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Running a Co op campaign with MekHQ
There's a few different ways you can do this, depending on what you want to achieve:
(1) Co-Op ATB/StratCon
(2) Admin assistant for an 'against the GM' RP style campaign
Set up an ATB campaign in whatever way suits your group best. We would advise a minimum of one lance per player. If you want larger battles or more tactical options, go for one company per player.
Follow the AtB beginner guide (in the docs folder) to get the system set up how you want it, with the right settings. Or go to #stratcon on the official Discord and follow the guides there if you want to try the new campaign system which is awesome but very much still in dev.
When you start a scenario from the Briefing Room, have your players connect, assign them your units, and make sure you're all on the same team.
At the end of the battle, it should (99 times out of 100) gracefully track back to MHQ. Then do your admin, advance the timeline, etc.
As only one of you will be running MHQ, I would advise screen sharing via Discord (Channels available for public use) etc. so people can make suggestions for company purchases, direct their own MechWarriors' training etc. Or you could play by email and send the save to each other. The GM should always keep the latest copy though.
This is pretty much all you need to do.
I use the following tools/resources:
MegaMek - playing the games and saving the results file for use in MHQ
MegaMek Map Editor - for making custom in-game maps for scenarios.
MekHQ - I have a save file for each faction in the campaign (Players, OpFor, BluFor/Allies). Each MHQ save is synced to the same in-universe date by me doing a lot of admin behind the scenes. I generate forces for the OpFor/BluFor based on the contract using MegaMek's force generator. This gives me persistent forces for all factions involved. Each contract I reset the OpFor/BluFor save files.
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Roll20/VTT of your choice - for planetary/operational area maps, with images of the TO&E icons exported to represent units at a strategic scale.
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Touring the Stars books - for planetary info
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Campaign Operations sourcebook - for campaign/mercenary contract generation rules and unit purchasing/setup guidelines.
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Inkarnate - for making planetary maps where a Touring the Stars book doesn't exist.
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Discord - a dedicated server for the campaign, where players can roleplay, join voice channels, make dice rolls, etc.
Play the opposing forces in all scenarios as GM to allow for more narrative driven scenarios that the bot can't cope with.
Set up your MekHQ using the Campaign Operations preset. Tweak the preset further to your liking (XP costs, salary bands, etc.). DO NOT enable ATB/StratCon.
Create your unit. Use Campaign Ops, FM Mercs, whatever's method you prefer.
Generate a contract as per CamOps/FMM - create this in MekHQ using the GM tools button to create a new contract. Pick the location, allied forces/employer, enemy, length, etc. as per what you rolled in the book.
Generate any OpFor/BluFor persistent forces you want in MegaMek using the 'Force Generator' under 'Create Random Army'. Export as a MUL and import into your OpFor/BluFor MHQ saves. Set them to be on the same planet.
Use whatever map tool you're using to manage the operation at a strategic layer until a battle occurs. Use whatever rules suit here.
Create a 'Scenario' using the GM tools button in the players', the OpFor's, and potentially the BlUFor's MHQ saves. Add units from the TO&E as you would in ATB.
DO NOT launch the game from MekHQ. Instead, export the forces for each faction to a MUL using the provided button.
Open up MegaMek as a server (make sure ports are forwarded) - share your IP with your players so they can connect. Load the MULs from the different MHQ saves by importing them and assign units to each player.
At the end of the mission, you as GM playing the OpFor and one player MUST save the output MUL offered on the final screen that shows kills, the graveyard, etc.
In MHQ use the 'Resolve Manually' button on the scenario to process the results of the battle - losses, salvage, etc.
That's a basic guide to doing it. Please join our Discord (link above) we have have lots of players that can help
Wiki entry based modified by Hammer from original document by UlyssesSockdrawer