OBT Forum

Will a mercenary command do or must it be a House unit?

I am always fond of the Federated Suns Armored Cavalry myself.

If you want units that actually fought the Alliance Guards, your best bets are the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry or the 4th Davion Guards which fought the 5th Alliance Guards on Dalkeith. 

Another good choice is the 4th Crucis Lancers

The "uses appropriate camo" aspect is, unfortunately, a major requirement.

As some of you know, I like doing combined-arms battalions - one company each of 'Mechs, armour, and infantry. My 'grand plan" envisages having one such unit for each major house, one periphery state, one from the C*/WoB axis, and merc unit, for each of the major periods - 4th SW, Clan Invasion, FCCW, Jihad, etc. HEck, it looks something like (see attached). Coloured (or bolded) cells mean completed units.

As you can see, the FCCW era needs lots of work.

Now I have a company of very Davionista mediums I did a couple of decades ago in enamel paints. The intent is to add on armour & infantry, to save myse.f 1/3 of the work. The unit's in a faded green with dark green & tan slashes for camo. I don't want to strip the minis down - I think I did a reasonable job, and it's worth retaining some old work. The 'Mech makeup is:
- Phoenix Hawk, Chimera, Nightsky, Talon
- Shadow Hawk, Catapult, Trebuchet, Jagermech
- Griffin, Griffin, Enforcer III, Hatchetman

Yes, I could make this a merc company, but it has a strong FedCom/FedSuns feel. Plus, I have the minis picked out for my Alliance Guards already.

At the moment, 1st FedSuns Armored Cavalry seems closest - "green & white highlights for ceremonial duty" leaves the door open for camo. But very much open to suggestions.

W.

FM:FS gives the paint schemes.  The Crucis Lancers have a parade scheme, but the implication is that they wear camo in the field.  The Davion Guards specifically say they wear paint based on their assignment requirements.  The DLC is an issue- it says they wear a tan scheme, regardless of the situation.

You should be safe going with the Crucis Lancers, unless you are set on having a unit painted in their parade scheme. 

For modern vehicles, it's mainly about blending in when you're not moving, and not being easily identifiable from long ranges.

So for ambushes, it helps if you've cranked the heat output down low, and crouched down behind the ridgeline. If you're making a flanking move, they'll know something's out there, but not necessarily who, or what. But yes, on a BT map, it makes no difference; and if you're Sword of Light, or Brigade of Guards, you want them to know who's out there.

As a painter, it's about having a variety of units, and using those techniques I get good results with. Magic Dip (aka teak varnish) makes camo-based schemes easy; parade schemes can involve more work. And the splinter camo I did for my FRR battalion almost drove me crazy

It's worth remembering that even WWII battleships, enormously larger than a 'Mech and usually made obvious by the smoke from the funnels, were painted in camouflage patterns to break up their outlines and make it harder for aircraft and gunners to assess their movements for the purposes of aiming.

This has fallen use as combat moved away from relying on the Mk1 Eyeball for targeting, but in Battletech this is still a thing. While there's an argument for making sure your 'Mechs can be identified by their paint so as to avoid friendly fire, if camo paint can make it even a little harder to pinpoint you for the enemy or keep them from being able to pick out parts of the 'Mech to target then that's advantageous.

So it's likely that most units paint in camo and that a unit will also have a distinctive set of colours and patterns so they can recognise each other but still be harder to pin down.

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As for Mechs, if you're a Davion and you want Mediums.  Enforcers, Enforcers EVERYWHERE.

and don't forget Centurions and Blackjacks