You’ve seen the chaos. You’ve seen the wobbling neon archers and the mammoths flying through the air because of a physics glitch that shouldn't happen but somehow makes the game better. But if you’ve spent any real time in the TABS father and son community, you know that the base game is just the starting line. Total Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS) is basically a fever dream of ragdoll physics, but the "Father and Son" units—mostly popularized through the creative modding community and specific unit creators—changed how people looked at the game's internal logic. It wasn't just about adding a new skin. It was about changing the scale of the fight.
Landfall Games created a masterpiece of stupidity. I mean that as a compliment. But players wanted more "human" (if you can call them that) interactions between units.
The Reality of the TABS Father and Son Mod
Let's get something straight right away because there is a lot of junk info out there. When people talk about TABS father and son, they are usually referring to one of two things: a specific custom unit creation found in the Workshop or a specialized mod that introduces "linked" physics.
The most famous iteration involves a massive, hulking "Father" unit that acts as a tank, often carrying or defending a "Son" unit. It’s a dynamic that flips the script on the usual "everyone for themselves" AI behavior. Usually, TABS units just move toward the nearest red or blue dot and swing until someone falls over. The Father and Son dynamic introduced a layer of protectionism.
Why Physics Matter Here
The game runs on a very specific, very janky physics engine. When you link two units' hitboxes—which is what the TABS father and son mods essentially do—you create a nightmare for the CPU but a dream for the player.
Honestly, it’s hilarious.
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If the Father unit takes a hit and staggers, the Son unit reacts. They aren't just two independent entities standing near each other. They are tethered. This tethering is what makes the "Father" unit so formidable; he isn't just fighting for his own health bar. He’s a barrier. In the modding community, specifically within the UC (Unit Creator) expanded tools, people started using "hidden" riders to simulate this. You take a giant, give him the "Rider" attribute, and place a smaller unit on his shoulders.
It sounds simple. It isn't.
If the weight distribution is off by even a fraction, the Father unit will just face-plant into the dirt the second the match starts. You’ve probably seen it. A massive Viking-looking dude just collapsing because his "son" is too heavy for the game's gravity settings. That’s the charm, though.
How to Actually Find the Best Version
If you go into the TABS Workshop right now and type in "Father and Son," you will get about five hundred results. Most of them are garbage.
To get the high-quality versions that actually work without crashing your frame rate, you need to look for creators who use the UCM (Unit Creator Mod). This is a third-party tool that lets you bypass the standard limitations Landfall put in the game.
- Look for "Attached" Units: The best versions don't just have two guys walking side-by-side. They use the "attachment" glitch or mod feature so the units share a physics base.
- Check the Weight Stats: A common mistake is making the Son unit have 1.0 weight. In a working TABS father and son build, the Son usually has a weight of 0.1 so he doesn't tip the Father over.
- Abilities: Look for the "Enrage" ability. Many creators set the Father to go into a berserker mode if the Son unit is killed first. It’s a scripted sequence that makes the battle feel like an actual story rather than just a bunch of polygons hitting each other.
The Role of CaptainSauce and YouTubers
We can't talk about TABS father and son without acknowledging how it blew up. YouTubers like CaptainSauce basically turned these custom units into celebrities. By giving them backstories, they turned a janky mod into a narrative. This led to a massive influx of "Son of..." units in the Workshop.
Suddenly, everyone was making a "Son of Zeus" or "Son of the Reaper."
It shifted the TABS meta from "who has the biggest army" to "can this one duo take down a thousand peasants?" It’s a different way to play. It's more about the spectacle of the "Hero" unit.
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The Technical Headache of Multi-Unit Entities
Building a functioning TABS father and son unit from scratch is a lesson in patience. Most people think you just click "Add Unit" and you're done.
Nope.
You have to deal with the "Internal Bone Structure" of the models. If you’ve ever used the TABS Unit Creator, you know that the clothes you pick affect the physics. If the Father has a long cape and the Son is riding on his back, the cape might get caught in the Son’s legs. This triggers a physics loop where the game thinks they are colliding with each other.
The result?
The Father and Son go spinning into the stratosphere at Mach 5.
To avoid this, expert modders use "Non-Colliding" layers. It's a technical workaround where the Son unit is technically "ghosted" through the Father's upper torso. It looks right to the eye, but the game engine doesn't register them as two objects hitting each other. This is the "secret sauce" behind the versions of TABS father and son that don't immediately explode when the "Start" button is pressed.
Why People Are Still Obsessed With This
TABS is an old game by internet standards. Yet, the TABS father and son concept keeps it fresh. Why? Because it introduces stakes.
When you watch a standard TABS fight, you don't care about the units. They are fodder. But when you have a massive protector and a tiny, vulnerable unit, you find yourself rooting for them. You want to see if the Father can hold off the Hwacha arrows long enough for the Son to get a shot off. It’s a micro-story in a game that usually lacks any narrative at all.
Different Variations You’ll Encounter
It’s not just the classic "Giant and Human" setup anymore. The community has gotten weird with it.
- The Mecha-Father: A steampunk version where the "Father" is a giant robot and the "Son" is the pilot.
- The Undead Duo: A skeletal king carrying his prince. Usually involves a lot of particle effects that will melt your GPU if you aren't careful.
- The "Reverse" Father and Son: A tiny, super-powered child carrying a giant, useless father. These are mostly for memes, but they show off how flexible the physics engine can be when you mess with the mass settings.
Getting the Most Out of the Keyword Experience
If you're trying to set up your own epic battles featuring TABS father and son, don't just throw them against 100 squires. That’s boring.
The best way to test these units is through "Environmental Hazards." Put them on the bridge map. See how the tethered physics handle narrow spaces. Usually, the Father will try to pathfind across the bridge, but the Son’s weight (even if it's low) will create a "pendulum effect." It’s a great way to see how well the mod was actually built. If they fall off immediately, the creator didn't balance the center of mass.
Actionable Steps for TABS Players
If you want to experience the TABS father and son phenomenon properly, stop looking for it in the base game menus. It doesn't exist there.
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- Step 1: Download the Thunderstore Mod Manager. This is the gold standard for TABS modding. Don't rely solely on the in-game Workshop if you want the complex versions.
- Step 2: Look for the "HiddenUnits" or "UCM" mods. These are prerequisites for the advanced Father/Son builds.
- Step 3: Search the Workshop specifically for "Parent/Child" tags.
- Step 4: Manually adjust the "Unit Gravity" in the settings if they keep floating away.
Honestly, half the fun is the failure. You’ll spend an hour downloading a TABS father and son unit only for it to do a backflip and die instantly. But when you find that one perfectly balanced duo—the one where the Father deflects projectiles while the Son provides long-range support—it feels like a completely different game.
It turns TABS from a goofy simulator into a tactical hero-shooter where you only control the placement. And really, isn't that why we play this game? To see weird stuff happen in the most spectacular way possible?
Go into the Workshop, find a high-rated Father and Son build, and put them up against a Dark Peasant. You’ll lose, but it’ll look incredible.
Final Pro-Tip for Creators
If you're trying to build your own TABS father and son unit, use the "Hover" ability on the Son unit but set the hover height to 0. This keeps the Son "locked" to a certain vertical coordinate relative to the Father without putting physical pressure on the Father's joints. It’s the only way to ensure stability during high-speed movement or when the Father gets hit by a catapult. Balancing the "Mass" versus "Drag" stats is the difference between a legendary unit and a glitchy mess. Over-tune the drag, and they’ll move like they’re underwater. Under-tune it, and they’ll fly away like a popped balloon.
Finding that middle ground is where the real skill in TABS unit creation lies. It takes hours of testing, but the result is a unit that feels "heavy" and powerful, exactly how a Father-protector unit should feel in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.