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Now on to the fun part!
Hamilcar Barca
PDF and Garrison ratios for battletech
No catgirls were harmed in the making of this document.
An invasion force of house troops, mercenary raiders or run of the mill pirates will be facing at least one but most likely two types of defending forces. It is these defending forces that have caused the most electronic ink to be spilt over the years. While trying to reconcile all of the various official? ways to generate a random defending force I got a headache. After much considered thought I reasoned that since I have to do this for my own battletech campaign I would share what I have been forced to come up with you guys.
Consider this a primer for the newbie and a starting point for the Grognard. This is not set in stone and there are several sections where you are encouraged to make up your own stuff. Make it your game, make it your fun! The jokes are for my own amusement, you don’t have to laugh.
Now most planets have a garrison formation that is supplied by and paid for by the Great House, local interstellar political group or a house lord. In addition there are military formations raised by, controlled by and paid for by the planet or system government. This document is to provide a guide to the size and composition of the planetary forces as well as an easy way to generate a random mercenary or house garrison formation using a composition of the various methods presented in official sources.
As for the terrestrial owned formations there has been much discussion on the size of these forces. However with the highly variable economic conditions across the inner sphere we cannot use wealth as a measuring stick. Luckily with most planets being under a single government the need for a large standing army is obviated. So the first problem is to determine how large a force is needed to fight off pirates, raiders or to take care of a natural disaster. So rather than try to determine the ratio of offensively oriented regiments to the entire population of the planet as a whole we will use a simpler method.
Fortunately for us there is a way to determine the amount of defending troops any planet can bring to bear against an attacking force. This is, and don’t laugh the Planetville Principle.
Simply put the Planetville Principle represents the human tendency to place important government and civilian institutions relatively near each other for convenience. This is why most nations’ capitals have a large number of government agencies housed in that city or at least in the region. With this simplification our problem is now just to determine the size of the region and the forces that would be defending it.
So how large is this? How many troops are needed to defend an area that would encompass a spaceport, the interstellar government, the world government, the administration for the planet as well as any important manufacturing plants? More importantly how large of a force could your average group of players handle? The size of this force will therefore be limited by what I feel the newest group of RPG players who want to try a battletech campaign can handle.
Don’t panic but a planetary raised and owned force defending a region the size of Southern California with a population of around 25 million would be about 20,000 troops. Yes I know that with the tooth to tail ratio this is a very tiny force but with the “battletech standard” regiment ratio ranging from one infantry regiment to every 50 million or a billion people this seems to work out. To anyone afraid of the size of this force, this is smaller than the army on a chessboard. It’s really more like a game of checkers.
So to continue using Southern California as our example region we find that there is a wide variety of terrain consisting of large population centers, ports, farms, empty deserts and mountains all connected by numerous choke points. This covers several hundred square miles and gives a large variety of objectives. It seems to me that you could cover most of the objectives with the units listed below. If you need your target area to be even more population dense there is always the coast of Asia or parts of Europe. Mechs might be the best troops to invade Japan with its high population and very rugged terrain. There is a reason that anime has so many robot shows.
If you want your planet to have a larger population/troop ratio no problem. There is no reason that you can’t have the forces below for every 50 or even 100 million people. This is all up to you. Have fun with it.
Now to the actual formations that will make up our 20,000 troops. Fortunately for us these planetary formations are easily divided into three different roles. Unsurprisingly those roles are offensive, defensive and civil defense. Most planets will split the raising of their troops to fill each of these rolls. They will raise the three different types of troops in three different regiments of infantry. Using infantry as the standard troop type allows the addition of extra armor, aerospace or battlemech formations to suit you campaign. Adding non infantry units would have the least impact on the total troop numbers. These types of troops have a lower personal count per company ratio. See the number of troops you have to keep track of is getting smaller and will do so again.
Starting off we must define the three different types of infantry regiments. There would be one offensive infantry regiment with full combat and logistic supports, one defensive regiment with most supports and a Military Police/civil defense regiment. In addition there will be one flight (4) each of transport aircraft and conventional fighters plus one flight (2) of recon aircraft to support the regiments. Marik will have Planetlifters for their transport aircraft. Marik loves their Planetlifters
If a planet has several low population regions of near 25million it will have only the above set of troops per region. There will be little chance for them to concentrate as there will be many things needing to be defended in each region. This is how a planet with a large population will be unable to mass overwhelming force to counter raids. The air units may be able to reinforce to a limited degree.
For smaller population regions you can reduce the forces to two battalion regiments or a single regiment of three battalions. Usually the offensive maneuver regiment will be triangular and the defensive formation will be square as per modern military theory. I’ll explain that latter.
Now let’s examine what type of personal of would make up each of these formations. Don’t worry you will find a sample TO&E of these infantry regiments after the description of the forces.
First the offensive role.
For our purposes the offensive oriented regiments will be known as the Planetary Defense Forces or the PDF. They will normally be made up of reserve formations like the U.S. National Guard or Reserve. The personal making up these formations are career planetary volunteers or line troops that are transitioning to non active service. All officers and senior sergeants will be full time soldiers. The bulk of the non-professional troops will be part time reservists who train one weekend a month with an additional two to four weeks of on planet deployment a year. These troops may be deployed off planet for a major offensive or in an emergency.
Normally this “ready” regiment will be based at the most important targets on planet. Three to five barracks housing a company to a reinforced battalion each will be located close enough to the major planetary objectives that any raiders or pirates will find a hard fight for what they want. The rest will be based near the population centers. Once relived by the defensive regiment at these objectives, the ready regiment will form up for a counter attack.
The “ready” companies will be deployable within 2 to 6 hours after the alert and the rest will be formed up in 24 hours or less. It will most likely have a full tank battalion instead of just a company. The tank battalion will have all of the heavy and assault tanks available except for the slow 1/2 speed tanks. These slow tanks will be in the defensive regiment.
All other supports will be present. This is the primary unit that will seek out and engage raiders and pirates alongside the garrison troops, or it will provide support to defending house troops in case of invasion. In order to save money the planetary government may put one or possibly two infantry battalions in Heavy AFV transports. The rest will be in squad transports for maneuverability.
The regiment will consist of three infantry battalions (this is triangular formation mentioned above). It will also normally have the support of a tank battalion and two artillery companies.
One must also take into consideration that there may be privately owned mechs on planet. Many of these owner/operators will have taken officer commissions in the PDF to help defend the planet. You may be able to add a few unlisted mechs to the defending forces. A random Thunderbolt added to the OPFOR at the last minute is always fun for the PCs.
Next the defensive role.
The defensive regiments will be known as the Planetary Militia Forces or the Militia. They are made up of long time reservists and citizens who want to serve but do not have the time to dedicate to training like the ready regiment. There will be a small cadre of full time troops that the part timers will form around. Most will have served at least one tour in the house army or at least the ready regiment.
They will be ready for deployment at the end of day one and fully deployed by day three. They will be assigned to four to six barracks corresponding to the ready regiment’s garrisons so that they will be able to take over their protection assignments at likely targets. Any extra barracks will be placed so the formation can still deploy even if enemy action makes the collection points near the objectives unusable. The defensive regiment has four infantry battalions to provide a defense of depth. This is the square mentioned above.
There will be squad and/or heavy APCs for the first and second battalions. The third and fourth battalions will usually have trucks to save money as will all supports unless noted. This formation will usually be broken up to provide garrisons at choke points and valuable targets.
Both the offensive and defensive regiments have four companies in each of the infantry battalions. The fourth company is a schwere or heavy weapons company. The companies have been numbered so that all regiments have the same 13th to 19th companies as the PDF regiment to keep the company numbering system the same. So this makes the numbering of the fourth infantry battalions companies 20 to 23. This way the 13th company is always the gun company and so on. This keeps confusion to a minimum. You can change this but the militaries do this for reasons.
The Support Role
The Military Police/Civil Defense or the Reserve Militia regiment will usually be the last to take the field usually on day three to five of a conflict. However there will be some very small formations such as squad sized recon units that form up on day one. These will be the recon elements that will be watching any invading forces in their local area. The formal companies and battalions will take a while to get organized.
The MP/CD infantry regiment has one MP battalion in trucks one MP battalion on foot (they share the trucks) and two battalions regular foot infantry w/mgs. Civilian transport may be secured to provide mobility. No schwere or regimental support companies except food trucks. The rest of the troops not listed will make up most of the planetary military administration services.
These Reserve Militia troops are made up of the retired soldiers, local police and fire men plus locals riding in pickups or manning check points. This will be for population control and security. These are the guys leading the civilian population to safety and securing prisoners. They will also be the troops whose main job is to keep the civilian population safe in a natural disaster or evacuated out of the combat zones.
They will be deployed in small company detachments all over the planet and will make up most of the “local” troops. They have low combat power but are a huge source of local knowledge for the defensive troops. Do not discount the effect of having a dozen or more detachments shadowing all enemy movements. Two guys or gals in a pickup can get a lot of information for you.
Non Combat Support Formations
These are admin and other units that would not normally be deployed with the combat formations. Most would stay in their bases while doing their jobs. These non combat units are intelligence, surveillance, wired communication, human resources, warehouse & supply, cartography & route planning and the main hospital. As the only relevant TO&Es I have are for WW2, 1980s Warsaw Pact and NATO and Modern US forces this will be somewhat of an educated guess.
The format will be a description of the unit followed by the number of troops in the upper level military, regimental support and then the battalion detail. If companies have a section it will be listed with a C. So the format will look like this A100-R100-B25 for a 100 man unit at both planetary command level and for each regiment and a 25 man unit in the battalions and companies have no personal.
Intelligence is responsible for nonmilitary human sources (tips from the public and spies), signals intercepts as well as the house intelligence liaison. These will be the local informants who will report in on enemy movements as well as suspicious activity. Signals intercepts include tapping into enemy communications that even if not decoded, may give enemy location and size by volume of traffic. These troops would be deployed just behind the front line at the combat level but would rarely see combat. A100-R50-B20-C5.
Surveillance is normally a subsection of Intelligence but I have separated it as it has a more active role in battletech combat operations. As a definition surveillance is not reconnaissance. Reconnaissance is going out and looking for the enemy. Surveillance in the battletech universe is RADAR and more RADAR and then some automated cameras looking for drive plumes. Even if the planet does not have deep space radar or other powered detectors there are a lot of spaceport, airport and air traffic control radars that can assist in finding enemy air and spacecraft. This would also include non military assets such as universities, private or local airports and hobbyists. Someone reporting that there are enemy aircraft coming from the east as they fly over an insignificant airport can turn the tide of battle. A450-R30.
Wired Communications would still exist just like they do today. Your cable internet or tv provider is one. These represent secure communications over wire or fiber optics. Not only is this needed for inside buildings but it is really handy for defensive positions. Your positions can’t revealed by signal intercepts and you can tie into the planetary communications systems very easily. Of all the Non Combat Support Troops these will always be deployed in the regiments’ main defensive position. A25-R25-B10-C5.
Human Resources is something most of us are familiar with. This is a necessary evil that consumes a lot of man hours. Troops need to be paid and someone has to keep the records. A200-R50-B10.
Warehouse & Supply covers everything from food, uniforms and small personal gear as well as ammunition, fuel and battlemechs. These are the warehouse workers, clerks, purchasing and receiving personal. Military formations have surprisingly large storage requirements. The amount of soap, paper towels and toilet paper four thousand people need is staggering. Add in everything else that is needed by them in addition to FFA (food, fuel and ammunition) and you can easily fill several large warehouses. A150-R75-B20.
Cartography & Route Planning is needed as not all planets will have GPS systems and even if they do the satellites won’t last long if the enemy doesn’t want you to use them. These are the guys who make those really neat battlefield maps you find in the better military history books. Each battalion or larger formation will have at least one truck carrying general maps for the entire planet as well as highly detailed maps of all the most likely conflict areas. They will also have detailed maps on their hard drives. These will be shared with all who need them.
These personal will also be trained in how to plan routes start times so that all units arrive when and where they are needed and in the proper order. It’s like getting your entire gaming group to arrive within ten minutes of the start of the game. A30-R10-B5-C2. There are always two guys in each company with a small vehicle containing a lot of maps ready to give out to their troops or load onto their pads.
Medical, the emergency units are listed with the combat elements. This formation is the main military hospital. They care for the injured as well as non combat medical needs. This can also be part of the retirement medical care or a local university or both. I cannot see a large hospital having a staff of less than 500 personal. This will be spread over several buildings or clinics. All other medical personal are listed with the combat troops.
A quick note on soft transport.
Most people who have not studied logistics have not come across the fact that while a WW2-US 2.5 ton truck was rated at carrying 2.5 tons that was while moving off-road. This surprised the crap out of me when I was studying the Normandy Campaign years ago. On hard surfaced roads it was rated to carry 5 tons. This means that the redball express carried a lot more than most people think. Plus each truck could tow a 2.5 ton trailer for a total of 7.5 tons of supplies. So what does that mean in the battletech universe? It means that your soft transport trucks can carry twice the “official” rated load as long as you keep to paved roads. This is not cheating as it is using a fact of life that most people do not know about. Although this means you can carry extra cargo to your forward supply base it does not mean that you can carry extra infantry. Battletech already stacks them up like cordwood. Those of you under 40 can look up what cordwood means.
Space Capable Transport.
Interestingly on important or lucky planets there may be dropship transportation assets. These would normally be Leopards, Furies and Gazelles. These dropships are too small for commerce or a military action larger than a commando raid so the reasoning on the forums is that they would be used to move centralized defenders to where the raiders are. The novel “Mercenary Star” has a wonderful example of this. I fully endorse this idea! This is an extra asset that a GM can add in to balance a campaign. I like this idea because it makes a realistic use of otherwise unusable transports and keeps the catgirls safe.
Higher Formations
Many planets will only have one major population region where all of the military force will be located. If the population of a region is larger than 40 million double the above and add one tank regiment with the second and third battalions forming the attached armor for the offensive regiments (the net add is one battalion plus supports). Also add in one battalion of artillery (12-18 guns). The artillery will be in three batteries and most likely be supporting three different bases. Each base will have three or more prepared positions (not on base) allowing the guns to have preplotted strikes against the most likely approaches. There should be one flight (4) of aerospace fighters to provide space defense. The two PDF/offensive regiments and the additional troops would make a brigade. Combined with the House troops this would make a powerful force. The Militia/defensive regiments would from their own brigade.
You can also add in one basic set for each extra 25 million in population. Truly dense populations may also have even more Reserve Militia formations to help with crowd control.
On even larger population planets two brigades will form a Division. The non regimental artillery companies will be gathered into a single regiment made up of three battalions. This includes the two listed as belonging to the brigades. I suggest one each of Thumper, Sniper and Long Toms to keep the players guessing. Added to this will be a battalion of independent recon assets and one flight (4) of aerospace fighters. This will be a total of 12 aerospace fighters. At this level there would most likely be a mech company or more owned by the planet. These are in addition to the mechs in the house garrison and owner operators.
Cap Com Second line units. A variant deployment.
This is from the various house books. These do not include the house garrison forces. The house garrisons will use the table below.
All Cap Com planets are under threat so all will have at least one home guard regiment, two to ten more on important or heavily populated planets. These are the “PDF” units. Home Guard units are normally one regiment in size and no matter how many there are, the general in command will not have any other higher formations beyond the individual regiment and it’s supporting companies. This is for reasons. The first battalion is of mixed armor, second and third Infantry. It may have a company of Mechs attached. I recommend this as it makes a very balanced combat unit. At least give them a lance of Vindicators. Those guys punch way above their weight. I also recommend the combat support companies & non combat elements from the PDF regiment above. In doing this invaders will find a much harder fight on their hands.
The Cap Com militia regiments are two battalions of infantry and a company of armor. Infantry will probably have trucks. The Militia is based on population. There should be three militia regiments for every 20 million in population. Militia mostly does defensive and police assignments. Use the standard Planetary Militia Forces for these. Again I strongly recommend adding the support elements but perhaps at a reduced level, say the full regiments worth of supports for three Militia regiments.
All Cap Com formations will tend to have more uniform house made equipment due to constant attrition. They do tend to have some pretty good stuff too!
Time Clock
Now how fast could all of these units be ready to oppose a group of pirates or the raiding PCs? Here is handy if variable guide as to how fast they could get into action.
Time clock Who is ready at their primary muster point.
0 hours The incoming enemy is detected. Planet fall may occur in 1 to 24 hours. The muster alert is given to all units.
1-2 hours The house garrison should be mobilized and heading to their pre-planned defensive positions.
2-6 hours The “Ready” companies will have formed up. This would be one full infantry battalion, a tank company and two other support companies. They would be covering the three most likely targets out of the seven to ten in the region.
6-12 hours The second infantry battalion would deploy with a second tank company and one more support company.
12-24 hours The rest of the PFD will have taken up their primary positions. The first of the Militia battalions will come on line and relive the first PDF battalion so that they can begin to form up for a counter attack.
24 to 48 hours The second and possibly the third battalion and half of the support units of the Militia regiment will be online. They will attempt to relive any PDF units they can. One of the MP battalions will be available for crowd control.
48 to 72 hours All of the Militia Regiment will be deployed. A second battalion of the Reserve Militia will be deployed in civilian protection operations.
72 to 96 hours The third Reserve Militia battalion will be deployed. The fourth will be deployed in the next 24 hours.
Most raids will be over within 6 hours of planet fall. Pirates will try to be done in 24 hours. Tricky attackers may quickly attack positions far away from their objectives in hopes of drawing the defenders out of position. So you see that you will not be using most of the PDF regiment in a raid and be just starting to deploy the full PDF and the start of the Militia in a pirate attack.
