Splitting some mechs into two groups?

[Weirdo]

I'm gathering the minis for a couple companies for Wolf's Dragoons (pre-Misery), but need some help splitting them into two distinct companies, since that will decide what color numeral decal I'll use for each one. How would you split these 24 mechs into two companies? I don't need the two companies to be perfectly equal in strength, but a bit of rough parity in case I want to do a wargame or Dragoon Civil War scenario would be nice.

NOTE: Some of the mechs have already been assigned. Those assignments are non-negotiable, please respect them. Similarly, please don’t post anything suggesting swapping out any of the mechs or adding more, this is an ironclad list for the purposes of this thread.

Mechs:
Marauder II
Annihilator
Imp
Shogun
Stalker
Orion
Rifleman
Archer
Crusader
Thunderbolt
Catapult
Hoplite
Trebuchet
Blackjack
Guillotine
Ostsol
Shadow Hawk
Wolverine
Wasp
Wolfhound
Falcon
Firefly
Flea
Hornet

Company #1
Trebuchet
Blackjack
Marauder II
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???

Company #2
Rifleman
Stalker
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
 
Thanks!

[Daryk]

The fixed assignments don't imply lances too, do they (i.e., the Treb, Blackjack and MAD II aren't in the same lance)?

[Weirdo]

The fixed assignments don't imply lances too, do they (i.e., the Treb, Blackjack and MAD II aren't in the same lance)?

Correct. Folks can group into lances if they want, but for purposes of this group I just don't care about anything below the company level.

[Daryk]

Rog, thanks!  My first whack is below (broken into lances with the recommended lance leaders first):

Company 1
Marauder II
Shogun
Guillotine
Catapult

Wolverine
Ostsol
Shadow Hawk
Trebuchet

Blackjack
Hornet
Firefly
Hoplite

Company 2
Imp
Stalker
Annihilator
Orion

Thunderbolt
Rifleman
Archer
Crusader

Wolfhound
Falcon
Wasp
Flea

[RifleMech]

Given that things change over time, and you listed only mechs, here's my guess. I tried to keep them close as I could and keep the same feel as to what's listed in Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook .

Alpha Regiment, Baker Battalion, 1st Company, Fraser's Company "The Hackers"
Command Lance
Shadow Hawk
Blackjack
Hornet
Firefly

Heavy Lance
Marauder II
Trebuchet
Crusader
Catapult

Medium Lance
Hoplite
Wolverine
Ostsol
Wolfhound


Beta Regiment, Baker  Battalion, Company 2 Flandrey's Company
Command Company
Thunderbolt
Archer
Annihilator
Shogun

Fire Lance
Orion
Stalker
Rifleman
Imp

Recon Lance
Falcon
Flea
Wasp
Guillotine

[O5P_Ghost]

Why the Wolfhound if this is pre Misery? That's cutting edge Commonwealth design that wouldn't be seen in a Drac employed merc unit. I don't think any were ready pre 3022 when the Dragoons were employed by the Lyrans and since the Goons were stationed on the Suns border there wouldn't be any salvage

[Weirdo]

Step 1 in creating this force was simply incorporating every mech that debuted in the Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook. I didn't even notice the timing.

Eh, whatever. I already have the mini, I'm keeping it.

[RifleMech]

Why the Wolfhound if this is pre Misery? That's cutting edge Commonwealth design that wouldn't be seen in a Drac employed merc unit. I don't think any were ready pre 3022 when the Dragoons were employed by the Lyrans and since the Goons were stationed on the Suns border there wouldn't be any salvage

Wolf's Dragoons did have some pre-Misery. There is about 3 and a half months before Misery for the Dragoons to obtain and use them. I'm not sure how they obtained them has been said. Their sourcebook does ask if they violated a technology clause in the contract with Kurita. They did go outside normal supply channels for supplies, so maybe?

Step 1 in creating this force was simply incorporating every mech that debuted in the Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook. I didn't even notice the timing.

Eh, whatever. I already have the mini, I'm keeping it.

It works for very early 3023. We know what the Dragoon' had as of April 23, 3028. They could have changed mechs before then.  Late 3027, maybe the Wolfhound is a prototype but it'd either need to look different or remain unseen since the Kell Hounds are the first unit known to use them. Earlier than that it could be a proxy for some unnamed "lost" SLDF era mech. I have wondered what other "lost" designs the Dragoons had and might have lost again before Misery.

[Hellraiser]

I don't need the two companies to be perfectly equal in strength, but a bit of rough parity in case I want to do a wargame or Dragoon Civil War scenario would be nice.

NOTE: Some of the mechs have already been assigned. Those assignments are non-negotiable, please respect them.

Mechs:
Annihilator
Imp
Shogun
Orion
Archer
Crusader
Thunderbolt
Catapult
Hoplite
Guillotine
Ostsol
Shadow Hawk
Wolverine
Wasp
Wolfhound
Falcon
Firefly
Flea
Hornet

Company #1
Trebuchet
Blackjack
Marauder II

Company #2
Rifleman
Stalker

I totally missed the rules above & had companies that were very different in feel since old school Dragoon's roster showed that each battalion tended to have 1 company each of Big-Middle-Small in size.
And I really didn't want to split up the Mad/Stalker for Movement reasons.

But I think the below gives you rough parity in tonnage, like 15 total difference, and keeps the Lances with some purpose even if you didn't need lances.

 Alpha-Command-285:
Marauder II
Shogun
Hoplite
Blackjack
 Alpha-Battle-270:
Orion
Guillotine
Thunderbolt
Ostsol
 Alpha-Striker-160:
Wolverine
Shadow Hawk
Firefly
Hornet

 Beta-Command-345:
Annihilator
Imp
Stalker
Rifleman
 Beta-Fire-250:
Archer
Crusader
Catapult
Trebuchet
 Beta-Recon-105:
Wolfhound
Falcon
Wasp
Flea

[Hellraiser]

Given that things change over time, and you listed only mechs, here's my guess. I tried to keep them close as I could and keep the same feel as to what's listed in Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook .

Alpha Regiment, Baker Battalion, 1st Company, Fraser's Company "The Hackers"
..

Beta Regiment, Baker  Battalion, Company 2 Flandrey's Company

Very nice use of source material!

[Hellraiser]

Why the Wolfhound if this is pre Misery? That's cutting edge Commonwealth design that wouldn't be seen in a Drac employed merc unit. I don't think any were ready pre 3022 when the Dragoons were employed by the Lyrans and since the Goons were stationed on the Suns border there wouldn't be any salvage

Wolf's Dragoons did have some pre-Misery. There is about 3 and a half months before Misery for the Dragoons to obtain and use them. I'm not sure how they obtained them has been said. Their sourcebook does ask if they violated a technology clause in the contract with Kurita. They did go outside normal supply channels for supplies, so maybe?


It works for very early 3023. We know what the Dragoon' had as of April 23, 3028. They could have changed mechs before then.  Late 3027, maybe the Wolfhound is a prototype but it'd either need to look different or remain unseen since the Kell Hounds are the first unit known to use them. Earlier than that it could be a proxy for some unnamed "lost" SLDF era mech. I have wondered what other "lost" designs the Dragoons had and might have lost again before Misery.

They have them on the Misery Roster???

The Wolfhound walked off the assembly line in 3028 & wouldn't be in a Misery Roster.
The Kell's were the first Merc unit to get them w/ Dan getting the first model IIRC, might have been the Prototype actually per Sarna.
Dragoons would have gotten them after jumping the border to the Suns.

But regardless, the inclusion of the mech, while not accurate in that exact timeframe is close enough for a game.

[CitizenErased]

They have them on the Misery Roster???

They have five of them, according to the phone book! Of course the forum is giving me hell trying to attach screenshots from the PDF, but still, they're definitely there.

Wasn't the Dragoon sourcebook the first canon appearance of the Wolfhound's stats?

[Weirdo]

Yup, that's why I'm including it in this force. I'm specifically including every mech that premiered in that book.

[Hellraiser]

Wasn't the Dragoon sourcebook the first canon appearance of the Wolfhound's stats?

Yup, that's why I'm including it in this force. I'm specifically including every mech that premiered in that book.

Technically, IIRC, it was showcased in Battletechnology Magazine as well, which at the time, was considered canon.
Which I do believe pre-dated the WDSB by a year or so.   (87/88 v/s 89)

Thanks for the info that it's in the "Phonebook" I knew the stats were there & that it was the first "Sourcebook" for it, but, I couldn't recall if it was mixed into the Rosters or not.  That does seem odd given they would have still been working for the Combine at the time & the Kells got the 1st prototype for Dan.
Probably some editorial mistake from back in the day, we never have those from early products 

[Weirdo]

My guess is that with this book being the first appearance of the mech in a "proper" sourcebook, they felt weird not actually putting it anywhere in the force listings.

[Hellraiser]

My guess is that with this book being the first appearance of the mech in a "proper" sourcebook, they felt weird not actually putting it anywhere in the force listings.

Agreed, though, If I was doing it myself, I'd have included some Wolfhounds into the Replacements they got after crossing the border.
  Ardan met them with 10 Enforcers & 10 Sparrowhawks as "signing bonus" essentially to get some warriors back in the saddle.
Having those 5 Wolfhounds also be there at that time would fit the other fluff perfectly.

[Daryk]

Perhaps they were in the "classified" batch of gear... ;)

[RifleMech]

Very nice use of source material!

Thank you. 

They have them on the Misery Roster???

The Wolfhound walked off the assembly line in 3028 & wouldn't be in a Misery Roster.
The Kell's were the first Merc unit to get them w/ Dan getting the first model IIRC, might have been the Prototype actually per Sarna.
Dragoons would have gotten them after jumping the border to the Suns.

But regardless, the inclusion of the mech, while not accurate in that exact timeframe is close enough for a game.

Yep. They are there.

I did look in BattleTechnology. It's in universe printing is September 3028. It said it hadn't seen combat yet but it could take news a while to travel. It also say that development began a dozen years before with operational models seen as early as 3024. The five Wolfhounds the Dragoons use could be one of these early models. They were in Kurita employ but the Dragoons were forced to go outside normal supply channels. Even without these early models, Misery started April 23, 3028. If the Wolfhound walked off the assembly line at the beginning of the year, there'd still be time time for the Dragoons to obtain them. How they did it is a mystery.

They have five of them, according to the phone book! Of course the forum is giving me hell trying to attach screenshots from the PDF, but still, they're definitely there.

Wasn't the Dragoon sourcebook the first canon appearance of the Wolfhound's stats?

Thanks. I know there's one in Beta Regiment, Baker Battalion, Company 1 "Vanduesen's Company's Recon Lance. I'm not sure where the others are. I need better light to look.

[Hellraiser]

So 90% of my BT stuff is stored now, but, I have 1 tote w/ some stuff in it, & as I was looking to see if TRO3085 might be in there, shocker of all shockers, I came across WD-SB!

So I pulled that out so I could peruse it & yep, found those Wolfhounds at Misery, and the note about possible tech clause violations.

I found a note on Sarna pointing out that Morgan/Dan were on Tharkad on 12/31/27 & IIRC Dan got the Hound as soon as he & Morgan arrived back w/ the Unit.

So I'm guessing that means the Wolfhound was in production VERY EARLY in 3028.
  It also makes sense that there is a note that Dan got the prototype, so it was possibly ready for testing in late 3027.  (Maybe even traveled w/ them as Cargo?)


But another interesting thing I found in the WD-SB, a 2nd reference to a "Name" for LRM/SRM Carriers.
They specifically call them "DAGGER", SRM Carriers and "YEOMAN", LRM Carriers.
The other reference from history is some "Rolling Thunder" LRM/SRM Carriers that were, IIRC, made from Aldis on Terra?
Anyway, interesting trivia there for an actual name &/or some sort of variant.


PS.
Final tidbit, that I had forgotten.
The Dragoons seem to field 5-Tank platoons.  (A Star? Perhaps)  hehe.
With a 16th Tank for the Company Commander.
Very interesting TO&E that I hadn't seen in decades.