[FH] Mercenaries (long)

-----Original Message-----
From: John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
To: Laserlight <laserlight@cwix.com>
Date: Saturday, May 15, 1999 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: GZG List and Me

>
>Do you mind forwarding things to the GZG list for me?	I can't follow
>the list due to lack of time, but every now and then I come up with
>things I think the list would enjoy.  Mostly in the form of essays,
>like the following on Mercenaries. . . 
>
>This is intended to spark some ideas--I know there was a message
>relating to player-generated merc units just before I unsubbed-someone
>was setting up a database or something for them.  So I had a lot of
>spare time over the past month and I came up with the following
>discussion of merc groups.  I'll mention a number of units--* indicates
>those I'm reserving to detail myself or those I've already detailed. 
>Anything else, I encourage anyone to take the concept and run with it.
>The notation (c) indicates a canonical item, mostly those mentioned in
>the Stargrunt chronology.
>
>If there is one defining characteristic of conflict between major
>powers in the 22nd century, it is heavy use of mercenaries.  The
>mercenary business became an accepted and codifed part of the Laws of
>Land Warfare with the accesion of most major powers and mercenary
>groups to a Mercenary Code(c) and the establishment of the Mercenary
>Review and Bonding Comission based out of The Hague (Geneva was
>considered and rejected based on heavy Swiss participation in the
>mercenary business).
>
>There are a number of categories of Mercenary.  One is the Foreign
>Legion, where a unit is part of the regular armed forces of a nation,
>but recruits from outside that nation exclusively or almost
>exclusively.  These are not covered by the Mercenary Code, being
>considered essentially the same as Regular units.  The most famous
>include the Ghurka Rifle batallions (c) of the NAC, the Colonial Legion
>(c) of the FSE, and the Varangian Guard of the NRE.  Lesser-known units
>include the King's German Legion, a German-manned force in NAC service
>consisting of two Panzer batallions, 2 Panzer Grenadier batallions, an
>Artillery batallion, and a recon/aviation composite batallion.  This
>unit was formed in 2139 to support the NAC during the First Solar War,
>in which the NSL was not willing to participate, but provided some
>support to the NAC.
>
>Another category is the Volunteer.  These generally don't fall under
>the Mercenary Code as they are not part of recongized mercenary units. 
>"Volunteers" is generally a flimsy legal fiction for another nation to
>get involved in a conflict, typically in the form of small units of
>Special Operations Forces to advise and train.  There are also
>"volunteer corps" which are units of a nation's military seconded to
>another nation's military under a thin legal pretext (see Chinese
>Volunteer Corps, during a hot period in the Twentieth Century Conflict)
>
>Another major category is regular military units hired out by their
>government.  The Saeed Kaliphate is noted
>for this(c), as are the New Israelis (NI mercs are canonical, that they
>are regular Zahal formations hired out was a call by Noam Izenberg). 
>Typically, a government forms a pool of regular units that are
>available for hire, and rotates units in and out of that pool to spread
>operational combat experience.  These units fall under the Mercenary
>Code while under contract.
>
>The final category is the traditional mercenary unit, organized,
>equipped, and led autonomously which hires out to the highest bidder. 
>Of course, very few of these units are as independant as popular
>fiction depicts.  Many are registered with a particular nation and do
>not take contracts against them, in order to enjoy a safe haven between
>contracts, and assistance in replacing equipment (most governments are
>more than happy to provide loans and leases for this purpose to
>established units, as it is a cheap way of putting firepower on
>retainer).  Most of these units are light on or lacking altogether any
>artillery and aviation, and typically do not operate grav vehicles or
>other high-tech equipment with superior electronics.  Exceptions noted.
>
>Some of the more noted independant units are:
>
>The Polish Regiments: During the European Civil War in 2101-2103,
>Poland sided with the EC.  To prevent the need to fight a 2-front war,
>the NSL partitioned Poland with the RH again (Note:  This would be the
>fifth time Germans have partitioned Poland with Russians.  I'm just
>following a historical trend--Poland is a nation and a culture with
>lousy luck, lots of enemy, and not a single defensible terrain feature
>to i's name.  NSL got back old Prussia, Brandenburg, and Silesia, RH
>got the rest).  Elements of the Polish Army escaped and went Mercenary.
> These 9 units still consider themselves the Polish Army in exile.  The
>most famous is the 6th "Eagle" Interface Division, which is almost
>unique among merc units in maintaining a full batallion of Powered
>Armor and a platoon of PA in each of it's other BNs. The other units
>are brigade to batallion sized.  Registered in the FSE.
>
>Lyuza's Stradiots:  Albanian light armored batallion.	Unregistered.
>
>San Patricios:  Deserters and defectors from Irish units during the War
>of the Americas led to the establishment of the San Patricio Light
>Infantry Brigade in the LLAR Army in 2060.  It went Merc in 2099, when
>it entered into a 5-year contract with the Indonesian Commonwealth in
>return for extraction from a NAC encirclement.  Registered in IC,
>vehemently anti-NAC.
>
>Hakapells: Loose affiliation of 6 batallions of Finns, 1xArmored
>Cavalry, 2xLight Motorized, 3xJaeger BNs.  Registered in Scandanavian
>Federation. 
>
>Timberwolves: Americans of Scandanavian anscestry living in the Dakotas
>and Minnessota are the primary recruits for this unit.  Registered NAC
>
>Lakota Regiment: 2xLight Armored BNs and supporting elements, recruited
>from Sioux.  Registered NAC
>
>Apache Squadron: SAS-style unit recruited from various Apache tribes in
>the American Southwest.  Registered NAC
>
>Wild Goose Brigade: Light Infantry Brigade of Irishmen, Registered
>(where ever your campaign background decided to put Ireland, probably
>either FSE or NAC)
>
>Highlanders: generic term for any of seven Scottish Mechanized Infantry
>brigades.  All are Registered NAC excepting The Bruce's Own, which is
>registered FSE.
>
>Jayhawkers: In 2052, a brigade of Kansas National Guardsmen held off 2
>British Divisions for three weeks.  The British commander was so
>impressed he allowed the survivors to withdraw across the border.  Now
>a mixed Batallion.  Unregistered.
>
>Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Raised by private individuals in North America
>in 2111 to aid the Oceanic Union in it's war with the Indonesians, this
>unit remained active after the war and went truly mercenary.  It
>recruits about 50% North Americans and 50% OU.  Registered OU.
>
>1st Virginia Partisan Rangers*:  Guerilla band formed during the Second
>Civil War.  Exfiltrated all the way to Mexico, where it went Merc
>rather than work for the Mexicans.  Registered with the New Confederate
>States, but still primarily recruits from Virginia.  Recently changed
>over from Hoverjeep mounted infantry to grav-bike mounted infantry.
>
>Jornsvelt's Jaegers*:	Mixed brigade of Boers, this unit was formed
>with an eye to raising funds for the Voortrek to New Transvaal. 
>Registered New Transvaal.
>
>Grand Company*:  Formerly a corps-sized unit, this formation was hired
>to supplement the defenses of New Hellas when it's Thematic troops were
>deployed to New Sofia during the Romanov War.	It subsequently mutinied
>and siezed partial control of the planet.  After the NRE operation to
>take back Hellas, only a regiment remained.  The Grand Company is
>unusual in that it maintains its own spacecraft, including a pair of
>destroyers (Use stats for FSE DDs).  Recruited originally from
>Spaniards, but after violating a contract and being banned by the MRBC,
>has recruited mostly from assorted criminals, exiles, scum and
>degenerates.  It stumbles from one illicit contract to the next, and
>will probably cease to exist within a decade or so.
>
>Death's Head Hussars*:  Raised by a scion of a wealthy family of
>industrialists and offered to the NSL's service during the European
>Civil War.  It was viewed with skepticism by the NSL command, but they
>were not in a position to refuse a full batallion of the latest
>high-tech tanks.  Claiming descent from a batallion of Brunswicker
>cavalry in which the commander's anscestors had served, the troops
>painted their tanks black and wore a varient uniform which was black
>with a death's head as the unit insignia (NB: No Nazi or SS
>connotations here, folks.  This was an old and honored regiment in the
>German Army since Napoleonic era).  Went Merc after the war, now
>operates a full batallion of high-tech grav tanks.  Registered NSL.
>
>Steinhoff's Sturmpionieren*:  Unlike the mainstream merc units above,
>the Sturmpionieren (Assault Engineers) are a unit of specialists.  They
>focus on demolition, urban warfare, and assaults on fortified
>positions.  The unit is parachute-qualified, and has a number of SCUBA
>specialists as well.  Company sized.  Registered NSL
>
>Van Koost Armored Legion(c): Dutch
>
>Other Canonical Merc references: Turks, Swiss, Japanese, LLAR,
>Indonesians, Scandanavians.
>
>John M. Atkinson