Economics of a Mercenary Campaign

[Whipsnade]

Bruce,

I give up. Your ideas concerning the Third Imperium setting is simply too far divorced from the concensus view of the setting for any common ground to be found. You and I are debating apples and oranges.

Your complete inability to understand that tech levels in the setting are not precisely the same as tech levels in the rules is just one example of your differing view. Your inability to understand the nature of travel/comm lag imposed by jump drive or the ad hoc, 'men not laws', nature of Imperial governance are two others. Given free trade and jump drive of the setting, your thinking that knights in shining armor still exist next door to grav tanks is beyond belief. As is the idea that T-34 and Spitfire crewmen will be recruited by grav cavalry.

Even your own arguments fail to have any internal consistency. Up thread you argued that no rich person would invest in a mercenary company because it would be too risky, then in your last post you present an example of a rich merchant doing precisely that. Go figure.

My involvement in this thread is over. Have fun talking to yourself.


Finis,
Bill

 

[BetterThanLife]

Here are the assumptions I am making.
1. A unit has to pay for its supplies, unless otherwise stated in the ticket. (There is no Ammunition Fairy that fills your empty magazines that you put under your pillow at night while you sleep.)

2. A Unit has to make a profit in order to stay in business. (One of the big reasons it has to make a profit is so it can pay shares.)

3. A Unit has to cover its Capital expenses and replace lost equipment and this has to be accounted for somehow on the bottom line. (There is no tank fairy that replaces the blown up tank that you put under your pillow while you sleep either.)

4. A Megacorporation is not going to trust anyone to do something for them if that person belongs to a rival Megacorporation. They certainly won't hand the tools over to that person and put them in a position to thwart a multi-million+ credit operation.

Known fact, at least to anyone that has served in any military unit, anywhere in the world, and should be obvious to those that work in sports or even watch sports: A Unit will work together better if they train together. The longer they train together the better they will work together. You can't take 4 strangers, regardless of how good they are individually, put them on a team, and expect them to perform as a team without time to train together.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
Bruce,

I give up. Your ideas concerning the Third Imperium setting is simply too far divorced from the concensus view of the setting for any common ground to be found. You and I are debating apples and oranges.

Your complete inability to understand that tech levels in the setting are not precisely the same as tech levels in the rules is just one example of your differing view. Your inability to understand the nature of travel/comm lag imposed by jump drive or the ad hoc, 'men not laws', nature of Imperial governance are two others. Given free trade and jump drive of the setting, your thinking that knights in shining armor still exist next door to grav tanks is beyond belief. As is the idea that T-34 and Spitfire crewmen will be recruited by grav cavalry.

Even your own arguments fail to have any internal consistency. Up thread you argued that no rich person would invest in a mercenary company because it would be too risky, then in your last post you present an example of a rich merchant doing precisely that. Go figure.

My involvement in this thread is over. Have fun talking to yourself.


Finis,
Bill

So you are saying you have no rule source. No problem. I can live with that.

And what I actually said was that investing in such a risky venture such as a Mercenary unit, has to show a faster return on the investment, which the current tickets do not appear to allow.

 

[sid6.7]

Do I think Sternmetal would let a unit run out of ammo? Yes, I do.

that is not that common, most companys arent
going to abandon someone just becuase ammo is
being used up quickly...esp. if the mercs were
winning but just using alot of ammo to win
i spuose there would be some "point"
when stern said "enough" but i dont think
it would be over ammo..it would be more
likely over the loss of tanks/planes
or heavy collateral damgage to the objective...

it would make a great twist in an adventure
though....

i think in the long run you've complicated
LBB4 so much it wouldnt be fun to play you've
forsaken RPG fun for realism too much...IMHO

good luck...

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by sid6.7:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Do I think Sternmetal would let a unit run out of ammo? Yes, I do.

that is not that common, most companys arent
going to abandon someone just becuase ammo is
being used up quickly...esp. if the mercs were
winning but just using alot of ammo to win
i spuose there would be some "point"
when stern said "enough" but i dont think
it would be over ammo..it would be more
likely over the loss of tanks/planes
or heavy collateral damgage to the objective...

it would make a great twist in an adventure
though....

i think in the long run you've complicated
LBB4 so much it wouldnt be fun to play you've
forsaken RPG fun for realism too much...IMHO

good luck... </font>[/QUOTE]Actually Sid, I am trying to figure the realism so that the background is consistent. I find when Refereeing a campaign, it is best to have the background in place and working before the game begins. That makes the Roleplaying easier and believable. If it the setting is solid then you can worry about the exceptions. Just like trying to make a living on with a Tramp freighter, the ship has to be inherently profitable before you start running it.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Moderator mode on:

When the rules, and the books let me down, I make something up that makes sense to me and the players. Trying to make square pegs fit into round holes requires sandpaper at the very least, last time I checked, or a really BIG hammer.

For real- world realism, if its THAT much effort, look to the research Frederick Forsythe (UK author) went to when writing the book "The Dogs Of War".

The author went and hired a bunch of mercs, rented the boat, did everything leading up to the ops/ job, and then wrote the rest and sailed away. of course, after his smash hit "Day of the Jackal" he had some cash, and this was 1965..

Moderator mode off:

Thank you gentleman for the time of day, and being civil.

as ever was...