A Beginner’s Guide to Menace

Menace does not ease you into things.

The game opens by handing you command of a damaged strike cruiser, a half-functional crew, and a corner of space where rules are optional and survival is never guaranteed. There is no clean front line, no obvious good guy faction, and no safety net once you commit to a decision. The Wayback system is unstable, fragmented, and crowded with groups that all want something different from you, whether that’s protection, firepower, or plausible deniability.

This guide is written with new players in mind, especially those who feel like the game is throwing too much information at them too quickly. It does not assume perfect play, and it does not pretend losses are avoidable. Instead, it focuses on explaining how MENACE actually functions once the really unhelpful tutorial ends and the consequences start stacking up. If you understand the systems, the game becomes less punishing and far more rewarding, even when things go wrong.

Think of this as a briefing, not a checklist. The goal is not to play perfectly, but to understand why things unfold the way they do, and how to make better decisions the next time you drop planetside.

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What Menace Is Really About

At its core, Menace puts you in charge of the TCRN Impetus, a warship stranded in the Wayback system. This region of space has no real government, no shared rules, and no shortage of armed groups trying to carve out power.

Pirates raid for profit, corporations maneuver for leverage, rogue military forces operate without oversight, and something far worse lurks quietly in the background.

Progression in Menace happens through Operations. Each Operation is a chain of missions procedurally generated from a larger pool, meaning no two campaigns unfold the same way.

You choose which faction to work with, what risks to take, and which rewards matter most to you. Between missions, you upgrade your ship, hire leaders, trade on the Black Market, and try to keep your manpower from bleeding out completely.

On the ground, the game shifts into turn-based tactical combat. Every move costs something. Every mistake can snowball.

Squad members die permanently, and the game does not rush you past those losses. You will feel them, especially once you start naming your troops and watching veterans fall.

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The Bridge

All planning and long-term decisions happen aboard the Impetus. This is where you prepare for future Operations rather than reacting to immediate threats.

At the top of the interface, several resources quietly govern everything you do.

• Promotion Points are earned through successful missions and are used to unlock new perks for Squad Leaders.
• Authority represents how much control you maintain over the ship and its crew.
• Higher Authority improves discipline across your squads and is required to recruit new leaders.
• O.C.I. Components are physical parts used to repair and enhance the Impetus.
• Squaddies represents your total pool of available soldiers. Lose too many, and future missions become much harder.

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Choosing Where to Fight

The system map shows the entire Wayback system and highlights available Operations.

Selecting one reveals the planet’s environment, the enemy faction you will face, and how success or failure will affect your relationship with the sponsoring faction.

Faction relationships matter more than they first appear. Improving your standing unlocks specialized upgrades for your ship that go beyond standard military hardware.

These upgrades often cost more and take longer to acquire, but they can fundamentally change how missions play out.

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Rebuilding the Impetus

Your ship starts the campaign in rough shape, with most systems damaged or destroyed. Repairs and upgrades fall into three broad categories.

• Electronics focuses on intelligence gathering. Better sensors give you more detailed information during mission planning, including enemy positions and unit types.
• Armament upgrades allow orbital support during combat, such as missile strikes or strafing runs.
• Hull upgrades are more utilitarian, improving medical facilities, repair bays, and post-mission recovery.

All of these upgrades require components earned through Operations. Advanced faction-specific modules may demand more investment, but they often provide effects that standard equipment cannot match.

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Squads and Squad Leaders

Your fighting force is built around Squad Leaders. These leaders are not interchangeable stat blocks. Each has their own background, personality, strengths, and long-term development path. Some lead infantry units, while others pilot vehicles onto the battlefield.

Customization plays a huge role here. Squads are shaped not only by their leader’s attributes but also by the weapons, armor, and accessories you assign to them.

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Understanding Squad Leader Stats

A Squad Leader’s attributes directly influence how their squad performs.

Agility determines how many actions a unit can take in a turn. Weapon skill affects accuracy. Valour influences how well a squad handles pressure and suppression. Toughness reduces incoming damage, while Vitality determines how much punishment each soldier can take before dying.

Every Squad Leader is defined by a mix of attributes that quietly decide how effective they are once boots hit the ground. These attributes directly convert into combat stats, so understanding what they actually do will save you a lot of pain later.

• Agility → Action Points (AP)
  Agility represents how fast and fluid a leader and their squad can operate. Higher agility means more Action Points per turn, letting the squad move farther, shoot more, or react better under pressure. At the extreme end, a fully maxed agility score translates into a very generous AP pool.
• Weapon Skill → Accuracy
  This is pure shooting competence. The higher the weapon skill, the more likely shots are to land where you want them. The conversion is direct and simple: the number you see in weapon skill is the exact accuracy value used in combat.
• Valour → Discipline
  Valour measures mental toughness. Squads led by high-valour leaders hold their nerve longer under fire, recover faster from suppression, and generally don’t fall apart when things get ugly. Discipline scales directly with this stat.
• Toughness → Damage Reduction
  Toughness determines how much incoming damage gets shaved off before it hits your squad. A mid-range toughness score offers no protection, while higher values start reducing damage significantly. Some fragile leaders begin below the baseline, meaning they actually take more damage than normal.
• Vitality → Health per Soldier
  Vitality controls how much punishment individual squaddies can take. Average vitality gives a standard health pool, while higher values make each soldier harder to kill. Leaders with low vitality lead noticeably squishier squads.
• Precision → Critical Hit Chance
  Precision governs how often attacks land critical hits, boosting damage output when they do. Most leaders start with little to no precision unless they are specifically trained for marksmanship. Even at the highest levels, crits are powerful but not constant.
• Positioning → Defense
  This stat reflects how well a leader places their squad or vehicle to avoid incoming fire. At the baseline, positioning provides no bonus. Push it higher, and enemies become dramatically less accurate when shooting at that unit.
• Promotion Tax
  Every time a squad is promoted, it becomes more expensive to deploy. This is an intentional pressure mechanic that encourages rotating in less experienced squads instead of relying on elite units forever.
• Supply Cost
  This is the logistical price of bringing a Squad Leader into a mission. It increases as they gain promotions, limiting how many high-tier squads you can field at once.
• Starting Perk
  Each Squad Leader begins with a unique perk already unlocked. These perks vary wildly and are designed to immediately shape how that leader feels and plays.
• Growth Potential
  Growth potential determines how quickly a leader improves over time. Characters with higher potential gain stats faster, making them excellent long-term investments. Younger or less seasoned leaders usually grow quicker than veterans.
• Perk Tree
  Promotions unlock access to a personalized perk tree. While some perks overlap between leaders, the order, availability, and combinations differ, ensuring no two Squad Leaders develop in exactly the same way.

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Outfitting Infantry Units

Infantry squads form the backbone of most Operations. You decide how many soldiers are assigned to each leader, what weapons they carry, and what extra tools they bring into combat.

Primary weapons define a squad’s general role, whether that is suppression, precision fire, or close-range aggression. Special weapons are rarer and limited in use but can turn fights when deployed at the right moment. Armor protects against damage and expands equipment options, but it degrades over time. Accessories like grenades, drones, or demolition charges add flexibility and tactical depth.

Larger squads hit harder, but they cost more to deploy. Sometimes a lean, specialized unit is the smarter choice.

• Squad Size
  Your total pool of available soldiers is limited, so every assignment matters. You can redistribute squaddies between leaders to bulk up key squads or spread your manpower thinner. Larger squads hit harder and survive longer, but they also cost more supplies to deploy. Lost soldiers can be replaced between missions, though the replacement pool is not infinite.
• Primary Infantry Weapon
  This is the main firearm the squad relies on during combat. Each weapon comes with its own strengths, whether that’s long-range reach, raw damage, or high rates of fire for suppression. Matching the weapon to the squad’s role is far more important than simply picking the highest damage number.
• Special Weapon Slot
  This slot is reserved for heavier or more specialized tools like machine guns, rocket launchers, or sniper rifles. Only one soldier in the squad operates this weapon, and it usually comes with limited ammo or uses per mission. When used at the right moment, these weapons can completely swing an engagement.
• Armor Selection
  Armor determines how well a squad holds up under fire and what kind of equipment they can carry. Different armor types protect against different threats and unlock additional accessory slots. Armor isn’t permanent, though. Every hit it absorbs wears it down over time.
• Accessories
  Accessories add flexibility and utility. Grenades, extra ammunition, drones, and explosives can all change how a squad approaches a fight. While they won’t win battles on their own, smart accessory choices often make the difference between a clean mission and a disaster.

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Vehicles and Heavy Firepower

Vehicle squads operate differently from infantry. Before deployment, you must assign a vehicle chassis, then customize it with heavy and light weapon modules. Vehicles also support accessories that improve survivability or battlefield control.

Vehicles bring raw power but require careful handling. Their size and armor make them harder to suppress, yet positioning mistakes can still leave them vulnerable to concentrated fire or anti-vehicle weapons.

Pilot Squad Leaders are far rarer than infantry leaders, but they bring a completely different kind of flexibility to your roster. Vehicles can dominate open terrain, soak up punishment, and provide firepower infantry simply can’t match, as long as they’re equipped properly.

• Assigned Vehicle
  A pilot squad does nothing until a vehicle is chosen for them. Once assigned, the squad becomes available for deployment, though you still need to manually include it in a mission. Choosing the right vehicle chassis sets the foundation for everything that follows.
• Heavy Weapon Mount
  This slot is reserved for the biggest and most destructive vehicle weapons. Heavy cannons, launchers, and other high-impact systems go here, turning the vehicle into a serious battlefield threat.
• Light Weapon Mount
  Lighter modular weapons fit into this slot. These function similarly to infantry special weapons but are designed specifically for vehicle use. Machine guns, compact flamethrowers, and energy-based weapons all fall into this category.
• Vehicle Accessories
  Just like infantry gear, accessories give vehicles extra utility. These can improve survivability, enhance mobility, or provide situational advantages during missions.

Once your vehicle squad is outfitted, it’s ready to be deployed alongside your infantry and put its firepower to work.

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How Operations Work

When you commit to an Operation, you are locked into it until completion or abandonment. Walking away early hurts your standing with the sponsoring faction, so commitment matters.

Each Operation is a branching sequence of missions. You can inspect upcoming missions to evaluate difficulty, objectives, logistics limits, and rewards. Some rewards carry forward permanently, while others only help within the current Operation, such as reinforcements for a final assault.

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Preparing for a Mission

Before boots hit the ground, you set the conditions. Mission details include weather, time of day, and objectives. Darkness and poor visibility can severely limit sightlines. Improved ship intelligence systems can reveal enemy positions ahead of time, giving you a critical advantage.

You also choose where your squads deploy within allowed zones. Smart positioning can mean the difference between controlling the opening turn and walking into an ambush. Supply limits force trade-offs between squad size, equipment, and overall flexibility.

Mission Details and Objectives

This panel outlines what you’re walking into: the mission goals, time of day, and current weather conditions. Poor weather can slow squads down and limit what they can see, while night missions drastically shorten sightlines across the map. These factors should directly influence which squads and loadouts you bring.

Intel Overview

Enemy information depends entirely on how well the Impetus is equipped. Without proper intel upgrades, enemy squads remain a mystery until you encounter them in combat. Improving your ship’s intelligence systems can reveal enemy positions and unit types before the mission even starts.

Squad Deployment Zones

You choose where each squad begins the mission within the allowed deployment areas. Smart placement can set up early objective control or protect vulnerable units from immediate threats. Squads can be repositioned by dragging them to a new starting location before the mission launches.

Supply Limits

Every mission has a hard cap on how much gear and manpower you can bring. Each squad displays its logistics cost during prep. If you exceed the limit, you will need to trim squad sizes or adjust equipment until everything fits within the allowed supply budget.

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Combat: Without a Safety Net

Combat unfolds in rounds, with each faction activating one squad at a time. There is no initiative stat. Order is entirely up to you.

Action Points govern everything. Moving, firing, crouching, and using equipment all consume AP. Once you commit to a unit’s turn, you must either spend their points or end their activation.

Ending early locks them out until the next round, which can be dangerous if enemies are nearby, since the game doesn’t have an ‘overwatch’ mechanic.

Because turn order is flexible, clever sequencing can let the same unit act at the end of one round and the start of the next. Poor sequencing can expose squads to multiple enemy actions before you can respond.

Action Points and Turn Order

Everything your squads do in combat is controlled by Action Points, often shortened to AP. Managing these points well is the difference between clean victories and sudden disasters.

• What Action Points Control
  Action Points are spent on every meaningful action during a squad’s turn. Moving, firing weapons, using equipment, changing stance, and interacting with the environment all draw from the same AP pool. Each action clearly displays its AP cost before you commit.
• Common AP Costs
  While exact values vary by unit and equipment, some actions have consistent costs:
  • Dropping into a crouched stance consumes 20 AP
  • Firing a standard rifle takes 40 AP
  • Movement shows its AP cost directly on the map before you move
• Player-Controlled Turn Order
  Menace does not use an initiative stat. You decide which of your squads acts and when. This allows for powerful sequencing, such as positioning a unit late in one round and attacking immediately with it at the start of the next.
• Committing to a Squad’s Turn
  Once you start issuing orders to a squad, that squad is locked in until you either spend all of its AP or manually end its turn. Ending early means forfeiting any remaining AP until the next round, so careless turn endings can waste valuable actions.
• Risks of Overextension
  Moving too aggressively at the beginning of a round can expose a squad to multiple enemy activations before you can respond. If several hostile units spot an exposed squad, they may all act against it before you get another chance to intervene.
• Turn Cycling Between Factions
  After one of your squads finishes its turn, control rotates through all other factions on the battlefield. Each faction activates a single squad per cycle. If enemies outnumber you, expect to see multiple enemy activations before control returns.
• Exceptions Through Perks
  Certain Squad Leader perks break the normal rules, allowing a squad to act, pause, and then act again later in the same round. These abilities are rare but extremely powerful when used correctly.

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Cover, Vision, and Movement

Terrain matters constantly. Buildings, debris, and natural features provide directional cover. A squad may be well protected from one angle and completely exposed from another. Cover also affects visibility, making dense environments unpredictable and dangerous.

Crouching improves protection and enables certain weapons, but it prevents movement until the unit stands again. Vehicles can use cover too, though it may limit firing arcs.

Slow, deliberate movement reduces the risk of stumbling into hidden enemies.

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Attacking and Suppression

When targeting enemies, the game shows expected accuracy, armor penetration, and suppression potential. These indicators are not guarantees, but they help you decide whether an attack is worth the risk.

Suppression is one of the most important mechanics in Menace. Incoming fire wears down a unit’s effectiveness, reducing accuracy and available actions. Heavy fire, repeated hits, and nearby explosions all contribute. Disciplined squads resist suppression better, while poorly trained units crumble faster.

A heavily suppressed squad may become pinned, barely able to act, or even break and flee. Fleeing units stop contributing to the fight and may eventually abandon the battlefield entirely.

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Attacking Vehicles

Vehicles rely on armor rather than morale. Many have stronger plating on specific sides, making positioning crucial. Anti-vehicle weapons, heavy guns, and rockets are far more effective than standard small arms.

Instead of suppression, vehicles suffer component damage. Lose the wrong system, and the vehicle becomes immobile or defenseless. Vehicles can also reverse or pivot without changing position, allowing them to keep their strongest armor facing incoming fire.

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Orbital Support

As you restore and upgrade the Impetus, you unlock off-map abilities. These are powerful orbital strikes that do not cost Action Points but take time to charge. Once activated, they usually resolve after a full round.

Pinning enemies in place with suppressive fire before calling in an orbital strike is often the difference between wiping a squad and watching them scatter to safety.

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Dealing With Losses

Casualties are not a failure condition. They are part of the game’s rhythm. Every soldier lost weakens a squad’s output and strains your manpower reserves. Replacements can be recruited between missions, but the pool is finite.

Protecting experienced squads matters, but so does knowing when to risk them for critical objectives.

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After the Dust Settles

Mission results provide a breakdown of performance, casualties, and overall effectiveness. Promotion Points are awarded based on success and secondary objectives, feeding back into long-term squad growth.

Detailed summaries show how each squad performed, what damage they dealt, and what penalties or bonuses they may carry into future missions.

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The Black Market

Between Operations, you can trade with less-than-legitimate dealers. The Black Market offers weapons, armor, accessories, and even vehicle frames. Items are bought through barter, matching the item’s value with goods from your inventory. Overpaying offers no benefit.

The market refreshes after every Operation, making it worth checking regularly. It is also one of the few reliable ways to replenish your soldier pool.

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Hiring New Leaders

Relying on the same Squad Leaders repeatedly will exhaust them, reducing their effectiveness for several missions. To avoid this, you need to hire replacements.

Recruitment requires Authority and a dossier purchased from the Black Market. Higher-quality leaders cost more Authority, which temporarily reduces overall discipline across your force. Dismissing a leader refunds their Authority cost and returns them to the recruitment pool.

Choosing when to expand your leadership roster is a balancing act between short-term performance and long-term stability.

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Practical Advice for New Commanders

Some ship upgrades are worth waiting for, especially those that dramatically improve intelligence. Manpower disappears faster than you expect, so avoid unnecessary losses.

Match squad equipment to leader strengths rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all loadout. Rotate leaders to avoid exhaustion penalties. Move cautiously, use cover even if it means ending a turn early, and focus fire to lock enemies down through suppression.

Furthermore, vehicles are powerful tools. Use their mobility, armor orientation, and even their sheer mass to your advantage. Lastly, never forget to check the Black Market for fresh recruits.

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Menace rewards patience, planning, and a willingness to adapt when things go wrong.

Victory feels earned because defeat is always close. Experiment with different squad builds, learn which risks are worth taking, and accept that not every mission will end cleanly.