I'm exploring an unusual-in-canon force composition which nevertheless looks fairly effective using pure-3025 tech. Comments are quite welcome.
The Dyad force is lance scale and consists of:
- 2 3025 Workhorse ASF.
- 2 "platoons" of 10 marines.
- 2 ASF tech teams with 7 folks each.
- A surgeon/doctor, and an intel/comms specialists.
The total personnel is 2 pilots + 20 marines + 14 techs + 2 specialists - 6 (double duty on the tech teams as per Combat Operations) = 32 people. In terms of capabilities:
- There is cargo to carry the marines.
- All combat elements have a surface<->orbit method.
- All units can be easily maintained by the available techs.
TransportThe dropship transport weight of the Dyad is 300 (2x ASF) + 160 (steerage quarters for all) + 115 (extensive supplies) = 575 tons. You could skimp on everything except for the transport bays to reduce this to 300 tons.
CombatCan this unit perform in all the combat roles we might care about?
- High Speed Engagement. The Workhorse ASF hit hard due to the AC/20 and MGs. At the highest speed, they can inflict 192 damage in a pass.
- Anti-ASF space combat. The Workhorse ASF have 38.5 tons of armor and a damage potential of 54/round making high endurance dogfighters.
- Anti-dropship/warship combat. The Workhorse have mountainous armor providing plenty of capacity to absorb hits and deliver damage over time. The marines can ride the Workhorse in boarding operations.
- Anti-ASF aerial combat. Using the advanced atmospheric control rolls in SO, the Workhorse is unlikely to fly out of control making dogfights in atmosphere relatively viable.
- Ground combat. The Workhorse can carry up to 20 bombs (coming from space), 15 bombs (taking off from the ground), or 10 bombs (returning to space). These can be fuel-air bombs delivering 20/10/5 points of AE damage or HE bombs delivering 10 points of AE damage. All of these can be launched at a single target providing up to 400 points of damage potential. Furthermore, since there is just a +2 penalty on the attack roll independent of target movement/cover, there are good odds that most of that damage is delivered on target. The marines can operate as spotters and potentially engage in some mopup using the TW range of 15.
- In-facility combat. The Workhorse can deliver the marines to the door, and the marines can engage in combat inside the facility.
Altogether, we have at least a theory of combat everywhere except underwater.
CostThe cost of the Dyad is 16.861M. When transported by something like the
Ultra, the amortized cost per Dyad is ~58M.
The closest existing analog the I'm aware of are the nova formation (5 mech + 25 elementals). These are more specialized (no support structure and nearly incapable of space combat), but they do provide a form of combined arms. ASF & Marines seem to complement each other well since (a) without one or the other there is no answer for common battlefields (b) some combat (like boarding ops) requires both working together and (c) the downside of keeping a ton for marine transport is fairly minor. Point (c) typically does not work as well with Battle Armor.
The biggest drawback I see is the reliance on bombs for ground combat. The fuel-air explosives for example would level a city if they were extensively used against ground units in a city, and have additional proximity blast effects which could take out friendly marines. HE explosives are more precise, but they deliver half the damage, which notably reduces overall damage. Landing and using the ASF as a super-tough slow wheeled tank is somewhat viable although the +2 to-hit penalty is a drag. For city combat, perhaps a combination of HE bombs, wheeled tank mode, and delivering marines into building can be effective? Although it does seem challenging.
TradeoffsRelatively to the earlier
triad force we worked out, the tradeoffs here are simpler.
You could go to large scale, but the benefits seem negligible and flexibility is lost. You could go for smaller scale, but a solo ASF can get into trouble if someone gets on the tail.
You could also go for more marines, but that significantly increases the amount of life support (and quarters) required. Dropping the marines entirely would save 12.5% of transport mass (as steerage quarters) and provide an extra ton of armor on the ASF. Given the relatively low overhead of the marines and the comprehensive set of missions they enable, this doesn't seem worthwhile.
Edit: dropped the independent maintenance aspect.