Combat Manual: Mercenaries Beta fan input thread

[nckestrel]

on page 39

Lieutenant Benson Pillbox's Hatchetman 3F has two stat lines.  Is the later one meant to be a custom upgrade or another variant of the mech?  I cannot a variant that matches those stat lines.

Thanks

Looks like it should say Axman AXM-1N.

[mike19k]

Most of the things I noticed have already been covered so the only real things I have to chip in on are opinions.

Firstly I believe the product should be called a 'Alpha Strike Combat Manual'  as it does not use Battletech rules and thus will be confusing to potential customers.

Secondly I agree that the tables of 'Mechs at the back need to broken up. Doing so by role seems to make sense.

I have been reading everything, and first time I see it say anything about Alpha Strike is at the very end of page 13.

[Feenix74]

In the "Page Display" menu (under "View"), the second item below "Two Page Scrolling" is "Show Cover Page in Two Page View".  That fixes the display problem.

Thank you, I learn something new every day  O0

[mike19k]

Under Snords Irregulars is says for the command company that "...; post-3039, all Mechs are heavy and assault (Size 3 and 4) mechs" However the Rhondas Irregulars book has the command company made up of a command lance, Attack lance, and a Recon Lance.

The Recon lance contained a Mercury, a Hussar, a Champion, and a Kintaro. So three of the mechs in this lance are no longer allowed?

Third Company (H'Chu's Diggers) It says "2 Mech laces, 1 mixed reinforced infantry company. All mechs must be light and medium (Size 1 and 2)" and yet the list given for it is not even close with five of the eight mechs falling in the heavy class, two in the assault, leaving only one following the new rule as it is a medium. There is not a single light in the entire unit.
Again from the Rhondas Irregulars book the Command Lance contained a Exterminator, a Lancelot, a Excalibur, a Champion. The fire lance contained a Crockett, a Sentinel, a Flashman, a Highlander, and in 3039 they replaced the sentinel with an Enforcer.

[mike19k]

Under Third Dismal Disinherited it has "The Third Armored Regiment is a reinforced regiment with two companies of heavy tanks, one of fast hovercraft, and one of artillery. The Third Attack Wing specializes in close air support of ground units." And under "Force Composition 1 medium ’Mech regiment, 1 heavy aerospace fighter wing, 1 medium vehicle battalion, 1 mechanized infantry battalion, 1 artillery battalion. At least half of the Force’s ’Mechs must
have a jump Move rating." As every regiment of the Dismal Disinherited only has a battalion of armor, I am guessing that the reinforced regiment is supposed to a reinforced battalion.

[mike19k]

115th Dracon about half way down has "whether or attacking or defending" I am guessing the first or is a typo.

[Frabby]

Re: the maps, I also feel like the 3050 one needs to replace the Lyran and FedSuns emblems with a single FedCom one.

Technically, no.
Up until Hanse Davion's death it was legally just an alliance of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. The Federated Commonwealth only came into being as a single unified state when Victor Steiner-Davion inherited both realms and united rule over both in his person.

[theothersarah]

Technically, no.
Up until Hanse Davion's death it was legally just an alliance of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. The Federated Commonwealth only came into being as a single unified state when Victor Steiner-Davion inherited both realms and united rule over both in his person.

I still feel like there has to be a better way than a blue Lyran emblem and a yellow FedSuns emblem both labelled "Federated Commonwealth" while the entire territory is solid yellow. At least a gradient from yellow in the FedSuns territory to blue in the Lyran half. Or making the Lyran emblem yellow to match.

Edit: Obviously I'm no cartographer, I just think that the map as it exists would be a bit confusing to anyone who isn't down with the lore and I think that maps should be self-explanatory when possible

[Weirdo]

Suggestion:

Under each of the standard lances, add a single line with that lance's stats for Strategic Battleforce.

I know it's not technically appropriate for an Alpha Strike book, but we all know this series is meant to appeal to Battletech players of all stripes, and sample lances like these are exactly what SBF players need to quickly create forces for that ruleset.

[mitchberthelson]

pg 12, 1st paragraph under Star League

The role of mercs during Star League seems overly downplayed to me.  It stood out to me because I recently read the 2765 Field Reports.  I might suggest saying their roles were limited as Independent Defense Contractors or used in "Hidden Wars" for covert operations to have plausible deniability.  The Northwind Highlanders, featured in this book, would fall under this category.

It is also stated in this paragraph that mercs did not own their own battlemechs because they were rare and expensive.  I could think of a few reasons why mercs leased battlemechs instead of owning them, but saying it is because mechs are rare during the Star League is a reason I don't buy.  I assume the primary reference for this comes from the intro to Field Manual: Mercs.  However, FM:M said that merc battlemech commands were rare during the Star League, not battlemechs.

At any rate, I know this is suppose to only be a simple intro, but I ask you to take a second look at other sources, Field Manual: Mercs and Field Report 2765 (CC, FS, DC), to make sure you have the right, consistant description of mercs during the Star League.

As a note, the Field Report 2765: CCAF, says that Capellan-employed mercs were notable for having at least 9 regiments of battlemechs among them. Overall, it looks like the issue with merc BattleMechs back then was one of expense, training, and possibly policy rather than any sort of general BattleMech rarity being involved. If we're trying to say that "BattleMechs were rare among mercs because of these other issues," it might be good to make that clearer.

[mitchberthelson]

That's the same line-art from the House Liao SB.  Granted the 80s wasn't an exemplary period for inclusive artwork in RPGs, but in contrast to your complaint I, for example, found it fun to have my nostalgia bone tickled.

Much of Natasha Kerensky's in-universe fame comes from her posing for cheesecake posters.  Sex appeal has always been a part of her persona (meta and otherwise).  At least she's got a shirt on this time under that tiny vest.

In specific, Natasha was noted in-universe for posing on freshly secured battlefields in highly contrived situations and in improbable outfits. She was also known for taking advantage of combat injuries to get plastic surgery done during convalescence. The outfit she's shown in appears in varying forms in several early sourcebooks (complete with the arm straps). Some of her artwork was also previously very stylized to indicate that effects had been added by fashion photographers, so black and white with strategic color splashes would fit, especially since the picture appears to be a throwback to 80's art style.

She was a combination publicity machine and social manipulator, very conscious of what she was doing. Think of a crazier, frequently homicidal version of Madonna, which again, is appropriate given the decade that spawned her.

Hopefully that adds some context.

[mitchberthelson]

Concerning the equipment tables, particularly the BattleMechs....

The Merlin does not appear on either the Late SW or Early Clan Invasion tables. It is listed as a "Mercenary" faction unit in the MUL for Late SW (Renaissance) and Clan Invasion.

Mercenaries were the most prominent users of the Merlin, in fact. A shame to leave a signature merc machine out of this book.

Same for the Cronus where the Early Clan Invasion table is concerned (MUL lists it as "FWL" for Renaissance and adds "Mercenary" among others during the Invasion).

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I have what amounts to a rules question about infantry formations... asking it here rather than the formal Alpha Strike rules forum.

Alpha Strike Companion force composition rules (pre-Combat Manuals at least) takes a bit of liberty with the established lore of the BTU and treats infantry platoons as units of organizational equivalency to battlemechs, rather than entire lances of battlemechs.  I.E. 4 platoons of infantry are a "lance", despite that in-universe a platoon already is equivalent to a lance.

Page 80 of the Combat Manual explains the in-universe way of doing things... 3 platoons equals a company.

Lance construction rules remain untangled for battle armor.. 4 squads = 1 lance still works.  But unarmored infantry just became a problem.  Does one platoon become its own lance?  It seems that it must.  You can't have 1 and 1/3 company being a lance, after all...

Infantry-I thought I took care of that but it may have reverted in editing (or it was adjusted in the text but not the table, or vice versa). Noted.

Some more thoughts IRT the conventional infantry:

Page 80 also gives the example of 3 platoons of conventional infantry and 3 APCs being a complete company.  Would this company get 12 FPs or 6 FPs?  Would it be composed of constituent lances, or would it behave as a lance in of itself for game purposes? (force construction benefits, lance movement, etc)

Just mentioning it b/c I hope the revisited text answers all those kinds of questions :)  Non-squad based infantry are a very niche problem, but they require explicit treatment/exceptions to the force structure rules that assumes 1 game unit = 1 squad or equivalent.

[jairb]

Heavy APCs, all varieties, are entirely absent from the Mercenary Faction Lists pages.  That leaves Maxims and Kestrels as the only options for transporting any Infantry Platoons.  The MUL lists plain vanilla Heavy APCs (all varieties) as generally available in both periods.  These would provide slight PV savings.  Should they be added?

[mbear]

9. (CONCERN) JARGON-Y RULES

The chapter on Force Building introduces terms like "company," "lance," and "regiment" in its rules text, before explaining what all of those mean. It forces players to wade through a section on "Unit Organizations" before reading the relevant part which explains how to "Build a Company," and asks newbies and casual players to worry about what their in-universe subcommand's composition is like before telling them how to make their own force derived from it.

I second this, because the ComGuards organization sidebar on page 26 defines Levels I-VI, and assumes that the reader is already familiar with the standard IS organization scheme. Even putting a note on page 26 to the effect of

...and the lance-company-battalion-regiment system is ubiquitous throughout the Inner Sphere (see p. XX).

so the new player could find that quickly would help.

page 5, Warhammer and Grasshopper are used several times without being italicized. They should be as they're 'Mech names.

page 23, Special Rules section, second paragraph:

Finally, certain Combat Commands include a Unique Characters which...

Remove the "a" or the "s" from Characters for verb agreement.

Page 25, ComStar Sidebar: Someone already mentioned that severaly should be severely, but in the last two paragraphs it appears that the double dashes weren't converted to em dashes correctly. Note the third example between Board and taking, which is an em dash with a regular dash.

...a psuedoreligious Order with technology-- especially the HPG network--the idol of worship.
Today ComStar presents a face of peace and the protection of technology. It smoothly runs the Mercenary Review Board—-taking only a modest cut--while sending

page 39:

...and High Command is rapidly considering reassigning the Fusiliers...

Shouldn't that read "...and High Command is considering rapidly reassigning the Fusiliers..." (Rapidly moved to be an adverb for "reassigning" instead of "considering".)

[atlask]

Page 57 Northwind Highlanders
Captain Donald MacDonald Highlander HGN-733 has ENE instead of IF1

Is it a custom weapon change?
If not custom change ENE to IF1

[nckestrel]

more proposals based on feedback yall have brought up.

Infantry Squads
Infantry Squads are Conventional Infantry with a Cargo (CAR) Special Ability of 1.  They are smaller infantry forces that accompany some combat vehicles as support. Infantry with CAR1  are separate units for gameplay and Point Value costs, but can be treated as part of the combat vehicle (with Infantry Transport IT1) for force building, using only the Combat Vehicle's Role and Alpha Strike stats for Formation requirements.

Foot Squad (Flamer), (MG) and (Rifle) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/-/-, AM,CAR1. PV1.
Foot Squad (Laser) and (SRM) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/0*/-, AM, CAR1. PV2.

[Azakael]

Pg. 29
Jason Youngblood's entry lists his Phoenix Hawk LAM designation as PXH-HK2.

The MUL lists all Phoenix Hawk LAMs as PHX, as does TRO 3085.

While I am on that page, a question comes to mind. Maybe I missed it, but I don't think I've seen it addressed; when a Unique Character has a 'Mech that is not on any availability chart for the command, do they need to use Faction Points to "pay" for it? Primary case in point: Jason Youngblood's PXH-2 is not available to 'Mercs (and rather, is quite extinct by this time according to the MUL); even if it showed up on the Star League list, the Crescent Hawks do not have access to that list as an Ally or Enemy.

[nckestrel]

p84 under Unique Characters, says Unique Characters do not cost FPs.

[Azakael]

p84 under Unique Characters, says Unique Characters do not cost FPs.

Ah. Thank you. I did miss that.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

more proposals based on feedback yall have brought up.

Infantry Squads
Infantry Squads are Conventional Infantry with a Cargo (CAR) Special Ability of 1.  They are smaller infantry forces that accompany some combat vehicles as support. Infantry with CAR1  are separate units for gameplay and Point Value costs, but can be treated as part of the combat vehicle (with Infantry Transport IT1) for force building, using only the Combat Vehicle's Role and Alpha Strike stats for Formation requirements.

Foot Squad (Flamer), (MG) and (Rifle) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/-/-, AM,CAR1. PV1.
Foot Squad (Laser) and (SRM) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/0*/-, AM, CAR1. PV2.

It's a neat idea and I like it, but in light of concerns about how much harder 4 squads are to kill instead of one platoon, maybe make such squads only available as an optional "add-on" for vehicles with the IT1 special.  That way there's no danger of displacing gestalt platoons.

[jairb]

more proposals based on feedback yall have brought up.

Infantry Squads
Infantry Squads are Conventional Infantry with a Cargo (CAR) Special Ability of 1.  They are smaller infantry forces that accompany some combat vehicles as support. Infantry with CAR1  are separate units for gameplay and Point Value costs, but can be treated as part of the combat vehicle (with Infantry Transport IT1) for force building, using only the Combat Vehicle's Role and Alpha Strike stats for Formation requirements.

Foot Squad (Flamer), (MG) and (Rifle) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/-/-, AM,CAR1. PV1.
Foot Squad (Laser) and (SRM) have the same AS stats.  CI, Size 1, 2"f, 0/1 A/S, 0*/0*/-, AM, CAR1. PV2.

This has real potential for Munhkin abuse.

3 Squads of Flamer / MG / Rifle Foot Infantry = 3 PV
1 Platoon of Flamer / MG / Rifle Foot Infantry = 4 PV

3 Squads of Laser / SRM Foot Infantry = 6 PV
1 Platoon of Laser / SRM Foot Infantry = 7 PV

6 PV requires 3x the successful attacks to destroy as 7 PV.

Perhaps a restriction should be added that the Squad may only be taken as part of a force with their IT1 transport.  Stated another way, the Squad MUST include its APC.  That adds another 6PV minimum per Squad or 18 minimum per 3-Squad Platoon.

[JadedFalcon]

Errata
Pg.63
Lieutenant Lissa Gompers - One of her available SPAs is Jumping Jack. Her mech, like many Crusader variants, does not possess jump jets.

Opinion
Pg.67
There's a large empty space at the bottom of the Waco Rangers entry. That could be a great opportunity for a colorful character in a unit known for offering second-chances.

[Medron Pryde]

One of my friends who is a major Wolf's Dragoons fan read the writeup on them and said "this is wrong."

It seems to read that every Regiment has AeroSpace Fighter support, but he said only one of the regiments has ASF support according to previously published material.  I don't know the Dragoons well enough to know which one, but I figured I would report it since I'm sure there are others here who know them better than me.  :)

[Alexander Knight]

One of my friends who is a major Wolf's Dragoons fan read the writeup on them and said "this is wrong."

It seems to read that every Regiment has AeroSpace Fighter support, but he said only one of the regiments has ASF support according to previously published material.  I don't know the Dragoons well enough to know which one, but I figured I would report it since I'm sure there are others here who know them better than me.  :)

He is incorrect.  WDSB has aerospace support for each regiment pre-Misery.

[Medron Pryde]

Got it.  Just me passing along the observations of another.

I'll talk to him and see if he's got any hard data on that.  It may be a case of conflicting sources.

Like we've EVER had that problem before...

 :-X

[mbear]

One of my friends who is a major Wolf's Dragoons fan read the writeup on them and said "this is wrong."

It seems to read that every Regiment has AeroSpace Fighter support, but he said only one of the regiments has ASF support according to previously published material.  I don't know the Dragoons well enough to know which one, but I figured I would report it since I'm sure there are others here who know them better than me.  :)

He is incorrect.  WDSB has aerospace support for each regiment pre-Misery.

If memory serves one of the later source books (Battle of Coventry?) says that Delta Regiment of Wolf's Dragoons doesn't operate well with infantry and so traded in those forces for additional aerospace units. Maybe that's what he's thinking of.

Anyway, some more errata.

Page 41, Free Rasalhague Republic sidebar, fourth sentence:

The new nation built its military from former DCMS troops, but recognized the need for mercenaries.

Change to "The new nation largely built its military from former DCMS troops,..." because otherwise you forget the Tyr regiment.

Next sentence:

The Republic shares some of the Combine distrust of mercenaries, but...

Replace with: "The Republic shares some of the Combine's distrust of mercenaries, but..." to indicate possession.

Page 44: Illician Lancers, third paragraph, first sentence:
Change to "Each of the Lancers' four regiments..." Use apostrophe to indicate possession as in second paragraph, second word after semicolon.

Page 53: Little Richard's Panzer Brigade, first paragraph, second sentence.

...the executive officer threw out him and all his cronies.

Wow that's awkwardly phrased.

"...the executive officer threw his former commander and his cronies out."

Page 72: Wolf's Dragoons, fourth paragraph, second sentence:

They returned a year later fully rebuilt—though The Successor States...

Remove capital "T" on "The Successor States."

Page 78: Force Building Terms, Unit, second sentence: Need a period after "etc."

Page 78: Force Building Terms, Formation, second sentence: Should the number 4 be spelled out "four" here?

Page 79: Choose a Combat Command, Force Composition, second paragraph, third paragraph: Should the number 6 be spelled out "six" here?

Page 79: Sidebar: Can you insert some space at the bottom of the sidebar? Other sidebars have what looks like one or two text rows of padding at the bottom between the text and the bottom border of the sidebar.

Page 80: Unit organizations, Armor/infantry organization:

Armor Formations can include any combat vehicle or support vehicle as well as conventional fighters. No more than a third of the entire armor Formation may be conventional fighters; however, a Force does not need to follow this requirement unless it contains more than one-third of the entire armor Formation.

Infantry Formations can include any infantry (or battle armor if available). They may also include conventional fighters, combat vehicles and support vehicles. No more than a third of the entire infantry organization may be non-infantry Unit types; however, a Force does not need to follow this requirement unless it contains more than one-third of the entire infantry Formation.

What? This makes no sense to me. It sounds like you're saying only one third of the force can be non-armor/infantry units unless your Force has more than that many armor/infantry units. Isn't that redundant?

Page 83: Rare Units section: Grasshopper and Assassin need to be italicized as they're 'Mech names.

Page 89: Environmental Specialist (Clear) Benefits List, Last benefit: Need a closing parenthesis so it reads:
"A Force cannot choose this option with Environmental Specialization (Clear)"

Page 90: New Lance (Formation) Types: Should the Killer Bees swarm lance be listed in this section?

Page 90: Demi-company, requirements section, second sentence: Should 6 be spelled out "six" here?
Page 90: Demi-company, requirements section, last sentence: Should end with a period. "It costs 4 FP."

Page 94: Captain "El Guapo", second sentence before the dash: Change "Regular" to "Regulars".

Page 102: Right column first full paragraph uses boldly twice in quick succession:

Instead of boldly sallying boldly forth from their defensive perimeter,

Remove one of the boldlys.

[nckestrel]

Killer Bees should have Marik (Early Clan Invasion), replacing Steiner (Early Clan Invasion), but leaving Steiner (Late Succession Wars) for Common Allies.

[Louie N]

The Special command ability is spelled "Esprit de Corps" in all the unit write ups but then it is spelled "Espirit de Corps" in the write up on page 89.

This makes it a little inconvenient for searching the PDF document. 

Thanks

[FirstStarLord]

Errata:

Pg.65 12th Star Guards Unit Profile

Seventh Regiment
“Scovy’s Ironmen”

"The Seventh is a combined arms regiment... Force Composition 1 light ’Mech battalion, 1 light vehicle battalion, 1 infantry
battalion..."

However.

From House Steiner: The Lyran Commonwealth:

"The 12th Star Guards spent the beginning of the third war
in the Federated Suns. Due to its chronic money problems,
two battalions of the 6th regiment defected to the Draconis
Combine when Kurita attacked them on the Davion world of
Elidere IV. As a result, the 7th regiment contains four battalions..."

The 7th is supposed to be an over strength regiment, not under strength.

You can keep the conventional elements, perhaps expand their size. CamoSpecs and Technical Readout 3026 both confirm the Guards' access to them. You might also want to mention "El Magnico", the 12th's elite combat engineer team.

From TR 3026 pg. 40:

"El Magnifico" is the code name for the 12th Star Guards' engineering unit. The Guards employed some of the best engineers in the Inner Sphere. An apocryphal tale tells of the unit actually building New Rome in a day but, not wanting to show off, tearing down part of the city and rebuilding it the next day.

Also, the Guards have integral Aerospace assets, as confirmed by the House Steiner SB:

‘Mech Weight: Medium
Fighter Weight: Medium
Armor: Yes Infantry: Yes DropShip: Yes JumpShip: Yes

I just want to make sure the Guards get portrayed in line with previous canon, since the Combat Manual is their day in the sun, so to speak.