Standard Lance Compositions: Direct Fire Support

Welcome back to the tactica, mechwarriors.  Today's topic is Direct Fire Support lances, and how they are best utilized by the company.  The Direct Fire Support lance is one of the mainstays of the Gatekeepers' order of battle, and this is one of the first types of lance we began to field.  We've gained a lot of practical experience over the past two years or so, and herein we examine how these sorts of lances fit into Mechwarrior Online at the company level.

Recently, these units have been brought back into favor due to the exceptional gunnery of fully trained Gatekeepers.  The general strategy with this sort of unit is to find a defensive point and form a fire solution with the Direct Fire 'mechs.  Any supporting 'mechs see to their own role functions as they occur - in most cases they are contingency measures.

Medium & Heavy Direct Fire Lances

• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Electronic Warfare
• Gatekeepers Main Combat Unit.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Missile Artillery
• High Profile unit with Missile Artillery providing suppression.  In concert with other units, the Missile Artillery unit can extend the effective kill range of a Direct Fire unit.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Hunter-Killer
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Hunter-Killer provides a screen against most enemy recon units.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Battle Line
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Battle Line provides a screen against advancing enemy units.
• 2 Direct Fire, 1 Battle Line, 1 Interceptor or Electronic Warfare
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Battle Line provides a screen against advancing enemy units.
• 2 Direct Fire, 2 Interceptor or Electronic Warfare
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Battle Line provides a screen against advancing enemy units.
• 2 Direct Fire, 1 Missile Artillery, 1 Interceptor or Electronic Warfare
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Battle Line provides a screen against advancing enemy units.
• 2 Direct Fire, 2 Close Support or Hunter-Killer
• Low profile and more maneuverable unit carrying enough close range firepower to deter enemy interceptors and support the attack echelon.

Heavy Direct Fire Lances

• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Electronic Warfare
• Gatekeepers Main Combat Unit.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Missile Artillery
• High Profile unit with Missile Artillery providing suppression.  In concert with other units, the Missile Artillery unit can extend the effective kill range of a Direct Fire unit.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Hunter-Killer
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Hunter-Killer provides a screen against most enemy recon units.
• 3 Direct Fire, 1 Battle Line
• Direct Fire units create fire solution while the Battle Line provides a screen against advancing enemy units.

Heavy lances tend to have less options due to the need for 3 heavy chassis in the composition, whereas medium lances have a greater range of weight chassis they can field.  The basic reason for this is to keep the relative speed band of the 'mechs in the lance the same, so you don't have heavy mechs lagging behind where our tonnage is deployed.  By contrast, medium 'mechs can vary their speed to stay with any heavier assets they have assigned to their formation.  Tonnage limitations will be the chief concern we will face in most leagues, so train in proper lance formation to get used to these compositions.

The Direct Fire Support units will be generally assigned to the exploitation echelon of a company march composition.  There, they will provide support to the attack echelon, usually by targeting higher elevations where enemy 'mechs could form a powerful fire solution to engage the attack echelon.  When the company is on the march, the Drop Commander should take special note of his Direct Fire Supports' position and fire-lanes, repositioning the unit as the company advances.

It's been seen that many Gatekeepers prefer this position, and we're incorporating these units into the more common company compositions we'll be using this season.  Prepare your gunnery skills and brush up on lance formation and fire solutions.  Using these methods, Direct Fire units should rack up serious damage scores.  For pilots who pride themselves on exceptional gunnery, there's no better position to prove it.  Good hunting, Gatekeepers.