Firestarter
07/22/15 11:16 PM
67.251.72.165
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I want to start making my own company for battletech and wanted to know if any one had any suggestion/help on the subject.
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ghostrider
07/22/15 11:47 PM
76.89.121.69
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First, are you going to deal with money?
Second, are you going to try and make a unit that could be used in canon stories?
Granted the standard questions about like time, clan or innersphere, type of role you forsee with the unit.
Missions are another factor in making a unit. That determines the type of not only mechs but vehicles as well, which almost means figure out if you will be pure mech or mixed.
The numbers is another factor. By company, are you saying 12 unit company or a merc company?
Region of space will be another factor, though if you are not worried about money, then this may not apply either. Getting a Jenner while in the FWL isn't likely, and mainly salvaged mechs in the fedcom areas.
Another question is are all pilots players or are some npc's? I know this sounds stupid, but that can determine what type of units you want. If they are just guards for the dropships, having a lance of 3025 atlases isn't the ideal way to do that.
Hell, even dropships might determine your choices. A single union is not going to allow 12 mechs with anything other then 2 aerofighters. No infantry. No vehicles.
If part of a group, you need to find out what the whole group would like.
Simple raids would mean faster mechs, and the annihilator is not one of those. An assault unit will probably stay away from stingers.
More crap then most want to deal with. So I would suggest figuring what weights and either rolling for units or picking and go with it.
Having fun is the purpose of the game.
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Firestarter
07/23/15 12:01 AM
67.251.72.165
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Oh sorry. I meant mech making company. Not a military group of mechs.
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ghostrider
07/23/15 03:13 AM
76.89.121.69
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It's ok. Not the first time.
Some of the same questions to apply.
I would say go for it, since it would allow you to use it in your campaigns.
Use it as a basis to hire the players for things like defense, acquire things like technology or supplies. Even test designs in combat.
This would even work for players outside of their mechs. (Gasp)
Time period and location is a good place to start.
Otherwise, Kj and Donkey seem to have their running as well as can't spell his name, sorry drag..
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Drasnighta
07/23/15 04:44 PM
198.53.98.65
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Within your own campaigns, within your own settings and stories - it is definately a case of "do what you feel is awesome..."
The trickiest part is always making it seem "fair" when it comes to sharing with the greater world.
I can only speak from my personal standpoint here, but this is basically the steps I went through:
- Establish a Background.
Why is the Company being created. Who created it. When is it being created. To what purpose.
"Heretic BattleMechs are being created to come up with some unconventional and effective designs. It is being created by Hauptmann Kyle Lyson (Ret.) after he has suffered injury in the twilight of the Clans campaign, leading into the Jihad.
- Establish a Location.
Where is it being created - which Successor state - which planet - which landhold? Why that location?
"Heretic BattleMechs are being founded on Gallery. I found a piece of information that said Dynamics Corp. of Gallery have always wanted to try to branch into Work-and/or-BattleMech production, but never got it off the ground itself. In MechWarrior rules, Hauptmann Lyson has a fairly decent SOC score, and a High level Contact(3) that was never really defined, which may be the Planetary Ruler, Lisa Steiner. This would give them a small basis to work with, with support."
- Establish Ground Rules.
How big of a company will it be? If it has production, what is its production rate like? Who do they target their designs for?
"Heretic Battlemechs is not a big company. As it is still a private owned company, not publicly traded, its Designs might barely be known outside of the Donegal Province of the Lyran Alliance. To keep its 'small, unknown' nature, I'll limit it to a 'Mech or two of prototype production a year, much like a Solaris Stable. On that note, I'll also make them more concerned on the Design aspect, then the mass production."
- Flesh out the Ancillary.
Who are the other important people? If it is a Production company, where is the corporate security from? Do they hire other Mercenaries? Who is in charge of the company now?
"Heretic BattleMechs has a small detachment of CorpSec Infantry, backed up by a Lance of active designs, and approximately a lance of designs undergoing testing. Most of their CorpSec is focused on industrial espionage, as military engagement is unlikely due to both the Planet's location nearer the interior of the Alliance, and in the fact that Gallery is otherwise a miserable dark deadball with little to offer an attacker in favourable terrain."
In the end... I firmly believe that Writing trumps most things... If you can come up with a reason as to why something is done, I'll believe it all the same. The BattleTech Universe is surprisingly defined, but there is obvious dead-spaces where people can fit their little niche in...
So my biggest suggestion is to put thought into it... If they have "X", then at least put a cursory explanation as to *why* and *how* they have it... That's all. 
CEO Heretic BattleMechs.
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KamikazeJohnson
07/23/15 06:27 PM
24.114.40.234
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Unlike Dras who clearly put a lot of forethought into his company, Johnson 'Mechworks was born out of my general ignorance of the Battletech universe.
I was using The Drawing Board at the time for designing 'Mechs, which gives a list of manufacturers for nearly every component of the board. It also allows the user to enter Manufactured By and Location info. So I came up with Johnson 'Mechworks, made my namesake, Alvin "Kamikaze" Johnson (Mechwarrior RPG character I created but never got to use) the founder, and started being consistent with the manufacturers I chose. Set the Primary Factory location to Soul (even though I have no idea where that is!) because I liked the name.
JMInc, at first was a design firm, not a manufacturer...they designed schematics and had enough of a factory to build working models, concept models, and the occasional prototype. Set around the beginning of the Fourth Succession War, JMInc. designed with 3025 tech...bizarre monstrosities that no sane mitary would touch...hence the company's abrupt bankruptcy.
Basically, the backstory (and front story) of JMInc grew as I fluffed out design after design, and the more flawed the design, the better the story, and the more my picture of the company grew.
So basically, give your company a reason to exist, a means of fitting into the Battletech universe, and then have fun with it! You'd be surprised at how much it grows all on its own.
Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.
--Thomas Jefferson
Edited by KamikazeJohnson (07/23/15 06:33 PM)
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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
07/26/15 03:31 AM
71.170.162.49
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Quote:
ghostrider writes:
Kj and Donkey seem to have their running as well as can't spell his name, sorry drag..
Do you or others think that I did a good job of explaining of how Assinine Industries came about, or should I go back and rewrite it making corrections?
Do you or others think that I came up with a viable explanation of how Assinine Industries was created and how it continues to expand its product line and what Assinine Industries can and can not do?
I never did get any responses to my posting of the back story to Assinine Industries.
Here is a link to it for the people that don't remember or never read my back story to Assinine Industries. http://www.sarna.net/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/164967/an/0/page/3#164967
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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Akirapryde2006
07/26/15 10:02 AM
71.100.132.249
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Quote:
Drasnighta writes:
The BattleTech Universe is surprisingly defined, but there is obvious dead-spaces where people can fit their little niche in...
This was all well in good back in the 90's when we created our own Industry and Merc Outfit. We found a world in the current books (of the time) that had all of four sentences written about it. We built everything on this premise then come the 2000's and all of a sudden our little dead-space became filled with noise. Very annoying to me. LOL
For us, we created three corporations over time that were owned and operated by the party. The party as a whole funded the start up money and put the profits back in to them to ensure growth.
But the start up of these companies had little to do what made our idea great. What made our idea great was the concepts behind each company. One Industry was called Quantum Tech and was designed as a low tech answer to the modern (3025-2026) battlefield. Using the concept of keeping it simple, so that your average Merc outfit could maintain their equipment with limited resources. The Thunder Chief (designed from the A-10) was intentional designed to accept parts from the Mech Buster and other Conventional fighters. Even before the roll out of the clans, I would like to claim that the Thunder Chief was the first modular weapon system in the Inner Sphere.
Our High Tech Company (New Earth Advanced Technologies, or NEAT) rolled out our first advanced Aerospace fighter. Though more or less a redesign of a SDLF Swift with a change up of weapons for more sensor and counter-measures. This was designed for more high profit sales, like to Houses and such.
CyberDrone was created because a pair of our players were part of the Landwarrior Field testing (we were all in the military during this game). It was lessons learned from those field tests in the mid 90's that gave us the ideas that went in to CyberDrone. More or less, UAV's and more infantry focused production lines. We used the direct influence of the clans for this technologies of this company. Basically we were looking at giving our own infantry a fighting chance against the Clan Elemental without copying the Element like other Houses did.
Harthford Shipyards came in during all this because we noticed some gaping wholes in space combat and vessels. Even before the idea of building warships came along, Harthford was building small craft (based off the drop ship from Aliens) to be used as patrol craft. Using the same concept of keeping it simple, there were no advanced technologies in the first two production models. The craft were fitted with twin LRM 20's, Twin SRM 6's, a AC 10 and a twin Medium Laser Turret off the tail section. It could carry a wheeled APC or two platoons of troops for searching other ships. Space Refueler and AWAC's soon followed as technology started to pick up. Harthford did finally build the Aegis II (which was the most advanced thing we built and might I add our pride)
So this all seems like a lot right? When talking about our world, it was. These four corporations made up almost ten percent of the total employment of the world by the time we ended the game in two thousand something. There was no way we could have done what we wanted to over night. Simply doesn't happen that way. All this was done between 3030 (with some of the ground work started as early as 3025) and reached its apex by 3060. But even at our apex, we were nothing but a speed bump to the Lyrans and they made a point to show us during the 3060 invasion of New Earth.
However it took time to build them up. We had a vision and we worked with it. There were failures along the way, but that didn't make us throw our hands in the air and give up. We pushed forward. Each of our creations followed the rules of creation (even if we took them out of time line, like the TC SRM warhead. We created Shaped Charged Warheads)
But if there is any lesson I can pass on is this. Keep track of the funds. Keep it fair and within the concepts of reality (even if you break cannon, like we did).
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Karagin
07/26/15 02:08 PM
70.118.139.48
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Why is this in the off topic area? It should be in the general discussion board area.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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