Does he coordinate intel ops or does he participate in the intel ops? That clarification would lead to very different mech suggestions. Basically, the Cyclopses/BattleMasters for the former and Ostscouts/Owenses for the latter.
Edit: If we're talking about a force that's only battalion sized, I'd probably be looking at your intel chief being the CO of the Battle Armor sub-force rather than being a mechwarrior.
Raven or an Owens. Both have tons of electronics gear. Owens can get you out faster and is an omni, so you could mount more.wow, you must hate the guy if you want to stick him in an Owens. #P
For the most part he coordinates Intel Ops on a unit-wide command level for the unit, though he's also a former LOKI operative. Additionally we used both CBT and AToW in our ongoing campaigns.
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 ;)
*snip*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.
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.
The key word being "almost". The Allies tried to assassinate him twice, and failed.
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 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rommel_myth)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.
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.
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.