Am I slippin' into the Twilight Zone...
I liked the idea of Astrokaszy in 3025 too much. So I ordered some more minis and ended up replacing the Archers in the Devil's Dozen. They'll go to a 3050 merc unit up in Rasalhague or Lyran space.
My biggest annoyance with the Dozen in 3025 was the lack of mobility in the 3/5 War Phoenix, but I decided to embrace that 'Mech's design and build two of them for the unit. The idea is that the unit is founded out of a noble house on the decline in the Magistracy of Canopus, and the War Phoenixes are house 'Mechs rebuilt over the years and kept together. Fortune has not smiled upon this house, and in its desperation the MIM snatched at an opportunity.
The Marian invasion of Astrokaszy signaled a distant threat to the Magistracy moving much closer, and it was decided that a MAF force would be too politically untenable at such a distance. However, if this particular noble family would sign on as mercenaries with covert support from the MAF, then their problems would be swept aside by the MIM and they'd be given a chance to start over on Astrokaszy. Having the world under control of a separate organization beholden to the Magestrix directly was seen to be an optimum solution, and a combat force was quickly gathered up and deployed to the planet.
The plan for the Dozen to move in and take over the world fell awry when the FWLM left peacekeeping forces behind, forcing the mercenaries to work around the League forces. It was up to the Dozen to try to organize their own control of the various city-states on the planet by intervening in various disputes - often times relying on their BattleMechs as much as diplomacy and negotiations. Often these negotiations fell through, and the company of 'Mechs that made up their combat force was put to the test against the scattered militias of Astrokaszy.
So I have two War Phoenixes, with the backstory that they were part of a project to create a "pocket assault 'Mech" by this particular family. The idea was to convert MAF Warhammers into War Phoenixes, but only two 'Mechs were converted in this program. Testing showed the firepower gains were offset by the slower speed, and the program was canceled after the two Warhammers in the family's arsenal were converted. That set the family fortunes back, and investments in the future of the War Phoenix program fell through with the program's cancellation, leaving them open to manipulation by the MIM.
It gives me the custom 'Mechs, sets up the origin of the unit, puts them on Astrokaszy with a mission, and gives me a reason why they never unified the world under one banner - I figure they'd get far enough to control one hemisphere, leaving the League to control the other half of the planet. Why two War Phoenixes? I figure on a sister and brother taking the family 'Mechs, perhaps the only surviving members of the noble family - everyone else is retainers and family security forces.
As far as BattleMechs go, the Dozen is still a heavy force. The command lance is two War Phoenixes, a Crusader, and a Rifleman, while the two fire lances are three Warhammers and a Rifleman. This gives useful firepower against all kinds of opponents, though the armor protection on the Warhammers could stand some improvement. It's enough to take on whatever forces the various city-states of Astrokaszy can throw at the Dozen, while at the same time allowing the 'Mechs to strike at various testing sites from the AFFS and DCMS. That's going to require a DropShip for rapid relocation, and I'm thinking modified Union with the fighter bays removed for more cargo and supplies. Add three platoons of foot infantry to account for the family's security forces; they'd be primarily defenders of whatever town the Dozen operate out of.
The Dozen is going to need a base on Astrokaszy quick, some way for the MIM to keep them resupplied, so their operation is going to kick into gear right on landing. The Marians aren't there, but the FWLM is, and they're the Big Man On Campus when it comes to controlling the planet. Canonically the FWLM's attempts at world peace ultimately failed, and the fighting started soon after they left the planet in 3038. I'll say that the Dozen is operating on the southern hemisphere and the FWLM on the northern hemisphere, with the equatorial temperatures of 60+ degrees Celsius making for a open desert barrier neither side is walking across.
I suppose that's going to put me in conflict with the FWLM forces as well, once they get wise to what's going on...but hopefully they'll be too scattered around to gather forces and really pound the mercenaries flat. Meanwhile the mercs are turning the southern part of the planet into their own fief, and sending things like prototype Freezer heat sinks and Grand Dragon BattleMechs back to the MIM.
This does mean I'm going to rethink Artilleriegruppe Kataja's origins, since I'm doing the covert operation background for both units. Daryk's a font of good ideas, though, and the feedback I get on this site helps me work stuff out. So, any thoughts or suggestions or questions I should answer?
EDIT: As far as Astrokaszy itself goes, I come up with a total population in 3025 of 459,000. That's based on 1% growth to 3067 and its target of 698,000 that year, and fits with the wide 200-500,000 population estimate on Sarna. Considering the place is a warzone of internecine conflict, I'm going to take a North Korean 5% of the total population being under arms, and another 15% acting as paramilitary or reserve forces. That gives me 22,950 active duty soldiers and 68,850 paramilitary personnel. Assuming the same 10:1 tooth to tail, and putting the paramilitary forces to work, that gives me 9,180 combat troops on Astrokaszy...that's a lot of tank crews, but infantry units will eat up that particular number quickly.
Tank crews, say they're a mix of Vedettes and Scorpions - it's a backwater Periphery world, it's full of mook machines. One regiment of Vedettes and two regiments of Scorpions is 324 tanks and comes to 864 personnel. That gives me just over 8300 troops, which I'll round off to eight BattleTech reinforced regiments of infantry to take on. Each regiment is 36 platoons in total, so each regiment gets 27 platoons of regular infantry - say nine platoons of mounted infantry and eighteen of foot - plus three platoons of field artillery and six platoons of field gun infantry.
All that's scattered over the planet in small detachments, I'm glad for the twin MGs on all those Warhammers now. I'm gonna be going through a lot of ammo for them...
