In our Mass: the Effecting game, we've taken on a job in the Terminus Systems where we're looking for a mythical ship and a paramilitary/terrorist cell. Since we're way out beyond Council space with no other backup available, we've hired on another merc company as extra muscle/groundside support.

They're a Ukrainian-originating outfit called Warta (Vigil) and bring a dozen personnel, split into two fireteams, each containing a combat engineer and a trio of combat drones. All are outfitted in medium armour and the non-techies have assault rifles.

For our own assets, we have a drop shuttle, two Mantis gunships and our frigate is atmosphere-capable if required.

My character is a former Alliance Systems marine who used to be a squad leader, and it's his job on missions with extended fire support to act as unit commander. There are also four other PCs; a biotic specialist, a vanguard/close combat specialist, a medic/heavy weapons trooper and an engineer/scout-marksman.

We might deploy into hostile environments where the people who own the place don't want us there. Or have to fight off other teams looking for the same information as us.

So how do I go about organising these people? What are some standard small-unit tactics that work well with those sorts of numbers?

I'd think that a lot of that stuff that works in the real world would be terribly boring to try to implement in an RPG. And depending on how the system works, that might be a complete waste of time.

But cover and communication are a big deal. There's a lot of everyone covering for one guy moving up, then stair-stepping everyone else into position, which would be a complete snoozefest at the gaming table.

There was an awesome reality show on USA a few years ago where they took elite troops and challenged them in teams to complete missions, Combat Missions.  Maybe you can find that somewhere, that would give you an idea of how these guys think (since they did those "confessional" things after the mission) and, since it was on TV, it was likely played up with some aggression so it would be entertaining to watch.

There's also a show that's on Netflix, and full episodes can be found on Youtube, that's called Special Ops Mission. It's just one guy, Will Willis, operating against a handful of other operaters in random scenarios. I haven't seen all the episodes, but a couple of the handful I saw seemed a bit stacked in Willis' favor, or the enemy troops were purposefully stupid. At any rate, it might give you an idea of what goes into the thinking of a small group (1 dude) when trying to complete missions against larger groups (half dozen or so).

So you've basically got a warship, a couple of gunships, half a platoon and a dinghy?

My standard approach with those resources would be to glass targets from as far away as possible with as much firepower as possible, then send in the troops (who I really wouldn't split up unless it offers a clear advantage) to mop up afterwards. If you can muster a swarm of asteroids into the bargain all the better.

Going in after midnight with those resources is a bad idea, nobody really does that, you're into spycraft/mission impossible territory there, unless the team can handle that kind of mission profile, as in blend.

Bigger picture, I'd probably look into recruiting a few score more mercs as soon as possible. Failing that, purchase force multipliers like mines, portable laser grids, better weapons and armour for your crew, and automated guns.

Basically it comes down to three tactical options - kill stuff until stuff stops shooting back, sneak in and make stuff think you're more stuff, and combinations of the above two. The more options you have as regards either killing or going ninja/native, the more successful you will be.