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Okay, the whole principle of Lance configuration falls into the model of role-warfare (which according to some may or may not exist in this game, but that's for another topic). The overall principle bedind this is pretty straigtforward. Each Lance specializes for a specific set of tasks and then use a coordinated approach to take the win by tactical superiority. The executuion, of course, takes a competent team that knows how to adapt on the battlefield as well as trusting your teammates to fulfill their respective roles.
Three configurations as well as a few compatible tactics came to my mind that I'd like to share. Add in any configurations as well as tactics to hopefully make this one large encyclopedia of lance-based tactics for coordinated 12-man teams in and outside of a competetive environment.
But before that, here's two terms I'll be using, that I'd like to clarify beforehand: Link-in and Link-out.
When using the term Link-in, I'll be referring to a 'Mech integrating itself into a Lance to act as a part of it.
Link-out is the exact opposite of that. It referrs to a 'Mech disconnecting from it's current Lance. This can for example be the 'Mech extending further from its Lance than usual for an individual task, or to link into another lance.
In my personal opinion, a Lance should never exceed the number of 5 'Mechs, or fall below the number of 3. So when the number of 'Mechs reaches 9, a desirable distribution would be 3/3/3, then 5/3 (leftovers from 3rd Lance assimilate into (next) heaviest Lance), then 4/3, then 3/3, then 5 (1st and 2nd Lance merge).
The three configurations are sorted by ascending complexity.
The weight-centered configuration:
Spoiler
This configuration is extremely straighforward, but can still operate quite efficiently.
The Assault Lance operates as the central pivot of combat, while the Light and Medium Lance operate around it in a certain radius. It provides a strong fortification both Lances can savely fall back to, which makes it very durable, but limits the range of operations and makes them very centralized. Three Assaults in one spot can dominate a position while a Heavy Sniper provides additional fire support to take down any advancing targets.
The Medium Lance acts as a flanking force and reinforcement to the Assault lance, providing adaptive fire support. It need a decent amount of speed to be able to quickly relocate to any position to provide the best fire coverage. Its main goal is to keep the Assault Lance alive for as long as absolutely possible and eliminate any crippled 'Mechs in the vicinity.
The Light Lance acts as recon squad and rapid-response team. The Medium is intended to move some distance behind the Lights to prevent ambushes to the vulnerable Lance and securing an escape path. It should equip weapons with a decent range to slow down any pursuers, be fast anough to quickly follow behind the Lights once they entered the escape route and have enough torso twist to still be able to shoot at pursuers until they get out of range. The roles for this Lance include scouting, harassment, as well as flanking and ambushes. They usually operate on the opposite side to the Assault Lance than the Medium lance to provide a large area of awareness on enemy movements to avoid any nasty surprises for the Assault Lance.
Since this configuration usually has little need for linking, Lance commanders will usually be enough to control the flow of combat and direct the individual Lances for high efficiency.
A role-centered configuration:
Spoiler
This configuration is still pretty straigforward in terms of team-wide tactics. Each Lance takes a very specific set of roles, which decentralizes the range of operations, but makes the overall composition a bit more vulnerable.
The composition of the Recon Lance as 2/2 rather than 3/1 makes the Lance slighly less vulnerable at the trade-off of reduced mobility. The Lance does still operate very much the same, but uses the Support Lance as its operational pivot and covers the area opposite to the Striker Lance.
The Support Lance fulfills two primary roles: Bridging the gap between the Striker and Recon Lance and acting as a second line support to the former. The Support Lance acts as a mobile safe haven for the Recon Lance. Whenever possible, the two Lances should position themselves in a way that allows the Recon Lance a fast and secure path of retreat, while the Support Lance can still assist the Striker Lance with cover fire or providing reinforcements via the linking tactics. However, at least one Assault and Heavy should always be present to ensure a secure retreat for the Recon Lance and deny the enemy the possibility to push them back to seperate the other two Lances. The composition intends the Assault to secure the position, while the Heavy 'Mechs provide heavy support fire for the Striker Lance. The Light acts to pick off any crippled 'Mechs in the vicinity. In case the front line of combat shifts to their position, rather than the Striker Lance, Linking in an Assault from the Striker Lance and adding the Light to their ranks effectively switches their positions without the need of a large logistical effort (due to its centralized position, the Support Lance needs to act as a fortification, while the Striker Lance becomes a flanking force).
The Striker Lance is the frontline Lance. It's composed for durability and staying power to draw enemy attention. This Lance acts as the pivot of the combat line. When they advance, the Support follows. If they need to retreat, the Support covers them before falling back themselves. One of the tasks of the Striker Lance on the advance is to open a path for the Support Lance and to secure positions where the Support Lance can offer as much fire support as possible. The Two Assaults can easily control choke points while the Heavy Sniper deals severe direct fire damage to the same targets. The Medium uses its agility to strike from blind spots, to hunt isolated targets and to identify and secure escape routes. This way, the Lance can adapt very quickly to changes at the front line both to their own or to their enemies' favor.
Lance commanders will usually suffice for sucessful Lance coordination, but having a field commander to direct the linkings could be desirable, depending on the scale and range of operations.
Special mention:
As most are aware, the Cicada is in a lot of ways a slighly heavier Light 'Mech. Because of that, a Cicada should not be used as a Vanguard when it can be avoided to do so. It does however make an excellent Flanker.
The Omni-task configuration:
Spoiler
When looked at only from the lance configuration and name, this whould appear to be a simple structure, that allows each lance a broad spectrum of tasks to fulfill, but lacks specialization. However, using the ideas of Link-in and Link-out, this structure becomes increasingly complex and offers a huge amount of freedom on the field.
This configuration operates very centralized to allow its members to quickly respond to changes on the field. It allows the team to mimic almost any functional configuration to adapt to any scenario due to its very short configuration times. It even offers a quick way to establish a 4th Lance to increase the range of operations and then collapse the one furthest away from combat to the front line when needed. This makes it unpredictable to the enemy and extremely flexible.
This configuration is extremely potent in the hands of a chess-master type field commander, but it is very difficult to manage and coordinate.
Phew, that's quite a bit to swallow. Tell me what you guys think and share your own ideas and input. I'm very interested what others have come up with and where I might be wrong (since I'm not a competetive player, I haven't really seen any of these established in an actual combat scenario).
