Getting Started

There are five types of play in the inner sphere at war campaign. Each with varying levels of commitment and complexity. From most complex to least the types are National Leader, Regimental Commander, Pirate Lord, Mercenary, and Soldier. Gameplay for each can be strikingly different, but all are capable of interacting with each other to make a living, breathing, universe.

### National Leader

A national leader is the commander of a house or periphery nation. It falls on them to lead their people to either victory or ruin. There are a limited number of faction leader slots available. Gameplay for the national leader is centred around orders. Each week national leaders are expected to submit national orders that will drive the inner sphere forward.

Order writing is split into multiple phases.

#### Economics and Logistics Phase

- Calculate Resource Points

- Bank RP

- Infrastructure

- Research technology

- Supply

- Mercenary Supply and Hiring

#### Military Development Phase

- Combat Commands

- Special Operations Teams

- Fortifications

#### Diplomacy Phase

##### **Military Treaties**

**Military Mutual Assistance Treaty**

**Military Non-Aggression Pact**

**Military Defense Treaty**

#### Experience

A Command gains 1 Experience Point (XP) at the end of each Turn in which it was in which it participated in battle. For simplicity, attached aerospace forces have the same XP as their ground-based parent force.

### Regimental Commander

A regimental commander controls a government Combat Command, and more directly the primary regiment of that command. A Regimental commander begins the game with 450 million Cbills with which to build a force. They may purchase anything that is currently in production using availability and cost table.

#### Building a Force

The Commander decides on a unit (or rolls randomly on any era- and faction-appropriate Random Assignment Tables in BattleTech products) and the desired experience level, and then rolls 2D6 against the base availability plus any modifiers to see if the unit may be acquired. If the result is equal to or greater than the modified availability, the unit is acquired. The player then subtracts the cost of the unit from the remaining budget. If more than one cost multiplier applies, they are applied in sequence. Only one Availability Roll may be made per unit per turn, and the player cannot go into debt while building the Force. While limited to only one Availability Roll per unit, players may still roll for close variants, or roll for the same unit with a crew of different experience. After acquiring a unit, it is recommended the player enter it promptly into a TO&E sheet to simplify work later on.

**Large Spacecraft**

Acquiring a DropShip, JumpShip, space station or WarShip is handled differently than the acquisition of smaller units. As in prior publications addressing mercenary Force creation, large spacecraft are procured with only a 2D6 roll rather than cash expenditures. Because of the vast range of possible spacecraft over the many eras of human history, and different levels of their availability, a formula is used to find the target number for the roll. The formulas contain several factors. Each one starts with a base equation, usually based on the cost or mass of the spacecraft. After this equation, which is used for every faction and era, other factors apply. Rarity factors will require careful review of Technical Readout sourcebooks; some suggestions are provided in the Large Spacecraft Procurement Table. Another modifier is the skill of the vessel’s crew. WarShips are only available to those specifically given one by governments. Jumpships are automatically given to you by your host nation.

#### Determine Support Staff

A Force consists of more than frontline soldiers. It also requires administrators for everything from contract negotiation to payroll to procurement to medical services, as well as technicians and logistics personnel. This step addresses the minimum mandatory “behind the scenes” support personnel. Support personnel are calculated in two sub-steps: technical support personnel and administrative personnel. These personnel are not purchased like infantry, but are automatically assigned per the calculations below. Support personnel will require salaries, and they will also require transport along with combatant personnel to new assignments. Both of these factors may incline the controlling player to trim the number of support personnel, even at the risk of compromising Force performance and costs. After determining support personnel, a number of combatant personnel are designated as officers, which impacts salaries.

**Technical Personnel**

A technician team consisting of a tech and six astechs is required for each unit, and for purposes of Force creation one tech team is rigidly assigned to each of the following:

• ’Mech (BattleMech, OmniMech, IndustrialMech)

• Fighter (Aerospace, Conventional)

• ProtoMech Point (5 ProtoMechs)

• Vehicle

• Battle Armor squad (5 troopers)

• 4 Infantry Platoons (112 troopers)

**Administrative Personnel**

The basic administration requirements are one dedicated administrator per ten non-administrative members of the Force, rounded up. These “administrators” include not just “paper pushers” and “bean counters,” but also doctors, intelligence, communications, quartermasters, lawyers and other supporting noncombatant personnel. To determine the number of non-administrative personnel, add together the following:

• Technical personnel calculated above

• 1 person per ’Mech

• 1 person per fighter

• 1 person per ProtoMech

• 1 person per 15 tons of combat vehicle, round up (calculate each vehicle separately)

• 1 person per crewman required by support vehicle (see appropriate Technical Readout)

• 1 person per crewman required by large spacecraft (see appropriate Technical Readout)

• 1 person per trooper in a battle armor Force

• 1 person per infantryman in an infantry Force

**Officers**

The number of officers in a Force impacts salaries, as officers get a larger salary for the heavy burdens they shoulder. (The rank-and-file may have other opinions about the size of that burden.) If the controlling player does not have a preference for the number of officers in the Force, the following guidance is provided:

• 1 officer per ’Mech lance or star

• 1 officer per fighter squadron or star

• 1 officer per ProtoMech point

• 1 officer per Battle Armor squad or point

• 1 officer per combat or support vehicle platoon

• 1 officer per infantry platoon or point

• Mixed-unit small Forces (stars or lances) receive one officer per small Force

• No additional officers for large spacecraft; large spacecraft include officers in their crew calculations

#### Operating Expenses

**Ammunition:** The peacetime consumption of ammunition by ammunition-using units in the Force is one-quarter of the vehicle’s or infantry Force’s ammunition capacity. This represents ammunition spent to maintain the skills of the Force. Divide a unit’s ammunition tonnage and cost of ammunition by 4 to get the monthly peacetime ammunition expenditure. This cost is based on standard ammunition even if the unit normally uses alternate ammunition types (e.g., armor-piercing autocannon ammunition or Artemis IV-compatible LRMs). This represents inexpensive training ammunition being expended.

During combat operations, the controlling player must decide what type of ammunition (if alternates are available) each ammo-expending vehicle and infantry Force is utilizing. For example, a player with an ARC-2R Archer in a 3067-era Force may select the Archer to carry two tons of Thunder LRMs and two tons of semi-guided LRMs. This expenditure must then be tracked. Ammunition weights for any unit other than conventional infantry may be found in the appropriate Unit sheet. The Cost of Ammunition (Per Ton) is as follows.

* LRM - 30,000
* SRM - 27,000
* MG - 1,000
* AC2 - 1,000
* AC5 - 4,500
* AC10 - 6,000
* AC20 - 10,000

**Spare Parts:** Unlike ammunition, fuel and salaries, peacetime consumption of spare parts is generally abstract (unless an incident during Force operation results in distinct damage). Monthly generic spare part consumption (by tonnage) is 0.1 percent of a ’Mech, fighter, vehicle, DropShip, WarShip, or battle armor unit’s mass. Conventional infantry consume 1 percent of a squad infantry compartment’s mass (even foot infantry: they have equipment that sees wear and tear). Space stations and JumpShips, which are lightly stressed vehicles, only use 0.01 percent of their mass in spare parts per month. The cost of the generic spare parts is 10,000 CB per ton for ’Mechs and infantry, 8,000 CB per ton for vehicles, and 15,000 CB per ton for fighters and large spacecraft.

**Fuel:** Monthly fuel consumption is based on a Force’s fuel capacity and usage rate. Fuel capacity is fairly easy to determine, except for jump-capable battle armor and infantry. Fighters, large spacecraft, IndustrialMechs, and support vehicles have clearly established fuel tonnages listed in their respective Technical Readout. Combat vehicles have a fuel capacity equal to 10 percent of their engine mass which can be found on megamek. Jump, mechanized, and motorized conventional infantry use fuel equal to 2 percent of the mass of the infantry compartment able to carry them. Jump-capable battle armor use fuel equal to 2 percent of their mass.

**Salaries:** Salaries are to be paid every turn the player is active in any way. (Turns in which the player is not active, the force is considered handled by the subordinates who 'lose' any excess money)

Total your operating expenses and have the number ready. A spreadsheet to help you do this can be found here.

### Pirate Lord

A hardmode game type, the pirate lord builds his force with a budget of 200 million Cbills and is given a single jumpship with which to conduct raids. Pirates start on unclaimed planets in the periphery and have no standards when it comes to the type of deal they can make, nor are they bound to the rules of the MRB (also sacrificing its protections). A pirate force builds their army with the same rules as the Regimental Commander with the aforementioned changes and picks an unclaimed system to make a base out of.

### Mercenary

Like the Pirate Lord a Mercenary player follows the same rules as a regimental commander. With the following exceptions.

* A Mercenary has no allegiance to any particular nation. And does not need to follow orders beyond what is stipulated by their contract.
* Unlike Regimental Commanders, Mercenaries are not supplied jumpships automatically. They must be bartered for with a sovereign power or public jumpships must be used.
* Mercenaries take jobs from the MRB, or through informal contracts.

Mercenary groups interested in a contract should see the #MRB channel in the group discord, where jobs posted by various groups will appear. To apply for a job the mercenary simply reacts to it with a checkmark. In the case of multiple reactions the employer may that pick out of the applicants which will receive the contract. Finally the Mercenary will receive notice that the Empire has chosen them and confirm the contract. A mercenary may apply for multiple contracts and choose to accept only one, or none. More information on how contracts work and pay out can be found in Contracts

### Soldier

A soldier is the most personal form of gameplay, a soldier joins a Regimental Command, Pirate, or Mercenary force and acts as a Mechwarrior, infantryman, Aerospace pilot, or other unit therein. They are responsible for their own equipment alone and as such have an expanded character creation set. Their gameplay comes from tasks within jobs their employer is carrying out, be that a simple defense mission or a complex political assassination.