...I should probably dedicate a permanent page to explaining where I get each number instead of constantly linking back or re-explaining stuff every time I write one of these posts. Not bothering today.
BASICS:
The fourteen 'Mechs from the 1985 boxed set are the most common. They make up about 3/4ths of the 55000 'Mechs which exist in 3025, and half of the 2867 built each year. Extant chassis and annual production both average 49 tons per 'Mech. Extant 'Mechs break down as 30% light, 40% medium, 20% heavy, 10% assault, and I've not found a reason yet to think annual production breaks down differently.
LIGHT 'MECHS:
12500 Locusts, Wasps and Stingers in existence with 430 (in 32:42:51 ratio) built each year. This is my benchmark for "slow" turnover.
4000 other light 'Mechs in existence with 430 built each year, including 130 Valkyries/yr, 142 Panthers, 109 Commandos, and 16 Spiders. That leaves 33/yr between remaining types.
TR3025 recognizes the Stinger, Wasp, Valkyrie and Panther as still in production. It implies the Spider to be out of production, and ends Firestarter and Jenner production rather dramatically, yet HM:FWL and HS:LC put the Spider and Firestarter back in production in the outer reaches of Marik and Lyran space. So why not the Jenner too? Or the light 'Mechs whose status TR:3025 doesn't specify?
Basing them on their state's overall production - Javelin 7, Jenner 6, Firestarter 5, and UrbanMech 4 - is a natural first guess. Assuming they have "slow" turnover, the total number in existence matches up well against how many the Spider would get with its "fast" turnover.
This leaves 11/yr for the Ostscout. The Spider and the Ostscout debuted in CityTech, so maybe it's not surprising that they could have higher production than the others.
OST MECHS:
The Ost series are the only 'Mechs that TR3025 acknowledges as having been produced by a Sol-based manufacturer. I figure Terra produces 25 'Mechs/yr in 3025; 11 Ostscouts plus 14 Ostrocs or Ostsols would bring their average to exactly 49 tons per 'Mech.
CYCLOPSES:
I think the Cyclops may be built by Kurita. It uses the same "Zeus" model autocannon as Kurita's Slayer Aerospace Fighter and shares its "Hovertech" and "Delta Dart" missile launchers (as well as overall layout and design) with Kurita's Quickdraw.
MW1e (p144) calls Al Na'ir the "counterpart" to Quentin. TR:3025 gives Al Na'ir Atlases like Quentin, and building Cyclopses would give it a counter to Quentin's Victors too (plus balance out the inefficiency of Quentin's JagerMechs).
My reflex is to match Cyclops production rate to the Victor's, but I don't really 100% trust that the Victor's is exactly 20/yr.
HEAVY & ASSAULT 'MECHS
Notice how bringing the BattleMaster, Thunderbolt and Crusader in line with the other BT2e heavies brings that total to 125, same as the FWL bug 'Mechs? The bugs were scaled down from Sphere-wide totals and I believe these are too.
Supposing the 2e heavies + assault are meant to be half of all heavies + assaults, then I can figure annual production for
BattleMasters at 84 to 86,That fits with TR:3025's fluff about Riflemen being uncommon and Crusaders being relatively common. Giving BattleMasters a "fast" turnover lets them be uncommon but still prominent.
Warhammers at 74 (slight chance of 75) ,
Marauders at 73 (slight chance of 72),
Crusaders at 72 or 73,
Archers at 51 or 52,
Thunderbolts at 44 or 45,
and Riflemen at 26 to 29,
for a total of 430 altogether.
Only (430+22) light 'Mechs rate "slow" attrition each year. There are 2/3rds as many heavy 'Mechs as light 'Mechs, so only (2/3)*(430+22) = 301.3 heavy 'Mechs should rate "slow" attrition. Summing the six 2e heavies would put us 42.7 to 44.7 over the limit. That looks a lot like Thunderbolts should be bumped to "fast" attrition.
Don't know if I need to do anything special about Archers. They seem low.
The Banshee throws a wrench into things. Pretty sure TR:3025 talks about lightening Stalkers because a few hundred are getting squeezed out of the assault class.
Stingers are giving me trouble. 656/year from 2479 to 2784 gives 200,080 built by the fall of the Star League. 175/year (51/125 * 430) from 2784 to 3025 adds 42175 to make 242,255 built. Even if Kerensky took zero with him, 5100 remaining after 241 years means a loss rate of less than 2%/year. Your production totals of 2700 Mechs /year across 385 regiments of 128 each is almost 5.5%. So production looks to me to be more than twice losses.
ReplyDeleteThat's balanced out by the less common 'Mechs having much higher turnover.
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