Question

Okay I was reading some of the posts that Talus was making and I had a question. I have been here a year and a half now and I dont even know what the chain of command is around here. I just know Ben, Garrett, and Desperado are above me. Anyone else I am missing?

So if someone could, it would be nice to list the chain of command, cause I have gotten confused before.

Its pretty simple actually.

Ben is site admin so he's the Khan
Garret has some admin function as far as I can tell so hes like the saKahn
I'm just a grizzled ancient who was here long before OP:I, I guess I'm like the Loremaster
And then we have the warriors

hope that made sense

Alas, I am a mere mortal without admin capibilities. The trouble I think is that our ranks have outgrown our stations... a Captain usually commands a full company and we've got them commanding lances. It could be cool to restructure our ranks and have some kind of hierachy. I haven't been posting a lot lately because it was finals and the I moved home, but I have time now and I will gladly do a restructure and make a little chart if that is desired and people are okay with some rank changes.

AwWwWw you guys... You don't have to give me a company!

Don't be silly Desperado, you're getting a regiment!

WOO-HOO!

Another promotion!

YAY! Drinks on me!

Organised ranks are always good... Sorry for any confusion I may have caused if that matters

Dont worry. You didnt cause any confusion. I was just wondering what it was. A new structure would be cool. I can post more now that I am out of school for the summer and have gotten things settled down at work. So yeah. Garrett if you need any help I would be glad to help.

Ben, what are your thoughts on this?

Apologies, folks. Somehow I totally missed this post. Thank you, Garrett, for the PM.

Honestly, I think our current rank structure has reached the point of obsolesence, and is due for a replacement. And Garrett, effective immediately, I am making you and Desparado moderators. Your mod powers will be coming online soon.

As such, the 'hierarchy' - as the site goes - will now be as follows.



If someone is interested in proposing a new ranking structure as far as the Ops go, I am happy to implement whatever the community votes for. I agree it is high time for an overhaul.

The only real structure I know about in the BattleTech universe is the structure used by most clans. I dont think that would work for us though. So I really dont know we could use.

What type of ranking system are you guys wanting to go with?

I can't find anything specific about the ranking system used by any of the Great Houses in the Battletech info that I have. I've currently 'misplaced' the TROs I had on my PC in PDF format (Im hoping they are still on disk somewhere) so Im not sure if theres anything in there or not.

The current ranking system is losely based on current american army ranks. (unless there has been some changes from the ranking post in the Cantina, which is the same system from when I was here before)

Did anyone have anything in mind as to how many ranks or what type of ranks to use?

I was thinking that we could get away with only 4 or 5 ranks, but that doesnt make any room for promotions within the RP.

I think it'd be easiest to come up with a rank system if we came up with an set organization for the current units. (Basically number of lances the Legionnaires generally field, and support units that may be part of the Legionnaires)

I know way back on the old site it was 2 lances with a few squads of Battle Armour and then resupply and repair vehicles. It has grown from that since then of course but it gives a starting point.

If its alright with everyone I can spend a little time researching ranks and see if I can come up with a simple rank system with between 4 and 10 ranks (depending on what kind of promotions we want available) and a general organization of the common Legionnaire units fielded.

That sounds great! I do have the tros and some other data which does contain ranks, a lot of periphery stuff, but I think we should stick to a standard military rank system - I'm not at home right now but I'll look at them when I get back. With Ben being a Captain it could go:

Private or Mechwarrior
Corporal
Sergeant
Lieutenant
Captain

We can fill any divides with intermediate ranks like 1st Lieutenant and Lance Corporal, etc. Our biggest problem right now is that we're very top heavy with the ranks because we're mostly veterans. I think all Captains should become Lieutenants, but most of the other rankings can probably stay the same. Mechwarriors are generally of higher ranks, but we could use some filler non-mechwarrior characters, especially some more infantrymen.

Cool, I was thinking along the same lines for the ranks as well. Here's list I had come up with.

Private
Private First Class ?
Lance Corporal ?
Corporal
Sergeant
Master Sergeant ?
2nd Lieutenant
1st Lieutenant
Captain - can be replaced with Commander
Major

The ones with "?" marks were filler ranks

Also I did a little research and organized how the Legionnaires command structure could be layed out, following a modern day armored division layout.

Organization of Units

Fire Team
- 2 Battlemechs

Lance (Platoon)
- 2 Fire Teams (2 'mechs each - 4 total)

Company
- HQ Lance (2 'mechs, support vehicles or 4 'mechs)
- 3 Standard Lances (4 'mechs each - 12 total)


Command of Units

Battlemech - Any body
Fire Team - Corporal
Lance - Sergeant or Lieutenant
Company - Captain or Major

The Fire Team is just because sometimes you want to split a Lance into a smaller group. Not really necessary but thats also how modern tank platoons are organized as well. (Although its a wingmate setup as opposed to being called a fire team)

I like our funky structure now but it could stand to be reorganized.

Major
Commander
Lieutenant
Sargent
Corporal
Mechwarrior

Theres 5 points in a star, five ranks plus our fearless leader equals six! I'm flexable tho.

I liked the ring that "commander" had to it over "captain." Lower but sounded better. I really don't care, I just want my own lance with which to smash.

This bit is great, gunman!

Any one of these suggestions has the potential to work, and many of them can be implemented without much modification (if any) to the hard-coded ranks on the site. I guess at this point, what we need is a consensus on which one we want to use, and I'll make the necessary changes.

I like Guman's set-up, but I think we should keep the rank of Captain. The commander could simply be the highest ranking Legionnaire.

Great suggestions! Here's my idea:

Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Corporal
Private
MechWarrior
Recruit
Cadet

I think the lower-end ranks would be pre-or post-mission ranks. As for me... nothing sounds cooler than...

Corporal Wedge Lourde.

I agree with Wedge, some lower ranks like that would be nice, but I don't think MechWarrior should be a rank, we are all MechWarriors. Private should take its place.

Well after this op would be a great time to restructure since we've got crayven backing if we make it. I say lets start from the ground up instead of trying to translate ranks to a new system.

We'll vote like we always do on a poll for the new system and we'll go from there.

Agreed.