Folks Versed in DnD 5e Question

Okay its been a while and I think the last time I played 5e I just stepped into a role that had already been created and I was looking at the 5e rule set again and have a question on design of a character

If you were going to make a character that was wildernessy based -- sort of like a Nomadic lifestyle tribesmen -- so you are not necessarily full wild based per-sae just do not live in towns of any kind -- you plan to be a front-liner support -- in that you may be in the front-lines but you are not the primary front-liner and your aim is to play a partial supportive roll -- how would you go about creating this mechanically.

First Barbarian and Druid are both out they do not fit the character style I am going for so I was thinking Fighter / Cleric maybe -- starting with Fighter moving to Cleric -- but then I was reviewing them and got to wondering if straight Cleric would be better the better route -- So if anyone can give some advice on this and outline the reasons for and against it would be greatly appreciated -- I am just mostly trying to understand the feel of the mechanics and/or if there were a better option that was more in-tune with the concept that I have not considered -- note I cannot currently express fully the concept in words or I would ;) its more of a feel thing right now

Again thanks in advance for any insights -- and yes I understand you will posting your opinions but that is precisely what I asking for your opinion ;)

What you're describing sounds like it could be a ranger, as they can be support or front line depending on Fighting Style and (later on) Spellcasting and Archetype.

If you are simply looking to min-max a character without regard to the roleplaying element, then I can't really help you, as I don't play or run games that way. (I only mention this because you mention mechanics). I build characters to reflect how I perceive him or her to behave and react to the environment of the world, not the ruleset of the particular system. This can often times lead to choosing less-than-optimal choices (from a mechanical perspective).

I think the paladin might suit your needs. You get fighter proficiencies and hit points that let you remain on the front lines, and your divinity grants support to those around you.

As for the theme, the paladin's Oath of the Ancients seems appropriate. Depending on your DM, paladins don't necessarily need to come from any religious organization; some might just feel the call, or make an individual commitment to their deity.

Oath of the Ancients Forest Gnome would be pretty awesome!

I think the term "style" is important to note. I feel like style has very little to do with mechanics. Thus, if a barbarian or druid does precisely what you want mechanically, then skin it however you like. Aside from reskinning a class, I think ranger can fit nicely into your description depending on your choices during the build. I've always felt like ranger was more of a trapper than mini-druid. Also, in 5e the fighter can be built to fit almost any situation. As someone suggested, forest gnome might work. If you are ok with atypical races, firbolg is a very woodsman-aligned race selection. Basically, there are races that feel more aligned to a wilderness-survivalist while freeing you up for a class that works mechanically such as fighter or cleric.

Then there are RP options that could work for even caster type classes. Bard, for example, can be RP'd as a living alone outside of typical society. Select half-orc and school of swords or another non-instrument specialty. Then pick hermit for a background. It certain gives the RP feel that described, and it makes it's mark in combat in melee. Plus, bard utility can handle support better than most others.

I was also thinking Oath of Ancient paladin

Note - the idea of the character (aka its overall purpose) and its race are already in place in my head -- it was looking at the classes and going yeah that feels right for what I am wanting to try and achieve -- so nothing really about min-maxing just making sure I make a solid character that does fit the overall purpose for it -- I mean I have no problems with short changing a character based on a solid concept -- but then part of this characters purpose is to support others -- so if I short change him to much then it fails to fulfill its purpose. Its to this point that I came here... I was looking for solid advice on how to build that somewhat vague concept that I presented so that it fulfilled its purpose the most effectively ... I will look more closely at both the Ranger and the Paladin -- with a specific on that Oath of Ancient as these are the kind of suggestions I was looking for.

In short not having played 5e in a long while - I was hoping to speed the process up of determine the what or at list reducing the list of what's to investigate closely.

Still thanks one and all for these suggestions --- if anyone has anything to add please do so -- and when I finalize things I will let you all know what the outcome was...is...will be... yeah whatever the proper saying would be for that

That's cool. I like talking about character builds. Do you want to share the race you chose and the key abilities you're hoping to have or use most often? I think people could contribute more specific build advice as you go into more detail.

Well the Race is Homebrew and pretty much (in my opinion) irrelevant to the question since when applying the race you are either simply going to in enhance or not -- the basic class thus should not be at all dependent on that -- but I could be wrong -- still as it goes -- let just say its a Half-Orc

As for the Key Abilities I thought I had expressed those:
1) Nomadic lifestyle tribesmen
2) front-liner support : may be in the front-lines but not the primary front-liner and the aim is to play a partial supportive roll to the primary front-liner

So far suggestions are:
Ranger
Paladin (Oath of the Ancients)

If you are looking to support the front-line tank, then paladin would be really good.

You get an aura that improves their saving throws and you can pick the Protection fighting style to cause one attack per round to have disadvantage against them. You also get Lay on Hands to heal them if they get hurt badly and you get a lot of protective spells to prop them up.

One of my favorite 5e character building tricks is to start rogue 1 to get expertise in 2 skillls and a wider range of skills. You could do the same for expertise in nature and survival to make sure your nomadic tribesman theme is supported by your mechanics. The rest could be paladin as others have suggested, or whatever you decide. Either way you end up with hella competent outdoorsy character.

For background, outlander lets you automatically succeed at the hunting & gathering part of wilderness adventures, which also supports your theme.

Thanks @lenpelletier that Background suggestion is nice to know about and probably will be used -- and fits the theme as well