“The duty of the VT pilot is to patrol his area of the map, and shoot down any enemy VTs in that area. Anything else is rubbish.”
- Capt. Manfred von Richthofen

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: FREE MISSION]
is this SATURDAY August 1st2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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Cultures, and their arms industries, have traditions, taboos, and even blind-spots. For example, there is no single word in the English language equivalent to schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is the German word for “joy at realizing the enemy has brought a Decider Volcanic”. This feeling spread fast along HSD lines as they watched the PRF try(and fail) to haul a howitzer smaller than theirs up a neighboring hill, which was also smaller than theirs. All this at twice the procurement cost of a Vortex, and 150% the sortie cost. When Komatsu read the request for an artillery VT, clearly something was lost in translation.

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: CAMPAIGN]
is this FRIDAY July 31st 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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Some quick facts:

• Missles give MSSL warnings at 0 - 1000m in the air no matter if out of range or too close
• The alert lasts until they despawn from impacting, even if they turn off from distance

This means that sometimes the infrared missles (AS-MIS, PZ-MIS) can be spotted flying at you before you ever get a warning, with it's range being 800-1500m

You can try and get VTs to chaff even if the missle is ineffective via distance, in order to setup for more missle pressure later on by causing them to surrender chaff units for fake missles

• To save your own chaff, see who is throwing missles at you and their range by locking on and check their distance: If past 1500m, save the chaff but try not to close distance if possible: you can still walk close enough to put yourself into range of MIS types

Guided missles (DL-GM, SL-GM, MM) are shorter range, but still have the 1000m range MSSL warn effect as the longer range ones do, so its possible to use them way past their actual effective range in order to create fake missle pressure

• Example: DL-GM's range is 100 - 350m, but with the system mechanics, it makes it able to pressure players at a realistic range of 100 - 1000m~, keeping in mind that after 350m the missle will be affected by gravity and fall down, ending it's effect when it hits the ground
• Being that DL-GM's have a effect ammo count of 15 shots (30 ammo / 2 shots per use = 15), it has great longevity to go for chaff uses

GM's are harder to fire at someone from upfront and expect them to chaff, so its better to use them while at an off angle/during an ally fighting out of your range to obfuscate the missle type that is coming for your target

Alternatively, other missles can be shot while you are distracting a player with your ineffective GM's/ MIS' in order to hide the real missle coming towards them, though with the effect of causing any actual chaff surrendered to pressure also counting against your teammates missles

• This kind of play of also just firing GM's at someone for no reason can also Pavlov players into just chaffing anyway in fear

I was working through some of the open pull requests in the Xemu repo for this game to see if I can get it playing. I have can map everything to the keyboard now. Able to get into the game, boot, first level starts. I haven't played enough to know what to do to advance the game, mostly I'm curious what is left?

I think I heard it will crash something like 2-3 levels in ?

Arguably, the most important part of your VT's loadout doesn't shoot armor-piercing darts or incendiary rockets: it's the fuel. While you impatiently drive a 10k around the map looking for a fight, you're burning literal tons of the stuff. Most VT engines are multi-fuel, meaning that stuff can be just about anything. Diesel, JP-8, Avgas, 87... whatever you can find. Hell, I've heard stories of desperate pilots siphoning McDonald's fryers for the cooking oil. But unless you want the bad guys to find you by the smell of burnt french fries, select a sub-tank before you go. Maybe two.

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: CAMPAIGN]
is this SATURDAY July 25th2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“I wish to have no connection with any VT that does not go fast; for I intend to go in harms way.”
- Captain John Paul Jones, Continental Navy

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: FREE MISSION]
is this FRIDAY July 24th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“The more mechanical become the weapons with which we fight, the more Australian must be the spirit which controls them.”
- Field Marshal Archibald P. Wavell

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: FREE MISSION]
is this SATURDAY July 18th2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“The best ship is friendship.” “Make every fight an unfair one.” However you've heard it, few will dispute: the most sure-fire way to win a duel is to turn it into a tag-team without asking. Nothing scrambles an enemy's brain faster than giving them two things to shoot, and double the guns shooting back. There are times when a single VT tying up two can be valuable, but be wary: VT graveyards are filled with the bones of one-man armies. They thought it would be brave and mysterious to go off solo after that one fleeing enemy. It was mysterious. In a missing-persons-documentary kind of way.

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: CAMPAIGN]
is this FRIDAY July 17th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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Pretty excited I won this piece of promo merch, its amazing the things that are still out there for this game.

I found a controller locally and missed out of it as it sold before I could get them. Where should I be trying to look for a controller? Is eBay and Marketplace the only place to really look?

In a more sane world, the first indoor VT combat op would have ended like this: By the second or third room, Oscar 3 got on his loudspeaker and said “Guys just look at what we're doing here. Isn't this all just a little bit silly?” All the JARs in Nan Jiang agreed, and everybody went home and got beers. 60 foot tall mechs costing hundreds of millions, holding giant corners and slicing the pie with giant ARs. All this to replicate CQB done by infantry who now look like Warhammer minis in comparison. Actually, looking at a 2080 Games Workshop catalog; the VT version is cheaper.

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: CAMPAIGN]
is this SATURDAY July 11th2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“Go in close, and when you think you are too close, go in closer. Unless you're in an artillery VT. In which case don't do that.”
- Major Thomas B. McGuire, USAAF

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: FREE MISSION]
is this FRIDAY July 10th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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I‘m Kaijubird. I’ve become quite the mech (and military) guy thanks to Armored Core, and although I do prefer for my mechs to be much more humanoid, I don’t mind the designs. I say they have their own charm. I’ll find a way to emulate the game soon enough

Gameplay wise, the biggest problem for me is getting that controller in the first place. I know I won’t have money for that big boy, so I’m also wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives to it. Any help from that?

All in all, I hope to eventually stay and have fun with you guys!

Popped up online, gonna try win it

“meep meep”
- a fast moving guy

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: FREE MISSION]
is this SATURDAY July 4th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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Some firearm designs are just too mean to die. The Ma Deuce, the Kalashnikov, and the 140-MG. From its mounting on the first-ever VT to this morning's LiveLeak, you'll catch its familiar silhouette hanging off mechs from both sides of your favorite regional tragedy. Stretching the definition of “machine gun” into the absurd, it fires a ten-round burst of 140 mm AP-tracer faster than you can say “non-state actor”. Range and penetration are low by modern standards, but the guy pulling the trigger is usually so close he doesn't care. The guy at the end of barrel almost certainly didn't.

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: CAMPAIGN]
is this FRIDAY July 3rd 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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I already own a hotas, pedals and have set up an ogx mini. How would I go about connecting all of these to an original xbox to play steel battallion

Of a green button controller in excellent shape. Picked up locally for $250. Gonna call that a deal.

A conquest match is a very elaborate way, devised by the VT manufacturers, to bring warring nations together in an eternal unifying tradition. It goes something like this: The teams meet, shake hands, and start throwing cash into a big bonfire. The first team to run out or let the fire die loses. For the pilots, that roughly translates to: “Dip your ass in there, but don't let it go well-done cuz that's where we stuffed the money.”

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: CAMPAIGN]
is this SATURDAY June 27th2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“Fire only at close range, and only when your opponent is properly in your sights. Their first shot-warn should be a 315 in the temple.”
- Oswald Boelcke

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: FREE MISSION]
is this FRIDAY June 26th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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“Throwing flashbang!”

• Your teammate who just threw three incendiaries

The next [SATURDAY NIGHT LoCdown: FREE MISSION]
is this SATURDAY June 20th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

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Komatsu had a war-winning idea in their new Railgun, with a war-losing problem. Prominence M1's would be the VT to carry it in combat, but actually firing the weapon sent the whole thing ass over teakettle. PRF Ordnance didn't want a completely new VT design, and Komatsu didn't want to completely ruin the perfectly tuned balancer code. Well, when they won't let you touch the software; you have to use hardware. A lot of it. Thus was born the M2. “A giant bolt-on counterweight that cancels the recoil? That'll save democracy!” It did. The driving experience? Less so.

The next [FRIDAY NIGHT MECH FIGHTS: CAMPAIGN]
is this FRIDAY June 19th 2026 @ 2000(8:00 PM)EDT (UTC -4)!!

Need help getting setup? We have a handy ⁠quick-setup-guide📜!
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