four-part panel drawn live on What It Looks Like — a wanzer mid-fight with a destroyed arm and failing legs reads the whole story at a glance.
The Guardians Compendium. A Discord RPG built and run by Max. Every formula, item, region, quest and line of prose here was read out of the live bot. Reward amounts, drop rates, daily caps, prices and which panels are up are set by Max on the server the bot lives in.
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