Author Topic: Mercenary Hall (Read 204109 times)

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1140 on:** 17 March 2019, 12:28:48 »

I know the Carlyle's Commando's Lance on Trellwan was a Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk and two Wasp's but did we ever find out what the other two Lance's mech composition was?

Deadborder · « **Reply #1141 on:** 19 March 2019, 05:19:34 »

Never. It shall remain a mystery for all time

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1142 on:** 04 April 2019, 12:12:35 »

Anyone have a list of operating Merc Hiring Halls in 3131? 3133? 3145?

3131
Galatea
Solaris VII
Arc Royal
Nosiel
Herotitus
Kendall (FWL)- IMO only since that was home to the Protectors, has training grounds, and factories
Khartoum ('67?)- Minor trade center that also services merc trade, likely LC periphery mercs

3133
Galatea
Solaris VII
Arc Royal
Nosiel
Herotitus
Outreach
Ruchbah ('35)
Towne ('35)
Baxter? ('37?)
Kendall (FWL)- IMO only since that was home to the Protectors, has training grounds, and factories
Khartoum ('67?)- Minor trade center that also services merc trade, likely LC periphery mercs

3145
Galatea
Arc Royal (shortly to be shut down by JF)
Nosiel
Herotitus
Ruchbah ('35)
Towne ('35)
Baxter? ('37?)
Kendall (FWL)- IMO only since that was home to the Protectors, has training grounds, and factories
Khartoum ('67?)- Minor trade center that also services merc trade, likely LC periphery mercs

3145 Questionable
Solaris VII- Wolf empire took over, gladiators & trade status unknown
Outreach- Behind Fortress Wall

Missing worlds
Astrokasy- Became part of FWL proto-state in 3080s?
Northwind- post-Jihad Northwind becomes pro-Republic, Highlanders dissolve
Westerhand- In FM Merc Sup 1, not sure if it kept in merc trade in Jihad or during Dark Ages as Daoshen divested of mercs
Fletcher- Not a MRBC hiring hall- only one b/c of Chaos March lawlessness, became part of Republic
Antallos- Pirate world, Snow Ravens cleaned up around Jihad . . . may have restarted as some point

With the fluff we get about the Fronc area and offering land for mercs in the '80s, would that become a merc center?

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1143 on:** 07 April 2019, 00:30:59 »

Also found that going into the 4SW and War of 3039, the FedSuns world of Le Blanc was trying to set themselves up as a rival to Galatea per the Heir to the Dragon novel. Not sure it gets mentioned anywhere else.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1144 on:** 07 April 2019, 00:33:30 »

New topic . . . arrive on Galatea late 3133 or early 3134 and what could a merc command expect in the way of recruits for mechs, armor & BA?

I am thinking its going to be a LOT of wannabes (which Patriot's Stand seems to point out) while anyone who is a independent warrior with a piece of gear that was well kept and/or modern will be able to name their price.

Deadborder · « **Reply #1145 on:** 07 April 2019, 19:34:18 »

At that point, not much.

The Merc Trade was still recovering from the Republic's deliberate efforts to strangle it for the last four decades. There's not going to be a large pool of talented crews available at this point; rather, you;d have a lot of wannabes, reservists, adventurers, opportunists and the like. The MechWarrior pool is going to be especially poor given the efforts to get BattleMechs out of the hands of private citizens. I'd expect a lot of IndustrialMech pilots who are shooting high over actual trained MechWarriors.

Likewise, the state of equipment is going to be poor. Expect to see a lot of second-rate stuff while production is ramping up again. There are going to be a lot of Industrial MODs floating around as well.

Scotty · « **Reply #1146 on:** 07 April 2019, 20:04:16 »

Quote from: Deadborder on 07 April 2019, 19:34:18

At that point, not much.

The Merc Trade was still recovering from the Republic's deliberate efforts to strangle it for the last four decades. There's not going to be a large pool of talented crews available at this point; rather, you;d have a lot of wannabes, reservists, adventurers, opportunists and the like. The MechWarrior pool is going to be especially poor given the efforts to get BattleMechs out of the hands of private citizens. I'd expect a lot of IndustrialMech pilots who are shooting high over actual trained MechWarriors.

Likewise, the state of equipment is going to be poor. Expect to see a lot of second-rate stuff while production is ramping up again. There are going to be a lot of Industrial MODs floating around as well.

It depends a lot on which part of 3133. Early in the year, only a few months removed from Gray Monday the pool of trained MechWarriors is probably as shallow as a desert basin, but late 3133/the farther into the Blackout the timeline advances until probably 3140 at least the more likely you are to encounter RAF deserters as the standing guard disintegrates outside of Prefecture X and later the Fortress Republic.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1147 on:** 07 April 2019, 21:02:26 »

See I take the Juggernauts (Wolf Hunter novel? whatever one when Anastasia broke up the band) as a sort of example. They have equipment . . . most of what they have, if it was stock, would be great. They have a Sagittaire that suffered a tech downgrade akin to the Succession Wars . . . no XL, no TC and no Pulse IIRC. But that was the parts the owner could get to keep it a fighting machine on the market. Now this was mid-30s IIRC, and before CGL got to talking about how the merc trade was alive and well around the edges- just a trickle source or recruits from military turn over.

I was thinking '33 would see a lot of wannabes hitting Galatea and arms dealers offering IndiMechs with rusty old AC/5s. Arc Royal, Solaris VII, Nosiel and other places outside the Republic will probably have gear that more closely matches spec as well as a decent amount of trained individuals. Outreach, Towne, Ruchbah will suffer worse fates than Galatea.

Deadborder · « **Reply #1148 on:** 08 April 2019, 00:36:17 »

I figure by the time you get to the post-Fortress Republic period (late 3135), things have begun to change. By that point, production is ramping up due to a number of factors, and there are genuinely experienced soldiers coming out of the fighting in the Republic and elsewhere. On top of that, by then it had become clear that the Blackout was not a temporary situation and that the mechanisims that had kept large-scale conflict in check for the last fourty years were breaking down.

SCC · « **Reply #1149 on:** 12 May 2019, 05:31:38 »

Quote from: Deadborder on 08 April 2019, 00:36:17

I figure by the time you get to the post-Fortress Republic period (late 3135), things have begun to change. By that point, production is ramping up due to a number of factors, and there are genuinely experienced soldiers coming out of the fighting in the Republic and elsewhere. On top of that, by then it had become clear that the Blackout was not a temporary situation and that the mechanisims that had kept large-scale conflict in check for the last fourty years were breaking down.

I'd imagine that most, if not all, production would be going to state units, and that any 'Mechs that where making their way to Mercs where strictly CoD. Beyond that I can't imagine a lot of MW's being allowed to leave state service, and any leaving with 'Mechs probably won't be greeted warmly if they enter their former employers truff.

For hiring halls if I haven't said it before, I imagine that Hesperus II and especially Iran have a fair bit of below surface Merc trade going on, after all they'd need to keep lawyers on retainer to make sure they can still buy 'Mechs, and those lawyers need to know where the unit is at any given time.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1150 on:** 12 May 2019, 12:34:37 »

The Dark Ages is chaos b/c of the lack of communication though . . . think of all those mech plants that converted to Indis b/c of Stone that are in the Republic. Then you have the Foxes, the windfall/glut of used machines after the Nova Cats did their header, survivors/escapees of the Marik Stewart Commonwealth, exports from the Periphery, and even better the decommission lots Stone had around like the one the folks in Empires Aflame were headed for on Rigel Kentares. We know from Ghost War that the biggest one was on Terra and still had equipment stored in the boneyard- the RAF should have been arming out of those, BUT as the Republic got shaky I would expect some of the stories you hear about the fall of the Soviet Union regarding equipment sales. Unfortunately even the yard mentioned on Terra seems to have fallen through a plot-hole (the Steel Wolves should not have been able to really threaten all of Terra) but you have decades of clandestine sales and a few years of outright sales as a possibility.

You also had places like Arc Royal that sell to the mercenary trade, especially with a hiring hall on planet. The Dragoons had to be regularly taking shipments from the Foxes on planet (DA Shoguns) as well as their own factory on world.

Wrangler · « **Reply #1151 on:** 12 May 2019, 16:07:26 »

Question is where are mercenaries going now. Arc Royal has fallen to the Falcons, Galatea like been overrunned by 3150.

glitterboy2098 · « **Reply #1152 on:** 12 May 2019, 17:33:11 »

Quote from: Wrangler on 12 May 2019, 16:07:26

Question is where are mercenaries going now. Arc Royal has fallen to the Falcons, Galatea like been overrunned by 3150.

Sarna has a list of hiring halls, you might be able to cross reference those.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Hiring_Hall

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1153 on:** 12 May 2019, 22:00:39 »

I posted something a while back . . . and Galatea was still kicking in 3150 IIRC? The Crusaders Wolves were using the merc league as a training opportunity.

glitterboy2098 · « **Reply #1154 on:** 12 May 2019, 22:26:44 »

given the weakening of comstar pre-dark age, and the loss of communications, i suspect that you'd see a rise in regional Hiring Halls. so the fedsuns would have one primarily serving the fedsuns (with perhaps some representatives from friendly nations present), the CapCon would havre one serving primarily the capcon, etc.

you might also see some nations having multiple.. the fedsuns might have two, one near the combine front and one near the capcon front. communications are bad enough you'd probably need more proximity.

Wrangler · « **Reply #1155 on:** 13 May 2019, 06:56:12 »

Quote from: glitterboy2098 on 12 May 2019, 22:26:44

given the weakening of comstar pre-dark age, and the loss of communications, i suspect that you'd see a rise in regional Hiring Halls. so the fedsuns would have one primarily serving the fedsuns (with perhaps some representatives from friendly nations present), the CapCon would havre one serving primarily the capcon, etc.

you might also see some nations having multiple.. the fedsuns might have two, one near the combine front and one near the capcon front. communications are bad enough you'd probably need more proximity.

Has there been evidence of it? I read Shattered Fortress. don't recall there being mention of hiring halls more than more traditional ones. I guess that's more a Field Manual sort feed of info about stuff like that. I think its logical that there be more regional hiring halls. As i'm ware of, CapCon isn't really using Mercs that much, with their Westhands mercenary hall been closed last time i read it. I know from recent Novella on Conflict for New Syria that CapCons hired Mercs used by The FedSuns to try to head hunt Prince Julian.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1156 on:** 13 May 2019, 09:59:52 »

If you look at the 3rd post down on this page I presented a Dark Age list of Hiring Halls, both the ones in previous Merc SBs and what gets mentioned in fiction. Multiple hiring halls in a House is not a surprise- per sources in the 3060s the Lyran Commonwealth had 3 main hiring hall worlds and 2 secondary (Galatea, Solaris VII, Arc-Royal & Nosiel, Khartoum) while the Chaos March alone had 3 (Northwind, Outreach, Fletcher).

I think with the collapse of communication, its a buyer's market for mercs . . . its not like you can be contacted about jobs half the sphere away in a timely manner. Its a whole lot more iffy to travel to a hiring world, or one you have heard about, that is a distance away if you are trying to get away from the same employers you were dealing with in a area. Sort of like in HBS if you work along the FS/TC border you are likely to end up with missions from those two factions- so if you wanted FWL rep you had to travel to a different area . . . which works in a game, in BTU it would be a lot more risky.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1157 on:** 17 May 2019, 13:21:21 »

So when I was looking something up, and I will have to recheck FM Mercs Update, I stumbled across the portion where Captain Nicole Doles of Toledan Company deserted when the Blakists used nukes & orbital bombardment on Outreach. Her company followed, which would be a demi-company of C3i mechs (hey a Level II!) which are likely refit Star League designs and a demi-company of BA (hey, another Level II!) that was a mix of Raiden, Kanazuchi, and a single squad of Purifiers with transport.

Did they turn up elsewhere?

Wrangler · « **Reply #1158 on:** 17 May 2019, 14:52:05 »

Quote from: Colt Ward on 17 May 2019, 13:21:21

So when I was looking something up, and I will have to recheck FM Mercs Update, I stumbled across the portion where Captain Nicole Doles of Toledan Company deserted when the Blakists used nukes & orbital bombardment on Outreach. Her company followed, which would be a demi-company of C3i mechs (hey a Level II!) which are likely refit Star League designs and a demi-company of BA (hey, another Level II!) that was a mix of Raiden, Kanazuchi, and a single squad of Purifiers with transport.

Did they turn up elsewhere?

Not in the major Field Manuals. Usually Company size units aren't big enough to show in those books. If people widely knew they were part of a Blakist Merc unit, they usually end up on a black list to be hunted down and end up in Periphery or dead.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1159 on:** 17 May 2019, 15:12:01 »

Some did, some did not . . . some bits & pieces were given amnesty to become a new national unit. Heck, the Regulans (Blakist answer- nuke'em all) took in some League regulars and others to form 3 new regiments. Mostly I did not get a lot of the Jihad stuff as it came out, so I was wondering if they were referred to anywhere else in Jihad material since they walked in . . '69?

Wrangler · « **Reply #1160 on:** 17 May 2019, 22:46:45 »

Quote from: Colt Ward on 17 May 2019, 15:12:01

Some did, some did not . . . some bits & pieces were given amnesty to become a new national unit. Heck, the Regulans (Blakist answer- nuke'em all) took in some League regulars and others to form 3 new regiments. Mostly I did not get a lot of the Jihad stuff as it came out, so I was wondering if they were referred to anywhere else in Jihad material since they walked in . . '69?

They could have renamed themselves. Effectively, the Legion name was tarnished. We will likely never know unless they pop up in a supporting book between Jihad and Dark Age, like the Operational Turning Points or in Historical books like Wars of the Republic Era.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1161 on:** 18 May 2019, 00:30:39 »

again, that is why I was checking since bits and pieces of other units surfaced- I just wanted to make sure I did not miss a reference somewhere.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #1162 on:** 19 May 2020, 09:49:42 »

The Dragoons have made a splash with the latest novel . . . which builds on the Redemption story re-released earlier.

The take-away to me is . . . Redemption has the Dragoons building more Striker battalions rather than re-building the Regiments. Gamma was the only full regiment at that time, Alpha was a training command? Beta & Delta were fragments IIRC, no Epsilon or Zeta Battalion. Strikers were Black Widows, Spider's Web and I cannot remember what the next one being built was in the story. Gamma took significant losses during the Rift campaign.

TRO3145/50 gives a bit of a clue about them rebuilding, the Dragoons really like IIRC one hovertank they could get from the Dracs and enthusiastically adopted it while getting the Foxes to build them Shoguns with IS tech and special Shogun Cs.

The new story implies the regiments are somewhat rebuilt- Beta has a battalion on garrison with Gamma. And one of the way is that they absorbed some commands. Major/LtCol Skott Whyte commanded a merc group called the 'Whiplashes' that was absorbed in and does not mention him working his way up the Dragoon ranks. He DOES seem to be sort of indoctrinated by the Dragoons though still thinks a legacy Dragoon is getting coddled instead of booted.

Not finished with the story, but while the Dragoons keep up the practice of adopting war orphans it implies the breeding program has lapsed- it should have been a big source of their manpower after they spent 40-60 years based on Arc Royal. Its not like when they set it up the first time- the Warden Wolves were there with the tech and the Foxes could have sold them equipment easier than what it took to build it in the 3030s.

Not finished with the story yet, but it is interesting.

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1163 on:** 05 December 2020, 04:53:35 »

Has anyone gone through the rec guides to see what mechs are for sale to the likes of us?

Looking at the newest one i'm guessing we have access to the Valkyrie and the Shadow Cat says its popular with mercs.

Decoy · « **Reply #1164 on:** 05 December 2020, 11:20:28 »

The MUL gives us the BLR-6G and 6C, the Awesome, the WSP-5A, the Black Jack, The OST-12R Ostcout, the Warhammer IIC 2 and the BSW-X4 Bushwhacker. I wouldn't fight too hard over anything on the General list tbh.

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1165 on:** 05 December 2020, 13:18:22 »

Quote from: Decoy on 05 December 2020, 11:20:28

The MUL gives us the BLR-6G and 6C, the Awesome, the WSP-5A, the Black Jack, The OST-12R Ostcout, the Warhammer IIC 2 and the BSW-X4 Bushwhacker. I wouldn't fight too hard over anything on the General list tbh.

It's always seemed odd to me that merc's don't get the mechs on the IS General list, I see they've updated the MUL today with rec guides V and VI, looks like we get lots of Marauders.

truetanker · « **Reply #1166 on:** 05 December 2020, 13:38:00 »

Yea, more MAD!

Some -S and -D models with a few -M thrown in...

TT

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1167 on:** 05 December 2020, 14:27:57 »

Okay as I have a bit of time this evening so have gone through the different guides and list everything the MUL has for us.

Vol. 1 - Nothing. :( Bit surprised by that to be honest thought we'd get a Griffin or maybe the Loki.
Vol. 2 - Ostscout-12R, Bushwacker-X4.
Vol. 3 - Battlemaster-6C and -6G.
Vol. 4 - Wasp-5A, Blackjack-5, Trebuchet-9N, Awesome-11H, Warhammer IIC 2.
Vol. 5 - Mad Cat, Marauder II-6A, Marauder II-6C.
Vol. 6 - Cataphract-5L, Marauder-11D, -2T, -7C, -7M, -7R and -7S.

As the other volumes get added to the MUL i'll list them up as well to see how we do.

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1168 on:** 21 February 2021, 15:34:06 »

Okay so current timeline availability for Mercenaries:-

Vol 1 - Griffin-1DS/-2N/-3M
Vol 2 - Ostscout-12R, Bushwacker-X4
Vol 3 - Puma (WD only), Battlemaster-3M/-6C/-6G
Vol 4 - Wasp-4W (WD only)/-5A, Blackjack-5, Trebuchet-9N, Awesome-11H, Warhammer IIC 2
Vol 5 - Mad Cat, Marauder II-5C (WD Only)/-6A/-6C
Vol 6 - Linebacker (KH Only), Cataphract-5L, Marauder-11D/-2T/-5D/-5M/-5S/-5C/-7M/-7R/-7S
Vol 7 - Koshi, Vixen/2/3/7/8, Ryoken, Warhammer C 2/C 3 (WD Only)/-10K/-7A/-7M/-7S/-8R/-9K
Vol 8 - Dasher, Rifleman C 3/-5D/-5M/-7N/-7N2
Vol 9 - Valkyrie C/-QD/-QD6/-QDD, Shadow Cat
Vol 10 - Hermit Crab-13/-14/-15, Mongoose-96, Archer Wolf (KH & WD Only)/-2Rb/-4M/-4M2/-5R/-5W, Highlander-740
Vol 11 - Uller, Phoenix Hawk-2K/-3M/-4M/-9
Vol 12 - Shadow Hawk-2Hb/-5M/-5R/-5S/-7H, Black Knight-18KNT
Vol 13 - Piranha 5, Stinger-3Gb/-4G/-5M/-6G/-6M/-6R, Supernova 5

Rainbow 6 · « **Reply #1169 on:** 16 April 2021, 16:19:24 »

Well we got access to a lot of Stinger models and the Piranha 5, but the pick of the latest rec guide has to be the Supernova 5.