Surface Combat

"There will only be two civilizations vying for the control of a planet's surface at one time. Other civilizations with troops amassed in space overhead must wait until the forces below them resolve their war before landing. Ground combat is always waged between two civilizations at a time only."

1. Pre-Battle Planning
2. Battle Plans
3. Ground Combat Resolution
4. More In-Depth Look
5. Ground Combat Simulator

1.
Reinforcements: New units might appear on the planet to join in the fighting there. These include "regular" troop reinforcements that just arrived by transport ships and survived any space battles (infantry, space marines, mobile infantry, armor, and Battleoids) and "irregular" forces that are generated, as appropriate, by the computer (militia, partisan, and rebel forces).
With both side's latest troop additions now in place, players may select the following:
A The Battle Intensity (high, low)
B The Battle Plan (dependent upon the selected Battle Intensity)
C Weapons Authorization (conventional, nuclear, biological, chemical)
D Target Type Priority (Military Installations, Economic Targets, Civilian Population, Environmental)
There are the political, social, ecological, and economic consequences of victory, defeat, or even a protracted Surface Campaign. All of those elements matter, and they all that nuance adds to the player eXperience (that Fifth 'X') in MOO3.

2.
There are 2 sets of Battle Plan Options - one for the attacker and one for the defender. For details about the Battle Plan Options, click here.
Additional Rules: Battle Plans in parenthesis may only be selected if that side's General commanding enough ability or a special skill that allows him to select that option. In addition, Maneuver, Ruse, and Trap options can only be selected if that side has "Mobile" formations (i.e., includes Mobile infantry, armor or Battleoids, has Powered Armor, or have extra mobility skills such as atmospheric flight or subterranean).
Vertical Envelopment can only be selected if that side has "Vertical" forces (i.e., Battleoids, Powered Armor, just-dropped Space Marines, or the flying or subterranean mobility skills).

3.
Once both sides have made their selections and clicked Done, the surface combat on that planet is resolved. The results are shown first by "maneuver" animation overlays (representing each side's Battle Plan selection).
They are soon followed by ground combat animations and the CRS (Cool Radio Show) to graphically illustrate the length, intensity, and outcome of the campaign. Combat force statistics (known friendly and estimated enemy) showing troop types and numbers of each that are combat-ready, broken, and killed are also displayed.

4.
The above is about the level of information you'd find in a standard game manual. What follows is a more in-depth look "under the hood" of Surface Combat. Click here for the full, very detailed, article (this link leads off-site).

5.
Instructions

Don't worry. From here you'll be going to the Ground Combat Simulator. But before you panic over anything you see there, please know the following:

1. It's all fake

The MOO3 Ground Combat Simulator is all fake. That is, it's a bunch of "throwaway code" Quicksilver wrote to help them balance out the initial numbers in the model. It is NOT indicative of how thing will work in the game. So, when you see a reference to a weapon type (like Kenetic Weapons III), that's a "placeholder;" it's not real. You WILL be able to have multiple units of varying types each at differing experience levels (they all share one experience level in the model because it was more expedient to program it that way).

2. Use the "HELP" Button at the Bottom of the Screen

Everything else you need to know about how to actually use the simulator is explained in the HELP button you'll see at the bottom of the ground combat simulator. We strongly urge you to read it!

Okay, are you ready? Begin ground combat!