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Author Topic: Unit Generation  (Read 1395 times)

Darrian Wolffe

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Unit Generation
« on: March 17, 2017, 03:32:08 PM »

At the end of the FM: Mercs unit generation pool process, the unit looks like this:



There are 7 starting players to the game, so we can "sell back" 9 points from the Same Pool, raising our Cash Pool to 10.

The unit will "sell back" 4 Complementary Units, so it can start with a single Air Lance and a 4-vee motor pool for reloading/base ops.  This raises the Cash Pool to 14.

The unit will "sell back" 3 Distant Units, so it can start with a single Infantry platoon for base security and defense.  This raises the Cash Pool by 2 (half the Distant, rounded up), to 16.

Note that the Air Lance, Motor Pool, and Infantry are owned by the UNIT, not individuals.  The unit shares are used to pay for their upkeep.



We're also going to use the Unit Exchange Rules on pg 145 of FM Mercs to swap around some supporting cast.  We'll take 3 Doctors away, make 1 of them an extra Administrator, and 2 of them extra Techs.  (I'm not bothering with an image for this one).

OK, now we go through and we roll the experience level individually for each of the Techs, Docs, and Admin staff.  Once we've done that, we come back with the following numbers and experience levels:



Now we look at the Experience Pool.  Each time we take a point away from the Experience Pool, we can raise a numerical result for the support staff's experience levels by 1.  So instead of that "9" result for a Regular Tech, we can raise it by 1 point to a 10, and get a Veteran Tech instead.  

After doing this and reducing our 12-point Experience Pool to 0, our support staff now looks like this:



So we have 6 Veteran Techs, 10 Regular Techs, and 2 Green Techs
We have 1 Veteran and 3 Regular Doctors
We have 3 Veteran, 2 Regular, and 1 Green Administrator

Now we have to deal with the other units.  After rolling, we have the following classifications for our secondary units.



While we've used all of our experience pool already, this is where we're going to want to spend Tech and Mass Pools  The same rules apply, reduce a pool by -1, add +1 to a result.  

As a side note here, because salvage vehicles and mobile repair stations wren't statted out in-game until very recently (2005+), I am assuming that if there's a modern support vehicle that has no reason not to be used earlier (like the Savior Repair Vehicle), you can have those vees and you're just using a different "brand" that does exactly the same thing.  Bascially all of the support vehicle tech levels are still easily available all through the Succession Wars, so there's no reason for those to not be available.

After we've spend as much of Tech and Mass Pools as we wanted, we're left with the following:



A Regular Motorized Infantry (Rifle) platoon for base security.  A wing-pair of F-90 Stingrays with Regular (5/4) pilots.  And a platoon of support vehicles: 2 Combat engineering Vees, 1 Paramour Mobile Repair Vehicle, and 1 Sherpa Armored Transport.

Your aero pilots make $1800 (lance leader) and $900 (wingman) per month.

We're assuming all combat vee personnel will be Regular forever.  Therefore, you have 1 support vehicle officer and 9 enlisted support vehicle crewmen.  The officer makes $1,080/month, and the crewmen all together make $4,860/month

You have 28 regular motorized infantrymen.  The platoon commander makes $900/month.  The other 27 enlisted guys make $12,150/month

More to follow (post character limit)
« Last Edit: March 17, 2017, 04:11:37 PM by Darrian Wolffe »
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Darrian Wolffe

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2017, 04:05:46 PM »

Since all unused Mass and Tech pools filter back into the Cash Pool, you now have a Cash Pool of 24.  Which means that - since I presume ya'll aren't completely insane - you're going to want to search for DropShip and JumpShip support.

A DropShip search takes -4 Cash.  You can make it -5 Cash and reduce the TN by 1 if you search for a DropShip without an existing Crew and then try to hire one.  That's usually the smart move, so we're going to try that.  The roll can be rerolled by burning a point of cash (in the case of DropShips ONLY), but if you nominate a DropShip and the roll (or reroll) fails, you can't try to find that DropShip type again.

We're going to start by looking for a Dictator-class DropShip, because those exist in the MoC, survived the Succession Wars (as per TRO3026), and while rare, serve our unit's purposes almost perfectly.  It can carry 36 BattleMechs and 700-ish tons of cargo.  They're roughly as rare as an Excalibur DropShip, so they'll have the same Finding TN: 12.

Because your CO has Contact, Well-connected, Good Rep, Wealth, the TN is dropped by 4.  In addition, since we're looking for one without a crew, the TN drops by 1 more to a total of 7+. 

With a result of 8+ you have your Dictator DropShip.  And it only cost you 5 Cash points (19 remaining).  Now, you don't have a ton of room for cargo, infantry, or your aerospace, so because we have all this cash, looking for another DropShip isn't a terrible idea.  Triumphs are pretty easy to get ahold of, and they're explicitly easily modifiable to carry Mechs and ASFs and infantry along with a ton of vees.  They start with a TN of 11, and we'll apply all the same modifiers, requiring a total of a 6+. 

...and a 7+ gets it.  That's another -5 Cash pool, for a total remaining of 14.  Now the big one.  Looking for a JumpShip.  The obvious choice is a Merchant-class.  Base TN is 12, and all the same modifiers apply.

With a result of 3, we lose the 5 Cash points (9 remaining), and we cannot reroll.  However, I'm going to try for a different class, because I cannot tell you how much money we'll save in having a jumpShip, and saving 500,000,000 CB during gameplay can get really tough.

We'll try for an Invader this time.  TN 13 base, 8+ after the TN mods.


an with a result of 10, we have a 3-collar Invader-class JumpShip.  Yay.

After experience rolls, the JumpShip has a Regular Crew, the Dictator has a Regular Crew, and the Triumph has a Veteran Crew.  Since we're past the pool stages and can't spend points (and we have no more experience pool anyway), these are the final results for our transport.

These crew will obviously need paid salaries.

An Invader has 24 Crew (4 Officer/19 Enlisted) ($3600/month for officers, $8,550 for enlisted)
A Dictator has 54 crew (9 Officer/45 Enlisted) ($10,800/month for officers, $27,000 for enlisted)
A Triumph has 15 crew (3 officer, 12 enlisted) ($5,760/month for officers, $8,640 for enlisted)



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Darrian Wolffe

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2017, 04:40:23 PM »

I'm going to intervene as the GM here regarding the Triumph and just *say* that instead of carrying 45 heavy vehicle Bays in Cargo Bay 1, there's 36 Vehicle Bays and 6 ASF bays instead (it's a common fluff variant with no official record sheet; the math works out the same; 900 tons for 9 heavy vehicle bays, 900 tons for 6 ASF bays).

The Obsolete Triumph can carry a company of infantry in any case, so you're more than good there. 

Oh, and extra-good news.  Support vehicle crews and large vessel crews automatically generate enough maintenance hours to keep their units in good repair, so you don't have to worry about all that.

OK, so your unit has 5 Cash Points remaining.  Going through math-y type stuff, this means that each PC lance will receive 430,000 CB, (plus x4 your Wealth and/or Well-connected bonuses), to purchase your warehouse backstock.  Note that this is nowhere near enough money, and it's not supposed to be. This is why salvage exists.  Note that there are no rolls to acquire items at this time; once game begins, acquisition rolls will be necessary.

Finally, each player force will have EITHER 20,000 CB in cash, OR 1 month's Wealth/Well-connected money in cash form.  This is given after you purchase your spare parts, and is intended so you have cash on-hand to pay salaries and maintenance costs.  Anything you don't spend on spare parts will also be added at this time.

.......................................................

This should get the full unit, and each player, completely up to speed and ready begin the game (step 1: discuss your 1st contract).  I have to go put all this info into a MegaMek file, and it'll take some time, so be ready tomorrow evening for the posting of the available contracts.
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serrate

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2017, 07:27:22 PM »

Awesome, thanks for all this work!  (^_^)b
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Timberwolfd

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2017, 07:52:48 PM »

How about a mech recovery vehicle?
It would be nice to simply winch a salvagable mech and run.
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Darrian Wolffe

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2017, 11:06:52 AM »

Dragoons Rating
1 May, 3044

Average Experience: Veteran +20

CO Positive Traits: +6
CO Negative Traits: -0
Leadership Skill Bonus: +3
Negotiation Skill Bonus: +0
Strategy Skill Bonus: +4
Tactics Skill Bonus: +3

Combat Record: 0

Transport Rating:
DropShip Capacity: +25
Owns JumpShip: +10

Tech Rating: 0
(Less than 30% upgraded)

Technical Support: 53%: +0
Medical Support 100%: +10
Admin Support 100%: +3

Total Score: 84

Dragoons Rating: C

(This is the rating the unit will use for its 1st contract unless no contract for the month of May is selected.  Dragoons Ratings are recalculated either monthly [if you're sitting around waiting], or at the end of a contract)
« Last Edit: March 18, 2017, 01:33:54 PM by Darrian Wolffe »
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Timberwolfd

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Re: Unit Generation
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2017, 04:05:39 PM »

Out of curiosity, what are the boundaries between A, B, C, D, etc.?
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