Battletech Lore - Civilian Dropships

[@gregdomenico1891]

One of the bad things about the BT novels was that they really didn't mention that many Civilian Drop ships. Occasionally you would get a Monarch, or a Mule; most that they would mention were Civilian Union classes.

[@GrimDarkNarrator]

True, I guess they focused on the military aspects more than most.

[@Lightman0359]

While an artifact of being a PvP skirmish game primarily instead of an RPG with strategy aspects, these civilian vessels, in additional to argo- and carga-mechs and a few vehicles are those little touches of background lore that make Battletech awesome. While garbage in combat, when playing a campaign, these civilian units are essential to the game master, whether as easy escort mission clients , targets for PC pirates or as much needed supply drops for isolated garrisons

[@Lightman0359]

While technically a WarShip due to the compact KF drive, my party was assigned to a modified Faslane-Class yardship with some weapons stripped out to make room for a larger pressurized repair bay and more medical facilities. All the officers in our reinforced regiment doubled as either medics or mechanics on the ship.

[@Dariushellstrome]

I always liked the non military and obscure dropships, we used the mule in a few of our games back when I played as both capture and protect objectives. I kind of wanted to make one the command ship but I was a fan of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and my fellow players thought it was lame

[@GrimDarkNarrator]

That's a good series too, albeit not one for action fans.

[@toddkes5890]

The Mule would also be great for performing raid missions (if you could keep it safe), as you can load a lot of loot on board. You can also install a lot of Mech cubicles on board for your force. To give a comparison for everyone else, here are rough comparisons for the different Dropships if converted to pure cargo carriers: Leopard: 900 tons Union: 2100 tons Overlord: 6300 tons Mule: 8500 tons Of course the first three are military transports and have decent guns/armor, while the last is a relatively fragile ball that will go pop far too easily if someone shoots at it

[@franksmedley8619]

Hello Grim. Again, I think back to the days of my Play Group at the Emperor's Headquarters in Chicago ( which closed it's doors around 2005 or so if memory serves me). The campaign we got involved with amongst the Players was a weekly ongoing one spanning about three or four decades of character time (roughly about 2 years or so of real time), and saw many Players fail to think ahead far enough, although yours truly was not amongst their number... since I chose to procure several Civilian DropShips fairly early on in the campaign. Although the bulk of my Merc Company's DropShips were Union class, I had purchased several others for 'specialist' purposes. In one case that easily comes to mind, there was a Princess class dropship that my Company found partially wrecked. The poor ship having run afoul of Pirates, who had damaged it enough to capture, loot, and leave drifting in the outer regions of that solar system. The Star Lions (my Merc Company) took it upon themselves to salvage the vessel, and over the course of a year, return it to service. NO attempt was made to return it to it's previous owners, since they would have long since collected the Insurance on it (the original 'builder's plaque' was altered to obscure it's origin), and the ship's log indicating the piracy had taken place many years previous to the Merc Company finding it. The Star Lions moved the hulk into low orbit of the colony world in that solar system and went to work. In the process of repairs, the Mercs decided to redesign the ship to better suit their needs, which was not for a luxurious passenger liner. Instead, the ship was refitted and redesigned to suit the Company's needs. During the process of repairs, the dropship was again made atmospherically 'tight' before it was landed on it's repaired and barely functional engines. The rest of the overhaul and rebuilding of the ship took place at an airfield a few dozen miles from the planet's major city. The passenger accommodations were downsized to more 'normal' configurations, and the Arboretum Deck was expanded into a multi-deck Hydroponics section to feed the crew and grow certain hard to obtain foodstuffs. The lower decks pool was actually retained and the bulkheads connecting it to the rest of the ship were strengthened and reinforced. The pool area becoming both a recreational area for the crew, as well as a secondary fresh water supply for the ship as a whole. The cargo areas were 'upgraded' to house 'standard' shipping containers, and such containers were slotted into the cargo bays in a space saving manner that the Cargo Bays were designed for at the outset. This allowed the ship to carry more cargo than it was 'rated' for, since the previous cargo bays were not designed for efficiency, but ease of access. The dropship had it's weapons allotment upgraded as well, although not as heavily as a 'military' dropship's might have been. The Star Lions used this ship primarily as a 'side line' cargo hauler to create an additional source of income for the Company. I do note that on three different occasions it was used to haul troops to battle zones the Company was involved with, and of course, the 'Escape' from House Liao when the House 'back stabbed' the unit overall. In that particular instance, the cargo containers were modified with life support and living spaces, to house the Star Lion's dependents and technical staffs, when the Company... now numbering upwards of a reinforced Regiment, escaped to an unnamed and uncharted world outside the Periphery. The dropship was still functioning and re-engineered using the Helm Memory Core data to update it's systems, armor, structure, and weaponry, when it was spotted cruising along with the Ghost Lions Legion's other vessels, 50+ years later. This is an example of what one can do, if one thinks ahead far enough. Although expensive to rebuild and modify, the hulk found and claimed was far cheaper than buying a normal passenger or bulk carrier dropship at the time. Later on, with funds generated by the Princess dropship (renamed Helen O'Loy), the Company was able to purchase and recondition a few older cargo dropships that also saw themselves being redesigned and rebuilt for the Company's needs. All in all, if memory still serves me, the Ghost Lions returned to the Inner Sphere with well over 50 dropships of various makes and classes... most of which were still Union class vessels. Just some memories... spoken Frank-ly

[@franksmedley8619]

Oh, as an addendum... I should mention that the repairs and rebuilding of the Princess dropship was a 'boon' to the local economy, in that the Star Lions hired anyone and nearly everyone they could lay their hands on to build the scaffolding to support the rebuild, provide parts, ship in parts and supplies for the effort, and employ hundreds of miners (eventually having thousands upon the Unit's payrolls) to reopen closed mines to supply needed metals. This led to the reopening of steel works, machine factories, and other businesses on the planet (the planet's economy was so bad that even the lowest paying job was 'riches' to the planetary inhabitants). By the time the dropship lifted off world at last, over half the civilian population of the planet was working either directly for, or supporting the Star Lion's efforts. And I might mention that the planet was located in a star system outside the Magistracy of Canopus, which allowed a relatively short supply route for the specialized parts needed to repair the dropship. Without which the effort would have taken well over a decade, and not the single year it took to get it 'space worthy' again, and redesigned to the Star Lion's needs. In the end, the planet was left with a thriving economy, and bulk shipping metals and some finished goods to both the Magistracy and the Taurians. Also, due to the Star Lions efforts, what had been a 'hard scrabble' world turned into a mini powerhouse of shipping, manufacturing, and bulk materials supply... including bulk foodstuffs (the Star Lions having designed a simple, partially buried, enclosed, hydroponics facility to feed and employ the citizenry). The Star Lions maintained good relations with the planet and it's population until events forced them to leave the Sphere decades later. The planetary government, in thanks for the Star Lion's efforts, gave them a 20% savings on all transactions, 'most favored' trade status, and 'adopted' the Unit as honorary citizens of that world. For their part, the Star Lions used the world for bulk food supplies, bulk metals, and some manufactured goods that the planet could provide.

[@GrimDarkNarrator]

That's going into a lot of detail :)

[@franksmedley8619]

@@GrimDarkNarrator Yes, I agree Grim, that it was a lot of detail... but, it also gave context as to how and why I did what I did at the time, and later on as I played with my old Playing Group at the Emperor's Headquarters game shop in Chicago. It also gave your followers an idea of how to improve their lot by taking advantage of the 'depressed' economies of the 3rd tier Inner Sphere worlds, and those of the Periphery as well. A single Merc Company of any decent size can be a major powerhouse to 'kick start' a planet's economy, as well as get it to the point where it becomes a more valuable world in it's area of space. On another topic... mainly Battlemechs... I would like you to look into a sadly, and very under-rated Mech... the Whitworth. This little 40 ton Mech packs a decent punch for it's weight as a 3025 era Mech in the game. I used it extensively, and came to appreciate it's virtues on the battlefield, as well as it's ease to keep running and supplied. Just a thought, spoken Frank-ly

[@eyesofstatic9641]

I read that all and it was pretty sweet dude

[@brandonbeedle5278]

4:32 Oh they'll be around til Gabriel blows his horn, unfortunately.

[@douglasbaker4562]

Majesty Metals and Manufacturing? I know that from the Harebrained Schemes Battletech Computer Game, as one of the first Mission OpFor! This is a great Easter Egg! Civilian does not mean boring!

[@GrimDarkNarrator]

I agree.

[@Da5hau]

Encountered sometimes when playing Mechwarrior (Pen n Paper).

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

NO,...that is what space busses, large civil freighters are for,

[@georgesulea]

Very cool. I can only imagine flying something that large...

[@GrimDarkNarrator]

They're still tiny compared to 40k ships :D

[@toddkes5890]

Bumper sticker seen on a Mammoth class cargo Dropship: "Where does a 52,000 ton Dropship land? Wherever it wants"

[@tyreecebaker6600]

👍

[@Diarmuhnd]

Am I 1st ? GIVE ME ALL YOUR STUFFs. :)