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First off let me say this discussion is not about game mechanics or which is better on the battlefield/game board. It's about in-universe perspectives on jump and parachute infantry.

Until the first specialized infantry types were mentioned in Tactical Operations I pretty much considered jump infantry to be an off-chute of paratroopers, no pun intended. Several divisions in the original Star League book descended from real world outfits and if I remember correctly the 101st Division is a jump unit. I had this picture in my head of jump infantry being trained as paratroopers as part of their initial training leading up to jump pack training. Now with TacOps I question that idea. For units that are otherwise identical paratroopers are more expensive than jump infantry. As a caveat I think I should say that I justify much of the expense of infantry using the canon cost formulas has to do with training, not just equipment.

So what do you think? See any in-character reasons for paratroopers to cost more than jump infantry?

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I also thought jump infantry was the modern paratroopers.

Didn't realize they'd separated them.

I have no idea why a parachute would be more expensive than a rocket-powered backpack. Even bringing in training, I don't see why parachute training would be more expensive than training people to use rocket-powered backpacks. I suppose there's flight time in jets and jumping out of perfectly good ones to hang in the air from a piece of fabric. But flighttime is cheap in the BattleTech universe...

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Same here. I always thought that jump infantry were high-tech paratroopers or air assault types. I have certainly used them that way in game, and it's not a coincidence that I have designed an air assault VTOL to carry a platoon of jump infantry. I imagine that jump infantry and paratroopers would have a fair amount of training in common, particularly regarding basics like getting out of an aircraft safely and landing without breaking your legs. Given the technical differences (you'd think a fancy jet pack would cost more than a parachute) I have no idea why paratroopers might cost more unless it must be training. Thought on that line: parachutes are quiet, and BA can use parawings for quiet insertion; maybe paratroopers in CBT are not just paratroopers in the WW2 82nd Airborne sense, but more commando or spec ops types with lots of added training?

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Good points all have raised. I think we need to continue this one and try to get an idea of the actual cost of training and equipping of all infantry to see which one cost more.

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Additional thoughts:

- It would make sense to me that a CBT jetpack harness probably would include a small emergency chute in case of a flame-out or other failure at altitude. Yanking the ripcord (or whatever trigger mechanism) would dump the dead jetpack to lose weight and deploy the chute. It wouldn't be a big fancy parawing or anything, but it would be enough to give you a reasonable chance to not just go SPLAT. So some basic parachute training definitely could be in order for jump troops.

- I imagine that as with most things CBT, we've got some advanced materials to work with by the 31st century, so parachutes aren't just ropes and cloth. They're probably lighter and can fold more compactly...handwavium-reinforced ferro-mylar or something. Future chutes would still be limited by the laws of physics though, requiring so much canopy area per unit mass, aerodynamics for parawings and so on.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

Just a thought (and not one I have researched yet), but a typical Jump infantry platoon is 21-men. How many men are in a typical paratroop platoon? If it is the standard 28-man platoon, that might add into the cost calculation. Otherwise, my 2-cents don't contribute to the collective pot.

John

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ViperXTC

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I go along with Grey, my basic concept of a jump pack, at least those ones worn by combat infantry, is that there is some sort of reserve chute built in, and given BT materials it wouldn't weight all that much.

Viper, the basic formula for infantry platoon cost starts with the cost of the soldiers' weapons and body armor so the number of soldiers per platoon is already accounted for.

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paratroopers have to be more expensive than jumptroops(in the 31st century that is).

why?

paratroopers in the 31st century are well beond high altitude low opening(HALO) style operations, "paratroopers" is a synonym for "troops that are dropped onto the battlefield".
that includes being dropped from orbit, wich means operation in (near-) vacuum, limited zero-G(at least at the time of release) operation of devices for entering athmosphere,(limited-)navigation( when a few seconds of misfiring reentry thrusters could mean landing on top of the enemy, instead of the landing zone), operation of spaceship/dropship equipment for dropping paratroopers, operation of airlocks.that list certainly is not complete.

jumptroopers is only infantry that can operate a fancy sort of vehicle.
the really expensive units would be para-jumptroopers, wich could do both. and the most advanced of those could use the thrusters of their jumppacks as thrusters to travel with their parachutes, as an increase in mobility.(with the thrusters needing far less fuel)

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I have never made the connection 'tween jump troops and paratroopers.

Jumpers were this weird Civil War Horse Cavalry (to wit: 25% less manpower, 'case someone had to keep all the horses from stampeding), and even though lighting off them candles should put them on enemy sensor nets, the could both take cover, and fire the jump packs repeatedly.

Paratroopers only use a 'chute once an Op, and in world with laser AAA, would have to get out at much higher altitudes then we are used to, I dare say.

While I guess you could drop jump troops down any set of elevations that didn't entail a presser suit, they really seem like fancy foot infantry to me, and don't wheir altimeters.

The rules do say you only need one jump jet to descend all the elevations, but I think only paratroopers could descend altitudes and live.

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