Mech Company and questions about lances

[Crimson Dawn]

SO my wife and I were thinking of creating some mech companies and I was thinking how I want to build each lance in very broad terms.

Right now I am not asking about specific mechs so much (as I Have some ideas already) but I was wondering on how I should consider building the lances.  For instance in the novels I have seen "command lance", "fire support", and "recon" but are there other lance types I should consider.  Also what sort of things should I look for in each of those lance types for instance how maneuverable does a mech in a recon lance need to be (off had it looks like 86kph or so max speed minimum but then I see the whitworth being described as a recon mech so who knows), what really constitutes a fire support mech and how much really should be direct fire or is inderect fire more important?  What about the command lance outside of the few mechs I saw listed as a command mech what else should it have or is it the lance excuse to pack the heaviest mechs possible in one place (seems like it sometimes)?

Just looking for ideas since my basic books do not talk about lance compositions or how to build functional sounding mech companies.  In case it matters this will be a 3025 style scenarios. 

[guardiandashi]

I usually build my lances based on various factors with that said I tend to consider the following:
1st speed under speed I look at walk/run with jump movement being considered 1 bracket higher than its actual speed
2 ND weight category Panthers for example are almost never going to be grouped with assault mecha. And vice versa. With that said the command unit of a Lance will often be 1 weight class heavier than the rest of the Lance
3rd payload type I tend to build a Lance around a theme, such as mostly LRM units, or direct fire support or role such as scouts, or similar

[Adrian Gideon]

I expect a big discussion to erupt here (it’s a lot to cover), but Campaign Operations actually tries to codify lances in game terms, both to make it easier to form different types of lances, and to give in-game bonuses for doing so.

[JPArbiter]

AG beat me to it.  check out either Campaign Operations or the Alpha Strike Companion.  both codify lances in a pretty succint way.  Alpha Strike is a touch more restrictive because of abstraction, but they function similar.

[Frabby]

I'll try to answer the OP from another angle:

In RPG-ish campaign gaming, or from an in-universe viewpoint, you need to consider the size of your force. Is the lance built for a specific task (e.g. Fire Support for A company), or is it a generic vanilla jack-of-all-trades unit thought to operate on its own?

Based on the latter approach, the typical un-specialized all purpose lance consists of one "Anchor", one "Scout", and two "Brawlers":
- The Anchor is the heaviest (but typically also slowest) of the bunch, and combat-wise, the core of the lance. When there is trouble, this is the mom all others run to. Expect it to be a bodyguard unit piloted by a grizzled veteran Sergeant.
- The Brawlers are versatile medium 'Mechs that can outrun what they don't outgun. The unit commander will typically ride one of them.
- The Scout is just that. Stressing mobility over firepower or armor, it's not supposed to engage the enemy on its own but can be used for flanking or harrassing in a combat situation. Typically, your lightest 'Mech will end up in this role.

A very generic Lance that could be found virtually anywhere as of 3025 might, for example, look like this:
- 65t Thunderbolt (Anchor)
- 55t Shadow Hawk (Commander)
- 45t Phoenix Hawk (#2 Brawler)
- 20t Locust (Scout)
Assign them any mission and they will likely get the job done.

(Ok, just for kicks I tried to turn the idea on its head and came up with this Kurita lance: Panther Anchor, Dragon Commander, Jenner Brawler & Charger Scout... but I digress :) )

For a company that is operating as a cohesive unit, as opposed to three stand-alone lances, you just scale up the idea. Scout 'Mech becomes Scout Lance (either four similarly fast 'Mechs, possibly the same 'Mech four times, or an overall fast recon lance that still has the aforementioned sub-structure among its individual members); Anchor 'Mech becomes Combat Lance; and the Brawlers become Command or Fire Support lances.
At the company level, it might be feasible to include specialized units (like the Raven for ECM, a Rifleman for air defense or a Cyclops command 'Mech) that would be more of a liability if they had to perform in a standalone lance.

You can scale this up from three companies performing distinct roles in a battalion that operates as a cohesive unit. But my pesonal impression is that companies are the largest formations that can be assigned a meaningful individual battlefield role.
(Note: I reckon a 'Mech lance is the equivalent to a real-world armor platoon. As a Luftwaffe guy I don't have any real-world experience with tank operations whatsoever though. If a veteran with actual experience has a different opinion, he or she is probably right.)

[Kovax]

Normally, a Recon Lance would generally try for all fast units, but it's still feasible to include one slower and heavier unit that serves as a guardian or anchor for the more mobile elements.  That's the Whitworth's task in the case mentioned: if things go horribly wrong, all of the little 20 ton scouts run back to the cover of their 40 ton Whitworth.  Putting a faster "anchor" would be preferable (the Phoenix Hawk was a VERY common Recon Lance leader), but if you don't have one, you go with what you've got.

[Crimson Dawn]

Thank you all for the suggestions.  I will think it over a bit and if I come up with anything that I end up really like I will let you all know.