Cost of an RCT and LCT

[Phobos]

Basically as the thread title implies: Did anyone ever bother to approximate realistic in-universe C-Bill costs of a full-blown RCT and/or LCT?
If not, what would be appropriate average C-Bill costs per Mech/ vehicle/ battle armor/ infantry/ ASF/ transport assets?
Any ideas?

[Arkansas Warrior]

It’s a fiendishly complex task, either requiring Herculean effort in tabulation or the cost of each and every different mech and vehicle and crate of supplies, or else a tremendous level of abstraction.  Somewhere floating in the ether you can find a document that includes a detailed breakdown of the support troops an RCT would require.  It’s a good place to start.  Enjoy yourself; ‘tis too grand a task for me.


Edit: I’ve got a copy of the file at home.  When I get back to my computer tonight I’ll attach it if no one has by then.

[Phobos]

Edit: I’ve got a copy of the file at home.  When I get back to my computer tonight I’ll attach it if no one has by then.

Would be appreciated :)

[Arkansas Warrior]

Here you go.

[Phobos]

Thank you. Will see if I can somehow find some average values to calculate something realistic, as soon as find the time.

[AlphaMirage]

This is a curious experiment because when I think of RCT I think of the Hanse Davion 3030 versions of an RCT filled with 3025 lvl 1 tech.  With the common use of XL engines and other pricey tech you could almost figure that an LCT might cost about half what an RCT costs sans transport assets and payroll (which IMHO would be the biggest expense of both but much less with the smaller LCT).  I think the real tricky part for figuring it out will be how much of the unit rides in Unions and Overlords rather than Mules or other cargo haulers. 

[Phobos]

It will also be relevant to consider the average weight, as there and movement profile as the XLEs and LFEs are quite costly in top heavies and assaults that can actually move rather well vs. standard 3/5 movement, not to mention a regiment consisting of mostly lights and mediums.

Era-wise I would mostly be interested in the Jihad era or later as there is such a huge discrepency to previous eras as you pointed out, while I don't see a lot of difference between the Jihad and Republic or DA eras.

[AlphaMirage]

It will also be relevant to consider the average weight, as there and movement profile as the XLEs and LFEs are quite costly in top heavies and assaults that can actually move rather well vs. standard 3/5 movement, not to mention a regiment consisting of mostly lights and mediums.

Era-wise I would mostly be interested in the Jihad era or later as there is such a huge discrepency to previous eras as you pointed out, while I don't see a lot of difference between the Jihad and Republic or DA eras.

If you'd like some help I would be happy to run some numbers for you I guess you'd have to find out an average number based on the commonality from the RATs

[Colt Ward]

Lol, I was going to say . . . 3130, a RCT is 2.5 times the cost of a LCT.  The LCT has more BA than other components- IE, its a Mech BN instead of the Regiment, but its BN+ of battle armor.  Since LCTs only occurred after the Jihad AFAIK, its not really useful to compare a 3025 RCT with a 3085 LCT- the better comparison would be a RCT & LCT from FM3085.

Additionally, costs fluctuate as tech becomes more available over time- a XXL does not cost in 3130 the same as it would in 305x when they were first presented as part of the BTU.

You might do better to use RP or whatever from the strategic game version of BT- either ACS or ISaW.  The Strategic Game sub-forum has quite a few topics on this sort of thing at different points in the timeline.

[Phobos]

Yeah, I figured as much that FM 3085 would be the sweet spot for doing the calculation, thanks anyways. I did some digging in the strategic games section and found a reasonable "balanced" composition in regards to Mech TO&E of the RCT's mech forces.
I have no way of calculating the cost of the infantry, but figured I can at least come up with averages for mechs, vehicles, ASF and transport assets like dropships and jumpships.

Instead of opting for a single faction, I tried to choose some across the board. It might be reasonable to assume some sort of C-Bill increase to the respective averages based on the unit rating. Maybe someone can figure something out that makes more or less sense?


Either way, here is my calculation:

Average Cost Assault Mech (3085 RAT, FedSuns): 16.831.193
Average Cost Heavy Mech (3085 RAT, FedSuns): 12.768.559
Average Cost Medium Mech (3085 RAT, FedSuns): 8.031.093
Average Cost Light Mech (3085 RAT, FedSuns): 3.744.335
Average Cost Assault/Heavy Vehicle (3085 RAT, LyrCom): 8.462.756
Average Cost Medium/Light Vehicle (3085 RAT, Dracs): 2.633.383
Average Cost ASF (3085 RAT, RotS): 10.596.601


Balanced RCT:
144 Mechs
->
light recon battalion (incl. 1 medium command lance) -> 4 mediums, 36 lights: 166.920.432
medium/heavy striker battalion (incl. 1 heavy command lance) -> 22 heavies, 18 mediums: 425.467.972
heavy/assault battalion (incl. 1 assault command lance) -> 22 assaults, 18 heavies: 600.120.308
Command Company BM Regiment (4 Assault/4 Heavy/4 Medium): 150.523.380
Command Company RCT Command (4 Assault/4 Heavy/4 Medium): 150.523.380
--> Mech total: 1.493.555.472

300 Heavy Vehicles: 2.538.826.800

1079 Light Vehicles: 2.841.420.257

40 ASF: 423.864.040

RCT (without transport assets, infantry and pure support elements): 7.297.666.569

Transport assets:
5 Overlord, 15 Triumph, 4 Mule, 9 Seeker, 2 Fury, 12 Condor, 12 Gazelle
--> Transport assets total: 17.131.584.848
--> RCT total so far: 24.429.251.417
2 Monolith, 4 Star Lord, 5 Invader, 2 Merchant
--> JumpShips total: 12.344.353.363

--> Final RCT Total: 36.773.604.780 C-Bills
+ Infantry regiments (excluding light/heavy vehicles, but including trucks etc.) & pure support vehicles

[Starfury]

The other thing to remember for pricing is the location of the unit, as well as availability of off world shipping for the quarter master.  An RCT on Tharkad is going to have far better access to supplies then one stuck out near the borders of the Periphery. Cost will also fluctuate during the era since the C-Bill had massive growth and drops in buying power due to the  breakup of Comstar, the Jihad, and the Blackout.