Renforced company deployment.

[agen2]

I have managed to complete a reinforced company of the 4th Skye Rangers and am looking for advice on how to compose the 4 lances.
Here is the list of mechs;
Locust
Stiletto
Spector
Hollander
Hollander
Stealth
Eisenfaust
Blitzkrieg
Razorbacks
Griffin
Thunderbolt
Dragonfire
Zeus
Charger
Salamander
Highlanders
Thanks.

[Colt Ward]

I tend to group by task & speed so . . .

Command Lance
Zeus
Salamander
Highlander
Hollander

Dragonfire
Thunderbolt
Eisenfaust
Hollander

Charger
Griffin
Razorback
Blitzkrieg

Skirmish Lance
Stealth
Spector
Stiletto
Locust

[Daryk]

Why split up the Hollanders? ???

[Colt Ward]

Why split up the Hollanders? ???

So half of a lance is not made up of tinfoil?

So you can get 2 or more headcappers in each lance- depending on the variants.

[Daryk]

That makes sense... :)

[Natasha Kerensky]

Another take. 

This assumes the Charger is an -SB “Challenger”.  This is the Lyran variant with four large lasers, heat sinks to use them, max armor, and 3/5 speed.  Fits with the assault lance.

This also groups the fragile, big guns (Hollanders and Blitzkrieg) in a single strike or cavalry lance, which is how that lance should be used.  It’s a mobile reserve or flanking lance.  It’s sent to reinforce or exploit.  It’s not a stand-and-fight lance.  When sent in, the Hollanders keep their distance with dual Gauss while the Blitzkrieg guards against fast movers trying for a quick kill on the Hollanders or takes point with its Ultra-20 and the Razorback’s hole-seeking weapons.

Everything else is pretty standard and grouped by speed, which largely dictates role and weight.  The Salamander is pushed down in weight to the heavy lance to lend that lance a fire support role, but the Zeus or Dragon Fire could go down there instead.  And the Eisenfaust is a little weird as a design, but it’s speed and incendiary capability fit with the heavy or fire support lance.

Hope this helps.

Command/Assault Lance (3/5-4/6)
Highlander
Charger (assumes CGR-SB “Challenger” variant)
Zeus
Dragon Fire

Battle/Fire/Heavy Lance (4/6-5/8)
Thunderbolt
Salamander
Eisenfaust
Griffin

Strike/Cavalry/Medium Lance (5/8+)
Blitzkrieg
Hollander
Hollander
Razorback

Recon/Scout/Light Lance (7/11+)
Spector
Stealth
Stiletto
Locust

[Daryk]

That's more like what I was thinking for the Hollander deployment, yep! :)

[Colt Ward]

Problem there is something like our 'skirmish' lance is going to chew the 'strike' lance up.  Something fast with lots of MLs or even ERSLs getting in the Hollander's face is going to kill them . . . the Blitzkrieg is not going to keep speedsters off, it is next with the UAC and no other weapons.  The Razorback, IIRC, has no pulse equipped version thought it could at least spam ERMLs, SRMs and maybe MGs in close to try to scrape one backstabber off the Hollanders.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Game-wise, it won’t matter unless someone is planning a big 16-on-16 game and has multiple players run their own lances.  When only one player is running the entire company or a piece of it for a game, these TO&Es don’t matter.

But in the rare event it does matter, I’d rather put the Hollanders in one lance and deal with their suck doctrinally than weaken two lances with the Hollanders.  AC/20s are typical bodyguards for LRM boats; the Ultra-20 on a 7/11 platform like the Blitzkrieg should deter one or two 7/11 or 8/12 backbiters.  I agree an entire lance of backbiters is a bigger problem calling for a pulse boat, but there’s only so much to work with here and  only so much one can allocate to bodyguard duty for the Hollanders.  The real solution is not to pad out TO&Es with slow, poorly armored units like Hollanders, Urbanmechs, and the like in the first place.  They’re really designs to make use of leftover BV, not to build 1/8th of a unit.

FWIW…

[Hellraiser]

I'd probably stick the Eisenfaust, the Razorback, & the 2 Hollanders in the same lance & keep them in the rear of my formation providing Gauss/ER LL fire & using the other weapons to protect if something gets close.

I'd also probably put them behind one of the big boy lances so your forced to go through assault mechs to get to them but they can fire out past them.

It's really the only way to keep the 4 slow sucky mechs alive.

Big boys split into a 3-4 lance & a 5+ lance

Heavy/Assault:   Highlander, Zeus, Dragon Fire, Thunderbolt

Mobile Fire:   5/8+
Salamander-5T,  Charger-3K,  Griffin-3M,  Blitzkrieg-4F

Recon same as Natasha