Economics of a Mercenary Campaign

[BetterThanLife]

The next thing to consider is how prevalent are Mercenary Tickets? How often are tickets available in a given region. Which would help determine whether using a Jump-1 or 2 ship would be a good choice.

My formula has the maintenance and replacement costs for equipment a bit on the low side. But I also figure that they won't be in combat more than 1 week out of 3 on average. Everyone still needs to get paid in between missions.

 

[sid6.7]

well for the sake of game play and not going
overboard on the realism thing i'd say in
a sub-sector you could expect 2-3 choices if
your players dont take one, make it hurt. if
your an industrious GM..make 1 per planet....

in the real world?

training and escort missions probably
list in the 1000's on our earth...

police,war or special op's probably list in
the dozens to 100's on our planet...

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
An interesting set of assumptions. (Though not as described in the ticket.)

None of these contradict any information supplied in the ticket.

Of course using a light Company to hold a position against Battalion Level Mechanized Counter Attacks (Which doesn't sound like one Battalion attacking a platoon or a company at a time...

Actually, that is exactly what will happen if you use the abstract combat system. If you use a detailed combat system, the referee determines the effect of terrain and controls the tactics of the opposing force.

I can see someone claiming that the Air Cav Battalion that is supposedly based there is grounded because of Local Air Superiority, but even that is a bit far fetched. They will want their base of operations back, though they are likely to straggle in.

The remnants of the air cav battalion are engaged elsewhere and not mentioned as part of the opposing force. You are, of course, free to add any units you wish.

The only other one with real potential for making a decent profit is the Battalion striker Mission.

Any of the tickets in Book 4 (including the Dream ticket) are capable of generating a profit. "Decent" is a subjective term.

All of the published tickets are sketchy. They're frameworks requiring input and decision from the referee. Any ticket can be interpreted in such a way as to virtually guarantee the destruction of a player's unit. Equally, they can be crafted to provide interesting and challenging situations.
I suppose it all depends on whether you consider a referee to be a facilitator or an adversary.

To borrow a phrase from Bill Cameron: "Have fun."

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Well Bill, Except for one minor little detail. It doesn't really matter who is funding the Mercenary Unit. In general a wealthy backer is required up front, one way or another, however wealthy people or Corporations, are not going to get into this without an expectation of Profit.

Bruce,

Very true, but not exactly what I was trying to put across. Blame on my poor prose skills.

I put the word 'owned' in quotes for a reason. I didn't mean to suggest that each merc outfit was a just subsidiary of some corporation, an entity wholly owned by some fabulously wealthy individual, or part of some planetary/national government. I wanted to suggest that the majority had been 'helped' or 'assisted' in various fashions by various parties, that a 'string' was in place.

Are you familiar with the old Roman system of patronage? I'm suggesting something like that. You do favors for your 'betters' and they do favors for you. In fact, Roman VIPs looked around for more favors to dispense so they'd have more favors to call in.

The 'favors' being given merc units can run the gamut; help with transport there, equipment cheap or off the books here, blind eyes toward recruiting, fall back jobs, outright loans, the list is endless. The types of favors given in return are just as myriad. A unit may turn down contracts from certain parties, only operate within certain regions, give a patron 'right of first refusal' for a hiring period, all sorts of things. Again, the list is extensive.

Let me take Al Morai as an example. Their shipping line works across the entire Marches, they have offices on dozens of worlds, they even own the planet Shirene outright. It's natural that they'd have full time security forces at various installations. Merc units would be nice force multipliers for them, assets they could call on when and if they were needed. Al Morai wouldn't actually own any of the units, but they'd have a 'string' on them.

Patrons can come and go too. Someone may patronize a unit one month then a different one another month as their needs and situation change.

A district manager would do favors for a few units in his region; help them with shipping, arrange contacts with suppliers, let it be known Al Morai considers them a good risk, maybe loan them a little cash now and then. In return for this patronage, Al Morai could count on having those units around if anything got ticklish. Just how quickly each unit could help and how much it would cost Al Morai would depend on the relationship, but Al Morai would have some sort of influence with the unit. After all, that's why they extended their patronage in the first place.

IMTU the larger a merc unit's permanent size and the more specialized/expensive euipment it fields, the better the chance it has plenty of 'strings' leading to a patron. The economics simply demand it.

A company of riflemen with mortars? IMTU it could very well be independent. However, I'd doubt it would stay at company size between tickets because of the bills involved. If it does stay that large while looking for another job, some patron is making the payroll in return for the company's leader future consideration. Throw in artillery, vehicles, crew-served weapons, and all the rest and it's dead certain IMTU that someone is helping with the bills.

All this is just the solution I came up with for a merc campaign IMTU. Whether it works in anyone else's I don't know.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[BetterThanLife]

Bill,
I am not saying it isn't part of the equation. And yes you might get something in return for a "Get out of Hell" card. Some units will have a patron, others will have several backers, and a rare unit will be self funded. Regardless of who is paying the bills, they are going to want to see a profit. So we are still dealing with a profit margin and unit expenses. But a "Get out of Hell" card isn't going to get you full time logistic support.

However there still needs to be a bottom line. While it might not apply to every unit, there has to be a general trend. A normal way things work. The money has to flow correctly most of the time.

As for combat units downsizing between assignments, that is one possibility, but it would depend on resources available at the target, or where the Unit is before it gets the assignment. It will also depend on the amount of time between when the unit gets notice and when the balloon actually goes up. The less time between when the assignment is available and when the unit is available makes the unit more marketable.

A unit that stays together and is well trained is going to be more marketable than a handful of guys and some local talent. (Unless that handful of guys has a hell of a reputation.) The exception, of course being units that specialize in Cadre missions.

Further like military units, Mercenary units will specialize. A Unit is unlikely to perform a Cadre Mission one month, a Mechanized Striker Mission another month, a Commando Mission a third and a Security Mission a different month. Two of them possibly, three of them rarely, but not all four types.

I have been giving it some more thought. I think the ticket could generally be a dollar amount plus ammunition and other minor expendable supplies.

 

[sid6.7]

while were speaking of mercs, i think
executive oportunities(EO)"defunct"
actually was a do all be all merc group
per traveller standards.

some other famous mercs?

french foreign legion
spanish foreign legion
papal swiss guards
Gurkha Security Guards
Erinys International
Blackwater USA


hehehhhee blackwater has a gift shop...

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
And yes you might get something in return for a "Get out of Hell" card. Some units will have a patron, others will have several backers, and a rare unit will be self funded. Regardless of who is paying the bills, they are going to want to see a profit. So we are still dealing with a profit margin and unit expenses. But a "Get out of Hell" card isn't going to get you full time logistic support.

Bruce,

I'm still not explaining it very well. Patrons, well most patrons, don't provide a 'Get out of hell' card. The 're-pat' card from LBB:4 and Across the Bright Face seems to be issued by the banking organization handling the monetary aspects of each ticket. It's also true that the actual owners and operators of a unit are going to want to make a profit, no matter how many of their troopers are there just because killing people is the only saleable skill they have.

I'm suggesting that units usually have a patron or patrons; entities that give a little assistance now and then for future considerations. The patrons are there to help the unit over the rough spots. Patrons come and go too.

Need help with the quarterly payroll between tickets? In steps a patron with the money for a future 'favor'. That favor may be that you won't hire on with the Star-Bellied Sneetchs of Arglebargle-IX for the next six months if they ask you. Or that you will hire on with the Sneetchs. Or that you won't hire out more than two months travel time from Arglebargle-IX. Or a hundred other things.

However there still needs to be a bottom line.

Of course, and trading favors helps a unit meet that bottom line during those rough spots. So does drawing down the permanent force into a sort of a 'super cadre' level manning. When you have the ticket in hand, you can round out your formations because you can promise to pay.

The less time between when the assignment is available and when the unit is available makes the unit more marketable.

[A unit that stays together and is well trained is going to be more marketable than a handful of guys and some local talent.

You're forgetting about those pesky travel times in Traveller. One week, one way, out to six parsecs. Nothing any faster. No one is going to hire as quickly as you assume unless the unit and the ticket are already in the same system.

If someone waits to hire immediately, they've already lost. It takes over two weeks to bring in any unit from another system and that depends on a lot of 'ifs'; if the message gets out, a unit is there, if the payment is accepted, if the shipping is available, if, if, if, etc.

The speed of interstellar communication in Traveller makes it more likely that - if you think you may need mercs anytime - you'll build relationships with the various mercs groups in your region by acting as a patron to them. That way at least a few of them will come running when you need them. No one on Collace can afford to wait for mercs from Regina, let alone pay their fares across all those parsecs.

A Unit is unlikely to perform a Cadre Mission one month, a Mechanized Striker Mission another month, a Commando Mission a third and a Security Mission a different month. Two of them possibly, three of them rarely, but not all four types.

Different missions in different places every month? Hardly. Travel times remember? A unit is unlikely to even travel that often, let alone fight that many different tickets even if they're all the same type.

More likely a unit is already on hand hoping to wrangle a ticket, either tipped off by escalating tensions, news stories, or inside information provided by a patron. It may have even been already hired after a fashion by a patron against future need; i.e. We'll meet your company cadre payroll over the next calendar year if you keep keep at least half your force on Arglebargle-IX and don't hire the remainder out on tickets more than one month's travel time away or We'll ship your unit at cost along our routes during the next six months if you let us vet all your tickets during that period.

You're absolutely correct in focussing on the economic aspects of the merc trade. Given personnel costs, equipment costs, shipping costs, and travel/communication time, IMTU the only way any but the smallest merc units can keep their books balanced is to build patron-client relations with a number of parties. And the only way those who may need mercs can ensure units will be there when they are needed is to build patron-client relations with a number of merc units.

No one is hiring anyone, no one owns anyone. Everyone is just trading favors.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
And yes you might get something in return for a "Get out of Hell" card. Some units will have a patron, others will have several backers, and a rare unit will be self funded. Regardless of who is paying the bills, they are going to want to see a profit. So we are still dealing with a profit margin and unit expenses. But a "Get out of Hell" card isn't going to get you full time logistic support.

Bruce,

I'm still not explaining it very well. Patrons, well most patrons, don't provide a 'Get out of hell' card. The 're-pat' card from LBB:4 and Across the Bright Face seems to be issued by the banking organization handling the monetary aspects of each ticket. It's also true that the actual owners and operators of a unit are going to want to make a profit, no matter how many of their troopers are there just because killing people is the only saleable skill they have.</font>[/QUOTE]Actually I was suggesting that the patron do something for the unit for a "Get out of Hell" card, not the other way around. It was a line taken from an abysmal television show. (One of the very few good ones.) It is the future consideration provided by the unit.

I'm suggesting that units usually have a patron or patrons; entities that give a little assistance now and then for future considerations. The patrons are there to help the unit over the rough spots. Patrons come and go too.

Need help with the quarterly payroll between tickets? In steps a patron with the money for a future 'favor'. That favor may be that you won't hire on with the Star-Bellied Sneetchs of Arglebargle-IX for the next six months if they ask you. Or that you will hire on with the Sneetchs. Or that you won't hire out more than two months travel time from Arglebargle-IX. Or a hundred other things.

I get that, it is a decent adventure hook, or something to bail out the Unit if things go South through no fault of the Players. But that is more of a one time thing. It is also a little Deus Ex Machina for use on a regular basis. The unit and the tickets have to be generally profitable for the system to work overall. Like Starship finance, Starships have to be generally profitable and able to make payments, for a bank to authorize a loan. Similarily, Mercenary Units have to be generally profitable, to attract backers.

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />However there still needs to be a bottom line.

Of course, and trading favors helps a unit meet that bottom line during those rough spots. So does drawing down the permanent force into a sort of a 'super cadre' level manning. When you have the ticket in hand, you can round out your formations because you can promise to pay.

The less time between when the assignment is available and when the unit is available makes the unit more marketable.

[A unit that stays together and is well trained is going to be more marketable than a handful of guys and some local talent.

You're forgetting about those pesky travel times in Traveller. One week, one way, out to six parsecs. Nothing any faster. No one is going to hire as quickly as you assume unless the unit and the ticket are already in the same system.</font>[/QUOTE]This is true. Mercenary Units have to be located, negotiations have to be concluded, etc. The issue with not having the unit together is you are adding 4-6 weeks to the travel time to equip, train and integrate new troops. Not saying you aren't going to be doing that on a regular basis, even during a ticket to gain replacements of combat losses, but to start with a core of about 50 guys and take a ticket requiring a company of 150, is going to take time. Even in Football you don't throw a rookie into the game without weeks of training to make sure that he knows on 1 he blocks the guy on the left and on 2 he blocks the guy on his right.

If someone waits to hire immediately, they've already lost. It takes over two weeks to bring in any unit from another system and that depends on a lot of 'ifs'; if the message gets out, a unit is there, if the payment is accepted, if the shipping is available, if, if, if, etc.
The speed of interstellar communication in Traveller makes it more likely that - if you think you may need mercs anytime - you'll build relationships with the various mercs groups in your region by acting as a patron to them. That way at least a few of them will come running when you need them. No one on Collace can afford to wait for mercs from Regina, let alone pay their fares across all those parsecs.

Absolutely. And the shorter the unit can keep that turn around time the more marketable it is. Obviously most units will operate within a SubSector. Not go from Regina to Collace. It also means that units with their own transport will be more marketable than units that rely on outside transportation. Further need for Mercenaries is something that some worlds might plan on or have full time. (The French Foreign Legion or the Swiss Guards at the Vatican are two such examples.) But most of the Published tickets are not of that nature. In fact most of the published canon tickets are short fuse tickets.

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />A Unit is unlikely to perform a Cadre Mission one month, a Mechanized Striker Mission another month, a Commando Mission a third and a Security Mission a different month. Two of them possibly, three of them rarely, but not all four types.

Different missions in different places every month? Hardly. Travel times remember? A unit is unlikely to even travel that often, let alone fight that many different tickets even if they're all the same type.</font>[/QUOTE]I was apparently not clear. That could be over the course of time (Figure a year or two.) not consecutive months. (Unless each of those tickets was only around a couple of days duration.) The point wasn't consecutive tickets. The point was supposed to be that a unit will likely specialize so that they mostly took Commando Tickets, or they mostly took Striker Tickets. Not take one ticket as a Striker Unit and the next ticket as a Commando Unit.

More likely a unit is already on hand hoping to wrangle a ticket, either tipped off by escalating tensions, news stories, or inside information provided by a patron. It may have even been already hired after a fashion by a patron against future need; i.e. We'll meet your company cadre payroll over the next calendar year if you keep keep at least half your force on Arglebargle-IX and don't hire the remainder out on tickets more than one month's travel time away or We'll ship your unit at cost along our routes during the next six months if you let us vet all your tickets during that period.

You're absolutely correct in focussing on the economic aspects of the merc trade. Given personnel costs, equipment costs, shipping costs, and travel/communication time, IMTU the only way any but the smallest merc units can keep their books balanced is to build patron-client relations with a number of parties. And the only way those who may need mercs can ensure units will be there when they are needed is to build patron-client relations with a number of merc units.

But that doesn't overall help the bottom line. A little here, a little there sure but remember, Mercenary Units are expensive, both in terms of equipment and personnel. They are also high risk investments, after all what other investment do you make in multi-million dollar amounts that both intentionally and literally then gets sent into harms way to get shot at?

No one is hiring anyone, no one owns anyone. Everyone is just trading favors.

But the capital has to be there and there has to be a decent return on that capital for the situation to exist in the first place, in order to trade the favors. An MCr13+ light tank is hardly simply a favor.

 

[atpollard]

The US military has acres and acres of "used" military vehicles gathering sand in the desert and organizations like the CIA have a long history of helping groups of people simply because "THEIR" enemy is "OUR" enemy (Afghanistan rebels/terrorists fighting Soviet occupation comes immediately to mind).

A government could easily provide obsolete Tech vehicles at below market prices or ammunition at reduced fees (or even for free). Rather that injecting CASH into a Merc Unit, a patron could have other ways to reduce the units overhead costs. This would reduce the operating budget and sweeten the tickets just a little.

Obviously, most tickets still need to turn a profit or Merc Units will evaporate. This could just help a newly formed unit get it's first couple tanks or help a unit recover from one ticket that went very bad.

[PATRON: Tough break on that last mission. Maybe I can help. I just happen to know where you can find about 500 APC's protected by nothing but a chain link fence. Nobody would notice or care if 3 or 4 of them just "wandered off". Bring your own liquid hydrogen.]

Just some thoughts on the subject.

 

[BetterThanLife]

atpollard:

Absolutely. Again I have no issue with this but it is small stuff and occasional. Not the basis for Mercenaries in general. That would be like the basis for Merchant Shipping in Traveller, being, giving Starships to people that can make use of them. [Senior Scout Tiberius: (Head of the Detached Duty Office for the Sector.) I need someone to take this package to the next system over. Here is a Surplus Type-S I happen to have lying around, use that.]

While it may be the source of that one ship, it isn't the kind of reason that Starships trade between the stars.

In your example: With the APC's that happen to fall off the back of a Starship, the Patron is likely going to want one as a finder's fee. (And you still owe them a favor.)

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by sid6.7:
while were speaking of mercs, i think
executive oportunities(EO)"defunct"
actually was a do all be all merc group
per traveller standards.

some other famous mercs?

french foreign legion
spanish foreign legion
papal swiss guards
Gurkha Security Guards
Erinys International
Blackwater USA


hehehhhee blackwater has a gift shop...

Actually I think "Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles" and the rest of the Gurkha Brigade is a bit more than Security Guards. They have a history that is proud, long, extensive and extremely distinguished.

You missed Wackenhut and Global Security, two of the biggest.

 

[atpollard]

You missed Wackenhut and Global Security, two of the biggest.

Does anyone have a price list from Global Security that we could use as a reference.

 

[atpollard]

A quick and dirty way to estimate the profitability of a Merc Unit might be to compare unit salary to revenue. I think that the goal for any general business plan is to generate revenues in excess of three times salaries. Do we have any business school graduates out there who can confirm or correct this?

While not perfect, it would provide one quick and easy measure for many of the questions raised. A unit that only "works" 1 week per month (lots of travel between small jobs), needs a much higher paying Ticket (per day) than a unit that has a contract for 6 months of "security" work. The 3:1 ratio would help ballpark the minimum Fee for a ticket.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Perhaps we could call then and get an estimate for a Striker Incursion by a Lift Infantry Battalion.

 

[sid6.7]

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Actually I think "Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles" and the rest of the Gurkha Brigade is a bit more than Security Guards. They have a history that is proud, long, extensive and extremely distinguished.

You missed Wackenhut and Global Security, two of the biggest.

no it appears GSG is something seperate they worked in liberia most recently...so not the
same guys.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by sid6.7:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Actually I think "Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles" and the rest of the Gurkha Brigade is a bit more than Security Guards. They have a history that is proud, long, extensive and extremely distinguished.

You missed Wackenhut and Global Security, two of the biggest.

no it appears GSG is something seperate they worked in liberia most recently...so not the
same guys. </font>[/QUOTE]The Gurkha Brigade is technically Mercenaries as well, which is why I thought you meant them.

And of course in the late 18th century, the British and the Rebels both hired German Mercenaries for that little squable.

 

[Whipsnade]

Bruce,

We're in about 99.999% agreement it seems.

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Like Starship finance, Starships have to be generally profitable and able to make payments, for a bank to authorize a loan. Similarily, Mercenary Units have to be generally profitable, to attract backers.

Are you suggesting that merc units take out bank loans? I retire from the Unified Armies, gather some friends, put together a buisness plan, walk into the First Bank of Mora, and make a presentation to get a loan?

I'd think that merc units get something more akin to venture capital money. Having been on both sides of the venture capital equation for over a year now, I can assure you that the 'certainty of monetary return' you seem to be presuming is a myth.

The issue with not having the unit together is you are adding 4-6 weeks to the travel time to equip, train and integrate new troops.

You hire and equip during that travel time. Training is something your hires will already have. Mercs don't run boot camps.

The large, real life, merc outfits that fought in the Biafran conflict arrived as cadre and 'fleshed out' while in-country. The places they travelled through while getting to Nigeria would have been worried about a hundred or so armed troops travelling through at once.

Historically, any large units that stay large between 'tickets' belong to someone who picks up the bills no matter what; FFL and the rest.

It also means that units with their own transport will be more marketable than units that rely on outside transportation.

That's the rub, isn't it? This thread is full of cost estimates. Add troops and the costs go up. Add heavy equipment and the costs go up. Ditto vehicles. Ditto ships. Where do you get the start-up money? Banks aren't going to loan it to you. The three Type-R subbies it takes to move that single armor company cost far more than the company does. Why risk them in the merc biz? Why not haul freight?

In fact most of the published canon tickets are short fuse tickets.

Sorry, you'll have to prove that. None of the LBB:4 tickets mention any deadline, nothing like Here's the proposed job, can you begin in X days? In fact, most presume a lenghty lead time, the Dream ticket especially. Even A:7 simply begins when Broadsword arrives at Garda-Vilis. Nothing whatsoever is said about when Vilis hired Broadsword.

The point was supposed to be that a unit will likely specialize so that they mostly took Commando Tickets, or they mostly took Striker Tickets. Not take one ticket as a Striker Unit and the next ticket as a Commando Unit.

Agreed.

More likely a unit is already on hand hoping to wrangle a ticket, either tipped off by escalating tensions, news stories, or inside information provided by a patron. It may have even been already hired after a fashion by a patron against future need; i.e. We'll meet your company cadre payroll over the next calendar year if you keep keep at least half your force on Arglebargle-IX and don't hire the remainder out on tickets more than one month's travel time away or We'll ship your unit at cost along our routes during the next six months if you let us vet all your tickets during that period.

[qb]But that doesn't overall help the bottom line.

So what else does? You're suggesting there are units with lots of personnel and large permanent TO&Es including ships. Where did the start-up costs come from? How does a unit afford all that before and between tickets?

Take the LBB:4 commando mission. The hirer wants a company-sized unit to grab and hold a mine. You're suggesting that they go out and hire a company-sized unit for the job. I'm suggesting that compnay-sized units are few and far between because it costs so much to keep them together between tickets.

Instead, the hirer contacts a permanent merc cadre who can put a company-sized unit together, have put a company-sized unit together in the past, and have a good record with units of that size or larger. After they're hired, the cadre fleshs out in transit, trains while staging for the assault, fights the action, and pays off afterwards returning to it's more financially manageable 'between tickets' size.

A little here, a little there sure but remember, Mercenary Units are expensive, both in terms of equipment and personnel. They are also high risk investments, after all what other investment do you make in multi-million dollar amounts that both intentionally and literally then gets sent into harms way to get shot at?

Exactly. That is also precisely why they won't be negotiating business loans from banks and why they'll find it extremely hard to maintain any substantial TO&E between tickets. A backer/venture capitalist could very well provide funding hoping for a big payoff from a specific ticket, but none will fund a unit for years hoping for a steady monetary return.

National/planetary governments may very well form and hire out mercs hoping to create veterans for their armed forces. Large corporations could very well have a merc unit embedded in their regular security forces using any possible cash flow the mercs may generate help pay for other security assets, letting the mercs' customers help subsidize the corporation's entire security budget as it were. However these type of units will have many strings attached to their hire and use.

But the capital has to be there and there has to be a decent return on that capital for the situation to exist in the first place, in order to trade the favors.

A merc unit is far more risky than an IRA, saving account, or T-bill. Is not an investment in the usual sense, so the usual investors will not be backing any merc unit. You can't apply staid, Savings & Loan, banking ideas to the problem. This is much more like the venture capital market with backers 'betting' on specific units in specific tickets.

That's where all the 'favors' I've been blathering about begin to work. News starts to bubble along the 'merc circuit' that Arglebargle-IX may be looking for a little help. The mercs call in favors to first determine if the rumors are true and then to learn what they can about the prospective job. Once they think they know enough, they can put together their 'pitch'; hiring some personnel, arranging for some equipment, and taking other measures to make their outfit look like the right one for the job. The Arglebargle-IX ticket may require SAMs or demolition experts? Let's ensure we present those skills in our 'pitch' to the client then.

Meanwhile, we're also looking up 'venture capitalists'. We pitch them that with X amount of credits we can buy/hire Y and Y will give the unit a damn good chance of both landing the Arglebargle-IX ticket and fufilling it. Care to invest in this ticket? If we don't get it, we can resell Y and recoup some losses.

We're also approaching past, present, and future patrons regarding the ticket. Anyone have any troubles with Arglebargle? If you don't want us to 'pitch' for the ticket you need to make it worth our while. Can anyone help us with transport? Personnel? Fungibles? Local information? Getting our advance agents on the ground? All in return for future considerations of course.

It's all normal business practices and it takes place well before Arglebargle-IX needs the job done. Remember the travel/comm times involved. A single question and reply will take two weeks at the very least. If we're lucky, this is all going on while the unit is wrapping up a current ticket.

An MCr13+ light tank is hardly simply a favor.

That depends on how many of those tanks you have sitting in your inventory. You'd be surprised at how many multi-million dollar warships the US has given away in return for 'favors'.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[flykiller]

Instead, the hirer contacts a permanent merc cadre who can put a company-sized unit together, have put a company-sized unit together in the past, and have a good record with units of that size or larger. After they're hired, the cadre fleshs out in transit, trains while staging for the assault, fights the action, and pays off afterwards returning to it's more financially manageable 'between tickets' size.

(jumping in)

if the merc company is not holding and maintaining all this equipment, then who is? surely newly hired mercs don't just pop into the local pawn shop, pick up a few APC's and plasma canons, and then pawn them back again when they return. somebody's gonna pay the warehouse bill, the wear-and-tear bill, and the replacement bill, or the equipment won't be available.

 

[mike wightman]

Read up on Intstellarms, LIC in library data again

Instellarms is a specialty supplier of all sizes and types of mercenary units. It manufactures, buys, and sells military equipment. Agents of the firm can often be found on a battlefield, negotiating the purchase of the equipment of the losing side before the battle is completely over. The company does not deal in interstellar vessels, or in chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.

 

[aramis]

Further, it is implied in TTA that it might be possible to hire other megacorps security forces for more hostile duties.

Permanent merc units either have a wealthy patron maintaining them as huscarles, but letting them "Train Aggressively" by merc-ing out subunits, some baseline government contract (IMTU, the 3076 BIIR has a multi-year contract to provide security at Regni Downs... it makes the payroll and allows access to a training range...), or has strong corporate investments of its own. Subsidized merchants make a decent investment of a sudden windfall... that one can recall them to duty is a bonus.

A typical hiring cycle would probably be a two to four month lag... 1 to two months from approval to find the HQ and negotiate, and another 1 to 2 months to get them there. Any such ticket needs to be able to make salaries cover the travel time plus negotiation time upon re-availability.

So, if they are awake during the time between missions, but on the payroll, why not train?

This puts a major divide between types of units...

The Fixed Formation of Elites...
The Cadre plus locals and ragamuffins...
The elite specialists in small units...
The "Glory Units" of "Huscarles deferring their costs"...
The Ad-Hoc "Out of Work Grunts" taking advantage of a shortfall.

Performance bonuses can be seen as powerful incentives. Leg infantry has the lowest equipment costs... but makes up for it in being near-ubiquitous.

One of the major problems I see in Traveller discussions is that people assume a pace of life similar to Modern Euro/US cultures.... that is impossible on an interstellar scale, even when it is possible locally.

This thread has lead me to rethink pricing... if a unit can draw a 1 year contract every two years (or equivalent), and can charge triple ongoing expenses plus combat expenditures, it can cover salaries to keep the unit together between tickets. If it's 1:3, they need to make about 4x ongoing expenses... but at that point, they had bloody well better be either better than average troops of the same costs, available sooner than training up one's own, or both.