Setting Up Your New Faction

Before we begin with the setup of your new faction, there is something very important that we need to impress upon you.  As a Faction Commander, you should realize that belonging to this type of league is a commitment that you should not take lightly. It takes time and effort. Everything that you do has an effect on others, not only in your Faction, but in other Factions as well. Delayed and postponed battles are no fun for anyone…so be SURE that you will be able to give this league its due before you apply for membership.

Most Factions in this league fight several nights a week, multiple battles per night. If this seems daunting to you and your Faction, may we suggest joining with an existing NBT Faction. This will provide the NBT Faction with an expanded player base, as well as give you and your teammates the combat that you are looking for, without the responsibilities of running a full-fledged Faction.

 

Faction Requirements:

When considering setting up a Faction in the NBT community, one of the biggest factors considered is the number of ACTIVE players that you can bring to a battle.  Each Faction type has a minimum membership number associated with it.  The larger Factions in NBT (Houses and Major Clans) have huge areas of space to defend, and thus always have to be able to support more activity with a larger player base. If you are in command of a smaller Faction, we will request you to consider a smaller role in the league (Merc, Pirate, Minor Clan or Periphery).  That will enable you to play at your own pace, rather than a pace that is beyond your means.

An additional consideration to be made is that of role-playing the Faction that you choose. Most Factions in BattleTech have 100’s of years of history behind them. Some are based upon honor above all else; others are the sneaky, devious, backstabbers; still others are the money changers.  The options are endless.  When choosing a Faction, research that Faction first. You will be ‘required’ to role-play that Faction to the best of your ability, both in attitudes, alliances and actions. Note – We are not requiring you to play out the BattleTech timeline from 3067 on. NBT makes its own history. But each of these Factions has tons of history to draw from that will make this game that much more enjoyable, both for yourselves, the Factions you play, and the admins of the league.

 

Faction Choice:

There are MANY different BattleTech Factions available within the NBT timeline, more so than ever before. Each type of Faction has certain advantages and disadvantages. Larger Factions have logistics nightmares, smaller Factions might always be one step ahead of bankruptcy.  Each has a role that can be played in the greater scheme of the BattleTech universe. Your choice will determine both your history and your future.  You will be taking over these Factions as of the 3067 timeframe. Most of these Factions have been in existence within the BattleTech universe for hundreds of years.  Thus you will be setting up your Faction as a fully operational BTech faction, not as a fledgling nation. This is represented by the number of Units, Jumpships & Charge Station you are starting with.

Mentor Factions: One of the new procedures for incoming Factions in NBT-Classic is the concept of a Mentor Faction. Basically, each incoming Faction may be assigned an existing NBT Faction as their Mentor within the league. The identity of this Faction will depend on the Faction class you are signing up for, any familiarity with existing NBT Factions, as well as your future role in the league. This Mentor will be charged with making sure you are familiar with the NBT automation, league rules, role-play concepts and the like. If you have a specific request as to a Mentor Faction, please include it below.

Factions who are currently filling the Major Houses will generally be assigned as Mentors to incoming Merc Factions. This will require working with the Faction in question, making use of their services and handing off battles to them. The larger Periphery Factions will be assigned to incoming Pirate Factions as Mentors.

MAJOR HOUSES – Includes Davion, Kurita, Steiner, Liao, and Marik. These Factions are by far the largest in the league, generally numbering from 350 to 500 planets. They receive the largest allocation of Units and cash, but at the same time, they have the most expenses. If you want lots of action and can handle the paperwork, this type of Faction is for you. Startup chassis are primarily IS, with some Clan.

MAJOR CLANS – These are the Clans play a major role in the Inner Sphere in 3067, be they original Invasion Clans or more recent additions – Wolf, Ghost Bear, Jade Falcon, Diamond Shark and Snow Raven. The Clans are smaller than the Houses but are a force to be reckoned with. Startup chassis are primarily Clan with some access to IS tech.  These Clans are generally located within the Inner Sphere, while still owning their planets located in the Kerensky Cluster. These are the Clans that will primarily be interacting with the Inner Sphere, either from an alliance or battle standpoint. Clans receive a bonus on their salvage ability.

MINOR CLANS – These are the Clans that are primarily restricted to the Kerensky Cluster, and most of their league activities will revolve around inter-Clan developments. Most were not in the original invasion. Startup chassis are Clan only. These Clans will start from the Clan Homeworlds. Each Clan generally starts with around 10-25 planets and subsectors. While these Clans are not forbidden from interacting with the Inner Sphere, it is not their primary role in the league. Clans receive a bonus on their salvage ability.

PERIPHERY KINGDOMS – These Factions are much smaller than their larger House cousins. They are all located along the House borders and they form a force that all but surrounds the Inner Sphere. They have the Periphery Link Jump available to them, and they may use the Pirate jump. Startup chassis are primarily IS, with some Clan.  They also receive a small bonus to their Raiding ability. Pirates that grow to 5 planets or beyond are upgraded to Periphery status.

MERCENARIES – Merc Factions are varied and large in number. They are small Factions, but they have the most freedom of movement. With the use of the Merc Contract Jump, they have limited access to almost the entire Inner Sphere to fulfill contract obligations. Startup chassis vary from Faction to Faction. Most Merc Factions will not start with a home planet, and will not have one during the course of the league. Some CBT Mercs will start with a Capital (Wolf's Dragoons on Outreach for example). Mercs primary role in NBT is in support of the Major Houses, taking over battles (especially defensive), and freeing up the Houses for more offensive actions. Mercs receive a bonus to their Recon ability, as well as access to the Surgical Strike jump.

PIRATES – These Factions start off with twice the toys as a Merc Faction, but have almost no cash to begin with. They are designed to live off of raids and theft. Pirates have several special abilities available to them. The Pirate Jump extends their raiding ability into enemy space.  Pirates may also use the Periphery Link Jump to reach most unassigned planets on the map.. A Pirates Capital is also hidden from public view, and is able to be moved at a moments notice (except if under attack), making them very difficult to track down.  They are a thorn in the side of the larger Factions. Startup chassis are determined on a case-by-case basis, but will be mostly IS chassis. Pirates receive a bonus to their Raiding ability.

COMSTAR FACTIONS – The two Factions in this category are Word of Blake and the Free Rasalhague Republic (by way of ComStar being located on Tukayyid).  Both of these Factions are responsible for all communications services that take place within the Inner Sphere. As such, while both Factions are very small, they receive monthly income from the IS Houses and Periphery.  Each House and Periphery Faction makes a choice as to which ComStar Faction they will make use of, if any.  That ComStar Faction then receives a portion of the maintenance cost for EACH planet in that Faction’s space. A ComStar Faction may also Interdict communications within a Factions space, causing planetary maintenance to increase exponentially due to the lack of interstellar communications.  These 2 Factions survive by means of their political savvy, rather than sheer brute force.

SPECIAL CASE FACTIONS – There are several Factions that fill unique roles in the league. These include: Clan Nova Cat, Clan Wolf in Exile, Explorer Corps and Start League Defense Force. None of these Factions actually own planets at league start, and instead rely upon either their host Factions (CWX -> LA; CNC -> DCM) or through special fees collected in the case of the SLDF. CNC and CWX retain their special Clan abilities, while the SLDF makes use of ComStar type abilities. Explorer Corps is considered a Periphery Faction for league purposes.

 

Start Up Information:

Once your Faction choice is determined and confirmed with the Admins, you will then get your start-up information. This will include your Planet List, Industry, Jumpships, Factories, Flagships and Free Unit Allocation. You do not have to purchase anything. You simply have to place it where you want it using the Planet Setup form. The best way to envision the layout of your space is to use the NBT Dynamic Starmap.  PLEASE make sure that you read the rest of the League Rules before you setup your Faction, as many of the rules will effect how you place your resources. The following are just the basic outline of the rules that directly affect your Faction setup.

Planets, Capitals & Factories:

The listing of the planets you own. Some planets have Unit factories on them. These will be listed on the NBT site. Each factory will have a Chassis Class assigned to it by default (Heavy, Medium, etc) along with a Preferred Chassis. You will receive a 10% discount on purchase of that Unit from that factory.  Any True-Tech Unit of that Chassis Class may be ordered from that factory. Units purchased during the course of the league are ONLY deliverable to factory planets, thus making these planets some of the most important in the league.

  • Capitals: Each major Faction receives one Capital planet by default.  Capital planets are the center of your Faction’s economy and civilization.  All Clan, IS and Periphery capitals are separated into sub-sectors, thus representing the difficulty to actually assault a capital of a major Faction. If a Capital planet is lost, your entire economy will be thrown into disarray and political instability.  Then you may choose a new Capital within your space.  Guard your Capital well.
Industry:

This will be the amount you can spread over your planets.  For many Factions this will be assigned for you (Mercs Pirates, and other single planet Factions). For Factions that are multi-planet Factions the following rules will apply: The automation will randomly assign 80% of your allocated gross income, ranging from 50 million to 200 million with a couple 0 industry worlds thrown in.  The remaining 20% of your industry you will have the ability to place yourself as you see fit. Each planet has an industry cap of 250 million.  If you lose a planet to another Faction then the industry attached to that planet is lost as well. Each week, you will receive an industry payment based upon the total industry that you have, which will be added to your account as c-bills (minus any maintenance costs).

Charge Stations:

Charge Stations are LosTech that enable a Jumpship to immediately recharge its Kearney-Fuchida (KF) drive immediately, without waiting the normal recharge period. A properly placed CS line can move a JS or group of JS across an entire House’s space within the course of a day, rather than waiting weeks for recharge times. Jump limits within allied space are 60 ly, so for a CS line to be effective, each Charge Station needs to be within 60 ly of its neighbors. Charge Stations in NBT-Classic are pre-placed by the league automation, and are actually fairly rare, with less than 200 existing at league start.

Jumpships:

Jumpships must be placed in orbit around some of your various planets. There are three primary types of Jumpships. All can travel 60 light years and each carries different amounts of Units. Clan Jumpships are owned by Clan Factions, all other Jumpships are IS and will use the IS limits. Startup Jumpships will consist of Combat JS, Flagships & Transports. You will notice that Clan JS carry more Units than there IS counterparts.  This is due to the improved Clan technology on their Dropships, allowing for more economical transport abilities.

    Combat Jumpships (Light, Medium and Heavy): These Jumpships carry your forces into combat. They are equipped to handle Dropships, and to send forces into battle after jumping to an enemy system.

    Command Flagships: Flagships are Jumpships that have been modified to handle the extreme Command and Control functions that are needed to handle Planetary Assaults.  Only Flagships may launch the Planetary Assault type battle.  In every other respect, they are the same as a Medium Jumpship. Each Faction will receive a set number of starting Command Flagships as well as a FlagCap.  The Faction may not exceed their Factions FlagCap at ANY time.

    Non-Combat Transports: These JS are responsible for the moving of Units, Industry and Charge Stations within a Factions own space. They may only offload to friendly planets that are not locked by combat.  These Transports carry many more Units than the normal Combat Jumpship, but they may not be used in ANY combat situation.

Free Unit Allocation:

This will be given to you in tonnage. You will be allowed either Clan or Inner Sphere chassis depending on your Faction type and specific startup data. You may use this tonnage on ANY Units as long as they fall under the correct chassis designation. You must use 100% of this at start-up.

  • FRR and WoB will both receive a set amount of startup tonnage, just like any other Faction. After the league has been in operation for 1 month, they will receive a second pack of Units to be placed throughout their allies space. This represents the presence of the ComGuards thoughout the Inner Sphere.

Mech Placement: Units must be placed on your planets.

Garrison Units: Garrison Units, for setup purposes, are defined as Units being on planets. Each planet has a different limit as to the number of Units it may support. This number is listed in the Recommended Garrison column (RG#). This number is based directly on the amount of industry on the planet. Any planet may have 25 Units in residence, regardless of industry (even 0 industry worlds). For setup purposes, this limit is suspended and any amount of Units may be placed on any planet. Once your data is processed, you will need to transfer excessive placements to Jumpships to avoid over-garrison fees.

Attack Units: Attack Units are defined as Units being on Jumpships. The maximum number of Units you can place on a Jumpship is determined by the JS Class. During startup, no Units may be placed on Jumpships or Transports. During Setup, no Units may be placed on Jumpships. Once your setup data is processed, you may begin to move Units from planet to Jumpship, using the Planetary Management tools.

Heavy/Assault %’s: During setup ONLY, placement of Units are subject to Assault and Heavy Unit limitations. The automation will track this and let you know if you are outside these limits. These are in place during setup to represent the fact that Light and Medium Units are present more often then their heavier cousins. After setup, these restrictions are removed from all planets and Jumpships.  They are as follows:

  • A minimum of 50% of your Units must be either Light or Medium Units
  • A maximum of 35% of your Units may be Heavy Units
  • A maximum of 15% of your Units may be Assault Units.

Mech Classes:

  • Assault Units are defined as Units being 80 tons up to 100 tons.
  • Heavy Units are defined as Units being 60 tons up to 75 tons.
  • Medium Units are defined as Units being 40 tons up to 55 tons.
  • Light Units are defined as Units 35 tons and under.

 

Shutting Down a Faction

At times it is necessary for a Faction to leave our little community. Sad, but true. We have a couple policies that come into play in this situation:

When a Faction shuts its doors in the league and leaves our little group, certain actions are NOT to occur:

  • Selling of Units and Jumpships
  • Transferring of large sums of money to other Factions
  • Transferring Units and JS to other Factions.
  • If a Faction owes money back for a contract that is one thing. Clear the return through ComStar when you are shutting down your Faction, and we will take care of it. But transferring billions over to another Faction after selling off all your resources is another matter.

Now, since nothing can be done to the leaving Faction as a penalty, the penalty shall apply to the Faction receiving the funds. At the very least, the full amount will be deducted from their account. Possibly double the amount. So if a Faction decides to send you 10 billion c-bills right before they close their doors, we would suggest transferring the money back, or to ComStar ASAP if you don't want to get caught in the backlash.

A Faction that has been physically wiped out of the league (lost all, or most of their planets) has 2 options:

  • A Faction may choose to retain their Faction name and become a Pirate or Merc Faction. They would retain any remaining resources left to them in their former status. The Faction would receive the normal initial industry for that type Faction, and be subject to all the rules of that class. They would have the future option of upgrading their Faction back to House/Clan/Periphery, if they can make their Merc or Pirate Faction grow (# of planets) to the point that it supports the concept.  This enables the Faction to continue role-playing their league identities.
     
  • They may choose to close up shop in their original Faction, and may setup a new Merc or Pirate Faction. New name, resources, etc. Thus they would start with fewer resources than option A. They would also not be able to upgrade to a larger Faction as quickly.

The final covered situation where a Faction may shutdown is when they wish to merge with a larger Faction. This may be due to low player attendance within their Faction, lack of time to run the Faction, or whatever reason it may be. The league of course is always pleased to see players remain in the league, so we are willing to offer an incentive for Factions to consider this option, rather than fully bowing out of the league.

  • Once the merger goes through, and is shown to be a success (generally around 1-2 months after the original Faction shuts down), a modest booster pack will be granted to the merged Faction, based upon the resources remaining of the former Faction.
     
  • The original Faction must be an established Faction within the league. Thus someone cannot setup a Merc Faction, ghost run it for a month, then do a merge expecting the resources to be transferred.
     
  • League Administration will determine what the booster pack will contain. Generally it will be limited to Units and c-bills, though this is determined on a case by case basis.
     
  • Planets and major resources (factories) are never considered for mergers.

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