C3 Systems and Unit Organization

[nerd]

An idea that's been batting around in my head for a bit: you have a C3 enabled company. How are you going to arrange the C3 system. Should it be:

1. Company CO and lance leaders have C3 Computers. The fourth Master's location does not matter
2. Each Lance/Platoon has is a cohesive network (contains 1 or more Mechs with a Master), but the rank does not matter of the assignemnt.
3. All units with a Master are technically assigned to one particular lance, and the network is within the company, but there is no relationship between Master/Slaves and the unit organization.
4. The company has a flexible organization. There's assignment to a standard lance/platoon, and a combat lance/platoon, but the units mounting C3 Masters can have any rank of unit commander.

I see as most common: 1, 2, and 4. 1 and 2 make sense, and 4 would work when paring Morningstars and Minions, or other AFV's with C3. The problem with 3 is it can fall apart when the company is in action, or if a lance/platoon has to be detached.

[Charistoph]

A lot depends on the weight each lance is going by.

In general, 1 is good, but 2 is generally better.  The Lance leader may not always be in the heaviest mech, which will provide the space for the Master and the armor to keep it "safe".

3 is foolish, as if you have a lance with nothing but Slaves in it, and that is pretty much wasted mass.

4 can work as well as 2 or 1, but keeping track of who has a Master may be a challenge.  It's something similar to what we've run in to in our local campaign where we have 3 Mechs with the Command Quirk, so at least one of them "needs" to be on the field each game.

[Sartris]

I go with lance-level networks after 3057 (though not exclusively) because of the growing uptick in ECM. ECCM fixes that problem if you play with it but I don’t do megamek so I refuse to use precious time on the tabletop counting bubbles.

In general my company-sized C3 nets use a dual master like the Tai-sho

[Colt Ward]

Another question would be how much of your company are Omnis?  I ask b/c if you are 'canon' RS only, then sometimes if half a lance are Omnis there you shift who gets the Master depending on the canon configs.

IE, if I want a assault lance to bust the door open, then I might shift the C3M out of a lance of a Sunder, Tenshi, Atlas, and Catapult to a Avatar in another lance to keep things networked.  I would say the same was true if we got more Boosted C3 slave configurations, but we did not get a pack of RS for 3150 like we might have . . . I mean we need a BC3s Black Hawk KU to punch into some Guardian ECM for the company to focus down the carrier.

[garhkal]

When i made my companies that were C3 linked, i went with 13 mechs (four mechs per lance, 3 lances, PLUS a company commander).. 
Some groups were
CC master linked to each 3 of the lance commanders.
Lance commander for L1 and 2, linked to all 3 of their lance mates.  LANCE 3 had one mech out of the link.  so it stayed at 12 mechs.
Some groups were similar for the upper level mechs, but one lance 'stayed on its own'.

So like
                CCM
LC1 M         LC2M         LC3m
Lm1 S         Lm2 S        Lm3 s
Lm1 S         Lm2 s        Lm3 S
Lm1 S                         Lm3 S 
Lance 2 mech 3, stays on it's own.

Or
                   CCm
LC1 M        LC2M
Lm1 S       Lm2S
Lm1 s         Lm2s
Lm1 s          Lm2 s
Lance 3 commander is linked to all 3 lance mates, but they are linked on their own, NOT tied into the full company...

[Col Toda]

Standard is all well and good . But the outside the box is very different.  Had custom C3 Company called the Shining Host . 4 Custom Shugenjas and 8 Custom Rifleman which included a C3 remote launcher for the free slave slot . Sadly have yet to play test it enough times to see if it would make a good enough Early Republic unit .

[Hellraiser]

1. Company CO and lance leaders have C3 Computers. The fourth Master's location does not matter
2. Each Lance/Platoon has is a cohesive network (contains 1 or more Mechs with a Master), but the rank does not matter of the assignemnt.
3. All units with a Master are technically assigned to one particular lance, and the network is within the company, but there is no relationship between Master/Slaves and the unit organization.
4. The company has a flexible organization. There's assignment to a standard lance/platoon, and a combat lance/platoon, but the units mounting C3 Masters can have any rank of unit commander.

None of the above.

I very rarely run an entire company.

As it is, far more often I will have a single Lance network spread throughout the company, so that 2 members are in HQ Lance, 1 in Battle, & 1 in Striker, etc etc.

That said, when I am designing a full company I almost never use a double master.

And while the "Officers" could be the mech w/ the C3M they are not guaranteed to be so.

The 2nd Master will be in the Command lance almost always simply due to logistics & that more Master units are big & heavy.

Heck, prior to the Jihad it was hard to even find a unit that moved 5/8+ that mounted a Master for your Striker type lance leaders to use.

Due to that little issue, I have designed some networks where all 4 Masters are assigned to the Command Lance but they network out to the Lower Lances.

For example
CO = Cyclops-11C = Company Network CM
XO = Atlas-CM =  Lance Leaders Network
Command Lance #3 = Avatar-C  =  2nd Lance "Non-Officers" Network CM
Command Lance #4 = Avatar-C  =  3rd Lance "Non-Officers" Network CM

Battle Lance =  Victor-C, GrassHopper-C, Quickdraw-C, Kintaro-C
Recon Lance = 2x Firestarter-B's & 2x Owens

The above formation isn't listed in Total Warfare as a "canon" option but there is nothing particularly illegal other than the C3 Network "Members" are not the same as the "Lance TO&E" arrangement.   It is nothing more than a "Variant" of a canon formation that changes the TO&E locations.


When I am running a C3 company pre-Jihad, that has proper lance configurations, I almost always end up with a few custom Mech/Omnimech variants to make the unit work.
I usually use a BlackHawk-KU or Firestarter-O with a variant pod load for the Light lance C3M since there are no C3M's for either omni in the 3050's era.
Medium lance is a bit easier, you could use a custom Blackhawk again but can also find GrandDragon or Avatar versions w/ a C3M.
Heavy/Assault lance models I use most often are Cyclops-11C, Atlas-CM, Gunslinger-2ERD, or several different Heavy/Assault Omni's with Custom/Canon Pods.

Those are just the C3Ms but you end up a bit short of C3S units too depending on the "role" you are looking for & the year your playing in.