CT Only: Merc Ticket!

[McPerth]

If you read the book you will find it takes weeks to arrange the contract since it must be done face to face and involves lawyers and paperwork, the purchasing and procurement of weapons likewise takes months. It is not something that is done quickly via the interwebs...

Agreed, but that's mainly because the operation is illegal (e.g. their procurement of weapons), as the merc status in Earth is not the one in Traveller. In a world like the one in Merc 2000 this will probably take a matter of hours or days at most...

Transport to the operation area takes weeks for some of the mercs and the equipment since it goes by tramp freighter.

That's the part I find similar to Traveller.

In the book they choose to use a tramp freighter for insertation, and they buy it, not hired passage, nor even chartered it, mostly for stealthy insertion reasons.

 

[kilemall]

One thing I don't see mentioned here as a source is Fifth Frontier War.


There are some merc outfits large enough to merit counters. They indicate size and equipment level.


Working up the backstory for how these units are formed and exist outside of a total war scenario (perhaps smaller?) should yield some grist for the merc mill.


10 merc units in the game, ranging from TL12 to an interesting TL16, half of them are considered elite, most are lift infantry battalions, one lift cav battalion, one armored cav battalion, one armored cav regiment, one lift infantry brigade and one armored infantry division.


The rules also suggest using the FFW game as effectively scenario generation, moving the merc unit the players belong to/operate and solving operations by roleplay instead of wargame CRTs. They also suggest side adventures during lulls in combat.


I wouldn't take FFW numbers as gospel for merc unit count for a variety of reasons, but it does suggest the battalion and larger units in being are pretty rare. Spec ops, company level security/raid or leadership cadre units are probably much more common.

 

[Condottiere]

Striker mentions that mercenary units can brigade together, probably temporarily.

The larger and more organized units could subcontract, to make up the numbers.

 

[kilemall]

Striker mentions that mercenary units can brigade together, probably temporarily.

The larger and more organized units could subcontract, to make up the numbers.

I'm guessing at least a few of the FFW units are merged/banded together subunits for better contracts and survivability.


I'm guessing some units went smaller or disbanded because several members signed up for their patriotic duty for the Imperium or planet.


Some others formed specifically for war profiteering as 'business is good' when war is constant, the usual Imperial units deterring planetary upheaval are busy, and the Imperium breaks open the piggy bank.


Still others left the field altogether as you can't spend it if you're dead and Zhos aren't going to honor repatriation bonds.

 

[Condottiere]

Governments could always commandeer equipment, possibly conscript individuals.

Though interstellar polities would always have more manpower than they knew what they could do with it, so it's more of taking advantage of experience and expertise, rather than cannon fodder.

Though you could have regimes that for political reasons and immediacy just need to make up the numbers.

 

[Evil Steve]

Does anyone have any suggestions for books about mercenaries for research? Fiction or nonfiction. Having a list of recommendations might be a useful thing in the future.

Thus far we've had in thread

Hammer's Slammers
Falkenburg's Legion
Dogs of War (by Forsyth)
Jannissaries by Pournelle
Carrera and Countdown series by Tom Kratman

 

[Enoki]

Jannissaries by Pournelle is one.

 

[RandyB]

Quoting myself:

For a couple of worked examples, see Tom Kratman's Carrera and Countdown series

The former is sci-fi, though mainly confined to a single world. The latter is an alternate 21st century, with the POD far off-screen and unspecified.