Wieczorek's Archers mercenary unit and the Wyatt Militia

[Daryk]

Excellent history!  :thumbsup:

FYSA, Merc Brat requires an "Independent/Mercenary" affiliation, but that's good news!  It's one of the cheapest affiliations you can buy...  ^-^

[ANS Kamas P81]

Then go with the independent/mercenary origin, she was born into the 12th Star Guards as far as her parents are concerned.  Also if possible make her a 3/4 Mechwarrior; I can roll with a 4/5 if there's just not enough points.

[Daryk]

I'll do what I can this weekend...  :thumbsup:

[ANS Kamas P81]

Take your time, no rush!  Thanks for taking a swing at her.

[Daryk]

Ok, first cut with minimums established and no "bought XP" yet:

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28 years old:
Stage 0: Independent/Mercenary Affiliation
Stage 1 (10): Born Merc Brat
Stage 2 (16): Merc Brat
Stage 3 (19): Military Academy (with necessary prerequisites, Basic Training and MechWarrior Fields, and OCS)
Stage 4 (22): Tour of Duty
Stage 4 (28): Explorer

Abilities: All 4, except for 1 EDG.

Key Traits:
Rank 6 (O3)
Vehicle 6 (Heavy 'Mech)
Custom Vehicle 2 (Archer)
Connections 3 (4 is where you get access to "People", 5 is best)

Negative Traits (consider buying down/off):
Wealth -1
Introvert -1
Illiterate -1 (bought off with 4 levels of Language/English)
Compulsion/Addiction (Tobacco) -1
Reputation -2

Skills XP spent on:
Gunnery: 5 (base 3)
Piloting: 4 (base 4)
Language/English: 4 (to buy off Illiterate)

10 experience points left that I'm holding off spending until I know how much "bought experience" you want (up to 500).
Natural Aptitude Discussion: The real trick here is that NA costs 300 for "Simple" skills and 500 for "Complex" ones.  The bad news is that both Computers and Interests (like History) are Complex.  Oddly enough, Administration is Simple.

There's also the option to spend one more year at the Academy and take another "Advanced" Field.  Scientist is probably the one that would get you more of the skills you want.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Looks good as is.  I can take the 29 year old version and go with the Scientist field, definitely.  Just means she was born a little earlier than I'd first posted, but I can change DOB with a handwave.  Alternatively, this could be Mirage in 3009 as well.

Damn, it sounds like you're not supposed to buy Natural Aptitude at all, that's a pretty brutal point cost.  Skip the natural aptitude; I'll just go with the Investigation skill from Scientist as being what she's got some skill in and go from there. 

How many points do you have in skills?  Passing 1500 points makes Fast Learner worth it, but there's a LOT of points tied up in her attributes and traits so I don't know if it'd be beneficial to take Fast Learner or not.

As far as negative traits, definitely buy off Illiterate, Language/English or Language/German, either is good.  I suppose preferably German considering the LC, but at least some skill in English since that was the language of the Star League and is still a lingua franca between nations.  Wealth...I can deal with her personal wealth being low; it's all invested in the unit.  Reputation definitely needs a buyoff or else I'm not getting good contracts. 

Bought points...throw in a Compulsion/Fear of Fire, from an incident with leaky cockpit seals and an Inferno SRM that hit the head of her 'Mech.  She wasn't injured by it, but it was a close thing.  Other than that, a good solid Enemy - level 4 is a military major, and I can see she'd have the chance to have fought against a Marik unit on Rochelle in 3007, and have the same unit try to counterattack her at New Kyoto later that same year.  Nothing like having a recurring enemy unit, maybe one of the Marik Militia units.  That should be enough to reach the 500 points bought off.

[Daryk]

Fast Learner it is, and I'll tack in the Scientist Field for an extra year.  I'll take a swing at using that extra 500 XP too...

[ANS Kamas P81]

Most excellent.  Thank you for all the effort!

[Daryk]

My pleasure!  Fast Learner didn't quite work out... it boosted a bunch of skills that weren't on your list to improve (like Career/Soldier) and left less than enough to boost the ones you wanted, so I left it off and bumped up Computer, Investigation and Interest/Star League History to 4.

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Skill Summary
Level 5 Skills
Gunnery/Mech
Martial Arts

Level 4 Skills
Piloting/Mech
Career/Soldier
Navigation/Ground
Sensor Operations
Language/German
Interest/Star League History
Computers
Investigation

Level 3 Skills
Leadership
Perception

Level 2 Skills
Language/English
Negotiation
Protocol/Lyran
Small Arms
Tactics/Land
Melee Weapons
MedTech
Survival/Desert
Streetwise/Lyran
Protocol/Mercenary
Training

Level 1 Skills
Administration
Technician/Weapons
Technician/Nuclear
Appraisal
Communications/Conventional
Career/Scientist
Science/Geology
Interest/Periphery Worlds

Level 0 Skills
Interest/Military History
Climbing
Tracking/Wilds
Driving/Ground

"None" Skills
Zero-G Operations
Swimming

[ANS Kamas P81]

I didn't expect to see Martial Arts come up that high, but I suppose that gives me something interesting to attach to her presence on New Kyoto.  Maybe she focuses on judo, something she got started in when she was a kid as a "go keep yourself occupied" sort of thing that someone in the Twelfth Star Guards taught her.  Once she got deployed to New Kyoto, she's taken it up a bit further.

The rest of the skills are about perfect, I can't see anything I'm really missing.  Technician/Weapons and Technician/Nuclear work for her idea for shoehorning in alternate engines in a BattleMech, and give her the skills in shoving two artillery pieces into an Archer.  Survival/Desert is a good one, considering Zoetermeer's arid, low-water makeup.  She may not really have spent much time on the planet, but got taught the survival techniques anyway, especially walking without rhythm in the open desert.

None skills just fall off the sheet right?  They're not even 0-ranked, which is fine; maybe she'll learn how to swim on New Kyoto someday.  It's a good starting snapshot for 3006, and making her birthdate back in 2977...which makes me 999 years and six months older than she is. 

[Daryk]

I just put the None ranked skills on there in case you wanted to swap around some points.  Zero-G is from Explorer, and Swimming is from the Academy.  Martial Arts is something you start getting in Stage 1 with Born Merc Brat, and get at every stage after that (Stage 2 Merc Brat, Academy, Tour of Duty, and even Explorer).

Glad you like where she settled out!  :thumbsup:

[ANS Kamas P81]

Ah, okay.  I did make one change, pulled 40XP out of Sensor Operations (reducing it to 80) and adding 10 points in Driving and 30 points for Artillery.  Otherwise, I like very much; I dig the idea of her studying geology.  It'd be one of those things that comes in handy for lostech prospecting.  Knowing where there's good ground to build bases on is important!

And hah, interesting that Martial Arts is so prevalent, but who am I to question it.  Judo's built around using leverage of someone against them, which would be good for her as an advantage against bigger opponents.

[Daryk]

Makes sense to me!  :thumbsup:

[ANS Kamas P81]

So by 3016 the Archers have been around long enough to expand into a battalion of BattleMechs, recouping their losses from the Wolf's Dragoons attack on New Kyoto to reorganize the main 'Mech battalion into the formation below.

Alpha Battalion:
Command Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
  First Company
    Command 'Mech Team: 2x ARC-2S Archer
    Heavy 'Mech Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
    Bombardier Lance: 4x ARC-2S-LTC-A Archer
    Artillery 'Mech Lance: 1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2 Archer
  Second Company
    Command 'Mech Team: 2x ARC-2S Archer
    Heavy 'Mech Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
    Heavy 'Mech Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
    Artillery 'Mech Lance: 1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2 Archer
  Third Company
    Command 'Mech Team: 2x ARC-2S Archer
    Heavy 'Mech Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
    Heavy 'Mech Lance: 4x ARC-2S Archer
    Artillery 'Mech Lance: 1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2 Archer

The LTC-A versions are the Long Tom Cannon prototype testers, while the 2ST2 are twin Thumper carriers.  That gives me three batteries of six guns, one battery in each company of 'Mechs.  I figure the idea is that the command team hangs back with the artillery 'Mechs and the bodyguard unit, giving three protection 'Mechs to cover the artillery, while the other two lances go forward and call down the rain.  The Bombardier lance isn't popular, but it has its tactical uses, though it's a shame you can't use alternate ammo types in the snub-barreled Cannons. 

By the 3021-4 downtime, I figure there's enough cash earned to replace losses and expand again into a second 'Mech battalion and expand the vehicle battalion, cloning Alpha BN (albeit replacing the LTC carriers with another lance of ARC-2S Archers) in its one-six-gun-battery-per-company format.  Alpha and Beta companies both end up with 18 guns each, or a full battalion of Thumper artillery spread between them.

The 3021-24 downtime also sees the vehicle battalion expand and consolidate the vehicles into two companies of Goblin tanks, mixing SRM and LRM types, and the extant company of helicopters - with the two lances of Ferrets being fully converted into Artillery Scout variants.  The infantry expands to company strength as well, remaining primarily connected to one of the tank companies as a base defense unit rather than a frontline combatant.  The other company of tanks is primarily for convoy escort and transportation, since I can load them up with a ton of supplies each and have them escort the CargoMechs and Flatbeds.

[Daryk]

Artillery Cannons CAN use the most important alternative ammo, though: Thermobarics!  ^-^

[ANS Kamas P81]

Artillery Cannons CAN use the most important alternative ammo, though: Thermobarics!  ^-^

Is that in IO?  My copy of Tactical Operations says they can only use standard rounds.

[Daryk]

Yep!  Pages 165-166.  Cannons are explicitly listed in the table.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Gotta hold out for a Christmas sale...so much goodness in IO, then.

EDIT: On that note, if I'm building for artillery...why don't I have any proper Long Toms in the force?  I swear I should get my head examined some days.  Added a company to the vehicle battalion for air defense and a battery of four Long Tom vehicles.

Gamma Battalion:
Command Lance: 4x Goblin (Standard)
  First Company
    Command Team: 2x Goblin (Standard)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
  Second Company
    Command Team: 2x Goblin (Standard)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
    Tank Lance: 2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM)
  Third Company
    Command Team: 2x Goblin (Standard)
    Tank Lance: 4x LRM Carrier
    Tank Lance: 4x Partisan Air Defense Tank
    Tank Lance: 4x Long Tom Carrier
  Fourth Company
    Command Team: 2x Warrior H-7 (Standard)
    Aviation Lance: 4x Warrior H-7 (Standard)
    Aviation Lance: 4x Ferret (Artillery Scout)
    Aviation Lance: 4x Ferret (Artillery Scout)

Past that, I'd expand the Aerospace unit to four Eagles and two Lightning G15s, and at this point I'd probably start looking into a serious rebuild of the Mule to handle the fighters and extra 'Mechs, giving myself at least some kind of orbital insertion capability.  ASF bays are going to be a must-have option...fortunately it's a Mule and there's plenty of space there to do that with.   It's just not something to take into battle, not one bit.

[Daryk]

PDFs are pretty cheap...  ^-^

+1 for the Long Toms, but I have to wonder if you wouldn't get more mobility out of Filed Artillery and cargo haulers with Lift Hoists to drag them around at full speed or -1 MP at worst...  8)

[ANS Kamas P81]

Having Uni CargoMechs carry a Mechanized Infantry Platoon into battle on the cargo hoists, that's a creative idea.  They can be loaded up with ammo for the LTs as well, hm...though that does cut back significantly on the numbers of guns I'd have.  Each platoon of troops would only get one Long Tom (and losing a single trooper knocks out the gun) so I'd end up with three guns per company, instead of four guns per lance.  I would get the mobility aspect for sure, though...I suppose two companies of Field Artillery infantry with six Uni CargoMechs to carry them would be the better way to go and gives me a full six-gun battery.

So let's see, that brings the unit in 3016 up to...

BattleMech Battalion
  BattleMech Company
  BattleMech Company
  BattleMech Company
Tank Battalion
  Tank Company
  Tank Company
  AA Company
  Aviation Company
Infantry Battalion
  Infantry Company
  Artillery Company
  Artillery Company
Support Battalion
  CargoMech Company
  Transport Company
  Transport Company

With an additional BattleMech company in the 3021-4 timeframe. 

[Daryk]

I was thinking vehicle transports since 'mechs aren't supposed to be able to carry infantry...

[ANS Kamas P81]

I was thinking of transporting the artillery infantry in the lift hoists of the Uni, but I suppose I should just leave them as Mechanized/Tracked and let them be.

[Daryk]

Maybe drag the tubes and ammo in the Unis, and the infantry in an APC? ???

[ANS Kamas P81]

That's getting complicated...I think I'll stick with the four LT Carriers in Third Company, rather than try getting fiddly with infantry-based LTs.  Then again, por que no los dos?  Which...turns out to be what I'd done already, with the two artillery companies in the infantry.  Well.  How about that.

So okay, total artillery assets come to three batteries among eighteen Thumpers on Archers, a battery of four Long Tom Carriers, a fifth battery of six platoons of Long Tom mechanized infantry, and four Long Tom Cannon short-ranged "mortar" carriers.  28 guns and 4 cannons is a lot of firepower for a single regiment; that's more than 3/4 what you get in an entire RCT's artillery battalion.

Frontline assets are going to be light...30 ARC-2S Archers, 12 Goblin (LRM)s, 12 Goblin (SRM)s, 8 Goblin (Standard)s, and 6 Warrior H-7s.  That's my line combat troops for the whole regiment, everything else is either artillery and its bodyguards or dedicated base defense troops - namely the first company of infantry, the Partisans, and LRM carriers.

[Daryk]

Plus the spotter Ferrets and Infantry, right? ???

[ANS Kamas P81]

Plus the spotter Ferrets and Infantry, right? ???

Right, yes.  Add one infantry company to the infantry battalion for security, freeing up the other infantry company to rotate as forward observers.  The aviation company maintains its helicopters, and by the time of 3016 the rest of the Ferrets would be converted to artillery scouts with mast mounts, cameras, and remote sensors.

I'll post a detailed TOE post-expansion tomorrow.

[Daryk]

Cool!  The best part being that Remote Sensors can spot for Artillery...  >:D

[ANS Kamas P81]

At a penalty, but I can live with that - I've got deep ammo bins on those Thumper carriers...

Let's see.  I figure after being savaged by the Dragoons in 3016 they'd settle for a garrison contract or two for New Kyoto and start rebuilding, splitting into two forces - one acting as a guard force for their base on New Kyoto and the second the actual deployable mercenary force.  New Kyoto probably has its own militia forces, which are left unsaid anywhere, so I'm going to assume they're guarding various valuable points and making me set up with my own base's troops.

[Daryk]

Two points:
     1) Echo company is missing a ")" after "(Standard" in the line platoons (screwed me up for a bit on my first read).

     2) You could certainly take the Mobile Force off on its own, but why not simply spin the Security Force off as a wholly owned subsidiary?  That way you'd have a ready pool of recruits, a place to rotate folks for down time, and retirement jobs for those coming off the front line permanently...  8)

[ANS Kamas P81]

Two points:
     1) Echo company is missing a ")" after "(Standard" in the line platoons (screwed me up for a bit on my first read).

Fixed!

     2) You could certainly take the Mobile Force off on its own, but why not simply spin the Security Force off as a wholly owned subsidiary?  That way you'd have a ready pool of recruits, a place to rotate folks for down time, and retirement jobs for those coming off the front line permanently...  8)

See this is why I come here, for brilliant ideas like that.  And I can use the CargoMechs as training for the Archers as well as the rest of the force, so I've got a pipeline into my 'Mech pilot pool as well as one that goes out.  A wholly owned subsidiary is perfect, and justifies leaving them behind on New Kyoto while the 'Mechs go off and do 'Mech things.  They can run their own separate garrison/cadre/whatever contracts with defending the planet, and host rotating units in for training operations as a combined-arms OPFOR.  Not that there's a lot of infantry, but it's still something for them to do.

Moved and edited from the previous post:
 
Going on that prior setup, and making some adjustments to it.  This makes things a full regiment, though the tank battalion is a reinforced battalion by adding those infantry units to it; I figure it'd operate like a nova does - tied directly to the infantry company and being the primary source of security on the base.  The AA company is there for the obvious air defense, and the LRM carriers are there to back that up.  The Long Toms...I'm ambivalent on whether they're dedicated flak-style long range AAA or if they're also rolled up to support the BattleMechs.

On that note, the BattleMech battalion only has two companies - between the command lance and command teams, and the various lances themselves, there's 32 'Mechs there.  Between those and the six ASFs, that just about fills up an Overlord, as far as potential deployments go; that's the kind of thing I'd sign on for raids and such with.  Let the Steiners drive the transport, they can bring my Techs and support staff with them in whatever troop transport DropShip they send with us.  So Viper Battalion is my mobile force, while Cobra Battalion tends to stay behind and defend New Kyoto.

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BattleMech Battalion "Viper Battalion"
  BattleMech Lance (4x ARC-2S Archer)
  Aero Company "Angel Company"
    Aerospace Fighter Lance (2x Eagle)
    Aerospace Fighter Lance (2x Eagle)
    Aerospace Fighter Lance (2x Lightning)
  BattleMech Company "Alpha Company"
    BattleMech Team (2x ARC-2S Archer)
    BattleMech Lance (4x ARC-2S Archer)
    BattleMech Lance (4x ARC-2S Archer)
    BattleMech Lance (4x ARC-2S Archer)
  BattleMech Company "Bravo Company"
    BattleMech Team (2x ARC-2S Archer)
    BattleMech Lance (1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2)
    BattleMech Lance (1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2)
    BattleMech Lance (1x ARC-2S Archer, 3x ARC-2ST2)
Tank Battalion "Cobra Battalion"
  Tank Lance (4x Goblin (Standard)
  Tank Company "Charlie Company"
    Tank Team (2x Goblin (Standard))
    Tank Lance (2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM))
    Tank Lance (2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM))
    Tank Lance (2x Goblin (LRM), 2x Goblin (SRM))
  Infantry Company "Delta Company
    Infantry Platoon (4x Foot AR++ Squads)
    Infantry Platoon (4x Foot AR++ Squads)
    Infantry Platoon (4x Foot AR++ Squads)
    Infantry Platoon (4x Foot AR++ Squads)
  Anti-Aircraft Company "Echo Company"
    Anti-Aircraft Team (2x Partisan Air Defense)
    Anti-Aircraft Lance (4x Partisan Air Defense)
    Anti-Aircraft Lance (4x LRM Carrier)
    Artillery Lance (4x LT-MOB-25 Mobile Long Tom)
  Aviation Company "Foxtrot Company"
    Helicopter Team (2x Warrior H-7)
    Helicopter Lance (4x Warrior H-7)
    Helicopter Lance (4x Ferret (Artillery Scout))
    Helicopter Lance (4x Ferret (Artillery Scout))
Support Battalion "Rattler Battalion"
  Transport Company "Golf Company"
    CargoMech Lance (4x Uni CargoMech)
    CargoMech Lance (4x Uni CargoMech)
    CargoMech Lance (4x Uni CargoMech)
  Transport Company "Hotel Company"
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
  Transport Company "India Company"
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
    Transport Lance (4x Flatbed Truck)
So it comes out to a regiment if you add in Rattler Battalion, which I generally don't but wanted it specified it was there.  This just feels a lot better than it did previously, and still shows a solid expansion after losses taken - and fits the sheer crazy amount of c-bills being generated by this contract.  Seriously, I'm netting 12.75 million each month at the start, replacing losses won't be difficult when I'm only fighting one to three battles a year.

Fires wise?  Eighteen Thumpers and four Long Toms, that's better than half a battalion of artillery and it feeds what amounts to a short regiment.  I'm definitely very heavy on the artillery, which I'm happy with, and I'm not crippling my artillery with the infantry I originally had it built around before.  Field Artillery only gets one ton of shells, which is a whole five shots - I'll take the Mobile Long Tom and its deeper bins for my fire support.  My line combat is fourteen Archers, with four more as a command element; the Thumper carriers have their own five Archers for bodyguards.  Clearly my focus is on destruction by fires, with the line combat Archers there to fix targets.