Best "Combined-Arms" Dropship?

[Black_Knyght]

I curious what people here consider to be the best 3025-to-3060 era dropship for hauling a "Combined Arms" unit with Mechs, vehicles, and infantry.

It/they would need to be able to carry a reinforced company of mechs (or possibly up to two companies) + a reinforced company of vehicles + a company of "special forces" infantry (possibly with some battle armor).

I ask because I'm in an ongoing Federated Commonwealth Civil War campaign. The game host is an experienced player but relatively new to the area of actually using dropships.He initially assigned me two Model-96/Elephant Class Dropship/Tug off the cuff, but now it turns out they might not be right both functionally and era-wise. He's offered to "retconn" them if I can find something more Era-appropriate to replace them with.

That's where I turn to the expertise of the good folks around here....

So, to haul the above described units into battle, what do YOU consider to be the BEST suited "combined arms" dropships for the time period between 3025 to 3060?

[savagecoyote79]

Maybe a pair of obsolete Fortress class. 1 company each of mechs, heavy armor, and infantry. They lack battle armor capability but they could always be retrofitted for them.

[Grognard]

FORTRESS class.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Fortress


EXCALIBUR class.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Excalibur_(DropShip_class)



...dang. ninja'd on the Fortress class.
but I wouldn't call them 'obsolete'.

[Liam's Ghost]

Two fortresses sounds like a good bet.

[Black_Knyght]

LOL - THAT was a nice and quick consensus!

And looking at it, the Fortress is just about perfect. It's an older design and it's lack of armor could explain how it found it's way into Mercenary hands, being replaced by newer designs that are better equipped. A pair of them have enough going for them that they could allow for some minor growth within the mercenary unit I'm running too.

I like it!

[marauder648]

I would say the Lee http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lee_(DropShip_class)  but you would need two to carry the units you'd need.

[bluedragon7]

Overlord, replacing 1 company of mechs with vehicles and infantry
The overlord is fluffed to have been modified to various configurations, so it could be ideal

[Nekhron Kirov]

Definitely the Overlord Dropship, hands down.

[savagecoyote79]

2x Fortress class also gives you some sweet artillery support. Just thought I should throw that in there.

[sillybrit]

I would say the Lee http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lee_(DropShip_class)  but you would need two to carry the units you'd need.

The Lee was a SLDF-only design, with few surviving the Amaris Coup, and those survivors leaving on the Exodus, subsequently being lost in the Exodus Civil War. Obviously a backstory can be written for any unit choice, but a Lee is very unlikely.

[Fireangel]

Semi-canon they may be, but Union conversions are generally an excellent choice; a lance's worth of 'mechs can be replaced by a company's worth of light vehicles, a single 'mech bay can be converted to carry upwards of a battalion of infantry, and so on.

[Daryk]

I'm with Fortress crowd on this one.  The Long Toms alone are worth it.

[Dave Talley]

overlord
or seeker and union

the fortress is rare away from house or very big merc units

if you get one, I would only take one, and it would have to be the old
version unless you stole it from a Lyran unit

[Black_Knyght]

The final arrangement according to the GM is that I WILL have two Fortresses in place of the two erroneously originally issued Model-96/Elephant Class Dropship/Tugs. [legal]

According to the GM, given that the Black Knights are a break-away/branch off from former a Lyran unit gone mercenary, the two Fortresses will  both be older models ships acquired from Lyran Commonwealth scrapyards. The official word is they were salvaged and refurbished over time back to fully functional OLDER model versions. [legal]

I'm good with this and GREATLY appreciate the help and advice here. And I can't say I'm unhappy to have two Long-Tom's backing my mercs now either!  ;) O0

[Dave Talley]

as a former GM,
just to make it rougher on you, I would strip the arty, no way those would end
up at a scrapyard, but 2 BFDS's are still a great start
and as a 3040ish era unit you could mount dual arrow 4s instead :-)

[Black_Knyght]

Fortunately in this case it represents an established mercenary unit with a few decades of history under their belts.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

For combined arms, the SLDF's bird was the Colossus.  36 mechs, 72 heavy tanks, 12 platoons of infantry.  And like the desirable Fortress class, a Colossus brings artillery support to its troops as well.

It comes back out of extinction during the Jihad, just after the timeframe listed in the OP.  But:

A few examples have since been discovered: One crashed example was found on the Lyran Commonwealth world of Phecda by Snord's Irregulars in 3024, from which they salvaged unknown but presumably substantial amounts of Star League-era equipment; another crash-landed vessel was recovered from a hidden Star League depot on Epsilon Eridani by the Lone Star Regiment in 3067 and restored to flight status.[6]

If canonical mercs can find (and restore) a Colossus, why not your players'?

[Dave Talley]

they only "salvaged" the mechs iirc

[Fireangel]

they only "salvaged" the mechs iirc

"...another crash-landed vessel was recovered from a hidden Star League depot on Epsilon Eridani by the Lone Star Regiment in 3067 and restored to flight status."

Sounds like the dropship itself was restored.  ::)

[Dave Talley]

we were referring to the first one Snorrds got the toys,
the Lyrans later removed the ship


as to the Fortress iirc many line units didnt even have functional toms on them

[Black_Knyght]

I can assure you that if my unit got their hands a a couple of those through salvage I'd be finding a way to get the Long Toms working again. I have no doubt THAT would certainly be a refit/repair priority for an established merc unit.