Nothing says they are better, the whole point of discussing the decision making process is that some people/structures can make good decisions faster- a good decision now is better than a perfect decision later is on a lot of Army walls. My whole point about artillery target information times out is about how all the information needed to wield the Royals has to go through a LOT of staffs- which takes time, one of the most precious commodities on the battlefield. It is also why for planned tasks you will get assets- artillery, engineers, air support, sensors/detection, and whatever else the originating staff thinks might be needed (or the CO when they are handed that task)- assigned directly to the executing command. Because the staff knows too many layers slows down the decision making process.
A Royal Division's bulk is both it's advantage and a handicap. A Galaxy has- as listed- 200-300 mechs, 50-150 ASF, and 300 odd Elementals. Someone was saying the Royals had around 800 mechs, over 400 combat vehicles, and a LOT of infantry . . . then we get into the support elements- battalion, regiment, brigade and finally the Division's Support BN which is the only one clearly listed.
five . . . the Royals will have limited recon qualified assets. They can be attrite just like any other resource, hovers can have to give up the chase because woods, wheeled/tracked units because of water, VTOLs can be shot down by AA or ASF sweeps (quick count reveals it is the only area Clan has force parity w/ Royals), and the light mechs (most of which are slower than Clan light/meds) can be hunted down. The Royals recon would be in contact with the Clan skirmishers made up of Trinary Rogue and Rogue Stars, which would prevent them from raining artillery on the main body or dropping it on the support element. Unlike modern warfare, BT does not have the signals triangulation or other methods of trying to find units that are behind visual masking terrain. For the sensors they do have, the Clans also have ECM to counter- which is why I said the Royals will have limited specialist equipment in a previous post. Look at 2ndAcr's post, how much BAP is in the force? Not much. To expound of Focht, he had some of the best battlefield communications and the staff- and yet some of his troop movements were still taken by surprise by Clan forces also on the move. The Flaming Wolfhound incident comes to mind- which is the original art for the cover of the last BoK book.
BT artillery is also much shorter ranged than IRL- about 300 hexes, or 9 klicks . . . sure, your few A4 launchers are going to toss FASCAMs . . . but they have a shorter range than tube, about 9 'maps' =150 hexes, or 4.5 klicks. Sorry, that is Clan A4, IS A4 is 8 'maps' =132 hexes or under 4 klicks. Unless you want to put it in striking range of Clan skirmishers, it is going to be behind your FLOT and probably not mixed in with your forward mech regiments. So . . . out of 8 maps, let's be generous at 1 map or 16.5 hexes between your FLOT and mine, which would be recon/skirmisher elements. Say your main body is keeping up with them- full of 3/5s & 4/6s, and vehicles to boot but again being generous- and it is 1 map back from Recon's FLOT to your regiment's battle line. Ok, what depth? Assume they are spread enough you can comfortably have a depth of another 1 map. So at this point we are at 3 of 8 maps between my skirmisher FLOT and the last rank of your battle line. Is your artillery regiment really going to be placed in a thin line right behind your mech regiments? Or will you have a line of MechInf behind the mech regiments? Div HQ? How far left or right of the center will your A4 battery be and how far to either flank will that terrain you want to mine be?
I also would fully expect the Royals to be swinging the classic 2 up, 1 back- even in echelon. Both BM Brigades up, Mech Inf Brigade behind ready to move to contact . . . in the BM Brigade, 2 mech regiments up & 1 back. What then is protecting the flanks? Probably more of that mech infantry brigade with the support & specialist elements sheltered inside. A Galaxy formation that is keeping their distance is going to be much the same IMO- a pentagon shape with the Keshik in the center w/supports near the point, two clusters to the rear skirmishing and taking bites when they can, and a cluster on each side between the point and the 2 on the base.
One other thing concerning detachments . . . would the Royals keep their ASF, or what remains after the initial aerial clash, with the body of the Division or would they set up a temp airfield to ease the maintenance cycles to increase sorties? Having never read about Star League ASF field operations, I do wonder. We DO actually see Clan forces set up temp/rough airfields with their support elements, so it would be a difference in operations.
I look at it this way-
Meeting Engagement
Clan Galaxy Keys to Victory-
Never get trapped against terrain
Remain mobile with the ability to shift directions- force in being
Keep support/supply protected from raids & well ahead of trailing clusters
Draw out the battle, time is your friend
Royal Division Keys to Victory-
Keep combat commands spread across a wide front to attempt envelopment
Maintain contact/pressure to cut down on re-arm/repair
Cycle damaged equipment to the rear to prevent destruction/loss
Your question on detachments feels...hmm..
Okay, bear with me here for a moment.
The Clans are derived from the SLDF. This isn't just a neat historical fact from the setting, it's literally what they began existence as. The Clans also went through 200-something years of hothouse mutation from beginning with a modified SLDF doctrine, to what they have currently.
During that 200 years of hothouse life, they trimmed off certain functions that were integral in the SLDF.
Transport was calved off to the Merchant Caste and made a civilian role
Intelligence tasks were reduced and partially eliminated through the structure of the Trials system.
Medical was calved off and given to two civilian castes.
Maintenance and upkeep became a civilian role separated from the decision loop of the military leadership.
and so on.
This arrangement worked out in their hothouse environment (the Kerensky Cluster) because man-hours learning the details of logistics, medical, maintenance, etc. could be devoted to movement and gunnery. Intel work was reduced to a vestigal organ in most of the Clans (Per the
canon.)
this allowed Anastasius Focht to take an army of well-trained but green troops and beat the snot out of the invaders at Tukayyid, using a lot of the same doctrinal aspects the Clans themselves offloaded to lower castes or lost a use for during their cultural evolution.
I would argue one point you list as a Clanner advantage-time is NOT on the side of the Clanners-far from it. Mental and Psychological factors (Morale) are significant influences on not only tactical disposition, but also endurance. Clan training doctrines, upbringing, general cultural drives and over all psychological factors suggests that most Clans would have great difficulty
maintaining an asymmetrical warfare style like the one you suggest.
This DOES vary by Clan. a Galaxy of Blood Spirits is not going to have the same mentality as, say, a Hell's Horses galaxy or a Star Adder unit, and none of those will fight like a Smoke Jaguar unit of the same size-except in terms of equipment style and the direct influences of Nicholas Kerensky's writings.
Clanner doctrine
emphasizes piloting and gunnery, and
de-emphasizes the sort of staff-work that tightens your decision loop and enables high-intensity operations over a longer period. Their structure is optimized for
short engagements-as someone pointed out, those warriors are doing their 'staff number' jobs as
secondary to their shooter jobs, not as a primary task, and that will tend over LONGER engagements to be a detriment.
They will also miss 'the details'. Details of the sort that a dedicated staff organization won't miss, such as evaluating where the best points to hit an enemy transport network are, or where vulnerabilities need to be covered, or even what objectives need to be taken or sacrificed to gain a decisive edge in a sustained operation.
Soft factors have a huge impact on hard performance. You can win an engagement, and by doing so, lose the battle, you can win the battle, and lose the war. Pyrrhus famously said "One more victory like this one and we are undone" for a reason.
