Enable the optional starting package
The GM selects Veteran Command under Campaign setup > New company starting package. It applies to companies created afterward by joining with a campaign invitation or by GM creation of an unclaimed company. Existing companies, claims of existing companies and spreadsheet imports receive no automatic grants.
For an untouched standard company, the GM can open Company Information > Starting company and grant Veteran Command. This requires no records or financial history beyond the original starting Warchest.
The package grants 12,000 BV of equipment allowance, four named pilots sharing 4,000 SP, 6,000 SP in the Warchest and reputation 5. Starting track scale is 3. The equipment allowance represents four scales but does not set track scale to 4.
Unit searches accept both reporting and Clan names when the MegaMek source explicitly supplies both. For example, Mad Cat and Timber Wolf (also Timberwolf) find the original variants; combine either name with Prime, A or another configuration. Suggestions and unit-library results show both names where available. Selecting a result retains its exact canonical design and source ID; this does not rename saved units or combine distinct designs such as Mad Cat II.
Choose creation support once
The company owner or GM opens Starting company and chooses Battlefield support or No Support. No Support posts one additional Warchest grant of 2,000 SP (four equipment scales times 500 SP), making the total starting Warchest 8,000 SP.
Equipment remains 12,000 BV and named-pilot upgrades remain 4,000 SP. The creation bonus cannot be replayed by resubmitting or by changing later track support choices. The creation selection is saved permanently.
Allocate and build named pilots
For Draconis Reach, open Company Information > Starting company. The four-pilot overview shows the shared 4,000 SP allowance and unallocated balance. Create or edit one pilot at a time. Assign 500-2,000 SP, then invest that personal allocation in Gunnery/Piloting (or AS Skill), Edge tokens and Edge abilities. Live totals and cumulative threshold tables show the resulting values; players do not enter skill levels or a manual upgrade cost.
Save pilot draft retains partial work and investments below thresholds. Commit four pilots requires exactly 4,000 SP assigned across four named pilots and every assigned SP invested. Unlocked Edge ability slots may remain empty. Chosen abilities and required specializations become permanent at commitment. The four records are created together once, separately from Warchest.
After commitment, Company Information > Pilot progression uses the same investment tracks for further personal and mission SP. A legacy draft with manual spending must be reviewed and rebuilt with explicit category investments; historical costs are never guessed from its skill levels.
Hinterlands retains its existing reviewed-cost starting-pilot workflow. The Draconis Reach threshold editor does not apply Hinterlands improvement prices.
Review starting equipment
The company owner opens Choose and commit your starting units directly from Your dashboard or the company dashboard. Veteran Command requires support and pilot commitment first. The GM may also use the chooser. Drafts use a separate grant and never charge the Warchest.
Veteran starting equipment allows up to two units outside the Mercenary / Inner Sphere General tables. Flexible choices use imported Inner Sphere tech-base designs introduced by the campaign calendar year; Clan, mixed-tech and unknown-year designs are excluded from that expanded catalog. Introduction years are inclusive: a 3049 design can be selected during 3049; release-month information is not recorded. This adapts the printed availability rule to the campaign era instead of using the book's fixed-era opposing-force lists. The GM still reviews the roster and records approval evidence.
Approval stores the starting roster snapshot and charged grant total. Later acquisitions do not reduce this creation allowance. The company cannot accept a contract until its starting force is approved.
Choose starting Meks and vehicles
Open Company Information > Starting company, complete support and pilot allocation, then choose Review starting equipment > Select starting equipment. The company player or GM can select equipment; only the GM approves the completed starting force.
Search Mercenary or Inner Sphere General units available in the campaign year, across all ratings in the configured imported RAT source. This is a table-backed list, not a complete Master Unit List faction catalog. Future introduction years and units without verified base BV are excluded.
A starting unit needs a free painted model in the company scheme or a linked printable design. Unpainted stock does not independently unlock a starting unit or discount its grant. Drafts reserve no models; commitment rechecks and allocates current physical stock atomically. Printable designs remain reusable.
Veteran choices use a 12,000 BV grant and nine unit equivalents, with Infantry counting as half and at most two identical variants. Under Campaign setup, Apply the company-color painted miniature discount to starting BV grants is off by default. When enabled, use the painted percentage with current free company-color stock. The smaller printed percentage applies only to merchant purchases. Round the discounted charge up to whole BV; unit combat BV is unchanged. Printable designs and Alpha Strike PV receive no starting discount. Committed charged values are retained; reopening rechecks current rules and stock.
Generate a name or background
Open a pilot draft card and use the compact MM / AI button beside the name or background field. Hover or focus the generator, or tap its arrow, to choose a provider. Selecting a provider generates a suggestion and remembers that choice for quick clicks, separately for names and backgrounds, for your account in this browser. MegaMek names use bundled General weighted name tables without AI charges. Written backgrounds require AI; MegaMek is disabled there because it has no biography generator. Optional preferences apply only to AI. Generated names fill the name field directly; backgrounds use review and Use or Discard before saving.
For backgrounds, review the suggested text, then choose Use suggestion or Discard. Existing text stays unchanged until you use the suggestion. You can edit it afterward. Save pilot draft preserves the background; Commit four pilots copies it into the character background profile with briefing inclusion off by default.
Generated flavor grants no skills, SP or abilities. Only the company player, campaign GM or site administrator can generate for the company while its starting pilots are drafts.
The administrator must configure the server API key and enable AI briefings and pilot suggestions under Admin > AI briefing settings. Requests share the site monthly budget. Failed requests leave the draft untouched; uncertain billed usage remains reserved. You may always type names and backgrounds manually.
Draft, commit and unlock starting units
After committing starting pilots, open Select starting equipment. Add eligible Meks, vehicles, Infantry or Battle Armor. Era/faction RAT availability, verified base BV and a matching model or printable design are required. Infantry and Battle Armor may use another imported RAT collection if the selected collection has no table.
Your draft starting units can be removed freely before commit. Drafts do not enter the active Equipment register or reserve physical models. The allowance remains 12,000 BV and nine unit equivalents; Infantry count as half. No more than two of one exact variant are permitted. No Warchest SP is charged.
Choose Commit starting units to recheck current availability and allocate models atomically. If inventory or cached costs changed, adjust the affected choice and retry. Committed choices are locked; normal crew assignments remain available.
Only the GM can Unlock starting choices, with a reason. Reopening preserves record IDs, returns grant selections to drafts and requires GM starting-force approval again. Recommit reserves currently available models. Once contract or saved track history exists, use normal GM equipment corrections instead of replaying a starting grant. Earlier approved companies remain protected; existing starting-grant selections can be reopened only before play.
Find starting units and follow the allowance
Use Find unit, Unit type, Weight category and Role together. Text dropdowns open their complete list and support typing to filter. Available company-color painted models appear first, then printable designs; names sort alphabetically within each group. Missing source roles are shown as Not recorded. Infantry and Battle Armor have no weight category.
The filter bar and allocated / remaining allowance stay visible below the menu while scrolling. Cards use four columns on wide screens, three or two on smaller screens and one on phones. Each card shows model availability, the applicable physical-model SP discount and its starting allowance charge. Filtering, paging, adding, removing, committing, unlocking and standard GM approval update in place. Filter/page and scroll context are retained. Without JavaScript, normal forms and links remain available.
Standard Draconis Reach starts allow 3,000 BV and one or two unit equivalents; Alpha Strike allows 100 PV and up to three. Hinterlands uses 3,000 BV or 100 PV and up to two. Mek Commander increases the allowance to 3,500 BV / 110 PV. Saved Tanker options permit vehicles; Battle Armor options permit up to two battle armor units per Mek equivalent. Standard choices use verified current-era source designs; Veteran choices retain the existing RAT-backed catalog.
Standard players commit their draft roster, assign crews in Equipment, then ask the GM to review the force. A committed standard force appears on the GM dashboard for approval with recorded evidence. The new chooser is for untouched new companies, not imported or played companies. Existing records receive no automatic grants. After commitment, only a GM can reopen starting choices with a reason before play.
The chooser labels General-table choice and Uses one flexible choice, and shows flexible choices used out of two. General-table units do not consume the exceptions. When both exceptions are used, only general-table additions remain available; removing a flexible draft frees its slot. Add and commitment both enforce this limit, alongside the 12,000 BV, nine unit-equivalent and maximum-two-identical-variant limits. Existing inventory/model prerequisites and discount settings still apply.
Shared pilot accounting
Starting pilot benefits are initial personal deposits, separate from equipment BV and Warchest. Standard companies create two pilots through the shared account page. Veteran drafts use the selected profile thresholds and commit 4,000 SP across four accounts. The Hinterlands Veteran option is an approved house-rule alternative to Silver Spoon, without Edge.
The pilot account is authoritative after creation. Veteran and conversion source receipts remain history; their old remaining fields do not provide another spendable pool. Rules changes return investments rather than granting a new starting package.
Filter model availability
In Select starting equipment, use Model availability: Painted or Printable. Starting results use a free company-color painted model first, otherwise a printable design without assigning a physical copy. Combine this with text, type, weight and role filters. Changing a filter updates the list in place and starts at page one; pagination and draft additions retain the filter. Each card shows its applicable physical-model SP discount. Starting BV discounts still depend on the campaign option.
Standard allowance consistency
The standard starting value allowance comes from the shared campaign force policy. Hinterlands Alpha Strike remains 100 PV; the unsupported 110 PV No Support variation is not offered. Veteran Command retains its separate 12,000 BV package and its own unit-equivalent limits.