Soldier Combat Overview
Soldiers are ground troops on foot, and can engage in either melee or ranged combat.
Preparation
Soldiers have the following preparation commands available to them. Remember that you can use any number of preparation commands during a given turn.
Weapons and Armor
When you join combat as a soldier, your weapon is automatically set to the default rifle weapon. You can change it at any time. Use +gear/weapons to see a list of weapons.
By default, soldiers are not wearing armor, but you canset that up using the armor preparation command. Use +gear/armor to see a list of armor types.
+combat/weapon <weapon> - Sets weapon.
+combat/armor <armor> - Sets armor.
Stance
Soldiers may choose their stance: Banzai, Normal, Evade, Cautious, Cover or OutOfSight.
- Banzai is a reckless offensive stance that gives you a bonus to attack but opens you up to counterattack.
- Evade means you're dodging and weaving, making it very difficult to hit you but also for you to hit back.
- Cautious means taking it slow. You're harder to hit because you're more wary, but you also suffer a penalty to attack.
- Cover means you're in cover. You suffer no penalties, but attacks aimed at you might hit the cover instead of you.
- OutOfSight means that you cannot be seen/targeted at all.
+combat/stance <stance> - Sets stance (banzai,normal,evade,cautious,cover,outofsight)
Actions
Soldiers may take a single action each turn.
Attack
The attack command shoots at a single target with your currently equipped weapon. You may specify special options if they are available:
- Burst - Some weapons support burst fire, shooting 3 rounds at a target.
- Called Shot - Normally attacks are aimed at the chest. If you would like to aim at a particular location, use the called shot option. It's harder to hit, but you're more likely to hit where you want. (Though please note that you might miss the desired location and hit someplace nearby.) If you do a called shot for a critical area such as the Head you are more likely to do more damage. You can get a list of hit locations from the +combat/hitlocs command.
- Range - If the target is far away, specify the range. If they are very close, don't bother.
+combat/attack <target>[/<specials, see below>]
Specials are optional, and can include:
- burst - Fire a short burst if the weapon is capable of it.
- range=<range in meters> - If not specified, system assumes range is point-blank.
- called=<location> - Perform a called shot to a particular hit location.
Use +combat/hitlocs <target> to see a list of valid hit locations.
Use commas to separate multiple options.
Special Attacks
If your weapon is capable of fully automatic fire, you can also execute a 'fullauto' attack against one or more targets. Fullauto is highly inaccurate for most weapons, but very effective at suppressing targets.
Lastly, if you have an explosive weapon, like a grenade, you can attack one or more targets within the blast radius. The weapon stats (see +gear) will tell you the blast radius for an explosive weapon. The command lets you specify two groups: those '''right next to''' the target of the explosion (i.e. within a few meters of where you are aiming) and those further away but still within the blast radius. Please note: Some anti-vehicle missiles are not treated as explosive weapons because they do not really have a blast radius.
These special attacks do not support called shots or range. Called shots make no sense, and these weapons are simply not effective at long ranges.
+combat/fullauto <list of one or more targets, separated by commas>
+combat/explode <targets right next to explosion, separated by commas>/<near targets, separated by commas>
Aim
You can spend a turn aiming at a target to get a bonus to hit if you fire at that same target next turn. You may only aim at a single target, and you get the same bonus no matter how long you spend aiming. Aiming is particularly useful if you are injured or you have other special modifiers that make it harder for you to hit the target.
+combat/aim <target>
Suppress
Suppression fire is used to suppress a target, giving them a negative modifier to attack. This can reflect distracting moves, suppressing fire, ECM jamming, warning shots, etc. As with attacking, you may suppress multiple targets if you have a full-auto weapon. A fullauto attack also can suppress a target, but the suppress command is more effective, though it will not do any damage.
+combat/suppress <target, or comma-separated list of targets for a fullauto weapon>
Reload
Reloads your weapon. The code assumes you have unlimited clips available.
+combat/reload
Subdue and Escape
Subdue is a melee attack that does no damage but has a chance of subduing the target. Subdued targets may not attack until they 'escape' or the attacker stops subduing them.
+combat/subdue <target>
+combat/escape
Rally
The rally command can be used to rally a KO'd player, giving them a chance at getting back into the fight. This can reflect anything from slapping a lightly-wounded soldier on the face and yelling at him to 'snap out of it' to giving a big morale boosting speech to encourage a badly wounded comrade to keep fighting. It does not reflect first aid, which is handled by the Treat action. Rally can only be used on PCs.
+combat/rally <name>
Treat
Medics can use the treat action to tend wounds in combat. This can make a big difference because a treated wound imposes less of a damage modifier and less of a chance of KO'ing the character. It also has a chance of un-KO'ing a KO'd player. See also [[FS3 Combat Tutorial Damage#First Aid In Combat|First Aid In Combat]].
+combat/treat <target>
Pass
If you are not taking any action this turn, use the pass command. It is important to do this so everyone knows you're not doing anything and doesn't wait for you.
+combat/pass
Gear
Gear includes weapons, armor and vehicle types (not to be confused with individual vehicles.) The +gear command lets you view statistics for the various types of gear.
+gear/weapons - Lists weapon stats
+gear/armor - Lists armor stats
+gear/vehicles - Lists vehicle stats
