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is this the beginning of the turnaround for Inner Sphere Omnis.  will flexibility and unified platform lances and companies begin overriding the cost factor for new mechs and thus allow proper economies of scale to take hold?

Beware of Fasanomics. 

Quote from: JPArbiter on May 24, 2013, 12:07:09 PM

is this the beginning of the turnaround for Inner Sphere Omnis.  will flexibility and unified platform lances and companies begin overriding the cost factor for new mechs and thus allow proper economies of scale to take hold?

Beware of Fasanomics. 

I only dip my toe in Fasanomics, cannon says Omnis are too expensive I buy it.  I don't try to justify it and dig it up facts to countermand it.  I just want to see more and interesting Omnis.

the Gun for example is a GREAT omni in concept because of what it is built for.  Militas may not be able to afford to many mechs, but having a lance of those puppies and the service packages to outfit em as they need would be a fantastic use of resources.

From in game/universe POV. The fewer chassis you are using them ore efficient your logistical infrastructure. Any sane military would prefer use fewer design in large numbers than have a mutitude of design in paltry numbers. Just look at large modern militaries. The US military has one MBT (in a variety of Marks), one tracked APC/IFV (in various marks) and one main wheeled APC/IFV (in various marks). IF I can find it I designed an AU military around 4 chassis (one of each weight class) with 4-5 different variants per design. The only common point in each varian of the four chassis was the engine. Armor protection, jump jets and weapons separated each variant.

This is why Omnis are great as you don't need more than 7 Omni chassis (Light (6/9), fast light (7+/11+, medium (5/8), fast medium (7/11), heavy (4/6 or 5/8), fast heavy (5/8 [70+ tons], 6/9 [60-65 tons] and assault (3/5 to 5/8). This would shorten your supply chain considerably, especially after you have secured the requisite quantity of Omni pod packs.

only thing I'm not liking from the new 3145 era (other than the Nova Cats being dead)

is the entire lances composed of a single design, I liked the newer TROs that had more mixed lances

Are we really seeing that many single design lances though? The fiction and fluff to date hasn't really backed that up. Additionally, the Warchest Tracks out of ER: 3145 are pretty interesting, especially considering how many of them allow for very limited percentages of the forces to be actual 'Mechs. Many of the units described in the fiction especially have been multi-unit type lances as well as multiple designs per unit (lance, company, whatever). Even battle armor appears pretty darn scattered, in terms of design solidarity.

So far the recent TROs point more towards single unit lances - even in some cases companies.

While JPArbiter is correct it walks from the factory straight into the field in one unit for me it's sounding too much like single unit lances.  Unless they walk straight from the factory into a battle - which in one or two cases that actually happens - the Mechs may come from a factory and go to the same unit but by the time the CO has assigned them to pilots they will arranged far differently.

Both Ben Rome and Herb mentioned TRO 3145 moving back towards 2750 and 3025 types of TRO with the layout and style.  Looking at the old TROs they speak about lances, companies, even Battalions of identical Mechs.

It's just something I don't like, I don't think it entirely makes sense either a smart commander isn't going to put all the same Mech in one unit.  They are going to mix the unit up a bit to give the lance options in the field - OmniMechs sure may be an answer but if that's the case why did the Clans never do it?  They had a standard set of OmniMechs when they were launched in 3050 I don't think I ever remember seeing a Star of five Timber Wolves (Mad Cat) or five Adders (Puma).

It's just not fun having all the same unit in a lance either playing it or reading it <<<< my opinion...

It's also something I think that worries people about the future - 3250 - until Herb clamped down on saying anything else about it he mentioned the idea of less core units, less weapons to make things simpler more inviting.  I personally think the great thing about this game is it's complexity and the fact that you can start simple - and play simple (no heat, no special rules for weapons ie streaks always fire, no ecm, no pulse weapon bonuses) but once you're beyond that you can start introducing the extra interesting stuff.

If that's the case moving forward we're probably going to see a lot more single lance units which I think is a bit of a turn off - walk away scenario.

.... that was maybe a little bit of a rant  sorry

Edit: Found it.

This post largely covered it for me. The idea that "It's easier to write about a lance of Dragons to describe notable performances, than a single Dragon in a mixed lance" keeps the mixed lance feel intact, and seems far more consistent with the depiction in the DA novels and even ER: 3145 fluff. I'll stick with that as my excuse for my home games.

This has more to do with a style of writing, entry content and unit emphasis. I won't go into more detail, but we're trying to place each unit center stage in its entry.

Which is, in my view, the way it should be done.

What I find interesting is that up to now we've already got 7 new OmniMechs after 3 parts of the TRO:3145 pdf series. More than I expected. I am not complaining though. I am pleasantly surprised by the number of OmniMechs so far  .
Now it will be interesting to see if the remaining parts of the TRO:3145 pdf series contain any OmniFighters or OmniVehicles...

Ciao
Hessian