Devil's Dozen Mercenary Company

[ANS Kamas P81]

So I had that all-Archer mercenary company noodling in my head still, which was an itch that Artilleriegruppe Kataja didn't completely scratch since less than half its 'Mechs are Archers.  I have a dozen Archer minis, some of which I've modified in kitbashes, and I'm planning to make a unit around them with the War Phoenix as the commander's 'Mech.

There's a few origin ideas I'm kicking around, with the 'Mechs coming from Satalice in the Rasalhague Dominion - ARC-5R Archers are specifically made on that world, as are Phoenix Hawks.  The ARC-5R is on the MUL for mercs and RasDom, so clearly they're being sold off to whoever's interested in buying.

The unit commander's origins...I was originally thinking of a Clan warrior but that wouldn't gel with the idea of the unit eventually signing on with the Alyina Mercantile League.  I settled on a child of a mercenary unit that gets wiped out around the year 3145, and our hero picks up a few survivors and rebuilds.  Maybe they're former Kell Hounds survivors, who didn't get the message to regroup, and struck out on their own with a war chest left over from their service and salvage with the Hounds.

The Archers are bought from Gordon, Kingsley, and Thorpe on Satalice.  The unit commander retained their own Warhammer, instead of stepping into the cockpit of an Archer.

The Devil's Dozen starts its service with a five year contract in the Free Worlds League.  Their service includes defending against the Marian Hegemony in 3147 and operations alongside Clan Sea Fox against the Regulans in 3148.  This working relationship with the Sea Foxes grew connections with the Devil's Dozen, which lasted past the end of their service to the FWL.  The Dozen used these connections to arrange for upgrades to their equipment in FWL service from Sea Fox sources.  They were present defending Bolan in 3151, and suffered significant damage in the Lyran attack on the world.  The formation of the Alyina Mercantile League that year and its call for mercenary forces at fantastic payrolls happened to coincide with the end of the Devil's Dozen's contract with the FWL, and the opportunist mercenaries signed on with the AML with all haste.

Once in AML service, the unit spent its first month on Alyina being rebuilt and further improved with Clan technology.  The Sea Foxes spoke up in favor of the mercenaries after their time working together in Marik space, and were able to secure a number of MML systems from Krupp on Terra with which to replace the typical Archer LRMs.  Once they were ready to fight, the Dozen was assigned to the valuable world of Butler, working alongside the mercenary force Light of Heaven and defending the world against Hell's Horses forces in Operation STAMPEDE.

The Devil's Dozen BattleMechs are an eclectic mix; half of them were rebuilt as what were commonly called FrankenMechs before all of them were refurbished and upgraded in the AML's factory on Alyina.  Of the six FrankenMechs, three are rebuilt from salvaged Riflemen arms attached while the other three are modified with Warhammer parts.  The commander's own War Phoenix was originally rebuilt with Phoenix Hawk arms; these were structurally reinforced and built up to support the weighty PPCs attached to them.

Commander:
War Phoenix WHM-PXH

1st Lance:
Archer ARC-HAMMER C
Archer ARC-RIFLEMAN C
Archer ARC-5R C
Archer ARC-5R C

2nd Lance:
Archer ARC-HAMMER C
Archer ARC-RIFLEMAN C
Archer ARC-5R C
Archer ARC-5R C

3rd Lance:
Archer ARC-HAMMER C
Archer ARC-RIFLEMAN C
Archer ARC-5R C
Archer ARC-5R C

The unit makeup's pretty homogenous, with each lance intended to be an independent unit that can operate on its own.  Each lance relies heavily on the use of MMLs, utilizing their flexibility and ammo selection to maximize its effectiveness against various targets.  The unit eschews a parade scheme, preferring camouflage and is primarily seen in desert colors.

Any thoughts or suggestions on these former Kell Hounds turned independents?  I'm not sure about their origin story, though the 'Mechs would have to come from somewhere, and Satalice seems to be the only source for them.

[DOC_Agren]

Interesting idea..  but I have to say that beyond my knowledge base.

[Daryk]

Outside my preferred era, but sounds cool! :)

[ANS Kamas P81]

It's a way to justify painting minis in a certain style, and mod up the War Phoenix, but it just doesn't work in 3025 play.  Well, it does, but the War Phoenix is badly undersinked to the point it can't even fire its main armament without catastrophic heat spikes, let alone its secondary.  It absolutely requires DHS to function.

I could backdate it to the immediate-post Civil War era, since the only really advanced piece of kit in the unit is the Endo-Composite structure, which was developed by the Lyrans in 3067.   
 I suppose I can switch that to Clan Endo Steel, and make the refit earlier than 3067.  That would put the Devil's Dozen in just the right place for the Jihad, hm...that'd change their origin story to a veteran of the Civil War that was on the wrong side of the line going independent with their 'Mech...let's see.

So our unit commander is with the Kell Hounds, part of the mercenary command during the Civil War.  The Hounds, during the later Civil War, need income, and the Kell Hounds create several small mercenary units as a 'farm team' like the Crescent Hawks for contracts where the Hounds are politically or strategically unavailable.  He's assigned a number of Dispossessed MechWarriors and with the Kell Hounds help acquires a dozen ARC-5R Archers from the mercenary market to equip the force.  The 'Mechs are modified and upgraded with technologies from the Exiled Wolves and Lyran Alliance, and as the Jihad flares to life the Devil's Dozen take the field.

That takes them from being a 'current day' unit which I already have for Artilleriegruppe Kataja, and gives me something to play in late Civil War/Jihad timeframes.  It's always good to have a force to fight against the WoB, and being spun out of the Kell Hounds gives me an origin story I can justify in my head.

Any thoughts?

[Daryk]

Sounds like a plan to me! :)

[DOC_Agren]

can you do it as a Inner Sphere frames with some replacement clanner parts?

[Daryk]

My money is on "yes"... ;)

[ANS Kamas P81]

can you do it as a Inner Sphere frames with some replacement clanner parts?

Not on a standard IS no, it needs weight savings there and only has seven open crits - it's either Endo Composite, which doesn't show up until 3067 and isn't in production 'Mechs until 3073, or Clan Endo Steel which definitely predates the Jihad era.  The rest of the Devil's Dozen mechs just swap out heavy weapons, mostly ERLLs, for their Clan equivalent and keep the IS MMLs.

But that's a problem since MMLs don't show up until 3068...which means the Devil's Dozen as it is now is a mid-Jihad unit, rather than one that starts off in 3067.  Time to rework the Archers for the Civil War era tech.  I could always say that the MML variants are a 3075 refit for their 'Mechs, but that means they've gone eight years in the Jihad without substantial losses - that's kind of hard to believe.  My justification for this unit is coming out of the Civil War as a 'daughter' force for the Kell Hounds, so I'll roll back to LRMs.

[Daryk]

Clanner missile launchers are half weight... that doesn't provide enough savings? ???

[ANS Kamas P81]

Clanner missile launchers are half weight... that doesn't provide enough savings? ???

Nope, the War Phoenix is one critpacked and overgunned 'Mech; the SRM6s are all clan tech so they're only one crit each.  The real trick now is buying a bespoke Endo Steel Warhammer chassis from the Wolves in Exile, but I'll handwave that with pure author fiat.  I have to get the weight savings somewhere...

[Daryk]

Ah, I see... good luck figuring it out! :)

[ANS Kamas P81]

So as I noted in the Mech Designs thread that the commander of the Devil's Dozen started with a WHM-10K before modifying it into the War Phoenix.  That's all well and good, but the problem is that the -10K doesn't exist until 3147.  That's way past the Jihad-era I was thinking of for their placement, so I'm back to the idea of them being Kell Hound survivors of the 3146 sacking of Arc Royal.

The unit is originally a Fire Support Company external to the Kell Hounds regiments made up entirely of Archers, nine of which started as ARC-5R and three ARC-5W variants.  Their origin was as a specialist company that could be loaned out to other contracts, keeping the "farm team" aspect of their 3067 concept.  They were on Arc Royal during Malvina's assault, and survived the bombardment and left offworld among the fleeing Kell Hounds.  They did not receive Callandre Kell's orders to meet in the origin, and instead made their way to Galatea and eventual employment with the FWL in 3147.

The Devil's Dozen found itself thrown into the fighting alongside Clan Sea Fox against the Regulan Fiefs, suffering damages in the fighting that required a period of rest and refit.  It was during this time that the Archers were rebuilt and upgraded into their so-called "FrankenMech" variants by a mixture of selected salvage and spare parts purchased on the mercenary and Clan market.  They were assigned to serve alongside the First Tamarind Regulars.   The Devil's Dozen worked with that unit in 3150 when they fought Marian forces on Lahti and Landfall, and remained by the Regulars' side when they invaded and took Illyria from the Hegemony.

I need to read Empire Alone to follow the FWL story, and set the Dozen against the backdrop there.  That should about sum up the short history of the unit.  Former Kell Hound expatriates fighting for the M-bill, and taking on the Wolf Empire remnant forces alongside their FWL employers, though I'm wondering what they'd be doing in 3152.  With the formation of the Arc Royal Liberty Coalition in May 3151, would the Dozen return to Lyran space and rejoin their former colleagues or would they stay in FWL space and take on the Wolf Empire in 3152?  I can see justifications in both ways, that they might have loyalty to the Hounds but at the same time felt discarded and abandoned when the Hounds fled Arc Royal in 3146.  They've made friends and allies in the FWL, compared to their origin as a Kell Hound adjunct force.

I'm leaning towards remaining in League employ, as they're an independent-minded bunch and were always intended as a force that at best would operate alongside the Hounds and much more likely for other employers to bring in extra income.  Since they struck out on their own, said income is much more direct and they have built relationships with the FWL and Sea Foxes, perhaps even to the point of being granted a landhold somewhere on a planet in FWL space.  Nothing big, just someplace to house their staff and dependents.

Any suggestions for a possible FWL homeworld to give them some land on?  I know little about the FWL and this would be one big way to pick more of it up.  Everyone needs a homeworld, even a bunch of war-weary mercs in their 'Mechs.

[Daryk]

You mentioned they did some work against the Marians.  I might recommend Campoleone... lots of retired spacers there... :)

[DOC_Agren]

well, I am not going to be able to help much here as we are way out of my comfort zone

[ANS Kamas P81]

Campoleone looks interesting, I like the memorial to the lost-at-space on the planet.  The fact it's a low population world, only 1.25m people, is a plus.  It's described as a harsh beauty on the world, which gives me mental images of trees and mountains galore, but I admit I'm partial to deserts - and I've painted up the Devil's Dozen in desert camo.  Still, it looks like a great place to live and have a base on.

The other option I'm thinking of is nearby Astrokaszy, which has an interesting write up on Sarna with its desert nomads and unforgiving terrain.  It's a desert world, so it matches my camo scheme, and is pretty much an open frontier of a place to be a garrison on.  I know Daryk's done a lot of research on it with his Wolf Skinners campaign, so maybe I'll arrange the Devil's Dozen to be assigned to protect Astrokaszy as part of their garrison contract and have their home base on Campoleone.  The reason they're there is to protect the planet's mineral wealth and be a first line of defense in case the Marians come back; it's a good source of precious gems and that's easily something that can be raided for.

The Fifth Rim Commonality Guards ended up taking Astrokaszy into the FWL sometime prior to 3135, and broke up the planetary caliphate into what I assume is something more FWL-shaped as far as the planetary government goes.  In 3150, the Marians assaulted both Campoleone and Astrokaszy, being driven off by the Rim Commonality Guards troops.  Fontaine Marik ordered a private war against the Marians and hired a mercenary coalition to help support his Duchy troops, I can picture the Dozen being part of those forces.  So we go to war and end up help taking a chunk of the Hegemony, and then rotated back to Astrokaszy as a garrison force in 3151.

I won't lie, I love the original two Mad Max films, and the description of Astrokaszy gives me strong Mad Max vibes.  I spent nearly twenty years between Phoenix and Vegas, and I have a love for open desert wastelands with little to nothing between the towns.  Thirteen 'Mechs is enough to fight off a raiding force, and the population of the planet is small enough that a standing militia is almost too small to be effective.  698,000 people in 3067, assuming a 0.5% growth rate that brings us to 1,066,000 by 3152.  What can I say, it's a rough planet that likes its combat sports.

I guess that settles me on Astrokaszy...

[ANS Kamas P81]

While I'm at it, musings on an Astrokaszy militia.  Taken from other threads, it's a roughly ten to one "tooth to tail" ratio that can be expected; between technical teams, medical, logistics/transport personnel, and all the other specialists in a military it's a fair approximation.  Taking a look at planet Dirt for a ballpark percentage of total in-service military troops in a population, it's about 0.5%.  That's from the Wikipedia's list of countries based on military and paramilitary service.

By 3152 I have a population of 1,066,000.  Half a percent of that is 5,330; that leaves me with 533 personnel that BattleTech would recognize as playable vehicle crews and infantry.  That's pretty small...but let's make some lego pieces and assemble them to see what we get.

Astrokaszy's backwater enough that I feel fine using 3025 tech, though I grant there's better available.  I need to pick up some new TROs, but let's stick with introtech for now.  A mechanized platoon of Goblin tanks is 12 personnel plus 28 infantry.  That's 40 per platoon, six platoons making most of a battalion of mechanized infantry.  The Goblins would be based around two Standard, one LRM, and one SRM version in each platoon.  That's 240 troops and 24 tanks there.  The other three platoons would be four LRM carriers at four personnel each, and two platoons of Testudo heavy tanks for the assault role at five personnel each.  That's 16 for the LRM carriers and 40 for the Testudos.  So far, this mechanized battalion brings us to 296 personnel, leaving 237.

If I fudge that number to 252, and operate with 548 combat troops in total, I can squeeze out another nine 28-man platoons of regular infantry - in this case, beast mounted infantry on horseback.  Riding is a major thing on Astrokaszy, so it makes sense that their infantry would have a large portion of horse cavalry.  It's probably a case where the troops provide their own mounts, and help care for the animals as well.

So that gives me nine platoons of beast-riding infantry, six mixed mechanized platoons of Goblins each carrying a squad of foot infantry, two platoons of Testudo heavy tanks, and one platoon of LRM carriers for fire support.  As far as artillery goes, the Testudos bring an Arrow IV to the game, so that's a force multiplier I'm glad to have.  It's certainly the case that the Astrokaszy militia can stand up to a pirate raid, as long as they're striking the areas being defended.  I know of only two cities on Astrokaszy, so it's hard to tell how to distribute troops, but I suppose I'd roll with the following.

At the capital of Shervanis City, I'd station the heavy tanks, the LRM carriers, two mechanized platoons, and one cavalry troop.  That gives me two companies of vehicles and infantry, combined with the Devil's Dozen 'Mech company for a mixed battalion to protect the city.  I'm left with four mechanized platoons and eight cavalry troops; that gets easily converted into four mixed cavalry squadrons of one platoon of tanks + infantry and two troops of horse cavalry.  They can be distributed to places of interest, independent units to form a cadre around when invasion comes.

With blood sports being popular on Astrokaszy, and the mention that there are few mercenaries but many fighters there, it strikes me that there's a sizeable population of the planet that would act as insurgents and irregulars under an enemy attack.  While the militia itself may be small, it's enough to act as the core of a larger force, albeit one that's undisciplined and very loosely organized.  There'd be a large number of cavalry troops, and I can see some of the traditions of the horse cav units spreading amongst the population - and vice versa as well.

So I have a combined arms fighting force in the capital city proper, acting as the primary defense of the planet.  The Devil's Dozen would need their own slightly modified Union DropShip for rapid deployment of the unit in response to a pirate attack or raid, so I'll give them that.  There's four independent mechanized cavalry squadrons, which can each raise a large number of guerilla fighters from among the population to make merry hell against an occupier, as the Marians found out in 3150.

It may be a small force, but it's got plenty of support elements with its large tail; it'd not be hard to keep things up to date - I wonder, are there any modern tanks in the FWL that carry infantry like the Goblins do?  The Testudo's a Marian design, but the MUL happily makes it available to the FWL and other powers, and its Arrow IV and fifteen missiles onboard makes me happy in my little black heart.  I can easily explain it away as some tanks being left behind when the Marians abandoned the planet back in 3150 that were rebuilt and refurbished.

EDIT: Instead of the LRM carriers, perhaps an artillery battery of four TAV Thumper carriers?  I've already got eight Arrow IV carriers with the Testudos, but with the added bit of organizing my Goblins with two LRM-10s in each platoon I've made the need for LRM support less pressing than I would otherwise.  I'd love a battery of Long Toms, but they seem overkill for a militia this small...Thumper AVs are built on both Andurien and Irian, and are available in the ilClan era for the FWL.  Four of those seem to fit the job of long-ranged artillery, and I don't mind giving up the LRM carriers for it. 

[DOC_Agren]

Astrokaszy has a central government with a milita??

I always took it to be a bunch of warlords/pirates who controlled parts of the planet.  So over here you might get company of "mechs" some armor/infantry but they are just as likely to fight their neighbor as help them fight u?

[ANS Kamas P81]

I'm assuming the 5th Rim Commonality Regulars helped establish Shervanis as the central authority on the planet once it was brought into the Free Worlds League.  I can picture their use as a means of pacifying and uniting the planet under the FWL banner, and the militia made out of recruited fighters from the city-state. 

That said, I'm thinking the militia is a little small for Astrokaszy's nature.  Comparing it to real world locations, it's just slightly more populated than Djibouti, which has 1.1% of its population under arms.  That would give me 11,726 military personnel in total, and around 1,170 active duty crews.  A larger military would give me more options, and give me more than just penny packets to distribute among potential pirate targets.

Unfortunately my Goblins are only existing in the Periphery by the ilClan era, so that scratches my idea of mechanizing my infantry and using the tanks.  R10 Mechanized ICVs, however, are available, and even if they're OmniVehicles the fluff has them being sold to even poor planetary militias - which Astrokaszy definitely qualifies as.  I'll say that the Fifth Regulars was instrumental in building a centralized army for the planet, and they organized around R10s.

So I have 1170 personnel to work with.  504 personnel make up six companies of motorized infantry, and another 252 make up three horse cavalry squadrons.  That leaves me 414 for vehicle crews and more infantry.  A mechanized company of three R10s and three foot platoons is 93 personnel, three of which makes for a mechanized battalion and a total of 279 troops.  I'm down to 135 personnel remaining, which is more than enough - a company of Testudo tanks is 60 personnel, a company of Red Strike VTOLs is 24 personnel, and that leaves me with 51 left over.  One company of Thumper Artillery Vehicles gives me three four-gun batteries of specialist artillery with 48 troops; that brings me to a total "tooth" of 1,167 personnel and brings me under budget.

Organizing this force...I'd break up the Thumpers into their constituent batteries and spread them around with the infantry.  I have three companies of R10s and infantry, three squadrons of horse cavalry, and six companies of foot infantry; I'd divide those companies into individual platoons/troops and combine them that way - each becomes a reinforced battalion of four TAVs, three R10s and three foot platoons, three troops of horse cavalry, and three platoons of motorized infantry.  These would be placed in three important locations on the planet, while the capital's defenses are the Testudo company, the Red Kite company, nine platoons of motorized infantry, and the Devil's Dozen BattleMechs.

[Daryk]

You invoked my name, so... ;D

1) You're missing the MG-variant Goblin!  That thing carries 5 TONS of infantry!  My Glenmora Planetary Militia leveraged those... ;)

2) Goblins can fit Thumpers!  I used those too... :)

3) Astrokaszy has numerous WIDELY separated polities.  I placed Rabigh 1,000 km from Shervanis City, and their nearest rivals (Al Mazrea) were hundreds of kilometers away in the opposite direction... There was also a settlement in the opposite hemisphere... :D

[ANS Kamas P81]

Alas, the MUL only has Goblins listed as available for a few Periphery states, and the MG version is outright extinct after the Jihad.  That's why I went with the R10s, which are also OmniVehicles and able to be refitted into various forms.  They also have four-ton infantry bays, which I'm wondering if I'm misusing by attaching platoons of foot infantry to them.  If I switched to battle armor, that'd dramatically change the number of R10s I'd be using...and give me plenty of options to pick a suit from.

I've got 279 troops spread among 9 R10s and 9 foot platoons.  If I go with BA suits, my per-vehicle headcount drops from 31 to 7, or just under ten platoons of R10s and BA suits.  I'll round it off to 40 vehicles and 160 BA.  That lets me break it up into one platoon in the capital and three platoons in each of three separate companies...you know what, I need to put this together a different way.

1st Shervanis Defense Battalion
4x Testudo Siege Tank (20)
4x Testudo Siege Tank (20)
4x Testudo Siege Tank (20)
4x Red Kite VTOL (8)
4x Red Kite VTOL (8)
4x Red Kite VTOL (8)
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
4x Thumper Artillery Vehicle (16)
4x Thumper Artillery Vehicle (16)

2nd Shervanis Defense Battalion
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)

Rashier Defense Battalion
4x Thumper Artillery Vehicle (16)
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

Local Defense Company
4x R10 ICV, 4x Longinus Squad (28)
Motorized Infantry Platoon (28)
Horse Infantry Platoon (28)

That brings me to 1,168 personnel out of an 1,170 target.  I'd stick with the fluff that the local defense companies are scattered around the planet.  The intent is to organize guerilla forces in case of invasion and act as peacekeepers when not under attack, while the two mixed defense battalions are more of a standup-fight type of force.  I'm not married to Longinus suits, but they seem pretty nice; I can be convinced to go with another transported BA unit for the R10 to carry.

I just can't wrap my head around the BattleTech infantry school bus paradigm, IFVs and APCs should only be carrying one squad of whatever - either infantry or battle armor, rather than shoving (multiple) platoons into their insides.

I also keep wondering if I should scrap the 3152 idea and rewrite it all for 3025, and get my grognard on - the tech is simple, I know most of the stuff involved, the setting is not crazy with a ton of factions, and it's what I grew up around.  Nostalgia's a hell of a thing...it's not like I can't come up with 3025 versions of the 'Mechs involved.  I could still put the Devil's Dozen on Astrokaszy, though that would make them a major player in the world's ongoing civil war after the Marians hit the place in 3025. 

Maybe the Dozen is a Canopian mercenary group that ends up as part of the task force sent to rescue the world from the Marians in 3025, and stayed behind to try to keep the peace, ultimately failing in their mission but participating in the fighting nonetheless.  Warriors on the wasteland, taking on the low-level fighting alongside an FWLM force that remained on the planet until 3038.  Fighting stops after a peace deal is made, but the departure of the League forces is marked by a resumption in the war to rule the planet.

Check out https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Astrokaszy#Planetary_History for some more details.

It'd be the succession wars on a micro scale, each of the city-states trying to take over their neighbors, and the Devil's Dozen being a major force for one side - perhaps going up against the FWL troops at times, at other times fighting alongside them, with the planet's fate in the balance.  Add in being at the far end of the supply train, and raiding for ammunition and parts, it's maximum Mad Max 2 in the desert wastes of Astrokaszy.  The problem with that is that I'm using a number of Archer variants that aren't available then.  I suppose I can switch them out for a bunch of other 'Mechs, but that'd make the Dozen an almost entirely custom force...not that that's stopped me in the past, and they'd be the end result of years of fighting on the world and replacing limbs and components. 

I think I'll do that, jump back to 3025 and throw the Dozen into the meatgrinder of Astrokaszy's civil war.  Their origin would be as Canopian mercenaries, that get sent to rescue the world from the Marians and decide to stay behind as their contract with the Canopians is fulfilled with their participation in the invasion.  There'd also be the fun of fighting Feds and Dracs far from their home, since they apparently decided to use Astrokaszy as a testing ground for new tech; that'd make for some interesting Surprise OPFOR moments after 3025.

Game of Thrones in Space North Africa with giant robots.  What's not to love?

[Daryk]

All great reasons to use Astrokaszy! :D

The BA isn't available in 3025 though, so you'll have to revert to regular infantry...

[ANS Kamas P81]

Yeah, I'm going to randomize what the various forces on Astrokaszy have.  There's no organized militia except the various city-states, and most of their forces are going to be infantry.  Meanwhile, since it's 3025, I'm rolling with the Dozen being actually twelve MechWarriors in almost entirely rebuilt 'Mechs; the Archers are all rebuilt with 210 engines alongside the War Phoenix's.  The Dozen is a slow unit, though; eight of twelve 'Mechs moving at a max speed of 54km/h basically turns it into a pocket assault force rather than a typical heavy unit. 

War Phoenix WHM-PXH 3025
Archer ARC-2R-RFL
Archer ARC-2R-RFL
Archer ARC-2R-RFL
   
   
Archer ARC-2R-WHM
Archer ARC-2R-WHM
Archer ARC-2R-WHM
Archer ARC-2R-WHM
   
   
Warhammer WHM-6R-LL
Warhammer WHM-6R-LL
Crusader CRD-3R
Rifleman RFL-3N-WHM

The Crusader's unmodified, the only 'Mech in the unit like that.  It's organized around speed, the four 4/6 'Mechs in their own lance while the eight 3/5 'Mechs make up the other two lances.  The whole unit started as a Canopian mercenary force, and likely assembled the 'Mechs as they slowly gathered them up from battlefield salvage and spent plenty of time at what few factories the MoC has to get them rebuilt.

That makes me think the leader has to be a Canopian noble, someone with enough pull and finances to make this unit come together.  But why would they abandon Canopus for Astrokaszy?  Something clearly happened to make them disaffected with Canopian society, maybe a desire for power - better a small fish in a small tank than a big tank, and they lost in a political game that cost them chances to improve their lot in life.  Cash out their remaining resources, buy up secondhand 'Mechs and refurbish/modify them into functioning machines, and strike out as a mercenary...hrm.

Someone who got involved in a political scandal and got cashiered for their efforts, soured on life in the Canopian military but wasn't ready to give up the military lifestyle.  Follow that up by cashing out their landhold and finances, move to the FWL, buy up spare-parts donor 'Mechs and tap contacts to get them refurbished, and create their own mercenary company to stay in the lifestyle and invent their own traditions and history.  It'd give them a new start in the League, say around 3024.  There's enough factories in FWL space that getting the various customized 'Mechs built would be doable.  Earthwerks on Calloway IV produces Archers, so it'd be the place to have the 'Mechs modified.

Say the departure to join the ranks of the FWL happens not long after the civil war, perhaps around 3017.  That gives the Devil's Dozen eight years in FWL service before they got attached to the multinational task force to defend Astrokaszy from the Marians.  They remained onworld alongside the FWLM force, relying on the Leaguers for support and supply but operating on their own onworld, fighting various armed bands and trying to set up for themselves a new place to call their own, literally.  While the FWLM concerned itself with Shervanis City, the Devil's Dozen would by force take over various city-states in the opposite hemisphere of the planet and try to unite the planet that way.

I guess that means the Devil's Dozen is technically a pirate band, but they're working alongside the FWLM so there's an air of legitimacy there.  Plus they're not raiding other worlds, just knocking over local warlords and taking their stuff in the name of planetary unity.  The FWL Militia forces would just be tanks and infantry, no BattleMech forces left behind to keep the peace, hence the appearance of the Dozen.

I dunno, I just have this mental image of the unit tucked in the shade of a mountain cliff with the 'Mechs spread out in the desert, and an encampment on the open sands with the sun setting.  Something out of Dune but with giant robots, and a touch of Rambo III with the BattleMechs striding alongside horse-mounted fighters attacking a tank column.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot - there's plenty of 'Mech on 'Mech action after 3025, because the DCMS and AFFS send experimental designs to test on Astrokaszy, using the place - and the Devil's Dozen - as a convenient OPFOR.  Why they'd send them all the way across the Inner Sphere to this particular planet is a good question; I suspect the original authors were thinking it was between DC and FS space instead of on the butt end of the FWL.  But I will take advantage of their mistake and take on the Dracs and Feds happily.  It's a way to keep in salvage, after all.

[Daryk]

It could also be a MIM op to see what the Feds, Dracs and Marian are up to... ;)

[ANS Kamas P81]

That would explain how I'm getting a consistent source of replacement parts and ammo, shipped via cutouts in the FWL.  I did the "secret monitor" thing with Artilleriegruppe Kataja but I'm liking the idea you had for making the Dozen a MIM operation.  It clears up so many potential questions...and they remained behind because Astrokaszy would be a likely first stop for the Marians to hit Canopus.  It leaves the Dozen as a tripwire force.

And of course to watch over the various clandestine operations going on, perhaps securing whatever's being tested for the Magistracy...nothing like a raid in the middle of the night to grab some lostech being put through its paces.

[Daryk]

Exactly what I was thinking, good sir! :)

[ANS Kamas P81]

Deleted post.  Can't do what I thought I could, alas.  I feel like I made too many custom minis of the same type...

I think I'm gonna scrap the Devil's Dozen as a concept, at least for now.  Maybe I'll come back to it at some point, but for now it's dead.

[Daryk]

Dang, I was liking them! :/

[ANS Kamas P81]

I may bring them back as a 3050 force, because the tech's just not there to support the miniature mods I did.  I'm like a dog with a bone when it comes to these things, I just keep gnawing on an idea.  Not to mention I need something to justify the minis, because I'm a terrible WYSIWYG modder; if I'm going to customize a mini I'm making it match stats or else.

3050 at least gives me access on the mercenary market for the right Archers, so I'll see about doing something for the Clan invasion.  I dunno, watch this space, I'll post something at some point.

[Daryk]

Will do! :)

[DOC_Agren]

Well why they left the MoC...  The Male Heir to the Family, not a place to be a Male in BT.  And there was a thread here. https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,81582.0.html, which might explain why he cut and run.  Some Female Noble wanted him and his family legacy for herself.

The Warhammers are what Marik would make..  Still have the walking Bomb onboard with MG ammo.

As for why the DC and FS ship "test projects" to Astrokaszy..  the other option was to test in OWA and that to close to home. 
On the Astrokaszy milita forces.. I would have some "light armor unit"[okay built on APC Units, but it armor  ] and maybe a few have the "ELITE STATUS" Frankstein Mechs

Sorry to see the 3025 era force will not move forward    but I will for more info