Mastering units, loadouts, and the economy of flesh in the Wayback System.
In MENACE, the most dangerous opponent you’ll face isn’t always the alien threat or rogue army — it’s your own logistics and supply economy. Every squad you deploy, every weapon you choose, and every leader you promote costs vital supply points and impacts your long-term success. Strategic balance between raw power and supply efficiency is the key to lasting success in the Wayback System.
🔍 What Makes Squad Composition So Critical?
MENACE uses a supply point system that limits what you can bring on missions. Every squad leader, squaddie, weapon, piece of armor, and accessory has a supply cost — and you can only deploy up to the mission’s supply point cap. This forces meaningful choices: a powerful loadout might break your supply budget, while a balanced one can win battles sustainably.
Additionally:
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Squaddies are not just HP, they affect your combat effectiveness and are drawn from a limited manpower pool — losing them has long-term consequences.
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Leaders have unique perks and growth potential that affect squad stats, promotion costs, and tactical roles.
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Promotion increases a leader’s effectiveness but also increases the deployment cost due to “promotion tax.”
📊 The Economy of Flesh: Supply & Promotion Tax
How It Works
Every Squad Leader (SL) and every piece of equipment has a base supply cost before rounding up the total squad cost. More promotions and perks increase this cost further, making high-tier leaders expensive to deploy.
👉 This means “powerful” doesn’t always equal “efficient.”
Sometimes a cheap leader with smart perks delivers more value than an expensive elite you can barely afford to equip.
Official guides and community analysis confirm: balancing supply cost with combat utility is central to success in MENACE.
🧠 Squad Leader Meta Overview (Early Access)
| Leader | Stars | Role Focus | Why They Matter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pike | ⭐⭐ | Support / AP Relay | Boosts team AP; excellent support role. |
| Darby | ⭐⭐⭐ | Stealth / Precision | Exceptional utility, but very costly. |
| Bog | ⭐ | Economy Pilot | Low cost; great budget vehicle support. |
| Lim | ⭐⭐ | CQC Sprinter | Cheap, fast, effective close combat. |
| Carda | ⭐ | Budget Support | Cheap recon/utility build. |
| Achilleas | ⭐⭐⭐ | Vehicle Ace | High cost, high reward vehicle commander. |
| Rewa | ⭐⭐ | Aggressor | Strong in swarms but riskier to deploy. |
| Exconde | ⭐⭐ | Vehicle Strong | Mobility and cover support in vehicles. |
These roles are community-verified and represent common strategic archetypes emerging in Early Access.
🛠️ Three Core Community Builds
These squads aren’t just theory — they work based on community testing and meta discussions:
1. “Naked Pike” — The Force Multiplier
Setup: Pike with cheap armor, minimal squad-backs, and support role gear.
Why it works: Pike’s Taking Command support enables allied units (like heavy tanks or precision squads) to act with boosted AP, effectively giving key units extra turns.
Goal: Maximize action economy over raw firepower.
2. “Invisible Darby” — Ghost Lead
Setup: Darby equipped with stealth-oriented perks and camouflage gear.
Why it works: Darby’s concealment utility allows her to position behind enemy lines and eliminate high-priority threats or scout safely. She excels in high-reward strike missions where stealth matters.
Goal: Tactical elimination and intel gathering with very low risk.
3. “Battle Taxi” — Bog & Lim Combo
Setup: Bog piloting an APC carrying Lim and support units.
Why it works: Bog’s Recycled Parts trait lowers vehicle deployment cost while maintaining utility. Use vehicles for rapid repositioning, then dismount Lim into cover for effective CQC attacks.
Goal: Speed and surprise attacks without burning supply on expensive transport.
🚜 Vehicles vs 🪖 Infantry: Strategic Roles
Vehicles
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Act as force multipliers on the battlefield, absorbing fire and drawing attention.
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They can carry troops or heavy weapons but are not replacements for infantry (they can still break down, and pilots are vulnerable).
Infantry
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Flexible and versatile, infantry delivers damage relative to their supply cost — often more cost-efficient than trying to solo with vehicles.
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Managing squads, suppression, and positioning often yields better outcomes than relying solely on armor.
Community Consensus: Vehicles are excellent support tools but should be anchored by efficient infantry squads for most missions.
Vehicles vs. Infantry (Refined Note)
Vehicle Defects (Important Detail):
While vehicles ignore suppression effects entirely, they still accumulate Defects when taking sustained damage. These include issues like Engine Stutter, Weapon Misfires, or Leaking Hydraulics, which can severely reduce combat efficiency over time.In the early game, Bog is the only pilot who can fully ignore vehicle defects thanks to his Jury-Rigged perk. Without him, clearing defects requires expensive Black Market repairs—often costing thousands of credits—making vehicle-heavy strategies far less efficient on tight supply runs.
🎒 Essential Loadout Checklist
These gear choices consistently show up in meta discussions and community guides:
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Smoke Grenades: Mandatory tactical item for concealment & area control.
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Crowbar (Battle Rifle): Balanced weapon with solid suppression value (reported by community analysis).
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Ammo Bags: Crucial for longer missions; running out of ammo is a common early cause for failure.
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Armor: Provides protection but increases supply; use carefully and balance with squad size and roles.
📈 Strategy Tips from the Community Meta
Supply Efficiency Matters
Deploying a few elite leaders with minimal support often underperforms compared to balanced squadrons with cheaper leaders and better equipment synergy.
AP & Turn Economy
Manage Action Points (AP) carefully — moving, firing, and crouching all consume AP, and knowing when to withhold AP for reactions is often decisive.
💡 Final Thoughts
Success in MENACE isn’t just winning battles — it’s doing so without bleeding manpower and supply dry. Balance your squad leaders, manage supply costs, equip intelligently, and adapt your loadouts to each mission’s unique challenges. The Wayback System punishes complacency, but smart builds and resource economies win campaigns.
Reader Challenge:
Have you found a way to make 3-star leaders worth the cost in the early game—or are you running a strict 1-star-only budget build to save supplies?Drop your best credit-saving tricks, leader picks, or early-game mistakes to avoid in the comments. Let’s see who’s really optimizing their run.
👉 Next recommended reads:
- Official MENACE Steam Page - Game details, updates, and community reviews on Steam.
- r/MENACE (Reddit) – Central subreddit for tips, tutorials, gameplay discussion, and community strategy guides.
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