BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => Non-Canon Units => Topic started by: Raggedy_Man on 08 June 2013, 18:22:33
-
I'm thinking about a mercenary unit to run through the Total Chaos campaign track--using mostly lance-sized engagements, with the whole company participating in the big ones. I want the unit to feel believable (as far as equipment used and salvaged), and not to have any special connections or Great House benefactors. I'll post TO&E as well as history when I get that written up.
The breakdown of the unit is:
2 'mech lances
(OR 1 'mech lance and 1 vehicle lance)
1 battle armor platoon
2 aerospace fighters
I prefer having 2 'mech lances, which means that if I could just pick and choose, I'd go with the Union-X. Given that in 3067, only a few of these had been made, and Skye was holding onto them pretty tightly, I can't see how my unit would come by one. (Unless I could come up with some noble- or business connection to Skye, but I wanted to go more for the small, unknown unit status).
The only other option I could see is a Seeker (if I stretch the fluff a bit). It's supposed to be modular, and one variant will fit 4 'mechs. How believable does it seem to have a Seeker that switches out all its vehicle bays for 8 'mechs and 2 fighters? I don't see a problem with fitting a battle armor platoon into a space for 4 times as many standard infantry. It would mean for a slower deployment, but I generally use battle armor for defense or city fighting--they're not usually the first in an assault anyway.
My only real issue with a Seeker is the doors--it would make a combat drop pretty challenging; I'd like to be able to get the whole lance down pretty quickly. On the other hand, I can more easily believe that a merc unit could reconfigure a Seeker to its needs than it could procure a Union - X in 3067.
I suppose another option would be 2 Leopards + a Fury (and then I could add a few light vehicles), but then we'd need pretty significant JumpShip support. I'd really prefer a single DropShip that could just dock with a Scout.
How would you transport this unit?
-
I like to belive that extensive use of the Union class DS helps to find any kind of variant. You can sweep 4 mech cubicles to acomodate 4 heavy vehicles, or 8 light/med vehicles.
I made the calculations myself for a force of 6 mechs, 3 BA squads, 4 heavy vees, and 4 light vees.
-
My unit uses a modified Mule class DS.
It carries a company of mechs, a company of Battlearmour, 2 asf's, and a company of armoured vehicles and plenty of supplies.
Basically you can mod any dropship to your tastes as long as your happy with it.
If your worried about bay doors, use a modified standard Union. Add infantry quarters for one lance of mechs.
All dropships were designed to be modular and easily reconfigured.
Use Heavy metal aero or Solaris Skunk works to reconfigure the dropship for you. O0
-
yeah if you want dropchutes it has to a union
Seekers dont have them, although if you dont mind landing to unload I am a HUGE fan of the Seeker, but with a lot of work/money you could mod one to have 2 fighters with proper launch and recovery gear, and a pair of drop chutes for 8 mechs, plus still have a short infantry battalion and a company or more of vehicles
-
One of the early-ish track for Total Chaos is "the Sky is falling", which takes place on Skye, working directly for the Duke. The aftermath also mentions a decent payoff for coming to the rescue.
Maybe just be content to be relying on hired transport for the first track or two and then take the Skye mini-campaign. That way you can handwave being gifted a Union-X as part of the payment.
-
One of the early-ish track for Total Chaos is "the Sky is falling", which takes place on Skye, working directly for the Duke. The aftermath also mentions a decent payoff for coming to the rescue.
Maybe just be content to be relying on hired transport for the first track or two and then take the Skye mini-campaign. That way you can handwave being gifted a Union-X as part of the payment.
Hmm ... good point. That's certainly easier than trying to roll an 18 with 2d6 on the DropShip chart. I'll have to see if that scenario jives with the track where we attempt to save some ISF staff from the Word--I wanted to net an Akuma for our TO&E.
What I'm getting from all this is that most people don't worry so much about the ship, and just fudge the carrying capacity.
-
For just two lances, a pair of fighters, and some battle armor, why not just go with 2 Leopards?
The first Leopard takes its standard 4-Mech/2-Fighter compliment, and I'm certain a platoon of Battle Armor will use less space than two fighters, so the second ship just gets a minor refit (with the excess space as cargo).
-
Check out the Drost IIa.
TT
-
Union-C would be my choice, followed by a pair of Hannibals
-
A militarized Buccaneer would be great for a blue-collar feel Merc transport.
If you want to go with a minimum of dropship construction/modification rules, hard to beat the already suggested Union. Changing out the usual 12 mech bays for a slightly lighter force would also end up giving you more opportunities to loot & pillage cargo capacity.
-
Seeing as everyone seems to be commenting on this thread again - how'd it go? Any choices made?
-
Union 3025. Pull out 4 mech bays replace with vehicle bays.Can be done both weight 150 tons. I did this to my groups Overlord. 16 mech bays 16 vech bays. The rest is cargo plus fighter bays. I know putting all your eggs in basket. Im not following any real time line so I do not have to worry about nukes.
-
Seeing as everyone seems to be commenting on this thread again - how'd it go? Any choices made?
Everything has kind of stayed the same ... just on a grander scale. I decided to go with a battalion, and fit it all in a 3025 Overlord with a liberal dose of handwavium.
Here's the basic TO&E:
A heavy 'mech company
A 'mech scout lance
2 vehicle lances (1 lance is VTOL for the battle armor)
A mixed company of infantry and battle armor
So it's still a combined-arms unit; I just went with something three times the size.
I renamed the unit--sort of--the Forlorn Hope. Gonna attach a personal name to it and come up with history soon.
So far as I know there's only been one other Forlorn Hope, and that was Matthias', which I think got beat up by the MAC in the 4th SW.
-
Cool.
The larger size allows for increased flexibility too - you can spread yourself about a few tracks.
Maybe that Devlin Stone backed op against the Blakists only requires a company for an assault track. Meanwhile another company is left back on x planet where they quickly hire on with the locals to fend off some pirates in a defensive action.
This allows you to play a few more tracks - that was the one thing that alwasy bugged me about Total Chaos: how is the unit expected to get around the inner sphere THAT much?!
-
Cool.
The larger size allows for increased flexibility too - you can spread yourself about a few tracks.
Maybe that Devlin Stone backed op against the Blakists only requires a company for an assault track. Meanwhile another company is left back on x planet where they quickly hire on with the locals to fend off some pirates in a defensive action.
This allows you to play a few more tracks - that was the one thing that alwasy bugged me about Total Chaos: how is the unit expected to get around the inner sphere THAT much?!
Yeah, after a few of those 100+day jump/recharge cycles, I figured that I'd have an entire battalion of really crabby soldiers on my hands. I eventually opted for longer campaigns and didn't follow the Chaos track that much. We left Outreach in late 3067 and worked for the Lyrans for a several years, then the Dracs, and finally got picked up by Alys Marik's side of the Coalition in the drive for Terra.
The flexibility is great, especially since I don't like anything larger than company-sized engagements.
-
There is one problem with having a Dropship too large for your current troops. Captain Tagon explains it best here:
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-01-24
-
There is one problem with having a Dropship too large for your current troops. Captain Tagon explains it best here:
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-01-24
Bwahahaha!
Well, the Overlord's captain is from Old Kentucky, so I'm pretty sure there's a still somewhere on the ship.
-
Bwahahaha!
Well, the Overlord's captain is from Old Kentucky, so I'm pretty sure there's a still somewhere on the ship.
What do you think happens to all that left over mech coolant...?