Lore Question: Starting MRB rating

[Deaghaidh]

So when pondering ideas for a fanfic, I was hit with a question I can't answer.

When a new Merc company starts up, what is their MRB (or MRBC) grade? They have no record yet. Is it based on the service history of its leaders? On its estimated strength?

 

[Wissenschaft]

Let me open up my Mercenaries Field Manual.

There are training centers for mercs. You can get a certification that basically says your competent. The MRB rating is actually broken down into 7 main parts. Average Experience rating, Command rating, and Combat record rating, transportation rating, and technology/equipment rating, support rating, and financial rating.

A brand new unit would just get an experience rating of Green, indicating they have no experience. Though, if the Merc unit is formed by mechwarriors with previous combat experience (which is often the case) that will be taken into account. A unit with no previous combat record rating would just be noted as new.

Also, there are freelance units that don't use the MRB. They negotiate directly. This is represented in one of the backgrounds you can pick in this game.

Note: I love the fact that Battletech is so ridiculously detailed that I can actually answer this question. I'd recommend picking up the Mercenaries Field Manual for yourself.

 

[Deaghaidh]

Thanks this is exactly what I needed to know.

 

[Iracundus]

Of course if you go down the rabbit hole, running a mercenary unit can rapidly turn into AccountantTech. But then some people like that.

 

[TaurianMerc]

Of course if you go down the rabbit hole, running a mercenary unit can rapidly turn into AccountantTech. But then some people like that.

Oh, you wouldn't believe how happy my spreadsheets make me!
I've tracked the history my pilots, my mechs, kills, losses, all sorts. The "downtime" between battles is almost as fun as the actual battle.

 

[Iracundus]

Oh, you wouldn't believe how happy my spreadsheets make me!
I've tracked the history my pilots, my mechs, kills, losses, all sorts. The "downtime" between battles is almost as fun as the actual battle.

The full rules are practically a game in themselves. From tracking how many man-hours of maintenance, overtime and overtime pay rates, to making sure those spare parts orders are placed ahead of time in order to ensure delivery when needed.

In the background, the majority of new merc units fail within a year of starting and I suspect it is on this backend logistics front. Good Mechwarriors are not necessarily good at logistics, business, or accounting.

The logistics front is also the main way I think for how lower tech stuff like autocannons remain viable, due to being cheap, available, and easy to maintain. Of course the official canon rules messed that up by making PPCs as widely available as the AC/10.

 

[Sigil]

ComStar created the Mercenary Review Board (MRB) in 2789 and dissolved it in 3052 in the messy aftermath of the Clan Invasion and ComStar's failed Operation Scorpion. It's primary center as on the world of Galatea, often referred to as the "Mercenary's Star". It was then replaced by the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC), which is an entirely different beast. When it was formed, the MRBC had representatives from each of the five Great Houses, two Minor Houses (FRR and St. Ives) as well as seat for ComStar and one for the Wolf's Dragoons. It was based on the planet Outreach, the homeworld of the Wolf's Dragoons. After the move, a mercenary company's rating was often colloquially referred to as it's "Dragoon's Rating." When Outreach was essentially destroyed in 3067 during the Jihad, the MRBC relocated to Galatea.

As for the question, the rating and the factors considered depend upon the timeframe in which the mercenary group operated. The MRB weighed things far differently than its successor the MRBC.