Re: Mercenaries

Brent L. Woods writes:
>      That's the whole point of a repatriation bond.  If you lose (and,
> consequently, are unable to pay your mercenaries), the mercenary unit
> can still get off-world (and, presumably, find work elsewhere--they
> hope) using banked money that you no longer have any use for (since you
> no longer exist as an organization).  If you win, then, great.  Reclaim
> the bond, use it to pay off your mercenaries, then take what's left and
> use it for a much-deserved trip to the famous vacation world of Riviera.

  Ah, I've got to admit that I didn't think of that possibility. I  guess I was
to focussed on 'You pay them salary, then you pay the repatriation bond' problem
that I forgot that one can use the repatriation money to pay them off!

> Notice that all these potential
> employers are fairly large organizations, usually with easy access to
> the kind of wealth that is needed to hire even a modest-sized
> mercenary unit.  Remember, decent troops don't come cheap.

  A few megacredits can take you quite far. Unless, of course, there is need of
armed, hitech vehicles or the ubiquitous Battledress & FGMP. If you are willing
to settle for Combat Environment Suits, Gaussrifles & RAM Auto-GL's one can
easily hire several hundred people for 1MCr (assuming Cr75,000 per platoon for
2 months. [Yes, this is  George William Herbert's exampla :-)], adding the
equipment wont add more than 25,000, for a total of one platoon per 100kCr)

>  >  What is the real differece between this and if Wild Bill Hicock
>  >wants to knock over a bank and hires 4 commandos to help him.
>
>      Easy.  It's the same as the difference between legitimate warfare
> and commiting a criminal act.  Fighting a war is *not* the same as
> robbing a bank, either legally or practically.

  But replace Wild Bill with Naasirka and the bank with a research station owned
by a competitor. It would still be a crime, but suddenly it is transformed into
a 'legitimate' ticket.
(I'm not sure, but I think that a commando raid against a competitor has been
published in the JTAS as a ticket?)

>      Since when are MegaCorps *not* governments?  Within their (usually
> extensive) on-planet holdings they have the force of a government, and
> can still get off world (and, presumably, find work elsewhere--they
> in the case where they own an entire planet (or system) then they most
> definitely *are* a government.

  I was assuming that there existed some kind of 'official' recognition of the
governments that makes up the imperium. Remember that, contray to what the name
would lead one to assume, the Imperium is more reminicent of a defence
pact than of a regular state.
  There is numerous references to the fact that the 'real' territory of the
Imperium is the space between the planets, and even one oblique reference to
that the IISS is charged with deciding which planetary governments that are
'legitimate'
  (Reference: TD adventure number 11 or 12 (?) where a rebel movements first
priority is to make the IISS change the worlds UWP 'government' classification
to 'balcanized', thereby transforming the rebels from being a (probably) illegal
organization to being one of two governments on that world, thus giving is some
sort of legitimay in the eyes of the Imperium.)

Adrian Hurt writes:
> As far as the Imperium is concerned, none.  The planets in question look after
> their own defence.  If the "Rules of War" are broken, the Imperium intervenes.
> I suspect the Vranxian invasion is more likely to break the Rules than the
> bank job.

  My question then is: Why does not every criminal organize their jobs as
tickets, and take advantage of the *repatriation bonds*? Since defeated mercs
are allowed free passage off planet, one would assume that captured criminals
would jump on that opportunity!


  If we look at it from the individual mercs point of view, (s)he is bound to
be quite interested in if the repatriation bond is going to be honored, or if
some Imperial official is going to smash them with a law-book and say:
  "Sorry, but this exceeds the limits for a ticket and enters the criminal area,
Off to Exile/Usani you go!"

  (BTW, In my campaign there is a civil war on a certain planet where bonds
are *not* honored. And since the guerilla is claimed to be Zho-supported, this
has led to that Marines have been forced to do Counter Insugency assignments
there. Quite an unpopular assignment, I assure you...)

- -bertil-

PS, Anyone out there who knows a sure method of transforming ClarisCAD documents
from a mac into generic postscrips files? Yes, it has Traveller connection.
- --
.sig out on lunch