If you have been following my gaming stream at my alt account (@msearles), you will have realised that I'm playing a mission or two of RogueTech (the huge mod overhaul of BattleTech) most days. The missions can be pretty long and running a mercenary outfit in the Clan invasion times is a pretty rough job. However, Bengy's Marauders is pretty stable financially now (with generally a month or two of C-Bills buffer) and has a decent reputation with the Great Houses and the Mercenary Contracting Centre. Not stellar... but I'm no longer at the bottom of the heap.

Each mission is a bit of a risky operation... hoping that I will return with more contract payment and salvage than the damage that I will take. Plus, there is no in-mission save... so, unlucky damage and mission surprises are going to have to be taking in stride!

Over the several in-game years that my mercenary outfit has managed to stay above water, I have managed to improve my dropship to the point where I can drop 7 BattleMechs into the battlefield which does give me a decent amount of firepower and flexibility to try and scrape through the mission. In the next game-month I will have the ability to drop that last 8th BattleMech, so hitting the ground with a full two lances will be a decent starting advantage.

I currently have 7 active duty Mechs, so I don't have any leeway for swapping in specialists or replacements for damaged Mechs. So, there is an element of huge risk if I lose one of my active duty Mechs in battle... so, I am nursing them quite a bit during the battles and biting my nails everytime someone takes a hard-hitting shot at them!

I do also have one newly salvaged Mech coming online in the next few in-game days which will fill the 8th drop slot... and one Mech that is ready... but missing a fusion core (so it is an empty husk...).

Most of my Mechs are of the Light and Medium weight classes... which means that I will be completely stomped by Assault and Heavy classes in a stand-off showdown. That means I generally have to come in fast, flank them and lay down some heavy ECM to avoid getting hit.... it's dangerous, but that is the way of life for those down on the pecking order! Hopefully, in the next in-game decade or two, I will have the ability to field a Heavy (or Assault!) class Mech... but that particular prize jewel is still a long long way off!

So, two lances... I have my main battle lance consisting of 4 Medium class Mechs of varying firepower types... and a Scout lance of three light Mechs that I primarily use for for flanking, spotting and dominating the electronic warfare front.

Let me introduce you to the BattleMech stable of Bengy's Marauders!

Main Battle Lance

This Laser based Cronus (55 tons) has been the mainstay of my mercenary company since the beginning... it has been quite heavily modified in the years since it entered service, upgraded with salvaged Clan and SLDF tech to make it a decently fast (with jump ability) and hard-hitting hitting monster that remains quite cool under load. It has survived countless battles despite it having been cored out by enemy fire several times... thankfully, the husk remained intact which meant that I could rebuild it at considerable financial cost. It has seen many of it's fellow lancemates explode in giant balls of fire... yet somehow, this warhorse has remained in working condition!

This Gladiator (55 tons) was one of my first reconstructions from battle salvage. It is slow, sitting quite far back in the battlefield with laser weapons that aren't quite accurate enough or with enough range. Still, it survives in my line up as there are currently no other replacements... it does manage to deal out some decent damage when it does eventually manage to reach the shorter ranges, but it will definitely be one of the first Mechs to be benched when I finally get some depth in my lineup!

This Griffin (55 tons) is a long ranged fighter. Like the Gladiator above, it is slow but it outfitted with Long Range Missiles as well as a Heavy PPC which means that it has some hefty firepower at long range which isn't affected by problems of line of sight. It is a Mech that is best kept at distance so that the short range Mechs don't have a chance to start inflicting minimum range penalties on this guy!

The Quarantine Wolverine (55 tons) is one of my more versatile Mechs. Fast, with jump ability and the wide spread of missile, laser and Autocannon weapons it is a great hunter Mech for those agile enemies. The LBX autocannon which is the main weapon system on this Mech is the giant equivalent of a shotgun... It means that at short to medium range... you are going to do some serious damage to those annoying VTOLs, scout Mechs, hovercraft and infantry.... let me tell you, those things are a pain in the arse to hit with direct fire weaponary!

In addition, stealthed enemies are vulnerable to this guy... even if I can't quite see and target them properly... throwing enough shards in the air mean that at least some of them are going to hit!

Scout Lance

This Jenner (35 tons) is the skirmisher of the outfit... striking hard and fast at the enemies weaker rear armour, it has managed to get some kills way above it's weight class. It features a nice variety of pulsed laser weaponry to make sure it still gets some decent accuracy whilst sprinting fast. Unfortunately, it is land bound as it exchanges those all crucial jump jets in favour for some extra firepower and heat sinks... and of course a AMS system!

This Dart (25 tons) is the Electronic Warfare lead for my company. Featuring the latest salvaged technology in the EW department, it serves as the spotter for the company. Revealed enemies are relayed to the rest of the company via the C3 network and provides much needed extra accuracy for those shooters in the Main Battle Lance.

Weapons wise, it is quite light on firepower fielding only a flamer and a couple of modified small lasers... however, that isn't it's job! Due to it's light size, it is also fielding the most advanced laser version of the AMS so that it doesn't require extra tonnage for the ammunition!

The Raptor (25 tons) is the only example of the advanced Omnimech that is in my line-up. These Mechs are built around Clan modular technology, making them much more versatile than the fixed mountings of the regular Mech technology. This Mech is also by far and away the most advanced piece of hardware in my company as well, fielding the highly rare Stealth Armour... honestly, that little piece of LosTech is by itself worth more than the rest of my Mechs combined!

That said, it is worth it's weight in gold... this guy is fast and just can't be hit easily!

Coming Online Soon!

This is the Trebuchet (50 tons) that is slowly being refitted with a new equipment layout and advanced tech... and I luckily had the appropriate sized fusion core to push it straight out into active service (well, once it receives all the repairs required...). It is being configured to be a medium ranged missile boat. Featuring two large racks of MRM missiles with specialist ammo, I'm hoping that a salvo from this guy will scoop out the insides of most oppoents. Of course, this means that there will danger from exploding internal ammunition.. and it does require that it avoids enough incoming firepower as it closes in.

It does have two smaller lasers to serve as back up weaponry... but the big addition is the Advanced AMS which will provide a Anti-Missile umbrella to all nearby lancemates!

The Husk

This Lineholder (55 tons) is a relatively primitive Mech that I have managed to form the husk from battlefield salvage. However, it is missing the all crucial fusion core to power the Mech to life. These cores are rare finds on the battlefield... and the larger ones are often ripped to shreds in the battles. So, very crucial salvage if you can manage to find it! They also exist on the Black Market (and regular markets)... but they cost more C-Bills than I would be stocking at any single point in operation!... and this is for a Fusion Core that isn't even anywhere near the highest power!

I am tempted to use a slightly weaker Fusion Core just to get the Mech into the active roster... but it will mean that the Mech will be just slower and underpowered... potentially turning it into a very expensive piece of cannon fodder!

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