Intel Officer's Mech?

[Kit deSummersville]

There's a heavy 'mech that is renowned as a command unit and has a beagle probe. You may have heard of the...

...Black Knight.

[Colt Ward]

If I understand the OP, he is playing a merc unit . . . where most people need to wear a second hat because you either cannot always find someone with the requisite skills or afford to pay them.  You also do not have all the fancy set up that House regulars or even planetary militia could have on hand.  BUT . . .

They should still have some sort of HQ unit when we are talking company or larger- a reinforced company should definitely have a support platoon if not two as HQ support.  It would be the folks tracking ammo & food, in charge of the techs & their parts, general supply & POL, intel, operations and probably a liason though that person is likely a line officer with some diplomatic skills.  IMO, the best solution for a Intel officer in a merc unit would be a guy who is also trained as a tanker and whose tank is part of the HQ security element- but that is a secondary skill.  The Eagle is absolutely right about training, I used to rub shoulders with the MI types for lots of jokes- usually 'Oh look, the battle against Orangeland for this exercise is on a peninsula going N to S . . . and we are fighting NORTH Orangeland!'  Additionally, DURING a battle a intel officer should be looking over the incoming data- for one thing they should be pointing out if the reported units does not match up with the TO&E your are expecting.

Additionally, the XO is traditionally the officer on the staff that oversees training- his job is to hand the CO a finely tuned weapon as the understudy and able to step up into the CO's shoes if something happens.

[Black_Knyght]

Then he is not your INTELO (S2), he's your OPSO (S3). An INTELO receives, analyses, parses and reports intel to the commanding officer, they don't run ops! Good thing too, because they tend to suck at planning.

Now, repeat after me: The INTELO does not belong on the front line! Speaking of which, neither does your CO! Your CO and your S2 should be in a nice, safe location, where your S2 can look at reported hostile activity and assess it for the CO, allowing the CO to make faster, better decisions than the opposing CO. Having either in a mech, sexy as it is, is unnecessarily choking their information flow and slowing their decision cycle.

I know the BTU tends to play very fast and loose with combat doctrine, but there isn't a single military force on the planet that allows a BN CO to head to the front line, their role is to win the on the operational level. The company and lance OCs are really the only command officers who should be on the front line, with their associated G2s.

As I said, he coordinates Intel Ops, he isn't running them personally.

And as for the mercenary unit CO or OPSO/INTELO not being involved and sitting quietly behind the lines sipping tea, the CBT universe has NEVER been accused of using any kind of real world model or common sense in how it's run. Just look at models like the Grey Death Legion or Wolf's Dragoons or even the Waco Rangers for evidence on that ;)

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I'm with ya, Black Knyght.  Mercs will rarely if ever go two contracts in a row with the same roster.  Especially one the size of a batallion.

Even without discussing the applicability (or lack thereof) of real world military administration: the turnover inherent in the merc trade doesn't allow for the same rigidity of structure/duties made possible in the much more bureaucratic House Armies.

[Colt Ward]

Mercenaries are a different animal- again its about wearing the hats.  Even there you have the exceptions like Heavy Hellraisers.

But we do have cases of House units where that is not the case, they have their command vehicles along for reasons.

[Robroy]

As I said, he coordinates Intel Ops, he isn't running them personally.

And as for the mercenary unit CO or OPSO/INTELO not being involved and sitting quietly behind the lines sipping tea, the CBT universe has NEVER been accused of using any kind of real world model or common sense in how it's run. Just look at models like the Grey Death Legion or Wolf's Dragoons or even the Waco Rangers for evidence on that ;)

This. The books during the clan invasion made a point of putting officers in mechs because HQs were getting hit by headhunter units.

[AlphaMirage]

I'd go with Beowulf (or pHawk, so they can move around, and if necessary oversee their scouts) or Black Knight (if for whatever reason he has to be close) but I agree that a tank crewman or some on monitoring satlinks and comm feeds from a dropships would be optimal

[Weirdo]

Like I said earlier: Put him in something that can do Remote Sensor monitoring and/or satellite hacking. Make his job more than just a fluff/RP title, make it actually help your force on the tabletop.

[Daryk]

*snip*
I know the BTU tends to play very fast and loose with combat doctrine, but there isn't a single military force on the planet that allows a BN CO to head to the front line, their role is to win the on the operational level. The company and lance OCs are really the only command officers who should be on the front line, with their associated G2s.

I recommend reading "The Rommel Papers".  During the invasion of France, Rommel (then only a General) personally did quite a bit of exactly that as a Division Commander, and was able to win at the operational level because he was leading in that manner.

[Black_Knyght]

VERY good recommendation, and I absolutely second that!

Fascinating reading, to say the least...

[AldanFerrox]

I recommend reading "The Rommel Papers".  During the invasion of France, Rommel (then only a General) personally did quite a bit of exactly that as a Division Commander, and was able to win at the operational level because he was leading in that manner.

But that also got him almost killed several times. Leading from the front is a good idea for a colonel, but a general should stay away from direct combat. Major General Maurice Rose, commander of the 3rd Armored Division of the US Army, did the same and was killed during an german ambush near Paderborn on March 30, 1945.

[Daryk]

The key word being "almost".  The Allies tried to assassinate him twice, and failed.

[The Eagle]

General Sir Richard O'Connor, who commanded the thrashing the 7th Armored gave the Italian 10th Army in Egypt and Libya, was captured by the Germans for the same reason: he was conducting a recon forward of his own lines and stumbled into a German patrol.

[AldanFerrox]

The key word being "almost".  The Allies tried to assassinate him twice, and failed.

He was just a very lucky man. And if you push your luck too hard you will pay. On July 17, 1944 he was heavily wounded when his staff car got strafed by a Canadian Spitfire. He had disregarded his own rules that said no unit should go out into the open during day time because the Allies had total air supremacy.

[Daryk]

Have you read "The Rommel Papers"?  It was more than just luck.

[AldanFerrox]

Have you read "The Rommel Papers"?  It was more than just luck.

Yes, and the book was discredited by modern historians. Maybe you should read about the Rommel myth. The Wikipedia article about it is a good start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rommel_myth

Also, Battletech itself is chock-full of examples of high-ranking people that got themselves killed because they wanted to lead from the front. Caleb Davion, Nondi Steiner, Ian Davion or Geralk Marik to name a few. And Victor Steiner-Davion was also pretty lucky that he survived his bare-chested melee with Lincoln Osis.

[Colt Ward]

One other example would be during the FCCW on Tharkad, Phelan is reviewing footage with Morgan and I think Peter when the discussion is about how one of the Lyran regiment commander got dropped with the unit falling apart from that time forward.  Discussed the nature of personality cults in commands and how it affected Clan vs IS units.

[SteelRaven]

I'll agree the Black Knight is a solid choice for the era. Gallowglas if you prefer something similar not also piloted by Wobbies

[Daryk]

Yes, and the book was discredited by modern historians. Maybe you should read about the Rommel myth. The Wikipedia article about it is a good start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rommel_myth

Also, Battletech itself is chock-full of examples of high-ranking people that got themselves killed because the wanted to lead from the front. Caleb Davion, Nondi Steiner, Ian Davion or Geralk Marik to name a few. And Victor Steiner-Davion was also pretty lucky that he survived his bare-chested melee with Lincoln Osis.

An interesting wiki article, and more balanced than I expected.  Ultimately, it seems to conclude that there are many "modern" historical interpretations of his abilities at the operational and strategic levels, some favorable, some not.  Liddell Hart certainly had ulterior motives, but the book itself is still a good read.

[mbear]

Like I said earlier: Put him in something that can do Remote Sensor monitoring and/or satellite hacking. Make his job more than just a fluff/RP title, make it actually help your force on the tabletop.

It's too bad you're in 3075, because the Teppo sounds exactly like what you need. Of course if you have an OmniTank/OmniMech available, you could make your own version. Isn't there an Ajax config that has a Beagle probe, Guardian ECM, Command Console, and an Arrow launcher? That could be a good fit.

[Black_Knyght]

Intended less for combat & more for operational coordination in the field, any chance that something like this would work well?

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=60655.msg1391588#msg1391588

[Requiemking]

On the Clan side of things, you could always go for a Mist Lynx. Built in CAP, highly mobile, decently easy to repair, and possessing a fantastic info-war setup in the form of the MLX-C config.