Unit
In Alpha Centauri the smallest thing you control is an individual unit. Unit's are things like divisions or former groups. Units carry out your orders or your own and are necessary for military defense or offense, terraforming, faction expansion, and covert opps. Units are highly modable and while the computer will create new units with most new technology advances, you can create customized units to best fit your faction's needs.
Contents |
Unit Structure
Discription
Chassis
Table
Weapon/Utility
Table
Armor
Table
Reactor
Table
Abilities
Table
Cost
Discussion
Morale
Discussion
Combat
Combat in Alpha Centauri always occurs between two units with one designated the attacker and one the defender. If you are the attacker, you get to chose which unit is the attacker and if you're the defended the game chooses which unit will defend based on which unit is most likely to win the combat against the given attacker. It is possible to override this selection by the designate defender #Order. Combat occurs automatically with the computer showing the results after a player has committed to an attack or is attacked.
The attacker is given an attack value and similarly the defender is given a defense value. In conventional combat (the thee other types of combat, Psi, Artillery Duel and Probe Team) are discussed bellow the attacker's base attack value is determined by its weapon while the defender's base defense value is determined by its armor. These numbers are further modified by abilities, terrain, morale, and other effects. The final numbers are compared with each other and during each round of combat to determine who makes a hit (For example if the attacker has value 6 and the defender has value 4, the attacker hits 60% of the time while the defender hits 40% of the time). If a unit scores a hit the other unit takes some number of hit points in damage. Combat continues until one unit or the other is destroyed.
If a defender is destroyed and not in a base, generally all other units take damage potentially destroying them as well. If an attacker is successful, it does not automatically move into a square that is now empty of defenders though if it has movement points left, it can attempt to enter the square. Attacking takes one movement point.
Healing
A unit that does no moving in a turn, heals automatically at the start of the next turn. Units given sentry or hold orders can also heal as they did no moving. If healing and outside of a base a unit regains 10% of its maximum number of hit points each turn and 20% if healing inside of a base. Units outside of a base can only heal up to 80% of their maximum number of hits points while those inside a base can heal all they way up to 100%. The Ogres do not heal. A few base facilities will heal a unit up to 100% after one turn of rest and are listed with the #Modifiers. The Nano Factory heals any unit to 100% no matter where it is after one turn of rest. If a unit is attacked by artillery before the start of the next turn, it does no healing.
Psi Combat
When in combat with a native unit (controlled by Planet or another faction), or if the attacker or defender has an appropriate weapon or armor, the two units engage in Psi Combat. In this situation, if both units have land chassis, is a land based lifeform, or is the Sealurk attacking a unit on land, the attacker is given a base attack value of 3 and the defender is given a base attack value of 2. Otherwise both have a base value of 1. Some of the modifiers to this value are different then in conventional combat and unit morale is of great importance in Psi Combat.
Artillery
An artillery unit can engage in long range bombardment. A unit with the Heavy Artillery ability or the Foil or Cruiser chassis can attack a square within two units (as a circle not a square, like the base grid) without moving to this square. This also means that a land unit can bombard the sea and a sea unit can bombard the land. If no unit is on a square, the bombardment has the chance of destroying a terrain enhancement. If a unit is on the square, the artillery unit attacks each unit in the square for one round of combat only. Artillery bombardment cannot destroy a unit and it cannot reduce a unit's hitpoints to bellow 50% of the maximum it can have if the defending unit is in a base. A unit that is bombarded cannot heal that turn even if it is in a base and even if it has hitpoints bellow 50%.
Artillery Duel
If an artillery attacks a square and a faction that has units in the square or a faction who controls the square as territory has an artillery unit within 2 squares (i.e. it can bombard that square if it wanted to or is in the targeted square), the two artillery units engage in an artillery duel. The combat occurs as in normal combat except that the two units need not be next to one another, the two units base attack and defense value is determined by the weapon value for both units, and if a unit is destroyed then no damage occurs to other units in that square. If the attacking unit attacks the square the defending unit is in, combat continues until one of the artillery units is destroyed and otherwise it lasts only a few combat rounds. Sea units get a -50% modifier to their attack strength when attacking a land based artillery unit.
Probe Team Combat
If a conventional or psi combat unit attacks a probe team, the probe team is destroyed. If all units other than probe teams are destroyed on a square, the probe teams are also destroyed. If a probe team, attacks another probe team then the two engage in combat. This combat occurs like normal except that each unit is given a base strength of 1 and the only modifiers taken into consideration is morale. This means that morale usually determines which probe team wins a confrontation.
Movement
Discussion
Zone of Control
Discussion
Orders
Discussion
Design Workshop
Discussion
Native Units
Discussion
Terrain Impacts
Table
Modifiers
List
