Matrix Games Forums

Hi Vic,

I am finishing up a big game of SE.

Please see the attached screen shots. I designed the thopter for 25 hex range (pic 2).

I got 20 hexs of range. pic 1

Did you check its design log? The blueprints only gives you the standard estimates of the design but your model designer must have rolled a bad roll and have decreased engine power.

The blueprints estimates that it would use 1.2 oil per hex but your final design is 1.5 oil per hex.

As above^

Higher AF designs can see their range rounded quite aggressively.

This is because Air Force units have their final range, in hexes, calculated using the <AP/Hex> rate. But Action Points can only be used in whole numbers. This means that the 100 Action points a unit begins the turn with (usually, but bonus AP?) is divided by a whole number to give the current-turn operational range of the unit.

...So hex-range in hexes is always evenly devisable by 100 or the next lowest whole-number numerator, ie. range in hexes can only = the following numbers: {100, 50, 33, 25, 20, 16, 14, 12, 11, etc...}, as for AP costs from '1' and ascending.

...if that makes sense...my high-school math is kinda weak I realize.

(There was a good thread on the forums here explaining how Air Force ranges are calculated some time ago, which it would be nice to find.)

Starfry wrote: Thu Oct 02, 2025 3:55 am Did you check its design log? The blueprints only gives you the standard estimates of the design but your model designer must have rolled a bad roll and have decreased engine power.

Engine rolls for aircraft actually have no effect on anything at all. However, thopters uniquely have a randomized amount of wing area, which is re-randomized between the estimate and the final model, which can cause a difference in range.

Soar_Slitherine wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:21 pm Engine rolls for aircraft actually have no effect on anything at all.

drat