This guide is meant to walk through MENACE the same way the game itself unfolds: first the strategic layer, then squad management, then combat, and finally the systems that quietly decide whether your campaign survives or collapses. MENACE throws a lot of information at you early, and while none of the mechanics are especially complicated on their own, they interact in ways that aren’t always obvious at first.
Rather than rushing toward optimal builds or late-game efficiency, this guide focuses on understanding fundamentals. If you know how the strategic layer feeds into combat, how Squad Leader stats actually translate into battlefield performance, and why suppression and positioning matter more than raw damage, the rest of the game becomes much easier to read.
This is not a speedrun guide or a difficulty-specific breakdown. It’s a practical foundation meant to help new players avoid early mistakes that snowball into unwinnable Operations.
MENACE Beginner Guide — The Black Market, Combat
MENACE places you in command of the strike cruiser TCRN Impetus, stranded in the Wayback system. The system itself is unstable, with multiple factions fighting for control: pirates, corporate forces, the Rogue Army, hostile alien fauna, and a growing unknown threat that becomes more apparent as the campaign progresses.
At the strategic level, you move between planets and select Operations, which are multi-mission chains with branching paths. Each Operation pits you against one of the planetside factions and affects your standing with the faction that sponsored the mission. Success improves relationships and unlocks stronger upgrades. Failure or aborting an Operation damages that relationship.
Each Operation is made up of procedurally generated missions with different objectives, terrain, weather, and rewards. You choose which path to take through the Operation, balancing risk, supply limits, and long-term benefits. Before each mission, you prepare squads, manage equipment, and position units. Once deployed, combat plays out in turn-based tactical battles where positioning, suppression, and survival matter more than flawless execution.
Losses are expected. Squaddies will die. Vehicles will take damage. The goal isn’t perfection, but controlled progress.
The Bridge
The Bridge is your main management hub outside of combat. Everything that keeps your campaign running happens here.
At the top-left of the screen, under the Impetus, you’ll see four key resources that influence nearly every decision:
Promotion Points are earned by completing primary and secondary mission objectives. These are used to promote Squad Leaders and unlock perks.
Authority represents discipline and command cohesion aboard the Impetus. Higher Authority increases squad Discipline and is required to hire new Squad Leaders or resolve certain events.
O.C.I. Components are used to repair and upgrade the Impetus itself.
Squaddies are your manpower pool. Every infantry squad draws from this pool, and it is not unlimited.
Understanding how these four resources interact is essential. Running out of any one of them can stall your campaign.
System Map & Operation Selection
The System Map shows all available Operations across the Wayback system. Selecting an Operation reveals the planet’s biome, the enemy faction you’ll face, and how success or failure will affect faction standing.
Faction standing matters because it unlocks unique O.C.I. upgrades. Some faction-specific upgrades are significantly stronger than the baseline versions, but they often cost more Components. Choosing which factions to work with early has long-term consequences.
Operations cannot be partially completed. Once you commit, you either finish all missions or abort and take a standing penalty. That makes early path selection important, especially when supply limits are tight.
O.C.I. — Operational Capability Improvements
The Impetus begins the campaign heavily damaged, with most O.C.I. slots empty. These upgrades fall into three categories:
Electronics improve Intelligence. Higher Intelligence reveals enemy starting positions and squad types during mission prep.
Armament unlocks offmap abilities such as rocket strikes, strafing runs, and ion beams.
Hull upgrades provide passive benefits like medical bays, vehicle repairs, and manpower recovery.
O.C.I. upgrades require Components earned from completing Operations. Some faction-specific upgrades cost more but offer stronger effects. Early on, Intelligence upgrades are often more impactful than raw firepower because better information prevents costly mistakes.
Squad Leader Stats
Every squad is led by a Squad Leader, either infantry or vehicle-based. Squad Leaders define how a squad behaves, how effective it is under pressure, and how it scales over time.
Battlefield Modifiers
These apply to the entire squad during missions:
Armor determines damage mitigation and accessory capacity.
Detection affects how easily a squad detects enemies within vision range.
Concealment affects how difficult the squad is to detect.
Vision determines how far the squad can see through fog of war.
Weather and terrain can modify Detection and Vision, making some missions slower and riskier than others.
Stats & Attributes
Attributes directly translate into combat stats:
Agility → Action Points
100 Agility equals 120 AP.
Weapon Skill → Accuracy
Direct 1:1 conversion.
Valor → Discipline
Higher Discipline resists suppression and morale effects.
Toughness → Damage Reduction
50 Toughness means no reduction. 100 equals 50% damage reduction.
Vitality → Hitpoints per Element
50 Vitality gives 10 HP per Squaddie. 100 gives 20.
Precision → Critical Chance
100 Precision equals 25% crit chance. Enemies cannot crit player units.
Positioning → Defense
100 Positioning reduces enemy accuracy by 50%.
Other important values include Promotion Tax, which increases supply cost with each promotion, Supply Cost, and Growth Potential, which controls how fast stats increase through combat actions.
Squad Customization
Infantry Squads
Infantry squads are the most common unit type.
Squad Size affects supply cost and combat power. Losing Squaddies weakens the squad’s effectiveness.
Infantry Weapons define range, suppression, and damage output.
Infantry Specials replace the Squad Leader’s main weapon and have limited uses.
Armor protects the squad and determines accessory slots.
Accessories provide utility such as grenades, drones, scanners, and ammo.
Vehicle Squads
Vehicle squads require a chassis to deploy.
Heavy Slots mount powerful weapons.
Light Slots mount lighter weapons or utility options.
Vehicle Accessories provide defense, mobility, or support effects.
Vehicles are expensive but versatile, and some can transport infantry squads safely across the battlefield.
Operations & Mission Prep
Each mission provides details on objectives, weather, time of day, and supply limits.
Before deploying:
Check Intel Details to see enemy placement.
Adjust Squad Positioning within the deployment zone.
Ensure total Supply Cost does not exceed the mission limit.
Overloading supply usually leads to under-equipped squads later in the Operation.
Combat — The Basics
MENACE uses turn-based combat without initiative. Each faction activates one squad at a time until all squads have acted.
Action Points control everything: movement, firing, crouching, deploying, and using abilities.
Once a squad starts its turn, it is committed until you end it or run out of AP. Ending a turn early means you lose remaining AP for that round.
Overextending early in a round is dangerous, as enemy squads may get multiple chances to respond.
Cover and Line of Sight
Cover is directional. A squad may be protected from one angle and exposed from another.
Crouching improves defense and allows special weapon use but prevents movement until you stand up again.
Vehicles also benefit from cover and can face specific directions to protect stronger armor sides.
Urban terrain increases ambush risk. Slow, deliberate movement reduces surprise engagements.
Combat — Psychological Effects
Suppression
Suppression reduces accuracy, AP, and overall effectiveness.
It is caused by damage, rate of fire, nearby explosions, and squaddie deaths.
Discipline, armor, and cover reduce suppression.
Pinned squads are often more valuable to neutralize than to kill outright.
Morale
Heavy losses can cause squads to waver or flee. These squads cannot act and may leave the battlefield entirely if morale does not recover.
Offmap Abilities
Unlocked through O.C.I. upgrades, offmap abilities do not cost AP but take a full round to resolve.
Suppressing enemies before using offmap abilities prevents them from escaping the strike zone.
Taking Casualties
Squaddies will die. This reduces firepower and suppression output.
You can replenish Squaddies between missions, but manpower is finite. Poor casualty management can cripple later Operations.
Mission Success & Rewards
After missions, you receive loot, Promotion Points, and performance summaries.
Secondary objectives significantly increase rewards and should be prioritized when possible.
The Black Market
The Black Market lets you trade items based on market value.
There is no benefit to overpaying.
Inventory refreshes after every Operation, making regular checks worthwhile.
Squad Leader Hiring
Using the same Squad Leaders repeatedly causes exhaustion penalties.
Hiring requires Authority and a dossier from the Black Market.
Dismissed Squad Leaders return to the hiring pool and refund Authority.
Balancing Authority usage is critical to maintaining Discipline across your roster.