Re: [GZG] re: Mercs and "Realism"

>>These units would consist of the desperate and the sociopathic 
>>only. Anyone who would kill their fellow human beings with only >>the
motivation of financial reward falls into one of those categories.
>
>1)  Surely killing and avoiding being killed are rewards enough. 
>Most of those people would do it for free -- even pay for the chance.

My understanding is that a lot of mercs--eg historically Scots, Irish,
Swiss, etc--enlist because there are more men than jobs and the farmland
available isn't worth working. This is particularly the case when a
nation takes a "peace dividend" and draws down the military. You get men
who've been soldiers for ten years, are used to being soldiers, have
skills which don't easily transfer to the civilian market, and just want
to ply their trade. 

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