Akirapryde2006
08/18/15 12:39 AM
71.100.132.249
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So I was researching some facts regarding Interstellar
I discovered something really funny and I don't think the authors really considered this once they created this universe.
So I pose this question to all of you. But first some rules, you are not allow to look up the answer. Only looking for your best guess.
How many Dropsships does it take to move a full Regimental Combat Team or Corps from planet to orbit in one trip?
How many Jumpships does it take to move that same unit from one system to another in one jump?
The answers might surprise you. Or maybe it wont.
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happyguy49
08/18/15 03:48 AM
98.30.242.159
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A regiment? So, like 3 battalions? As far as I know the exact composition of a regimental combat team isn't strictly defined, but lets say its like a full 'Mech regiment and then a bunch of vehicles and infantry. I'm gonna say three Overlords, one Excalibur? Maybe a Mule for a few thousand tons of food, fuel, supplies, and replacement parts. Maybe also one of the infantry-specific dropships such as the Gazelle or Nagumo. Seems about right to me.
One Star Lord class jumpship would be able to transport your average RCT it seems. Am I missing something?
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Akirapryde2006
08/18/15 04:09 AM
71.100.132.249
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On the smaller end of the scale that is pretty close. But as I was researching, I found that RCTs are much larger than that. A RCT normally consists of a regiment of BattleMechs, three regiments of combat vehicles, five regiments of infantry, two aerospace fighter wings, and a battalion of artillery. Though the Fed-Com RCT are typically a bit larger than that.
So I played around and found these numbers. They might be a bit generous, But I wanted to make sure I covered all the needs. Either way, when a RCT goes on the move a lot ships take parts.
2 Monolith Class Jumpships
3 Starlord Class Jumpships
3 Invader Class Jumpships
3 Tramp Class Jumpships
01 Fortress Class Dropships
01 Overlord Class Dropships
03 Overlord Command Class Dropships
12 Triumph Class Dropships
10 Hercules Class Dropships
16 Condor Class Dropships
01 Mule Class Dropships
03 Seeker Class Dropships
04 Condor Class Medical Ships
05 Buccaneer Class Dropships
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Frabby
08/18/15 10:57 AM
87.164.157.251
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We had an old thread on this very topic back in 2006, where I tried to guesstimate a reasonable DropShip allocation to transport a RCT here.
This was based, as explained earlier in the thread, on the observation from BattlePack: Fourth Succession War that 8 RCTs fit in "over three hundred DropShips", which results in over 37.5 DropShips per RCT which I rounded up to 40 for convenience.
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ghostrider
08/18/15 11:57 AM
76.89.121.69
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An rtc is a regiment of mech, 3 armor regiments and 5 infantry regiments as the target goal. I believe the 5th crusius (spellling?) lancers use more armor and have like a company to a battalion of mechs.
Not to sound picky, but what era are you talking about?
Also are you wanting the smallest number or does it matter?
Also do you want supplies for them included? Since you did say orbit and not a mission. This will change the count as well.
Also, I would assume you are talking just combat units, and not things like coolant trucks, normal riding vehicles and such.
Newer dropships like the conquistador would be optimal for moving company combat team. As well as the Tramp jumpship not being available to anyone outside of comstar before the 2750 tro came out as information from the helm core.
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Akirapryde2006
08/18/15 01:41 PM
71.100.132.249
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@ghostrider:
you raise some good points.
I was talking about the Fed-Com RCT's during the 3040's and 3050's
I was talking about a full combat deployment, so yes supplies should be taken in to consideration. And you are right, I can see how that would change everything.
What surprised me was the large number of drops needed to deploy this massive large unit as well as the Jumpships needed.
And this is just one unit. When I looked back at Operation Serpent and the units involved. I read the books of the Inner Sphere invasion of Huntress. The books didn't reflect the number of jumpships involved in this massive fleet.
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Frabby
08/18/15 04:36 PM
87.164.157.251
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A pet theory of mine (actually several layers of theory) is as follows:
1. ComStar was operating a massive merchant fleet at least up until the WoB schism.
2. The Monolith class is fluffed as being used only by the militaries of the Successor States or Clans in TRO3057, with only fifty vessels serving the IS militaries (half of them in the Draconis Combine).
However, the class cannot be quite so rare as it is one of the five "standard" classes as per DropShips and JumpShips and all subsequent publications. If any other class was more numerous then it would have been mentioned among those classic designs. (Magellan does not count as it is a ComStar-only special vessel.)
So where are all those other Monoliths then? Well, obviously they're in ComStar's own hands as part of their merchant fleet, plying the interstellar "bus lines".
3. ...which brings me to the conclusion that ComStar should have been able to supply a number of those vessels, plus the much more common Star Lord, to their allies for Task Force Serpent.
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Akirapryde2006
08/18/15 04:48 PM
71.100.132.249
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@Frabby:
You offer a really good theory there. I could really see Comstar fleets manning the merchant lanes. After all, to the common person, Comstar is not the big vile evil organization that the reads have come to see as. Actually, in many of the books it is reflected that the common person often sees Comstar as the great positive influence in the Inner Sphere. So yes I can really see your theory and even get behind it.
But it doesn't explain how during times of war, how the great houses can move hundreds of divisions. I can see Comstar ships taking a secret role during times of war, but I can't see the Intelligence agencies of the Houses not catching these ships. While the common person might have a positive image of Comstar, I am sure that the House Lords don't.
Okay so lets exclude the first three Succession Wars.
Just look at the Fourth Succession War and the War of 3039 which saw a great number of regiments in motion. This would place a massive strain on any House fleet unless they were much larger than first considered.
Does anyone have any idea how many jumpships are in the typical House Fleet? Has this ever been reflected in any books?
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ghostrider
08/19/15 12:59 AM
76.89.121.69
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I thought comstar had warships in reserve as well. Or is that part of history been changed as well?
In the original dropships and jumpship, it states the invader is the most common jumpship in use. The merchant one states it is the smallest jumpship commonly used by anyone but the successor states.
Now here is a mind boggling thought to try. The planet, Mara, I believe, had the entire cruisis lancers. Would you like to try and figure out the jump point for that?
If I recall there are 8 crusis lancer rcts. If you are lucky, you have 4 dropships per mech regiment, figure overlords for the battalions, and one ship for the command unit. That means atleast 2 jumpships, if you don't have a starlord or monolith. Hopefully you have excaliburs to move mechs with some armor and infantry.
It says during operation Galahad, the suns kept 22 commercial jumpships and 30 commercial dropships they used to move some of the forces in their control. I know comstar was not the only one doing commercial runs with things.
So it is possible they used over 100 jumpships to move just the lancers rtcs. There is no way the numbers of ships holds up right. Even with gutting their commercial lines, there is a hell of alot more then a couple thousand in the innersphere. Tharkad and Hesphatus always have a dozen or more around them. Figure each capital, and district/area capital has the same.
And that isn't including thinking of the supplies needed. You figure a simple raid will require atleast a couple tons of ammo and armor. Figure this. How many tons of lrm ammo would you go thru with a lance of archers not leaving until they are out of ammo? That isn't including other units. And tanks are worse for ammo use, well in the 3025 era. A majority use ammo for their main punch. It was much cheaper to make and lose.
The Lyran commonwealth and Free worlds league are supposed to have the most. Merchant fleets.. And if the jumpships are really that rare, there is no way they could supply all the materials needed throughout the innersphere. Figuring a round trip to and from a system is a week each way, so 2 week round trip. Just moving food and ores between them. What size dropship(s) will you need for this? Just one jumpship.
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Cray
08/19/15 06:09 PM
50.88.145.42
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Quote:
ghostrider writes:
I thought comstar had warships in reserve as well. Or is that part of history been changed as well?
ComStar did have WarShips operating until the 2950s, then mothballed them for a century. By the 3060s, it had a WarShip fleet operating them again. See: Explorer Corps, and Field Manual: Comstar.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Akirapryde2006
08/19/15 09:01 PM
71.100.132.249
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Quote:
Cray writes:
Quote:
ghostrider writes:
I thought comstar had warships in reserve as well. Or is that part of history been changed as well?
ComStar did have WarShips operating until the 2950s, then mothballed them for a century. By the 3060s, it had a WarShip fleet operating them again. See: Explorer Corps, and Field Manual: Comstar.
The Comstar Source Book suggested (though didn't come out and say it) that Comstar had warships operating within the Terra System as part of the SDS.
Though I could be mistaken about this. However it wouldn't surprise me that they did. Seeing how they wanted so badly to protect Terra. Then became the next power to bring war back to the world.
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