Weight Budgeting
OK, assuming I have 900T of space to work from (4 mech and 2 ASF bays) I can look at breaking that down into the main elements. Off the top of my head I think I can probably try
Armour Element – 300T – some combination of 2 mechs, 3 heavy vee or 6 light vee – personally I’m leaning somewhat towards a couple of fast medium mechs – maybe with IJJ (5/8/8 or so) to keep up with the WIGE over rough terrain. 6 WIGE tanks might have a little more punch but attrition would be much higher as they lose mobility under heavy fire.
Mech Inf Element – 300T – 6 light IFV each carrying a unit of integrated BA – in my experience a 50T XLFE WIGE can easily carry a platoon sized bay of 3-6T
- 6 light BA would make a solid “tactical marine” squad and fit in a 4.5T bay
- 10 PA(L) suits would also fit in a 4.5T bay – with half a ton left over for equipment space - this would suit, say, a tech detachment (explosives/computer/mechanic/operations etc)
- 4 Medium BA suits would also fit in a 4.5T bay allowing the flexibility to bring some heavier suits where appropriate
If we assume 4x6 light, 1x10 PA(L) and 1x4 mediums we end up with a 40 man infantry platoon which seems reasonable for achieving the kinds of objectives I’ve been envisioning - all 6 IFV can carry the same 4.5T bay
Support Element – 300T – here I’m thinking we can cover several of the support desirables off
- I really think we need some cargo space – for spare BA suits, mission equipment, even food/ammo, we also might want to take something away, so I’m thinking 50T of cargo space on the leopard
- In my last project I created a support WIGE with a light vehicle bay – dedicating 100T to housing 1 of those or something like it would allow us to recover an immobilised light vehicle quickly or give us a large cargo bay where that is a mission requirement.
- That leaves us with 150T, I think a couple of scout WIGE would enhance the unit nicely for 100T
- Maybe an A4 launcher on a WIGE chassis, that would allow us to detonate/lay larger mine fields provide some anti air fire or artillery support. I’m not sure this brings enough to the party and could easily be another 50T of main cargo space