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I'm running the Savannah as my first real campaign, and I have trouble keeping the business profitable. The first two missions went quite well (I thought I'm overpowered) but with the 3rd one - after the break into the estuary mission - in which you have to get your squad through the isthmus connecting the 2 continents, my income from the mission was around 50-60k, but the squad repair costs were 114k...

5 pilots and 6 titans:
Hydra - on mirage
Puma - will-o-wisp
Wolverine - swift death
Borg - icelord
Beluga - dagger
spare: pack hunter

All pilots are Novice except for Beluga that is still Green. Mechs are unmodified off-the-shelf models. I'll talk more tomorrow and you give you more of the context that you need, for now I hope the squad data below will do as I'll need a bit of sleep... [>:]


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Jock: Julia Waters aka Hydra
Squad: Storm Crows

Race: REPLICANT I [FEMALE]
Age: 23 years 7 months
Height: 166 cm
Weight: 53 kg
Rank: NOVICE [3]
Salary: 14453 $ / month
Titan: Mirage [70.0 t]
Battles: 11 [Wins/Losses: 11/00]
Hit ratio: 38 %
Kills: 0
XP: 11550 / 21000
DP: Pilot: 016 / Combat: 027 / Other: 005
Leader: Recruit rookie mod 54%
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Attributes:
INTELLIGENCE: 17
NEURAL SENSE: 11
REACTION: 10
INSTINCT: 10
DEXTERITY: 11
CONSTITUTION: 11 HP: 99
CHARISMA: 15
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Skills:
RECON/LIGHT: 053 % [053]
MEDIUM/HEAVY: 008 % [055] ---
ASSAULT: 019 % [055] --
JUMP: 032 % [053]
SCOUTING: 058 % [061]

CLOSE COMBAT: 032 % [050]
GUIDED MSL.: 062 % [073]
UNGUIDED MSL.: 022 % [053] -
CANNON: 034 % [051]
ENERGY WEAPON: 021 % [051] -
INDIRECT FIRE: 021 % [061] -

EL. WARFARE: 030 % [073]
SCANNER: 040 % [075]
DEFENSIVE: 018 % [065] --
DMG. CONTROL: 028 % [075] -
LEADERSHIP: 066 % [078]
BUSINESS: 001 % [081] ---
SURVIVAL: 047 % [051]
MEDICAL: 022 % [075] -
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Jock: Elisabeth Zela aka Puma
Squad: Storm Crows

Race: REPLICANT I [FEMALE]
Age: 23 years 2 months
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Rank: NOVICE [3]
Salary: 7878 $ / month
Titan: Will-o'-Wisp [40.0 t]
Battles: 11 [Wins/Losses: 11/00]
Hit ratio: 53 %
Kills: 4
XP: 13060 / 22800
DP: Pilot: 030 / Combat: 011 / Other: 006
Manager: Purchase discount 02%
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Attributes:
INTELLIGENCE: 17
NEURAL SENSE: 09
REACTION: 11
INSTINCT: 11
DEXTERITY: 11
CONSTITUTION: 10 HP: 90
CHARISMA: 12
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Skills:
RECON/LIGHT: 055 % [055]
MEDIUM/HEAVY: 030 % [048]
ASSAULT: 021 % [048] -
JUMP: 045 % [055]
SCOUTING: 065 % [065]

CLOSE COMBAT: 054 % [055]
GUIDED MSL.: 061 % [075]
UNGUIDED MSL.: 021 % [055] -
CANNON: 033 % [055]
ENERGY WEAPON: 030 % [055]
INDIRECT FIRE: 005 % [065] ---

EL. WARFARE: 020 % [075] -
SCANNER: 036 % [071]
DEFENSIVE: 020 % [065] -
DMG. CONTROL: 029 % [075] -
LEADERSHIP: 012 % [068] --
BUSINESS: 072 % [076] +
SURVIVAL: 029 % [053] -
MEDICAL: 022 % [075] -
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Jock: Leon Kowalsky aka Wolverine
Squad: Storm Crows

Race: REPLICANT I [MALE]
Age: 25 years 6 months
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Rank: NOVICE [3]
Salary: 12928 $ / month
Titan: Swift Death [40.0 t]
Battles: 12 [Wins/Losses: 12/00]
Hit ratio: 61 %
Kills: 2
XP: 14551 / 24600
DP: Pilot: 033 / Combat: 038 / Other: 012
Mechanic: No repair mod
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Attributes:
INTELLIGENCE: 16
NEURAL SENSE: 08
REACTION: 13
INSTINCT: 09
DEXTERITY: 14
CONSTITUTION: 10 HP: 90
CHARISMA: 09
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Skills:
RECON/LIGHT: 066 % [068]
MEDIUM/HEAVY: 033 % [050]
ASSAULT: 021 % [050] -
JUMP: 045 % [068]
SCOUTING: 042 % [056]

CLOSE COMBAT: 051 % [051]
GUIDED MSL.: 040 % [068]
UNGUIDED MSL.: 020 % [068] -
CANNON: 066 % [066]
ENERGY WEAPON: 040 % [066]
INDIRECT FIRE: 026 % [056] -

EL. WARFARE: 020 % [068] -
SCANNER: 030 % [066]
DEFENSIVE: 020 % [073] -
DMG. CONTROL: 070 % [076] +
LEADERSHIP: 008 % [056] ---
BUSINESS: 022 % [068] -
SURVIVAL: 041 % [046]
MEDICAL: 025 % [076] -
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Jock: Michael Smith aka Borg
Squad: Storm Crows

Race: CYBORG [MALE]
Age: 29 years 6 months
Height: 192 cm
Weight: 96 kg
Rank: NOVICE [3]
Salary: 14700 $ / month
Titan: Icelord [70.0 t]
Battles: 12 [Wins/Losses: 12/00]
Hit ratio: 51 %
Kills: 6
XP: 15139 / 24600
DP: Pilot: 028 / Combat: 032 / Other: 015
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Attributes:
INTELLIGENCE: 11
NEURAL SENSE: 12
REACTION: 14
INSTINCT: 11
DEXTERITY: 14
CONSTITUTION: 12 HP: 108
CHARISMA: 09
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Skills:
RECON/LIGHT: 068 % [070]
MEDIUM/HEAVY: 019 % [063] --
ASSAULT: 016 % [063] --
JUMP: 034 % [070]
SCOUTING: 038 % [055]

CLOSE COMBAT: 054 % [060]
GUIDED MSL.: 014 % [055] --
UNGUIDED MSL.: 011 % [070] --
CANNON: 025 % [070] -
ENERGY WEAPON: 070 % [070] +
INDIRECT FIRE: 007 % [055] ---

EL. WARFARE: 018 % [055] --
SCANNER: 052 % [056]
DEFENSIVE: 026 % [065] -
DMG. CONTROL: 022 % [060] -
LEADERSHIP: 020 % [048] -
BUSINESS: 010 % [051] --
SURVIVAL: 050 % [056]
MEDICAL: 034 % [060]
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Jock: Daniel Ohmilub aka Beluga
Squad: Storm Crows

Race: ANDROID [N/A]
Age: 9 years 8 months
Height: 184 cm
Weight: 87 kg
Rank: GREEN [2]
Salary: 8844 $ / month
Titan: Dagger [40.0 t]
Battles: 07 [Wins/Losses: 07/00]
Hit ratio: 41 %
Kills: 3
XP: 9137 / 11200
DP: Pilot: 011 / Combat: 001 / Other: 001
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Attributes:
INTELLIGENCE: 10
NEURAL SENSE: 13
REACTION: 17
INSTINCT: 08
DEXTERITY: 11
CONSTITUTION: 10 HP: 90
CHARISMA: 12
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Skills:
RECON/LIGHT: 040 % [065]
MEDIUM/HEAVY: 034 % [061]
ASSAULT: 004 % [061] ---
JUMP: 019 % [065] --
SCOUTING: 014 % [043] --

CLOSE COMBAT: 016 % [055] --
GUIDED MSL.: 011 % [046] --
UNGUIDED MSL.: 016 % [065] --
CANNON: 022 % [075] -
ENERGY WEAPON: 058 % [075]
INDIRECT FIRE: 018 % [043] --

EL. WARFARE: 021 % [046] -
SCANNER: 036 % [055]
DEFENSIVE: 021 % [053] -
DMG. CONTROL: 011 % [051] --
LEADERSHIP: 002 % [056] ---
BUSINESS: 018 % [053] --
SURVIVAL: 021 % [043] -
MEDICAL: 020 % [051] -
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I guess the planning cycle for ToS is: decide tactics - select titans - develop pilots - adjust titans (factory) - play it out - start it over...

So starting with tactics, I think I'd like to try out different ones, being new to this game. For example I haven't decided on weapons but I'll try all kinds of them - haven't yet tried unguided titans, so somebody would need to develop a good unguided skill. I spotted the Scouting skill early on and decided I'd like to experiment at least with that - doing recon work and ambushing, don't know how much you can really do with that in this game... that was maybe a bit problematic though as then I went for int/ins stats and specialization in guided missiles early on.

Given the early experiences with the game - my titan getting destroyed in the tutorial and the leader dying when I accidentally clicked "dodge" instead of "run" - when I had to restart the squad I went for the Green squad. Put maybe a half of the points in stats (I hear initially they are cheaper), which mostly resulted in one stat being super. (In case of Beluga, I put about 480 pts into stats, so it has 17 for Reaction from the start.) I think I could have put more into stats, since the skills soon maxed out (look at Light skills for ex.). But then again this approach created some of the financial problems, I have pilots with high XP but without the exact skills that would match the salaries.

My best pilot seems to be Borg, since he's properly balanced with good potential for combat skills, and the icelord he's had from day one is very enjoyable, racking up XP all the time. I'm planning to keep him energy/short ranged and even in that icelord for a while without any other real specialties. Beluga with its dagger is working to expectations too, as others first pulled its weight and it has good potential. My plan is to make it the dedicated energy damage dealer and put it into a big titan (heavy/assault pref.) sometime soonish. Puma in the beginning had the pack hunter, which was a bit problematic since the close ranged guided missile set is not very intuitive to use. Hydra's will-o-wisp was upgraded to the mirage, I have a faint idea what you can do with it, but I don't think I can use missile titans to their max yet. (Just learned the importance of scanner + links for long range missiles.) Puma and Hydra are supposed to be scouts, but that's maybe not the best idea with long ranged support titans... maybe I could put Hydra into a heavier mech and keep Puma as a Light scout. Given the very high wits of the girls, their mechs could be loaded to the hilt with electronics systems. Wolverine has been doing his job with the swift death, the only issue seems to be overheating in long machine gun duels, but still he's not a top killer yet. I think I'll upgrade his instinct and keep him as a scout/light, could develop his Defensive skill - he needs a few of the Other skills to upgrade his Damage Control, as that turned out to be a very critical skill for my squad [;)]. I'm giving him a bit of all-around weapons capability for the future - other pilots would need to develop secondaries too, because many titans use multiple weapon types. Could maybe do with some suggestions for the upgrade path... Well, so far it's been a bit difficult to make the money for all those titan upgrades [:'(]

I've noticed you'd need different titans/loadouts for different kinds of missions in Savannah, for example napalm/flamethrowers would have been very useful in the last mission... So I'm thinking I'd eventually recruit the 6th pilot (unicorn at first and a bigger cannon titan later; or a dedicated R/Scout with high ins?) and keep a total of 8 mechs. I'll aim to get more S ranged titans with high damage (instead some of those current close range ones) to work better in the ambushes without having to rush in close. One of the titans could be a specialized neutron blaster rig, since that could give me nice bounties, better salvage and maybe I can collect a nice med titan on the battlefield soonish. (Capturing the manticore from the very last mission would have just been so nice, I was considering it for one of my pilots, was it Hydra now.) I figured big titans mean more damage, more kills and thus more XP - so that would be the natural upgrade path for most pilots, or does that have other financial considerations besides the initial cost? The ideal force composition at some point further in the future could be 1-2 x R; 1 x L; 1-2 x M; 1-2 x H and 2 x A chassis class titans. Would there be a point in running more recons/light with high salary pilots or is it better to concentrate even more on the heavier end of the scale?

I suppose a more rigorous save/load regime could help - lost 50k in the first mission of Deep Core when the last 2 miners exploded - but on the latest mission on Savannah I made some of those bad decisions early on and had to live with them the rest of the battle. And there is a point in just trying to learn to play the game better [;)]

I gave up the Deep Core campaign, as that seems like a tedious dungeon crawl and also the rewards are not really high enough to keep my maintenance costs covered... In addition to Savannah I've played single shot missions.

AAR:

That was actually mission #4 on Savannah, not #3 as I stated above. I sent Hydra to the North and Puma to middle/South as scouts, the rest would follow Puma to the middle where the isthmus turned out to be. Puma got to the edge of a wood, when she detected an enemy L titan (gargoyle) right in the next hex. Well, so much for careful scouting, turn tail and run! A furball followed with 4 of my mechs and 2 recons in addition to the gargoyle. I decided to make it a fighting retreat - not a smart decision. We would fight in the dense forest for some 15-20 hexes or so, every now and then sprinting a hex or a few. Two of my recons ended up in a pretty bad shape in the process, and it was only the very last hexes where I eventually disabled all 3 of my pursuers. I couldn't ignite a single hex to slow down my enemy, and the last enemy mech to go down was a swift death... so a fair bit of damage could be due to those 2 axes.

In the North Hydra found out that one would have to cross 4-5 hexes of water to get to the other side. Quite iffy - especially with the enemy manticore (M titan) on the other side! I hesitated to cross, trying to create a diversion by engaging the manticore, which only helped to keep that titan out of the main furball, and delaying Hydra in the crossing so the others had to wait instead of running for it - well, the enemy was right on the tail of my main group by that time anyway. Hydra eventually walked accross the water, falling only twice on the way [;)] and escaped the manticore with light damage, as it somehow got lost when she bolted for the nearby woods.

For mech choices, the only obvious mistake was the will-o-wisp which was practically useless for fighting on this map. Scouting proved difficult, the forests tend to be very dispersed in this game, thus there are no far reaches one can see between them, and this map had quite a lot of the forests as well. The advanced form of FoW provides additional challenge for scouting, as the complete map is not available. The best tactic for this map would have been to just dash as one group through the Southern side of the isthmus, or if not playing the "way it was meant to be played", to just annihilate the opposition - would have been possible with the manticore staying pretty much out of the main furball.

Somehow got through mission #5 -  3  titans disabled, mission payment was negative, repair costs for all titans 178k, budget is 114k. I think this squad is out of business.

I will need to set up new squads, transfer some pilots(?) and in a few weeks maybe assemble a new squad for the campaign. C'est la vie.

Well with all this complexity, this game is really full of hilarious surprises. I tried transferring pilots, and it seems the prices you have to pay are rather high - but it's a two way street. You could actually fund your squad by training rookies and selling established pilots!

Too bad I experimented with a pilot that turns out to be my most valuable one. And now I want him back. The mission above was a 200k mistake, and this was another 150k mistake...

But anyway, I figure I could pretty much bring the finances back on track by changing the squad leader and firing other non-productive pilots. At least when I stick to one-off missions - how about ones where I have enemies of higher rank but only around 50% of my tonnage? If I can bring in 175k as just the base reward with a little mission and a squad of 3 strong...