Mercenary Hall

[ArkRoyalRavager]

That's true. The Bears have already mentioned that they will at first pay lip service to who ever becomes ilclan while waiting to see what the real deal is. By potential enemy, I meant that even a rudimentary alliance between the Wolves and Bears could make the Horses wary of what actions they take in the Falcon OZ.

A lesser factor compared the Combine for who, the Wolves or the Bears? We know Alaric has mention wanting to punish the Combine for the destruction of the Nova Cats, but the Wolves are in no condition to do that. I'm not well versed in Dark Age events, but so far I haven't seen any indication the Combine would invade the Dominion or vice versa.

I think a lot of us, including myself, believe the hammer is going to drop on the Combine. We just don't know the how or whom.

Aha! That's just the thing. They took almost everything. They didn't take their sohalma troops. The reason I say the Falcon OZ isn't toothless is because BLP is writing a novel set in the Falcon OZ about the sohalma left behind.

BLP has mentioned in a interview that he doesn't like how solahma are utilize by the clans. He has stated that he believes that warriors who survive to be sohalma should a clan's best warriors. BLP has at times in the past been a bias and opinionated writer. I do not believe he would allow the Jade Falcon solahma to go quietly into the night. I expect them to give anybody that comes into the Falcon OZ a run for their money, no matter how improbable their resistance may be.

As Kerfuffin mentioned, the Bears and Combine will have reason to fight. The other issue is the Combine always openly proclaims claiming the First Lordship and is fundamentally opposed to Alaric. They have never dropped their claim since 2787.

Any rudimentary alliance between the Wolves and Bears are realistically directed against the Combine because the Wolves are too far away from the Horses to do anything.

What about those solahma? The example in HoTW shows the Horses fought 2 solahma warriors on a single world, who are likely to use older machines and permanently stranded on their garrison worlds. Military resistance is hardly there. The recently-Lyran worlds that the Falcons conquered on the other hand, those would offer a lot of resistance due to smuggled arms and Lyran patriotism. The Horses should be able to claim the majority of Falcon worlds and either stop or continue on poorly-defended Lyran worlds. They are the counterweight to the Lyrans like the Bears and Ravens "containing" Kurita.

[Dennis A. Kojima]

Everyone, thank you for the opportunity to join up here.  As a total newcomer, I've been scanning through through the forum topics, and this one was the first to wholeheartedly catch my eye and attention.

When I first got into BattleTech the table-top game, in summer '87, I had (and still do, really) a tremendously negative approach toward mercenaries, and that attitude carried over into this game.  My personal opinion is that mercenaries, as a growth profession, thrive in two main circumstances: the first, during the time of a nation-state's formation, when there is not the financial capital, infrastructure, material capital resources (e.g., weapons manufacturing) or raw population numbers to sustain a prolonged conflict.  Thus, mercenaries are hired to fill in the empty military spots, and told that, as payment, they can pretty much take as much booty as they want and perhaps even earn a permanent property reward at the (hopefully successful) conclusion.

The second is during a nation-state's decline: bureaucracy, by this time, has become so overloaded with career-builders, incompetents, me-me-me cyclops and sociopathic back-stabbers (see the end of the Roman Republic as an example) that mercenaries are hired to do the things that the nation-state's regular military are not, by national and military law, allowed to do.  This so that the national-cannibal types listed above can score some kind of quick "victory" that they can crow about to the citizenry (who are often so consumed with self-satisfaction or a daily battle for sustenance and survival that they simply don't care how such things are achieved) without criticism, and perhaps plant the seeds and traps that will lead to crippling rivals/competitors/targets of opportunity.  A perfect example of this were the (fill in expletive here) Blackwater operatives in Iraq back in '04: they couldn't be charged with breaking U.S. criminal law in another country; yet at the same time, as U.S. operatives, they were immune to prosecution under any other country's laws.

Apologies for going into such depths with that, but my point being that the Inner Sphere in 3025 is well into the second-example phase - and it was this consideration that led to a change of opinion on the whole mercenaries-as-story concept.  No, I don't think that a thriving mercenary economy is a healthy thing in real life, but it can definitely lead to some great game-playing scenarios, especially in a 3025 BattleTech world.  As we move slowly out of our current keep-it-virtual communication norm, I'm looking forward to starting up a table-top tactical/RPG game where the guys can have a trio of characters each, be they MechWarriors, Techs or Scouts, assigned to different companies in a battalion-sized mercenary unit in the Aurigan Coalition, 3025.  I'm really looking forward to going through these forums and picking up points and material that will help to fill things out as we move forward.

Again, all greetings to the population here, and looking forward to being in contact soon.

[Scotty]

A question for those who might know: does the 11th Recon Battalion (ELH unit in Shrapnel #1 and presumably the one that had a bad day at Hesperus II) claim a parent formation, and if so which one?  I'm guessing 19th Cavalry based on the fact that remnants of that unit is what managed to evacuate Dieron with Hohiro Kurita, but I can't find any actual confirmation one way or another and sarna is a little bit light on details.

[Natasha Kerensky]

A question for those who might know: does the 11th Recon Battalion (ELH unit in Shrapnel #1 and presumably the one that had a bad day at Hesperus II) claim a parent formation, and if so which one?  I'm guessing 19th Cavalry based on the fact that remnants of that unit is what managed to evacuate Dieron with Hohiro Kurita, but I can't find any actual confirmation one way or another and sarna is a little bit light on details.

11th Recon is under the 71st Light Horse Regiment (along with 82nd Heavy Cav and 14 Recon).

[Scotty]

11th Recon is under the 71st Light Horse Regiment (along with 82nd Heavy Cav and 14 Recon).

Well that's irritating.  The 71st was the unit in the Homeworlds.  I guess this one stayed home for some reason.

[Nav_Alpha]

Well that's irritating.  The 71st was the unit in the Homeworlds.  I guess this one stayed home for some reason.

From reading the write up in Shrapnel i felt like the new 11th Recon was its own, new formation. Considering that when it formed, they were the only ELH troops remaining.
They might be spiritually a part of the 71st, but I’d say they’re independent.

[Scotty]

That's initially why I suspected it might be the 19th, since those were the only mentioned surviving units from the Jihad in the Sphere.  The ELH tends to put a little bit of a premium on the whole spiritual thing, though, and I don't think they'd reuse a battalion designation and a unit nickname lightly.  This was mostly to figure out what decals to use, so for those purposes I think 71st is probably the best bet.

[Natasha Kerensky]

That's initially why I suspected it might be the 19th, since those were the only mentioned surviving units from the Jihad in the Sphere.  The ELH tends to put a little bit of a premium on the whole spiritual thing, though, and I don't think they'd reuse a battalion designation and a unit nickname lightly.  This was mostly to figure out what decals to use, so for those purposes I think 71st is probably the best bet.

I should have said historically that the 11th Recon is part of the 71st Light Horse.  Dunno about present-day reformation.  Here’s the ELH wire diagrams from the old Merc’s Handbook:

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Eridani_Light_Horse#Organization_Structure

[Scotty]

Makes sense.  I'm planning on having the minis I'm painting work for Bulldog/Serpent and Dark Age/ilClan so 71st is probably the winner here either way.  Worst case I can say they're just pre-Republic and do a different set for later eras.

[Rainbow 6]

Thinking about it wasn't the 19th Cavalry only 2 Battalions strong when the Jihad kicked off?

If i'm right they could have, after rebuilding those two Battalions have chosen the 11th Recon as the next Battalion to re-form.

[Wrangler]

They were destroyed on Hesperus we're they? If there were any individual survivors from Clan assaults, they'd probably be handful of them remaining.

[Decoy]

They were burned and then destroyed on Hesperus. Merc community doesn't quite like the LC right now. Perhaps Trillian is rebuilding them to mollify the Merc community.

[Rainbow 6]

They were destroyed on Hesperus we're they? If there were any individual survivors from Clan assaults, they'd probably be handful of them remaining.

We'll find out what happened when the ELH story series gets to its final two parts, part 9 is about Hesperus and 10 at the start of the IlClan era.

[MyndkryM]

From Shrapnel #1

Despite mounting evidence that the Eleventh Recon Battalion
might be the only true heirs to the Eridani Light Horse legacy, the
courts still hold the majority of the ELH war chest in escrow,

My reading of this article suggests that other outfits are claiming the right of command/owenership/etc. I really enjoyed the article, and even had a brief email exchange with the author. But yes, the implication that there is more that one unit currently claiming to be the official ELH was intended, and at the same time being vague enough as to not define too much.

I'm looking forward to the remaining ELH Chronicles to see what they look like during the ilClan era.

So far it appears we have the 11th Recon, 71st Light Horse, ELH commanded by Major Amelia Donovan in employ with the FedSuns. The Lyrans had hired an ELH regiment (and did them dirty) commanded by LTG Wilfred Eichler to defend Hesperus in 3145. I'd suggest that "version" of the ELH was the 21st Striker, as an Eveline Eichler was it's commander back during the Second SLDF.

And we still have a open book on the 151st Light Horse and 19th Cavalry. I can see all of them currently as independent Battalions, all attempting to rebuild their regiments, and get access to those funds in escrow.

I've built out my ilClan era army for play...4th Striker Battalion (Trailblazers), 19th Cavalry, ELH  :)

[Wrangler]

Not liking how fragmented they are, but thems the breaks.

I do hope getting off the light horse talk, that 3151 will get a new Mercenary review book.  It's about time.

[Rainbow 6]

A new Mercenary book would be handy.

Quick question, how prevalent is/was C3 tech amongst mercenary units post jihad and other than the Cyclops and any omnis what other mechs do the mercenary community have easy access to?

[Colt Ward]

A new Mercenary book would be handy.

Quick question, how prevalent is/was C3 tech amongst mercenary units post jihad and other than the Cyclops and any omnis what other mechs do the mercenary community have easy access to?

I think you need to distinguish C3 and c3 . . . former the actual equipment, the latter the short hand for Communication/Command/Control.

For the latter . . . well, even going back to the late 3050s I think (FM:Merc[r] at least) we had the Heavy Hellraisers who are commanded by a non-mechwarrior, force structure set up on the fly and I think they said he commanded from a mobile HQ.

With MWDA we actually got dedicated HQ vehicles- Tribune, Praetorian, and others IIRC- besides the old 'take a APC and put Coms Equipment in' that was the earlier solution.  Since those vehicles came out they have appeared in fiction though I am not sure commonly among mercs.  Remember, 80-90% of mercs are budget/shoestring operations and would leave 'fancy' stuff like HQ vehicles to their employer.

While we get contracted salvage/tech services, do we even have any merc commands that offer supply & command support?

[Rainbow 6]

Ah, sorry, I see where I went wrong, I was on about the C3 network equipment.

[Colt Ward]

I think the answer is sort of in the RATs . . . A & B RATs have some C3 designs but those RATs are pre/early Jihad.  We do not really get that degree of detail after the Jihad but I think it holds.  After all it is the top tier merc units that will have the opportunity to invest in that sort of system.

I KNOW my B- 3060s mercs salvaged a Grasshopper 6K . . . and promptly removed the C3 slave during the salvage rebuild b/c they do not have any other C3 set up, so why leave the expensive equipment in the machine to get destroyed?  They were debating about selling it last I used the mercs- mostly b/c the CO & Admin were not wanting to invest in buying a C3M, the CO & Tech were not sure where it would go (CO's Battlemaster 1D mod still sporting MLs instead of ERMLs?  A heavy APC?) if they did buy a C3M, and finally none of the lances were really organized to take advantage of a C3 net . . . though a C3 company would work for their style, but that is a LOT bigger investment.

When they get the down time, the techs will eventually give that Grasshopper another medium laser of some sort . . . or there was discussion about a TAG.

So at last look, the C3 slave is sitting in the spare parts area of a dropship.

Other mercs have done the same thing . . . the Chaos Irregulars pulled the C3 slave out of the Thanatos they salvaged during their Engadine contract- for much the same reasons!  Unless I am the Dragoons, Hounds, ELH, or other flagships- I am pulling that C3 system.

[Rainbow 6]

Following on from our conversation about C3 slaves, i've done this with the Gladiator-5R that sparked my interest.

https://www.mordel.net/tro.php?a=vtbm&id=11585&fltr=ff.000.Designer~Equals~Rainbow%206~ff.000.Source~Equals~Custom%20Mordel.Net%20Units

Let me know what you think?

[Colt Ward]

Bit of a throw back topic but . . .

 . . . in the 3110s, as a merc, would you buy the Black Hawk 1/2/3 if one became available?

[Decoy]

Yes. No reason not to. I especially like the 3 and have copied its as a nova configuration.

[Rainbow 6]

Good to see from IlClan that the Lexington Combat Group has re-joined the ranks of active mercenary commands.

[Colt Ward]

ilClan has a section where it talks about a independent planet in formerly League space unable to find a replacement merc unit for garrison as the current garrison refused to extend the contract- a 10 year garrison contract!  How does a world seeking mercenary supplement to their garrison find mercs with the HPG net down and message routing spotty even if you look past the currency problem?  The merc worlds are distant and could be gone- Solaris VII belongs to the Wolves, Outreach never recovered & under Cappie rule I think, Northwind was behind the Wall, Arc Royal was taken by the Falcons, and the queen, Galatea, was the center of a defensive polity.  But all of those merc worlds are long distances away from most of the rest of the IS.  We get minor hiring worlds- Nosiel, and a few others, but they are localized to service border conflicts.

To me that is the rub . . . mercs are/were congregating to merchant worlds near the fighting front.  Rebel Knight Connor Monroe was hiring mercs off I think a FS world when he was trying to establish his little kingdom.  This seems to happen along the old League/Republic border too as evidenced in Wolf Hunters and other MWDA books & CGL's later source material.  But mercs who travel to those localized hubs are looking for combat contracts IMO . . . are long term 'safe' garrison/cadre contracts going away?

[Rainbow 6]

Whilst there is a lot of fighting going on like there is at the moment and there is little FTL comms then yeah, the mercenary commands will be moving to close to where the active fighting is to get combat assignments.

Once things calm down (and/or) the HPG net comes back up then garrison contracts will come back.

Just a though but if the IlClan led Star League comes about and if clan trial style combat becomes the norm then we'll see merc commands become suited for that.

[desaints]

A question for all you mercs out there: I want to start a new campaign where the PCs start with no heavy equipment (no Mechs, Aero, etc.). The plan is to have them "earn" the founding of their own merc company and to build it from ground up.

I've got plot points set up by I'm stumped on how to eventually have the PCs gain mechs. I don't want them to just stumble on some SLDF cache but something more "common". So I'd love you opinions: how would a merc earn their way/find a Mech if they didn't start with one?

[Decoy]

There were many battlefields across the Innersphere. and periphery. It is said that if one tries hard enough, one can pull together a Wasp on any world from such wrecks. Also, there are 'mechs in museums that may be in useable order. Perhaps a crashed Leopard with enough gubbins to make something interesting?

[desaints]

I like it! Pull a Locust or Wasp beat to hell out of a junk pit or old battlefield and have them work on restoring it. Thanks!

[CJC070]

A question for all you mercs out there: I want to start a new campaign where the PCs start with no heavy equipment (no Mechs, Aero, etc.). The plan is to have them "earn" the founding of their own merc company and to build it from ground up.

I've got plot points set up by I'm stumped on how to eventually have the PCs gain mechs. I don't want them to just stumble on some SLDF cache but something more "common". So I'd love you opinions: how would a merc earn their way/find a Mech if they didn't start with one?

The new Grey Death Legion got their new mechs by “dumpster diving”.  One mans trash is another mans treasure.

[desaints]

The new Grey Death Legion got their new mechs by “dumpster diving”.  One mans trash is another mans treasure.

I did a quick read of their new story. Didn't they find a Gargoyle in a trash pile? I get the mechs to plowshares idea seemed to be popular but that seems a bit ridiculous. You'd think the LCAF wouldn't look a clan mech in the mouth, even during the republic era.