Explain To Me How The Merc Trade Works In BT

[Hellraiser]

You're not entirely wrong though - we did see the results of peak saturation in the merc trade in the late 3060s: the 1st major event of the Jihad, the "bursting" of the merc "bubble" on Outreach and subsequently the rest of the IS. So yes, there was a point when the industry became too big to be supported, people with guns couldn't get hired, and with a little motivation and capital injection from the Blakists to accelerate matters, those people decided to turn those guns on the authorities. 

Where they actually not able to get hired?
I don't recall that.
Many of the Blakist mercs were low life scum, D-F rated trash, or in Waco/Widowmaker cases, people with 5-50 year old grudges.

[Scotty]

"D-F rated trash" is a symptom of being unable to find work as much as it is a contributing factor to not getting hired.

[Daemion]

There's also the motive for starting up in the first place. A lot of new-hires are probably itching for a challenge to prove themselves and make a name.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I always imagined that "new" merc mechwarriors are for the most part prior service.  Instead of re-enlisting after their first tour(s) of duty, they "go pro" and join with whichever Merc company with which they can get the best deal.  Fits in with the sheeple principle which mainly applies to the small folk of the Inner Sphere... makes sense to me that lots of mechwarriors are less interested in loyalty to a Great House and more interested in fame, adventure, and/or fortune.

[Daemion]

I still find this notion that Mechs and Mechwarriors are rare kinda laughable, considering some of the numbers still bandied about regarding Mech production. The Archer is the most common Mech next to the Stalker in the heavy assault categories, and yet Phoenix Hawks and the Bug Mechs outnumber them.

The armies should be much bigger. Where are the Mechs? In the hands of people not detailed in the National Spotlight Propaganda Field Manuals.

That means militias, home guard, personal retinues, and of course, mercenary commands.

And, there's also a surplus of pilots, because people are still worried about becoming dispossessed.

So, there is room for all kinds of trouble, probably on any given world, let alone between two of them. That is how I've been styling a lot of my campaigns, lately. Mercs galore. (Sounds like a new Mercenary Trade Hub name.)

And, after the start of the mercenary system early in the Succession Wars, I imagine it's just a part of the BattleTech culture anymore that mercenaries abound. That makes the move to disarm in the Republic a VERY BIG THING.

[Major Headcase]

   A lot has already been said here about the viability of mercs in the playable periods of Btech. But I would add a few points. One is to look at MODERN mercs, specifically modern private military contractor organizations. The US and many nations employ ESPECIALLY in times of relative peace. One reason is the nature of these forces: many are former special operations soldiers, so these men bring very specialized skills to the work, they are not grunts (much like the merc mechwarrior or aerospace pilot) and second, the independent nature of the organizations removes a lot of the internally monitored legalities and oversight an official force would generate.  They can do thing behind layers of obfuscation without congressional oversight or approval, and their actions usually don't drag a nations flag through the mud of public opinion.
   Most mercs contracts are single mission jobs. Exactly the kind of cloak and dagger mission the powers will engage in to disrupt and destabilize the enemy during "peacetime" and maintain the cloak of independent action that keeps full war from resulting. Look at US covert and geopolitical actions all through the cold war! The Great Houses use mercs, we used deniable CIA agents and black book soldiers. Little difference.
   Add those concerted actions to the spaghetti tangle of intrigue and rivalry of a feudal system spanning thousands of world's and to be honest, until the Clans showed up to scare the bejesus out of everyone and halt a lot of the shenanigans, during the 3rd and 4th Suc Wars, I bet there was more work than there were reliable mercs to do it! That should also remind that not all mercs got steady work even when contracts were there simply because those units were to unreliable, unsuitable, or too small for most contracts. Which is why so many were forced out into the less civilized border areas.
   The inner sphere is big, really big, and complex. There will always be the right environment for mercs somewhere, and the fluidity of the spheres geopolitical landscape makes it certain there never truly is a "down time".

[Kidd]

I still find this notion that Mechs and Mechwarriors are rare kinda laughable, considering some of the numbers still bandied about regarding Mech production. The Archer is the most common Mech next to the Stalker in the heavy assault categories, and yet Phoenix Hawks and the Bug Mechs outnumber them.

They are rare relative to 1) conventional military equipment, 2) Star League military sizes, 3) Battletech population sizes, and 4) IRL population sizes. They also get a lot less rare post-Helm Memory Core.

What does the Archer, Stalker, P-hawk and so on have to do with that?

The armies should be much bigger. Where are the Mechs? In the hands of people not detailed in the National Spotlight Propaganda Field Manuals.

No doubt a lot of units are not detailed in the Field Manuals. But I also think those units are also not numerous enough to make a big difference. It makes a lot more sense IMHO that armies in Battletech are smaller, due to the factors I listed above.

And, there's also a surplus of pilots, because people are still worried about becoming dispossessed.

While I agree that there is a surplus of pilots, I'd also argue that the Dispossession phenomenon is more of an issue for people who had private ownership of a Mech, but now lack the necessary contacts and capital to get another one... the phenomenon doesn't apply to everybody, nor does it necessarily imply a drastic difference in numbers of Mechs and Mechwarriors.

And, after the start of the mercenary system early in the Succession Wars, I imagine it's just a part of the BattleTech culture anymore that mercenaries abound. That makes the move to disarm in the Republic a VERY BIG THING.

ABSOLUTELY. This policy is 1 of the interesting plot hooks that attracted me to the Early-Republic era.

[SCC]

OK, lots of answer while I was at work.

Most Mercs aren't.  The only ones we hear about being kept on retainer or for contracts that span multiple years are generally the biggest ones, which are not and never will be the norm for Mercs.  And that's forgetting that even in between major wars the border skirmishes never, ever stop.  You might need a Merc company to garrison a world for a few months while the normal garrison is on maneuvers, or on a raid.  You might hire some Mercs for a VIP escort on a world with questionable loyalties.

I sort of figured that for the really big ones because keeping them on is cheaper then your opponents hiring them. I don't however see mercs being used in the garrison role, at least without a LOT of vetting or being used to supplement an existing garrison.

I also have a problem with the planetary nobles hiring them thing, where are they when the planets are invaded?

i'm not sure that it has been "regional conflicts" so much as "regional tensions".. thanks to the small sizes of successor state standing militaries, and the general lack of anything resembling sizeable and well equipped militias, and the jump distances of BT's starships, there are a lot of worlds along the various borders that could be the target of raids or invasions by enemies.. but which have no effective defenders. i mean, the Capellan front for the fedsuns has over a hunded worlds within 30ly of the border.. and maybe a half dozen mech regiments. with well equipped standing militias on maybe another dozen. that is a lot of worlds with nothing more than some infantry battalions and maybe a few companies of light tanks to defend them.
-Snip-

Good point there about "regional conflicts" vs "regional tensions" but you won't be hiring (additional) mercs until you need them because those tensions flare. And I'd assume that most, if not all, long term garrisons are conducted by House troops or politically reliable mercs.

Because mercs are COOL. That aside...

On mercs in Europe
Mercs didn't become a thing because of war or peace or surplus in trained warriors. Mercs became a thing because of 1) fragmentation of society, 2) task-specialisation, due to expanding economies, and 3) the invention of money. In short, societies moved from groups of farmers defending themselves part-time from the predations of their neighbours, to groups of farmers led by soldiers using money to hire professional soldiers to help defend them from the predations of their neighbours.

Mercs died out when societies grew large enough that they could raise their own armies, which in the economic sense means they could essentially pay people to be loyal. Thus, condition 1) was invalidated.

Thanks for that. I like to point out that the factors I pointed out likely contribute a great deal, if you're looking to hire and there hasn't been a war in 5 years or more your not likely to get many good offers, at least not quickly.

I always imagined that "new" merc mechwarriors are for the most part prior service.  Instead of re-enlisting after their first tour(s) of duty, they "go pro" and join with whichever Merc company with which they can get the best deal.  Fits in with the sheeple principle which mainly applies to the small folk of the Inner Sphere... makes sense to me that lots of mechwarriors are less interested in loyalty to a Great House and more interested in fame, adventure, and/or fortune.

Daniel Allard was not prior service but he was an academy grad.

[The_Livewire]

I also think both the MRC and it's antecedents/descendents help keep the Merc trade alive. While not as powerful as, say, the Bonding Authority in Hammer's Slammers, they do help keep both sides honest.  Factions that consistently hose Merc units get black marks, Merc units who underperform or break contract don't get hired again.  If the MRC fairly arbitrates that is... (I do think that it needs to be more like the Bonding Authority, with bonds held for both parties.  If ComStar had gotten in on this action after the Jihad, maybe under a new name, they'd not be defunct come the Dark Age...)

It helps reduce the chance that the 'scruffy looking mercs' you post for a tour out in the pirate vulnerable reaches of the Outback don't try to get some extra income (extortion, etc) from the people you sent to protect.  At the same time deploying mercs out looking for pirates is a good (cheep) political move.  "Look, backwater parts of my kingdom, we care!  Just not enough to send house troops..."

[Kovax]

Historically, the mercenary trade included a lot of soldiers hired out by their own rulers.  Greek mercenary soldiers fought on both sides of many of the conflicts throughout the ancient world, with one city-state providing soldiers for one side, and a different city-state "renting" its citizen-soldiers to the other.  The Balearic Islands were famed for hiring out slingers, as was the Israeli tribe of Benjamin.  The soldiers got food and minimal pay, while their rulers back home reaped the real rewards.

By the time of the Middle Ages, Europe had developed into a morass of petty kingdoms, with near constant local feuding at one location or another (note that Hessian mercenaries participated on the British side in the American Revolutionary War).  The way to tip the balance of an otherwise close conflict was to hire some outsiders from another state to supplement your army, so whoever had the deeper pockets usually won.  The strong "need" for mercenaries insured high pay and regular work.

Battletech, likewise, involves local conflicts being decided by relatively small forces, largely due to the costs and limitations of transportation, and once again, bringing in a few mercenaries from some nearby planet to tip the scales and decide the issue before the larger regular House armies can get involved is the quick and easy, but expensive, way of winning.  If you recruited and equipped those forces yourself, your superiors in the House would requisition them away from you, but mercenaries give you that extra bit of firepower when you need it without being a formal part of your army, and being subject to the whims of your superiors.  You just need enough C-Bills.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I also have a problem with the planetary nobles hiring them thing, where are they when the planets are invaded?

There's two reasons why we don't hear about Count Stuffybritches' private army helping resist the invading/raiding Great House Army force.

One: The same reason we don't usually hear about local militia forces doing the same.  They're below the spotlight which is focused on Great House Armies.

Two: Beyond factor one, there's the "this is literally not in my contract" aspect for mercs hired by local authorities.  Even if mechwarriors in service to local powers collectively outnumber the defending (or invading!) House unit(s) by 3 to 1, so long as the invading forces don't make the mistake of stepping on Count Stuffybritches' private holdings they have nothing to fear from his private army.  In fact, invading forces have every incentive to humor the private armies during the invasion because should the conquest be successful, Count Stuffybritches will rather collaborate with the new order rather than be divested of his holdings.  And his private army is already placed onworld to help enforce control of the world for the new order.

Beyond those two reasons, also consider what private armies DO do: protect the private fiefs/holdings they're contracted (or levied) to protect.  Taking out Count Stuffybritches winter retreat is well below what House Kurita or Davion will care about.  However, in addition to potential rivals and enemies on the same or nearby worlds that Count Stuffybritches may feel might make a military strike against his fief, there's the ever-present threat of pirates.  Consider any sourcebook ever that lists Great House army deployments.  Then look at how many worlds each star empire leaves "utterly undefended" by Great House armies.  Literally, who's stopping pirates from just waltzing down to that planet and looting every nobleman's estate on that world?  Locals, that's who.  They just don't show up in those sourcebooks.

[Garrand]

Two: Beyond factor one, there's the "this is literally not in my contract" aspect for mercs hired by local authorities.  Even if mechwarriors in service to local powers collectively outnumber the defending (or invading!) House unit(s) by 3 to 1, so long as the invading forces don't make the mistake of stepping on Count Stuffybritches' private holdings they have nothing to fear from his private army.  In fact, invading forces have every incentive to humor the private armies during the invasion because should the conquest be successful, Count Stuffybritches will rather collaborate with the new order rather than be divested of his holdings.  And his private army is already placed onworld to help enforce control of the world for the new order.

Beyond those two reasons, also consider what private armies DO do: protect the private fiefs/holdings they're contracted (or levied) to protect.  Taking out Count Stuffybritches winter retreat is well below what House Kurita or Davion will care about.  However, in addition to potential rivals and enemies on the same or nearby worlds that Count Stuffybritches may feel might make a military strike against his fief, there's the ever-present threat of pirates.  Consider any sourcebook ever that lists Great House army deployments.  Then look at how many worlds each star empire leaves "utterly undefended" by Great House armies.  Literally, who's stopping pirates from just waltzing down to that planet and looting every nobleman's estate on that world?  Locals, that's who.  They just don't show up in those sourcebooks.

I think the above is problematic if we are maintaining the allusion to medieval nobility. If Count suchnsuch has a private army it is likely because his tenure requires military service, in this case supporting and deploying his troops in defense of the holding (probably has his title from the military governor of the planet, who is also a noble in his own right IIRC). Now that's not to say they might not take a "better deal" with the invader, nor contribute more than what their tenure contract requires (i.e. the count might have much more in military assets, but might only require a quarter of those assets be contributed to local defense). In short, the above example is one of allodial feudal tenure, which in the Middle Ages was not common (with a few very prominent examples, i.e. early High medieval Germany FREX), and I have no reason to think would be common in the Battletech era either.

Damon.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Well, in the BTU, we almost never see cases of the Great Houses "calling the banners" of their vassals.  I'm not having even a single instance come to mind at the moment.  The Great House Armies are some sort of mashup of a national institution for a feudal society.  That's way more complex than the BattleTech books have ever bothered attempting to reconcile.  However, I *can* see the possibility of private armies being dragooned by the House garrison commander in a crisis such as an invasion.  They'd just be placed in supporting positions in these cases however, where we don't see them making any more of a contribution to the outcome than militia.  However again this doesn't work if the private armies are/include mercs.  They don't do what they're not contracted to do, end of story.

That aside, we do have a good bit of information about how the "neo-feudal" class arose in the BTU, and it has little-to-nothing to do with providing military arms for lieges when called upon.  Nobles in the IS got started simply because you simply needed an authoritarian, top-down command structure simply to keep colonies functioning when at-will communication with and resupply from Terra was not possible.  Even during the Star League when the "need" for Nobles was at its weakest, there was so much societal inertia that there was never any attempt to do away with nobility... they just got enshrined as the entitled ruling class "because it's always been that way".  Not until the Republic anyway, but that's a horse of a different color.  The Republic's broken with all kinds of Sphereoid traditions, and if there is indeed an IlClan coming, their experiments are all moot anyway.

[SCC]

I've got to agree with Garrand, as part and parcel of being a noble your expected to defend your holding, it's WHY your allowed to raise troops, those troops not showing up in the case of pirate raids and planetary invasions violates that contract.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I've got to agree with Garrand, as part and parcel of being a noble your expected to defend your holding, it's WHY your allowed to raise troops, those troops not showing up in the case of pirate raids and planetary invasions violates that contract.

Yeah but petty nobles (usually) don't have the entire planet as their fief.   There's no expectation, much less requirement, to help defend what's outside your fief.  You defend your own fief yes, but are you expected to help defend your (fr)enemies' holdings onwold as well?  Nope.

Planetary conquests, much less raids, are (usually) not planet-encompassing conflicts.  For most of the planet, the campaign taking place on the other side of their world may as well be taking place on the other side of the empire.  Count Stuffybritches' private army might go on alert when the planet is invaded, but his private army has no reason to abandon whats his to go help defend other parts of the planet.

Of course, if the target of an objective raid is within his fief, naturally his private forces would defend it or help defend it if there's a House Garrison that's taking command of the defense.  None of the other nobles onworld would be obligated to help him defend it with their own private armies, though.

[Kit deSummersville]

We're also told repeatedly that most mercenary units fail.

Mercs of the 31st century are like restaurants in the 21st.

[massey]

Mercs of the 31st century are like restaurants in the 21st.

They scowl at you when you leave a 10% tip?

[SCC]

There's probably an expected mutual defense compact with those who you have a shared physical border and vital infrastructure, like power plants and water purification plants, where not only targets of raids but aren't in your borders.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

There's probably an expected mutual defense compact with those who you have a shared physical border and vital infrastructure, like power plants and water purification plants, where not only targets of raids but aren't in your borders.

I wouldn't bet on it.

Depends on how neighborly the petty nobles are.  Count Nelson of House Muntz would just point and laugh if pirates are overrunning his neighbor's fief.  And he'd hardly be an outlier.  Rivalries are born from proximity.  If your ancestral enemy is suffering, in many cases the petty noble will actually be petty and lend no help.    Ancestral rivals aren't likely to sign memoranda of understanding or mutual defense pacts anyway.

As for sharing infrastructure... they probably all depend on the same star network that everyone on planet shares.  (If it weren't a star network, you couldn't conquer an entire developed planet with a single battle anyway.)  Defending the locus of the star would generally fall under the responsiblity of the planetary Duke, Administrator, or local House Army garrison commander.  A coalition of petty nobles doing this could be possible, but I'd say that'd be the exception rather than the norm.

[Iron Mongoose]

There are examples of private and semi-private forces.  The first Black Thorns book saw our heros incountering a five strong private force of some retired general, and we've seen many corporate forces like the Blackstone Highlanders or Korsakovs Kossaks defending Earthworks.  We've even seen single mechs hired, such as when some Combine world I've forgotten the same of was hosting both Marcus GeoAvanti and Charlene Boske as corporate mercenaries. 

As for calling the banners, the neariest example would probably be the relationship between the Davions and the Haseks and Sandovals.  They can offer or withhold their support, they can act semi-independently, and the Davions can issue orders, but they do need to be mindful of how those orders will be received.  The FWL has similar problems, but their feudalism is very different.

That said, when it comes to economics and feudalism, mechs aren't really comparable to the sorts of mercenary levies of old, who tended to be crossbowmen or pikemen.  They're more comparable to mounted knights, who's horses and heavy arms and armor were prohibitively expensive.  Now, that's not to say pikes and crossbows are cheap, but I would argue that the greater bottleneck in raising a company of pikes is training, discipline, willingness.  Things a man (or women in the more egalitarian world of BattleTech) can take with them. 

Of course, MechWarriors are rare twice over.  Not only are mechs hard to come by (nearly irreplaceable in some eras), but mechwarriors seem to be about as common as pro-athletes.

That all being said, it seems that if I were a one in a million talent with an irreplaceable war machine, and I'd gathered together eleven of my similarly fortunate buddies, and I were going to offer my services to a nation of a trillion tax payers with hundreds of worlds and only scores of regiments of mechs and no easy way to expand...

...I feel like I'd ask for somewhat more money than what the source books tell us mercenary contracts are worth.  Now, given the trillions of tax payers and extremely limited mech production, it would still probably be cost effective for a successor state to hire mercenaries, or for a wealthy noble to, or a planet.  But I feel like successful mercenaries would tend to be living a bit larger (given the restaurant comparison, I'm imagining Grayson Carlyle as the Gordon Ramsay of mercenaries).  That's not to say most wouldn't still fail, since mechs are so irreplaceable, and actually being able to win a mech battle isn't an easy thing.  But still...

[Lorcan Nagle]

There's probably an expected mutual defense compact with those who you have a shared physical border and vital infrastructure, like power plants and water purification plants, where not only targets of raids but aren't in your borders.

Except for the canon examples I gave upthread of when there isn't

[Garrand]

If the BT setting continues with the neo-feudal setting, then subinfeudation is probably a thing. To whit, most (if not all) planets have a civil government & a military government, the latter represented by an ennobled individual. His fief would be the entire planet, able to enjoy & use revenues from the planets produce both to support himself as well as support some sort of military (which we have been commonly referring to as a "militia"). Down the line he'll want to subinfeudate -- create smaller fiefs within his holding to support military units. Thus if Duke of Podunk can equally subdivide his planetary fief into 10 smaller fiefs, one he keeps for himself to support his household & household troops, & 9 he gives to his lesser nobles (barons). He gives each baron a fief to use & exploit as they see fit, but MUST contribute x number of troops for defense purposes in the event of an invasion.

Now it is altogether possible that each baron would have MORE troops than they need to fulfill their obligation & ONLY send troops that they are required to fight outside their lands -- retaining the rest to defend their own little plot of land, but nonetheless if we are doing a neo-feudal thing here than a big component of that is the military obligations the nobility have towards defense; the titles are just window-dressing.

But you are correct that the military in BT is a hybrid between a national military and a neo-feudal one, but not that unlike what happened in the Middle Ages (though the scale is much diffierent; most medieval monarchs are not going to have a household army rivalling the totality of their nobles). In Europe feudalism developed due to a combination of decentralized power, a need for local defense & leaders, as well as being wealthy in land but cash scarce. In the BT setting the decentralized power (due to distances) make the neo-feudalism necessary in order to have strong local leaders to keep order.

And this is where mercs come in, since landholders may not always be able to support the neccessary troops due to resource issued (like mechs), so they hire out mercs in order to make up the shortfall, fulfil obligations (i would assume in a setting of private mech ownership that the firstborn son goes off with his private mech to House regiments to gain experience while dad stays home & hires a merc or two to be able to fulfil their obligation to the overlord)...

Damon.

[glitterboy2098]

one thing to remember about landholders and nobles is that they are beholden to higher nobility, up to and including the First Prince/Coordinator/etc.
if a raid happens and a nobleman with mech forces or private forces does nothing while the raiders rampage, they will come under scrutiny by their superiors in the nobility.. and could come under censure.
remember that most of the nobility in the successor states control entire worlds.. even if they do not directly own every square mile, that world is their fief, and the local government operated under their command, nominally. (in practice most nobility would likely be absentee rulers letting the local governments handle the nitty-gritty of day to day management.) on worlds where there are multiple nobles, there would generally be some sort of pecking order based on rank, holdings, or whatever the govern who has the primary power, and thus the main obligations to the worlds defense.

a Nobleman that sat back and did nothing might get away with it only if there was another force on the world not under their control that should have handled it. if said nobleman was the primary noble for the world, and did nothing, he'd be in serious trouble with his peers. would this prevent the noble from letting raiders hurt a rival on world? no. but it means it wouldn't be a case of "sitting in his mansion and watching", it would be a case of "deploy my company to defend these vital sites", and leaving his rivals holdings to their own defenses. then afterwards they can claim it was the rivals fault, for leaving the raided sites less defended.

it is also worth noting that as the nobles generally control entire worlds as their Fief, it would generally be those nobles hiring the mercenary units for the defense of the world, not the planetary government. the Noble has the authority and the funds, after all. many would likely rely on mercenaries for that job than their own "house troops", because of the relative disposable nature of of mercs. mercs are also something that you only need to support while you have them.. if you build up a personal army, and the regional tensions change reducing the risk to your world.. well that is a lot of money you are now wasting. but with mercs you just let their contract run out and then not renew.



as far as "most new merc units fail".. makes sense to me. generally new merc units are small affairs, and shoestring budgets. if you have a lance of mechs, you can't really demand high pay on the safe missions like garrison. which makes it really hard to stay solvent financially. the high pay jobs that can keep you on top of your bills are going to be the high risk jobs like raids, which carry a very good chance that your force will take damage or losses, which mean you have to pay for repairs or hiring replacements.. a string of good raids can put you in the black, but one bad raid and you could end up not only so far in the red you can't easily recover, but also so reduced in strength that you can't get new contracts. which would basically mean the unit dissolves and its members go off to join other units, the property of the unit itself auctioned off to pay the debts.. likely to the next up and coming merc unit.
this would only get worse during the 3050's.. because the starting level wouldn't be much different.. ex soldiers with beat up introtech or early newtech mechs looking for work.. but the jobs that pay would be garrison along the clan front or raids on clan held worlds.. both of which would be very high risk. and the higher costs of the increasingly advanced technology required to be effective would put most of the super-safe garrison contracts away from the clan front too low-return. the bubble in mercs coming out of that time would be purely because there would be so many more ex-soldiers leaving service having fought the clans.. and there were a lot more mechs around for sale because of the tech recovery increasing production, and successor states getting rid of their older, more beat up hardware in favor of new builds and new technology versions.
add in the Wolfs Dragoons, Kell Hounds, and Eridani lighthorse, who sponsored a lot of smaller merc units as part of anti-clan efforts, and the Fedcom and Combine recruiting a lot of smaller units at favorable rates for deceptively high risk missions (like The Combine and Wolcott) and i could see a bubble.. for a brief time becoming a mercenary would be not only easier, but seemingly more profitable.. most of the units would still fail.. not because they went broke and dissolved.. but because they zigged when they should have zagged and became scrap under clan guns. something that would not be as obvious to wannabe mercs coming into the industry.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

one thing to remember about landholders and nobles is that they are beholden to higher nobility, up to and including the First Prince/Coordinator/etc.
if a raid happens and a nobleman with mech forces or private forces does nothing while the raiders rampage, they will come under scrutiny by their superiors in the nobility.. and could come under censure.
remember that most of the nobility in the successor states control entire worlds.. even if they do not directly own every square mile, that world is their fief, and the local government operated under their command, nominally. (in practice most nobility would likely be absentee rulers letting the local governments handle the nitty-gritty of day to day management.) on worlds where there are multiple nobles, there would generally be some sort of pecking order based on rank, holdings, or whatever the govern who has the primary power, and thus the main obligations to the worlds defense.

a Nobleman that sat back and did nothing might get away with it only if there was another force on the world not under their control that should have handled it. if said nobleman was the primary noble for the world, and did nothing, he'd be in serious trouble with his peers. would this prevent the noble from letting raiders hurt a rival on world? no. but it means it wouldn't be a case of "sitting in his mansion and watching", it would be a case of "deploy my company to defend these vital sites", and leaving his rivals holdings to their own defenses. then afterwards they can claim it was the rivals fault, for leaving the raided sites less defended.

it is also worth noting that as the nobles generally control entire worlds as their Fief, it would generally be those nobles hiring the mercenary units for the defense of the world, not the planetary government. the Noble has the authority and the funds, after all. many would likely rely on mercenaries for that job than their own "house troops", because of the relative disposable nature of of mercs. mercs are also something that you only need to support while you have them.. if you build up a personal army, and the regional tensions change reducing the risk to your world.. well that is a lot of money you are now wasting. but with mercs you just let their contract run out and then not renew.

See, I don't think this is actually correct.

Most nobles' fief is an entire world:  Going all the way back to 1st ed Mechwarrior, fiefs of scales much smaller than an entire planet are discussed.  In the current edition (ATOW) the level of the noble title and the size of the fief are technically unrelated to each other (probably for ease of play), but still fiefs as small as 2 square km are possible.  Most nobles are going to be of less than Ducal rank, and most fiefs are going to be smaller than an entire planet.  This bears out logically... if a Duke starts with an entire colony planet as his fief, he grants underlings their own fiefs from his own holdings and over a thousand years of inhabitation a world's political map ends up looking like a global HRE.

Collectivized Planetary defense is all the petty nobles' responsibility:  There's already two entities doing this.  First is the Great House army garrison commander.  Even if according to the relevant sourcebook governing troop deployments for the planet in the given era there is no House mech force present, there still is/could be a conventional forces garrison in charge of global defense.  Even if there is no mech or conventional Great House Army garrison on world, there's probably a planetary militia under command of the Duke or equivalent authority.  If both of these are absent, the world is probably so underdeveloped that it hasn't had a history that left a mess of petty fiefdoms on world anyway to have a discussion about whether or not they'd cooperate for defense.

Peer shaming of a Noble who didn't send his personal army to help in a crisis onworld but outside his own fiefdom:  Nope, don't see it.  Private armies jumping fiefdom borders on the pretext of "helping our neighbors" is too easy an excuse for outright invasion.  Smart petty nobles aren't going to invite the armed forces loyal to their political rivals/enemies in.  Hey Count Snootyface, mind if you send troops to protect my valuable asset to help me out here?  Pinky swear you won't just occupy it yourself and make a fait accompli claim on it!   Of course that's also before factoring mercs... if its not in their contract to be roving troubleshooters across the entire planet every time there's a crisis they won't be doing it.  If their contract is to protect the Winter Palace and the Count's Bouncy Bubble Beverage factory, then that's all they're going to be protecting.  They're not gonna agree to contractual terms that involve defending the entire world unless they're being paid to defend the entire world.

[Kidd]

Personally I can't accept the theory that there are more or even an equal number of Mechs and forces in private hands as there are in Govt hands, and they just step aside when wars come to their planets. It flies in the face of all other canon evidence and noncanon reasoning just to force-fit an answer to the question of reduced army sizes.

@Garrand - subinfeudation at least down to the planetary leader level is quite obviously the model used in Battletech, with varying degrees of loyalty to the lord paramount. The House Handbooks have examples of minor houses being awarded fiefs of factories, mining operations, asteroid belts, etc and the titles given to them as well.

@TDC - You ask why can't these other landholders just step aside and ignore a summons to help? They can't as they would be ostracised and probably stripped of their holdings immediately once the crisis is over. When the banners are called, you come - that's the deal. In a feudal or neo-feudal setting, this would be explicitly spelled out in a contract. IRL, it is merely implied in what is called a "social contract"... but it is still present. A close parallel would be political parties - if you are a Senator or MP or key Party head, on essential issues you do not vote against your Party. Go against your lord and you are stripped of your title - as Benito Mussolini was.

There is a confusion here with linking "feudalism" and "nobility" with mental images of knights in armour, and dukes and barons and so on. Actually, feudalism is (1 of) the roots of modern law and society. We still use some of the terminology of feudalism today. The simplest example is rent - you, the landlord, owns a freehold apartment. You let out the apartment to a tenant, who pays you rent and possibly maintenance. You in your turn pay the Government quit-rent. Your tenant might sub-let a room to another person - that is closely related to subinfeudation.

What's missing in the modern contract is that your tenant doesn't owe you fealty, and is not obligated to come to your aid when you call your banners ::) nor in your turn are you contractually obligated to do knight-service* in person to the US Army and raise a minimum of ONE (1) M1A2 Abrams tank, ONE (1) F-15 Eagle, and ONE (1) Company of M-16 Riflemen from your tenants, funded by your incomes... that went out with the introduction of scutage meaning the Government uses your tax-money to buy, recruit and train soldiers, instead of you having to be in the US Army yourself, and training in your own time to operate said Abrams tank.

But that is where Battletech reverts back a little to feudalism. As a planetary governor you are a Baron and preside over your planet. Your sons are probably Viscounts and have independent incomes from factories, farmland and mines - think trust fund babies :D But part of your contract to House Davion, implicit or explicit, includes the requirement that you have to hold on to your planet for Davion. (Otherwise he'll find a smarter baron to do it.) So you set aside part of the budget to raise a militia - and because you're smart, you put money into raising household troops too. Additionally, you send your young Viscounts to NAMA Academy where they'll train as Mechwarriors but more importantly, hobnob with Davion's kids and the other Viscounts and Viscountesses, where they'll find favour and contacts and perhaps rich mates - bit like the Ivy League, or so I hear - and you can point to them and tell Davion "Myself and my kids are Mechwarriors with our own Mechs. I hear your Davion Brigade of Guards is short on both. Why not take them on, as a personal favour from me... and by the way, did I mention my planet is opening a new iridium mine and we need export contracts?" Hint hint, nudge nudge.

And to connect all this to the topic - if you're especially savvy, you'll send word to Outreach that you wouldn't mind devoting a little more spare change than usual to hire an extra lance of Mechs as a little surprise, cause something tells you you haven't been raided in a while...

*sadly we are merely called conscripts these days :D

[Tai Dai Cultist]

@TDC - You ask why can't these other landholders just step aside and ignore a summons to help? They can't as they would be ostracised and probably stripped of their holdings immediately once the crisis is over. When the banners are called, you come - that's the deal. In a feudal or neo-feudal setting, this would be explicitly spelled out in a contract. IRL, it is merely implied in what is called a "social contract"... but it is still present. A close parallel would be political parties - if you are a Senator or MP or key Party head, on essential issues you do not vote against your Party. Go against your lord and you are stripped of your title - as Benito Mussolini was.

Pedantic but I feel relevant quibble:  I was saying there would never *be* a call to ignore, not that there'd be no consequences for ignoring it.  Your neighbors aren't going to ask you for help, because if they do you just grab whatever it is they ask you to help defend.  When they cry foul you just appeal to the Ducal or higher authority: "Hey, they *asked* me to take care of it for them.  Since they can't defend it, the best way I can take care of it is to do so on a permanent basis.  *I* can defend it."  And remember, possession is 9/10ths of the law.  Once you grab it, it's basically yours.

But again, even if there were such a call, with respect to mercenaries:  How you gonna force them to do what's not in their contract?

[Colt Ward]

To get back to the OP's question . . .

The mercenary trade has never really gone out of style.  In fact its in use by first world powers today- it just uses a different PR name.  To understand how/why it gets used in the Inner Sphere no matter the time period just look at Blackwater- or whatever they are calling themselves today.

Just as an example . . .

They build their own mil-spec armored vehicle called the Grizzly (look it up, sort of interesting) with various parts subcontracted out.  They claimed to be able to be able to produce a vehicle a day from their plant but have not done so (may not have spent enough on lobbyists) due to not winning the MRAP II contract.  They own several different training grounds in various locations which are thousands of acres, had several support operations at different airports and own their own fleet of transports to include a 767 and at one time had tens of thousands up to possibly a hundred thousand contractors in Iraq for protective details.  All during a period of low intensity war conducted by a collection of 1st world powers, and they were not the only private military contractor in operation at the time- in fact most you did not hear about until something bad happened and it hit the news (see Benghazi).

Compare that to a BT merc unit that had over 5 regiments, their own factory to produce mil spec equipment, have a continent for their own training grounds and owned their own fleet of transports . . .

Mercs (or private military contractors) are groups hired to take on missions either deemed to dirty for national forces- even black ops- to take on (hello plausible deniability).  In addition, mercenary casualties are not something that make headlines like it does for national forces and so its a better 'PR' solution . . . especially since all that changes is what type of uniform they wear since a lot of the PMC's recruits are troops who had experience in operations or the war zone.  This lets the parent country who hires their own PMCs know the quality & training of the troops.  Speaking of casualties it also gets the hiring country out of paying out death benefits, post tour medical costs, medical separation, medical retirement and survivor benefits/support which are very large, very long term.  Corporal Snuffy got married 3 months before shipping out.  Corporal Snuffy was unfortunately close to a device that went BANG.  Now his service is required by contract to pay a stipend to his newborn daughter for the next 18 years, longer if she goes to college and will be subsidizing that cost as well- also be sure to tack in the lifetime stipend to the widow.  Compare that to a PMC . . . unfortunately Tech Joe, we are unable to find a insurance carrier who will cover you with a hostage or KIA policy while you are on contract in Sandy Hellhole, Overthere so you will need to find your own carrier to purchase a hostage policy and warzone D&D policy on your dime.  I knew both the former and the later example.

Keep in mind that its not a recent phenomenon either- Africa, South America and SE Asia were all places that small time mercenary companies operated in.  Sometimes the big boys of the era would play as well, sometimes at the behest of one of the world powers (hello again my friend, plausible deniability) to give support to someone friendly to the world power.  Africa in particular is a hotbed for this as you have a lot of balkanization of the population & weak central power along with a lot of money in certain places due to natural resources that get fought over.

This happened in the Cold War, under the radar for most b/c the focus was on NATO vs Warsaw Pact staring at each other across nuclear missiles.  It happened before . . . during the 1860s in Mexico with French troops supporting the Emperor, it happened in the Revolutionary War with the Hessians and individuals like Pulaski who trained & fought with Continentals.

So how does it work?  Just like it does now, where political powers would rather pay a monetary price than a PR/image price that would be extracted by national forces doing the same things.  Its a short cut that becomes a easy road to travel.

[Kidd]

Pedantic but I feel relevant quibble:  I was saying there would never *be* a call to ignore, not that there'd be no consequences for ignoring it.  Your neighbors aren't going to ask you for help, because if they do you just grab whatever it is they ask you to help defend.  When they cry foul you just appeal to the Ducal or higher authority: "Hey, they *asked* me to take care of it for them.  Since they can't defend it, the best way I can take care of it is to do so on a permanent basis.  *I* can defend it."  And remember, possession is 9/10ths of the law.  Once you grab it, it's basically yours.

Until the planetary lord says "Nothing doing", makes you give it back, and strips you of your possessions too for being a bad tenant. Ever seen someone try to stab a colleague's back in the office this way? Unless the stabber has the patronage of the boss, it doesn't work out this way.

In fact this was the reasoning used by many of the Dark Age subfactions to take over planets away from the Republic. The only reason it worked was that the Republic was too weak to fight against them.

But again, even if there were such a call, with respect to mercenaries:  How you gonna force them to do what's not in their contract?

I think this has come up in BT fiction before actually. And the answer is: you do it or face 1 of 2 outcomes: 1) the defenders win and you're given the boot for not helping, or 2) the attackers win and you either negotiate a new contract with them successfully on the spot, or you die. Trying to play both ends against the middle is a good way to get killed by both sides.

If it sounds a bum deal for mercs that's because it is. Its also a good reason for mercs not to sign contracts like that.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Until the planetary lord says "Nothing doing", makes you give it back, and strips you of your possessions too for being a bad tenant. Ever seen someone try to stab a colleague's back in the office this way? Unless the stabber has the patronage of the boss, it doesn't work out this way.

There's no guarantee of such justice actually happening though.  So long as the land-grabber plays "by the rules" and doesn't do scorched earth/collateral damage, it's easier to just chide the idiot side that lost the valuable resource.  They'll know better next time.  So long as the valuable resource keeps churning out whatever makes it valuable, it literally doesn't matter which petty noble "owns" it.  Sure, some nobles might have the favor of the Duke/Administrator.  Those especially are the ones you don't invite into your fief, since the Duke/Administrator is bound to side with them rather than generally not care.

...the answer is: you do it or face 1 of 2 outcomes: 1) the defenders win and you're given the boot for not helping, or 2) the attackers win and you either negotiate a new contract with them successfully on the spot, or you die. Trying to play both ends against the middle is a good way to get killed by both sides.

If it sounds a bum deal for mercs that's because it is. Its also a good reason for mercs not to sign contracts like that.

Mercs are professionals.  They have nothing to fear from enemy forces they're not contracted to fight.  Only the most unbelievably incompetent of invaders would pick a fight with mercs who aren't contracted to fight them.  Likewise a defending planetary authority has enough to worry about in raiders/invaders rather than making more enemies out of the mercs onworld who's contracts don't say they have to fight this particular fight.

Rasalhague's factional hatred of mercenaries is this exact thing.  Mercs cited their contracts not covering this engagement or that one, and the local yokels got all upset about mercs not getting into fights they weren't contracted for.  After you throw back the pirates/raiders/invaders without their noncontracted help you can try taking it out on the mercs afterwards, but ComStar's got their back (so long as the contract was bonded thru them).   

We're probably arguing over pedantics anyway.  If you're in charge of the planet's defense and you feel you absolutely need the mercs in the employ of some petty noble(s), rather than pulling the "do it my way or else" card you just make it worth the petty noble(s)' while to help the planetary defense.  You don't flat out order them to commit troops because you don't have a way to MAKE them do it, especially not with hostiles inbound.  You give them incentives.  You recognize some grievance.  You expand their fief.  You literally pay them to sign a new short term contract with their mercs to cover the upcoming campaign.  Hell, you might even play the "do it or you'll be sorry afterwards" card if that's all you have.  But you don't have a way to MAKE them do it... coercion by either soft or hard tactics is what's *required*.


New topic so the differences in pov on the nature of petty nobility doesn't derail the thread about mercs:
Mercenary trade in 3145+.

I suspect we're seeing mercs being written out of the game, which is a shame as they've been a core part of it for so long.  The Dark Age doesn't have HPG nets OR a currency accepted across the Inner Sphere.  That means no regular contact with Hiring Halls, which means mercs are begging for work when a contract ends.  Without currency that can be spent anywhere, they're stuck accepting House Bills that are useless except as fire-lighters if they relocate.  If the Clans conquer the Inner Sphere (as is possible, given we have an IlClan coming) there won't be any room for mercs anyway.

[massey]

The merc trade prospers in Battletech because you never know when you need extra troops who are just loyal to you.

--Local politics got you down?  Your cousin Rufus trying to make the claim that he should be the Viscount of Dirtball VII?  Not sure how many of your "trusted" men are maybe loyal to him?  Hire some mercs.  They don't care about your fights over inheritance.  You know you can trust them, because they don't care about your planet.

--Need to wipe out some "freedom fighters" that are being a pain in your ass?  But some segment of the population is kinda sorta supportive of them?  You can't prove it, but you think maybe your own forces sometimes look the other way sometimes?  Hire some mercs.  Find the right ones, and they'll burn down a few towns without blinking.  Then you can blame everything on them, kick them out, and not take the heat for what they did.

--Did you piss away the money that was supposed to go towards keeping your planetary defense forces strong?  Yeah that new palace is nice, but now there's hostility on the border, and weren't you supposed to have 2 full mech battalions and you only have 2 companies?  Maybe it's time to hire some mercs.  They're expensive, but they'll fill in for the forces that you were supposed to have (were obligated to have to protect your landholdings).



Merc units survive because they find a niche.

Some of the big companies effectively become semi-independent House units.  You get a long-term contract with a Great House, they treat you right, and they know you're not gonna run off and sign with the other side at the drop of a hat.  Some of your officers get minor titles and landholdings, and while the unit is technically a free agent, realistically everybody knows who you are going to be working for even 20 years from now.  You got it too good to leave.

Small units can specialize and do only one thing.  Lenny's Lancers are a company of bug mechs who function as scouts and raiders.  If you want to hire somebody to race into an enemy city and steal something from a factory, or to hit an ammo dump, these are your guys.  Just know that they're never gonna engage in real combat and they won't stick around if things go bad.  They're good enough that they'll bail on a contract if they think they've been lied to, and they'll count on their rep to get new jobs.

Other units try to diversify.  You have a windfall after a particularly successful mission, so you buy a security company and hire out private cops for corporate clients.  You've got a regiment of infantry forces who never leave the planet, never engage in real combat, and who get paid very well to guard executives and rough up hippies who protest outside toxic waste-spewing factories.  Even after you leave the planet to go on another contract, you keep the security company and it's another source of income for you.  Over the years, you develop a lot of ways to make money that supplement your "real job" of being a merc battlemech unit.