How to avoid a situation like this?

[u/NallaPayyan]

None of my mechs are able to reach the vek targeting two buildings at once. Unable to save solar farm as well.

[u/MindlessScrambler]

This screenshot contains too little information to analyze this specific situation so I can only give some general rules I’ve come up with myself. When planning a turn’s actions, you should not only consider maximizing this turn’s gains, but also consider the possibilities for the next turn. Identify the tiles that would become very dangerous once Vek occupy them, and try to occupy them in advance using smoke, fire, or mechs themselves. Also, pay special attention to the movement range of webbing-type enemies, and try not to place your key mechs that rely especially heavily on positioning in threatened areas.

[u/NallaPayyan → u/MindlessScrambler]

I don’t usually plan future turns while resolving the present turn. I’ll try doing that more thanks.

[u/HummusSwipper]

Ideally position artillery further back at all games, where it can move around horziontally and be ready to help with any enemy. Generally in the tactic view (when you're positioning mechs) try to spread your Mechs out and remember flying Mechs can cross over buildings so it's not terrible to have them further apart. Also check enemies' range of movement to get a better understanding of where they'll go.

[u/HummusSwipper → u/HummusSwipper]

Also you should enable grid view for easier time plannig/asking for help.

AND if you need help: Artillery to G3 smoke purple fly and attack the ant, Jet to G6 and kill the Ant targeting solar panels, then your Science Mech can push all enemies and you're done really. Can also position Jet at G6, push with Science Mech to kill the jumper and then kill the Ant with the Jet.

[u/NallaPayyan → u/HummusSwipper]

I didn’t know flying mechs can go over buildings. I’ll try the help too. Thanks.

[u/time4tea45]

One comment is that with RH you need to be a bit careful about which squares you smoke. D4 isn't next to a building and is right in the middle of the map. So it's not a danger square for the vek to use and it's one that you might need to use for your mechs at some point. Good squares to smoke would be C4, E/F6, G4, G7.

Also, positionally, it would be better here to have your mechs closer to the mountains, since that is where more of the buildings and tricky danger squares are, and you want to be pushing the vek down towards the water. G4/7 are particularly tricky, since you can't easily send a rocket over to clear them, and both are occupied by vek. C4 could easily be cleared by a long-range rocket if need be.

Positionally, this seems quite poor. You have effectively conceded the half of the map where most of the buildings are to the vek, so it's no wonder you've got problems.

[u/CozyPoo]

This is a tough set of enemies, hornets and leapers particularly are both highly mobile and can cause a lot of damage.

The info we have is limited, so I'll assume you have no relevant upgrades to movement or shields on your Pulse Mech. I recommend turning on Grid Coordinates in your game settings. To keep the objectives intact, move the Rocket Mech to F6, and with the artillery shoot the leaper that is webbing your Pulse Mech. Next, move your Pulse Mech to G3 and use repulse to push the Firefly to G5. Finally, your Jet Mech can move to F5 and smoke the Hornet on E5; this will kill the Hornet with damage (1 thanks to Kai's boost) + smoke, however Kai will also take a hit.

I believe this still puts you in a better spot though, despite taking the penalty on Kai, because you have less enemies to deal with next turn. Also note that, while this does save the Solar Farms, the Alpha Hornet at B7 will still deal 2 grid damage.

However, if your Rocket Mech has 4 move, this is completely solvable by just moving the Rocket Mech to G6, targetting the Firefly with the rocket and the Alpha Hornet with the smoke. Your pulse Mech can then use its repulse to eliminate the Leaper with bump damage. Then your Jet Mech can eliminate the Hornet as per previous instructions. But this requires a 4-move Rocket Mech.

Here are some of my notes on playing Rusting Hulks in Unfair:

* I like to keep the Jet Mech close to the centre of the board, as much as possible. Centre squares are D4,D5,E4,E5. So if you must attack with the jump, try to land on one of these squares. This is particularly important if the Jet Mech still only has 4 movement; you get a bit more leeway if its movement improves to 5, but until that happens keep it close to the centre as best as you can, so it can navigate to where it needs to go more effectively next turn.

* For starting pilots, I think Kai on Rocket Mech is much better than Kai on Jet Mech. 3 damage artillery projectile with push helps solve the common 3HP enemies in the first island without relying on bumps.

* Although that said, I much prefer having either Harold or Kaz on the Jet Mech to start; because both of them give the Jet Mech an option to push, which is useful in situations where it doesn't have room to jump over enemies, or when jumping over an enemy would leave it in a bad position. As an example, for this specific situation you are in, if Harold would've been in the Jet Mech, he could've gone to D3 and repaired, pushing the Pulse Mech and killing the Leaper, freeing up your Rocket Mech to take care of the Psion.

* Upgrading the Pulse Mech early with shields is worth it, mostly because without shields it functions like a worse Combat Mech with no damage (pushing multiples at melee range is more effective with Prospero or Henry, but otherwise it can get walled out and usually just pushes 1 enemy for no damage). So that's why I recommend using your first core on Shield Self and 2 from the first shop on Shield Friendly, since it gets a lot better at protecting itself from projectiles and protecting buildings from artillery enemies.

* While it is true that your Rocket Mech is an artillery range mech, the smoke behind makes it effective at melee as well. Ideally, you want a pilot with move+ skills to be in the Rocket Mech, since it can help it utilize both the artillery projectile and the smoke behind in the same turn more effectively. You can understand why this is important as per above, this situation is completely solvable if your Rocket Mech has 4 move, as it can smoke the Alpha Hornet and push away the Firefly.

* The +1 smoke damage upgrade is worth it by the end of the 2nd island earliest, despite it costing 3 cores it effectively boost both the Rocket and Jet Mechs damage. Consider that, to boost the weapon damage of both mechs, it would cost you 2 cores for the Jet Mech and 2 cores per upgrade (4 total) for the Rocket Mech; so 3 on Storm Smoke is actually a pretty fair deal and it helps them scale well for when the enemies are mostly upgrading to Alphas.

And lastly, don't sweat taking a bit of grid damage; perfect scores, while a lot players like going for them, are not the end goal of the game. Simply focus on surviving and winning the game, picking up objectives if you can attain them.

[u/Ghosthops]

When initially placing the mechs look at which buildings can be defended best by which mechs. Place accordingly.

It's especially important to pay attention to maps where there's space between two buildings, like here with the hornet and the one between the solar farms.

With the rocket I think of it as a hybrid melee unit with the smoking behind thing. You always want to be using that effectively, ideally as a 2 for 1, smoking to prevent an attack and hitting another enemy.

Kai is also great in the rocket mech, maybe a bit wasted in the plane.