Calderon Legion vs MacTavish Rangers

[BarcidOath]

Hail and well met comrades! I am newly acquainted with the game and its fascinating universe, having never glanced at Battletech until the PC game went on sale and I figured I might as well try it. Safe to say, I'm hooked, and have purchased the Game of Armored Combat box.

As I would like to be able to try and introduce friends and family to the game, I have decided to collect and paint two opposing forces, eventually expanding each to company level. The first, in a tan and red desert/martian camo, will be the Calderon Legion, a mercenary force from Taurian Concordat built with the intention of testing themselves against IS militaries, as the Taurians haven't had many recent conflicts in 3025. The second, the MacTavish Rangers in green and silver parade ground best, will be mercs from Northwind, commanded by an ex-Highlander who had a falling out with the Liao, and are presently serving the Davions. I'd like to have fairly balanced companies to drawn on that nonetheless reflect the regional availability of mechs for these two areas. Here is the initial roster I drew up, what do y'all think?

Calderon Legion                                    Mactavish Rangers

Heavy Lance:
Awesome                                             Highlander (733P)
Warhammer                                         Battlemaster
Archer                                                 Marauder
Thunderbolt                                         Catapult

Medium Lance:
Wolverine                                             Rifleman
Shadow Hawk                                      Centurion
Griffin                                                  Enforcer
Wolverine (6M)                                     Trebuchet

Light Lance:
Phoenix Hawk                                       Valkyrie
Wasp                                                   Commando
Wasp                                                   Locust
Stinger                                                Locust (LRMs)

I'll admit to not having run the BVs yet to know if its balanced, but the two forces are with 10 tons of each other as far as weight goes and mostly make sense lore wise; aside from their Awesome the Legion is completely equipped with native Taurian produced mechs (or modifications thereof) while the Rangers feature several signature Davion mechs including Valkyrie, Enforcer, and Centurion (while also including my favorite mech from the pc game, the Highlander). Anyway, what do y'all think, decent forces to draw on for teaching the game to people?

EDIT: Additionally, if this is the wrong place to post this kind of thing, kindly let me know. This forum organization is not quite what I'm used to. Thanks!

[Daryk]

Welcome to the board!  :thumbsup:

I'm something of a grognard, and don't put much stock in BV (of any kind), but I'll say that LRM Locust is a crime against humanity.  You should replace it with just about anything else.  You'll eventually develop your own sense of what "right" looks like, and that's ENTIRELY apprpriate.  Only you know your local play group, and that's what really makes games "great"...  :thumbsup:

[BarcidOath]

Thanks for the welcome pardner! I picked the LRM Locust initially because 1) its supposed to be a Davion design and 2) it would complement the Valkyrie's long range equipment. I could replace it with a Javelin... but those are some fugly models. Would a sniper like the Panther work well? Call it salvage from an engagement against the Kurita.

[Daryk]

Panthers are fine, and salvage is always a winning argument.  They're only sin is being slow...

[DOC_Agren]

either that or you keep the LRM locust and assign it as a punishment ride

[BarcidOath]

either that or you keep the LRM locust and assign it as a punishment ride

Hah! That or to pull a Uriah on a disliked subordinate. But no, I think I'll replace it with something else in the line up. How important is it to keep a lance at similar speed profiles? Would using the Panther as a sniper work, supporting the rest of the scout lance at range, or ought I give them another speedy striker, like a Jenner?

[Daryk]

It's definitely better to keep speeds as close as possible within a lance.  That keeps them from getting strung out and picked off individually.

[ckosacranoid]

A lrm l9cost can be a pain the butt. I did a fight with a lance and the other player used one for the lance commander.  I could not touch it cause kept it at speed and range. He ran out of ammo in the bloody thing and won the fight.

[DOC_Agren]

Hah! That or to pull a Uriah on a disliked subordinate. But no, I think I'll replace it with something else in the line up. How important is it to keep a lance at similar speed profiles? Would using the Panther as a sniper work, supporting the rest of the scout lance at range, or ought I give them another speedy striker, like a Jenner?

It depends on the era..  but if you can keep the speed similar
in 3025 that Panther Sniper supporting the rest of scout force can work because it can hop into and out of trouble and hit a range, but once advanced tech comes..  Scouts need to move...  Jenner be more help