Getting started with MissionChief

Adapted from MISSIONCHIEF TUTORIAL #1 – Getting Started by Jason (Mission Chief Board, Sep 2016)

MissionChief looks busy at first. The loop is simple: place stations, send the right units to calls, earn credits, expand. This walkthrough covers the idea, the main screen, your first fire station, and your first dispatch.

1. Concept

Missions (fire, EMS, police calls) appear in your list. You clear them with suitable units from your stations. You choose where those stations sit — anywhere reachable by road. Many players (and alliances like GES) place them on real-world sites; see Realism Location Marker.

Start with one solid base, then expand outward. Larger incidents often need units from more than one station.

You earn credits from jobs and spend them on buildings and vehicles. Coins (mostly bought with real money) can speed things up. You can play on credits alone — you are never forced to pay coins to continue.

2. Interface

The main window layout stays familiar as you grow. Extra panels open on top; close them with the X.

Map search — jump to a town or address for your first build.
Toolbar — credits, coins, profile, alliance, and other core menus.
Map — drag to pan, scroll to zoom. Units only show while they are driving.
Incident list — your active calls, with filter buttons once you have traffic.
Station / units list — tree of buildings and the vehicles inside them.
Alliance chat — appears after you join an alliance.
Radio messages — live unit status lines (clears on page refresh).

3. Building your first fire station

No fire station means no fire calls. Fire is the usual starting service; EMS and police follow the same idea later. As you add stations, harder calls unlock. In-game Possible Missions (often bottom-right, or via help) lists what each call needs.

Pick a rough map location (near a road).
Click Build a new building.
Drag the blue marker to the exact spot — zoom in for accuracy.
Building type: Fire Station. Give it a name (you can rename later).
Choose a starter fire engine type (appearance differs; role is the same at the start).
Build with credits (coins are the optional alternative).

You get a full refund if you delete a building within 24 hours. After that, the spend is gone.

Your station and engine appear in the stations/units tree. A first call usually arrives soon after.

4. Deployment

Click Dispatch next to an incident.
The red status bar and mission icon show progress. The icon turns green when requirements are met; the bar empties when the job finishes.
Missing units show in red once the first unit is on scene — early calls usually need one fire engine.
The right column lists deployable units (top is closest). Tick the engine, then hit green Dispatch.
Responding units move to the left side. When ETA hits zero they are on scene.

You can also open a unit from the map or list and send it to a nearby job. Use whichever flow feels faster.

5. Useful early settings

Mission speed

New players often get flooded. Under Profile → Mission Speed, slow generation until you can keep up. You can raise it again later. Mission-list capacity grows with how many fire stations you own.

Alliances

Join an alliance early if you plan to play seriously. Neighbours can help when you lack trucks; many alliances also share real-world build areas. Look under Alliance → Alliance list before you sprawl too far — the alliance you want may already claim ground near you.

GES members: start with the Members Handbook and tools like RLM once you are verified.