# 'Mechs Controlled By Local Nobles in 3025

[Three funerals and a wedding in the span of six weeks; that's life, I guess. Sorry for not having this up earlier.]

TL;DR? Houses Steiner, Davion and Liao seem to reckon second-line forces as

70 / 5 + 2 = 16 Davion second-line regiments
50 / 5 + 2 = 12 Steiner second-line regiments
40 / 5 + 2 = 10 Liao second-line regiments

and Marik, Davion and Liao count their nominal regiments as

70 *1.1 + 1 = 78 nominal Davion House regiments
50 *1.1 + 1 = 56 nominal Marik House regiments
40 *1.1 + 1 = 45 nominal Liao House regiments
20 *1.1 + 1 = 23 nominal Liao Merc regiments

Consider the following:

The Lyran Guard
(12 regiments: 3 Elite - 6th, 11th, 15th;
5 Veteran - 3rd, 10th, 14th, 19th, 26th;
2 Regular - 30th, 36th; 2 Green - 24th, 32nd)    
     House Steiner has always maintained a large standing force of household 'Mechs culled from both personal planetary forces and from companies promoted for valor from other Regular regiments.
(MW1e, p117)

It's ambiguous as to whether the Lyran Guard includes all private forces, but it is trying to cover more than just the warrior fiefs described in the boxed sets. The Federated Suns' March Militias seem pretty similar.

Militia units are composed of many regiments that are often spread out over several worlds... (HD:FS, p127) These are regimental 'Mech units raised from local and regular soldiers and officers. (HD:FS, p133) Each PDZ ... raises the money and provides the manpower to field a single RCT, consisting of one BattleMech regiment (of ancient but still combat worthy 'Mechs), two armored regiments, five infantry regiments, a company of artillery, and AeroSpace Fighter support. ... Many of the troops serving in Militia units are regular military soldiers and officers who either requested or were transferred to a Militia unit near their homeworld. The remainder of Militia units are composed of soldiers trained at the PDZ's military training school. (HD:FS, p125) 

Now, HD:FS (p125) counts 78 regimental House units, including 24 March Militias (HD:FS, p145). The militia units have less artillery than a front line RCT, less heavy infantry, and only two armor regiments instead of three, so shouldn't they have fewer 'Mechs too? Counting them at two battalions each instead of three brings the House force to its proper strength of 70 regiments.

	Front Line	+	March Militia	=	Total
Nominal Commands	54	+	24	=	78
Actual Force	54	+	16	=	70

Likewise, counting 30 Capellan line regiments as three battalions each and 15 reserve regiments as two battalions each brings House Liao to its proper strength of 40.

The present-day Capellan armed service is composed of some 30 regular line regiments and 15 reserve regiments, backed by approximately 15 independently organized mercenary units of varying sizes and strengths, and eight specially trained and equipped Warrior House regiments. (HL:CC, p5)

It's a bit of a mess trying to figure out which Liao regiments are meant to be front line or second line, mind you. The Marik and Kurita books don't cleanly mark that either; but at least in the Marik book, we can figure the 20 or 21 regiments without flavor text as the ones with only two battalions each.