Mercenary - Warmonger Career

[rust]

A little problem that came up in another thread as well as in a setting I am
working on:

A Gun Runner or Arms Dealer is expected to buy the weapons and equip-
ment low and to sell them (very) high, most probably with a profit that is
far beyond what the trade rules can handle.

But how does he do it, how much has he to pay for the weapons and the
equipment he buys in bulk on the (usually grey) market, and how much
profit does he make ?

I have not found any rules that would cover this (or I just missed them),
and I am not certain whether a general set of rules can handle this well.
Therefore I am most interested in how you deal with this in your cam-
paigns.

Thank you.

 

[Vile]

I have no idea (honest!), but I would think that the profit margin would not be that high, as the customer base is very restricted. If I have a consignment of PGMPs that fell off the back of a cutter, for example, I probably don't have many alternative customers lined up if my first one threatens to pull out unless he gets a trade discount. In the meantime, I have these hot "tractor parts" in my warehouse.

The profit margin would probably be highest for a "procurer", i.e. a gun runner who takes specific orders and acquires accordingly.

Hopefully this sort of thing will be covered in Merchant Prince.

 

[iainjcoleman]

There are no specific rules.

The main driver of profit will be Tech Level differences. Your average warlord on a TL7 world will be only too glad to get his or her hands on a crate of robust, reliable ACRs, not to mention the accompanying rifle grenades.

 

[Treebore]

Have you watched "Lord of War"? You should, if you haven't. Plus its based on a real arms dealer. Stars Nick Cage.

 

[BP]

Haven't handled this yet with MGT (though somewhere I did some contemplating on the subject last year - but I think I trashed it...).

Core does have purchase and sale DMs for illegal goods, but they appear to apply more to new goods at retail margins.

While this is what you posted about - as others have responded - there is the aspect that many arms dealers don't so much buy the goods as 'obtain' them (or pay others who have done so). This is quite a different playing field - since the purchase 'price' could be quite low - so the selling price doesn't even have to approach the normal prices for excellent profits to be realized.

Also, this type of transaction is more likely to result in bartered deals - where credits and electronic transactions are replaced with trade. So rebels might trade gems and rare metals for arms. Information could also be worth arms deals - and in the example of rebels, maybe the rebels agree to hit something or someone allowing for substantial profit to be realized.

And, well, I can't let the arms dealing in movies go by without mentioning some oldies but goldies: Air America where Mel Gibson loses his arms deal, but still makes out; Deal of the Century with Chevy Chase - 'but your gun is bigger, senior!'; and, of course, Fifth Element - 'A killer, when he picked up the ZF1, would've immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun.'

 

[RandyT0001]

I have no idea (honest!), but I would think that the profit margin would not be that high, as the customer base is very restricted. If I have a consignment of PGMPs that fell off the back of a cutter, for example, I probably don't have many alternative customers lined up if my first one threatens to pull out unless he gets a trade discount.

Well if we were to judge by the number of PC adventurers that seem to pursue them or seek to buy them then all adventurers mustering out of every service would like to get some of these to arm themselves with as they walk down the street on low law level worlds. They'd be lined up around corners of buildings several blocks long. :shock:

 

[rust]

Thank you very much for your answers.

I hope that Merchant Prince, which should become available in the not so
far future, gives some guidelines for this kind of deal, otherwise I will have
to come up with something that fits into my setting and seems at least re-
motely plausible ... :?

 

[alex_greene]

The thing is, arms dealers tend to sell arms not as small units out of a back of a van on some street corner, but in bulk consignments to outfit entire armies. The smallest single consignment of arms would be sufficient to outfit a Company, at least, so in truth we'd be talking about the kinds of credit figures that would make the average Traveller's eyes bulge out of their head.

Assuming they come from a species where such behaviour is not normal ...

The fates of arms dealers and private military consultants (mercenaries) are intricately tied with big governments and major corporations. In the real world the names "Blackwater," Halliburton" and others crop up again and again, often in connection with staggering sums of loose money - literally, money lying in mountainous piles unguarded (who'd want to steal from an arms manufacturer?)

The professional arms dealer's world is one endless social whirl of air shows, arms conventions and military displays in dusty army bases, bright young boffins showing off the latest high tech UAV or warfighter's kit to Generals and Brigadiers sitting half a mile away on windswept bleachers. When you get into government contracts you can literally ask for too little in a deal: one million credits? Come on, that's pocket money. You can buy an island for that amount. For the sums of money your company's playing with, you can buy whole planets.

Just think of Trillion Credit Squadron. Now imagine you as the character whose job it is to broker the deal between the government agent holding those trillion credits and the Naval architect and the shipyards who will build that fleet for the client.

Now take ten percent commission off the top. That's your pay for the week.

Why bother selling just FGMPs? Think big.

 

[rust]

The thing is, arms dealers tend to sell arms not as small units out of a back of a van on some street corner, but in bulk consignments to outfit entire armies. ...

True, of course, but for my setting I need the more modest kind of arms
dealer, one who sells dozens instead of hundreds of weapons - otherwise
my setting's insurgents would have to declare their resistance movement's
bankruptcy ...

 

[alex_greene]

The thing is, arms dealers tend to sell arms not as small units out of a back of a van on some street corner, but in bulk consignments to outfit entire armies. ...

True, of course, but for my setting I need the more modest kind of arms
dealer, one who sells dozens instead of hundreds of weapons - otherwise
my setting's insurgents would have to declare their resistance movement's bankruptcy ...

Ah, so you are talking about some skeevy guy selling dodgy weapons from out the back of a van on some street corner, then ...

 

[Dave Chase]

Well someone has to buy all those weapons from the pawn shops and pirates.

The guy could just be a middle level pawn broker of sorts who happens to specialize in weapons.

He does not have large groups of the same type of weapon but has many different kinds of weapons. He would be hard press to have more than 5 of the same kind of weapon at the same time. Normally.

Ammo is a problem also. He does not have cases of ammo or even crates. Sometimes he does but it might not even fit any of the weapons that the has available.

He (she) travels around a lot buying up what they can from various sources. Many of his sources are not in legal possesion of the weapon to begin with so he can buy them very cheap and sell them below most markets, if he wants.

Dave Chase

 

[alex_greene]

He would have to have at least some kind of regular client base - a clientele whose custom he can be pretty much assured of.

Nobles, for instance. A merchant who can secure a regular supply of sporting shotguns and rifles, and the ammo for same, can make a regular bread-and-butter living selling to the local gentry. That gives him the float he needs to invest in riskier weapons for adventurers such as ACRs, gauss guns and so on.

Same goes for someone out in the boonies with nobody around but landholders and farmers: there's always going to be a demand for good vermin guns, and wilderness hunters and trappers are always going to be coming back for more ammo, gun cleaning kits and the other trappings of their sport.

Even on a small scale, an arms dealer who knows his clientele can pretty much be assured that he need never struggle for cash again.

 

[rust]

Thank you for your answers.

So, what the characters will be looking for once they made it offworld
with enough cash to buy some stuff for the resistance movement is not
the typical arms dealer but one of the local gun shop owners who has
certain connections, for example a friend at a national guard depot or
thelike.

And he will not have exactly what they are looking for, they will have to
take the best items of what he can offer and try to find a useful combi-
nation of weapons and ammo.

The advantage is that his prices may be somewhat lower than expected
- still black market prices, but not the amount a regular arms dealer would
expect to get from a military procurement office.

Yep, that sounds good, I think.

 

[alex_greene]

Definitely.

Remember, to an arms dealer one's Contacts network is probably their greatest asset.

Need a place to stow some less than legal arms that have just fallen off the back of a Naval transport? Your Contact might know of a brand new set of warehouse units, only just opened last month. Not even in the comm directory yet. Cops don't know about it either, so for now it's invisible. Expensive, but what price safety in these interesting times?

Looking for a consignment of gauss weapons in a hurry? Your Contact might happen to know where there's a crate or two, with two crates of full magazines, if you'll take his niece to the opera tonight. Best bib and tucker, and watch out for trouble. (Referee hint ...)

Work those connections.

 

[Treebore]

Like I said, watch Lords of War.

 

[rust]

Like I said, watch Lords of War.

Thank you, I'll do.

 

[Shchenya]

I'd also reccomend looking at the second hand rules for equipment in the Vargr Alien Book. Their Junk Dealers make for decent small scale arms traders as well as giving a decent fluctuation ruling.

 

[rust]

I'd also reccomend looking at the second hand rules for equipment in the Vargr Alien Book. Their Junk Dealers make for decent small scale arms traders as well as giving a decent fluctuation ruling.

Thank you, I will take a look at it.

 

[DeadMike]

I always figured you get the weapons and ammo from the dead and sell them to city gang bangers for half the listed book value if they buy the lot. If not, then 3/4 value, just to try to get them to take them all so you can go get more. Buying them sounds like an interesting idea though....