Strike Command: Aerospace Mercs, The Hired Goons

[Vehrec]

So, here's a little project for you guys.  I'm a fan of an LP on Something Awful, and I thought it would be a nice tribute to turn their ToE into a Battletech force.  Obviously, there's going to be some problems.  It's a mix of High and Low, various manufacturers, and many roles, perfect for a hodge-podge group of mercenaries and the non-uniform nature of most forces in universe.  But it has two tankers, two drones with the frankly absurd GORGON STARE recon package, an Electronic warfare aircraft, and a seven and a half thousand ton INTEL SHIP.  Weird units are a dime a dozen, but this one's really weird.  After all, how many mercenaries have turned down a 40 million C-bill contract buyout in diamonds?  (Probably sensible ones, taking offers to betray your contract is how you get a terrible rating.)

Obviously, the Migs, Saabs, Tornados and stealth bombers can find some analogue in the endless array of designs we have-but which designs?  And they've gone through a lot of airframes in their brief career-that sort of churn must be pretty normal for Aerospace assets though.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

You looking for a BTU incarnation that's Aerospace or purely atmospheric?

[Dragon Cat]

Tagged out of interest

I'd say the Intel ship maybe a DropShip?

The cargo planes maybe Small Craft?

[Vehrec]

You looking for a BTU incarnation that's Aerospace or purely atmospheric?

Mixed force has it's benefits-you can move atmospheric fighters in small vehicle bays, and get almost 3 times as many to the battlespace.  And these guys used jet-trainers with rocket launchers to destroy a clan heavy aerospace star on the ground. See Operation Strict Parrenting for more detail on how they pulled that disgusting feat off. (As long as they make one pass over the base it counts, right?)

The problem is the Gripen.  It's the core of the force-4.5 gen fighter with good avionics and the ability to carry a pair of Meteors to delete anything that comes up to fight them. (it's frankly pretty disgusting how bad the Meteors break some missions.)  If we assume that a BVR anti-air missile equals an AAA, you need a 50 tonner at least I think.

Tagged out of interest

I'd say the Intel ship maybe a DropShip?

The cargo planes maybe Small Craft?

Maybe a Planetlifter for the small one, but something more hefty for the C-130?  Dropship's not a bad idea, but you'd need something a little bit crazy and kooky to use up most of the space-though maybe a floatation hull so it can launch the boats in the picture from a well deck would be in flavor.

ETA:  They went and bought three anti-submarine frigates while they were at it, but they're not on that procurement chart.

[Lamont-Cranston]

Hired Goons?

Gorgon Stare

Wasn't that a multi-billion dollar failure and provided pictures little better than google maps?

Vehicle Annex might have what you're looking for to replace the larger craft, surveillance airship or radar plane, carrier airship, transport planes, etc - if you want to really replace that ship theres an aircraft carrier submarine.

[Vehrec]

Hired Goons?

Yes, I prefer the hands on touch, don't you agree?

Wasn't that a massive failure and provide pictures little better than google maps?

/shrug/ Look man, I don't tell you how effective things are in real life, just in the simulation they're using here.  And for the purposes of determining 'yes, those are military vehicles we should be hitting with bombs' it worked wonders in their Angolan campaign. 

[Dragon Cat]

How's this?  I'd have the unit set towards the back end of the dark age-era.  Where the Tracker came from is a mystery it's been modded to carry/control the BlackWasp's which again where they come from is a mystery.

Over and above this I'd probably give them several DropShips able to carry the unit maybe even a JumpShip to make them mobile.  I went with singles on the airships because of their size which makes them difficult to move around.

2x Avar = C.10
2x Sabre = Mirage
2x Sparrowhawk = AMX

2x Corsair = Saab
2x Cutlass = Tornado
2x Rondel = MiG 27
2x Morgenstern = MiG 21

2x Drake Medium Stealth = F117

2x BlackWasp = MQ-9B
2x Jagatai-X = Grumlum
2x Mosquito Radar Plane = Sabb 100B
2x Fulmar Patrol WiGE = Atlantique
1x Schatten = KC135R
1x Eckener = Vickers

2x King Karnov = CN235
2x FB-335 Longhaul = C130

4x MHI Defence AA Tank
4x Arrow IV Assault Vehicle (Anti-Air load)
8x Gun Trailers (Anti-Air Arrow IV load)

Tracker-class Surveillance Ship = boat

[Vehrec]

How's this?  I'd have the unit set towards the back end of the dark age-era.  Where the Tracker came from is a mystery it's been modded to carry/control the BlackWasp's which again where they come from is a mystery.

Over and above this I'd probably give them several DropShips able to carry the unit maybe even a JumpShip to make them mobile.  I went with singles on the airships because of their size which makes them difficult to move around.

2x Avar = C.10
2x Sabre = Mirage
2x Sparrowhawk = AMX

2x Corsair = Saab
2x Cutlass = Tornado
2x Rondel = MiG 27
2x Morgenstern = MiG 21

2x Drake Medium Stealth = F117

2x BlackWasp = MQ-9B
2x Jagatai-X = Grumlum
2x Mosquito Radar Plane = Sabb 100B
2x Fulmar Patrol WiGE = Atlantique
1x Schatten = KC135R
1x Eckener = Vickers

2x King Karnov = CN235
2x FB-335 Longhaul = C130

4x MHI Defence AA Tank
4x Arrow IV Assault Vehicle (Anti-Air load)
8x Gun Trailers (Anti-Air Arrow IV load)

Tracker-class Surveillance Ship = boat

Ooookay.  Not sure about some of these choices-the Saab probably shouldn't be a centuries old design while the Mig-21 gets a relatively new omnifighter as it's stand in.  I know there are new Corsair variants, but it's not quite the same kind of dynamic I was hoping for.  The Avar makes some sense subbing in for something as light as the Kfir, until you realize that you have it's close contemporary and cousin as the Sabre.  The Blackwasps aren't equipped in the slightest for scouting duty-why not replace them with modded Tabanids instead?  The Jagtai-X might do for the EA-18 Growler that they didn't pick up because it was too expensive (20 million C-bills), is there anything older with ECM or is that about it?  The Pantsir probably maps most closely onto the Arrow IV, but that leaves the question of why have the field-deployed ones as well, when they can't actually provide the medium-long range defense to compliment the mobile launchers.

And well, while it's good to have pairs instead of singlets, you've also taken units of 4 or 8 down to 2 as well.  That shrinks the whole unit overall, turning a 33 combatant  short Regiment into a Wing.  And you massively increase the size of the AAA division of the unit at the same time.

Still, fair's fair, I ought to detail a few of the Dramatis Personae of this little madcap adventure.

Jack Abrimof: Lobbyist, party animal, Fugitive from the law.
Jack Abrimof came to the goons with a simple request-2.5 million for his legal fund and discretionary entertainment spending, and this corruption-charges facing RoS lawyer would start talking to people.  Jack you see, has connections.  Dictators, Tri-D Starlets, CEOs, Jack knows almost everybody, and everybody talks to Jack at parties.  Jack promised to go to bat for the Hired Goons and get them More.  More money from contracts.  More time to complete said contracts.  More procurement deals, more muscle to back them up on the ground, Jack promised it all, and delivered most of it.  The extra money and the additional procurement contract to give the goons much needed serious ground-attack options in their early missions came in very handy.  But Jack really ought to have better covered his tracks-while he was providing the goons with High-level intel on the true desires of their employer, the court case against him was coming together-and his frequent inebriation made his arrest and attempted escape all the more pathetic.  Jack was thought done for after the police pulled him out of a tree without any pants on.

To the surprise of the Goons however, their personal bad penny showed up again with the Nalogna Free State, a crowdfunded periphery anarcho-corporatist state that was running up against the Goons current paymaster, Count Vilas von Hoff in a three way with the local dictator.  While Count von Hoff had virtually paupered himself, his motivated and disciplined infantry were pushing back against the dictator's demoralized Mechs-as long as the Goons kept providing air support.  Meanwhile, the Free State's conscripts and mercenaries seemed unable to make progress except on the coattails of the Goons operations.  Plying Jack with liquor and bribes, the Goons secured his return to their bosom-and four brand new Free State ASFs that had just arrived in theater.  Jack remained in hiding for the rest of the Nalongna operation, but has cropped up from time to time since, most often to inform the Goons about whatever cosmo-political mess they've stepped into this time.  Jack seldom helps with the contract negotiations these days however.

[Dragon Cat]

It would have helped if I scrolled over and looked at the numbers collumn   :-[

There’s actually a few other units I was tempted to use instead of the Jagatai I’ll take another run at it later

As for the BlackWasps they’ve probably got as much recon use as the drones (mark one eyeball) but shouldn’t be hard to mod them dropping weapons for electronics

[Vehrec]

In Memorium:

Wing Commander Rohan
A former officer in the (Insert Aerospace Force name here) who flew several missions alongside the Hired Goons on their debut campaign, Rohan was hung out to dry, so she took her fighter and her wingman and tagged along-souring relations with the Goons former employer but giving them an extra pair of fighters-and a deadly ace.  Rohan was emotionally unstable due to the loss of her entire squadron save for Silent Bob in Operation Strict Parenting, where they had served as the bait that enabled the Goons to score a flawless victory for their own force.  This being the case, she was known to fly her own operations, on her own timetable, and her own objectives.

This was less than ideal when she bombed mines and hotels full of executives from the Germanium cartel, forcing the Goons to go without payment on their next mission.  But in Operation Grognard, Rohan and Silent Bob were the first CAP elements to make contact with a massive incoming wave of enemy fighters-air breathers, and aerospace mixed together, five hundred years of airframes thrown at the Goons in an immense and nigh unstoppable wall of Big Wing.  Rohan fearlessly and professionally engaged the force, slowing it and giving the Goons time to redeploy, but lost her wingman in the process.  Stricken with grief despite racking up eight kills before expending her fuel and ammunition, Rohan lapsed into mourning and ultimately went down herself in Operation Gatecrasher.  Despite this, the Goons still pour one out for her after every mission-Rohan may have been unstable, but she was, ultimately an ace among aces.