OBT Forum

I'd love to see BattleMech regiment per world by 3067 which I don't think is impossible. These would be lynch pin formations which would be augmented by Planetary Militias composed of conventional forces (Armor, VTOLs, Infantry, etc.) which depending on the terrain of their homeworlds be further strengthen by hardened defenses.

You need Pocket WarShips equipped with capital missile launchers loaded with lotsa nukes to destroy the Clan forces before they can get off their Jumpships/Warships. That is all.

If not that, overwhelm with Aerospace and destroy their DropShips before they make planetfall. It's easier to crack those eggs while they are in space.

There is no mercy for the Clans. None whatsoever.

Given how Tyra Miraborg's Shilone damaged the Dire Wolf and killed the ilKhan, I think Rasalhague needs to commit extra resources to aerospace assets, prioritising fighter production over 'Mechs (not exclusively) and looking at options to increase their effectiveness without resorting to nuclear weapons. Aerospace conflict is one area where the Inner Sphere is less disadvantaged in terms of skill and technology, after all.

Aerospace carrier dropships to picket jump-points will be important, perhaps escorted by assault dropships, which presents a starting point for building up to pocket warships and perhaps full warships if they're ever affordable.

Assuming 14 pickets (zenith and nadir in all seven systems) and the planet's own defense force, plus forces that are available to rotate and replace pickets. Assuming a flight of 6 fighters on each picket, a Leopard CV escorted by one or two Avengers would be sufficient for this role. I'd also recommend a full 36 fighter wing per planet, with a second wing to provide the pickets and act as a reserve to make up for any fighters or pilots unavailable in the planetary based-wing. This would require seven short aero-regiments of 72 fighters each (as opposed to the 108 of a full regiment). Full regiments would clearly be preferable (in which case two planet-based wings would be feasible) but may not be attainable in the timescale.

So a FRR force of 504 aerospace fighters, 21 Leopard CVs (14 pickets and 50% reserve) and 28 Avengers (4 in each system) would provide a solid first line of defense, behind which the ground-based units (which are certainly needed) operate.

This could then be expanded to potentially a further 252 aerospace fighters. It may be worth looking at battle armor, shuttles and parent dropships as further tactic against weapons but this would require building up an effectively entirely new arm of armoured space marines, so this would fall into the second phase.

Space combat is often overlooked in BT just because everyone loves the giant robots but doesn't want to deal with other things. Space mines I know are in canon but they could make a comeback as well for defenses at the zenith and nadir jump points.

15 years is more than enough time for ComStar/FRR and Houses to start up Assault Dropship production. Warships as well especially if there is no ComStar/WoB interference like in Canon. In Canon the Fox should have been available in time for Tukayyid but didn't come out until 58 due to Comstar interference.

Those are great questions Ice.

1. Objective Raids (3054) and Field Manual: ComStar (3062) has the Rasalhague Kungsarme reduced from its pre-invasion height of 15 Mech Regiments to just 4 Mech regiments which really doesn't change over eight years. Technically there is a small increase of a battalion I believe in canon. It accounts for raiding losses in the occupation zone which would still occur here. However, in this setting we have better equipment availability thanks to a closer alliance of InnerSphere powers.

2. I would estimate 14 billion at the most but I could be wrong. Orestes seems to have over 6 billion which is surprising for a border world where I'd expect 2 billion. Refugees are said to be pretty large but no way that accounts for 4 billion people. However there was a full year for people to move away from the invaders as the Clans returned home to elect Ulric after the death of Leo Showers. Tukayyid is described as agricultural and it says somewhere its population was evacuated by ComStar prior to the battle. I'll have to look up stats for Ueda, Dehgolan, Karbala, Grumium, and Al Hillah.

Nice Ice, very appropriate link! I'll have to count convectional forces in 3067 (FM Updates, etc.) too

Looked on sarna.net for the population numbers last night and here is what I found.

Tukayyid - 3,700,000
Dehgolan - ?
Ueda - ?
Karbala - 1,841,000,000 (3025)*
Grumium - 350,000,000
Al Hillah - ?
Orestes - 6,311,000,000

I'll have to poke around for more information if there is any. Fluff wise there is talk about refugees as I stated before displacing natives - taking jobs and what not. Going by the names of the planets they appear to be Islamic or Azami in nature - could this be why the natives are so restless? Rasalhagians (Swedish, Norwegian, Danes, plus), Draconis (Japanese), and Lyrans (Germans plus more) would be a very different ethnic mix in the region.

A word on Militia numbers, I generally go by Hot Spots (FASA 1679) for my numbers on Planetary Militias or rather Planetary Garrisons as it refers to them (pg 18-20). If we all agree that each of these seven worlds would fall into the Large Planetary Garrison then each would have approximately 1 battalion of Mechs, 1 battalion of armor, probably a regiment of infantry (foot or mechanized most likely with varying arms), 3025 Tech Level, and I'd say Good Equipment rating (no random damage at least after a year or so).

What would you guys think about establishing a new Rasalhague unit type other than the Drakons, Freeman, Kavaleri, and Hussars which would be entirely defensively minded?

Alternatively, what if we broke the left overs of the Kungsarme into battalions rather than regiments? This might be a more ideal operational size given the overall strength and production limitations which they may face right now.

Finally for a historical example of a defense strategy what of Finland before the 2nd World War who successful staved off Soviet invasion??