Welcome back to the cockpit, MechWarriors, your BattleMech's been waiting. It's been a while since you last rode one of these fusion-powered behemoths into battle, so perhaps a little refresher is in order. The following list of dos and don'ts is meant as a refresher for the veterans, though I'm sure some of you jockeys will sniff, sneer and flip to the next page. Great -- be gone with ya, and I hope it's you that stumbles into my cross hairs online late one night. Keep an eye out for Ole Griffin, and I'll be keepin' an eye out for you…

If you're new to a BattleMech cockpit, then read and learn. The owner's manual you got with your 'Mech (check the glovebox again… it's usually jammed way in the back) does a good job of cluing you in on what you need to know, but think of this as my personal advice on the eve of battle. Read the manual, follow my advice and I'll have you watch my flank any time. See ya on the battlefield.

- Colonel Estes Wang (ret.), Eridani Light Horse

Know Your Enemy

More correctly, know your enemy's weapons and armor. If that Thor's got an Ultra Autocannon 20 (sometimes called an Ultra Heavy Autocannon), you'd better know that it can probably tear off a limb with one shot, but you'd also better know that it needs to be within short range to deliver that much pain. What does this mean? Back off and engage with long-range missiles, ER lasers, PPCs or any combination of the above. Of course, the Thor is fairly versatile so it'll be peppering you with long-range fire as well while you try and keep it at range… but you get the idea.

The reverse is also true in that the Vulture, say, has a lot more long-range firepower than it does close-in punch, so it always pays to get into nearly point-blank range against that particular 'Mech. This technique is effective primarily against AI opponents since any good human opponent knows that those LRM-20 racks can be dead-fired at short range even without a missile lock… but more on that later.

And remember -- remember -- remember: All 'Mechs are the most vulnerable in the rear armor. If you can get a rear shot, take it. Any rear hit, even a weak one, could be worth three or four front armor shots.

Keep It Cool

It sure is a temptation to pack as many of those lovely no-ammo-needin' lasers and PPCs as you can on your 'Mech, ain't it? But what good are all those weapons if you can't fire any of them half the time because you're running too hot and the next trigger pull is gonna pop you like an overripe blood tick? The key is in finding the right balance.

Now, that balance may be between low-heat but ammo dependent weapons like cannons and missiles, and energy weapons. Or it may be between the number of laser weapons and the number of heat sinks you can cram into your 'Mech. (Clan double heat sinks… mount them if you got them.) The choice is really yours, and you'll find as many MechWarriors as not advocating one style over the other while shoveling chow between battles. I say ya gotta try them both -- don't take anyone's advice other than your own (well, besides me that is…).

The key here is sustained fire. You want to be able to continually rain firepower on an enemy 'Mech in as near a continuous barrage as you can. Why? Well, beside the obvious result of ripping it to shreds, you increase the chance of knocking it down, and when it's down you can really lay into it and have an even greater chance of targeting a specific body location (kneecapping works best). Even the best enemy pilots take a few moments to get up after being knocked down, and that alone gives you a huge advantage.

The best balanced 'Mech can fire all of its weapons, in chain-fire mode, without overheating. Group fire can be equally effective, but usually requires more heat sinks than continuous chain fire because you have to be able to compensate for that monster heat spike when all the grouped weapons let go… which leaves us directly into the topic of the much beloved Alpha Strike.

To Alpha Or Not To Alpha?

Frickin good question. For me, the answer is usually not. I reserve the Alpha Strike option for those rare moments when hitting is all but guaranteed. Hey, remember we talked about the advantages of knocking the enemy 'Mech down? A 'Mech face-down in the dust is great candidate for an Alpha Strike. (Oh, OK, you don't know what an Alpha Strike is? It's firing all of your weapons at one time in one shot. It does nasty damage if everything hits, will probably knock the target over if you've got enough weapons, and will spike your heat through the roof. It's only an option if you've got enough heat sinks to handily deal with the heat generated by all your weapons letting loose at once. Lots of newbies get their target lined up, cackle with glee, trigger the Alpha Strike and vanish in a cloud of flame and super-heated plasma as their 'Mech overheats and blows. Un-fun.)

An Alpha Strike is also much more likely to knock down an enemy 'Mech, but you don't always gain all you'd think from that tactic since you've just let go with everything you have and anything you might want to follow up with now needs to recharge. Alpha Strikes make great kill-shots but should not be your de facto attack style. Pick and choose the weapons you're firing with care, and you'll find that you're more likely to have the weapon you want ready when you want it.

Hip Deep In It

Related to keeping cool is which heat sinks you mount and where. Whenever you can mount salvaged Clan-made double heat sinks, they're worth their weight in, well, heat sinks. If you don't have access to the Clan version, mount regular double heat sinks. Normal heat sinks work just fine, but the double versions are the real deal.

And where do you put them? Shove as many of them into the legs of your 'Mech as you can. Now, that normally won't be a lot, but that's where you want them. Why? A heat sink of any kind is incredibly more efficient when immersed in water. By placing them in your legs, you can wade your 'Mech into any body of water and gain the cooling effects of the water while at the same time keeping your weapons above water and functional. Note that non-laser weapons won't fire underwater. This means that if you've got only lasers, feel free to go swimming.

Pickle Me, Baby!

If you can salvage a Clan Targeting Computer, mount it for no other reason than the little "pickle" it puts on your head-up display. What does the "pickle" do? When you have an enemy targeted, the "pickle" (which is a small floating circle) shows you where you have to aim to hit the target when you've got a weapon that travels slower than a nearly instantaneous laser. It's invaluable for autocannons of any kind. It does take some practice to use (just line up your cross hairs on the circle), especially when the enemy is maneuvering rapidly -- but there's no question it's worth the small extra weight.

Fix It When You Can

You're a lucky SOB (that's son-of-a-bandit for those who were wondering) in that you've got those new Mobile Field Bases travelling with you. Use them! Whenever there's a lull in the fighting, call them forward (assuming you are sure you've secured the area) and use them to repair your armor and replenish your ammo. And don't forget to order your lancemates in as well. Even the slightest scrap of armor that gets repaired could easily be the difference between victory and defeat, and the same is true for each additional cannon or missile round you replace.

Keep an eye, however, on the total amount of ammo and armor the MFBs are carrying since that's all you have. Remember that whatever you replenish in the field is taken directly from your stores, so if you use it up now, you won't have any for next mission (unless you happen to salvage some). Sometimes going into a fight with less ammo and knowing you have to be conservative is better than loading up and using it all up in a full-bore firefight and having none for next mission.

Lobbing A Shot

All your missiles, be it the long-range or short-range variety, have varying degrees of semi-smart tracking systems built into them. These tracking heads aren't really very smart, but when coupled to the sensor system on your 'Mech, they can do a real sneaky thing that you can use to your advantage. Put simply, a missile system can lock onto a target through obstacles and intervening terrain. What does this mean? Well, press the "E" key to target an enemy, bring your missiles on-line and swing your cross hairs over the red triangle on your head-up display. Even if the target is on the other side of a mountain or a building, your missile system can still lock on. Once you have a lock-on, pitch your 'Mech's nose up as high toward the sky as it can go and let the missiles fly. If you are lucky, and it takes some practice and skill to know when luck is on your side, you can arc the missiles over the target and rain them down on the enemy before he comes into view. You can also use this trick to fire at a target that's about to come into view. Lock onto the target when it's still out of sight and, just before it steps around the building edge (or whatever), push the cross hairs off to where it's going to step into view and pull the trigger. Surprise!

Look And Shoot

One of the things that too many pilots forget is that you can still fire weapons when looking off to the side. Now, I'm not talking about torso-twisting where you actually rotate the orientation of your 'Mech's upper body. No, I'm talking about glancing left or right while still keeping your 'Mech's torso oriented forward. When you do this, you'll still get the targeting reticle, but you can only fire the weapons mounted on that side of your 'Mech. What good is this? Well, for starters it gives you a potential extra shot at a 'Mech you are rushing past in a battle. It also gives you a potential opportunity for a potshot across the battlefield at another target, especially one that's harassing one of your lancemates. It's often a better option than torso-twisting since it takes no time to do: just glance, shoot and look back forward. At least that's what I think.

You can even shoot behind you if you twist your 'Mech's torso and glance backwards.

Concentrate Fire… On The Side Torso

Whenever you can, focus all of your fire onto a single body location. The legs make a great target, but are often hard to hit on a lighter 'Mech. Arms are nice too since they often mount one or more weapons. But do not discount the right and left torsos. Sure, they're more heavily armored, but you are more likely to get a clean shot at a side torso than a leg certainly, and a shot that misses the side torso has a decent chance of hitting the connected arm or the center torso. What's the benefit of the side torsos? Well, against a 'Mech that's mounting an XL (extra-light) engine, there are parts of that engine in both the right and left torsos. If you can cut through the torso armor and start tearing into the internal structure, you might be able to smash the engine and take the 'Mech out without having to cut through the heavier center torso armor. And, since a lot of pilots mount ammo in the side torsos, your chance of triggering an ammo explosion that takes out that part of the engine are greater as well.

Speaking Of That… Where Should I Store Ammo?

Man, is that a good question. There's no good answer. Personally, I've been sticking it in the center torso a lot lately. Why? Well, it's the most heavily armored. Even though an ammo explosion is going to clearly take out the engine, I figure if I'm in a sorry enough state that I'm taking center torso internal critical hits, it's not going to matter much for long anyway…

There's another school of thought that says put the ammo in an arm with the weapon that's using it. I guess the same logic applies as my own, but it seems to me that arms are too easy targets for enemy fire. In fact, I usually keep my primary weapons out of the arms. Sure, it means I can't always look and shoot, but I think in some cases it's a good trade-off.

Just In CASE…

This is an easy one… get CASE (cellular ammunition storage equipment) and put it in any location that's got ammo in it. Period. Inner Sphere CASE only takes up a critical, so it's usually no big deal. Clan CASE takes up no space, so there's no excuse. CASE in a limb or torso could save your butt time and time again by venting any ammo explosion clear of your 'Mech instead of allowing it to rip through the rest of you. Of course, remember that CASE in a right or left torso. So if you've got an XL engine, it don't mean nothin' since the ammo explosion, though it won't spread to the center torso, will still take out the engine criticals in that section and take you out of the fight.

Dial [F10] - [1] - [F6] To Save Your Butt

F10-1-F6 is the keyboard sequence to order your primary lancemate to attack your target. It's nearly always better to focus fire on a single 'Mech, take it down and then move on to the next, especially against less aggressive AI opponents. The only time this is a bad move is in static battles where there's little space to move around. Failure to keep a 'Mech moving is the number one reason for early career termination; when you're in a tight area, there might not be enough room for your lancemates to stay in motion. This just makes him too much of an easy target for enemy fire.

And remember, you can substitute "2" or "3" for the "1" key in the above sequence if you've got a second or third lancemate. There is, unfortunately, no good way to give a blanket order to everyone.

Keep It Moving

Just mentioned it, but I'll repeat it: keep moving! I like to set my throttle to a constant setting using the "4" (40%), "5" (50%" or "6" (60%") keys and then just steer, look and shoot. (Torso twist as necessary.) It's too tempting to stand and shoot; keeping the throttle at a constant setting ensures that I won't. Now, when you're going one-on-one (or nearly so), there will probably be plenty of circumstances where standing and shooting to insure weapon hits makes sense. But in any kind of a furball with lasers, shells, missiles and 'Mechs flying everywhere standing still is a just an excuse to get nailed.

Jumping Jack 'Mech

Related to the above (it just keeps stringin' along, don't it?) is my encouragement to pick up jump jets when you can. Not only do they keep you moving, jump jets allow you extricate yourself quickly from a potentially unhealthy situation, quickly get the tactical jump (if you will) on the enemy, and to get over or around obstacles and terrain features that would normally have blocked your route. It's also been my experience that enemy units are usually unable to adapt quickly to a jumping adversary and rarely fire at, let alone hit, a jumping target. This makes engaging jump jets perfect for when you need those extra few seconds for a weapon (or two or three) to recharge.

Relief Map, If You Please

Take this one on faith… as soon as your 'Mech powers up, press Shift-R -- and you can thank me later. This changes the radar mode to an absolute position relief map that actually shows major and minor terrain features, as well as important things like buildings and riverbeds clearly. Now, you'll notice that on the regular radar, the "top" is always your direction of travel. On the relief map, your direction of travel is shown relative to the terrain, with map "north" being the top. This may take a little extra time to get used to, but I prefer it since it shows me in no uncertain terms where I am, which way I'm going, where my objectives are and where the enemy is. This map also gives me a great idea of the terrain between where I am and where I need to be.