Re: [GZG] "Realistic" Mercenary TO&

[Ryan Gill <rmgill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 6:57 AM +0300 10/19/06, John Atkinson wrote:
> So expect folks who have criminal convictions and the like, and whose
> "proven" skills are questionable.

Why did blackwater get a nastygram from the Joint Chiefs?

Capable troops with offer of MUCH better pay than 
what the government gives them, will drift 
towards the job.

> Mercenaries are a trope of the genre because a lot of authors have a
> glamorous and romanticized view of the type.  In reality, mercenaries
> arise in response to very specific economic and social conditions.
> Military expertise has to be highly concentrated and entirely portable
> (like a knight with his horse, for instance) and there has to be no
> other option at hand for those folks to earn a living which they are
> willing to do.

Ghurkas are another good example. Singapore gets 
the "Dross" and they still get excellent troops 
too.



> In a modern era, such mercenaries as have managed to operate in the
> modern era have been largely light infantry forces due to logistical
> reasons.  A force of tanks is not terribly portable and requires a
> logistical chain all the way back to factories which produce the spare
> parts and replacement vehicles.  A force of infantry riding in jeeps
> and land rovers can find parts in any third world mechanic shop.

At a point, it might be effective for a 
manufacturer of the armaments to provide 
operators too. One stop shop, Tanks, ammo, 
mechanics, crews, all you have to provide is an 
objective.
--
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Ryan Gill              rmgill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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