Zeon as a power in the Battletech Universe

[Stark]

If we have PS3s we can play 0081 if it ever comes out.

[Ritterin Sophia]

If we have PS3s we can play 0081 if it ever comes out.

I'm not a fan of the J2J gameplay, in fact of my Gundam games (FvZ, GvZG, Zeonic Front, J2J, Battle Assault), that's the one I like the least....

[Commander 598]

I suppose you could always pretend you're 13 again and pretend to make a <insert moddable wargame/fps> mod for it...

[RhoOmicronMu]

Since we're on the subject of infantry, the State Militaries on the side of the Inner Sphere in question use full body armor including arm and leg protection with helmets with low light and/or infrared viewing modes. The Lyrans tend to have slightly better equipment than the Free Worlds League.

This is a dump from the free Tech Manual record sheets pdf if anyone is interested in Battletech infantry weapons. The actual rules for employing these weapons are in another book.

Some of these weapons aren't used by any real military and some are anachronistic (I don't think any of the gauss or plasma weapons are available in 3050).

Code: Select all

Weapon Tech (Rating) Class/ Type (Damage Type)
Auto-Rifle IS / Clan (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Elephant Gun IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Thunderstroke) IS (E) Small / Standard (B)
Gauss Rifle (Thunderstroke II) IS (E) Small / Standard (B)
Gyroslug Carbine IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyroslug Carbine (Star King) IS (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyroslug Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyrojet Gun (Heavy) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyrojet Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Laser Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Blazer) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Ebony Assault) IS (F) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (ER) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (ER, Starfire) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Federated-Barrett M61A)
(w/ Non-Inferno Grenades) IS (C) Small / Standard (E) 
(w/ Inferno Grenades) IS (C) Small / Standard (E)F 
Laser Rifle (Intek) IS (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Magna) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Marx XX) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser 960 Assault Sys.) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser 1200 LSS) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser IIC)
(w/ Non-Inferno Grenade) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E) 
(w/ Inferno Grenades) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)F
Laser Rifle (Maxell PL-10) IS (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Needler Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Needler Rifle (Shredder Heavy) IS (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Needler Rifle (M&G Flechette) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Pulse Laser Rifle (Clan) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)
Pulse Laser Rifle (IS) IS (D) Small / Standard (E)
Rifle (Bolt-Action) IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Federated-Barret M42B Rifle System)
(non-inferno munitions) IC (C) Small / Standard (B) 
(inferno munitions) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)F 
Rifle (Federated Long) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Imperator AX-22 Assault) IS (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Rifle (M&G G-150) IS (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Rifle (Makeshift) IS (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Minolta 9000 Adv. Sniper Sys.) IS (D) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Radium Sniper) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Rifle (Sniper) IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (TK Assault) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Zeus Heavy) IS / Clan (C) Small / Standard (B) 

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Support Weapons
AA Weapon (Mk. 1 Light AA) IS / Clan (D) Small / Support (B)A 
AA Weapon (Mk. 2 Man-Portable AA) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)A 
Autocannon (Bearhunter Super-Heavy) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)B 
Autocannon (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
Flamer (Heavy) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (E)F 
Flamer (Man-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (E)F 
Gauss Cannon (Grand Mauler) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Magshot) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Tsunami Heavy) IS (E) Medium / Support (B)
Gauss Rifle, Light (David) IS (E) Medium / Support (B)
Gauss Rifle, Light (King David) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Grenade Launcher
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Automatic)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Compact) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
Grenade Launcher (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Heavy Auto)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)
(Inferno Ammo) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)F 
Laser (Hellbore Assault) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
LRM Launcher (Corean FarShot) IS (D) Medium / Support (M) 
Machine Gun (Light) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
Machine Gun (Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B 
Machine Gun (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B
Machine Gun (Support) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B
Mortar (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B)F 
Mortar (Light)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B)F 
MRM Launcher (Infantry One-shot) IS (D) Medium / Support (M) 
Needler, Support (Firedrake) IS (D) Medium / Support (B)F 
Particle Cannon (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Particle Cannon (Support)* IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)
Plasma Rifle, Man-Portable IS (E) Medium / Support (E)F 
Pulse Laser (Dragonsbane Disp.) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Recoilless Rifle (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Recoilless Rifle (Light)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B)F 
Recoilless Rifle (Medium)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Rocket Launcher (LAW) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (M) 
Rocket Launcher (V-LAW) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Standard, Two-Shot) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Heavy) !S / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Light) !S / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
Support Laser IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, IS) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, Clan) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER Heavy, IS) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER Heavy, Clan) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Heavy) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E)
Support Laser (Heavy, Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Ultra-Heavy) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E)
Support Pulse Laser IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)B 
Support Pulse Laser (Heavy) IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)B
Support Pulse Laser (Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 

Full scale autocannons (they work like huge anti-tank guns) and towed artillery pieces are also used by infantry.

[Bottlestein]

^ What's the availability of high power/weight ratio drives, and the fuel availability for these drives in Battletech? After a certain point, all battlefield vehicles being able to carry the shield generators renders infantry combat useless. I don't know what the IS has for "air support", but Zeon can fly massive cruisers in Earth's atmosphere without major logistical strain* (Garma's ship etc). With the shielding level of some of these cruisers, and its ability to disrupt radars etc, this makes ground combat pretty much useless - nothing short of another massive cruiser or a seriously first rate mobile suit and pilot (maybe Gundam level or beyond) can do anything about it. Artillery becomes pretty useless unless its mega-particle cannon based.

I guess the real thing is what sorts of population bases ( amount, as well as distribution) are these two sides looking at? In the OP, did Zeon get teleported before it lost "half its population" and that colony? If so, then its industrial and population base may be massive. Zeon's industrial base is not very vulnerable to infantry operations - though if Battletech has superiority in space capital ships that could be very useful.

*Without logistical strain in the sense that minor tactical operations can easily count on sorties from many such craft, so fuel isn't that big a deal. It can recover from damage and become close to fully operational after repairs carried out by on board crew. I don't know if there's a clip for the runway required for one of these things - but even "surprise" operaions and raids can count on their presence.

[Zinegata]

Zeon did NOT lose half of its population during the OYW. The intro says "half the human population died", but every source unanimously agrees Side 3 was never touched by the war.

That gives Zeon about 2 billion people to work with.

[lord Martiya]

Since we're on the subject of infantry, the State Militaries on the side of the Inner Sphere in question use full body armor including arm and leg protection with helmets with low light and/or infrared viewing modes. The Lyrans tend to have slightly better equipment than the Free Worlds League.

This is a dump from the free Tech Manual record sheets pdf if anyone is interested in Battletech infantry weapons. The actual rules for employing these weapons are in another book.

Some of these weapons aren't used by any real military and some are anachronistic (I don't think any of the gauss or plasma weapons are available in 3050).

Code: Select all

Weapon Tech (Rating) Class/ Type (Damage Type)
Auto-Rifle IS / Clan (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Elephant Gun IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Thunderstroke) IS (E) Small / Standard (B)
Gauss Rifle (Thunderstroke II) IS (E) Small / Standard (B)
Gyroslug Carbine IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyroslug Carbine (Star King) IS (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyroslug Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyrojet Gun (Heavy) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Gyrojet Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B) 
Laser Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Blazer) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Ebony Assault) IS (F) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (ER) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (ER, Starfire) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Federated-Barrett M61A)
(w/ Non-Inferno Grenades) IS (C) Small / Standard (E) 
(w/ Inferno Grenades) IS (C) Small / Standard (E)F 
Laser Rifle (Intek) IS (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Magna) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E)
Laser Rifle (Marx XX) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser 960 Assault Sys.) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser 1200 LSS) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Laser Rifle (Mauser IIC)
(w/ Non-Inferno Grenade) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E) 
(w/ Inferno Grenades) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)F
Laser Rifle (Maxell PL-10) IS (D) Small / Standard (E) 
Needler Rifle IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Needler Rifle (Shredder Heavy) IS (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Needler Rifle (M&G Flechette) IS / Clan (D) Small / Standard (B)N 
Pulse Laser Rifle (Clan) Clan (F) Small / Standard (E)
Pulse Laser Rifle (IS) IS (D) Small / Standard (E)
Rifle (Bolt-Action) IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Federated-Barret M42B Rifle System)
(non-inferno munitions) IC (C) Small / Standard (B) 
(inferno munitions) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)F 
Rifle (Federated Long) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Imperator AX-22 Assault) IS (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Rifle (M&G G-150) IS (C) Small / Standard (B) 
Rifle (Makeshift) IS (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Minolta 9000 Adv. Sniper Sys.) IS (D) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Radium Sniper) IS (E) Small / Standard (E) 
Rifle (Sniper) IS / Clan (B) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (TK Assault) IS (C) Small / Standard (B)
Rifle (Zeus Heavy) IS / Clan (C) Small / Standard (B) 

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Support Weapons
AA Weapon (Mk. 1 Light AA) IS / Clan (D) Small / Support (B)A 
AA Weapon (Mk. 2 Man-Portable AA) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)A 
Autocannon (Bearhunter Super-Heavy) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)B 
Autocannon (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
Flamer (Heavy) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (E)F 
Flamer (Man-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (E)F 
Gauss Cannon (Grand Mauler) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Magshot) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Gauss Rifle (Tsunami Heavy) IS (E) Medium / Support (B)
Gauss Rifle, Light (David) IS (E) Medium / Support (B)
Gauss Rifle, Light (King David) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
Grenade Launcher
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Automatic)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Compact) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
Grenade Launcher (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Grenade Launcher (Heavy Auto)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)
(Inferno Ammo) Clan (D) Medium / Support (B)F 
Laser (Hellbore Assault) IS (E) Medium / Support (B) 
LRM Launcher (Corean FarShot) IS (D) Medium / Support (M) 
Machine Gun (Light) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
Machine Gun (Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B 
Machine Gun (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B
Machine Gun (Support) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)B
Mortar (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B)F 
Mortar (Light)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (B) Medium / Support (B)F 
MRM Launcher (Infantry One-shot) IS (D) Medium / Support (M) 
Needler, Support (Firedrake) IS (D) Medium / Support (B)F 
Particle Cannon (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Particle Cannon (Support)* IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)
Plasma Rifle, Man-Portable IS (E) Medium / Support (E)F 
Pulse Laser (Dragonsbane Disp.) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Recoilless Rifle (Heavy)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Recoilless Rifle (Light)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (B)F 
Recoilless Rifle (Medium)
(Non-Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B) 
(Inferno Ammo) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (B)F 
Rocket Launcher (LAW) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (M) 
Rocket Launcher (V-LAW) IS / Clan (C) Small / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Standard, Two-Shot) IS / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Heavy) !S / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
SRM Launcher (Light) !S / Clan (C) Medium / Support (M) 
Support Laser IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, IS) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, Clan) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER Heavy, IS) IS (E) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER Heavy, Clan) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (ER, Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Heavy) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E)
Support Laser (Heavy, Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Semi-Portable) IS / Clan (D) Medium / Support (E) 
Support Laser (Ultra-Heavy) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E)
Support Pulse Laser IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)B 
Support Pulse Laser (Heavy) IS / Clan (E) Medium / Support (E)B
Support Pulse Laser (Semi-Portable) Clan (F) Medium / Support (E) 

Full scale autocannons (they work like huge anti-tank guns) and towed artillery pieces are also used by infantry.

On the body armor part, they're superior, then: as far I know, the best Zeon has is a combination of helmet and ballistic vest, looking not too different from the likes of the Interceptor body armor. Question is, how many on both parts use body armor?
While I don't know about the Inner Sphere troops, about Zeon we must note that in the original series we NEVER saw its infantry in action. The only times we could have seen them was Ramba Ral incursion on the White Base and an assault of hoverbikes against the Gundam, but Ramba Ral men were MS pilots and support crew that should have been issued with a squadron of MS-09 Dom and the hoverbike pilots were from a near-forgotten outpost that was extremely low on everything (it worth of note that the incursors would have destroyed the Gundam with embarassing ease if they had been issued with remote-controlled bomb instead than time bombs they tried to detonate early by shooting them).

[Ford Prefect]

Zeon did NOT lose half of its population during the OYW. The intro says "half the human population died", but every source unanimously agrees Side 3 was never touched by the war.

That gives Zeon about 2 billion people to work with.

The OP specifies it's pre-OYW Zeon anyway, so even their armed forces are totally intact.

[Bottlestein]

^ The population question was merely to see if they have major manpower shortages. Unless the abilities of the capital ships are matched between the two sides, Zeon's industrial base will not be susceptible to infantry assault at all. AFAIK the Federation was able to maintain a larger capital ship force, which is why Solomon and A Bao A Qu were possible.

[Zinegata]

The Federation's pre-war capital ship strength was, by all accounts, massive. They had lost all practically all their Fleets from Side 1, 2, and 4. And they had lost most of Tianem's fleet in Operation British. And yet they still had enough ships left over to outnumber Zeon 3:1 at the Roum

And in a year, they pretty much rebuilt the Federation Fleet to again outnumber the Zeon fleet 3:1... and it now had MS backup after just 3 months or so of MS mass-production.

[Bottlestein]

^ This is why I like the series so much! It focuses totally on White Base, and no one considers Bright's "professional decoy" speech in a wider context.

I had always considered the "Mobile Armor" projects to be Zeon's Napkinwaffe - the full realization of their opponent's industrial superiority hitting them, and desperately trying to make something that will be an easier-to-build capital ship destroyer.

[Zinegata]

^ This is why I like the series so much! It focuses totally on White Base, and no one considers Bright's "professional decoy" speech in a wider context.

Bright's not alone. Even Amuro once wryly commented that he told that crew that "My Newtype intuition tells me we're gonna win" just before A Bao A Qu, even though it was a total lie.

That being said, it's worth noting that there were actually three other ships launched from Jaburo - aside from the White Base - when they returned to space. It's been speculated that these were three other Pegasus class ships carrying other Gundams to drive Zeon nuts with all the decoys.

I had always considered the "Mobile Armor" projects to be Zeon's Napkinwaffe - the full realization of their opponent's industrial superiority hitting them, and desperately trying to make something that will be an easier-to-build capital ship destroyer.

This is essentially correct. Before the Antartic Treaty sinking capital ships was easy enough - just use nukes. After the treaty however, Zeon had to develop alternatives.

The main weapon for killing capital ships was mega-beam weaponry, as it can essentially chew through battleship plate with little difficulty. So most MAs come with heavy mega particle weapons.

Note though, that the other big target for Zeon was Jaburo, and some MAs were designed to crack the Federation HQ (i.e. the one in 08th MS). But the space-only MAs (i.e. Zakrello) were probably designated capital ship killers. Certainly, Zeon's need for cap-ship killing was so high that they planned to convert almost every Gelgoog into a Gelgoog cannon with anti-ship cannon.

[lord Martiya]

I had always considered the "Mobile Armor" projects to be Zeon's Napkinwaffe - the full realization of their opponent's industrial superiority hitting them, and desperately trying to make something that will be an easier-to-build capital ship destroyer.

They always knew, and ALL Zeon weapons are an attempt to counter their disadvantage. Before the beam weapons, Zeon's space combat doctrine was simply to fire so many nukes from the PAPUA vessels (yes, the same Papua that would later serve as carriers and cargo ships). After that, they built the Musai, a cheap, overgunned and agile cruiser packing as many beam guns as a Salamis and agile enough to avoid beams with relative ease, and the Gwazine, the most powerful battleship of the OYW until the launch of the Dolos. And the entire developement plan that resulted in mobile suits and mobile armours was essentially a way to use Minovsky jamming to cheaply nuke the still more numerous Federation fleet, and using the pre-existing manufacturing implants for mobile workers (essentially scrapers with MS-like technology) to boot.

[OmegaChief]

Talk of the Federations much more numerous fleet na dbeter infestructure base makes me wonder;

What if instead of Pre-OYW Zeon was dumped into Battletech, what if the Pre-OYW FFederation was instead?

[Zinegata]

Talk of the Federations much more numerous fleet na dbeter infestructure base makes me wonder;

What if instead of Pre-OYW Zeon was dumped into Battletech, what if the Pre-OYW FFederation was instead?

That's what the earlier thread was for.

[Ford Prefect]

The earlier thread was a Clan invasion of the Earth Sphere, which is the Zekes and the Feddies working together to defend themselves from an outside attack.

[lord Martiya]

What if instead of Pre-OYW Zeon was dumped into Battletech, what if the Pre-OYW FFederation was instead?

Well, given that the Federation soundly defeated Zeon after being sucker-bombed back into stone age, I'd dare say the Earth Federation may well encompass many marches.

[Zinegata]

Well, if we go by the numbers of the Ruum as a basis (using the dubious but oft-quoted EB2), we can probably reasonably expect the Federation to have around 100 Magellan Class battleships and about 4 times as many cruisers. This includes the garrisons wiped out during the OWW.

Sure, they'd be a lot smaller than Clan ships, but they'd still be Minovsky-scattering capable.

And we're not even counting the fighters yet. Or the nukes.

[Ford Prefect]

Stardust Memory gives an idea of how many ships the Federation constructed in the the three years following the OYW. It's ... positive shitloads. The swarm of capital ships at Konpei Island was ridiculously vast, easily a couple of thousand ships.

[lance]

While Zakus have an 'eye' and their machineguns have a 'scope', pilots are seen aiming using typical automated weapon displays with video-feeds and electronic gunlaying. The Zaku MG has a side-grip that is used to brace the weapon for sustained fire, but it's horribly inaccurate during automatic fire regardless.

I guess the gun "scope" might actually have a gun-laying radar in it.

I've been watching MSG and it seems like they toggle between spray and pray, and actually looking through the scope and aiming. Which for a 70's tv show is pretty remarkable.

[Ford Prefect]

Man, MSG had trigger discipline in the 70s.

[Zinegata]

Stardust Memory gives an idea of how many ships the Federation constructed in the the three years following the OYW. It's ... positive shitloads. The swarm of capital ships at Konpei Island was ridiculously vast, easily a couple of thousand ships.

The official figure is just over a hundred ships in the naval review though. About the same as OperationS Star One.

These are all new post-war ships though.

[RhoOmicronMu]

I saw a reference to mech size while I was looking around recently and IIRC Total Warfare says mechs top out at 14 meters. I don't have a quote though.

^ What's the availability of high power/weight ratio drives, and the fuel availability for these drives in Battletech?

They use simple hydrogen for anything that is fusion powered and dropships can crack hydrogen out of water so fuel availability is extremely good. Fusion engine availability is far from perfect, plenty of tanks are still made with ICE engines and if the CPK-6 Copper is any evidence, mech equipped police forces don't usually use fusion engines. On that note, I think there are something like 4 different known types of police mechs [TRO: Vehicle Annex].

I don't know what the IS has for "air support",

Conventional fighters, aerospace fighters, and assault dropships.

On the body armor part, they're superior, then: as far I know, the best Zeon has is a combination of helmet and ballistic vest, looking not too different from the likes of the Interceptor body armor. Question is, how many on both parts use body armor?

Pretty much all state infantry units. It's standard issue. Millitia forces will of course vary wildly. They can vary from using powered exoskeletons to carry huge weapons, to riding into battle on giant lizards/cats/dragons, to having plane auto-rifles and no armor.

[Ford Prefect]

The official figure is just over a hundred ships in the naval review though. About the same as OperationS Star One.

These are all new post-war ships though.

Yeah, and there are obviously way more ships present than the official figure. Much like how Gato's Mk.82 nuclear warhead is very obviously not 'tactical'.

[Zinegata]

I dunno if all those lightts are ships though. Maybe some are MS.