Dependents

[Fatman10]

 This may seem like a stupid question but how do i get my dependents to do anything other than sit and take money. I know that it is my game and i can do what i want but with Megamek and MekHQ how can i give them some tough love and make the kids get a Job?

[Southernskies]

Assign them as Astechs so they start to earn XP.

Then train them up as replacement whatevers!

[servo01]

Astech is a good place to start.

The AtB ruleset (and then loosely, either the TacOps or the Merc:Revised- I think?) Astechs are used as a catch-all for support personnel. So your dependents are either born into the unit are decide to sign up for a career rather than sticking around for just a mission or two: meaning that their big advantage is no retirement rolls - Downside is that they are next to useless to start out.

In addition to pitching in on unit repairs/maintenance, making them all Astechs has them providing admin support, janitorial duties, acting as aides to officers and all the other unseen duties that the rules and MekHQ don't bother to track. Once they accrue enough XP, you can purchase a core skill set and have them become ultra-green combat or support personnel. The problem here is that ultra-green support personnel are often just a liability and putting them into combat can quickly get expensive..
 
So, another option is to purchase the admin skill first, before worrying about a primary role or skill set, and then assign them as administrators (or dual train them as admin/astech so that they will earn XP more quickly.)

Personally, I like to purchase a rank of small arms for them at the first opportunity and then form all dependents into an infantry training squad under a veteran officer. This way you can send the training squad out into the field as a training unit to earn weekly XP, task them with support duties (if you are using those rules) or even send them into combat (if you are desperate and/or a sadist).

I find that after being rotated through the tech corps, the admin office and then pulling a stint as a grunt gives them enough XP to bump them past ultra-green once it is time to give them a unit or add them to the tech or admin corps full-time.   

[pheonixstorm]

Per FMM you can change them from Dependents to X job at any point for most dependents. For children, just wait until they hit around 16 or so before changing them. Beyond that there really aren't any rules for dependents so you can only limit yourself by your imagination.

[Gigastrike]

[Dr. Banzai]

Beginning at age 11, I enroll my kids into Cadet groups and assign them to train while on missions. Ensures Veteran/Elite cadets when they graduate at 18.

[Fatman10]

Thanks that makes a ton of sense.

[Colt Ward]

Good luck with that breaker bar kid . . .

[Southernskies]

A big enough lever...

[Colt Ward]

Those breaker bars are 2 to 3 ft so adult men, sometimes two or three, can get on it.  I have even seen people jumping up and down on the bar to loosen the bolt- which I am pretty sure is against safety regs but makes it go faster . .

[guardiandashi]

Those breaker bars are 2 to 3 ft so adult men, sometimes two or three, can get on it.  I have even seen people jumping up and down on the bar to loosen the bolt- which I am pretty sure is against safety regs but makes it go faster . .

and then there is always the other solution...

for instance I was trying to remove a piece of eroded (rotten) drain plumbing and only had a 14" pipe wrench, I went and got a 3ft piece of black iron pipe to use as a "cheater" basically I slipped it over the handle of the pipe wrench and turned it from a 14" pipe wrench to effectively a 3ft pipe wrench that definitely got the pipe broken loose and 15 min later I had the old pipe out, and started putting the kitchen sink drain line back together The galvanized plumbing lasted ~60 years, but I replaced what I had to remove with the black plastic equivalent. ~30 min worth of "test fitting" and another 15=20 min to glue it together once I did it.

[Colt Ward]

Thing is the breaker bars do not have openings . . . and even leveraging the extra pipe wrench on the other end gets problematic.  Its mostly used if you are either . . .

a) screwing with the newbie since you know they used a impact drill last time to put the tire on in the motorpool

b) you are in the field, and screwed


And its not used for just lug nuts on the wheels either.

[Robroy]

My Dad used a 4 foot breaker bar to tighten the hubs for the dual wheels on our tractor, till the wrench snapped and he broke his leg when he fell. Breaker bars don't always break the bolts loose.

[krazzyharry]

I assign them as administrators, normally command or logistics. They are now your cooks, supply tech, laundry specialist radio operators, runners, etc.  They seem to gain XP faster too.

[Schugger]

I also find the fastest way of training dependents is by putting them in training Lances. In a period of a few weeks they'll get up to regular skills and become quite usable.
As I am usually a bit lazy about that bit of micromanagement, I do paid recruitment rolls to get that Kind of combat persoanl I require.

[Colt Ward]

Out of curiosity, how do they manage that training lance?  Do you designate mechs to be 'trainers' while they are not in battle?  Do you have a higher maintenance requirement for the trainee mechs?  I mean, in weeks to become regulars is a bit crazy.

[Kovax]

The down side to a training lance is that there's a weekly chance that it will see actual combat.  You don't want too many trainees in the lance at any one time.  I often put one Ultra-Green or Green trainee in a vehicle crew, and one trainee 'Mech in a lance.

[Dr. Banzai]

Using infantry, I've set up one platoon of Elite/Veteran "instructors" heading an oversized company containing four more platoons of cadets. Remember, the XP earned doesn't care where you put it. By making the cadet platoons hold 30 soldiers, that's 120 cadets being trained each week.

[CrossfirePilot]

This may seem like a stupid question but how do i get my dependents to do anything other than sit and take money. I know that it is my game and i can do what i want but with Megamek and MekHQ how can i give them some tough love and make the kids get a Job?

LOL, I have a whole summer to look forward to of trying to answer this question.

[Schugger]

Out of curiosity, how do they manage that training lance?  Do you designate mechs to be 'trainers' while they are not in battle?  Do you have a higher maintenance requirement for the trainee mechs?  I mean, in weeks to become regulars is a bit crazy.

Training in designated Lances only works  while being deployed in a contract.
Technically you assign the Lance in question the Training role in the AtB briefing TAB
So they do not gain experiance while you are en route or  on a planet for R&R. You gain 1 XP for each week in a Training Lance, so it takes 30 weeks to increase mech/piloting and mech/gunnery from 8 to 5 by Training only.
It's a bit more as half a year - not much if you consider what is told about MW Training in the BT Background.
Surely, there is a risk that your Training Lance will end up in combat, but if you are not in to risk your MwchWarrior wannabees you can alwyas refusr the challenge and take the contract score hit instead. 

[Kovax]

Example of a training lance:
Instructor - Veteran MW in Medium or light Heavy 'Mech
MW Student - Green MW in light 'Mech
Vehicle Crew (various, from Ultra-Green to Veteran, average Regular) - in Heavy tank
Recruit platoon - various Green and Ultra-Green recruits with some Small Arms skill, can become something else once they have enough points.

The average weight is low enough to call it a Light lance (particularly if you're using vehicles at half-weight), and the instructor and heavy vehicle are usually enough to pull it off with minimal help from the MW trainee, while the infantry hide.  That's in the event that it does get sent into battle; usually they'll remain in reserve and just run simulations.

As long as there's one Veteran officer in the group, and you dedicate the lance to Training, you can train up Green or lower troops to Regulars at +1XP per week.  The XP cost to boost a Green up to Regular depends on your AtB settings, but if the cost is 10XP for gunnery and 10XP for piloting, that's 20 weeks of training in the field at normal deployment costs to go from Green to Regular.  In this example, I've got 1 MW, 1-2 vehicle crew members, and up to 28 various "others" in training each week, with enough total punch to actually survive a mission.  In about 10-20 weeks, I can rotate a few of the infantry, because they'll have enough points to begin some other role and accumulate points from that instead.  The MW and vehicle crew trainees will take the full 20 weeks before rotating.

As pointed out by Schugger, if they're forced to fight, you can either refuse the mission for a -2 hit to your contract score, deploy and then surrender for a -1 loss, or else attempt the mission and then bug out for the loss if/when things start to go sour, but at least you tried.

[Dr. Banzai]

As pointed out by Schugger, if they're forced to fight, you can either refuse the mission for a -2 hit to your contract score, deploy and then surrender for a -1 loss, or else attempt the mission and then bug out for the loss if/when things start to go sour, but at least you tried.

Why wouldn't you undeploy them and deploy another lance for the mission?

[Schugger]

Why wouldn't you undeploy them and deploy another lance for the mission?

I would take it as being caught with pants down by the enemy, when your rookie lance get ambushed.
Chances are pretty low that they see combat anyway, but if I switch my medium rookie lance with a heavy lance it would not feel right by me (the OPFOR was generated by taking the weight class of your training lance in account).

[Kovax]

Why wouldn't you undeploy them and deploy another lance for the mission?

Why wouldn't you type "/victory" during the first turn?  Same reason, it's a little bit over the line on the "cheating" side.

Getting an unexpected call from your employer to assist, showing up with the training lance because that's all that's available in the area, seeing what you're up against, and then saying "Nope, we can't win this" and bugging out is a lot more believable than always having some spare lance in waiting just to step in and bail out your rookies at a moment's notice if/when they're unexpectedly faced with a real opponent they can't deal with.

The employer won't be pleased if you show up, and then back down from unwinnable odds (-1 to contract score), but would be a LOT more upset if you just blew off the request (-2 to contract score).  Besides, if you've got enough spare forces to babysit your rookies, why aren't they out fighting or on patrol?

I see the chance of unexpected confrontation by your training lance as the price you pay for putting them out in the field to gain experience more quickly during an actual war.  The intent is to have them take on some of the typically ignored forces in the BT universe: infantry, lightly armed and armored vehicles, and other "live" targets that aren't much of a real threat to a 'Mech, but will still shoot back.  The risk, of course, is that more serious opposition MIGHT show up unexpectedly.

[Colt Ward]

Hmm, well my apprentice/trainees plod around in armed IndiMechs that support the Engineer foot platoon.  I wish I had more uses for the Engineers outside of meta/campaign and instead tactical . . .

Does it offer you a option of a training exercise or any simulator battles?

[Dr. Banzai]

I would take it as being caught with pants down by the enemy, when your rookie lance get ambushed.
Chances are pretty low that they see combat anyway, but if I switch my medium rookie lance with a heavy lance it would not feel right by me (the OPFOR was generated by taking the weight class of your training lance in account).

Got it. I was thinking too Meta on the game.

Hmm, well my apprentice/trainees plod around in armed IndiMechs that support the Engineer foot platoon.  I wish I had more uses for the Engineers outside of meta/campaign and instead tactical . . .

Does it offer you a option of a training exercise or any simulator battles?

When hired for Cadre Duty, I set it up that the OpFor is usually a "Friendly Enemy" (i.e., training local militia, OpFor might be the region's assigned RCT), and I'll edit the damage to 'Mechs/Pilots at the end of the scenario. Some scenarios will still be "live" as other forces decide to try and take advantage of the trainee's and jump in-system (usually Recon/Extract types). Officer challenges and other specials are likewise "live".

[Colt Ward]

lol . . . ok, I was wondering since I am still a '05 grognard using my Excel spreadsheets to track my mercs.  None of your fancy advanced tech AI stuff for me!  No SIR!

[Groggy1]

Remember, dependants ALSO get the +1 every 2 months roll, just like everyone else in the unit. It's slow, but even babies get that. Kid turns 15, they've usually got enough exp to be regular!

[Ogra_Chief]

I have an Auxiliary company that has two training lances. The Auxiliary company is attached to my independent logistics/command company. The trainees/cadets start off in a lance of bug mechs, then proceed to the next lance of jump capable mediums, finally graduating to the security lance where they await assignment to the line companies. The trainees actually have the job of guarding the logistical train when on contract. Kinda of a callback to old BT lore regarding salvage recovery operations. I have sacrificed trainees and mechs protecting support staff. I once setup a scenario to raid a POW camp to recover two trainees that had been captured while protecting a retreat; they were kids of senior leadership. Great stuff.

Once assigned to the line companies they act as admins and hotseat for the line pilots till a spot opens. So by the time the trainees are actually full fledged pilots, they are generally Regulars or better. Granted my unit is fairly well established and can afford the in-depth training program, but training lances work well with a little RP/AtB management.