The Free Worlds League: Winning with what we've got!

[The Eagle]

Battle armor, my friend.  Achileus and Leonidas both have TAG options.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

The Nyx is good, and available via Tamarind.  I'd still be partial to the Owens, tho.  Especially as it can pull BA taxi duty.

[Dies Irae]

Battle armor, my friend.  Achileus and Leonidas both have TAG options.

I forgot to mention, I'm moving into a new playgroup and I don't want to traumatize them with the League's spread of excellent conventional assets just yet.
I use the Scimitar extensively for the TAG role and I agree Battlesuits dropped off in advance of the main force are excellent spotters.

On the 'Mech front, I'm not seeing all that many options, though I am relatively less familiar with the modern era.

[GespenstM]

The Anzu -G60 also has TAG, but isn't optimized for the job; it's clearly a "had a ton left over, no other major requirements to fulfill, this plays to FWL's preferences, may as well put it in there" thing.

[Weirdo]

Very much no. That thing was gonna have TAG from the very beginning.

[Dies Irae]

Did Iron Wind ever get around to making an Anzu, btw...? Been one of the things I've been meaning to add to a force.

I've had good runs with the design up until one or both of the main guns fall off for no reason.

[The Eagle]

Not yet, we're still waiting on that.  The quality of the Juliano and Carronade sculpts give me hope, though.

[Colt Ward]

So recon role . . . well, I have always been partial to the Bloodhound.  Some Men Shens show up in the proto-League states, of course the further you are from the Cappies the less likely it will be.  In the same vein they have some Anubis from CC & MoC sources.  They produce (produced?) the Locust 5W2 which gets faster- 9/14(18)- has MASC, ECM & TAG.  The Gambit 1L, less common than the -1G, has 2 LPPCs & TAG with a TC at 7/11 on a 25t frame.  The Ghost 10 which gets imported from the LC has Stealth Armor & a BAP on a 50t going 6/9 though I have never been a fan of its weapon loads, your opinion may vary.

Non-special equipped mechs that can do the role . . . I love the new Havoc, its the updated Jenner.  8/12/5 with 4 ERML & SRM4, 2t ammo with CASEII and 22 DHS.

Best new recon asset IMO is the Tarfuna, but its a Regulan hovertank and you are avoiding conventional so . . .

[Dies Irae]

Anyway, since I'm rolling out a new force anyway, I was thinking of doing something Oriente-ish. Probably going to start assembly of a Command Lance, especially since I already own the minis.

Juliano JLN-5A
Goliath GOL-6M
Carronade CRN-7M
Marauder MAD-9M2

Goal for the Command Lance is to function as an anchor for the line as well as act as a bodyguard for the inevitable Fire Lance that is probably going to turn up next. In my mind, it seems solid enough a force on paper, though there is a nagging concern I'm trying to force 'Mechs into roles they probably shouldn't try to fill.

Force is likely going to follow a traditional three lance company with Command, Fire and Recon lances (hence the previous queries) about recon assets. Fire Lance will probably have an Apollo and at least one waffle iron, since they've sort of become something of a signature chassis for me though full composition hasn't been nailed down yet. Recon will probably have an Owens (also a personal signature) and I'll probably toss in a 5W2 Locust as recommended (and start honestly looking seriously at the slew of FWL Lights and Mediums).

And if I'm being an idiot, better to find out now than halfway through pinning.

[Colt Ward]

If you are using the Locust and Owens in your Recon lance then I would definitely look at the Havoc as the gun guard if you are not going heavier with a medium.

The only one in your command I am not sure of is the Goliath simply because I am not as familiar with them . . . but the other choices are solid- I love the MAD 9M2, and the Juliano is a good mini & machine.

For Fire . . . besides the Apollo and Yeoman I would suggest a Patriot either as a commander or bodyguard, the three variants offer you a lot of options in either role.

[Nav_Alpha]

Sorry to derail the thread - but I’ve asked a question over in Ask the Writers and I think it might have them stumped.
Anyone got any thoughts on Stewart during the/post Jihad? Even if it’s just head canon, I’m looking for some ideas.

Here’s the question I asked in full:

The Marik planet of Stewart... another bastion of Scotland in the stars. Home of the tough, never say die Stewart Dragoons, a sprawling Mech plant, etc.

Stewart willingly joins the Word of Blake Protectorate in late 3070 according to Jihad: FR. and it's not until May 3077 that it's liberated - with the Nova Cats brutually eliminating the Protectorate Militia.

But on the flip side, Stewart's noble ruler Leonard Stewart (or heir to the title, I can't remember) is a senior Coalition commander in the fight against the Word. He serves as Alys Marik's 2IC during the Marik push of Operation Scour and was even touted as a possible commander for the FWL front as not everyone has faith or confidence in the Duchess of Augustine.
Two regiments of the Stewart Dragoons also served as part of the Coalition.

And just to make things even more interesting... the remnants of the Dragoons decline to join the RAF in 3079 and run back to Stewart, ejecting Republic forces.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can help with me the following questions:

- what was Leonard Stewart doing prior to Operation Scour? Under Blakist house arrest on Stewart? Hiding off world? Actively helping the FWL Resistance?

- what were the Stewart Dragoons doing prior to Scour? As above - chaffing under Blakist rule, etc? Actively helping the Resistance?

- and do we get any further info on Leonard? He commanded one of the Dragoon unit's from 3050-59 from memory. But is he mentioned anywhere else?

Thanks in advance! Don't take my questions as a sign of discontent - more just being keen to expand on the excellent info we already have!

EDIT: Ok, so I clearly should have read FM: 3085 before posting this!
The entry for the 40th Marik Militia blow the red text out of the water.
Soooo.... Duke Leonard is described as the "exiled duke" in 3085. He then goes onto fund the bitter Dragoons remnants for a possible counter attack to retake Stewart.
So, I'm guessing he told Stone where he could stick his Republic

Do we get any info on what makes him turn on Stone?

Thanks again!

[worktroll]

It's in FM:3085, under the entry on 40th Marik Militia. Basically Republic goes "Hey guys, these are our new borders!" Davions, Lyrans, and Combine go "huh, ok", but Capellans and Mariks give the finger.

So the Republic launches Operation GOLDEN DAWN (they were shouting) to establish their borders in what was formerly Capellan and League space. Guess which side of the border Stewart was now on?

In some the fiercest fighting of GOLDEN DAWN, the Stewart
Home Guard and planetary militia held out against five times their
number in former League and Northwind Highlander regiments for
two months.

But lost. The 40th MM is basically "well, gonna get it back some day" as a professional mission statement.

[Weirdo]

So, Stewart is a purple Chesterton?

[SCC]

Somewhat, but keep in mind that while the CC has been claiming that Chesterton belonged to them since the 24th Century but they never managed to capture it until the Dark Age, Stewart was actually in the FWL's possession as little as 50 years ago, so the locals are going to react rather differently to their 'liberators' showing up.

[JadedFalcon]

Depends. It kinda stopped being a League world in the early 3070s, and maybe some of those inhabitants had negative views on the FWL. And then was Stewart affected by the Stone relocation plan? Maybe the lads in purple show up after a several decades and suddenly there are Davionist Arby restaurants all over the place.

[Nav_Alpha]

So, are we thinking Leonard Marik was all “yah Stone, kick some Word arse!” Until he realises Stone wants Stewart - freaks out and goes all anti-Stone, Pro/FWL Marik?

[worktroll]

Well Stewart was pretty much always pro-Marik, but yup!

[truetanker]

Traditional garb of a Scotsman would include their family, title and tilthe plus any conquest threads in their Tartans.

Now my question is what is Stewart's Tartan colors circa Dark Ages? More Capplean Green than Purple? Cause the Lyrans get it then the Wolf Empire...

Or am I wrong?

TT

[Dies Irae]

So anyway. After much rumbling, this is what the company looks like. Probably going to go up in either Oriente green or Free worlds Guard livery depending on my mood (and mental state).

Juliano JLN-5A
Goliath GOL-6M
Carronade CRN-7M
Marauder MAD-9M2

Yeoman YMN-6Y
Yeoman YMN-6Y
Apollo APL-1R
Sarath SRTH-1OA

Crimson Langur D
Owens OW-1
Koshi
Locust LCT-5W2

There's a couple of 'Mechs which I decided to 'splash' for on a whim. The Crimson Langur D and Koshi in the recon lance are handwaved away as trade with the Foxes. And the presence of a salvaged Sarath in the fire lance continues to infuriate any and all Regulan fans I encounter to no end (this will likely eventually get me nuked).

The Command lance has enough raw brute force threat to hold attention with the staggered combination of long and short ranged firepower it can put out, making it awkward to deal with. Meanwhile, the combined throw weight of the Waffle Irons and Apollo tend to provide horrendous scare factor to anyone who gets hit with a TAG laser. So far, I've had them slowly waddle up the field, and absolutely wreck targets by dropping a hundred and thirty tubes of semi-guided munitions on people's head. All this time, the Recon Lance basically flits around pointing targeting lasers in strange places and occasionally engaging in opportunistic proctology.

So far, it's worked out rather well, if a touch slow by FWL cavalry standards. I'm likely going to try and back this up with an conventional detachment of assault grade armor to serve as the anvil as well as more fast movers to cover the minor flaws I'm discovering.

[Colt Ward]

Might consider the MML Yeoman, they work well together since the MML can pop off with SRMs to keep others away.

[Weirdo]

...awkward to deal with.

When people describe your forces this way, you're doing the FWLM 100% right. 8)

[GespenstM]

Very much no. That thing was gonna have TAG from the very beginning.

I should clarify: It's clearly not optimized for the task. You may have always intended it to have TAG and I think it's an alright way to use the weight/crit-slot, but this is clearly something it offers as an aside to its main job.

I've had good runs with the design up until one or both of the main guns fall off for no reason.

I've becoming less fond of the Anzu due to this. The J70 does its designated job (urban and mountain fighting) very well, but the G60's capacity to have both of its main guns stop working for the rest of the game is... rapidly starting to frustrate me. That it is nonetheless a significant improvement over the TMP-3M and -3G in 3150-era play is a very damning indictment of how obsolete '4/6/* movement, mostly built around 3-6-9 range bracket weapons' Mechs have become as mobility and range continue to increase.

Anyway, your force looks pretty fun and has solutions for most issues, the only real weakness I see is it's vulnerable to high-speed brawlers (UZL-8S, etc.) and seems to have no way to really chase them off.

[Kidd]

The vulnerability of most TAG spotters has always bugged the living heck out of me. It makes heaploads of sense that somebody in the LRM-heavy FWL decided its high bloody time they built a front line combat Mech with TAG equipped as a matter of course.

[GespenstM]

It certainly makes more sense than our purpose-built-but-still-not-good-at-it TAG units like the Eagle. While I've become quite sour on the Anzu G60, even I'll admit it's better at the TAG job than the Eagle ever was and ever will be. They're both slow enough that they're going to get hit, but at least the Anzu has enough armor to survive a hit.

I would honestly much rather FWL adopt that idea on more heavies. Just.... literally the first thing they do is toss in TAG, and only remove it if they can identify a clear, genuine benefit the design gets from removing it. I want to see our Warhammers, Thunderbolts, Tempests, etc. etc. all have TAG. As it is, I barely bother with SG LRMs because it's such a hassle to build around. If more of our heavies did what the Anzu did and tossed it in as a secondary feature (maybe one "always planned for and always included in the specifications", but nonetheless not its main job) then I'd reconsider this stance immediately.

[Weirdo]

It makes heaploads of sense that somebody in the LRM-heavy FWL decided its high bloody time they built a front line combat Mech with TAG equipped as a matter of course.

That was very much the idea behind the Anzu. Well, one of three.

1: You're gonna operate alongside LRM units, act like it.
2: No Guts, No Galaxy!
3: I wonder what a Thor-KU would look like?

[Colt Ward]

I would point out the Marauder 9M2 had TAG in it as a line unit long before the Anzu.

Another reason that would be the case however was the meta for much of the games, a unit that used TAG could not fire weapons.  Its why before TW folks complained about the TAG on the Maelstrom.

[truetanker]

I would point out the Marauder 9M2 had TAG in it as a line unit long before the Anzu.

Another reason that would be the case however was the meta for much of the games, a unit that used TAG could not fire weapons.  Its why before TW folks complained about the TAG on the Maelstrom.

MAD-9M, the parent, is much better. Sure 4x ERL vs. 2x ERPPC, same platform profile!

TT

[Alexander Knight]

MAD-9M, the parent, is much better. Sure 4x ERL vs. 2x ERPPC, same platform profile!

TT

Heavy PPCs.  Much better heat control, too.

[truetanker]

My bad...

TT

[Deadborder]

Might consider the MML Yeoman, they work well together since the MML can pop off with SRMs to keep others away.

Agreed there. What the 10-OR loses in overall LRM power and durability it more then makes up for in versatility, mobility and the ability to defend itself at close range.