Hammer's Slammers [VERY LONG POST!]

This is really GREAT information!! Just out of curiosity, is there a "Galactic
Governing Body" like an Empire, Federation, etc., etc. in the 'Hammer's
Slammers" universe? If so, I assume they're as well armed as Hammer's boys.
And if this is true, do Hammer's Slammers ever mix it up with them?

> Ground Zero Games wrote:

> >Hi all,

Excerpts from FT: 14-Aug-97 Re: Hammer's Slammers [VERY.. by Joe
Banderet@aeroinc.net
> This is really GREAT information!!

I agree... thank you *very* much, Jon. (Though Joe, did you *really* have to
repost the entire article?

> Just out of curiosity, is there a

There is a body which governs mercenary activities; basically, it's a
conglomerate of banks, and they control the money as well as ensuring that
employers hold to their contracts with the mercs. No, the Slammers never go up
against 'em....

> On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Joe Banderet wrote:

> This is really GREAT information!! Just out of curiosity, is there a

There is no "Galactic Governing Body" which is precisely why Hammer's exists
and can get contracts easily and never really lose. Hammer's is backed by the
Frisia, which is one of the more wealthy planets in the galaxy. In the
original story Hammer's Slammers was formed because the regular Frisian
regiments (12 to be precise) could not do the job of pacifying rebels.
Equipped with the best that money could buy (hovertanks
from Terra) and with some unorthodox tactics - nerve gas, hostages etc.
Hammer was able to dig out the resistance. The Frisian government at first
objected to allowing Hammer's to becoma a mercenary regiment but Hammer and
the gang shot their way out and pounded an agreement with the government. It
appears that many of the planets are independent or exercise control over half
a dozen at most. Even Terra does not seem to have a huge influence. This is a
ripe environment for scenarios since almost anything can happen. Hight ech vs.
Low tech, human swarms vs mechanized, or a high tech shoot out.

--Binhan

> [quoted text omitted]

> At 06:07 PM 8/14/97 -0500, you wrote:

The closest I remember is the Bonding Authority. They essentially regulate the
mercenaries in Drake's universe. If a mercenary unit breaks the rules of war,
they lose their bond (and are essentially run out of business). I seem to
remember that the Bonding Authority were involved in the transportation
of the mercenaries in some way. I know there's a non-Slammer's story set
in the universe that mentions an alien race that handles the FTL travel. I got
the impression that the mercenary units could be easily shut down by simply
refusing to move them from one planet to another. There are also pirates in
Drake's universe. There's nothing like what you are looking for.

> On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Joe Banderet wrote:

> This is really GREAT information!! Just out of curiosity, is there a

Not really. The wealthier planets can *afford* the same stuff, but do they
have the skill?

> And if this is true, do Hammer's Slammers ever mix it up

In the very first Slammer story (chronologically) Slammers spank the Nieuw
Friesland forces using identical equipment.

And beginning with THE SHARP END, Slammers *are* the Friesland army!

Then there's the Bonding Authority that oversees all mercenary contracts

-- but their power is almost strictly financial/political.

A bit more notes:

Chronology: Slammers stories were originally shorts published in magazines.
They were NOT written in chronological order! Drake has said this himself, and
I have it on paper. There IS a certain amount of chronology you can decipher
from people's ranks etc. but some of the stories have no chronological
connections at all.

The first book (Hammer's Slammers) has both the very first and the very last
true Slammers stories. All other books apart from The Sharp End (which
technically isn't Slammers anymore) happen between these two stories.

Powerguns: Other powerguns mentioned in the books are 30mm Calliope
8-barrel arty defence system (several stories), 50mm AT guns (Hangman,
IIRC) and 150mm in tank destroyers (The Warrior), a near equal to a Slammers
supertank.

Other infantry weapons: Flechette guns are mentioned as the other choice

for premium infantry weapons, and they are used in Crossfire.

Defences: Because of their nature, powerguns can be stopped by ablative armor
particularly well. It is used in Crossfire for makeshift bunkers. Slammers
infantry wear clamshell armor, but its effectiveness against powerguns isn't
shown in the books.

Weapon ranges: All powerguns have LOS range -- it's just up to the
shooter to hit something. In the "last" Slammers story, Steuben assasinates a
man
with a pistol shot from 500+ yards. In At Any Price (IIRC, it's the one
with the teleporting aliens), someone picks off a sniper with a pistol or
subgun from 1.5 klicks or so. The Slammers helmet has *extensive* commo and
sensor equipment, and it can be tied to targeting.

> > Three Batteries, each of six 200mm GEV/SP Rocket Howitzers, one

Actually, IIRC some stories mention these as 150mm. It's either one of the few
consistency errors from Drake I've caught, or they have mixed equipment.

> Joe Banderet <bigjoe@aeroinc.net> wrote:

> This is really GREAT information!! Just out of curiosity, is there a

As far as I've seen in the books, and short story's, the Galexy of HS is very
much like todays Earth. Very Balkeniozed with no central ruling authority,
though there are worlds and orginizations which
have the power to influance, co-erce, or bully the other worlds.
(Terra, as mentioned in "Rolling Hot", the Mercenary Bonding Authority, etc)

One book set in the HS universe but not staring, or even mentioning HS is "the
Forlorn Hope". It has quite a few insites on what it's like to be a mercenary
unit without Hammers budget or reputation. In it you also discover that
"Terran" technology is greatly
feared/respected throughout the galaxy.  You also discover that
Starships can transit inside an atmosphere, and see an example of Starship
"transit bombing" techniquie. (..and the dangeers there of
:)

All in all a very good read too.

Randy Randy Campbell

For Something Out of This World
Check Out:  http://www.millennial.org

> On Fri, 15 Aug 1997, Tony Christney wrote:

The attatchment is one of those little annoying things that Microsoft Mail
sends along with an e-mail message just to make sure that it will never
be compatible with anything else. You can safely ignore it, since it will be
meaningless to you unless you're also using Microsoft Mail.

However, the BIG question is: Why in the world would DEC want to be using
Microsoft Mail in the first place? Don't they have enough problems of their
own?

> On Fri, 15 Aug 1997, Tony Christney wrote:

> Lastly, I would like to say Hi to the people I recognize from the

Hi there Tony. I see you've finally come to your senses and abandoned the Evil
Empire (tm). So what did happen to NetEpic? Did you guys actually finish it?

> > This is really GREAT information!!

Agreed, great article; disagree that it should have been fully reposted.
There're enough other 'bandwidth wasters' being sent all over (note: that
microsoft attachement stuff  ;-)  and a lot of us only have so much disk
space available.

Welcome to the list, Tony. Allow me to point you to the FT List archives,
for those moments when you have oodles of time to wade/waste  ;-)

    http://www.net/~jerry/ft/full-thrust.html

Jerry Han maintains this site. It's thoroughly comprehensive through last
year (ie, there be lots for you to read  ;-)

> Since I am new here, I would like to ask some questions:

None that I know of, except those 'house rules' other folk have worked on.

Mk

On Aug 15, 1997 at 2:32:43 AM, Mikko Kurki-Suonio <maxxon@swob.dna.fi>
wrote:

> Defences: Because of their nature, powerguns can be stopped by

IIRC, Don Slade's clamshell armor (or, more correctly, Danny Pritchard's

clamshell armor, worn by Don Slade at the time <grin>) stops a 1 cm powergun
shot at point-blank range in _Cross the Stars_.

> Weapon ranges: All powerguns have LOS range -- it's just up to the

I can't remember if I made the comment on this list (I have had first
_Starship Troopers_ then _Hammer's Slammer's conversations on three
different lists in as many months), but my favorite HS scene is in one of the
later books, when the tanks take out the orbitting spy satellites as they come
above the horizon...

> On Aug 15, 1997 at 8:11:39 AM, campbelr@pop3.kunsan.af.mil wrote:

> One book set in the HS universe but not staring, or even mentioning HS

> is "the Forlorn Hope". It has quite a few insites on what it's like to

> discover that "Terran" technology is greatly feared/respected
technique.

I have never heard conclusively that _Forlorn Hope_ was part of the
Slammers
universe or not.  My inclination is "not" -- while the hovertank
technology appears the same, and perhaps the stardrive stuff as well, the
weapons tech is VASTLY inferior, i.e., no powerguns. Granted, maybe this is
because neither the mercenariies nor the locals are particularly wealthy, but
PGs aren't

mentioned ANYWHERE, and what you do have (e.g., AA laser installations which
require their own fusion reactor to power) aren't cheap, either.

> On Mon, 18 Aug 1997, Christopher Weuve wrote:

> IIRC, Don Slade's clamshell armor (or, more correctly, Danny

Hmmm... I guess I must have missed that one. It's been some time since I

read the books.

> lists in as many months), but my favorite HS scene is in one of the

I think they do that in Rolling Hot. But even small caliber powerguns
have theoretical LOS range -- though for game purposes it's quite
acceptable to assign a max range for small arms.

How useful LOS range is, is another thing. It depends very much on
terrain. We chuckled at the Gulf reports of 4+ km hits on Iraqi tanks --

in Finland, you're hard pressed to find 1km unobstructed LOS in rural terrain.

On Aug 19, 1997 at 2:25:13 AM, Mikko Kurki-Suonio <maxxon@swob.dna.fi>
wrote:

> How useful LOS range is, is another thing. It depends very much on

> At 10:25 AM 8/19/97 +0300, you wrote:

> IIRC, Don Slade's clamshell armor (or, more correctly, Danny

_Cross the Stars_ is periferally a Slammers book. It involves one of the
members of the Slammers who is also an aristocrat on his home planet. I
remember enjoying it but let's be honest here, it's Homer's The Odyssey
repackaged as an SF combat story.

> I think they do that in Rolling Hot.

Is _Rolling Hot_ the book with the Sergeant who hates his commander to
the point of insubordination? If it is, I'm not to crazy about it. I thought
after the guy's first offense he should have been drummed out of the Slammers.
Drake's combat scenes are top notch but his characterization leaves a bit to
be desired. For the record, I think the original
_Hammer's
Slammers_ is the best introduction to the series, being an anthology. It
also has my favourite story, "Firefitz" (sp?). The other "novels" are
essentially a novella and a short story (except for _Cross the Stars_
which is a full length novel).

> On Wed, 20 Aug 1997, Allan Goodall wrote:

> Is _Rolling Hot_ the book with the Sergeant who hates his commander to

No, that's The Warrior.

On Aug 20, 1997 at 5:36:53 PM, Allan Goodall <agoodall@sympatico.ca> wrote:

> _Cross the Stars_ is periferally a Slammers book. It involves one of
I
> remember enjoying it but let's be honest here, it's Homer's The

No honesty needed, er, Drake doesn't claim anything else. In fact, I believe
his exact words in the intro are "let's be honest here, it's Homer's The

Odyssey repackaged as an SF combat story". <grin>

This is not the last time Drake has retold a myth as science fiction, nor is
he the only one to retell old myths, in science fiction or other genres.
 In
the afterword to _Northworld_, for example, he states that it is based
on Icelandic myth.

As a sidenote, he also peripherally mentions "the best professor" he ever had,
Jonathan Goldstein of the University of Iowa's Department of History. By the
time I took took Goldstein's "National and Religious Resistance to Ancient
Empires" 15 or so years later as a UI History major. Goldstein was certainly
brilliant, but between the pain medication for his bad back and his age, I'm
not convinced he was always on the same plane of consciousness as the rest of
us, if you get my drift.

For extra credit: GIVEN the following: 1) there were five people in the class;
2) I was one of two students taking it for a grade; 3) No more than three
students ever showed up at one time; 4) my attendance was the best in the
class.

Calculate the chances that, one day, I would be the only student who showed up
for class. <grin> [He came in and lectured as if it were a full auditorium.]