General Armor and Weapons As Mustering Out Benefits

[Condottiere]

How many military personnel do you really need for planetary defence?

As opposed to balkanized or civil wars?

 

[Baroun Tardis]

How many military personnel do you really need for planetary defence?

As opposed to balkanized or civil wars?

Kinda depends on the planet and the situation

I'm getting ready to dump the players in the game I'm running into a nightmare: the Vargr found out about the Assasination via J6 courier before the X-boats brought word to the backwater planet the players live on... and one of the Pirate Kings got a bunch of corsairs together to do a cutting out expedition on the starport. According to Explaniator , Carmel's got about 7 Type-R's coming in a day, so figure 7 inbound with empty jump tanks, 7 outbound wanting to jump, and 7 to 14 on the ground. Just one SDB watching the planet and some 100-ton rescue/police boats, so bringing in dozen or so 400-ton corsairs should be quite profitable. Take the port, hold it for a week, pretend nothing happened and collect the scheduled traffic coming in as they land.

 

[McPerth]

MPERIAL ROME: Did a Centurion surrender his sword when he retired from the Army and was granted a landholding in conquered territory? (Actually, I have no idea ... but letting him keep it might not be a terrible idea.)

I have no idea if a centurion kept his sword when he retired, but ITTR weapons inside Rome were forbiden for anyone except the vigiles, so even if he had it, he could not bear it inside the city.

And, after all, are current soldiers allowed to keep their guns when they are discharged?

It could also be the result of the 57th Century Bill of Rights granting every citizen the right to bear arms for personal defence.

IMHO this would be determined by the Law Level of the system you're at, but the local security would be seen as a matter for the local forces (be them from local nobles, governments or whatever), not for armed civilians, ther former military status notwithsanding.

In resume, again IMHO, you can be given a weapon (probably not a suport one, though), but being able to bear it (not to say to use it) or not would depend on the LL of wherever you are at each moment. If you have a Starship, you can have it there, but if you're travelling as pasenger, you may have problems to have it when you're on a planet (unless there's some place in the starport to store it while on planet).

Of course, YMMV

 

[Condottiere]

The Romans collected arms and armour from battlefields, and are rather renown for charging their legionaries for their equipment, deducted from their pay.

Probably explains their ability to rapidly equip newly raised legions, rather than waiting for their military industrial complex to catch up.

 

[whartung]

On the other hand, going back to personal weapons... a Scout can have a Type-S for free. That and a box of bowling balls is potentially as destructive as a small nuke, and compared to an individual with a gauss rifle, it makes the worst the rifleman could do seem trivial.

Indeed, but even localities with strict personal weapon laws allows private owner of, say, 18 wheeler semi-trucks.

It's not a limitation on kinetic energy, but more a mechanic of limiting opportunity and application of that kinetic energy.

 

[Condottiere]

There's always psychological testing tied to licensing.