Small-unit mercs and appropriate rank

[Terrace]

Been thinking about appropriate ranks for small-unit groups. If I were to create a merc unit that's only a single Lance in size, but has its own DropShip, what would the right rank be for the overall leader, assuming they not only lead the Lance personally, but also have command authority for the DropShip (as in "The DropShip's captain takes orders from him")?

[worktroll]

Rank inflation is common enough in merc units, so it'd be entirely fair for the CO to give himself the rank of Major. A merc unit with its own Dropship usually has it's own tech support crew, astechs, etc (just to keep the DropShip flying), so they're commanding a larger unit.

[Nav_Alpha]

Dunno, even with support troops you’re still running about a company. I’d suggest the CO is ranked as a captain.
However, there can’t be two captains on a ship and your CO will get dubbed “major” while on board by the crew as a courtesy.

But I’d suggest it’s easier to be referred to as captain on the ground in combat and over the negotiation table.
Otherwise, people are going to wonder why a Major is commanding a lance.

[AlphaMirage]

I frequently just use Commander or (squad/Lance) leader for people in charge.  Their deputies and staff officers are Lieutenants or Lieutenant Commanders. All "common" Mechwarriors are just called that and treated as warrant officers.

[Colt Ward]

Honestly, it sort of depends where your mercs are from . . .

I am in line with the Major argument b/c its not just inflation, but keep in mind the rank you claim will also determine how you interact with any House military or militia.  Some of its also going to depend on what equipment you are fielding, if you are a specialist lance of assault mechs who make orbital drops to secure targets then you do not want to be constrained by following the orders of some jumped up socialite a year out of the academy commanding four lights.  This also follows for your people, you want to make their interactions smooth with whoever you are contracted out with in any situation possible.  This also carries over to your liaison officer, you want someone with enough rank that ever Tom, Dick & Harriet cannot order them to order you to do whatever fool stunt enters their mind in the heat of battle.

If you walk into one of the regular social events on a Lyran world and declare your rank to be that of a simple LT you will ultimately be dismissed by most of the contacts you would want to make during the event.  You want enough weight behind your title to be able to hold your own in social interactions.  People who do not know any different will equate that with experience as long as its not outrageous- just needs to be close.  For instance, walking into a social gathering and known to be commanding that lance but insist on being called a Star Marshall and . . . probably a lot of funny looks.  Walk in calling yourself a Commander/Captain/ Major/Force Commander/Commandant/Senior Captain/etc and have a uniform that is not too gaudy, looks sharp . . . and you will be given some credibility until proven otherwise.  Then again, remember you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time.

Traditionally the commander of mercs would be a captain of some sort, so at least that IMO.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Star Marshall.... thanks for brilliant ideas for terrible merc units now based on ignorant Clanners entering the IS mercenary market.


If he wants to call himself a Major he better back up IC why I.E. he is running a combined arms unit with a large Dropship.

[Iron Mongoose]

First off, you need to claim at least Captain.  Just from a linguistic standpoint, a captain is a leader of men (like a captain of industry) while a lieutenant is historically an aid.  More over, company sized merc units are a dime a dozen, so everyone knows what a merc captain is and what that means, and deflating back to captain isn't unknown.  Avanti's Angels had more than a company and two dropships and a commander with no stated rank, and the Black Thorns had a strengthened company with a pile of Clan tech and a dropship of their own lead by a captain, while Jacob's Juggernauts had a strengthened company of mechs and a short tank company, with a Captain leading the mechs and an Lt for the tanks.  It's just sort of a standard mercenary rank, that everyone knows is pretty open ended.

Beyond that, your title can be a statement of intent.  If your ship is an Overlord for example, taking the rank of Major might signal your intention to expand to a battalion, while being a lieutenant might indicate your intent to remain as a lance (especially if you have a Leopard).  Being a captain or even major would signify your intention to operate independently, while being a Lt would indicate that you're looking to subcontract and work with larger units. 

Of course, we're all curious: what dropship is it, and what lance is it?  A lance of Stingers in a busted up Buccaneer isn't worth much (but more than nothing) while a lance of standard mediums and heavies in a Union is a good start, and a lance of Timber Wolves and Summoners in a captured Broadsword would be very, very special and very in-demand.

[Archangel]

Been thinking about appropriate ranks for small-unit groups. If I were to create a merc unit that's only a single Lance in size, but has its own DropShip, what would the right rank be for the overall leader, assuming they not only lead the Lance personally, but also have command authority for the DropShip (as in "The DropShip's captain takes orders from him")?

The "right" rank?  Probably captain.  The rank the unit commander actually chooses?  Depends upon the size of the individual's ego.

[glitterboy2098]

In The Price of Glory Greyson Carlyle actually muses a bit on this topic.. he himself preferred "captain" because he saw himself as the leader of a mech company, but because he led a mercenary unit with a reinforced mech company, a little over two companies of vehicles, and a couple companies of infantry, as well as two dropships, a jumpship, and a lots of support personnel, he got listed as "Colonel" of the "Grey Death Legion Regiment" on the TO&E and contracts.

[Terrace]

Eh, let's assume a lance of heavies and mediums in a Leopard. There's probably a bunch on nearly-interchangeable merc units out there that fit that criteria exactly.

[Easy]

cleanup

[cpip]

I know at one point, toying around with characters in the old MW3/CBTRPG, I'd ended up with a AFFC Sergeant Major who'd gone off to form a mercenary company. I'd had it in my head that he insisted on keeping the rank of Sergeant Major: no officers in HIS unit, thank you very much, just noncoms who knew the value of real work...

The idea that it'd impact him socially hadn't occurred to me, truth be told.

[Kidd]

Me neither. This thread is gold for me in that regard.

So perhaps if the employer wishes a more integrated chain of command for the merc unit and his forces, he might assign a suitable brevet-rank to the merc commander and/or his officers who will liaise with the employer's troops.

[Nav_Alpha]

I know at one point, toying around with characters in the old MW3/CBTRPG, I'd ended up with a AFFC Sergeant Major who'd gone off to form a mercenary company. I'd had it in my head that he insisted on keeping the rank of Sergeant Major: no officers in HIS unit, thank you very much, just noncoms who knew the value of real work...

The idea that it'd impact him socially hadn't occurred to me, truth be told.

"Don't 'sir' me, son! I work for a ****** liv'in!"
"Errr... sergeant, the duke will see you now..."

[ANS Kamas P81]

I know at one point, toying around with characters in the old MW3/CBTRPG, I'd ended up with a AFFC Sergeant Major who'd gone off to form a mercenary company. I'd had it in my head that he insisted on keeping the rank of Sergeant Major: no officers in HIS unit, thank you very much, just noncoms who knew the value of real work...

Tradition, rotating each month one noncom has to be breveted to an officer rank of..Commander, just to be extra weird and bring in Navy ranks.  Naturally he has to do all the unit's paperwork and be constantly sir'd and pranked with whatever.

"Oh, that was Commander Janssen, he got demoted.  This is Commander Wilk-wait that's not till the first; right now it's Commander Nguyen until Wilkes' promotion, he's still got three days before he gets demoted."

[CDAT]

Late to this party, but one thing to add. The other side of the coin I could see is your rank also implies that you have a certain amount of forces. So if your commander calls them self a Captain (or even more so a Major or higher) and only have a single mech lance (with or with out support troops) I could see this not going over well with the other commanders who they are working for. I can see reasons why, but those are things that would make the role playing part fun. Things like I am Captain X of command Y, we are looking for a contract that will give us the time to rebuild our unit. Even if they do not say that they are down to a single lance, this implies that they do not have a full company, so I would guess that the belief would be that the unit is between one and two lances, if they introduced them self as a Major then I would guess they would have around two companies or more.

[Rainbow 6]

In The Price of Glory Greyson Carlyle actually muses a bit on this topic.. he himself preferred "captain" because he saw himself as the leader of a mech company, but because he led a mercenary unit with a reinforced mech company, a little over two companies of vehicles, and a couple companies of infantry, as well as two dropships, a jumpship, and a lots of support personnel, he got listed as "Colonel" of the "Grey Death Legion Regiment" on the TO&E and contracts.

Can't remember if its from the same novel or from the scenario pack but, if memory serves, Lori refers to Grayson as Captain in case anyone is listening into their comms and doesn't want to give away the regimental commander is in the field.

[Nav_Alpha]

Can't remember if its from the same novel or from the scenario pack but, if memory serves, Lori refers to Grayson as Captain in case anyone is listening into their comms and doesn't want to give away the regimental commander is in the field.

That is indeed in Price of Glory. She uses his lowest - but still appropriate - rank so that the invading FWL don't work out what's going on

[Hellraiser]

Major seems logical to me.

[glitterboy2098]

That is indeed in Price of Glory. She uses his lowest - but still appropriate - rank so that the invading FWL don't work out what's going on

but you also have Greyson musing on how he hates being called Colonel, which is where the whole "prefers to be called captain instead of colonel" thing comes in. the deception bit is just what triggers his musing.

[rogueranger1993]

Pretty late to the party here, but figured I'd throw my 2 C-Bills in anyways...  :))

So, in my opinion, there's a couple of factors to consider here. One thing that influences the CO's rank is the size of the unit - is it a lance, a company, etc.? If it's the unit is only a lance, I can see a mercenary CO inflating his rank to Captain. This elevates the CO a bit on the command ladder, providing him with more control over his forces in a military setting. After all, even if the guy should technically be a lieutenant, having such a low rank technically means that even a Captain can order you around and expect compliance. By taking the rank of Captain, your CO then becomes the 'equal' of the employer's company commanders, and therefore 'technically' has more say over how his unit is used.

Notice that I use the term technically quite a bit in the above statement. The exact limits of what can and can't happen depends a lot on the stipulations of the contract. However, with what I said above in mind, I'd generally take the rank of Captain for forces running from a lance to a company.

If you're running a company, Captain is the rank most commonly used. However, taking the rank of Major could apply the same benefits as above. However, it could also have employers (and their troops) thinking you're CO is rather jumped up and self important - could make for some interesting roleplay scenarios, though.

Another thing to consider might be if the CO served in a regular military before going merc, and if so, what rank did he gain in that time? If he was only an enlisted man, then house troop officers may consider him some kind of idiotic, jumped-up peasant and react badly to any officer rank he takes. If, on the other hand, he achieved the rank of Major and now commands a mercenary company, it may be reasonable for him to use his former rank - even if it is higher than the norm for a company commander, it would likely be  considered a show of respect for the position he previously held.

In the end, this all conjecture based off of my own opinion, but I hope it helps.

[glitterboy2098]

if so, it might be worthwhile to adopt an internal rank structure using exotic terms (say, the ranks from the army of the byzantine empire), and letting the hiring faction decide how to integrate you.

[rogueranger1993]

if so, it might be worthwhile to adopt an internal rank structure using exotic terms (say, the ranks from the army of the byzantine empire), and letting the hiring faction decide how to integrate you.

I'd love to see the look on the recruiter's face when he sees that kind of rank structure  ;D

Personally, though, I don't see why it couldn't happen - mercenaries are a very diverse lot, and we've already got a faction that uses the ranks from ancient Rome anyways - so why the hell not? I'm game.