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bladewind
Free Rasalhague Republic
Major General
Joined: 02-Oct-2004 00:00
Posts: 1054
Location: Singapore
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 Posted: 27-Oct-2004 03:56 Post subject: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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I poll Wolf's Dragoon just because of Natasha.  What do u expect from her ?
Bet that Kerensky did not know he would have such good lookers centuries later 
Rhonda's Snord Irregulars is a close second.
After all who dares to rename her merc unit as Clan Snord, and beat Jade Falcon 3 times ? So much so that the Jade Falcon Khan label Clan Snord as a bandit caste (which means they are recognised as part of the Clans), and to top it off, plays hard rock on the comm channels while strutting in her Highlander ?
Only Rhonda Snord baby. Her father was cool but his baby girl rocks.
Yes i have a soft spot for tough female pilots and leaders.
[ This Message was edited by: bladewind on 2004-10-27 04:15 ]
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Wanallo
Federated Suns
Leftenant Colonel
Joined: 02-Jan-2004 00:00
Posts: 671
Location: United Kingdom
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 09:15 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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I like Wolfs Dragoon and the Kell Hounds. With the Northwind Highlanders coming in a close third
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Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them-Seneca
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StarRaven
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 01-Jun-2004 00:00
Posts: 1138
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 12:04 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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I never really liked the god feature of the major merc units. The Dragoons and the Kell Hounds especially are too goody. The Eridani Light Horse also goes with that, although they're not merc any more. Being big doesn't bother me, just being perfect. Take the Illican Lancers, for example. They've got four 'Mech regiments, but they don't rule the Inner Sphere like the Dragoons do, and they don't get their own planet either. They just do their job.
Really, my favorite merc unit has always been Wilson's Hussars. It doesn't get any better than being the worst merc unit around. And last I heard (3067), they were working for the Federated Suns. That's always a plus in my book.
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"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close semblance to the first."
- Attributed to General Aleksandr Kerensky
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Moonlapse Vertigo
Clan Goliath Scorpion
Star Captain
Joined: 02-Mar-2004 00:00
Posts: 207
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 13:47 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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That women is dressed quite inappropriately for a combat situation... someone get her a field uniform! 
[ This Message was edited by: Moonlapse Vertigo on 2004-10-27 15:21 ]
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Stinger
The Knights of Chaos
General
Joined: 30-Apr-2002 00:00
Posts: 1833
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 14:32 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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The big ones are ok. but I prefer The Knights of chaos. (yeah I know shamless plug ) But I have always prefered playing mercs to house units. (The one time we played a house unit the GM got a little weird)
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Stinger
If it's "creepy" to use the Internet, military satellites, and robot aircraft to find a house full of gorgeous young models so I can drop in on them unexpected, then FINE, I'm "creepy". Howard Wolowitz. BBT.
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Blackhand
Draconis Combine
Chu-i
Joined: 05-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 334
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 15:03 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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I'm going to have to go with Gray Death Legion, simply because they believe in infantry beating mechs and can pull it off once in awhile too.
Plus anyone who makes their son pilot an Archer has to be pretty good.
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 15:03 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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My top two are Cranston Snord's Irregulars and the Richard Panzer Brigade. Gotta love rare artifacts and dirty tricks.
The Grey Death Legion is also a good one; I liked the Dragoons in 3025 because they had some of the better story lines. The Marik Civil War, their assault on Herperus II, the war with Kurita; that was all great stuff. By the 3050 era they're essentially their own little state. It got just a bit rediculous. It would have been cool if they had decided to take the Chaos March, and exclude both Davion and Liao from that area.
A little known group that I always liked were the Lone Wolves; they were essentially a confederation of pirates that traveled to war zones and sold their services to the highest bidder. If nobody wanted to hire them, they raided the area themselves and moved on. That's how I see a mercenary unit behaving. They're detailed in the battle of Galtor supplement. They also had a very loose command structure. Many of the companies were semi-independent, and even some of the warriors were true Lone Wolves. If they didn't want to take part in a particular job, they were not required to.
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StarRaven
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 01-Jun-2004 00:00
Posts: 1138
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 16:01 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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On 2004-10-27 15:03, mud wrote:
By the 3050 era they're essentially their own little state. It got just a bit rediculous. It would have been cool if they had decided to take the Chaos March, and exclude both Davion and Liao from that area.
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And having the Dragoons own over two dozen worlds isn't rediculous? And why would the Dragoons risk pissing off the FedSuns or Liao? Then they start looking like they're interfering, which means everyone is less likely to trust them.
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A little known group that I always liked were the Lone Wolves; they were essentially a confederation of pirates that traveled to war zones and sold their services to the highest bidder. If nobody wanted to hire them, they raided the area themselves and moved on. That's how I see a mercenary unit behaving. |
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That's exactly how I see a merc unit not behaving.
Say these mercs show up, and you're Liao fighting the Styk Commonality. Styk can't pay, and you're not authorized to hire mercs. But they're going to attack if you don't hire them, and you'd rather not have them attacking you. So you invite them down to negotiate a contract. When they land, you appear from hiding and wipe them out while they're still offloading from the DropShips. You lose very little, since you weren't going to hire them anyways. You have ample justification, because you knew that they'd attack you, because that's how they've worked in the past. And the mercs, they're dead, so they didn't make out so well. Not the kind of risk a merc unit would want to take.
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"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close semblance to the first."
- Attributed to General Aleksandr Kerensky
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 16:48 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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If these mercs were dumb enough to fall into this sort of trap.
Oh, and the Lone Wolves numbered a regiment; kinda hard to wipe out cheaply. Even a company is hard to take down in 3025. Chances are that company of 'mechs represented a significant fraction of the military force present on a planet. Also, why don't more companies band together, to find strength in numbers. That's the whole idea behind the Lone Wolves; strength in numbers. Mercs don't travel around in groups of twelve; they converge by the hundreds on the war zones and hot spots of the moment, looking for plunder and employment (in that order).
Study the Thirty Years War, or the actions of the Italian mercenaries of the renaissance, or the actions of the Norman contingent at the battle of Manzikert. Read the part in Machiavelli's Prince concerning mercenaries; you'll see why the way mercenaries are described as operating in the Inner Sphere just makes very little sense. A contract means very little; there were a few honorable ones among them, but the majority were out for what they could get. From a mercenaries point of view, it's a lot better to get a subsidy from the winning side and do little fighting; if the fortunes of war change, just change your employer. And most of a mercenary band's income certainly does not come from employers; it comes from plunder. Anyone who has run a campaign knows how important salvage rights are.
[ This Message was edited by: mud on 2004-10-27 16:51 ]
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Ruger
Lyran Alliance
Hauptmann General
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2114
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 17:26 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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Mobile Fire, Little Richard's Panzer Brigade, and Hell's Black Aces rank among my favorites, along with a few others...
Ruger
[ This Message was edited by: Ruger on 2004-10-27 17:27 ]
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StarRaven
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 01-Jun-2004 00:00
Posts: 1138
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 18:34 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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Quote:
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On 2004-10-27 16:48, mud wrote:
Oh, and the Lone Wolves numbered a regiment; kinda hard to wipe out cheaply. Even a company is hard to take down in 3025.
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I said to take them out while they're still offloading. An organized force with enough firepower will quite likely have a good chance of taking out the DropShips before the pirates manage to offload enough force to make any difference. And a DropShip's guns can only do so much. A 'Mech in a DropShip is like a pistol in a box; not very threatening at all.
I've got The Prince on my bookshelf, but haven't found the time to read it. Maybe this weekend. But one thing you seem not to have considered is that governments don't work now like they did back then. And the Successor States are all some combination of old fuedalism and modern preceptions of what governments should do. Merc units in the Inner Sphere have to think about not just their profit margin, but other things as well. Most of these things will efect their profit margin in one way or another. Like PR. For example, big corporations sometimes hire mercs to defend their facilities. If they hire a merc company which is well known as the Plunderers of Styk or whatever, the normal people buying stuff from that company won't be too pleased. Then you get boycott drives and what-have-you against the company. So the company won't hire these particular mercs. So if you want the widest selection of contracts, it's best not to get too active with your plundering.
A merc company's only real sources of income are its employers and salvage. If the mercs go off and rob all the banks and museums in the city, they'll get a lot more money, but they won't get much in the way of contracts. A merc's actions reflect upon their employer, and even Liao wants to avoid looking like a bunch of thieving barbarians.
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"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close semblance to the first."
- Attributed to General Aleksandr Kerensky
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 20:08 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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This is what happens when people read too much of the post-3050 stuff.
In 3025, it was always clear that public opinion didn't count for anything. The Successor Lords are despots.
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Moonlapse Vertigo
Clan Goliath Scorpion
Star Captain
Joined: 02-Mar-2004 00:00
Posts: 207
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 20:37 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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| There are plenty of mercenary units in the Inner Sphere that are little better than bandits, or at least unscrupulous. The novels and sourcebooks focus almost exclusivaly focus on the major, more respected and succsessful (and munchy, some would say) units like the Hounds and the Dragoons.
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 27-Oct-2004 23:05 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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I don't even really consider the Hounds to be mercenaries; up until they created the ARDC they were pretty much House Steiner's personal troubleshooters, and now they're essentially running their own little fiefdom.
At least the Dragoons could be bought.
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5800
Location: United States
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| Posted: 28-Oct-2004 00:32 Post subject: RE: What is the best mercenary group ? |
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Quote:
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On 2004-10-27 16:48, mud wrote:
you'll see why the way mercenaries are described as operating in the Inner Sphere just makes very little sense. |
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actually, i liken Mercs in BT more to Ronin or Free Lance Knights. Despite most being hired guns. the majority all hold themselves up to a code of conduct. A Knight who was hired would fight and die for the man who purchased his services. why? honor. the same goes for ronin.
in addition to this, most merc units have ties to either a military or the SLDF itself. meaning most of the leaders are ex-officers. unless something really crappy happened or they were twisted in the first place, these leaders will require and expect a certain level of professionalism. i mean after a Wolf is ex-clan. that is ALOT of ritual to get passed. I mean in all successful movements and most businesses it is the highly Charasmatic leader that forms the core of said event. if that leader holds himself to a high standard, it will show in his groups orginization and employies.
i personely feel that the Dragoons are the targets of much lambasting by people who personely dislike the changes in BT and unfairly attack them. opinions are like rectums, everyones got one. i say that what the Dragoons did was not impossible nor unbaleavable. i say it more the economic area that truely is unbalievable and i refear to the entire inner sphere.
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