Command and Control facilities for ground troops

[GermanSumo]

hi guys,

i stumbled over this on sarna as i did some research for our rpg group:

" The Command-Overlord subtracts only four 'Mechs and adds in the equivalent tonnage for command and control facilities (including added berthing)."

are there any rules in any book regarding these facilities? i remember occasionally reading about such facilities on mechs, vehicles, dropships and jump/warships. but for the life of me i cannot find any rule set for them or where exactly they are mentioned. could you guys help me out?

oh... and as a side question. one of my guys plays an extremly well connected and rich tech/engineer. he asked me for a "naval comm scanner suite". my ruling is that this equipment is unavailable to private persons yet in 3049. houses have some in museums and scientific institutions for research. and if comstar finds out the group possesses this kind of tech.... they will make you an offer you cant refuse! or just send some rom agents to retrieve it without payment and possibly removing all who saw this equipment. does that sound right or not?

[truetanker]

Back in the day when I RPGed, I might have included a +1 Initiative per 20 tons or so, of said equipment. Today, I'd go with more 30.5 tons for the same bonus, because too much was banked. Also do they have enough eyeballs to man these, remember fatigue can be a moral booster! ( I use to run 6 hour shifts as maximum effect, anything more suffered a -1 Initiative per every 2 hour of being on duty with average 10 hours per combat. )

And as for the Naval Comm Scanner, I would let them find one, but it's broken... costs a hernia or two to repair in money terms! ( I mean hemorrhaging here...  >:D O0 ) And then let them slip up and use it in a battle... and watch as a Man of Light / early Word of Blake-Comstar ROM decides to occupy said property. ( Preferably while the unit is on a mission, hijack there ship... use a few new jumpship crewmembers. )

But it is your game.

TT

[GermanSumo]

hehehe you read my thoughts about the naval comm suite, truetanker :D

[Weirdo]

Rules for comm gear providing a command bonus are in TacOps. We do not have stats for the Command Overlord, so you'll have to guess how much comm gear it has.

[GermanSumo]

Rules for comm gear providing a command bonus are in TacOps. We do not have stats for the Command Overlord, so you'll have to guess how much comm gear it has.

thanks a bunch for the hint, weirdo!

[truetanker]

Rules for comm gear providing a command bonus are in TacOps. We do not have stats for the Command Overlord, so you'll have to guess how much comm gear it has.

That's easy because if tells us 4x Mech cubicles are removed for the Comms. That's 600 tons including berthings. So all we have to do is find out how many people it takes.

TT

[bluedragon7]

1 per ton of communications equipment, so it could be up to 75 tons. ( no officers)

But realistically I would assign also some cargo space or even some vehicle bays for HQ equipment/vehicles, maybe some infantry for security and additional personal.
Also additional cargo for supplies

[Weirdo]

We don't know what kind of quarters those staffers have, or if extra lifeboats were added, or extra armor or guns. Given the importance of the command staff, none of those would surprise me, and all of them would eat into the comm gear tonnage.

Of course, the benefits of comm gear kinda max out at ten tons or so, so I don't think you're likely to degrade a ship's command abilities unless you actually forget the comms. :)

[SCC]

Of course, the benefits of comm gear kinda max out at ten tons or so, so I don't think you're likely to degrade a ship's command abilities unless you actually forget the comms. :)

That's for a single unit providing an initiative bonus, if you're on the ground you'll want another ten units, each with at least 5 tons to control satellites, 6 for the generic satellite types on TacOps195 and the other 4 for ones with Satellite  that you brought along. (The way the Satellite Imager rules work you don't won't to put multiple on a single satellite).

If you know of some way to bring your own generic satellites, that is pay BV for them, this goes up, after all who wouldn't want at least two scientific satellites?

[GermanSumo]

im lacking a bit much of sleep to understand everything you guys talk about. so the 70 tons is actually a 10 - 15 ton facility, some quarters for security and comm/tactical personal... and satelites/ground equipment? did i get that right?

[Weirdo]

The answer is that we don't know what a Command Overlord has. Until we get stats, all we can do is guess.

[GermanSumo]

i know, weirdo. i am trying to follow your guesses. i am german and following complicated texts is a bit hard with my lack of sleep. just making sure, i followed what you guys wrote.

[Hellraiser]

I decided to try & do a hypothetical on what that 600 tons is actually used for to create the "Command"-Overlord.

I didn't want to touch armor/weapons & affect the Aerotech "Stats" of the Overlord for this so it was just some basic internal only options.


Commo Gear = 20 Tons
Commo Operators x20 w/ 2nd Class Quarters = 140 Tons
4x Officer Quarters to match the 20 added "Crew" to keep them organized & running @ 1/6 ratio = 40 Tons
7x Officer Quarters for true "High Command Staff Squad" = 70 Tons
Increase Cargo to handle Food for added Command Section = 30 Tons
Mixed Vehicle Lance of 2 Heavy & 2 Light Bays  (Mobile HQ,  Maxim, Partisan, Demolisher ... or similar concept)

I decided to add the vehicles to suck up the tonnage & leave the Overlord w/ its original 36 Ground unit "Battalion" intact

I also went a bit more than needed on the commo gear & personnel to give it the feel of a huge command bridge type set up with a full "platoon" of staff to monitor & update taskforce leaders.

After all they aren't common, I doubt there is one for every AFFC RCT to have one.
Likely more like only the best supplied RCTs or maybe even just 1-2 per combat theater for task force offensives.

(Using the Davion Brigade as an example:  Maybe the entire organization has 1 for the 1st Guards & a couple Fortresses for the Assault & Heavy Guards, and the rest of the Brigade makes due with Overlord-2 (Vehicle) variants or Excaliburs as the RCT command ship.)

[GermanSumo]

that sounds very good, but instead of the vehicle lance i would have the following suggestion: mobile HQ and several different kinds of surveillance and communication satellites? would that work?

[Hellraiser]

Maybe, depending on their size, and the Overlord taking up Orbit to deploy them.

[bluedragon7]

A deployable satellite network would be a good idea, can you launch them directly from cargo?
I would start with an armada of D40s for communication and add others to taste.

[SCC]

A deployable satellite network would be a good idea, can you launch them directly from cargo?
I would start with an armada of D40s for communication and add others to taste.

If I was your GM I'd say no, it would have to be from an ASF bay or Small Craft

[bluedragon7]

As long as I can "reload" the bay from cargo. Otherwise spending 150 t to launch 3.3 seems quite harsh

[idea weenie]

A deployable satellite network would be a good idea, can you launch them directly from cargo?
I would start with an armada of D40s for communication and add others to taste.

I'd go for having to transfer them from cargo to an ASF or small craft bay, use the bay to prep, then transfer them to an ASF or small craft so the ASF/small craft can fine-tune the launch vector without having to use the entire Dropship.

So you pick the box-o-satellite from cargo, and take it to an ASF or Small Craft bay to begin prepping.  A second Small Craft bay is used to prep a small craft to launch the satellites.  As each satellite is prepped for launch (solar panels retracted, but any fuel is transferred), it is moved to the prepped small craft.  Once the prepped small craft is loaded with the satellites, it is launched.  The Small Craft uses its efficient and powerful fusion engine to get the right orbit, then kicks out each satellite.  An ASF would have the satellite attached to an XO mount, and detaches the satellite so it drifts free.

While that ASF/Small Craft is launching satellites, any others needed are being prepped for further launches.

[Cryhavok101]

Considering satellites can get bigger than what a small craft bay can hold, I would say they can definitely be deployed from cargo, as there is no other way to deploy them at that size. Small Craft Bays can only hold units of up to 200 tons, but satellites max out at 300 tons if I remember correctly.

For the C&C overlord:
Personally I would look up how much support staff would be needed to maintain everything it can carry at 100% efficiency, and put that in it, along with enough Comm Equipment to access satellites and do everything else you could use it for. I would probably also put satellite imagers on it, so in the absence of satellites it can fly up there and give those bonuses itself. If possible I would add a grav deck for the C&C bay so they could work as if on the ground, while in orbit providing those bonuses (if they are legal, I can't remember if they are for DropShips or not).

I probably wouldn't put an NCSS on it, because those are primarily useful in space, and this seems meant to command ground forces. If available though, I would include a mobile HPG. If you have extra space, you could go with extra field kitchens and MASH units along with quarters for the crew for them. I'd roll any remaining tonnage into cargo and use that cargo for the C&C role, like having a mobile HQ in storage that could be brought up and readied for use if needed.

[Iron Mongoose]

Now, I don't have TacOps or some of the other books that address satilites and things, but I'd caution those imagining what cool things they'd put on the Command Overlord to look at introduction and avalability for what they want to use.  While I suppose it could be that all such ships are Star League relics, I get the impression that the ship was around in the Succession Wars, implying it uses technology from that wonderful Lostech era.  So it may be more akin to the "ECM" on the Raven (almost surely that was the innital intent, since both were given without rules).  If I were to guess, I'd guess it would be a few hundred tons of gear that does the work of 20-40 tones of modern/SLera gear, along with nicer quarters for the commander and their staff, and set asside some of the grander visions.

Of course, that's not to say that the Overlord didn't have the same future as the Raven, and get a later upgrade with the modern technology and there isn't one or a dozen flying about with satalites and modern command and controll gear and naval missiles hidden in the bow.  So I guess era and date of last refit are probably big questions, as well as who's opperating it.  It's easy to imagine the FedSuns making a pretty posh command ship for the First Prince (and then the First Prince being too much a man's man to use it and going around in a Union), while even a very high end (non-Wolf's Dragoons) mercenery unit would probably have something older and less customized.