OpFor

[AFoletti]

Opposing Force (OpFor) Tracker
Track enemy forces across your campaign:

• OpFor roster - log enemy units encountered (name, type, BV, status: Active/Destroyed/Captured)
• Link OpFor to missions - which enemies appeared in which battle
• Rivalry system - mark specific enemy pilots as "Nemesis" with encounter history
• Intelligence notes - free-text intel on enemy units/commanders
• Campaign narrative emerges from tracking who you've fought and defeated
• New tab + mission integration, stored in force JSON
• Possibly link to another existing force to have automatic link to available mechs?
• This may expand into a separate mission module, where each force sets up the mission and the details are logged into the respective forces

[AFoletti]

Summary: OpFor Feature Design Discussion

Problem Statement

The BattleTech Forces Manager needs a way to track opposing forces (OpFor) across campaigns. This enables narrative tracking of enemies encountered, linking kills to specific enemy units, and potentially managing both sides of a battle.

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Design Options Explored

Option A: OpFor as Linked Force

• Forces reference each other via ID (e.g., "opForId": "19th-great-white")
• Full mech/pilot data available for enemies
• Challenge: No backend means no automatic sync. If Force A destroys an enemy mech, Force B's JSON must be manually updated/exported.
• Verdict: Feasible for read-only linking; cross-force state sync is problematic without backend.

Option B: Simple Embedded OpFor List

• Each force has its own opForUnits[] array embedded in the force JSON
• Enemy mechs added via mech catalog (same as player mechs)
• Pros: Simple, self-contained, no sync issues
• Cons: No reuse across forces; duplicated data if both players use the app

Option C: Hybrid Approach (Selected Direction)

• Embedded "Quick Roster": Always available, simple enemy list for fast setup
• Optional Force Linking: Reference another force JSON for richer data; changes stay local until exported
• Graceful degradation: works standalone, scales up when linking is needed

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Game Master Model

Assumption: A GM (or one player acting as GM) manages the mission. This provides:

• Single source of truth for the battle
• One mission creation, results propagated to both forces
• Avoids the "two versions of same battle" problem

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Mission Module Concept

Rather than linking OpFor at the force level, link at the mission level. This allows:

• Same force to face different OpFor in different missions
• Per-mission deployment for both sides
• Dual debriefing: damage, kills, WP for both forces

Proposed Mission Dialog Structure

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  MISSION: Battle of Helm                                        │
├───────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┤
│  YOUR FORCE                   │  OPFOR                          │
│  [Deployment]                 │  [Linked Force OR Quick Roster] │
│  [Objectives + WP Rewards]    │  [Objectives + WP Rewards]      │
├───────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│  DEBRIEFING                   │  DEBRIEFING                     │
│  [Damage, Kills, WP Earned]   │  [Damage, Kills, WP Earned]     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key: Objectives and WP are per-side, not shared.

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Data Model Draft (Full Vision)

Mission with OpFor

{
  "id": "mission-123",
  "name": "Battle of Helm",
  "forceDeployment": {
    "assignedMechs": ["mech-1", "mech-2"],
    "objectives": [{ "id": "obj-f1", "description": "...", "wpReward": 100 }],
    "spBudget": 100
  },
  "opFor": {
    "type": "linked | quick",
    "forceId": "3rd-davion-guards",
    "assignedMechs": ["mech-101"],
    "units": [],
    "objectives": [{ "id": "obj-o1", "description": "...", "wpReward": 75 }]
  },
  "debriefing": {
    "forceResults": { "wpEarned": 100, "kills": [...], "casualties": [...] },
    "opForResults": { "wpEarned": 0, "kills": [...], "casualties": [...] }
  }
}

OpFor Type Variants

• "type": "linked" → References full force JSON, IDs point to real mechs/pilots
• "type": "quick" → Embedded unit list, no external force

Kill ↔ Casualty Linking

Kills reference targetId which maps to:

• Linked OpFor: actual mech ID in linked force (can update status on export)
• Quick roster: local ID (status tracked in mission only)

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Open Questions for Future Implementation

1. Capture mechanic: Add "captured" status for mechs/pilots? (Salvage rules)
2. Pilot ejection: Track separately? ("pilotStatus": "ejected" | "kia" | "captured")
3. OpFor achievements: Should enemy pilots earn achievements?
4. Mission outcome: Per-side victory/defeat, or single outcome?

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Implementation Phases (Proposed)

Phase	Scope
Phase 1 (MVP)	Simple per-mission OpFor roster (quick roster only). Units available as kill targets during mission completion. No force linking.
Phase 2	Dual objectives + WP tracking per side. Full debriefing for both force and OpFor.
Phase 3	Force linking. Load external force JSON as OpFor, edit both, export both.
Phase 4	Full mission module with briefing, deployment, scenario setup for both sides.

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Next Step

Implement Phase 1 MVP: A simple per-mission embedded OpFor roster that allows logging which enemy units were encountered and selecting them as kill targets during mission completion.

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[AFoletti]

Phase 1 as described above is implemented in V1.5.2