CLASSIC BATTLETECH CATALYST game labs

First off, in general how effective do you feel C3 networks are for a whole company network?  Is it worth the equipment weight for the tactical flexability (essentially averaging 2.333 tons of c3 equipment across the 12 mechs).  Secondly, hypotheticly if you could, would you link 20 mechs togeather into a larger C3 network if it cost you 5.25 tons on average per mech in C3 equipment (basically 15 mechs would have C3 masters, and there would be 30 slave units, some mechs having several slaves).  Would it be worth it in your eyes to use that much weight and space for an extra 2 lances added to the network?

Yeah, BV makes C³ pretty much worthless when a handful of Guardian ECM suites can knock out the whole network.  I feel like the amount of tonnage given up for C³ is just about perfect right now: any more and it would probably become a liability.

Meh. That turns the whole thing into an ECM battle, and there are some C3 designs specifically created to fight the electronic battle while the physical one is going on simultaneously.

It seems to me that ECM could be a problem for a part of the network, assuming that only a couple of the op force mechs have it, except that any units out of the ECM bubble still function, and if you can place a "spotter" just outside the bubble at 7 hexes, that the long ranged weapons of your sniper mechs (ER LL & PPCs, LRMs, Gauss) could fire at the ECM unit as if at short range.  Another interesting question, are the boosted C3s mutually exclusive or could you have a boosted master tied to regular slaves?

Generally I really like C3 for Heavy & Assault Companies but C3 is problematic and if you are balancing by standard BV you can get hosed by a few ECM's.

The problem is that once the (typically heavy or assault) C³ Master unit is interdicted, the entire network goes down.  A couple of fast Mediums with Guardian ECM, and the whole network falls apart.  Not to mention the fact that staying exactly 7 hexes away from a unit with Guardian ECM is a lot more difficult than it sounds, especially if there are multiple units with ECM Suites. 

Clearly, MadCap, you don't play with ECCM rules. You should see the games my friend and I play with him running a DCMS C3 company and me running a WoB C3i company; it's a deadly game of cat and also cat.

Double C3 master "Company Command" mechs are generally extremely bad BV-wise and a huge network liability, since the enemy will  have even more reasons to destroy/disable/ECM that unit.

You may also want to split off into individual C3 lances later, and a C3 network only works across a single battle area not planet-wide.
Putting a few Guardian ECMs in your unit, especially on your C3 Master mechs can really help...disrupt Narc/Artemis-assisted ammo, ghost targets, and lastly ECCM mode to counteract enemy's attempts to shut down your network with their ECM.
"Boosted C3" isn't worth it when you can stay more flexible with regular C3 plus ECM.

1-off games, a company-wide C3 network isn't worth it BV.

In campaigns where forces are decided in advance without purely BV considerations (such as you have x mechwarriors and y mechs and z spare equipment versus an opponent with their own logistics), a company-wide C3 network can be great...BUT you may only be able to use it as such for important "final" battles. The rest of the time, it may be broken up piecemeal into C3 lances...or worse, have C3 Master mechs damaged/destroyed making the C3 company network unsustainable. In such, having a heavy or assault omnimech that can carry a C3 Master in a pinch (instead of its normal C3 Slave + other items) if an existing C3 master-carrying battlemech gets disabled is extremely helpful.

Even a C3 lance has to be "built around" due to the heavy C3 Master and spotter/long-range fire tactics needed to get the most out of them.
Having an oversized force with an "excess" of C3 Slaves means you're better off with C3 lances. If you have "excess" C3 Masters, build C3 companies. This can change after battles, and force reorganization of your forces to keep C3 networks complete. Unless everyone has trained together, this OFTEN means initiative penalties at the least.

C3i networks on the other hand, don't really have to be reorganized if they lose a member...it helps some, but even 2 C3i's linked together can have one gain a 1 range bracket boost a lot of the time. Trying to work their 6-mech/tank size limit into your Lance/Company/Battalion organizational schemes may prove difficult...but that just means Liao-style augmented lances. Sadly, C3i isn't readily available to factions other than ComStar and Word of Blake till probably after 3067.

Regular C3 would be available in A*/A grade units of Kurita probably around 3049, much of Kurita's forces by 3052, spread to mercenaries and Davion by 3055-3058, and by 3060 almost anyone who wants it (in small quantities) can get it for probably about 150% regular Kurita price. ...Even Taurian Concordant!

Canon info seems to suggest there's only a handful of places C3 and C3i gets made. And WoB smashed some/most of the C3 factories in the Jihad.
Is there an Ark Royal version by 3075?