DCMS High Command - Daimyo HQ 67-K

The Original Campaign
Box Set

I Have always been a campaign player at heart.  As much as I love the skirmish lance vs lance games the lack of consequence to a larger narrative always made them seem less engaging.  Why withdraw your three Stingers to preserve a recon element when at the end of the game it was all forgotten?  Better to fight to the bitter end and pull out a scrappy win.

Its only with campaign play, sometimes over months or years if you really want to get complex, does the small engagements really add up.  And so do the support units.  Much like my recent post regarding logistics, command elements are also important.  While the stories often tell of regimental commanders fighting from a mech and commanding all their forces, this is problematic for anyone with real world military experience.  Its hard enough to judge where your squad or platoon is under fire, let alone a hundred giant war machines across several kilometers.  No, for really big units like RCTs or multi-regimental units it's the headquarters that lead fights, with all there attached commo and support gear.  Destroying mechs is good and all, but killing generals wins battles.  

Daimyo H1 67-K

In the vein of campaign play I wanted to add some command units to the collection; and what better
than one steeped in deep lore like the Daimyo HQ 67-K.  This Mobile HQ on steroids is intended to command large scale planetary assaults, the type we saw in the succession wars and the largest clan invasion battles.  If you read the old sourcebooks the invasions were always led by 1 or 2 ‘Mech regiments, supported by a dozen tank and infantry units - sometimes as many as 20.  They did not get the space on the page like the Mech units but the bulk of troops was conventional.

The Daimyo HQ was designed to support such massive operations and all the comms that entails.  Built bigger and better than the Mobile HQ trucks seen in the 3025 Tech Readout which were designed for mere regiments, these HQ trucks were prized possessions in the succession wars for the DCMS.

Kentares IV Massacre - BT is rife with
war crimes...

This particular example of the Daimyo HQ is particularly (in)famous.  Employed as the invasion command center during the Kentares IV massacre the Daimyo HQ personnel received video documentation of Kuritan troops atrocities across the planet.  Horrified by what they saw the communications techs broke with loyalty to the dragon above all else and forwarded the video to Comstar, who propagated the knowledge of the crimes to the Inner Sphere writ large.  This; by way of second order effects, demoralized the Draconis Combine and enraged its adversaries in Davion space ultimately turning the tide of the conflict.

This HQ unit would remain in service, slowly losing its most advanced systems to the ravages of age and heavy use, over several centuries until its next high profile appearance as the DCMS command post in the defense of Luthien during the clan invasion.  No doubt from its well worn vid-conference rooms Theodore and Takashi Kurita coordinated the defense of the capital world with Jamie Wolf and Morgan Kell, leading to ultimate triumph against the clans.  

This particular model is painted in the now standard Khaki for DCMS vehicles which I have adopted for all non-unit specific models. This one is from Sir Mortimor Bombito who produces excellent 3d Models.  I had originally used a Death Ray Designs mobile HQ - which are excellent - but have since repurposed it to a normal Mobile HQ in service to my Sword of Light Brigade project.

Sources:

House Kurita Handbook

TRO 3026 Revised