Talk to me about: Field Guns

[Gorgon]

My knowledge of field guns is mostly limited to their existence. So my question(s) to you:


do you use them? Which type of gun do you prefer? Does it matter whether the infantry is wheeled or tracked? Do you assign a bodyguard to them?


Share your wisdom!

[BATTLEMASTER]

I love field guns!  I only wish they packed more than a ton of ammo per gun 

An AC/20 platoon in a city is downright scary and can be used for area denial.  I would use AC/5 and AC/10 platoons as bodyguards for fire support vehicles.  AC/2 and Gauss platoons can make good snipers. You can even use HVACs as field guns without worrying about them blowing up

They can use special munitions where allowed by the rules.  I can't remember if they can fire UACs and RACs without a jamming risk.

Also, don't forget about field artillery!  I like using Sniper artillery platoons.

[AlphaMirage]

I use them but prefer the longer ranged ones (HVACs, Light Gauss, all AC/2s) that don't make as much sense on a vehicle and provide protection to the operators. In tight terrain I'd use Ultra 10s, RAC/5s, and all types of 20s since their role changes from fire support to ambush predator and area denial.

Wheeled or Tracked would be dependent on the battlefield, with wheels being slightly preferable in urban terrain for the move advantage.

I wouldn't assign a bodyguard unit as these should be treated as semi-mobile turrets and have overlapping fields of fire. However, if I did it would like be an SRM carrier or Rocket truck that would mess up anything that decides to get within the cannon's minimum range.

[mbear]

I can't remember if they can fire UACs and RACs without a jamming risk.

I'm pretty sure they can fire at max rate without jamming. It makes sense to me because I can imagine a section of troops getting in there with crowbars or whatever to clear the jam. It's not like the Ultra/Rotary AC is confined to an armored box the way it is in a vehicle. There's probably some big access ports in whatever housing the AC has.

The only downside is that you only get one ton of ammo for the platoon as a whole. With a RAC you can easily run out pretty quickly.

And I just realized that LB-X infantry would be a great cheap AAA option. Speaking of which if you're using LB-X autocannons, do you only get to pick one type of ammo given the single ton limitation?

[BATTLEMASTER]

Speaking of which if you're using LB-X autocannons, do you only get to pick one type of ammo given the single ton limitation?

I believe that's the case.

[Rince Wind]

But I think you can switch if you brought more than one gun and have different ammo types.

[Weirdo]

Correct. Each individual gun gets one ton, but a multi-gun platoon is not required to choose the same ammo type for each of those tons. And last I checked, guns can indeed draw from each other's allotment. If you have a platoon manning two LB-10X guns and one gun had cluster and the other solid shot, it is legal for both guns to fire cluster rounds and then the next turn both guns fire slug.

[Gorgon]

Wow, I did not know that! That makes AC platoons even more useful.

[Weirdo]

You mean like the sole canon field gun platoon we've got stats for, which uses 6 LAC-5s?

[SCC]

Correct. Each individual gun gets one ton, but a multi-gun platoon is not required to choose the same ammo type for each of those tons. And last I checked, guns can indeed draw from each other's allotment. If you have a platoon manning two LB-10X guns and one gun had cluster and the other solid shot, it is legal for both guns to fire cluster rounds and then the next turn both guns fire slug.

Yeah, slight problem with this example, unless there's been a rules change Field Guns using LB-X's must always take cluster and can't take slug.

[Richard S.]

Just checked the rules. The platoon gets 1 ton of ammo per gun, but any gun can draw from any bin. LB-Xs must use cluster rounds though, they can't use slugs.

UACs and RACs are immune to jamming, and gauss guns can't explode. Very significant improvements both.

[Weirdo]

Fair enough. Assume my example is instead talking about LAC/5s, with whatever ammo you want. The core point stands.

[SCC]

Just checked the rules. The platoon gets 1 ton of ammo per gun, but any gun can draw from any bin. LB-Xs must use cluster rounds though, they can't use slugs.

UACs and RACs are immune to jamming, and gauss guns can't explode. Very significant improvements both.

It's not just UAC's and RAC's that can't jam, someone asked the question at some point and the official rules response is that it extends to normal AC's as well when firing in higher rates (that's an optional rule) and they can even do this with special munitions.

[Alan Grant]

I would be curious to hear an answer to this. If you were only able to pick 1 weapon system for a Field Gun unit (multiple platoons, maybe a company or battalion). Not knowing exactly the circumstances the unit would face, in effect you are basically committing yourself to using that for all predictable future battles, which weapon would you select for your Field Guns?

I guess I'm asking which weapon is the best generalist for a field gun.

[AlphaMirage]

I'd go with the AC/5 its cheap, widely available, has adequate range, and parts commonality with the Scorpions and Vendettes you'd expect a planetary militia to operate. There's also probably a surplus of them in the market post-Clan Invasion as double heat sinks proliferate and mechs start mounting more PPCs, Gauss, and fancier cannons

[Alan Grant]

Do you all think artillery terminology such as "Battery" might be used to describe a Field Gun unit in BT? Or would you confine that to Thumper/Sniper etc. etc. units.

I find myself mulling an artillery centric unit, that has Field Gun sub-units to it, so like Battery A is Snipers, Battery B is Arrow IVs, and maybe Battery C is Field Guns, that kind of thing.

Not saying they would be at the same place on the battlefield, obviously the Field Gun battery would be up on the frontlines somewhere, while the artillery batteries would be in the rear. But they would share organizational/jargon/tradition characteristics. The troops manning those field guns would essentially perceive themselves as being artillery, be technically part of the artillery branch etc.

Adjacent to that question... I've found it difficult to spot field gun units within Battletech and the Great House militaries. We get a reference here and there in a Field Manual beneath an entire RCT infantry brigade in the AFFS book I believe, just saying they do have them, such as the Davion Assault Guards, which get noted for being among the first in the AFFC to make extensive used of towed and crewed weapons, but it's not clear to me how they are organized.

[Gorgon]

I would be curious to hear an answer to this. If you were only able to pick 1 weapon system for a Field Gun unit (multiple platoons, maybe a company or battalion). Not knowing exactly the circumstances the unit would face, in effect you are basically committing yourself to using that for all predictable future battles, which weapon would you select for your Field Guns?

I guess I'm asking which weapon is the best generalist for a field gun.

Alpha Mirage makes a strong case for the AC/5. But my experience with slow tanks draws me towards the light gauss rifle. Field gun batteries are unlikely to controll at which range to engage the enemy, so more range is always welcome. I find it comforting to not be outranged by LRMs and the more concentrated damage grouping nice, too.




At least that's my theoretical approach so far.

[Weirdo]

...it's not clear to me how they are organized.

If there's nothing explicitly saying otherwise, it makes sense to me that these infantry units are organized the same way other infantry units are. Because they're infantry.

[BATTLEMASTER]

I'm surprised there aren't more canon field gun units.  I feel like they should exist in the Succession Wars, with the AC/5 and AC/10 being popular, as well as field artillery.

How about a field gun platoon made up of 'mech-sized machine guns?     The best anti-infantry infantry 

[Alan Grant]

I'm surprised there aren't more canon field gun units.  I feel like they should exist in the Succession Wars, with the AC/5 and AC/10 being popular, as well as field artillery.

How about a field gun platoon made up of 'mech-sized machine guns?     The best anti-infantry infantry 

That's called a Support Machine Gun. Existing infantry support weapon. At least the book Combat Operations treats them as an equivalency. Offhand I'm not sure how well that holds up in actual gameplay.

[Alan Grant]

Well I kinda found the Taurian answer to my organization label question. The LAC-5 field gun unit in TRO 3085 is labeled as as "Motorized Batteries" and the fluff of the section describes it as a light autocannon batteries working with the infantry unit's motorized companies.

[Maingunnery]

A Clan RAC/2 has a lot of range (8/17/25), it isn't very heavy (8 tons), and one ton is just enough ammo.

But my experience with slow tanks draws me towards the light gauss rifle. Field gun batteries are unlikely to controll at which range to engage the enemy, so more range is always welcome. I find it comforting to not be outranged by LRMs and the more concentrated damage grouping nice, too.

The Light Gauss Rifle is a very good Inner Sphere option.

[BATTLEMASTER]

That's called a Support Machine Gun. Existing infantry support weapon. At least the book Combat Operations treats them as an equivalency. Offhand I'm not sure how well that holds up in actual gameplay.

But but but 'mech-scale ballistic weapon 

But to be fair a 2x AC/20 unit with fragmentation ammo would probably be better, not to mention longer-ranged.

[Greatclub]

Light Gauss, Ultra 5, LB10, RAC5. Range, ranged DPS, critseeking, raw damage.

The range on the IS ultra 20 just doesn't do it for me on something that slow.

Now the clans? They have access to HAGs, edit - apparently not

[Alan Grant]

I'd LOVE to see more field gun use among the Clans in canon. I think that's a great use for solahma warriors.

It's a cheap way to bring a little more 'mech grade firepower into things, and expand the size of the area a Clan garrison can control and defend without conjuring up a lot of new line units. A detachment of solahma here and there, maybe alone, maybe attached to a garrison cluster, and you can really multiply a policing/garrison force, that, should they come up major attack by 'mechs or armor or air power, can deploy their field guns to offer up stiffer resistance than just infantry weapons. Since they are solahma, they aren't obsessed with concepts like Zell.

I like that idea a lot more than the traditional Clan solahma infantry charge-to-the-death being thrown at 'mechs with nothing but infantry weapons. At least with field guns, they really stand a much better chance of making a real contribution. Also, since they are solahma (and warriors in general) I feel like they'd be brave enough to stand by that weapon and keep it firing even under heavy fire and heavy casualties. Which is kinda ideal for a field gun crew.

[Weirdo]

I believe there's a minimum of 2 troopers per gun. Something to keep in mind when you want to run very light weapons like MGs.

Besides which, MGs are not allowed. The list of weapons allowed to use the Field Gun rules is very specific, it's not a broad category like simply saying 'ballistic weapons'. You MUST choose from the explicit list in the rules description.

[Shigure]

Strikes me that if PAC 4s were useable as field guns they'd make for a good option for solahma elementals.
Crew of five(assuming you round up), five to a platoon, they're already used to working together, and they're probably strong enough to move them without vehicles when necessary.
I could see gun crews getting extremely serious about inter platoon scores and the like. Competing on obstacle courses with their gun and everything.
Same can apply to Improved AC2s, cLBx2s, cUAC2s, and LAC5s.   

[Maingunnery]

What about a Fieldgun RAT?

Columns based upon usage: Ambush, Artillery, Fire-Support, (any more categories?)
Along with an era roll modifier (later era get roll bonus).

[Gorgon]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, I definitely learned some new things about how the rules treat field guns!

[HobbesHurlbut]

Strikes me that if PAC 4s were useable as field guns they'd make for a good option for solahma elementals.
Crew of five(assuming you round up), five to a platoon, they're already used to working together, and they're probably strong enough to move them without vehicles when necessary.

Unless they want to buy or produce the IS's LACs, the PACs are their best options for cheap and solid field guns.