Winter's Dream

[Maranthain]

Hello, all. I'm relatively new on the boards outside of the campaign I've been playing in. (Battletech Long Island III for anyone interested)

Anyway I would like some opinions and help on dividing my merc group into lances/operational groups. We are playing in 3069 with some adjustments.

We each start with 4 mechs, 4 vehicles, 4 infantry selections (The infantry selections can include the vehicles or mechs that transport the infantry) The weight of starting mechs consists of 1 heavy, 1 medium, and 2 light. My first 4 mechs were a Marauder 5s, a Griffin 3m, a Jackal 1532, and a Falcon Hawk 9k1a. The vehicles could be any weight class, so I went heavy. Demolisher(Gauss), 3055 LRM Carrier, 3055 SRM Carrier, Schrek PPC Carrier(Standard). The Infantry and attached vehicles were 1 Combat engineer detachment in a Blizzard, 1 Heavy LRM Platoon in a Goblin(3055), an enhanced platoon of Kobold battle armor in a Maxim (I), and 1 special forces detachement in a Kestrel(standard)


Since then, my forces have grown, now up to above battalion strength.

Mechs:
MAD-5S Marauder
GRF-3M Griffin
JA-KL-1532 Jackal
FNHK-9K1A Falcon Hawk
KY2-D-02 Kyudo
KGC-000b King Crab
BLK-6b-KNT Black Knight
SD1-OB Sunder B
BJ2-OB Blackjack Omni B
FS9-OC Firestarter Omni C
SR1-OC Strider C
CRD-4D Crusader

Vehicles:
Demolisher(Gauss)
Schrek PPC Carrier
3055 SRM Carrier
3055 LRM Carrier
Vedette(NETC variant)
Warrior(AC/2 variant)
Harasser Missile Platform
Scorpion Light Tank(LRM variant)
Scimitar Medium Hover Tank(LRM variant)
Striker Light Tank
Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun(AC/10 variant)

Infantry units and assigned Vehicles
Combat Engineer Detachment[Blizzard]
SRM Platoon[Hover APC]
Heavy LRM Platoon[Goblin Support Vehicle]
Enhanced Kobold Power Armor Platoon(4 squads of 4)[Maxim (I)]
Special Operations Group[Kestrel]
1 IS Standard Battle Armor Squads(Laser)[Strider C]
1 IS Standard Battle Armor Squad(MG)[Maxim (BAFC)]
1 IS Standard Battle Armor Squads(Laser)[Sunder B]
1 IS Standard Battle Armor Squads(Laser)[Blackjack B]
1 IS Standard Battle Armor Squads(Laser)[Firestarter C]


The story behind the unit is that they were the remains of a noble house guard force for a house that eventually disgraced itself and was subsequently brought down. But before the troopers got word of it, the unit commanders had talked about turning merc if that were to happen. The various members decided that the head of the Combat engineers was the best choice to control the merc company.

The only contract they could find was for a backwater garrison contract in the DC periphery. And thus, The Winter's Dream was born.

We are not the only merc force on the planet, but with the threats from Pirates, former Smoke Jaguar raiders, and internal power struggles, all the merc forces are needed. Also there are rumors of Wobbies on world, but they haven't been poked at much.


Usually the mission load out is 1 mech, 1 vehicle, 1 infantry unit, and 1 wildcard per participant.

Often the unit that was on the last mission cannot be used on the new mission.

I find this campaign pretty fun. But I'm at a loss on how to organize my TO&E. Like what I should throw into lances for organization purposes. If you have any constructive criticism or tips on how to go about it, please let me know.

 

[Daryk]

I usually organize by movement to keep units together above the tactical level.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

Sounds like you need a spreadsheet or two.

Between the spreadsheets and plugging stuff into the MUL in ‘lance order’ I can much better see how a unit will look and what formation types I can get.

With your campaign having a not mech focused deployment making a more structured TOE seems kinda not useful. I would organize a couple different groupings for different roles or missions. A couple scouting set ups, an urban battle group, sniper group, line battle groups. From there you can work backwards and determine how it might look in a more standard (I can’t think of a good word so I’m using standard) campaign where stuff is organized by mech/vee/infantry into lances and companies and up.

[Maranthain]

Thanks. I'm probably going to create a couple of Operational Groups, with different focuses, and then backtrack.


Now to get on with part 2 of my overall plan. To help me gain trust, and just because it's an intriguing idea, I'm creating a rescue command. A group of units(mostly vehicles and infantry) that will respond to natural disasters, and other major things like that. It'll be an interesting investment for a Merc Company.

[Demon55]

It looks like you have a good start for a combined arms company.  It is also good that you have enough vehicles to move your infantry around.  I ran my infantry and vehicles separate though (primarily to keep my Maxims from taking hits and having to abandon the infantry unit). 

[Star Captain]

You can group Infantry and vehicles in companies. And make separate lances for the mechs, like a scouting lance, a command lance and etc.