Economics of a Mercenary Campaign

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Diocletian:
This is a good topic. Mercenary campaigns are ones I have enjoyed the most in Traveller. I have liked company to battalion sized units, because it combines my hobby of wargaming with Traveller.

In thinking about the general low tech level of many worlds, I can see the desire of nations on those worlds or companies/interests from outside those worlds wanting to hire a higher tech (TL12+) experienced unit and pay top money for it. Every military commander wants a sure victory and having a higher tech experienced and sizeable unit will help a long way towards it. Winning a war quickly will save more money. A merc unit can help to get a quck victory. I can see a company sized TL 12 unit getting at least MCr100+ a year for extended campaigns, or a quick MCr10+ for a month long mission.

The issue here is that most Company tickets available in Canon are in the neighborhood of either double standard salaries or MCr1. The Platoon Tickets about the same or more. But it is difficult to determine a fair price until we determine a reasonable way to calculate expenses.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
The issue here is that most Company tickets available in Canon are in the neighborhood of either double standard salaries or MCr1.

Those numbers seem way too low.
Sounds like you need to change "canon" sources.

Book 4 suggested minimum: Cr60000 per month or part thereof per platoon with all maintenance provided by the patron.

Striker battalion ticket: MCr30 for a battalion, logistics provided, munitions and spares discounted 90%.

Company-sized commando mission: MCr3 with a MCr2 success bonus. Transport financed by patron with a 10% of value bonus for equipment returned intact.

Reinforced battalion (TL 9 or 10, mechanized) MCr50. Indents allowed up to MCr30 up front to purchase equipment which you can keep if you win.

Company-sized security mission: Cr500000, transport supplied by patron.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Piper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
The issue here is that most Company tickets available in Canon are in the neighborhood of either double standard salaries or MCr1.

Those numbers seem way too low.
Sounds like you need to change "canon" sources.

Book 4 suggested minimum: Cr60000 per month or part thereof per platoon with all maintenance provided by the patron.

Striker battalion ticket: MCr30 for a battalion, logistics provided, munitions and spares discounted 90%.

Company-sized commando mission: MCr3 with a MCr2 success bonus. Transport financed by patron with a 10% of value bonus for equipment returned intact.

Reinforced battalion (TL 9 or 10, mechanized) MCr50. Indents allowed up to MCr30 up front to purchase equipment which you can keep if you win.

Company-sized security mission: Cr500000, transport supplied by patron. </font>[/QUOTE]76 Patrons is the Canon source I was quoting. I knew there were some in LBB4 but didn't have it handy.

I agree it is low, but many of the tickets are priced with no actual accounting for the Merc unit expenses.

My favorite was one in the Starfall playtest that was a StarMerc ticket which was supposed to be an Anti-Piracy Q-Ship Sweep taking up several months with a payoff of KCr500 or something similar.

It is the primary reason I started this thread.

 

[Piper]

Your basic formula seems like a fair starting point. To determine actual cost, I'd suggest doubling that figure and adding in an amount to cover expected losses; 10% or 20% of equipment value depending on anticipated opposition.
A platoon with 4 G-carriers might reasonably expect to lose one (or more) if the opposition is serious. At MCr1 each, losing a single carrier can eat up all your profits if the ticket fee is too low.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Piper:
Your basic formula seems like a fair starting point. To determine actual cost, I'd suggest doubling that figure and adding in an amount to cover expected losses; 10% or 20% of equipment value depending on anticipated opposition.
A platoon with 4 G-carriers might reasonably expect to lose one (or more) if the opposition is serious. At MCr1 each, losing a single carrier can eat up all your profits if the ticket fee is too low.

The formula is set to pay 10% for maintenance and ammo and a further 10 to 20% (depending on the expense of the item) for the item cost itself. If you lose more than 20% of your low cost items or 10% of your high cost items per year then the formula is incorrect. However if you expect to lose vehicles or other high ticket items on a regular basis, then units with those kinds of expenses will price themselves out of the market to light units that have little or no vehicles. Back to the light infantry model for most mercenary units. As an example. a Lift Infantry Company with an attached Tank platoon.)

TOE as follows. (Using T20 vehicles from TA6, ranks from LBB4.)

A Squad consists of
Fireteam A
Sergeant: (E-6)(Squad Leader) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Rifleman: (E-1) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Rifleman: (E-1) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Plasma Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, PGMP-12, Autopistol

Fireteam B
Corporal: (E-4) (Team leader) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Rifleman: (E-1) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Rifleman: (E-1) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Plasma Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, PGMP-12, Autopistol

Fireteam C Grav APC Crew (Doubles as a Heavy weapons team when the vehicle is not present.)
Vehicle Commander: (E-4) Combat Armor-12, Autopistol
Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-12, Autopistol
Pilot: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, Autopistol

Platoon consists of 3 squads plus
Platoon Leader (O-1) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Platoon Sergeant (E-7) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Medic (E-4) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.

Weapons Team
Corporal: (E-4) (Team leader) Combat Armor-TL12, Gauss Rifle, Autopistol, RAM Grenades.
Plasma Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, PGMP-12, Autopistol
Plasma Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, PGMP-12, Autopistol

Grav APC Crew (Doubles as a Heavy weapons team when the vehicle is not present.)
Vehicle Commander: (E-4) Combat Armor-12, Autopistol
Gunner: (E-2) Combat Armor-12, Autopistol
Pilot: (E-2) Combat Armor-TL12, Autopistol

Armor Platoon consists of 4 Light Tanks (TL10)
Each tank having a crew of 4.
Tank Commander (E-5), Combat Armor, Autopistol.
Gunner (E-3) Combat Armor, Autopistol
Secondary Gunner (E-2) Combat Armor, Autopistol
Pilot (E-3) Combat Armor, Autopistol.

In one tank the Platoon Leader is the Tank Commander (O-1)
In another tank the Platoon Sergeant (E-7) is the Tank Commander.

Company HQ consists of 2 APCs.
Commander (O-3)
XO (O-2)
First Sergeant (E-8)
Senior Medic (E-5)
Medic (E-4)
Supply Sergeant (E-5)
Armorer (E-4)
Clerk (E-3)
Maintenance Sergeant (E-5)
Mechanic (E-3)
The Supply sergeant, Armorer, and mechanics perform as the vehicle crews for the Company HQ APC's.

All Company HQ personal are equipped as Riflemen.

Total personnel
6 officers and 146 enlisted.
Vehicle cost alone is MCr27.68 Running 10% for maintenance and supplies and 10% replacement cost (or amortization cost if you prefer.) Basic equipment cost is MCr3.2 or at 10% maint and ammo and 20% replacement. Total, expenses runs roughly KCr500 per month plus transportation and salaries.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Salary works out to 65350 per month plus shares using the LBB4 model. Roughly 182 tons of cargo.

Moving this unit is going to be a headache.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Total personnel 6 officers and 146 enlisted. Roughly 182 tons of cargo.

Moving this unit is going to be a headache.

I dunno, you could pack it all up into a pair of Fat-Traders if you weren't going too far. The Subbie Merchants are everywhere, innocuous, and cheap to charter. Of course you have to be going on their route and schedule.

If I were building a unit like this that expected to travel a lot I'd buy a couple of retired Subbies at a good discount and convert/upgrade them a bit for native transport ready whenever needed. The expense would be an issue though, unless you ran them as free-traders during unit downtime. Then they would become a very profitable asset to see you through.

Load 3 officers per ship in private (3 passenger) staterooms, 73 enlisted per at double occupancy (remaining 5 passenger staterooms and cargo hold stateroom modules of 126tons) ala the instant basing idea mentioned which I also worked into my unfinished entry) leaving about 108tons for gear, heck that leaves you with 17tons for extra gear on each ship (except I used it up for the life support and extra base space below).

Of course the cost of said basing modules would be on you but you need some kind of base anyway, it might as well be mobile.

I'd design them using the vehicle design sequence Small Cabin with a stand alone life support module (pressurized and climate controlled module). Call it Cr504,000 for the basing modules and another Cr220,500 for the life support module, taking up about 7.5tons not including a power supply. The power plant (170.1 vehicle ep) would be about another Cr170,000 and 0.5tons for early fusion. Every 0.25tons of fuel tankage would be good for about 4 weeks of operation.

So I'd probably round it out and call it a 9ton powerplant and 132ton base capable of supporting half the unit for up to 4 months in the field (thats just the fuel duration, food and water is extra). Total cost Cr900,000 for the package. In addition to providing 63 bunks (or 2 bunks convert to a single private room for officers) and common space that would also include 6tons of space for whatever custom use you desire. All buildable at TL8 (TL9 if you include the Subbies).

 

[ravells]

Dan 'mentat' Burns, more like.

Ravs

 

[far-trader]

Well thank you ravs

 

[ravells]

That post before last took you about 2 seconds to write...I'm sure of it.

Do people stare at your eyebrows in the street?

 

[far-trader]

I knew I was forgetting something.

(way to blow the whole Mentat image)

I didn't factor in some chassis allotment for the structure of the mobile basing. Of course my rounding should cover it. Yeah, let's go with it's included

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by ravs:
That post before last took you about 2 seconds to write...I'm sure of it.

Nah, it was more like a minute, I type waaaay slower than I can think.

Originally posted by ravs:
Do people stare at your eyebrows in the street?

The wild eyebrow look only comes from Sapho abuse, I don't use the stuff... anymore... much

 

[BetterThanLife]

Dan,
I agree that you could fit them on a Pair of Sub-Liners or so. But it isn't the type of unit that I would organize without organic interstellar transport. Trying to find a ship that can give you a lift between jobs would wipe out any profit in a heartbeat. A Light Platoon, I might depend on commercial transport, but a Company? It puts too much stock in Luck.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:

... if you expect to lose vehicles or other high ticket items on a regular basis, then units with those kinds of expenses will price themselves out of the market to light units that have little or no vehicles. Back to the light infantry model for most mercenary units.

10% losses per year seems a bit optimistic given that your opposition is just as likely to be another mercenary unit as it is indigenous forces.

A light infantry unit isn't going to be chosen to fill an armor role simply because it's cheaper. Light infantry might be the most common type, but there's ample room for a wide variety: mercenary air units, artillery, electronic warfare, air defense artillery, heavy armor, etc.

Most tickets specify the type of unit required so it seems unlikely that an infantry unit and an armored unit would even be competing for the same jobs.

Based on Book 4 prices, your unit should be able to earn from MCr1 to MCr5 per month; possibly more for high risk missions.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Piper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BetterThanLife:

... if you expect to lose vehicles or other high ticket items on a regular basis, then units with those kinds of expenses will price themselves out of the market to light units that have little or no vehicles. Back to the light infantry model for most mercenary units.

10% losses per year seems a bit optimistic given that your opposition is just as likely to be another mercenary unit as it is indigenous forces. The current Canon Tickets don't take into account that level of expenses.

A light infantry unit isn't going to be chosen to fill an armor role simply because it's cheaper. Light infantry might be the most common type, but there's ample room for a wide variety: mercenary air units, artillery, electronic warfare, air defense artillery, heavy armor, etc.

Most tickets specify the type of unit required so it seems unlikely that an infantry unit and an armored unit would even be competing for the same jobs.

Based on Book 4 prices, your unit should be able to earn from MCr1 to MCr5 per month; possibly more for high risk missions. </font>

Well considering that more than 60% of the worlds in the OTU are not Armor Unit Friendly... And being able to kill armor and have mobility is more important than having armor. A Mostly light force with armor killing capability and perhaps a Tank Platoon, or 4 Light Fighters.

But if you are counting on a ticket per month, then you have to have organic transport. And Mortgage alone on a 600 ton Subliner (which is the smallest/cheapest ship I would use, and in the case of this company you need two.) is MCr1 per month, per liner. So you are looking at from MCr2.5 to MCr3 plus, per month in expenses. More if you actually want to do assault landings, and much more if you are going to write off a vehicle per month.

 

[sid6.7]

ummm can't we do the god method?

a ticket shall consist of 2 finanical parts:

part 1:
expenses/salaries,troops,equipment,tanks/apc's
for the ESTIMATED time of the operation and
transport(provided) or transport(yours.)

if yours = add in operating expense's

part 2: profit
shall be anywhere from 5% to 100% of part 1
AND/OR looting...

then god rested and saw it was good....


or am i just a noob...

 

[Hal]

I've not taken the time to read up on some of the posts in pages 2 and/or 3 - so forgive me for butting in HERE

But here is how I see it working out overall:

The unit itself is required to do the work in making itself a marketable item. It is charged with its own training, its own maintenance duties, and its own stockpiling of equipment etc (ie, basing). If it is to have a HOME port or home address, it makes it easier for prospective employers to come knocking. A mercenary outfit should also employ a staff of "researchers" and contact men. These teams contact megacorporations on a constant basis saying "Got a job for us?" as well as take the time to read "newsies" from various other worlds. They are trained to spot potential employment opportunities based on the news events they read in the newsies. Call them ambulance chasers, call them job recruiters, or call them GOD if they get you jobs regularly, or the devil if they don't - but pay them a reasonable non-combat wage.

Next, determine the likely number of tickets one can expect within a given time. That determines the general cost of a unit over a period of time. For instance, an employer wants you NOW, he is likely only going to need you for 6 months. He is likely going to end up paying 2x to perhaps 6x the going rate for a normal military unit. Why? Because he needs trained professionals NOW. Sure, he can train up a green unit after a few months, perhaps gear up production of manufacturing facilities to equip the unit he can raise on his own, but - alas, he needs you NOW. So, the Mercenary Captain MAY be willing to accept 2x as much normal pay on the spot. He also tells the perspective buyer "Costs for hiring this unit are exclusive of transportation and supply costs. You as the employer are required to pay all associated expenses (and this is why having a lawyer in your unit's employ is helpful, to iron out those inevitable contract disputes as to what are legitimate transport and supply costs).

A unit that doesn't bank money for the lean times will be a unit that dissolves eventually. A unit that doesn't enforce strict financial discipline is also one that will degenerate into a poor outfit. Successful outfits however, will pick and choose their tickets where available, avoid catestrophic losses, have reasonable escape clauses built into their contracts - and above all, make money as a unit - hand over fist. The individuals may not see that money, but you need to look at this from another perspective...

Someone had to foot the bill in financing the unit's assets in the first place. THAT person, like a ship owner who purchased a ship and had a captain act as his agent - gets first dibs on profits. If it isn't a profitable investment, the owner of the mercenary assets is going to dissolve the unit, sell the equipment to recover capital losses, and reinvest elsewhere.

So, defining a mercenary outfit should start from page one to where the player characters become involved:

1) Who fronted the Money
2) Where do they stay between jobs?
3) What kinds of materials access does the unit have?
4) What events are ongoing throughout the region - let the PC's pick and choose between jobs rather than lead them through the nose. Let them cackle with glee when a job turns out to be a cake walk. Let them sweat when they realize that sooner or later they will not pick a cakewalk!
5) detail detail detail. Who are the men in the unit? What are their likes/dislikes?
6) Create a few megacorporations and decide ahead of time what they are doing, who is butting heads with whom, and then create personalites for those Megacorp liason individuals. Ain't nothing like having to work for a snake, knowing you're working for a snake, but have to do so for the sake of "profitability"

My suggestion overall is that Most units will get the following in a Traveller Universe:

2x MINIMUM wages for a job's expected duration.

2x cost of supplies used on the job, unless the
employer is to supply equipment for you, and employer gets to keep it afterwards

Employer pays ALL transport costs and is required to arrange for it prior to conclusion of contractual signing.

A fee equal to 20% (or more) bond is to be held in escrow in the event unit material losses exceed a given amount. Call it a rental fee for the unit itself. If you've taken loses in excess of 20%, you're likely one hurting unit!

Keep in mind one thing: Some employers are not going to be able to meet the standards above. Some will be the destitute Mexican villagers from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and be almost able to meet the demands, but not quite. THOSE will be the tickets that some mercenary outfits get suckered into. Perhaps a unit has been so long without money, that they MUST take such jobs to make ends meet. Or maybe, just maybe, the owner of the mercenary's assets has family on that world and arranges to commit the outfit to a job they normally would walk away from, but can't.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by sid6.7:
ummm can't we do the god method?

a ticket shall consist of 2 finanical parts:

part 1:
expenses/salaries,troops,equipment,tanks/apc's
for the ESTIMATED time of the operation and
transport(provided) or transport(yours.)

if yours = add in operating expense's

part 2: profit
shall be anywhere from 5% to 100% of part 1
AND/OR looting...

then god rested and saw it was good....


or am i just a noob...

Posasible but not the overall flavor of the OTU. Yes things are abstracted, but a merchant campaign requires a balance sheet. You can calculate a Merchants profit margin to within Cr.01. You can calculate what ships and routes are likely to be profitable with a fair degree of accuracy, even with all the rolling going on. Yet a Mercenary Unit while detailed in the amount and types of equipment available, Individual salaries and other minutae shows virtually no relationship between cost to operate the unit (Or even a reasonable estimate in official sources as to what the unit will cost to operate.) And the official prices that people are willing to pay to hire their services. There is no indication as to where, what kind of jobs, or frequency of jobs available for the unit.

When I run a campaign. I do some handwaving. I do some fudging. But I generally figure out how things are supposed to work, and what should work so the results are, overall, fairly predictable for my players. Eventually the players will stop working for someone else that is doing the math and want to do their own math.

In other words if Choosing A when given B the results will be someplace near C. If it worked for someone else, then why doesn't it work for us now? Is something I would prefer to avoid. I am not saying I will nail down all of the details, but I want to have a good general idea so that the laws of the universe remain fairly consistent.

Questions that need to be answered before they are asked are things like what does it cost to maintain a unit? What is a good job vs. what is a poor job? These need to be answered for the overall scheme to work.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
... I am just trying to establish a good baseline for ticket pricing. To do that I have to first, figure out a decent formula to calculate what a unit's expenses are going to be. After that I will need to make a determination as to the frequency of tickets, and how a unit gets tickets in the first place.

and ...

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
But if you are counting on a ticket per month, then you have to have organic transport. And Mortgage alone on a 600 ton Subliner (which is the smallest/cheapest ship I would use, and in the case of this company you need two.) is MCr1 per month, per liner. So you are looking at from MCr2.5 to MCr3 plus, per month in expenses. More if you actually want to do assault landings, and much more if you are going to write off a vehicle per month.

Take a look at the larger tickets in Book 4. Considering that your scheme includes 100% logistic support, your own vehicles and organic starship transport to the job, MCr5 to MCr10 per company per month or part thereof seems reasonable.

Planetary assaults and Broadsword tickets are going to run significantly higher as you have to factor in damage to the ships.

 

[aramis]

the "one ticket a month" idea is a VERY bad one for any non-specialized units.

it limits one to a 2J6 range absolute, and probably 2J4 realistic range, or 1J4 with two weeks on station.

If one has a short-term mission ops specialty, one can expect tickets to be fairly rare, a few a year.

If one has mid-term (4-12 month) deployments, however, one can not afford to keep integral transports waiting, but the logistics costs of moving become significantly less important as well.

At long term rates (a year or longer), integral transport costs more to keep than it saves, unless the mission calls for said transports.

EG: Shushugliar's 3076th Bounce Irregular Infantry Regiment don't keep integral transports, as they have a job at a major starport for security. Since they use this as a base for training, as well, their "over-contract" battalion takes some independent jobs; transport is either provided or charged for. The unit has subsidized a half dozen Type R's; the activation clause is used when needed, to pull ships for transport, and the patron is charged for the "Charters." These ships return to route as soon as the unit is on-station and thawed. (Yes, they popsicle their troops...) Of course, with 5 man Battle-dress squads, that's 4Td/squad... and he runs 3 squads per platoon, 3 platoons and a squad per company (40Td), 3 companies & a platoon per battallion... (140Td per battalion.) Officers go double occ in staterooms, and an extra few are placed in the bay to meet the needs. Tight, but the pay is worth it. They don't take any short jobs; if they are not going to be on station for at least 30 days, they won't go.

Khakhumnakhak's 10999th Light Drop Strikers, however, have specialized transports, and would be hired for fewer jobs, but those jobs would be more likely to be "Standby for forward deployment" or "Strike several to-be-disclosed targets."