OBT Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Welcome to OurBattleTech.com - A BattleTech Fan Site

Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: Light Combat Team  (Read 9432 times)

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

Ice Hellion

  • Protector of the Taurian Concordat
  • KU Player
  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,482
  • Beware of the all-seeing eye: Ice Hellion
Light Combat Team
« on: July 31, 2011, 05:29:47 AM »
What do you think of these lighter RCT?
My main problem with them is that they lack the proper infantry support needed to perform their defensive missions.
Logged


"In turn they tested each Clan namesake
in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle.
Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down.
All failed to match the predator's speed and grace.
Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."

The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5

Takiro

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,175
  • For the Last Cameron!
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2011, 07:52:16 AM »
I like the concept Ice and have tinkered with it myself. You can probably look at the US military and its transition from Divisional to Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) drawing comparisons as you go. Basically the old timers will tell you it is a nice idea in theory but in practice the smaller contingent lacks the capabilities of its larger forerunner. I think you've got the idea by looking at infantry and the support factor. The LCT does give the AFFS the ability to deploy more units in the short term to defend a larger area something they'd be incapable of doing.
Logged

Gabriel

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,689
  • We the Swift,Quiet and Deadly Bring Forth Death
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2011, 09:19:05 AM »
The basic idea is sound it just needs to be tinkered with a bit thats all.
Logged
Fear is our most powerful weapon and a Heavy Regiment of Von Rohrs Battlemech's is a very close second.-attributed to Kozo Von Rohrs
Will of Iron,Nerves of Steel,Heart of Gold,Balls of Brass... No wonder I set off metal detectors.Death or Compliance now that's not to much to ask for,is it?

Halvagor

  • Fanjunkare
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 207
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2011, 10:54:53 AM »
So long as they're still getting infantry support from the planetary militia of whatever planet they're on, I don't think the reduced infantry component of the LCT itself is too much of a weakness.  Otherwise, the LCT concept reminds me of the special tactics of the Ceti Hussars, which liked to break up their RCT into three equal portions centered around a 'mech battalion. 

The FedSuns has so much border that breaking up their strength into smaller portions makes some sense.  An LCT ought to be able to deter pirates fairly well.  They can't scare off raids from other nations as easily, but everyone has internal issues to deal with, and that means they probably have some more breathing room.

So long as, over time, the AFFS slowly rebuilds the LCTs to their RCT sizes, viewing the LCT as a stop-gap measure, then I don't have any issues with it.  Similarly, if they do keep LCT-sized units, then they'd better end up commissioning three times as many as they rebuild their power.
Logged
"...but if evil men were not now and then slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers."  From Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, 1901

Gabriel

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,689
  • We the Swift,Quiet and Deadly Bring Forth Death
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2011, 11:21:53 AM »
That is true. A mix of say Four LCT for every One RCT would do well.
Logged
Fear is our most powerful weapon and a Heavy Regiment of Von Rohrs Battlemech's is a very close second.-attributed to Kozo Von Rohrs
Will of Iron,Nerves of Steel,Heart of Gold,Balls of Brass... No wonder I set off metal detectors.Death or Compliance now that's not to much to ask for,is it?

Hessian

  • SD Developer
  • Kapten
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 375
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2011, 08:15:53 AM »
What is the composition of a Light Combat Team anyway?

Ciao
Hessian
Logged

Takiro

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,175
  • For the Last Cameron!
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2011, 09:17:35 AM »
Basically 1/3 an RCT. I'm going to be adhering to this ideal more strictly than it is presented in canon. What I'm doing in my Clarion Call setting is 1 Reinforced Mech Battalion [40], 3 Heavy Armor Battalions plus an Artillery Company [120], 5 Mechanized Infantry Battalions [45 platoons], and 1 Aerospace Company [13-14]. For me such organization and two new dropship designs (the Gauntlet and the Sword) will allow the AFFC to deploy an LCT with just three dropships including an Overlord. Scale that up to the RCT and nine dropships really streamlines the transportation headaches seen prior. Field Report AFFS has a a little different spin based on equipment like battlearmor but you get the idea.
Logged

Hessian

  • SD Developer
  • Kapten
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 375
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2011, 09:31:45 AM »
Thanks Takiro!
Transportation issues should indeed be easier to overcome with such a structure(and more systems covered).

Ciao
Hessian
Logged

Gabriel

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,689
  • We the Swift,Quiet and Deadly Bring Forth Death
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2011, 09:44:26 AM »
True and for the reason they were concevied of in the first place it fits. Quick Question the new dropship designs are they Aerodyne or Spheroid in design or one of each?
Logged
Fear is our most powerful weapon and a Heavy Regiment of Von Rohrs Battlemech's is a very close second.-attributed to Kozo Von Rohrs
Will of Iron,Nerves of Steel,Heart of Gold,Balls of Brass... No wonder I set off metal detectors.Death or Compliance now that's not to much to ask for,is it?

Takiro

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,175
  • For the Last Cameron!
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2011, 10:22:57 AM »
One of each Gabe, you shall see.  ;)
Logged

Gabriel

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,689
  • We the Swift,Quiet and Deadly Bring Forth Death
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2011, 12:25:36 PM »
Cool What nifty surprises will ther be I Wonder ???   :o  :o
Logged
Fear is our most powerful weapon and a Heavy Regiment of Von Rohrs Battlemech's is a very close second.-attributed to Kozo Von Rohrs
Will of Iron,Nerves of Steel,Heart of Gold,Balls of Brass... No wonder I set off metal detectors.Death or Compliance now that's not to much to ask for,is it?

Dread Moores

  • Overste
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 740
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2011, 03:27:17 PM »
I'm very hopeful that the LCT is a step for the TPTB to slowly and quietly change the army sizes as we move beyond the Dark Age. Less Mechs, but more supporting forces. And more of these types of units showing up, so you'll finally start seeing the separation between militia and standard military bleed away. Instead we'll get "permanently assigned defensive forces" and "offensive units." It's definitely a step that can work to counteract 25 years of FASAnomics without any kind of drastic retcon.
Logged
The first one to use the term Dork Age loses.

Halvagor

  • Fanjunkare
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 207
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2011, 09:10:21 PM »
Well, the proportion of 'mechs and other equipment in the AFFS isn't really changing with the LCT concept.  Instead of 1 'mech regiment, 3 armor regiments and 5 infantry regiments, as with the RCT, each LCT has 1 'mech battalion, 3 armor battalions, 5 infantry battalions. 

Only the AFFS ever had such a clear-cut mix of 'mechs and other forces, but it was implied all the way back in the original House sourcebooks that all Houses sent roughly the same proportion of supporting troops alongside their 'mechs into combat, but only the AFFS made such organization permanent, allowing the 'mechs and other arms to train and operate together long-term. 

Such stuff just didn't really show up in the fiction much, though lip service was typically given in the NAIS and Historical series.
Logged
"...but if evil men were not now and then slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers."  From Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, 1901

Gabriel

  • General
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,689
  • We the Swift,Quiet and Deadly Bring Forth Death
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2011, 09:59:03 PM »
Well it was not considered needed by the writers but it would of been welcomed by some of us fans.
Logged
Fear is our most powerful weapon and a Heavy Regiment of Von Rohrs Battlemech's is a very close second.-attributed to Kozo Von Rohrs
Will of Iron,Nerves of Steel,Heart of Gold,Balls of Brass... No wonder I set off metal detectors.Death or Compliance now that's not to much to ask for,is it?

Dread Moores

  • Overste
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 740
Re: Light Combat Team
« Reply #14 on: August 08, 2011, 01:59:05 AM »
Halvagor: Yeah, I should have phrased that better. I'm hoping that the breakdown to smaller unit sizes (like LCTs) will lead to the eventual result of TPTB just saying "Yeah, LCTs are much smaller. But everybody has a lot more of them." It would be an easy way to slide in larger force sizes as things grow post-Dark Age without requiring massive rewrites.
Logged
The first one to use the term Dork Age loses.
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
« previous next »