Mechwarrior 1e - Creating a 'Mech Unit - Part IV

The game sets some baseline assumptions around a typical Battletech campaign—you start with mostly medium ‘Mechs and maybe a few lights. After character creation, it’s time to generate your ‘Mech unit.

Unit size is determined by a 2d6 roll based on the number of players. For 2-4 players, the most likely result is two lances, implying the second lance consists of secondary characters, often on separate missions. It also gives players backup ‘Mechs if their main ride gets totaled. With 5+ players, odds are they’re in a company, with another roll deciding if they belong to a battalion or regiment. I’d rather keep things small-scale and might nix starting in a company altogether.

From there, you roll for aerospace support, dropship and jumpship status, then determine affiliation—mercenary or house-aligned. Smaller units are more likely to be mercs, and for some reason, the tables favor House Davion or the vague “Unaffiliated” result. What does unaffiliated mean if you’re rolling on a house affiliation table? If you land on mercenary, you roll again for a chance to be part of an in-world company like Wolf’s Dragoons. You're more likely to be an independent merc unit.

House affiliation comes with perks, though they aren’t strictly gamified. Davion, Steiner, and Kurita have the most ‘Mechs, and Davion and Steiner offer training at the University of New Avalon. But being part of a major house means getting lost in the shuffle and stuck with unglamorous garrison duty. Marik and Liao, being more desperate, offer riskier but more lucrative work that builds reputation. House affiliation limits mission variety and player choice, making mercenary work far more appealing for an adventure game.

The game suggests affiliations aren’t permanent—house units can go rogue and become mercs. I like that you aren’t locked into your initial roll.

Support personnel and their key skill ratings are randomly generated, and each lance receives credits for non ‘Mech support gear. Affiliation modifies this—rich houses like Davion provide 30% more credits, while unaffiliated merc groups get hit with a brutal -80%. The randomness is wild. These credits can be spent on ‘Mech repair stores (which seem cheaper to buy now than later with C-bills), aerospace units (if you didn’t roll any during unit creation), and backup ‘Mechs—which raises the question, why spend CP at character creation for a backup ‘Mech when you can just buy one here? They can also be used for personal gear, noble titles, and house commissions or converted into C-bills for the company’s coffers.

I don’t hate any of this, but for my game, I’ll likely keep things small, so players aren’t starting with a battalion at their backs. I like that affiliation rolls give an instant hook, though MW2e tied house affiliation to your starting ‘Mech roll—I’m not sure I’ll do the same. I feel like I’ll curate the campaign’s starting setup, making the Unit Creation chapter redundant… but I’m still feeling things out. Maybe I should let players roll this stuff pre-game and use it to shape the first session. Still undecided.