OBT Forum

Okay that meat of the field manual portion.  organizationally we are combining the style of the recent House books with Field Manuals from a decade ago, hopefully creating something both coherent and thorough.

BattleMechs:
The EDF BattleMechs forces organize as would be considered typical for most inner sphere forces.  4 BattleMechs make up a lance, with a lance led by a Lieutenant.  3 lances make up a company, led by a captain. While mixed lances are common, the production capacity of the EDF allows it to field lances and companies made up of the same BattleMech, and with their Omnimech program, this offers little loss in capability.

3 companies make up a battalion, led by a Major.  Battalions contain by doctrine an independent Command Lance making each battalion 40 mechs.  The composition of Battalions is dependant largely on their designated purpose, as an example the 15th Recon Battalion (21st Rim Worlds, 1st Division) contains a Fire Support Company, a Medium Recon Company, and a fast Scout Company Battalions are typically the largest BattleMech unit expected to see combat as a whole unit.

3 battalions make up a regiment, when combined with an independent command company consist of 132 Battlemechs.  Regiments are lead by Lt. Colonels, or sometimes full bird Colonels or Senior Majors.  Each Division within the EDF contains only two Battlemech regiments, each of which is attached to an armor brigade

Armor:
Each vehicle within the EDF is lead by a Warrant Officer or Jr Lieutenant.  Combat vehicles like Centaur Carriages and Manticore tanks are assigned to combat pairs, so no two tanks are far apart from each other.  2-3 combat pairs make a platoon, led by a Senior Lieutenant.

3-4 platoons of vehicles make up a company led by a Captain, with 3 companies making a Battalion.  With armor, it is common to see entire battalions made up of the same vehicles, particularly the Manticore tank.  Other times more specific battalions may be made of Fire Support oriented combat vehicles of various types. 

3 Battalions make a Regiment, and 3 Regiments make up a Brigade.  Elysium does not field any Brigades that are 100% Armor.  Typically one regiment is devoted towards heavy armor and fire support, and the other to cavalry and reconnaissance.

Infantry:
Infantry is deployed based on a pattern developed by the Lioness Combat Team, Styled in a “top down” fashion rather then traditional SLDF formations present in modern armies.  Each infantry brigade is guaranteed two line Battalions, a Cavalry Battalion, and a Field Artillery Battalion. Standard and Heavy Infantry Brigades also have a “Brigade Special Troops Battalion” While Striker Brigades contain a third Line Battalion.  Finally each infantry brigade is equipped with a Support Battalion for maintenance, medical, logistical and engineering purposes.
Infantry Brigades are the bread and butter of the EDF infantry, with line battalions consisting of three rifle companies and one heavy weapons company.  Their cavalry squadrons tend to favor land based transports such as Badger and Saxon hovercraft, and they utilize the same Thumper Field guns and artillery vehicles in use since before the Star Leauge.
Heavy Infantry Brigades utilized extensive Mechanized Assault infantry in their line battalions and supplement with two companies of Manticore tanks.  because those tank companies take the place of heavy weapons platoons, the third infantry company tends to be combat engineers, usually bridge builders.  Their Cavalry Squadrons tend to be air mobile, emphasizing the use Raven VTOLs and Paladin Battle armor.  The Field Artillery unit emphasizes Universal Weapons Carriers equipped with Arrow IV and Sniper Artillery.
Striker Infantry Brigades are fast mechanized units Favoring line platoons equipped with M12 Force Application Vehicles across 3 battalions.  these versatile  lightweight all terrain vehicles can be equipped for a variety of tasks and move across the battlefield with great speed and subtlety.  Thieu Cavalry squadron tends to rely on Kasatka variant Raven VTOLs in their cavalry units, and artillery battalions use Centaur Carriages rather then formal artillery.


Planetary Defense Forces:
Officially, Planetary Defense Forces (PDF) are to be built with a Battalion each of battlemechs, armor, and a brigade of infantry at thier disposal.  Realities of colonization has led to size being largely dictated by the size of the colony they are defending.  This ad-hoc nature has led Primary colonies boasting disproportionate forces when compared to newer and more vulnerable colonies.
In Terms of organization, Planetary Militia typically follows the Standard EDF templates, though realities of size and situation often mean that combined arms “task forces” have to be built as the situation demands.

Aerospace Fighters
Aerospace Fighters are under the universal purview of the Elysium navy.  Eschewing any traditional aerospace organization, the EDF developed its own, reflecting the ship centric nature of EDF aerospace forces.

The largest unit of organization is the Tactical Fighter Squadron.  Officially a TFS is made up of three groups; each group identified by a color and made up of twelve fighters each.  More realistically a TFS is simply the unit name for aerospace forces aboard a single ship, with a ship carrying multiple TFS’s only if its fighter contingent exceeds 36 planes.  It is not lost on the EDF admiralty that despite massive resources devoted to warships that the EDF fleet is at a serious deficit when it comes to fighter units.  With only two aerospace fighters in inventory, the Vulcan III and Jayhawk, and political reliance on warships for defense of space borne threats, it appears that the EDF’s aerospace assets will remain anemic for some time.

8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron- Fox- attached to the Lioness Combat Team
229th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Havoc- Currently Stationed on Elysium
207th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Firebird- Currently Stationed on New Edinburgh
126th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Arrow- Currently Stationed on Seoul
118th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Mobius- Attatched to the 2nd Division
108th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Silver- Currently Stationed on Cardiff
52nd Tactical Fighter Squadron- Red- Claimed by EsROC
51st Tactical Fighter Squadron- Indigo- Claimed by EsROC
32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron- Wizard- Attached to the Marsielle PDF.
23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron- Starfire- of the Nitzachon
11th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Espada- of the Nitzachon
8th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Seeker- Attatched to the 1st Division
6th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Warg- of the Atzmaut
5th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Gault- of the Atzmaut
4th Tactical Fighter Squadron- Skyfire- Attatched to the Orbital Response Command

Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons
A part of warfare that the Elysium Republic does not shy away from is its nuclear and chemical weapons stockpiles.  Official records are hard to come by, being classified as Top Secret, but the estimated count of Nuclear Warheads is somewhere between 200 and 500.  officially no single weapon’s yield is above SLDF Recognized Grade III weapons (50 Kilotons)

Chemical weapons are exclusively of the non lethal variety (Type 1 on the SLDF Table).While not used in every situation, often times the use of such munition may be deemed tactically necessary.  Wide deployment of battlefield tear gas occurs in certain circumstances, as does other skin irritants and toxins designed not to kill but disable enemy forces. 

Biological weapons are forbidden in the EDF by constitutional decree.  Military doctrine states that Bioweapons are impossible to fully control or neutralize on the tactical and strategic battlefield.  This does not prevent the Republic from being prepared though, as the EDF medical corps has a robust “Special Hazards Research Unit” dedicated to studying biohazards, their use in warfare, and most importantly their counters.

As a specific counter to NBC weapons, there is a paramilitary unit as part of the EDFs intelligence agency called NEST (Nuclear Emergency Search Teams).  NEST teams are designed to intercept and disable battlefield weapons of mass destruction, or in the event of WMD use, to perform clean up operations as they see fit.  NEST is a highly classified operation, with their equipment, numbers, and locations unknown to all but the EDF joint chiefs and prime minister at any given time.

okay, everything that has been displayed so far... subject to revision.

Firstly when Intersteller players 3 was announced we knew that that could have humongous implications for our project. believe it or not we are thrilled that we may be able to allow the ER to have a wider role in Battletech as a Fan Product, including ditching the "Lost Planet" Trope.

Secondly, after the awesomness that was XTRO Primitives, I High Test and I are discussing rewriting the EDF to take advantage of Retrotech as it's Primary means of self defense, and show off a power that has successfully leveraged the technology by choice rather then circumstance.  the plan is that by time the ER is "exposed" to the Jihad we were 100% Retrotech, and by 3085 are sporting "Introductory" Technology across 75% of our Military, with the remaining 25% being either Retro or SLDF Royal Standards.  depending on how we can integrate 3250, we may choose either to pull off a 3rd Generation Coup, or decide to build knock off clan mechs and nestle happily into our "low tech but effective." niche again.