Pirates

Oooooo Oooo I can answer that! I was the first one to have one happen. Pirates come random in places you already have and sometimes land in two different places nearby at once. They will not split up that much so we don't have to endlessly hunt single ones down. I think the most someone said they had was three tiny little groups that moved around in random after they landed altogether. When they attacked me I had two mechwarriors, four tankies and a LAMY! They came with one light mech and two 70 tanks. I think they equal no more than a quarter of your army in strength but usually they outnumber your people nearby. They attacked my LAMY and my Mantycore all at once!!

More clarification:

Bandits happen in territory you don't own. As you move troops into unoccupied territory that is owned by nobody (regardless of scouting or capturing) there is a small chance of having a bandit encounter that I roll for. This happens with EVERY map square you pass through and has a much lower chance for air units. Hence you might get more than one bandit group showing up in a turn, but very unlikely. Bandits will become active on Turn #5, or so I plan, shhhhh keep it a secret! Bandits don't attack your territory unless attacked first and they win, then there is a small chance if they have very high morale. Bandits will try to be roughly between 115% and 133% of the Battle Value of the force they encounter. That doesn't mean they always outnumber you (but that is more likely), but they could have better quality units too, or perhaps one very skilled pilot in one lone machine. All bandits are A.I. controlled unless you get one very lucky/unlucky roll and the Admin will play for them. (Hasn't happened yet.) Bandits often attack in ambush meaning you have to start in the center and they come at you. You may try to flee the battle, but bandits make for good easy salvage mostly.


Pirates are different and "stronger" and happen at random on your own already claimed territory. This is a universal roll, what I mean by that is only one pirate attack will every happen per turn out of all players. Basically I roll to see if a pirate attack happens that week at all, if it does I roll one random lucky/unlucky player based on cumulative territory (so if you have a lot of territory your chances of getting attacked are higher), than having chosen the target/victim I roll to find out which map square(s) they land in and have them spread out a little from there. Typically I try to give them a few low profile targets as if they are raiding you. Pirates have a very small chance of having a DropShip in battle (this hasn't happened yet) that will most likely flee immediately (watch out for its guns). Pirates strength is indeed based off your overall army size, and yes they could outnumber or be outnumbered by the units nearest them. Again you may flee and concentrate your forces to attack them, just remember they will keep spreading in the meantime like a slow slow cancer (but won't gain any more strength, save light repairs if they survive a battle). Pirates were in Neveron as well as a game balancing feature, essentially anyone that grew to a large size would get more frequent attacks to stunt their growth and force them to commit more troops to defending their heartlands and empire core. Same idea here.

Hope that helped!

So when do bandits and pirates start?

Wait, does that mean bandits can happen already next turn?

If we get into a bandit fight and decide we want to withdraw rather than fight it out, is this allowed?

You may very well receive a "Recon Mission". The objective is to observe each enemy unit for at least two rounds. If you complete this "Recon" then you will receive a small sum of equipment from admin.

Thank you for reminding me of my in-range artillery...