Every military unit in the BattleTech universe, whether regular or mercenary, is divided into sub-units to facilitate organization, deployment, and combat operations. Mercenary units are extremely varied; some, like Carlyle's Commandos were a single lance while others, like Eridani Light Horse, Wolf's Dragoons, and the 12th Star Guards, consist of several regiments.
There is some common terminology for these organizational structures, and there are also differences between BattleMech, infantry, and aerospace fighter units. There are also disparities between the five Great Houses and especially between entities in the Periphery. Clan military structure and that of ComStar and the Word of Blake's military forces are substantially different from any Inner Sphere unit organizations.
Inner Sphere
1 Unit Organization
1.1 Lance
1.1.1 Augmented Lance
1.1.2 Air Lance
1.2 Company
1.2.1 Augmented Company
1.2.2 Company Task Force
1.3 Battalion
1.3.1 Augmented Battalion
1.3.2 Square Battalion
1.4 Regiment
1.4.1 Augmented Regiment
1.4.2 Forward ARC
1.4.3 Regimental Combat Team
1.4.4 Light Combat Team
1.5 Larger Formations
1.5.1 Brigade
1.5.2 Division
1.5.3 Corps
1.5.4 Army
The Clans
Clan military structure is built on a quinary, or base-five, system of grouping. The base unit is the Star, made of five "Points". A Point is usually one 'Mech, but could also be five Elementals or Protomechs, 2 Combat Vehicles or Aerospace Fighters, or 25 standard infantry.
Clan military structure developed from the traditional Inner Sphere military structure, which is built on a quaternary (group of four) structure. The Inner Sphere equivalent of a Star is called a Lance.
A Point is the basic Clan military formation and was considered by Nicholas Kerensky to be the smallest effective deployment of any military asset, a doctrine which has remained unchanged since its introduction
A Star is the basic building block of Clan military forces. It consists of five Points working together to provide the most firepower in a unit with the smallest logistical footprint.
A Binary is a common formation of Clan military forces which consists of two Stars, making it equivalent to a light company in the Inner Sphere.[1] Requiring only a modest increase in logistical support over a Star, Binaries are among the most common military deployments fielded by the Clans. A Binary can either be "pure," consisting of two Stars of the same unit type, or "mixed," consisting of two Stars of different unit types; both are used by all Clans, with the former having a slight edge in numbers
A Nova is a special type of Star military formation used by the Clans. Also known as a double-Star, Novas are the only major change from the standard Clan military structure which has been adopted by every single Clan for their touman.[
A Supernova is a variation of the standard Binary and Trinary as used in the Clans' military organization in that it replaces the standard two or three Stars with Novas.
A Trinary is a common formation of Clan military forces which consists of three Stars, making it equivalent to a reinforced company in the Inner Sphere. Requiring only a modest increase in logistical support over a Star, Trinaries are among the most common military deployments fielded by the Clans. A Trinary can either be "pure," consisting of three stars of the same unit type, or "mixed," consisting of three Stars of different unit types; both are used by all Clans, with the former having a slight edge in numbers.
A Supernova is a variation of the standard Binary and Trinary as used in the Clans' military organization in that it replaces the standard two or three Stars with Novas.
A Cluster is a Clan military formation typically consisting of between three to five Binaries and/or Trinaries, with an average of four to five Trinaries.
A Galaxy is the largest type of military formation fielded by the Clans, equivalent to a Brigade in the defunct Star League Defense Force. It consists of several Clusters
A touman is the sum total of a Clan's martial assets.This includes everything from the lowliest Solahma infantry unit to the mightiest WarShip that a Clan could possess. The term, derived from the Mongol name for a Division, is ideally 10,000 men strong
Com Guard And Word Of Blake
Unlike Successor States' 4-unit and Clan 5-unit groupings, the Com Guards and Word Of Blake base their forces on multiples of six. The Com Guard's equivalent of a Lance or Star is a Level II, made up of six Level I units. In many cases a Level II is made up of all one unit type, though given the Guards use of combined arms tactics it can also frequently consist of mixed unit types. Six Level IIs make up a Level III, which is usually referred to as a Battalion, almost always a combined-arms formation and usually the largest formation to operate together on a regular basis. A Level IV, made of up of six Level III units, is called a Division and equivalent to two Regiments. Forming the backbone of the administrative network they are the largest permanent formations in the Com Guards. A Level V formation, known as an Army, consists of six Level IV formations. Outside of such rare instances as the Battle of Tukayyid, Level Vs are primarily administrative groupings.
The Society
Society forces consisted of two main groups. The largest was that of the corrupted geneticists of Clan Coyote.
Those forces often operated under the standard Clan doctrine and command structure. The corrupted Coyotes
utilized a few Society advisors in longer campaigns, but mostly remained intact as a Clan force.
The smaller portion of Society forces operated on what they called a Prime system. The smallest Society force
was called the “Un,†indicating one unit. For the Society, an Un could be one BattleMech; three battle armor troopers,
infantry platoons, ProtoMechs, or aerospace fighters; or seven vehicles. Formations this small were rarely used in
anything beyond specific missions with strict parameters,often undertaking acts of sabotage or assassinations.
The most common group was a “Trey,†or three Uns. A“Sept†consisted of seven Uns total, constructed from two
Treys and under the overall command of a Sept commander.No formalized formations larger than a Sept were ever noted.The Society typically fielded one to two Septs in specific missions. More commonly, a Sept or up to four independently operating Treys would augment a corrupted Coyote force. These Society Septs would strike
as opportunity opened up or reinforce where the Coyote commanders dictated. They never worked directly with
the Clan warriors, only alongside them.
Each has it upside and downside what do you think.
