Battletech Campaign - gauging interest, come and take a look inside!

[Yskonyn]

Firstmost I feel we should focus on the tactical aspect. Integrating A Time of War is pretty advanced and will need some time.
Starting without it will enable to things:
1) Getting into the game (again)
2) Start sooner

[mirth]

Would you guys be wanting to command a whole Lance and perhaps some additional assets or would you rather stay at the individual level of focussing on commanding one Battlemech and fleshing out that player character while we all form one or more Lances together?

Personally, I'd rather play a single pilot character, driving a single Mech. At least until I re-familiarize myself with game system and universe. If the campaign progresses enough, maybe we could have PCs moving into higher command positions?

[Yskonyn]

That is a good alternative. If we tackle this in a more piece meal manner we can expand upon complexity as we get more comfortable with the game.

I will work on a unit background in the coming days. After that you guys can make a character background.

Hopefully some more guys will join in. :)

[MetalDog]

Some where around here, I have a chart of House mech organization.  Four mechs = one lance and so forth.  I'll try to find it and post.  In the meantime, single mech jockey is fine by me.

[MetalDog]

That didn't take very long.  Here it is:

Lance = 4 Mechs commanded by a Lance Corporal
Platoon = 16 Mechs commanded by a Lieutenant
Company = 80 Mechs commanded by a Captain
Battalion = 400 Mechs commandedby a Major
Regiment = 1200 Mechs commanded by a Colonel
Brigade = 2400 Mechs commanded by a Brigadier General
Division = 4800 to 7200 Mechs commanded by a Major General

Now, that seems like a shit ton of mechs.  And it is.  I found an alternate amount somewhere in canon that dispatches with the platoon and goes:

Lance = 4 mechs
Company = 12 Mechs
Battalion = 108 Mechs
Regiment = 324 Mechs
Brigade= 624 Mechs
Division = 1296 to 1944 Mechs

Still a lot of mechs, but, more manageable in terms of sheer numbers.

[Yskonyn]

Thanks!

I once had a cool set of rules to setup a campaign and roll for Mechs and equipment. I'll see if I can find it again.
Perhaps it was just in one of the books.

[Martok]

I have been reading up on House Davion and there are plenty of interesting times to run a campaign in.
I would prefer to start somewhere before the Clans invaded and if we run long enough, we could progress into the Clan Invasion era.

As a matter of fact, I'd say that sounds pretty ideal.  :) 

I'd prefer to see some action vs. other Inner-Sphere Mechs first in any case, as it's a good way to get our proverbial feet wet. 

Would you guys be wanting to command a whole Lance and perhaps some additional assets or would you rather stay at the individual level of focussing on commanding one Battlemech and fleshing out that player character while we all form one or more Lances together?

Personally, I'd rather play a single pilot character, driving a single Mech. At least until I re-familiarize myself with game system and universe. If the campaign progresses enough, maybe we could have PCs moving into higher command positions?

I'd prefer this as well. 

I found an alternate amount somewhere in canon that dispatches with the platoon and goes:

Lance = 4 mechs
Company = 12 Mechs
Battalion = 108 Mechs
Regiment = 324 Mechs
Brigade= 624 Mechs
Division = 1296 to 1944 Mechs

Still a lot of mechs, but, more manageable in terms of sheer numbers.

Huh.  Well that organization chart is closer to the one I've always been familiar with (I'd never seen the other one before), but even that one's different that what I was used to.  The one I knew looked like this: 

Lance (usually commanded by a Lieutenant) = 4 Mechs
Company  = 12 Mechs (3 Lances)
Battalion = 40 Mechs (3 Companies, plus a command Lance)
Regiment = 132 Mechs (3 Battalions, plus a command Company)
Division = 400 Mechs (3 Regiments, plus an augmented command Company of 4 Lances)


Argh.  Just looked through all my old BattleTech/Mechwarrior sourcebooks, and of course now I can't find that chart.  :-\  Figures. 

[bayonetbrant]

I found an alternate amount somewhere in canon that dispatches with the platoon and goes:

Lance = 4 mechs
Company = 12 Mechs
Battalion = 108 Mechs
Regiment = 324 Mechs
Brigade= 624 Mechs
Division = 1296 to 1944 Mechs

Still a lot of mechs, but, more manageable in terms of sheer numbers.

Huh.  Well that organization chart is closer to the one I've always been familiar with (I'd never seen the other one before), but even that one's different that what I was used to.  The one I knew looked like this: 

Lance (usually commanded by a Lieutenant) = 4 Mechs
Company  = 12 Mechs (3 Lances)
Battalion = 40 Mechs (3 Companies, plus a command Lance)
Regiment = 132 Mechs (3 Battalions, plus a command Company)
Division = 400 Mechs (3 Regiments, plus an augmented Command company of 4 Lances)


Argh.  Just looked through all my old BattleTech/Mechwarrior sourcebooks, and of course now I can't find that chart.  :-\  Figures. 

Everywhere I've ever seen BT TO&Es, the word "Lance" was used as a replacement for "Platoon" as we think of it, and so that "platoon" structure never existed.  A Lance was commanded by a LT, and the best analog was to think of it in terms of the current US Army armor TO&E

Tank PLT / BT Lance = 4 vehicles
Tank CO / BT CO = 14 vehicles (3 PLT/Lance + 2 CMD GP)
Battalion = 3 companies, +2 in command

Now, I've seen some BT orgs that had an entire lance for the cmd group instead of just 2 vehicles.  And honestly, there's been a lot of talk in the armor community of doing the same thing in tank companies - create a HQ PLT that actually has 4 tanks.  Not to fight as a platoon, but so that the CO CDR and XO each have a wingman to help keep them out of trouble.

Remember too that in a war, you organize however you need to in order to accomplish the mission.  Need a 5-mech lance for something?  Fine, craft a quickie story that you got augmented by the sole survivor of another lance who is helping you on this mission until his unit gets rebuilt.  Easy. :)



edit: just found this at the Battletech Wiki
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Unit_Organization

[mirth]

Remember too that in a war, you organize however you need to in order to accomplish the mission.  Need a 5-mech lance for something?  Fine, craft a quickie story that you got augmented by the sole survivor of another lance who is helping you on this mission until his unit gets rebuilt.  Easy. :)

Yeah, I think we should be able to find plausible reasons for variations in Lance size if we're going to game as a single Lance. I had never seen an org chart for Battletech before now, so I had no idea of unit sizes.

Or maybe one or two players could be some in some sort of support role, like as a fighter jock or something. How many people do we have on board at this point?

[Yskonyn]

I think I have found a great start for our campaign (to be clear; I dont mean we should start in 3001, just within this window):

31st Century

3001: ComStar begins supplying bandit kings
3002: Operation Concentrated Weakness begins
3003: Michael Hasek marries Marie Davion-St. Claire
3004: Hohiro Kurita assassinated, Takashi Kurita named Coordinator, The Jolly Roger Affair
3005: Ministry of Development reorganized, Wolf's Dragoons arrive in the Inner Sphere, make first contact with the planet of Delos IV and contract employment by House Davion.
3006: Allen Rusenstein resigns, Julian Tiepolo named Primus, Thomas Marik joins ComStar
3007: Alessandro Steiner is forced to retire, Katrina Steiner named Archon
3009: Wolf's Dragoons end employment with House Davion.
3010: Marik Civil War instigated, Wolf's Dragoons next seek employment with House Liao
3012: Kyalla Centrella named Magestrix, Tamara Centrella dies
3013: Hanse Davion named Prince, Ian Davion killed, Michael Hasek-Davion named Duke of New Syrtis
3014: Anton Marik begins Marik Civil War, Anton Marik declares himself Captain-General, Wolf's Dragoons end employment with House Liao and suffer significant losses in the Marik Civil War
3015: New Avalon Institute of Science formed, Neil Avellar II named Parliamentary President, Precentor ROM Vesar Kristofur excommunicated, Wolf's Dragoons next contract employment with House Marik
3017: Thomas Calderon named Protector of the Taurian Homeworlds
3019: Theodore Kurita and Tomoe Sakade marry, Wolf's Dragoons suffer costly defeat assaulting the BattleMech Factory Defiance Industries on Hesperus II and disappear into deep space to refit and rebuild their force
3020: Contact with Michael Hasek-Davion made, Katrina Steiner issues Peace Proposal, Katrina Steiner sends Peace Proposal to all Houses, Outworlds Alliance Educational Exchange Program begins, Wolf's Dragoons return from deep space at full strength, end employment with House Marik and next contract employment with House Steiner

Within these years we can start. Lots of interesting hooks for running a campaign and it will serve a great setting and entry point into the Clan Invasion era later on.

My intent is to keep following the big events in conjunction with canon, but the campaign missions itself don't neccessarily have to be. The detachment we run within House Davion will be fictional as well to give us leeway on how to run our campaign.

I would appreciate ideas about our units (name, task, history, etc) within the above timeframe.

[MetalDog]

Story hook: have a reason to be involved in the doings and battles that Wolf's Dragoons engage in when contracted to House Davion.  Keep tabs on them as they shift from Liao to Marik to Steiner.  Would give us a reason to have knowledge/contact with Clan doings as they come down the line.

[Martok]

I would only add that we may want to be a unit (or part of one) belonging directly to House Davion, as opposed to one of his numerous vassals.  That way, we'll have a plausible reason for being ordered to various hotspots (and thus being involved with some of the "Great Doings" of that period). 

This would also give us a semi-plausible reason to be fighting with Wolf's Dragoons as MetalDog has proposed. 

[mirth]

I would only add that we may want to be a unit (or part of one) belonging directly to House Davion, as opposed to one of his numerous vassals.  That way, we'll have a plausible reason for being ordered to various hotspots (and thus being involved with some of the "Great Doings" of that period). 

This would also give us a semi-plausible reason to be fighting with Wolf's Dragoons as MetalDog has proposed. 

I'm all for being a House Davion unit. I was something of a Davion fanboi back in the day.

[GDS_Starfury]

three things.

Martok is obviously a male stripper at the moment.
those mech numbers above company level are way off.
Kurita is the most fun to play.

[Martok]

Martok is obviously a male stripper at the moment.

:o

those mech numbers above company level are way off.

Not surprising, given we've seen at least three different sets of numbers already.  What kind of numbers are you familiar with? 

Kurita is the most fun to play.

Meh.  Only if you're a Japanese/samurai fetishist.  To be honest, they've always struck me as being the InnerSphere's biggest assholes (at least among the Great Houses).