5 replies to this topic

[Breidr]

I've been doing some Sarna reading in my downtime, mostly clicking on what sounds cool at the time. I wanted to see if I could get some information to fill in some holes about where we are in the current timeline, and possibly field a more "correct" force for immersion purposes and what not, because I am crazy and this Battletech stuff is just cool. I love the anniversary box I bought and can't wait to paint the 'mechs

It is my understanding that we have passed into the clan invasion of, which has ended [?] with the battle of Tukayyid in 3052. Prior to that we had the Fourth Succession war. I know the game skews the timings of the line a bit and has made jumps, but it's all about "place" I guess.

From a quick glance I see engagements with forces numbering from multiple companies to entire regiments. Granted this is with Infantry and other forces not portrayed in MWO. CW currently has 48 'mechs on each side, coming to roughly a square batallion each [4 companies]. This may not be important, but I found it interesting to note.

Our battles are about the middle ground in size from what I can see, although IS never faced Clans 1 for 1, but that's not important.

The main item I am looking for here is Battalion 'mech composition. What chassis were seen on the field from an IS perspective? Specifically the FRR. The Clans have just landed on my doorstep, what do I have to oppose them and defend my home?

I'm assuming I also have "friends" in CW and it is not just me piloting all of the 'mechs on my dropship. Let's look at it from both perspectives: The Kungsarme and the local militias. If I bring a dropship of four 'mechs [one lance] where does that put me on scale? As the commanding officer do I fight with the lance, or just command it?

I know I'm probably asking some silly questions here, but immersion means a great deal to me. I ran historically correct loadouts in War of the Roses because I could.

[SnagaDance]

Having been under the heel of House Kurita until 3034, and having been helped to independance by House Steiner you'll mostly find mechs common to those houses in the FRR. Plus a bit of ComStar as well. Together with other IS wide designs. Going from Field Manual: Comstar the following designs are found in the random mech tables of the FRR (that are also in MWO)

Lights: Panther, Commando and Spider common, the Jenner uncommon and the Firestarter rare.

Mediums: Hunchback, Kintaro and Crab common, and the Wolverine uncommon.

Heavies: Dragon common, Black Knight rare.

Assaults: Zeus common, Atlas, Banshee and Highlander uncommon.

This is based on a random 2d6 table where I described the results 6,7,8 as common, 4,5 & 9,10 as uncommon and 2,3 & 11,12 as rare. It is also based on the 'A' table, which you could call the 3025 or non-upgraded table. The 'B' table is more 3050 actually and switches things a bit around. For Lights the Spider and Firestarter switch in rarity. For Mediums there's the same kind of switch with the Hunchback, Kintaro and Crab becoming uncommon and the Wolverine common. The Heavies sees the introduction of the Catapult as an uncommon and the Orion as a rare. For Assaults the Atlas becomes common while both the Highlander and Banshee become rare and the rares are joined by the King Crab and Mauler.

And why yes, there's also a 'C' column, for a bit further in the clan invasion where we have the following changes: Lights, the Firestarter now becomes uncommon. Mediums, the Griffin all of a sudden appears and as a common mech to boot. While the Wolverine completely disappears and the Hunchback becomes common once again. Meanwhile both the Crab and Kintaro become rare. For Heavies we have Orion becoming common and being joined by the Orion (Dragon still common as well) Thunderbolt joins the uncommons while the Grasshopper jumps into a rare slot. finally for Assaults we all of a sudden have the Awesome and Stalker as commons,with the Zeus becoming uncommon where also the first Victor appears. Meanwhile the Atlas has gone to rare.

Seeing how a unit could easily combine mechs with different levels of upgrades you could justify a good amount of different mechs in your deck with a few exceptions: Locust, Urbanmech, Raven, Cicada, Blackjack, Vindicator, Centurion, Enforcer, Trebuchet, Shadowhawk, Jagermech, Cataphract and the Battlemaster are not in those lists. Basically all mechs with a strong Davion, Liao and Marik slant. No real surprises there.

Please note that this is just from one sourcebook, another book might have different tables and even so these tables are limited because they can only have 11 different mechs tops for each weight category. If you want I could even look at the exact chassis types used in these table. Or you might be able to find a copy of that old Field Manual: Comstar yourself!

[Bill Bullet]

From a command perspective Lieutenants = lances, Captains = Companies, Majors = Battalions, Colonels = Regiments.
Majors and Colonels of larger, more well-funded units will typically drop with a command lance that is outside the regular count of units. The lance acts as bodyguards and as a filter between the unit and the CO, handling minor commands and field reports. This allows the CO to focus on more "Big picture" stuff. In smaller units or poorer merc companies, the command lance is usually in the thick of it acting as a reinforcing unit to plug gaps in the line or as a strong push in a critical moment. This is because the command lance is usually made up of the heaviest Mechs in the unit.

So if you want your narrative to be more "in the action" think either smaller unit or lower rank. If you want the narrative more of an observation of the action, then larger unit/higher rank. Remember; officers give the order, soldiers pay the bill.

[Tyrnea Smurf]

Something missing from that mech commonality, FRR iirc has 1 or 2 mech production plants and again from old foggy memory I recall that Shadowhawks were the primary if not the only mech produced by the FRR.

If I'm right (again its old foggy memory) then Shadowhawks should be on the list, and fairly common as they are the few factory fresh machines in the FRR)

[SnagaDance]

Tyrnea Smurf, on 24 June 2015 - 02:36 PM, said:

Something missing from that mech commonality, FRR iirc has 1 or 2 mech production plants and again from old foggy memory I recall that Shadowhawks were the primary if not the only mech produced by the FRR.

If I'm right (again its old foggy memory) then Shadowhawks should be on the list, and fairly common as they are the few factory fresh machines in the FRR)

Hmmmmm. It's rather hard to find good information on the FRR compared to the major houses. Field Manual: Comstar doesn't say anything about mech factories.

Going from Objective Raids 3067 there are factories on Grumium, Orestes, Kirchbach and New Oslo.

Cross referencing this with Sarna gives conflicting information however (which could well be based on conflicting sourcebook information). New Oslo's Bergan Industries is described as the only functioning battlemech factory of the FRR at the time of the Clan invasion. What it actually produced is unclear though Bergan is famous fro the Locust and the Bears have started to produce the LocustIIC there. (an excuse to include the Locust, yeah!)

Kirchbach's Swedenburg Heavy Industries has apparently never gotten their mech plant running.

Grumium Creations is said to have only begun producing battlemechs after Comstar upgraded the production plant when they lost Terra in 3058.

Finally the most interesting one is Orestes. Even with New Oslo's plant being described as the only functioning mech factory in 3050, Odin Manufacturing also produces mechs, but it is unclear when they started to do so. The company itself exists since 2310, but military production only makes up 10% of its profits. It does make Shadowhawks though.

In 3067 the SHD-7CS is made there. And post Jihad the SHD-12C. But there's no guarantee that any earlier Shadowhawks were produced there, which ties in with the uncertainty of when the company actually started making BattleMechs.

Looking up the Shadowhawk entries in the various Technical Readouts might shed some more light on this.

[Breidr]

Thanks for all the great information. I can agree that it is hard to find some specific information on the FRR!.

I've fiddled with the information and my 'mechs and I've come up with something I "think" works, mostly going by the random 'mech assignment tables, listing Hunchbacks and Wolverines as common/uncommon. Stalkers seem common all over the IS, so I've taken some liberty on that and included one as well. This is how my lance is shaping up:

Command 'Mech: Stalker-4N
BattleMech 2: Hunchback-4P
BattleMech 3:Hunchback-4P
BattleMech 4: Wolverine-6K

It doesn't quite fit the makeup of a standard lance, but I guess it works. It's assumed I will pilot the assault "Command 'mech." Makes a nice laser dropship for CW and fits mostly into what I've read and been helped with. I will be taking on the rank of Lojtnant and lead my medium 'mechs into battle against the clans. This is going to be great!