TGMC:Pilot Officer

This page is a part of the TGMC wiki. TGMC is a project based on the CM-SS13 codebase.

MARINE

Pilot Officer

Access: Condor Piloting, Pilot Gear and CIC Difficulty: Medium Rank: Warrant Officer (Starting), Chief Warrant Officer (25hrs), Ensign (50hrs), Lieutenant Junior Grade (100hrs) Class: Navy Supervisors: Captain, Field Commander, Staff Officer Duties: Support the ground-forces with CAS providing zoning with strafes and flanks. Miss every single xeno but gib marines with rockets. Guides: Guide to Fire Support Quote:"You can be my wingman any time."

Introduction

Pilot Officer is a special role that gets to engage in combat, without ever setting foot on the planet. The Condor cockpit is your home, and you're technically shipside staff. When you're in the plane, you'll get to see more of the battlefield, as well as launch air-to-surface munitions, making you invaluable at covering flanks or pointing out hotspots.
As Pilot Officer, your primary duties are:

• Flying the Condor to help ground forces
• Using your bird's-eye-view to provide extra information to marines
• In absence of other command, taking responsibility for the mission
• Looking cool while doing it

Communication

It’s usually a good idea to communicate a lot.
While your primary duties are in the Condor, you might also be the one to fly the Alamo to the planet and recall it back to the ship, if no one else can. Be clear about when you're cycling the Alamo. You have the ability to send orders, so use this to update people on when the Alamo is moving.

Depending on your team, remember that only command roles start with tactical binoculars and get access to the Command and Fire Support radio channel. All roles can get green CAS flares. You can communicate with a squad directly to coordinate, like when asking Squad Leaders to provide lazes with their binoculars for you to bombard; or asking Squad Marines to throw CAS Flares.

Default radio commands:

• .v for Command
• .u for Requisitions
• .m for Medical
• .s for Fire Support
• .e for Engineering
• .q for ALPHA SQUAD
• .b for BRAVO SQUAD
• .c for CHARLIE SQUAD
• .d for DELTA SQUAD
• , for General radio
• First letter of squad name

for CUSTOM SQUADS

Installing stuff on ships

If you want to install a module or reload a weapon, you will need a powerloader (yellow robot).

• Right click the powerloader [image of the powerloader] and click “Enter powerloader”
  • Alternatively, you can clickdrag your sprite onto the powerloader.
  • Make sure your hands are empty before attempting to enter the powerloader.
• Move in front of the module or ammo pack and left-click on it to pick up
  • You can carry two modules, simply switch active hand to carry another one.
• Move to the ship slot and click left click on it, wait until installed or reloaded
  • You can switch hands while doing an action. So you can install two modules at once.
  • Note that for some weapons (machineguns) to be reloaded, you need to discard empty ammo box first. Do this by clicking the module.
    • This also can be used to take off a module (it goes into your hand)

Expand

Alamo

There are two ways to controlling the Alamo, via its cockpit and via remote computers.

The Alamo's cockpit

In the cockpit of the Alamo you will find the three main consoles.

• The camera control console (left), which lets you view the different cameras of the dropship.
• The main control console (middle), which lets you fly the dropship.
• The weapon control console (right), which lets you fire your weapons or deploy your sentries.

Using the center console allows for more advanced commands than through the remote computers found on the LZs or in CIC. From here, you can not only designate a landing zone, but also toggle automatic cycling mode. Once toggled, the Alamo will automatically cycle between the last two chosen destinations, at an interval of your choosing (after the recharge delay). It is highly recommend to turn on automatic cycling so that it frees up PO's time to do better things and lets marines not yell in radio. Also note - once you click it on, it will begin the course immediately.

You can also toggle the lockdowns on the left, right, and rear doors of the Alamo. Doing so will prevent anyone from opening the door until the lockdown manually deactivated from the cockpit; either by the PO, or an invader. Note that the lockdown will lock the doors into their current state; toggling lockdown while a door is open will force it to remain open.

The UI to control the Alamo's movement

The right part of the cockpit is the computer to deploy sentries to protect the Alamo from xenomorphs. This UI can also be used for fire mission if the Alamo is equipped with CAS arsenal, but it is recommended to use CAS for the Condor jet.

The UI to use sentries

Communication is key with the Alamo. One of the primary mistakes when using the Alamo is not knowing when and where marines want to be at.

1. Before the Alamo launch into one of the landing zones in planetside for marines' first deployment, ask what landing zone the forward operational base, or FOB, is in.
2. Always tell marines when you are launching so that the marines heading to the Alamo is more motivated to haul ass.
3. Install surgery table in Alamo; It will generally see more use than the machinegun hardpoint, as the back door almost always gets locked in the event of an assault.

Piloting each dropship is fairly easy, you just have to click a few buttons and wait.

In the cockpit of the Alamo you will find the three main consoles.

• The camera control console (left), which lets you view the different cameras of the dropship.
• The main control console (middle), which lets you fly the dropship and lock or unlock the Alamo doors. If the Shrike or Queen touches this console the Alamo becomes locked which prevents the Alamo from working for a long time and also unlocks all doors. Do not lock all 3 sides of the Alamo otherwise they can lock the Alamo without touching the console.
• The weapon control console (right), which lets you fire your weapons or deploy your dropship equipment.

Expand

Close Air Support (CAS)

Most beautiful piece of metal there is, Condor

Close Air Support, or for short CAS, is your way of helping the marines. You can rain down hell on your enemies with bullets, rockets and lasers. The groundside marines can help you with tactical binoculars or a lit CAS signal flare, to laze a spot for you to bombard. Communicate with the squads accordingly to make sure they know CAS is available. Remind them about flares and marks.

Preparation

But how do I kill my enemies, you ask? First you need to install the weapons. Note that the weapons you install are unloaded, and need to be filled with the ammunition from the ammo-storage room.

• By default, Condor has 30mm machinegun in the front, which is already loaded
• Take new weapons (which are usually lying around at roundstart)
• Install them, see above
• Load them with ammo

Starting a firemission

You execute CAS with your trusty Condor (blue plane), doing a fly-bys

• Сlimb into the Condor's cockpit (click)
  • It will bring up the menu, which you can also access via B
• Spool (start) engines (Enter)
• Take off - begin flyby (Space)
• Begin fire mission
  • If there are CAS lasers, it will give you list of options to teleport to
  • Otherwise it will semi-randomly teleport you to some location near marines
• Once fuel level is low, you will automatically land
• You can do this manually via "land plane", then "disable engines" after landing
• To get out of cockpit, press B (resist). Mid-flight B brings up flight menu.
• Refuel your plane with jerry cans by clicking the cockpit. Refuel cans by clicking the fuel tank.

Note: do NOT take off before ALAMO has landed for the first time. You will bug out.

Shoot stoopid benos

• Click "begin fire mission".
  • You'll enter a map overview mode like the AI or Overwatch terminals where you can see anything within camera range of the ground forces, as well as the spot around the laze and the signal flares. You can fire on ANYTHING in sight of any marine on the ground! BUT all of your weapons will be danger close without the added range of the laser dot - this might not matter if your camera coverage is coming from a corpse's still-active helmet camera.
  • All weapons are accurate, except for Illumination Flares, so don't worry about missing.
• In the plane menu, you can select the active weapon.
  • Only one can be active at a time, but you can easily switch them. Just keep the menu open (B button to open it).
  • Different weapons have different purposes, and fly time. Usual machinegun take 6 seconds to land, laser takes 1.
  • Below you will see the button for direction. It shows how weapons will shoot
    • For example, 'EAST' will launch bullets from left to right.
    • WASD and arrow keys for selecting attack direction.
• If your fuel runs out, you'll land back on the ship automatically

CAS Weapons

The Condor features four primary weapons for close air support (The central minigun on the Condor is just a built-in 30mm cannon, don't tell anyone). Similarly to the Alamo modules discussed above, use a powerloader to equip them onto the relevant attachment points. The Condor features 4 empty attachment points to start, so feel free to mix and match.

Reload weapons using the powerloader. With the relevant ammo held, click the weapon to fill it. If the weapon is still loaded, use an empty claw to remove the old ammo prior to reloading. Some weapons, like the 30mm cannon, require you to remove the old ammo box if it's been fully depleted.

Weapon:	Description:
GAU-21 30mm Cannon	Your standard area-denial tool. Use to hit slow xenos in a 3 by 8 tile area, or deny access for fear of the green dot. ExpandAmmunition types: 30mm Ammo Crate An ammo crate of 30mm. Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 200 rounds, each time it is fired uses 20 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Costs 75 points in the dropship part fabricator. High Velocity 30mm Ammo Crate An ammo crate of High Velocity 30mm Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 200 rounds, each time it is fired uses 20 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Due to advanced aerodynamics and enhanced propellant in each round, the delay between firing and impact is reduced over the standard 30mm round. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Minirocket Pod	Quickly fires variable micro rockets, with a capacity of 6. Good for zoning against lower tier Xenos, or providing support through the utility rocket variants. ExpandAmmunition types: Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that explode, but are not very strong. They are able to be fired in rapid succession. Costs 100 points in the dropship part fabricator. Smoke Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact release smoke. Costs 25 points in the dropship part fabricator. Illumination Rocket-Launched Flare Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact make a bright invisible flare. Costs 25 points in the dropship part fabricator. Tanglefoot Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that release Tanglefoot gas in a large area. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator. Incendiary Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that explode and also leave behind a large area in flames. Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Rocket Pod	Heavy rocket launcher, capable of unleashing some of CAS' heaviest hitting ordinance. ExpandAmmunition types: AIM-224 Widowmaker A high-velocity rocket capable of quickly closing the distance from air to surface. Costs 75 points in the dropship part fabricator. AGM-227 Banshee A high explosive rocket that coats an area in flames for a short duration. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator. GBU-67 Keeper II An armor-piercing high-damage rocket designed to bust heavy targets. Doesn't have a wide radius, but will almost certainly kill anything it hits directly. Costs 300 points in the dropship part fabricator. SM-17 Fatty A cluster type rocket, dealing multiple explosions in a radius around the initial blast. Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator. XN-99 Napalm An incendiary rocket designed to cover an area in napalm for a long time. Fire remains for a significant duration. Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Laser Beam Gun	A short-delay, high-damage incendiary laser cannon. Must be purchased from the dropship part fabricator. ExpandAmmunition types: High-Capacity Laser Battery A High Capacity Laser Battery capable of fitting in the Laser Beam Gun. Has a charge of 100 with each shot consuming 10 charge for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Costs 85 points in the dropship part fabricator.

CAS tips

• It is in general very hard to land a clear hit on a xeno. You most often need at least 2 shots to kill even the weakest xeno, and therefore you won't be able to make kills by yourself. Try to really act as fire support, not as death from the sky.
• Large rockets have gib-zone in the center.
  • If you land a direct hit, you are guaranteed to kill a xeno which has low bomb resist, like Boiler, Prae, and most low-tiers.
  • If you don't, it's around 120 damage to xeno, so around 3 rockets to kill a full HP xeno. Not a great deal.
• Keep in mind the travel time to avoid friendly fire and so you dont end up saving an injured xeno by preventing marines from being able to chase.
  • This happens absurdly often
• Xeno don't know what will be coming down - use this to your advantage.
  • Illumination Flares can be used to trick xenos into running away, very useful if a marine is getting attacked.
  • The Laser Beam is very quick to fire.
• Try to predict where xenos will go. Block their retreat paths. Hamper their attack.
• Use area denial weapons to block xenos from escaping.
  • Especially useful when xenos make a push, to prevent injured ones from quickly retreating.
• Try to use cheaper ammunition first, fabricator point generation is pretty low.
• Ask for CAS lasers in .s
• Ask for green CAS flares in general channel.
  • Also, you can make a crate with CAS flares from weapons vendor, and send it from Cargo
• CAS is most effective during defense. You cannot shoot without visions, and marines attacking mean that there would be a lot of FF.
• T4 xeno have very high bomb defense, and can shrug off even larger explosions.

Expand

Weapons

This is a list of all the available modules and what they do. Most of them are available at roundstart, but more can be purchased from the Dropship Parts Fabricator.
The Dropship Part Fabricator is the most important piece of equipment. It is used to make the modules and ammunition for the Tadpole and Condor.

Modules

Module	Description
Condor Jet Minigun	A built in GAU-21 to use for gun runs. Built in the Condor and unremovable.
GAU-21 30mm Cannon	A GAU-21 to use for gun runs. The Sulaco and Pillar of Spring start with 1. Costs 400 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Rocket Pod	A rocket pod capable of holding a rocket. The Sulaco and Pillar of Spring start with 1 Costs 600 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Minirocket Pod	A minirocket pod capable of holding minirockets. The Sulaco and Pillar of Spring start with 1 Costs 600 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Laser Beam	A laser beam that fires a long line of fire that burns targets. The flames are short lived. Costs 500 points in the dropship part fabricator.

Ammunition

Module	Description	Damage	Cost per shot	Usage
30mm Ammo Crate	An ammo crate of 30mm. Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 200 rounds, each time it is fired uses 20 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Travel time of 6 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 75 points in the dropship part fabricator.	EXPLODE_LIGHT	7.5	Longest travel time. Best use is scaring xeno, defending static objectives (like xeno who is potentially revivable) and clearing out resin mazes. Cheap.
High Velocity 30mm Ammo Crate	An ammo crate of High Velocity 30mm Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 200 rounds, each time it is fired uses 20 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Travel time of 5 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.	EXPLODE_LIGHT	15	Questionable use, still takes too long to hit but now is more expensive.
AIM-224 'Widowmaker'	A rocket capable of reaching its target fast. It is the least powerful rocket. Travel time of 3 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 75 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 2, 4, 6	75	Actually a very cost-effective rocket. Best use is to target those which can be gibbed, like Prae. Low travel time helps.
AGM-227 'Banshee'	A rocket capable of clearing large areas. It has a wide range. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 2, 4, 7 Fire in 6-tile radius	150	Widowmaker but with fire. Best use is to shoot it in xeno outpost near active combat, possibly kills on xeno who are too busy fighting, and those who can no longer retreat due to fire.
SM-17 'Fatty'	A cluster type rocket. Explodes in the center, and then 8 more explosions after 3 seconds around. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 2, 3, 4 for each	200	If you're a xeno, you think its just a minirocket. Then you die.
XN-99 'Napalm'	An incendiary rocket designed to cover an area in napalm for a long time. It stays on fire for a long time. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 2, 3, 4 Flame of range 5 for a minute	200	About a minute of fire. Only use to cut off a corridor, in other cases use Banshee or inc minirockets.
GBU-67 'Keeper II'	A bomb designed to devastate armoured targets. It has a less blast radius but is more powerful in the center. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 300 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 4, 5, 5	300	Easier to gib weak xenos. Actually no use against T4s usually, they'll shrug off any hits. Generally too expensive to fabricate, buy 4 widows instead.
Smoke Mini Rocket Stack	A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact release smoke. They are able to be fired in rapid succession. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 25 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 0, 0, 2	4.2	Actually damages. Smoke covers marines, and helps the attack. Launch if you see xeno attacking. Note that it might be harmful, for example if a medic is treating wounds on a marines and he suddenly disappears.
Illumination Rocket-Launched Flare Stack	A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact make a bright invisible flare. They are able to be fired in rapid succession but are inaccurate. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 25 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 0, 0, 2	4.2	Actually damages. Useless for you, useful for marines. Creates light, launch in areas with xeno and no direct sight from marine side.
Tangle Mini Rocket Stack	A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact release Tanglefoot gas in a large area. They are able to be fired in rapid succession. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 0, 0, 2	25	Actually damages. Best weapon to support marine attack. Large AOE, xeno fear it, marines love it.
Mini Rocket Stack	A stack of 6 minirockets that explode but are not very strong. They are able to be fired in rapid succession. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3. Costs 100 points in the dropship part fabricator.	Range 0, 2, 4	16.7	Medium damage, use to finish off running xeno.
Incendiary Mini Rocket Stack	A stack of 6 minirockets that explode and also leave behind a large area in flames. They are able to be fired in rapid succession. Travel time of 4 seconds on orbit level 3 Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.	No direct damage Fire range of 3	33.3	Area denial, use in corridors to prevent xeno from retreating.
High-Capacity Laser Battery	A High Capacity Laser Battery capable of fitting in the Laser Beam Gun. Has a charge of 100 with each shot consuming 10 charge for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Travel time of 1 second on orbit level 3. Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.	120 Fire (before armor) + 20 Fire stacks (that's a lot)	15	Make Boiler's life miserable. Do direct damage. Help the attack. Destroy xeno corridors.

Collapse

Orders

All Command staff and assigned Squad Leaders have access to Orders which can be used to buff nearby troops. Using one causes you to shout out a unique phrase over the radio. After giving an Order, there is a one-minute cooldown period until you can give another one, but cooldowns for Orders and Markers are separate.

Order effects are influenced by your Leadership skill, which increases both the effect and range.

Order	CollapseDescription
Move order	Increases movement speed by 0.1 per Leadership level Great for retreats and getting to objectives quickly
Hold order	Reduces damage received by 5% per Leadership level Increases pain resistance, reduces the effects of dizziness and jitteriness
Focus order	Increases accuracy by 10% plus 5% per Leadership level Makes Aiming instant
Rally marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Rally at a given point.
Attack marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Attack a given point.
Defend marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Defend a given point.
Retreat marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Retreat from a given point.

TGMC Roles
	TerraGov Marines Ranks	Command	Captain, Field Commander, Staff Officer, Pilot Officer, Transport Officer, Mech Pilot
		Vehicle Crew	Assault Crewman, Transport Crewman
		Engineering and Supply	Chief Ship Engineer, Requisitions Officer, Ship Technician
		Medical	Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Researcher
		Marines	Squad Leader, Squad Smartgunner, Squad Engineer, Squad Corpsman, Squad Marine
		Civilians	Corporate Liaison
		Silicon	Combat robots, Synthetic, AI
	Xenomorphs Playtime	Tier 0	Larva, Minions
		Tier 1	Drone, Runner, Defender, Sentinel
		Tier 2	Hivelord, Carrier, Hunter, Wraith, Bull, Warrior, Puppeteer, Spitter, Pyrogen
		Tier 3	Gorger, Defiler, Widow, Ravager, Warlock, Behemoth, Crusher, Praetorian, Boiler
		Tier 4	Shrike, Queen, King, Hivemind
	Others		Zombie, Emergency Response Teams, Sons of Mars, Survivor