I would really appreciate any input/tips and tricks from those of you who have run mercenary games before.
Just some thoughts:
Not that I know anything about it, but combat is a very confusing, fluid, constantly changing situation, composed of many people with limited situational awareness trying to fight each other and react to micro-contingencies while experiencing various states of physical and cognitive dysfunction.
"Platoons seal the fate of armies." -S.L.A. Marshall
What I used to do to account for this:
A company level unit is engaging a similar enemy. Note how the die rolls affect the narrative and feel of the adventure. Place emphasis on how soldiers can only see their small part of the situation, and that they are often in circumstances that they didn't create and cannot control, like a bad tactical position because the poor decisions of others, or a good position because other echelons did a good job.
1. The company commander or the company headquarters team (average the relevant skills) makes a roll to determine how well his initial plan is set up, how well his elements are deployed, how well he's managing his logistics and support.
If the roll is exceptional either positively or negatively, include this in your GM narration of the situation, and decide on a die roll modifier for the next echelon down the chain of command.
Positive result: The company commander / command team really has their act together. Artillery TRP's are accurate and laid on. He has a solid mobile reserve element. Friendly adjacent units are coordinated with. Logistics are set up and effective. Troops are rested and ready. The avenues of approach are smart, like taking advantageous terrain early. The tactical plan is solid.
Platoon leaders get +2 on their tactics rolls.
GM narrative: "The plan has your platoon advancing along a ridge. Scout teams report hostile forces are set up to ambush the valley below. You have outflanked them, and their crew served weapons are pointed at the road in the valley, not uphill toward your axis of advance. Other platoons report similar success, or varying success, depending on platoon leader tactics rolls. NPC troops are confident and ready for combat.
The player characters' squad gets orders from the platoon leader. If he rolls well or average, the squad leader gets a +1 or +2 to his tactics roll, and the GM narrates the squad getting the drop on the enemy squad, etc. If he fails his roll badly, he gives orders which are counterproductive. He orders his squads to attack before the other platoons are in position, he calls in artillery danger close, makes tactical errors which alert the enemy, etc.
The battle plays out according to tactical rules or Traveller character vs. character rules.
If the company commander flubs his roll, there are negative effects.
The company commander is not that competent. His staff officers suck. Nobody coordinates with support elements, and artillery assets are otherwise committed. Nobody coordinates with adjacent units, with can lead to friendly fire incidents and adjacent units not being in position to support. All the little admin and coordination tasks that need to get done to make an operation go smoothly aren't getting done. The logistics are screwed up. Troops are low on ammo and water. They haven't gotten hot food in a while. The sleep plan is crap. People are tired, stressed out, and not confident. No recon elements got sent out. The intel is outdated. The tactical plan is stupid. The commander could order troops to advance along a route vulnerable to ambush because "it's faster" or "the GPS says", or he could order his platoons to attack fast and hard regardless of their lack of tactical advantage, because he's a gloryhound or he's trying to make himself look good.
Platoon leaders get -1 or -2 on their tactics rolls, because they've been put into a bad tactical position from the start of the operation.
GM narrative: "The plan has your platoon advancing along a road in a valley. There are no reports from any scout teams. Intel is three days old. The company commander keeps demanding status updates and yells at the platoon leader to move faster. Experienced NCO's look around in consternation, recognizing the vulnerability of the platoon's position."
The platoon leaders can save this with excellent rolls, but they have to have good skills or be damn lucky.
Good roll: The platoon leader confers with squad leaders, and makes a sound tactical move that gets the squads out of a likely ambush zone.
Bad roll: The platoon leader goes along with the bad plan or develops or makes an even worse move. The enemy has the advantage, +1 or +2 to his tactics roll.
GM narrative: "There's an explosion up ahead. The squads stop, strung out along the road. Medics rush forward. After a few tense minutes, word comes down. Half of 1st Squad got annihilated by a mine. The player characters' squad watches its sector. Movement, on the ridge! The platoon is being flanked. The enemy springs his ambush and cuts loose with his crew-served weapons. His infantry squads open fire from both sides, creating a deadly killing field."
The battle plays out according to tactical rules or Traveller character vs. character rules, but it starts with half of 1st Squad down, and the other squads engaged. Junior leaders don't know what to do during the critical first minute. Gunfire is deafeningly loud, interfering with communication. There's no cohesive response, just squads doing what they can, returning fire, staying under cover, bugging out back down the road, or trying to break out of the killing zone. Leaders become casualties. In this deadly chaos, the player characters don't know what's going on, while the enemy is moving with a purpose. Then it's up to the player character to decide what to do and move fast.
EDIT:
Something else. The rolls for the NPC platoons in the player characters' company actually matter. If their NPC leaders roll well, then they handle their battles and are available to maneuver against enemy units engaging the player characters' squad or platoon. If they roll poorly, then no help is available, and the player characters' company is engaged, and the NPC company commander has to send the mobile reserve element to help out, or figure out what to do. Consider how things can develop when some leaders rolls poorly, some roll well, some junior leaders roll poorly, some roll well, and how the states of the squads and their leadership begins to affect how the battle plays out. Everything can go poorly, but one NPC squad gets great rolls. They can fight through to the player characters and link up with them, and together they have half a platoon to try to salvage the situation. There are the die rolls and the game mechanics, but that's an example of how to integrate them with the roleplaying narrative for a dramatic battle encounter.
