free multiplayer online strategy game

Mine Wars: LMS

Features

--- 1/21/06 Features update
There's been a lot settling down since the last update, from now on info about the game will be written in the manual, which is starting from scratch.

--- 12/23/05 Features update
Big changes to the units and targeting structure.
  • First of all, all units will be easier to understand in terms of strength. All attack and def stats are being switched to multiples of 25. The amount of random +/- in kills will be decreased a LOT. So if you have a unit, say the Killjoy, with attack strength 100 and you want them to target Dragonflys with defense of 100, you'll know that the Killjoys will take the Dragonflys out at a 1-to-1 rate (barring upgrades and effects from the officer bonuses).
  • Targeting is no longer going to be set in stone. There are four ways to handle targeting: 1- do nothing and let your armies fight with their default targeting. 2- give class targeting orders, for example, you'll be able to order ALL planes to attack enemy tanks first, then AA, then Mech, etc. 3- give unit orders, here you can tell individual units which order to attack, for example, all banshees hit Tarantulas first, then Planes, etc. 4- tell units or classes to attack whatever they can as soon as they see it, in other words, an all out blast fest. Now you'll have much more control over the course of the battle and have more ways to come up with new strats
  • Giving targeting orders can affect units offensive effectiveness. The unit's default attacks give the best result since that is how the units are designed to attack. The all out attack gives a close second at 90%, since the units may or may not hit their optimal target but they have less constraints. Any other order will result in 85% effectiveness.
  • With these new targeting features you don't have to use them, but if you do you might have to think a little more. To balance the brain power, the units are being restructured so when you are determining what units to use you can think much less. Now each manufacturer will produce one of EVERY vehicle type and one extra specialty vehicle. Each manufacturer will still have unique traits (Roc has extra armor, Flash gets built fast, Advantage has extra speed, UG has extra firepower, etc) But now you'll be able to decide from the beginning exactly which resources you'll need for whichever manufacture you're going to use and just build up that refiniery and mine those resources. So for example if you decided to go with Advantage, you could just develop C-62 refiniers and mine C-62 and know that you will be able to get at least one of every unit type (plane, mech, tank, AA, etc) and not have to worry about getting caught unable to target something.
  • Bytanium will still be the most important resource, but to give the other resources a bit more value some missions will require Iron or C-62 instead.

With these changes the flow of the game could go easier, something like this: set your commander atrribute points, decide which manufacturer you will work with, decide which mineral(s) you will mine, progress on that path, upgrading your units as you go. So you could specialize in one manufacture, or maybe two, and still be fine and able to compete. If you want a balanced army, you could do that, or if you want a super unit, you could create it through upgrades. Also each round could be different, you could select different allocation of commander attribute points and work with different manufacturers. So this is the direction we're headed now.


--- 12/05/05 Features update
  • No Clans, No Attack Limits: It's every leader for themselves here, in a free for all till there is one person holding all the K-drones.
  • Less Units, More Specialized: There are only 30 units or so in LMS. The attack lists have all been shortened to a clear pattern so that each unit type is generally designed to destroy only one or at most two other unit types.
  • Upgrades: With the unit list shortened, the new Upgrades feature will be crucial. You now have an Engineering crew that can work on upgrading any aspect of a unit - weapons, armor, speed/range, or construction time.
  • Commander attribute points: As an elite Section Leader, you have gained skills above average. Choose what way you have developed by allocating 8 points in any of four catagories - Military Tactics, Engineering, Underground Connections, Faith - to give youself the edge you need to be the Last Mine Standing
  • --Military Tactics. You've been studying the art of war. For each point of Tact, your armies get an addition 2% attack bonus in attacks and 2% defense bonus when attacked. If you allocate 4 points to Tact, each General gets a Lieutenant that is an offensive specialist, having a chance to learn and gain experience like the General. If you allocate 8 poitns to Tact, each General will get another Lieutenant, a defensive specialist. The more Tact you have, the faster your officers will learn. Increase your military efficiency anc crush all foes.
  • --Engineering. Research and development are your specialty. For each point of Eng, your crews will work slightly faster. If you allocate 4 points to Eng, you have enough skills to manage a second engineering crew. If you allocate 8 points to Eng, you will be able to manage a second construction crew as well. Secondary crews can work simultaneously with the first crews. Develop your base at record speed, upgrading your units to achieve technological superiority over all your enemies.
  • --Connections. You never learned much about war, nor engineering. You were to busy building contacts and relationships, networking to form your own vast world of powerful connections. Now it's time to put it to use. For every point you allocate to connections, the amount of K-drones you cna have and still get your black market K-drone mission discount lasts is extended by 20 K-drones. Also, the number of K-drones you can get per mission increases. If you allocate 4 points to Conn, you may also be periodically approached by special under the table deals for units and arms at discount prices. If you allocate 8, your connections and influence run so deep occasionaly you get people sending you units for free just to stay on your good side.
  • --Faith While everyone else was trusting in their strength and brains, you always believed there was something else. And now it's paying off. For every point you allocate to Faith, less bad random events hit your base and more good ones happen. At 4 points of Faith you can count on getting at least less than 1/2 the amount of bad that happens to an ordinary base. With 8 points of Faith, you know at least twice as many good things will happen, but more curiously, unexplainable things, "miracles" may occur at any time in your favor.