Author Topic: Help needed with merc company  (Read 3082 times)

Litzkrieg

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Help needed with merc company
« on: 27 June 2018, 21:02:16 »
Hi all,
I have been a long time Mechwarrior fan since I was a kid, and picked up Battletech back in college. I have been playing a lot recently, and decided I want to create a general, mech-only Merc company. I am only playing at intro tech, up to 3039 right now, but want to keep it open for standard tech level later. No tournaments or specific limits in mind, just want to have a unit I could field that could take on most missions. I have been consulting the MUL, RATs and forum posts. So without further ado, what do yall think of this company:

Striker Lance
- JR7-F
- COM-2D
- PXH-1D
- WVR-6M

Battle/Line Lance
- HGN-733
- ON1-K
- DRG-1N
- CN9-A

Command Lance
- MAD-3D
- WHM-6D
- VND-1R
- CAT-C1

The total Battle Value is about 14,590. Tonnage is 690 total, average of 57.5 tons. I feel that 2 lights, 4 mediums, 5 heavies and 1 assault is a reasonable unit makeup, but I see some people go heavier, and many go lighter.

I am not a big fan of recon lances, so the Striker lance relies on the lights for scouting, with the Phoenix Hawk and Wolverine for fast attack (WVR is 5/8/5, so not that fast, but very agile). The Battle lance can do it all - each mech has LRMs and an AC that complement its lancemates, backed up by MLs. Finally, the Command Lance focuses on PPC firepower to maintain respectable distance and keep the commander out of the thick of things, and a Catapult for extra LRM support to the other lances. They can commit to closer fighting if necessary. I figure keeping a Fire Javelin and HBK-4G as substitutes should give me some flexibility. For smaller games I could easily field a lance by mixing and maxing.

Am I far off? Too expensive on BV or tonnage?  :-\ Hoping to grab some of the models I don't have yet and get painting! ;D

Daryk

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #1 on: 27 June 2018, 21:15:06 »
Interesting!  Personally, I'd more closely align the movement rates within the lances, but if what you have works for you, by all means go for it!

PreacherPatriot1776

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #2 on: 27 June 2018, 23:06:09 »
I'd give the SLDF homogeneous unit treatment which means every lance will have a single mech type.

My go-to mechs are Specter SPR-4F for lights, Griffin GRF-2N or Wolverine WVR-7D for mediums, and Marauder MAD-2R. All of them are Royal mech variants for extra juiciness.

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #3 on: 28 June 2018, 00:38:17 »
Not bad at all, though a few things do jump out at me:


Striker Lance: the Commando is the one that can’t jump.  That’s going to limit the lance’s overall mobility, especially in broken terrain.  I might replace it with a Javelin or something like that.


Battle Lance: the Highlander is a bit of a slow poke.  Not much more than the others, but even in 3025 3/5 mechs can drag your force down a bit.  Might not be too bad, but personally I’d look to replace it with a Victor or BattleMaster or the like.


Command Lance: Nothing major, but the Vindi feels kind of light, compared to the others.  Since Command is set up to provide fire support, maybe switch it and the Highlander from Battle?  The slow speed won’t be as much of a hindrance in a lance meant to hang back, and it does have an LRM-20, so it can remain useful at range.
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Iron Grenadier

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #4 on: 28 June 2018, 01:36:50 »
Ditto Arkansas Warrior pretty much.

I love the Highlander. There is the Highlander 733P that uses a PPC, so maybe try putting that in the Command Lance and move the Vindicator to the Battle Lance?

Litzkrieg

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #5 on: 28 June 2018, 07:12:29 »
Not bad at all, though a few things do jump out at me:


Striker Lance: the Commando is the one that can’t jump.  That’s going to limit the lance’s overall mobility, especially in broken terrain.  I might replace it with a Javelin or something like that.


Battle Lance: the Highlander is a bit of a slow poke.  Not much more than the others, but even in 3025 3/5 mechs can drag your force down a bit.  Might not be too bad, but personally I’d look to replace it with a Victor or BattleMaster or the like.


Command Lance: Nothing major, but the Vindi feels kind of light, compared to the others.  Since Command is set up to provide fire support, maybe switch it and the Highlander from Battle?  The slow speed won’t be as much of a hindrance in a lance meant to hang back, and it does have an LRM-20, so it can remain useful at range.

Ditto Arkansas Warrior pretty much.

I love the Highlander. There is the Highlander 733P that uses a PPC, so maybe try putting that in the Command Lance and move the Vindicator to the Battle Lance?

Great points. I was considering the Javelin instead of the Commando anyway, so I will make that change. As for the Highlander, I fogot about the 733P. That would be a great mech for the command lance, and the Vindicator could join the battle lance, or I could swap it out for a hunchback.

Daryk

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #6 on: 28 June 2018, 07:28:04 »
Those two extra 'mechs could enable you to have four "lances" (three with three 'mechs, and one with five)... Like so:

Recon (6/9/5+):
- JR7-F
- JVN-10F
- PXH-1D

Striker (5/8+):
- WVR-6M
- DRG-1N
- COM-2D

Battle/Line (4/6):
- MAD-3D
- WHM-6D
- ON1-K
- HBK-4G
- CN9-A

Support (3/5/3+):
- HGN-733 (or P)
- VND-1R
- CAT-C1

If you can find a way to get jump jets on the Hunchback or Centurion, they could be shifted over to the Support lance.

Iron Grenadier

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #7 on: 28 June 2018, 08:17:20 »

If you can find a way to get jump jets on the Hunchback or Centurion, they could be shifted over to the Support lance.


Hmm maybe replace with an Enforcer?

pupecki

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #8 on: 19 July 2018, 10:00:29 »
I like your company and think it’s pretty interesting. However if I were to make changes this is what I would go with:

Command / Fire Lance:
Highlander HGN-733P
Marauder MAD-3R
Warhammer WHM-6D
Catapult CAT-C1



Battle / Line Lance:
Orion ON1-K
Centurion CN9-A / Hunchback HBK-4H
Dragon DRG-1N
Wolverine WVR-6R



Striker Lance:
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D
Jenner JR7-F
Javelin JVN-10F
Commando COM-2D / Vindicator VND-1R


Command / Fire Lance:
Here is your main source of long range fire power. I’d switch to the HGN-733P to allow your commander to keep the same weapon ranges as the rest of the lance, also switching to the MAD-3R to allow it to fulfill it’s role as a sniper better, but both the -3R and -3D are good variants.

Battle / Line Lance:
A solid unit of durable, general purpose and mid-ranged fighters. In practice I would split this lance into a Hammer and Anvil set-up. Using the On1-K + CN9-A / HBK-4H as your Anvil element to pin enemies in place and the DRG-1N + WVR-6R as your more mobile hammer. Using them to out maneuver and get flanking shots. I switched to the WVR-6R to give you a better weapons pairing with the DRG-1N. As for the CN9-A vs. HBK-4H, the CN9-A pairs better with the orion for general purpose work but the HBK-4H has better short ranged firepower. Pick one based on how you’d want to run the lance or what kind of battlefields you plan to be playing in.

Strike Lance:
All fast movers with solid firepower, keep these guys in reserve until your Command and Battle lance are able to engage the enemy and open some holes, then unleash the hounds. Both the COM-2D and VND-1R are solid choices but serve different purposes. Use the COM-2D if you want to be able to get up close and do some crit seeking, or use the VND-1R As the groups mobile sniper/backbone unit and provide some solid long range punch to the groups heavy short range arsenal. Also worth considering using the JVN-10N variant if you plan on doing a lot of crit seeking, this is the variant I would use if running the VND-1R to be able to exploit the holes from the PPC.

Hellraiser

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #9 on: 19 July 2018, 23:43:50 »
I'd give the SLDF homogeneous unit treatment which means every lance will have a single mech type.

My go-to mechs are Specter SPR-4F for lights, Griffin GRF-2N or Wolverine WVR-7D for mediums, and Marauder MAD-2R. All of them are Royal mech variants for extra juiciness.

Negative Ghostrider, there is nothing SLDF Royal about a 3050 era Mech.

Perhaps your thinking of the Wolverine-II-7H
3041: General Lance Hawkins: The Equalizers
3053: Star Colonel Rexor Kerensky: The Silver Wolves

"I don't shoot Urbanmechs, I walk up, stomp on their foot, wait for the head to pop open & drop in a hand grenade (or Elemental)" - Joel47
Against mechs, infantry have two options: Run screaming from Godzilla, or giggle under your breath as the arrogant fools blunder into your trap. - Weirdo

Hellraiser

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #10 on: 19 July 2018, 23:50:26 »
The total Battle Value is about 14,590. Tonnage is 690 total, average of 57.5 tons. I feel that 2 lights, 4 mediums, 5 heavies and 1 assault is a reasonable unit makeup, but I see some people go heavier, and many go lighter.

Am I far off? Too expensive on BV or tonnage?  :-\ Hoping to grab some of the models I don't have yet and get painting! ;D

The BV & tonnage are both a tad high for the era.

In 3025 era the default was L-30%, M-40%, H-20%, A-10%,  or roughly,  3.6 (3-4) - 4.8 (5) - 2.4 (2-3) - 1.2 (1)

So its a bit big & a couple of the heavies being shifted to a Light & Medium would be closer to the "norm" but its not horribly broken by any means.


As for the make up.

As others have said, I'd work on speed matching a bit more.

If I may ask,  what models do you currently have available v/s what were you going to buy?

3041: General Lance Hawkins: The Equalizers
3053: Star Colonel Rexor Kerensky: The Silver Wolves

"I don't shoot Urbanmechs, I walk up, stomp on their foot, wait for the head to pop open & drop in a hand grenade (or Elemental)" - Joel47
Against mechs, infantry have two options: Run screaming from Godzilla, or giggle under your breath as the arrogant fools blunder into your trap. - Weirdo

Litzkrieg

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #11 on: 20 July 2018, 10:43:35 »
Thanks everyone for the input! I particularly like the speed matching suggestions, and using the HGN-733P in the command lance to match weapon systems. Based on Hellraiser's suggestion, I do think I need to lighten it a bit for 3025 by dropping a heavy - probably the Catapult to a Trebuchet or Whitworth. If I needed to lighten it more  for some reason, swapping the Hunchie for the Dragon would work, but I really like the Hammer/Anvil suggestion with the Battle Lance. Something like:

Command / Fire Lance:
Highlander HGN-733P
Marauder MAD-3R/D
Warhammer WHM-6D
Trebuchet TBT-5N



Battle / Line Lance:
Orion ON1-K
Centurion CN9-A
Dragon DRG-1N / Hunchback HBK-4H
Wolverine WVR-6R/M



Striker Lance:
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D
Jenner JR7-F
Javelin JVN-10F
Commando COM-2D

So I think that is a very good list with some easy substitutes. I am willing to accept no JJs on the Commando, but maybe a Falcon, Spider or a Javelin-10N is a good idea.

 I have all the models except the Unseen ones (PXH, WVR, WHM, MAD) so it won't be hard to fill the gaps. I may wait for the new box sets, then pick up a couple fan sculpts for the WHM and MAD that I really like. In the end, I am pretty happy with it because I get to field most of my favorite Inner Sphere mechs, and they all have designs in later tech eras that can be used which is nice. Might save the Vindicator and my spare Cataphract model for a Liao-based lance later!

pupecki

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #12 on: 20 July 2018, 13:44:07 »

...


Looks good! I like it  :thumbsup:

If you do swap out the Dragon for the Hunchback 4H I’d run the WVR-6M, the LL AND AC/10 match up very nicely.
« Last Edit: 20 July 2018, 13:46:13 by pupecki »

Daryk

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #13 on: 20 July 2018, 17:52:14 »
I second keeping the WVR-6M.. it's one of the best designed canon 'mechs of any era.  In general, I think swapping the Hunchback in for the Dragon and upgrading the Commando to a Javelin (any model) is a good choice.

Hellraiser

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Re: Help needed with merc company
« Reply #14 on: 21 July 2018, 02:00:55 »
I have all the models except the Unseen ones (PXH, WVR, WHM, MAD) so it won't be hard to fill the gaps. I may wait for the new box sets, then pick up a couple fan sculpts for the WHM and MAD that I really like. In the end, I am pretty happy with it because I get to field most of my favorite Inner Sphere mechs, and they all have designs in later tech eras that can be used which is nice. Might save the Vindicator and my spare Cataphract model for a Liao-based lance later!

I was actually going to comment on something with your make up that touches on this.
I know its a Merc unit but most of them have a history, where as, your mech selection seems to come down to "pick the best variant/chassis for the size".
Which I feel is fine for a pick up game but doesn't really fit the fluff unless your fluff is,  we are 12 random guys from all across the IS.
Assuming you have access to the basic boxed set minis, here are some suggestions I have for alternates that is more single faction feel.


Striker Lance alternatives for less minis to buy & more generic feel.
Jenner-7D,  its the base model, the F is supposed to be a rare prototype
Spider-5V,   Jump Jets & more speed is never bad
Assassin-21,  More Jumpjets,  some token LRMs,  and also in basic set
Vulcan-2T,  Snipe with the AC & the LRMs on the Assassin as the lance moves in for back stabs,  also the Flamer/MG are great for infantry


HQ (Fire) Lance Options  (Keeping the CO out of melee w/ plenty of LRMs)
- HGN-733
- ON1-K
- CN9-A
-Whitworth-1
-Dervish-6M
-Awesome-8Q
-Trebuchet-5N



Battle Lance Alternatives
GrassHopper-5H
Hunchback-Any
Orion-1V/1VA
Whitworth-1S


These options allow you to keep some of the more faction mech choices for if you want specific house lances.

Commando, Panther, Hermes-II, Vindicator, Enforcer, Zeus, etc etc are all very faction limited and make great choices for a faction heavy unit.
3041: General Lance Hawkins: The Equalizers
3053: Star Colonel Rexor Kerensky: The Silver Wolves

"I don't shoot Urbanmechs, I walk up, stomp on their foot, wait for the head to pop open & drop in a hand grenade (or Elemental)" - Joel47
Against mechs, infantry have two options: Run screaming from Godzilla, or giggle under your breath as the arrogant fools blunder into your trap. - Weirdo

 

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