Back on subject - Mercs

I have been thinking of a few things about the Mercs. I like the concept of
Merc guilds and such to whatever end they function, but one thing I have
always wondered.

Who's responsible for transport. Tanks, guns, missiles, even planes cost a lot
but interstellar travel? Could any one body of Mercs afford their own
transport?

Eli

> Eli Arndt [SMTP:eli_arndt@wattosjunkyard.com] wrote:

It would depend on how cashed up the Mercenaries are. Small company level
units would require transport from their sponser while larger or better paid
units could arrange their own transport. One very valid point from my
Battletech days was the unreliability of interstellar transport if you
couldn't supply your own. Not having facilities for hot extraction from combat
would result in a massacre at worst or changing employers at best.

Here's an example of an self-supporting merc unit I posted a couple of
years ago:

Scalliwag's Mercenary Company Sky Marshall E. A. Scalliwag commanding.

Excaliber BDN "Colliwobbles" Majestic BC "Viper" 2 Kronzprinz Wilhelm CL
"Rainman" & "Icestorm" 5 Ibiza FF "Alpha", "Beta", "Gamma", "Epsilon" & "Eta"
4 Assault Transports "Rust", "Paint", "Rock" & "Roll"

4 ZAD (size 4 GEV, Superior ZAD) 12 MBT (size 3 GEV, twin turret class 3
railguns) 12 heavy artillery vehicles (size 4 GEV, HAR, basic PDS)
21 scout cars (size 1 GEV, GMS/L)
18 APCs (size 2 GEV, Twin turret APSW, 8 troop spaces) 178 vehicle crewmen
144 infantry (d8 armour, advanced rifle w/- GL (FP:3, I:d10)

This full unit would probably hire out for about 29 MCr per month +
replacement clauses on the ships (about 50% new value).

--- "Robertson, Brendan"

> Scalliwag's Mercenary Company

He's going to raise some eyebrows calling himself a Sky Marshall with a
batallion task force and a single squadron under his command.

> Excaliber BDN "Colliwobbles"

Where did he get it? A capital ship is, I understood it, a fairly major
investment for a nation, never mind a tiny merc unit.

> 4 ZAD (size 4 GEV, Superior ZAD)

Plus about 500 or so support weenies. With a bunch of trucks, recovery
vehicles, FDC vehicles, command vehicles, etc. Which might make for a hard
time fitting into 4 transports.

I'd also suggest guns vice HAR for more flexibility and faster response time.
I also heartily detest twin weapons mounts (other than APSW, of course) and
would upgrade to a single size 4 rail gun instead of 2x3.

Weaknesses of this org: No obstacle clearance capability, no capability to
emplace obstacles. No
mortars--if you need a quick smoke screen you have to
launch a huge HAR to get it, which ain't economical. No dismounted scouts. No
mention of support weapons
for infantry (SAW, GMS/L).

On Friday, January 11, 2002 10:53 AM, John Atkinson
> [SMTP:johnmatkinson@yahoo.com] wrote:
Makes the enemy think there's more support on the way. The less fighting he
has to actually do, the more profit in the bank.

> > Excaliber BDN "Colliwobbles"
Amazing what a few bribes and no questions will get you. Internal condition is
poor to mediocre due to lack of maintainance (and where it was acquired from
in the first place).

> > 4 ZAD (size 4 GEV, Superior ZAD)
The above does fit into the transports (I structured it carefully), but I
didn't really worry about support units. This is a beachhead assault force.
Blast through the orbital defences and secure a starport for further units to
land, then retire to the transports. I might have to add a few more transports
worth of support equipment.

> I'd also suggest guns vice HAR for more flexibility
One advantage of HAR over guns: Red Pills & Chem warheads. They don't tell
their employers they have them (usually), but they are handy in certain
situations. I generally prefer gun artillery for the suppressing fire for most
forces.
The twin guns are for rounds-on-target, also to maximise space
allocation and for redundancy. The MBT are more for base security than as a
heavy offensive unit.

> Weaknesses of this org: No obstacle clearance
I didn't detail it down to that level. You can presume about 1 in 5 has a
support weapon & about 1 in 30 has a heavy weapon (GMS/L or light
mortar).
Note that all the scout cars mount a GMS/L for quick fire support.

It all comes down to speed, if this force gets bogged down, it's in trouble,
but should have enough speed and firepower to take it's objective (and hope
they're not double crossed by their employer).

On Wed, 9 Jan 2002 16:45:36 -0800 "Eli Arndt"
> <eli_arndt@wattosjunkyard.com> writes:

In Science *Fiction*? Sure, why not?

Gracias,

[quoted original message omitted]

> --- "K.H.Ranitzsch" <KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

> On the other hand, he's commanding a "Company" :-)

Should be Commodore, and commanding a squadron, really.