MGT Only: Mercenary Second Edition Playtest - Recruiting

[Condottiere]

That's game mechanics, which, please note, I happen to agree with.

The officer(s) might be still be addressed by their last achieved ranks, much as an ex-politician in America is addressed by their title of their last office.

 

[rancke]

That's game mechanics, which, please note, I happen to agree with.

No, it's setting information about established conventions among Imperial mercenaries. Seems like I trimmed my quote too much. I've added the sentence prior to the section I originally quoted.


Hans

 

[MongooseMatt]

Do you suggest something similar in concept to the Traffic Value given in Page 161 of the CRB for trade, but adapted to recruiting mercs?

I guess that could work...

I have been humming and harring about this...

The methods of calculation are different from what we have now, but effectively we are rolling dice and applying a set of modifiers to discover what is out there.

Now, we do need some facility to recruit more than just a bunch of same-skilled grunts at a time. For example, if the players want to hire an entire squad, they don't just want 10 guys with Gun Combat (slug rifles) 1. They'll want a Corporal in there, someone trained with a support weapon and a Combat Medic. As the playtest rules stand, that would require a few recruitment drives with a lot of wastage.

I think that could be solved by a simple rule that states for every X number of recruits, Y amount can be specialists or officers, however the two are defined.

Sound workable?

 

[McPerth]

I have been humming and harring about this...

The methods of calculation are different from what we have now, but effectively we are rolling dice and applying a set of modifiers to discover what is out there.

Now, we do need some facility to recruit more than just a bunch of same-skilled grunts at a time. For example, if the players want to hire an entire squad, they don't just want 10 guys with Gun Combat (slug rifles) 1. They'll want a Corporal in there, someone trained with a support weapon and a Combat Medic. As the playtest rules stand, that would require a few recruitment drives with a lot of wastage.

I think that could be solved by a simple rule that states for every X number of recruits, Y amount can be specialists or officers, however the two are defined.

Sound workable?

To me, yes.

It could be making a recruitment base equal to pop + modifiers (based on Govermnent and law codes, presence of bases, situation, etc...) used as trade traffic to recruit several cathegories (e.g. raw recruits, experienced, officers, specialists) as in trade rules are rooled for each class of passengers. A roll for a relevant skill (be it admin, leadership, etc...) could add itseffect to the Recruitement Base (as it adds to Trade Traffic in trade rules). For specialists either assign them specialty based on percentages or make them to roll for everyone on a specialty table.

Alternatively, if players look for a full unit (as the squad you told above), just assign a task (dificulty based on the unit sought) and use the recruitment base to modify it as if it was a stat, and if the roll succeeds, the unit isfound (greater effect could mean a more experienced or reliable unit). E.g. to recruit a full squad: difficult (-2), rec.base, skill (admin, leadership, etc...).

Off course, exact details are fully open to debate, if you think this suggestion even deserves it. This would only be a skretch...

 

[rancke]

Now, we do need some facility to recruit more than just a bunch of same-skilled grunts at a time. For example, if the players want to hire an entire squad, they don't just want 10 guys with Gun Combat (slug rifles) 1. They'll want a Corporal in there, someone trained with a support weapon and a Combat Medic. As the playtest rules stand, that would require a few recruitment drives with a lot of wastage.

I think that could be solved by a simple rule that states for every X number of recruits, Y amount can be specialists or officers, however the two are defined.

I suggest a die roll to establish the previous experience of the potential recruit. Something like this:

Roll 2D:

2 Recruit
3 Recruit
4 Recruit
5 1 term veteran
6 1 term veteran
7 2 term veteran
8 3 term veteran
9 4 term veteran
10 5 term veteran
11 6 term veteran
12 Special recruit


Explanations:

Recruit: The mercenary has no army or marine experience; he could be a fresh 18 year old or he could have a term or two in some other career.

Roll D6: 1-3: Fresh recruit; 4-1: one previous non-military term; 6: 2 previous non-military terms.

X term veteran: The mercenary has X terms as army, marine, or mercenary (start him in army or marine, the switch to mercenary when he is forced out of that career before the X terms are up).

To establish what rank the character had upon mustering out of the army or marines, first roll 1D: on a roll of 6 he was an officer, otherwise he was an enlisted man. Then roll 1D and add the number of terms the character has served: 2-3 = rank 1, 4-6 = rank 2, 7-9 = rank 3, 10-12 = rank 4, 13+ = rank 5 (general officers and sergeant majors only appear as special recruits (see below)).

Special recruit: For one reason or another the mercenary feels entitled to a better than normal deal. Recruitment of this character should involve role-playing negotiations. Note that other recruits can have high skills and plenty of them; they just don't feel as entitled.

Special recruit subtable
--------------------------

1 Expert (one skill at 4, 5 or even 6)
2 Expert (broad range of skills at 2+)
3 Old-timer. Roll 1D: 1-3 = 7 term veteran, 4-5 = 8 terms, 6 = 9 terms.
4 general officer
5 social elite
6 well-connected

General officer: The character has served as a general officer in an army or a marine corps, or possibly a mercenary action involving an unusually large number of mercenaries.

Social elite: The character belongs to the uppermost level of his home society, or is an Imperial knight, baronet or even baron.

Well-connected: The character has one or more useful contacts on the world where the recruitment is taking place.

Note that these tables are primarily for game purposes and should not be taken literally to establish the composition of specific armies and marine corps.
​

This is just a rough sketch. Hope you can use it for inspiration at least.


Hans

PS. If you need my permission to use these ideas (which I don't think you do), you have it.

 

[Jame]

Will Mongoose put gear and vehicles in this edition?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Will Mongoose put gear and vehicles in this edition?

We will indeed!

 

[MongooseMatt]

I suggest a die roll to establish the previous experience of the potential recruit. Something like this:

I see where you are going with this, but here is the thing - we don't really care about individuals (or, at least, the players won't), as we are hiring on by the squad, platoon or company. The whole point of the recruitment roll is to find the type of people you are specifically looking for ('I want 12 burly chaps who know how to use a rifle well!'), rather than grabbing the first bunch of Muppets, and then figuring out who can do the job.

The method I am looking at right now (might try to get it done this week, maybe this weekend) is to keep the '12 burly chaps' model, but have a mechanism that says if you wanted one of those burly chaps to be a combat medic as well, he is included, as is the squad leader - but if you wanted 8 combat medics among them, you don't get them included as you should have initially specified 'I want 8 burly men who know how to use a rifle and patch people up.'

Basically, allowing a handful of specialists to be included in each recruitment drive, but keeping the focus on the majority of grunts (even if those grunts turn out to be intelligence specialists...).

 

[Condottiere]

On a roll of two from 2d6, the mercenary company inadvertently recruits the Joker.

Reroll to ascertain actual skill/experience.

The Joker is a potentially disruptive influence that managed to slip through personnel screening, representing either a security risk (blabbermouth), personnel risk (serial killer) or mission risk (enemy agent), or anything else that creates or validates Murphy's Law.

 

[MongooseMatt]

On a roll of two from 2d6, the mercenary company inadvertently recruits the Joker.

Reroll to ascertain actual skill/experience.

The Joker is a potentially disruptive influence that managed to slip through personnel screening, representing either a security risk (blabbermouth), personnel risk (serial killer) or mission risk (enemy agent), or anything else that creates or validates Murphy's Law.

1 in 36 chance though? Might be better to have the referee handle this (we already have optional recruit traits that can be rolled for)?

 

[Jame]

We will indeed!

Cool! I would actually suggest that you guys try to have TL 13+ military vehicles that are gravitic based, though - the fusion gun mounting tracked thing would not be TL 15.

 

[Vladika]

Mercenary or Hessian? Or privateers?

During The Falklands War President Ronald Reagan approved the Royal Navy's request to borrow the Sea Harrier-capable amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) if the British lost an aircraft carrier. The United States Navy developed a plan to help the British man the ship with American military contractors, likely retired sailors with knowledge of the Iwo Jima's systems.

Anyone want to take a shot at what these guys would have been?

 

[rancke]

Mercenary or Hessian? Or privateers?

During The Falklands War President Ronald Reagan approved the Royal Navy's request to borrow the Sea Harrier-capable amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) if the British lost an aircraft carrier. The United States Navy developed a plan to help the British man the ship with American military contractors, likely retired sailors with knowledge of the Iwo Jima's systems.

Anyone want to take a shot at what these guys would have been?

Well, they wouldn't have been mercenaries since being a mercenary is illegal, so perhaps private military contractors?

Can we agree that being a Traveller mercenary covers a broader range than just the kind of mercenaries that are illegal nowadays?

And also that being a mercenary isn't illegal (although it may be licensed) in the Third Imperium?


Hans

 

[Vladika]

I found it interesting. Politics aside, it seems they don't really fit any category. The whole concept of "private military contractors" appears to be nothing more than a thin veil to circumvent any number of laws from mercenary to neutrality.

For any country to turn over a commissioned naval ship to a "civilian crew" boggles the mind (mine anyway). And that same ship sails off to war in the service of another country?

I have no problem with sanctioned licensed mercenary forces in the 3I. I'm sure their laws and customs allow for such (after all, it's in canon). The 3IN might even farm out ships, particularly reserve vessels, to fight "proxy wars". Loan them to the Darrian navy to fight Sword World navies? Could be an interesting PC quasi naval scenario.

The example was just to engender discussion on the topic of mercenaries in the 3I setting.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Loan them to the Darrian navy to fight Sword World navies? Could be an interesting PC quasi naval scenario.

Anyone want to write that adventure?

 

[Condottiere]

I believe the Darrians' problem is personnel crunch; also, they may prefer new hulls, since even TL-15 might seem a tad primitive for them.

Vaguely recall that they off-shored some or all warship production to Imperium yards.

 

[McPerth]

Mercenary or Hessian? Or privateers?

During The Falklands War President Ronald Reagan approved the Royal Navy's request to borrow the Sea Harrier-capable amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) if the British lost an aircraft carrier. The United States Navy developed a plan to help the British man the ship with American military contractors, likely retired sailors with knowledge of the Iwo Jima's systems.

Anyone want to take a shot at what these guys would have been?

Yet they would have been instructors sent by their Government, so I guess they could not seen as Mercenaries. (but that's too close to RW politics to dbe discussed here).

See that fighting on a foreign flag not always makes you a Merc, only if you do it with pay being the main reason. The International Brigades (or the Condor Legion, or the Corpo di Troppa Voluntaria) in Spanish Civil War, or Chennault's Flying Tigers, to cite some (barely) pre 1945 cases, could be examples I guess can not be seen as mercs, even while figting under foreign flag.

 

[aramis]

Yet they would have been instructors sent by their Government, so I guess they could not seen as Mercenaries. (but that's too close to RW politics to dbe discussed here).

See that fighting on a foreign flag not always makes you a Merc, only if you do it with pay being the main reason. The International Brigades (or the Condor Legion, or the Corpo di Troppa Voluntaria) in Spanish Civil War, or Chennault's Flying Tigers, to cite some (barely) pre 1945 cases, could be examples I guess can not be seen as mercs, even while figting under foreign flag.

The AVG for China (Chenault's Flying Tigers) and the AEG for Russia (fighting for the Whites) were considered mercenaries for most purposes except return to US service. So were, until very recently, the FFL (Legion Etrangier). Some nations still consider anyone joining a foreign military a criminal; others allow it, but bar or restrict military service at home following (including the US - The Legion's websites mention this in warning for potential recruits).

The term mercenary pretty simply means paid to fight... but realize that it's origins are a medieval term, and medieval armies weren't paid as such, but fulfilling an obligation. (That they shared in loot was a motivation to fight.)

 

[Dagrill]

The pay scale is considerably higher than in prior editions -
After all, a typical colonel is retiring with only KCr4/year. As a merc, he's not going to make that per month - if he could, then no one would make it to colonel in the actives.

Hi,

Just thinking of the historic use of mercenaries and I believe their pay was higher for several reasons, firstly regular pay fixed by statute (so an archer was paid 6d per day), second risk, third non payment by patron (leading to looting), also the retired officer is probably gaining a grade as well as retirement pay by joining a mercenary unit.

Regards

David

 

[aramis]

[m;]Please, stay on target. Take tangents to new threads in Random Static or the Political Pulpit, as appropriate.[/m;]