Pathfinder Run #2: Amazon Runaway

My second scenario has long since come and gone. The main elements were a merchant, an unlucky town, some Amazon bandits, and an Amazon runaway; the main clues were a matching set of jewelry and a regionally popular bard duo.

probably inspired by this  (found via Zak)

The Amazons:

• could deflect arrows and magic rays using their bracers 
• had all been kidnapped and brainwashed as children
• rode three apiece (one hidden) on tank-sized rhinoceros beetles
• had spears which drained constitution, spells & spell slots

FWL 3025: Regimental Compositions (part 3)

Is the number of FWL assault battalions proportionate to its rate of assault 'Mech production? If so, then battalion weights can be my guide to FWL Aerospace and LAM production too.

Assault Regiments: the FWL has only two. The way the 6th Marik Militia describes its three assault battalions makes me think the 20th Marik Militia probably has two. (That regiment might consist of two battalions total.)

Heavy Regiments: the composition of five are known and include two assault battalions. If the other twelve regiments are similar, they'd add another 4.8 assault battalions.

Medium Regiments: the compositions of twelve are known and (assuming the Border Protectorate's Iron Guards and Steel Guards entries are a little mixed up) include a single assault battalion. If the other eleven regiments are similar, they'd add another .92 assault battalions.

Light Regiments: the compositions of four light regiments are known, and (assuming the Iron Guards and Steel Guards entries are mixed up) none are known to possess assault battalions. The compositions of eleven more are unknown.

Unknown Regiments: the 25th Marik Militia is listed on the 3025 deployment tables, but not included in the regimental descriptions. Based on the 57 regiments given, I'll abstract it as containing .19 assault battalions.

Land-Air 'Mechs: the four known light regiments include 2.25 battalions of LAMs; if the other eleven are similar, they'd add another 6.2 battalions. The twelve known medium regiments include 1.67 battalions of LAMs; if the other eleven are similar, they'd add another 1.5 battalions. No heavy or assault regiments are noted to possess LAM battalions, and based on the 57 regiments given, I'll abstract the 25th Marik Militia as containing .2 LAM battalions.

This gives the FWL about 14 assault battalions (8 known and 6 more estimated). That's about 7.78% of the regiments claimed in HM:FWL, while assault 'Mechs are 6.8% of the FWL's annual production--pretty close. Based on that, the FWL's 11.8 LAM battalions (3.9 known plus 7.9 estimated) imply that at least 29 of the Stingers, Wasps and Phoenix Hawks built annually in the FWL are actually LAMs.

Page 115's production table doesn't list LAM variants explicitly the way it does Wolverine-Ms and Marauder-Ms, though, and the LexaTech entry in House Kurita: The Draconis Combine also hints at separating LAM production from BattleMech production. Pending how other Houses shake out, I think I'll peg the FWL at a little less than 12 assault battalions (34/500ths (ie, the production ratio) of its non-LAM battalions) and 12 LAM battalions (11.8/166ths (ie, the previously estimated ratio) of its non-assault battalions), and count LAM production as part of AeroSpace production:

FWL 3025: Regimental Compositions (part 2)

First off, despite a handful of instances of poor phrasing, none of Marik's battalions appear to stick to a single weight class. E.g., the "three full-strength battalions of assault 'Mechs" which make the 6th Marik Militia a "shining gem" include a "jump-jet equipped Ostroc" without batting an eye.

My working theory is that battalion weights line up with the RPG's lance weight table. So light battalions would average 165 tons per lance, mediums 205 tons, heavies 245 tons and, extending the pattern, assault battalions would average 285 tons per lance. Haven't tested it too thoroughly yet since the regimental listings only call out about 17 battalions' worth of 'Mech designs.

from images on Sarna

Land-Air 'Mechs: 4 battalions
Hermes IIs: almost 4 battalions
Wolverine-Ms: about 2 battalions
Archers: over 1 battalion
Trebuchets: about 1 battalion
Crusaders: less than 1 battalion
Wasps: about half a battalion
Griffins: about half a battalion
Locusts: about half a battalion
Orions: about a company
Stalkers: about a company
Spiders: about a company
Marauder-Ms: about a company
Awesomes: about two lances
Goliaths: about two lances
Stingers: one to two lances of trainer 'Mechs
Vulcans: about a lance
Cicadas: about a lance
BattleMasters: about a lance

That's most of the 'Mech types produced inside the Free Worlds League. Phoenix Hawks aren't mentioned except for a single LAM. Warhammers, Hunchbacks, Shadow Hawks, Quickdraws and Riflemen aren't mentioned at all. My guess is that the 'Mechs ranked high on that list are disproportionately numerous in the Free Worlds League, while lower ranked 'Mechs occupy a fraction of the military similar to their fraction in other Successor States.

Also, some 'Mechs are more prominent than you'd guess just from their production numbers, which may indicate higher production in past centuries--we already know that the Trebuchet was "produced in large quantities on Irian" in the First Succession War, and that Goliath and Hermes II production isn't what it used to be either.

I divided each 'Mech's total (from the list above) by its annual production.
I suspect the ones above the red line used to have higher annual production.

A few units not produced in the Free Worlds League got called out too. A Zeus and a Chippewa, salvaged form the Lyrans; an Ostroc, a Cyclops and a Mackie, all known to be long out of production anywhere; one or two lances of Chameleon trainer 'Mechs, which had no current production site until TR:3058; and about a lance of Centurions, which had no current production site until TR:3050 carried a typo forward from House Davion: The Federated Suns. I find the Centurion especially interesting, considering its history with the Trebuchet and that the Lyrans are known to favor one of its variants.

Other items of interest...

• "each [Orloff] Grenadier regiment is organized in classic fashion, with three composite battalions each containing one heavy, one medium, and one light company."
• "the Stewart DropShips that used to carry Crusaders and Goliaths now carry beat-up Wolverine-Ms and Hermes IIs," which hints that past production of the former at least loosely parallels current production of the latter. 
• The 1st Oriente Fusiliers possess four modified Stalkers, which makes me wonder how many in the FWL have been modified to the 70-75 ton "lite" variants.
• The 3rd Oriente Fusiliers' assault battalion "includes a dozen 'Mechs of more than 80 tons," which makes me wonder if the FWL's Banshees are hiding in heavy battalions (three Trebuchets plus a Banshee makes 245 tons) or if the FWL might have a low Banshee fraction overall.
• "The 5th has the heaviest ordnance in the Fusiliers" with an assault battalion of Orions, Awesomes, Goliaths and Stalkers and two heavy battalions noted for including "ten Marauder-Ms," which makes Marauder-Ms sound like they're usually reserved for assault battalions. 
• The 3rd Oriente Hussars "is heavily stocked with older model 'Mechs (Archers, Griffins, Wasps)," a 'Mech plant on the planet Cameron produced its first run of Archers and Wasps for the Principality of Regulus in 2478 "from plans purloined from the Lyran Commonwealth," and "Gibson Federated had been producing Wolverine-M BattleMechs at a tremendous pace" at least by 2562.

FWL 3025: Regimental Compositions (part 1)

I've been wondering how to discuss the FWL's 3025 Regimental listings for weeks now. I can't keep putting it off if I ever want to get around to Lyran 'Mech production, though, so I'll just run through bare-bones observations.

To start with, the compositions of only 23 regiments (and 8 independent battalions) are described or can be inferred. We don't even know how many battalions the other regiments have, since the Capellans and Periphery (the only House books to consistently reach that level of detail) list some regiments as two battalions strong instead of three. (I should probably revisit that issue in the future.)

AeroSpace Weights

The weight listed for each regimental wing looks like it might be influenced by the weight of the regiment's battalions.

Assault Regiments (all two of them): heavy weight wings;
Heavy Regiments: mostly heavy or medium wings, only three (including one with an assault battalion) have a light wing;
Medium Regiments: split pretty evenly between heavy, medium and light;
Light Regiments: split pretty evenly between medium and light wings, with a slight (maybe insignificant) tendency for excessively light regiments to take light wings.

The single example wing has five Stingrays, two Cheetahs, and a recently captured Lyran Chippewa. (That recent action may be why the wing is at half strength.) Given the range of weights, I'd guess that each air lance would be rolled individually.

Infantry and Armor Support

Looking at the merc units, infantry support seems to be a prerequisite for tank support, in the same way that air support is a prerequisite for DropShips and DropShips are prerequisite for JumpShips. There's no telling just how much support is actually present, though.

(The Davion book lists these types of support for its merc units too, but it has exceptions to the Fighter - DropShip - JumpShip progression, and at a glance I see no pattern at all to its ground support.)


Next Time: the 'Mechs

FWL 3025 Manufacturing: AeroSpace Fighters

From left: 100-ton Rievers, 60-ton Stingrays, 25-ton Cheetahs

Based on my earlier figures, the Free Worlds League should have 1100 fighters attached to 'Mech units, and (assuming the same number per collar as for 'Mech units) perhaps another 380 attached to their navy. House Marik: The Free Worlds League (hereafter "HM:FWL") says eight factories build 325 per year. Modeling their outputs on the 'Mech production sites, I'd expect them to produce 90, 74, 58, 39, 33, 21, 6 and 4 fighters respectively.

• The six fighters from 1st edition AeroTech--the Sabre, Centurion, Lightning, Hellcat, Eagle and Thunderbird--are, by all accounts, common and manufactured in every Successor State. The "standard" 'Mechs from the 2nd edition set make up about 65% of the FWL's 'Mech production, so I imagine these six fighters constitute a similarly high percentage of the FWL's fighter production.
• The planets Westover and Lopez both have factories for the Stingray and the Riever (HM:FWL page 126). TR:3025 calls the Riever the FWL's "impressive mainstay" and the Stingray merely "common." Free Worlds Defense Industries (merger of Gibson Federated BattleMechs and Andurien Aerotech) is a larger corporation than Earthwerks despite building 70 fewer 'Mechs; aerospace production probably makes up the difference.
• The Helm asteroid belt has aerospace fighter bays (HM:FWL page 79); it's mentioned alongside both of Kali Yama's 'Mech plants, so I suspect it's also a Kali Yama production site.
• The planet Marik, in addition to being the military capital of the Free Worlds League, has an Imstar Aerospace facility (HM:FWL page 154). Imstar's light Cheetah is said to be Marik's standard fighter and is probably produced at other sites as well (TR:3025).
• The planet Atreus has an unnamed aerospace fighter production facility. (HM:FWL page 153)
• The planet Bordon, home of Allied Aerospace (from TR:3025), probably produces aerospace craft. (It was hit in the same deep raid which destroyed the "secret" factory on Ling; HM:FWL page 44.)
• The Principality of Regulus may have a Corsair factory (based on TR:3025). Given Regulus' share of the military, I'd expect such a facility to produce 18-26 fighters (not necessarily all Corsairs).

The regimental writeups (including merc battalions and extra Andurien wings) show roughly 2/7 of Marik's fighter formations to be light, 3/7 medium and 2/7 heavy. Can't say for sure if production weights break down the same way, but it's a starting point.

From left: 100-ton Thunderbirds or 75-ton Eagles,
60-ton Hellcats or 50-ton Lightnings, 30-ton Centurions or 20-ton Sabres

JumpShips in 3025

TL;DR? 920 Invaders, 540 Merchants, 225 Scouts (spread around 340 border systems), 160 Star Lords, 65 Monoliths, and 90 more obscure types. At most 14/36ths of a military's 'Mech regiments can be sent on planetary assault missions, and those missions require an average commitment of 1 jump collar per 4 'Mechs (to account for attack ships, continual supply and whatever else).

[Edit, 2019 Oct 6: better estimate here. /Edit]

FWL 3025 Manufacturing: Lost in Oriente

Looking at a map, it seems to me that the...

Regulan Hussars are supplied from Gibson and Wallis
    (66 'Mechs per year / 15 battalions)
Defenders of Andurien are supplied from Shiro III
    (62 'Mechs per year / 15 battalions)
Protectorate Guard, Sirian Lancers and Silver Hawks are supplied from Kalidasa and Oliver
    (89 'Mechs per year / 21 battalions)
Stewart Dragoons are supplied from Stewart
    (28 'Mechs per year / 6 battalions)
Fusiliers of Oriente, Oriente Hussars and Orloff Grenadiers are supplied from Calloway IV
    (44 'Mechs per year / 39 battalions)
Marik and federal forces are supplied from Irian, Keystone, Thermopolis, Kendall, Tematagi and Savannah
    (197 'Mechs per year / 81 battalions)

Oriente doesn't make sense. They should produce at least 50 more 'Mechs per year to support that many battalions. 

 
The House Marik book says "another seven production lines are currently shut down (due to component shortages) or disabled." (From context I think it means production sites, so Irian's dormant Guillotine line doesn't count). Seven inactive sites, plus four semi-active sites inferred from production numbers, should make eleven. I've identified maybe ten candidates:

• In 2987, Lyran regiments crippled a much-prized "secret" light 'Mech manufacturing facility being constructed on Ling. (House Marik, page 44)
• Marik's capture of Asuncion and Bernardo in 2840 significantly scaled down Capellan BattleMech production capability. Known lines include Crusaders (Kallon) and Fleas (Earthwerks). Liao began trading secretly with Asuncion in 2995. (House Marik page 34, House Liao pages 52 and 120, Wolf's Dragoons page 105, and TR:3050)
• Kong Interstellar on Connaught produces some Ostsol parts. (TR3050)
• A major storehouse on Bordon contains the bulk of Allied Aerospace's Phoenix Hawk LAM program. (TR:3025) This is as (or more) promising as what's said of Spiders, Vulcans, Trebuchets, Shadow Hawks, Goliaths and BattleMasters, which comprise 15% of the Free Worlds League's annual production. 
• StarCorp Industries has at least one Longbow production line in the Free Worlds League. The original Stardate writeup says it's manufactured in limited numbers in "most" of the Successor States, but I don't know which (if any) worlds are listed; TR:3058 lists one world each for Marik, Steiner and Davion, but claims in the text that all three lie in the Free Worlds League. 
• The Abbey District and Duchy of Tamarind are the only multi-world provinces with neither strong neighbors nor known production facilities. Although they're described as "torn apart" by the war, they might (like the Zion Province) possess disabled 'Mech production sites. 

Asuncion, Bernardo, Emris IV and Ling all lie in Oriente's sphere of influence. I'm inclined to place two of my inferred Stinger lines in the Earthwerks facilities on Asuncion and Bernardo, because switching from Stingers in the 3025 House book to Fleas in TR:3050 is convenient for continuity. Oriente's shortfall could be explained by unused capacity (lines shut down due to component shortages) on those or other worlds.

Another possibility is that Oriente builds more aerospace fighters or tanks than the other major provinces, and trades to make up its shortfall in 'Mechs.


To be continued later.