Unique Tactics by Faction

[PartTimeHussar]

Hey folks

Is there some source someone has already developed for unique tactics per faction?  Beyond just different mech preferences what makes the groups act differently?

I know they evolve but around the start of the Jihad you have Kurita with slow lights and c3. What though makes Wolf vs Falcon vs Bear different. I suspect the Bears lean on the surplus of Vipers and Elementals to get up close and personal, but figure there was some established orthodoxy.

Thanks for any guidance

PTH

[BrianDavion]

I mean none of this is truely UNIQUE

[PartTimeHussar]

Preferences then. Trying to get flavors into the bands I’m building.

[Alan Grant]

What we more often see is tactics at the unit level, rather than the faction level. In the Field Manual products from the old days for example you'd see a Great House regiment or RCT or mercenary unit, or a Clan Galaxy/Cluster and it would tell you the tactical preferences of that unit.

Yes we see some generalizations. Like the Ghost Bears tend to prefer heavy/assault machines but faster moving machines like the Executioner. They also do make significant use of BA in general and mechanized BA in particular and tend to make use of lighter mechs like the Fire Moth to reposition them around the battlefield. Yet you can then find Ghost Bear Clusters and Galaxies that differ from these norms a bit, such as units that emphasize air power and are notable for lacking assault 'mechs.

The Wolves have often defied a particular specialization. Instead you see a lot of variation from Cluster/Galaxy. Their most distinctive trait from the get-go was actually handling logistics smartly and bringing enough supplies for long battles and campaigns, and playing it loose with Zell where the other Clans tended to be more strict with it.

Particularly within the Great Houses, you can find every type of unit you can think of. From swift lighter regiments focused on cavalry tactics, to assault units designed to kick in the front door, to defensive units specialized in building fortifications and field works. The list goes on.

You'd probably like the Field Manual products (i.e. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, Field Manual: Warden Clans, Field Manual: Federated Suns, Field Manual: ComStar etc.) for their tactical info per unit. Although they are set in the 3050s/3060s, it's still somewhat useful.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

The Ghost Bears also had Polar Bear Assault clusters that were more lightweight and mobile than their generally top-heavy groups. They were disbanded as a cluster level formation after Tukayidd cause they got smoked by comstar and couldn't fight their way out.

Lyrans also tend to be heavier but also have Lightning companies, meant to make up for the speed deficit in their general formations.

for a early-on and fairly basic reductions of factions' preferences

Kurita: PPCs, also less medium mechs, heavy focus on lights/heavies instead (Dragon/Jenner)
Davion: Autocannons, generalists (Enforcer)
Steiner: High Weight (Atlas)
Marik: Leftovers and crap mechs (Orion)
Capellans: low mech production so they rely on combined arms, later they get into stealth (Vindicator)

this ends up going away by Clan Invasion times mostly, as the universe has recovered/retconned into much greater mech production.

[AlphaMirage]

I think we also have tactics, strategy, and doctrine confused.

Tactics are pretty universal to the game based on its mechanics and very weapon dependent. Shoot at better numbers than you give the other guy or shoot him so often or hard that you don't need to be as accurate. You will either hit him more frequently with less damaging weapons (missiles, light ballistics) more often or shape their decisions to avoid giving their attacker with the big gun (heavy ballistics or cERLL, cERPPC, HPPC, Blazer) a decent shot.

Strategy is mostly dependent on speed/mobility and armor. Jumpy Mechs are great for close range brawls or sniper roles plus you can overheat them without sacrificing mobility making them great volley units. Fast Mechs/vehicles execute slashing or circle strafing attacks if they can as they often don't have as much armor so lean on distance and speed. Slow Mechs/vehicles are typically heavily armored and grind through or carry overwhelming firepower capable of crippling a lighter chassis. Stealth Mechs make excellent snipers or fire support but suffer in endurance as long as their armor is active.

Doctrine though is how use them all together.
AFFS is very mobile, they have lots of mediums with ballistics so they don't overheat as much. Their heavier designs are also very mobile and built with sustained operations in mind. Light Mechs run ahead and scout for the rest of the force and medium/heavy Mechs shoot to kill trying to bring down anything big and scary first before handling lesser foes

DCMS is also very mobile particularly the LAGs, Dragons are great skirmishers they can stay one step ahead of the AFFS and wear them down from a slightly longer range, very Samurai horse archer style. Panthers are tough for lights and about as mobile as mediums due to their jump jets, they provide support from the flanks or perch upon terrain while the Dragons pass around it. The heavy weight units are also reasonably fast and lean heavily on PPC and LBZ designs.

LCAF is an endurance army, Zeus and Thunderbolts march in lockstep under a hail of LRMs from Longbow and Archer. Commandos and other swifter lights are brought in as clean up or harassers against foes smashed by a wall of steel.

FWLM is very combined arms centric with a love for missiles bordering on obsession. They love range above all things so wish to fight at the longest range they can manage. Slowly wearing down an enemy under constant missiles or artillery. Failing this they call upon heavyweight anvils like the Awesome or heavy tanks like the Von Luckner to protect their more fragile and range dependant teammates. Anything fast that can avoid missiles is on the wrong side of an Aerospace Fighter.

CCAF doctrine requires cunning and unscrupulous methods. Mines, Smoke, Inferno gel, massed infantry charges, obstacles, and endless Pos, Hetzers, and Vedettes come from nowhere. They seek to end fights fast by hiding and ambushing opponents with AC/20s and Arrow IVs. Vindicators lurk behind every ridge or within a narrow defile waiting for the trap to spring. Stealth armor aids this behavior for up close it can be turned off and the mech operate like any other but a stealthed mech could be concealed with sneak suited infantry just waiting for a chance to leg and capture an aggressor.

[Church14]

Other patterns, since none of this is truly unique save a couple weird extremes.

At least in Dark Ages:
Wolves - strategic mobility. They want to maneuver until you done goofed, and then hit you. Their logistics are superior to other clans. Their weak spot is supposed to be aerospace, and are supposed to lack the ability to replenish losses in an orderly manner.
Falcons - DA falcons are just distilled savagery. All the wolf maneuvering gets in the way of murdering faster. Falcons would rather drop directly on the target and end the fight in ten minutes. That savagery is also supposed to be their weak point where they sort of stumble if a target actually repels their initial assaults, but we don't really see it save Terra.
Bears - no clue, though they also like mobility even into the assault range.
Ravens - to compensate for tiny numbers, Ravens put a lot into every mech they field being top tier. The guts of their touman is going with a lot of flamellar and few dud mechs.
Horses - defined by mongol doctrine. Somewhat forced by only being able to produce assault mechs for a while. Slow, heavy/assault mech assets work together to hammer enemy elements harried into the killzone by mobile vehicles.

That said, you can find each faction doing the other factions' shticks.

Regarding spheroid groups: ComStar, Word of Blake, and Republic of the Sphere stand out as integrating combined arms to a level other militaries do not. You'll see combined arms from them at even the smallest deployments. Those three factions have almost no commands that aren't combined arms.

[beachhead1985]

I think it was in the 3050R TRO for the FireMoth; it described that standard Lyran practice was to move their mechs tactically in column; the fast Clanners would duck behind the ponderous assaults looking for those textbook back-shot kills that always hit the arms and legs when I try them in games, but instead the next mech in line would drop them.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Combine — Direct Charges and PPCs
Confederation — Unconventional and Mines, Stealth, and Thermal Attacks
FedSun — Maneuver Cavalry and Autocannons
Lyran — Wall-of-Steel and Lightning Companies
League — Depends on the Sub-Faction (like Regulan Smash-Mouth) and Massed LRMs

Adders — Numbers and the Long Game
Bears — Blitzkrieg
Cats (and Scorpions) — Long-Range Snipers
Falcons — Jump Maneuver
Hellions — High-Speed Passes and Skirmishing
Horses — Combined Arms
Jaguars — Overwhelming Force
Ravens (and Cobras) — Air-to-Ground
Vipers (and Spirits) — Expendable Units and Solahma
Wolves — Anything Informed by Measured Risk-Taking and Headhunting
All Clanners — Heavy Cav

[glitterboy2098]

Preferences then. Trying to get flavors into the bands I’m building.

the term you are looking for is "doctrine" and how it influences force composition and deployments. which admittadly in most BT games only manifests at the tactical level.

[Metallgewitter]

Lyrans: Long Wall, stand-and-Deliver doctrine
Fedsuns: mobility, flexible battle plans, adapting on the fly, combined arms (RCT's, most extreme Ceti hussars)
Combine: Samurai mindset but depending on the unit type, classical combined arms and Victory by any means
Confederation: Infiltration, trickery, Stealth
League: LRM heavy but also focused. As Focht wrote it "the FWLM believes in a well placed dagger strike not a flurry of hammerblows"
Comstar: Combined arms, Finesse
WoB: Though like Comstar in the use of combined Arms more brutal firepower then Finesse

[Fire Scorpion IIC]

Goliath Scorpions:

Long range accuracy and sniping over massed firepower. Extensive marksmanship training and targeting computers on everything.

Preference for energy weapons for accuracy and ammo independence for long campaigns. Ammo dependant weapons are disliked (except Gauss rifles) and missiles are seen as tools of unskilled but are all still in use mostly by second line units and vehicle support.

Preference for heavy and assault mechs and hefty amount of battle armor.

Extensive recon followed by quick accurate strikes, once they make a crack in enemy lines they bulldoze through with everything they got, no subtleties in this phase just good old SLDF stomping.

They know how to fight long campaigns and have solid pool of reserves. Galaxy commanders manage (and micromanage) everything leading to higher unit cohesion and discipline than other Clans (also a weakness, read below)

Some additional quirks:

- Very skilled combat engineers, taking out fixed structures is one of Clans' specialties

- Top experts on underwater warfare, probably the best in entire fictional universe, plenty of homegrown tools and experience for this job

- Aerospace pilots specialize in ground attacks

- Aerial insertion of Elementals, if something flies they will throw Elementals from it at you

Their main weakness is fighting in cluttered environments like forests and jungles, no opportunities for sniping. Taking out their Galaxy commander will often lead to disorganization and retreat since they like to micromanage everything. (Most recently happened to Seeker Galaxy during the Crusade)

[EPG]

I’ll add some notes on the combine - many others have been covered in some detail but the combine has a few unique features that stand out. 

The combine has rather unique aerospace and naval doctrines.  They actually have two light mech doctorines, and 2 heavy mech doctrines, as well as a separate fire support doctrine.

Light mech doctrine number one is to collect extremely high speed attackers together for crippling destabilizing behind the front lines attacks.  Think companies of Jenners, spiders and later on tarantulas doing deep raids and flanking maneuvers.  Compared with the typical collection of ‘bug mechs’ that other houses count on for their light forces, and that low quality combine units have to work with, these units are faster and more heavily armed AND more heavily armored, able to make short work of anything that can catch them, or evade anything that could hurt them.

Light mech doctorine number 2 is using light mechs like the panther or wolf trap as line mechs or fire support, in roles that everyone else is likely to use medium mechs for. The combine can and does mix panthers and other slow but durable light mechs with medium and even heavy formations.  2 panthers are functionally equivalent to a warhammer in practically every way so why not pair them up together? 

From the combine perspective medium mechs are mostly just a waste - either use an efficient light mech for for the job, or use a heavy with the same mobility but literally more punch. 

Heavy mech doctorine 1: The combine has a lot of high mobility heavy mechs: dragons, grand dragons, quickdraws,  and Ost mechs.  In other militaries these might be the core of the specialist heavy cavalry but in the combine these are the primary combat units unless you’re facing the fast and punchy light units.  In general combine ‘medium lances’ are going to have a lot of dragon variants and QuickDraws.  This is really bad if you saw medium lances on the TOE and thought you were facing typical 45-55 ton mechs.  The focus is on designs that are highly mobile and hit hard at long range, or are ‘zombie’ type mechs extremely difficult to take out of action. 

Heavy mech doctorine #2 The other larger and slower heavy mechs are collected together into breakthrough and exploitation companies.  After the company of jenners has blown up your supplies, and the company of dragons and QuickDraws is sending harassing fire and probing attacks across the area of engagement , that’s when the heavy company of marauders, warhammers, archers and crusaders crashes through a weak point and blows up your strategic position.

Fire support:  Combine fire support mechs are heavily tilted towards direct fire with PPC’s long range auto cannons and large lasers.  It’s not that they never use LRM’s on mechs. But on average most of their LRM fire support is vehicle mounted.  Mechs engage the enemy directly and vehicles support.  Take that as the general rule and it makes perfect sense. 

The Draconis Combined Admirality (DCA) is a completely seperate military arm from the ground forces. Many other factions group their aerospace forces into packets attached to ground forces, and make drop ships and jump ships basically transport assets for the ground forces.  The DCA maintains a focus on strategic black space control even in the depths of the succession wars when it no longer has any active warships.  The DCA is the real reason why the Kurita forces are so effective at strategic surprise, long range raids, and the extraction or resupply of ground forces in peril.  Except in the worst extremis of the clan invasion it is almost unheard of for combine forces to be surrounded and destroyed.  Likewise combine deep raids almost never get shot down and destroyed before making planet fall. The focus, skills and careful planning of the DCA are the reason that combine forces almost always have another day to fight again no matter how badly things go on any given planet. 

[BrianDavion]

I do wanna note that despite the "fedsuns love autocanons" meme the fedsuns also has a LOT of energy boats as well. IMHO rather then "autocanons" I'd be inclined to say the fedsuns has, a slight preferance for "direct support support" over missiles. And when they do utlize missile support, they seem to favor mobile LRM platforms, making heavy use of the Dervish and Valkyrie, and not, as best I can detirmine, manufacturing any heavy LRM platforms

[Metallgewitter]

No heavy LRM support Mechs? Then what about that Phoenix Longbow that was allegdly so succesful that they even grouped an entire Longbow battalion together for special purposes? Though that might have been an exception most other Davion classics are more Energy weapon or autocannon based.

[Alan Grant]

The Davions like combined arms. So even if a unit seems to be lacking in LRM support 'mechs. They may just be pulling more from LRM-equipped vehicles to fill the niche.

In every faction you can find exceptions to whatever the preferred tactics might be. Specific units that do something different and because of that, they stand out a bit.

So you gotta be careful about speaking in absolutes and saying things like Faction X ALWAYS or NEVER does blank. Somewhere in the void is at least one unit in that faction, past or present, that doesn't conform to that. They break the mold. This is true for literally every faction. It's intentional, the writers want different units, with their different paint schemes, tactics, composition, to stand out.

Most Battletech players end up developing not just favorite factions but favorite units. Maybe they loved the paint scheme, or their unit's history or involvement in a particular battle/campaign. Or the unit's special abilities on the tabletop. Or they just loved the description of that unit in a specific novel or sourcebook.

[Church14]

I'm a bit biased here, but towards the end, the Republic was probably the most unique doctrine, tactics, and units of any faction. Though thanks to how they died, we only see it in XTROs and a brief section in Blood Will Tell (BWT). HotW failed completely to show it, and I'll try to avoid dumping on that novel with what should have happened.

It's from a mix of hardware and the strategic situation:
- Drones that canonically are seeing revisions as counters are developed.
- Superheavies
- ClanSpec production in house
- RISC
- Shared tech between RotS and FedSuns
- combined arms doctrine because of an originally fundamentally defensive army setup

How's that applied:
1) Drones allow for a couple things thanks to the celerity, revenant, lament, and lich (and presumably others not shown given the number of RotS mechs without sheets).
1a) Canonically, celerities are used for blinding fast response, and the operators are known for being aggressive. In BWT there is the spike celerity that's engaging in 400kph ramming attacks that crippled multiple MAC units that can't really track or counter them.
1b) Conjecture: There's no reason the other drones couldn't be used similarly. RAF had an excess of hardware, but less people. Drones enabled a way for RAF to go hard against targets in what otherwise would have been suicide attacks. So now you've got units ranging from blinding fast lights, to simple support lights, to cav heavies, up to a direct fire assault that can be sent on one way missions with much less
2) Superheavies create a wall or a hammer and act as a force multiplier. It's not just the psychological impact of the giant mech dwarfing even an atlas. It's also the dedicated Tactical Officer (not a mechanic beating the piss out of a barely functional mech to keep it running as HotW depicts it) coordinating the ares and surrounding units.
3) RISC - despite IO, RISC somehow reached a stable-ish quality in Shattered Fortress and seems to be equipped to Stone's Brigade, the Fides, and even some Hastati in enough numbers that enemy commanders are seeing and being forced to address the new tech.

So now you have an army comfortable deploying in combined arms down to even the smallest deployment, with ground elements that can respond faster than anything short of aerospace, with elements that don't sleep and can sustain harassment at all hours (by swapping drone operators), with elements quite okay with going on one way attacks to cripple a target or your supply train that would be secure against any other army, and with strange mechs rocking new hardware in combinations not seen before that make them - per Shattered fortress - have an edge in duels and mech on mech battles that puts enemy commanders on edge. And they've spent the last several years raiding to hone a combat edge.

Or... you have HotW, where the RAF is presented as a mostly mech army with vehicles that don't do anything, and has superheavies but no superheavy doctrine.

[Metallgewitter]

And don't forget the Republic were also the only power who had dedicated "invisible" Mechs. Not stealth armor but the real Void signature tech. The ultimate hunter killer or harasser if you don't have drones at hand. You could drop them on planets and let them deal stings to the occupiers. Or leave them way behind enemy lines and they would have to deal with whatever comes.

[The Wobbly Guy]

One way the faction flavor plays out on the tabletop game is the idea of SPAs granted to faction-specific formations.

For example:
Marik - Hammer/Anvil Lance
Davion - Rifle Lance
Kurita - Order Lance

I find these variations interesting. Too bad there isn't a canon 'Steiner Scout Lance' formation with the associated SPAs, lol.

[butchbird]

While its not a tactic or a doctrine, there is a very interesting trend in 'mech design with both the capellan confederation and clan steel viper that I find worthy to be underlined.

Many of their 'mechs, at least those presented in TROs around 3058 to 3067, tend to concentrate heavily their armament in the arms. Always found this tidbit kind of telling. More arc of fire, less survivability per weapon.

[Colt Ward]

One thing about what EPG said was that the DC did not like the Meds for quite a while so you get pocket mediums and heavies that are overweight.

But despite original DC original materials they got the Wolverine 6K and Shadow Hawk 2K.

[AlphaMirage]

Those are basically lightweight Dragons though so doctrinally the same

[Colt Ward]

Those are basically lightweight Dragons though so doctrinally the same

I agree, bother are overweight trio designs and the Panther is a skinny Vindicator.  Just one of their quirks.

[Church14]

While its not a tactic or a doctrine, there is a very interesting trend in 'mech design with both the capellan confederation and clan steel viper that I find worthy to be underlined.

Many of their 'mechs, at least those presented in TROs around 3058 to 3067, tend to concentrate heavily their armament in the arms. Always found this tidbit kind of telling. More arc of fire, less survivability per weapon.

Vipers, likely because of out of universe focus, only designed two omnimechs. Both were designed very early and only had pods in the arms because that was a limiting factor at the time. Later crossbows and battle cobras have fixed the issue and can mount torso pods.

Also, clan omnis in general wanted arm weapons because of carrying BA. Which, to be fair, is a doctrinal choice. Not really just a viper thing

[butchbird]

Huh, the date of introduction and the omnipods limited to the arms in those years had completely slipped my mind. False assumption and I stand corrected. I'd always thought it had a link to the fact steel viper mechwarriors were a "more valuable ressource" then in other clans what with their particularly grueling sibko graduation programs.

This being said, a quick research on omnimechs developped before the crossbow and battlecobra shows most of them sporting weapons in the torso...Were the steel vipers the only ones with the limitation of arm-mounted omnipods only back then?

[Metallgewitter]

Vipers, likely because of out of universe focus, only designed two omnimechs. Both were designed very early and only had pods in the arms because that was a limiting factor at the time. Later crossbows and battle cobras have fixed the issue and can mount torso pods.

Also, clan omnis in general wanted arm weapons because of carrying BA. Which, to be fair, is a doctrinal choice. Not really just a viper thing

Reminds me of the lore for the Gladiator OmniMmech (I think it was that one): veteran IS pilots amputated the arms of the Mech and then left the Mech alone , leaving irritated Clan pilots behind. This tactic might work for a lot more Clan Omnis don't you think?

[EPG]

One thing about what EPG said was that the DC did not like the Meds for quite a while so you get pocket mediums and heavies that are overweight.

But despite original DC original materials they got the Wolverine 6K and Shadow Hawk 2K.

Did not prefer is not at all the same as never used.  They also have phoenix hawk and trebuchet variants, and like the hunchback. 

Other than the hunchback which has unique characteristics all its own (Hi Boom!) all of them are modified to fit their doctorine.

The phoenix hawk is modified to be better as a deep raider to go with the high mobility light companies.

The trebuchet and shadow hawk are both made into direct fire support units with PPC’s and auto cannons and no LRM’s.  The Wolverine is given the same movement profile as the preferred DCMS 60 ton machines and converted into a laser based companion to the Ost mechs and QuickDraws.

[Church14]

Huh, the date of introduction and the omnipods limited to the arms in those years had completely slipped my mind. False assumption and I stand corrected. I'd always thought it had a link to the fact steel viper mechwarriors were a "more valuable ressource" then in other clans what with their particularly grueling sibko graduation programs.

This being said, a quick research on omnimechs developped before the crossbow and battlecobra shows most of them sporting weapons in the torso...Were the steel vipers the only ones with the limitation of arm-mounted omnipods only back then?

Hm. Now that I look closer. It looks like it may just have been a vipers issue because of the speed they went from Omni salvage to new omni production. Coyotes had a similar issue with the night chanter because it was a quickly hammered together design

[Alan Grant]

The fluff on the Crossbow in TRO: 3058 states that the Viper Khans of the time were slow to recognize the value of the OmniMech. When they did capture some Raven scientists to pair up with Viper technicians begin to develop their own, for whatever reason the concept of the modular arm-mounted weapons pod won out as their preference (over having weapons mounting points all over the chassis). Out of all that we get the Crossbow then later the Battle Cobra.

Both machines are noted in that TRO for being simpler, easier to maintain. With the Crossbow getting an extra nod in this area for using standard engine, armor and internal structure. The Battle Cobra does use Endo Steel and FF but uses a standard engine. The "thrifty" (The TRO's word choice) Spirits are the other Clan noted for using the Crossbow and Battle Cobra in numbers worth mentioning because of those virtues.

It's not just the components though. Essentially these two machines are regarded as being easier to maintain because they aren't covered in modular weapon mounts. It's limited to the arms where you are dealing with pods. We see something like this concept in some other non-Omni Battletech designs, even IS designs from throughout BT history, where arm-mounted weapons are regarded as easier to maintain or replace or swap-out than chassis weapons. I always remember the Battlemaster's handheld weapon being mentioned in this regard in fluff for that machine.

At the time at least, the Vipers thought this was a great idea, perhaps a natural and efficient way to use the new Omni-tech that they were trying to play catchup on.

The TRO specifically says the captured Raven scientists were paired up with Viper technicians to do this. Maybe they are trying to tell us the Viper technicians were proponents of making the machines easier to maintain and repair?

Keep in mind that we get hints that the Golden Century, specifically in Era Report: Golden Century, wasn't all that golden for the Vipers. For a variety of reasons. They didn't flourish quite the same way a lot of the other Clans did. Self-absorbed leadership, stringent policies that restricted the lower castes, you can point fingers at a lot of things. But they struggled. The Golden Century wasn't particularly golden for the Vipers. Which to my mind nudges them in the direction of being a bit more akin to a resource poor Clan, at least in that era.

They might have just seen mounting moduler weapons all over a machine to be incredibly complex, maybe even beyond their capabilities (or at least beyond their capabilities while also meeting the other demands put on them by the Khans, I wouldn't be surprised if they were under pressure to produce something quickly since the Clan was behind most others). I'm guessing some warrior leadership/or scientists within the Vipers developed this for the Crossbow, were happy with the result, and so were happy to repeat the logic withe Battle Cobra.

They never totally abandoned the virtues of it, as evidenced by the fact that both designs continued to be used, even as they adopted other Omni designs that lacked those virtues. But I think the Vipers (and the other Clans) not developing more designs in the same pattern is also a quiet admission that the concept didn't win out in the rapid development of the OmniMech.

[Wrangler]

Lyrans use the "Wall of Steel" tactic, where they have large group assaults move firing line formation attack.

If you look in some of the older field manuals for the factions, regiments do have their preference in tactics that they do and their special commands that they do as well there you need to that regiment though there's a lot of fixed ones. If you look at the old old house books, some regiments are styled a certain way such as the Draconis Combine didn't have as much Heavier machines sometimes comma so they use them in light formations of lights in mediums in Cavalry style attacks. Again it depends on the regiment too.

EDIT: Sorry everyone, my stupid phone really kept messing up every time I typed.