HEXBOTS // TARGETING AI

All tests and decisions for the HexBots are made by you, the player. ⚠ Disclaimer: use common sense with the generated suggestions — treat them as inspiration, not strict orders. The most important thing is epic fun and memorable clashes, not perfect adherence to a random result.

HexBots behavior

HexBots always use the Light Air Cover and Heavy Air Cover battlesupport cards whenever they can.

How to read the generated options: always read the points starting from A. If the first one already lets the bot act logically on the map, use it. If you need to narrow it down further (e.g. pick a specific target), or if the next points are useful and either complement the earlier one or replace it, use those too.

Movement order structure: point A is always the main order (e.g. head toward the enemy, get to its rear, disengage while keeping the ability to fire, stay in a good firing position, or fall back). The points after it (B, C…) refine that main order (cover, minimizing enemy firing lines, map edge, speed, jump jets) — they never contradict it. A prone HexBots always gets a standing-up order first; a Crippled one only ever gets a single order: head for the nearest map edge.

Which enemy to move toward: the distance band you pick in the MOVE form (1–4 / 5–9 / 10–14 / 15+ hexes) is the range to the nearest enemy. If several enemies fall within that same band, point B) decides which one the main order refers to — when the main order is "Head toward the enemy", point B) always lists several target criteria (e.g. heaviest, fastest, most valuable) separated by commas; pick whichever applies. If you still need more options, use the "🧍 Commander's decision" button. Every point after B) is a supplementary order — carry it out if it's actually possible on the table, but it's never a strict requirement.

Which enemy to fire at: the range band you pick in the FIRE form identifies the nearest enemy, but the actual target is defined by the generated order — it's a criterion (e.g. easiest to hit, heaviest, most damaged), not necessarily the nearest one. If only one enemy is within the chosen range band, that one is the target — no need to check the criteria. If there's more than one, selection is made based on the order, starting from point A. If several enemies in range satisfy the order's criteria, check the listed points in order (A, then B, then C…) until only one target fits. If you run out of criteria before narrowing it down to one, use the "🧍 Commander's decision" button for fresh, unused criteria to fall back on.

HexBots is designed for smaller engagements or campaign skirmishes — e.g. on a single map/battlefield — rather than massive multi-table battles.

Setup (SQUAD and INITIATIVE tabs)

1. In the SQUAD tab, add units — choose a class, optionally a combat role, jump jets, and short-range weapon.
2. Optionally also define mission objectives there (building, scanning, commander, custom).
3. Go to the INITIATIVE tab. If you have mission objectives defined, pick the active one for this turn — manually or with the roll button.
4. Click "Roll movement order" — the app will set the order (assets always move first, then light mechs usually before medium/heavy ones) and switch you to the MOVE tab.

Movement (for each unit, in rolled order)

5. Distance to the nearest / relevant enemy — indicate the actual distance on the table to the nearest relevant opponent.
6. Has this enemy already moved this turn? — mark whether that specific enemy unit has already been activated this turn.
7. Serious damage in the last combat phase? — mark this if this HexBots has taken serious damage (armor loss, structural damage). This refers to the HexBots unit, not a player's mech.
8. Is the mission objective reachable this turn? — if you have an active formal mission objective, state whether it can still be reached.
9. RUN MOVE.
10. Read the generated options (points A, B, C…) and carry out the movement that best matches the first option that can actually be done on the table — if it cannot be done, move on to the next point.
11. Next — moves to the next unit. After the last one, it automatically switches you to the FIRE tab.

Fire (after all units have moved)

12. Firing mech — choose a unit (or use the Previous/Next buttons).
13. Choose the range to the nearest enemy — state the distance to the nearest visible target.
14. Possible physical attack? — appears when the target is within 3 hexes; if set to YES, this HexBots gets an "Attack in the melee-attack phase" label, plus a rolled melee option alongside/instead of firing.
15. RUN FIRE.
16. Read the options (A, B, C…) and carry out the first condition that can actually be satisfied. If it cannot be applied (e.g. no such target on the table), move on to the next point.
17. Next — moves to the next firing unit. After the last one, the app takes you to SUMMARY.

Turn summary

18. Who dealt more damage this turn? — mark who had the upper hand.
19. Did any enemy die? — mark this if the HexBots squad eliminated a player unit.
20. Squad unit status — for each HexBots unit, fill in whether it fell down, has structural damage, was destroyed, and its current accumulated heat (+/− counters, remembered between turns).
21. Click Confirm and start new turn — the app returns to the INITIATIVE tab and the cycle repeats from rolling mission priority and movement order.

Additionally

• You can play without a squad — choosing "quick simulation" in the MOVE/FIRE forms lets you test a single roll without any setup.
• In the SQUAD tab you can export your whole roster (mechs, assets, mission objectives) to a .json file, and import it back later — handy for reusing the same squad in a future game or campaign session. Imported files are fully validated before use.
• If none of the generated fire options let you pick a target, use the "🧍 Commander's decision" button below the fire result — it offers a few fresh, previously unused target criteria to fall back on.

A short glossary of terms that keep recurring in the generated movement and fire orders.

Krótka, jednozdaniowa charakterystyka każdej klasy, roli i typu assetu.

Mech classes

Mech roles

Mech states

Asset classes

Asset targeting styles

How mission objectives actually play out at the table — explained through examples, not a dry list of rules.

Setting the scene

Say you're running a scenario where your opponent's lance has to secure a comms building before reinforcements arrive. In the SQUAD tab, you add that building as a mission objective — give it a name, mark its type, and decide whether pursuing it counts as a movement task or something the unit resolves through firing (e.g. destroying it).

Turning objectives on and off

Three turns in, the building gets cut off by a river you didn't expect enemy movement to reveal — no HexBot can realistically reach it this turn. Instead of fighting the tool, just uncheck that objective in the MOVE tab's checklist for this turn. Nothing gets deleted — it's simply left out of consideration until you check it again next turn, once the path is clear.

Why not every unit chases the objective every turn

You'll notice that even with an objective checked and reachable, a given HexBot sometimes still gets a normal combat order instead of a mission-related one. That's intentional — it represents a pilot's split attention between orders and the immediate fight in front of them, so the battlefield doesn't feel like every unit is robotically beelining for the same objective marker every single turn. Over several turns, engaged units will cycle through it naturally.

Several objectives at once

Running a bigger scenario with three separate objectives active for the same squad? Check all three. Each turn, an engaged unit weighs all of them (plus its normal combat options) with equal odds — so with more objectives on the table, mission-related orders simply come up more often, without you having to decide in advance which unit handles which target. If you want a unit to ignore one specific objective while still considering the others, just uncheck that one for it.

The four objective types, through examples

Destroy structure/building — like the comms building above: HexBots get movement orders steering them toward it, and once in range, firing orders that target it directly.

Scanning/recon — say the scenario objective is to scan a downed satellite. When an engaged HexBot gets close enough, instead of a normal attack order it'll be told to hold fire and scan this turn instead — useful when you want a unit to pause the fighting for a moment to fulfil a non-combat task.

Hunt the commander — mark one enemy unit as the VIP target for this scenario. Engaged HexBots will maneuver toward it like any other objective, and in the FIRE tab they'll get a focused target-priority order once they're in position — this one plays out in both the movement and the shooting phase.

Custom objective — anything that doesn't fit the three above. You choose yourself whether pursuing it is a movement task ("get somewhere") or a firing task ("shoot this"), which keeps the system flexible for whatever scenario you've come up with.

Entering the map with no enemies or objectives yet

Some scenarios start with your HexBots entering the map before any enemy is visible and before any mission objective has been defined — a staggered deployment, an ambush being set up, that kind of opening. In that case just pick the farthest distance band (15+ hexes) as if the (not-yet-visible) enemy were on the opposite edge of the map. HexBots will head toward that far edge, and any additional orders that come up (using cover, watching firing lines, and so on) still apply normally along the way — they just won't have a concrete target yet, which is exactly right for this kind of opening.

A growing set of optional scenario tools, configured in the SCENERY ADD-ONS tab and reached quickly from the relevant phase tab while playing. The first tool available is Minefields.

Setting up a minefield

Tick 'Enable the minefields tool', pick how many fields you need and whether they're labeled with letters (A, B, C…) or numbers (1, 2, 3…), then press 'Generate fields'. Each field gets its own type (Standard / Inferno / Vibrabomb) and density (5–30, in steps of 5) that you set yourself — the higher the density, the easier it detonates. A 💣 Minefields button then appears on the MOVE tab so you can resolve any field on demand, whenever it makes sense at the table.

Random, hidden fields for a real surprise

Instead of 'Generate fields', press 'Random fields (hidden)'. The same count/labeling settings apply, but this time every field's type and density are rolled secretly — the SCENERY ADD-ONS tab only shows the label with a 🔒 lock icon, nothing else. In the 💣 Minefields modal, a hidden field only offers a '🔍 Reveal field' button; once pressed, its true type and density are shown and the normal roll/check action appears. Use this when you want minefields to be a genuine unknown, the way they'd be for a player who hasn't scouted the ground.

Resolving a field: Standard and Inferno

Press '🎲 Roll 2D6' on the field's card. The result is checked against its density's detonation threshold (5 needs 12+, 10 needs 10+, 15 needs 9+, 20 needs 8+, 25 needs 7+, 30 needs 6+ — so a dense field detonates far more easily than a thin one). On a Standard hit, damage equals the density split into groups of 5, and each group is automatically assigned to a random leg (e.g. a density-20 field rolling four 5-point groups might land 3×5 on the Right Leg and 1×5 on the Left Leg). On an Inferno hit, you instead get one Inferno hit per 2 points of density — Inferno never splits into leg locations, it's tracked as heat/Inferno hits instead.

Resolving a field: Vibrabomb

Vibrabomb doesn't use a detonation roll — it's set to trigger at a chosen mass (e.g. 50 tons). Enter the moving mech's tonnage and press 'Check': below the threshold nothing happens, exactly at the threshold it explodes right under the unit, and every 10 tons above the threshold makes it trigger one hex earlier — a 70-ton mech against a 50-ton Vibrabomb triggers it 2 hexes early. This lets you set a trap tuned to punish only the heavier mechs in the enemy force. A successful trigger still deals density-based damage in 5-point groups with the same leg-location split as Standard.

Fields wear down the more they're used

Every successful detonation (Standard, Inferno or Vibrabomb alike) is immediately followed by a persistence check — another 2D6 roll against the field's current density threshold. A second success means the mines are thinning out: density drops by one step (30→25→20→15→10→5) and you're told it shrank. If a density-5 field also succeeds its persistence check, it's fully spent — the app marks it exhausted and disarmed, and it stops offering any further action in the modal. Failing the persistence check simply leaves the field exactly as it was.

Battlefield Conditions

An optional embellishment for extra variety — entirely original house rules, not a reproduction of any official weather table. Tick 'Enable battlefield conditions for this game', then either pick one from the dropdown yourself or press 'Roll condition (2D6)' for a random one, and press 'Confirm and save condition'. Its name then appears as a clickable banner on both the MOVE and FIRE tabs for the rest of the game — click the banner any time to reopen a reminder of its exact rules. This is purely a flavor/difficulty option: skip it entirely if you just want a straightforward game.