(Answered) CO - Combatant Tech Teams

[Daryk]

Page 20 of Campaign Operations:

Combat personnel pulling double duty as technical personnel act as an astech if they have an appropriate Technician subskill (see p. 157, AToW) of 3 or higher, or a full tech if they have an appropriate Technician subskill of 6 or higher.

Does this mean all Tech Teams led by combatant personnel are Elite by definition?  The Technician skill starts at a TN of 9 (AToW, page 142), and six levels will get it down to 3.  Elite teams as defined by StratOps page 168 have base TNs of 5.  Similarly, the AsTech requirement appears to drive Tech Teams supported by combatant AsTechs to the Veteran level (TN 9 less 3 levels yields TN 6, which is Veteran per StratOps page 168).

Also, the minimum skill levels listed for combatant personnel are the only minimum skill levels I see.  Are personnel who are "just" Techs or AsTechs required to have skills at some level?  Going by StratOps page 168 and AToW page 142, Green Techs would seem to have 0 skill, Regulars 2, Veterans 3, and Elites 4, but I have no idea what that could mean for AsTechs (though I'll note that per the CampOps requirement, it appears 3 skill levels is both "semi-skilled" (per text to the left of the table on page 168) and Veteran per the table).

[cray]

Page 20 of Campaign Operations:
Does this mean all Tech Teams led by combatant personnel are Elite by definition?

No, that wasn't quite the intent. If anything, I was expecting combatants to generally be less effective techs than full-time technicians because combatants can't focus and probably didn't have the skill points to have a high skill rating.

Also, the minimum skill levels listed for combatant personnel are the only minimum skill levels I see.

The intent of the minimum skill level was that you don't want just any MechWarrior or fighter pilot playing technician even if they once refilled the headlight fluid or calibrated the muffler bearings. You'd want someone who could haul some weight while performing their regular duties, and therefore would need to be a step up from full-time techs. Otherwise the distractions might be telling.

It looks like 3 and 6 might be a bit high, though. :)

  Are personnel who are "just" Techs or AsTechs required to have skills at some level?

You can't be an elite tech with a skill of 0, so yes. I guess some specific values could be errata'd in, or cross-referenced to ATOW / StratOps.

[Daryk]

Thanks for the quick turn, Cray!  I agree 3 and 6 are a bit high (give that 4 seems to be "Elite").  Perhaps 2/4 or 1/3 with a penalty for part time focus would be appropriate?  That would bin "just" AsTechs as having level zero in the skill (which absolutely qualifies as "semi-skilled"), and puts the "just" Techs closer to where the table seems to have them.