Chumbly
Banded Mongoose
Generally, when Mercenaries are used in Traveller, the type of Mercenary used is
the long term experienced and well trained professional soldier, model generally
being Mike Hoare's south African Mercenaries in the 60's Congo.
But the Term WIld Geese actually comes from the Irish Cannon Fodder Mercenaries
that was extensively used by the Great European Powers for a couple of hundred years
of bloody wars. For example, my understanding that there were over 30 regiments
of Irish Wild Geese in French and Spanish Armies with around the same amount in
British service in the 1600s-1800s. They were cheap cannon fodder used
by Great Power's because no nation really cared whether they lived or died,
and economic destitution and desperation were the principle motivator
for Irish becoming wild geese.
Well, the era of Wild Geese Cannon Fodder has returned. Russia and Turkey
are exploiting the economic desperation of the respective Syrians that
each side backs to use them as cheap cannon fodder for other people's wars.
There is a really interesting BBC article, the link posted below, on the
recent use of Syrian Wild Geese in the recent Azeri-Armenian war.
I recommend anybody contemplating a mercenary traveller campaign
to read it to get an understanding of life as a cheap exploited canon fodder
merc. In a land where a dollar a day or under income is normal,
they were promised several thousand dollars a month to go be "sentries".
The Turks then flew them in Turkish planes to Azerbaijan, where
their "sentry" duty turned into being human wave cannon fodder,
where the Azeri's didn't want to waste their own soldiers. Conditions
got so bad, the Syrians mutinied and refused to fight. The Azeri's
sent them home and cheated them out of any payment. The
leaders of the mutiny were then shot by the Turkish Backed Al-Nusra
Group, which was getting money for the cannon-fodder.
The article then brings out that Russia has grabbed Syrians from
Assad controlled regions and is using them in Libya to
fight for Gen Haftar, while the Turks(Erdogan) are using
Syrians from rebel areas to fight for the Tripoli Government,
in a repeat of the Azeri-Armenian conflict. There are poor
soldiers, fighting for causes they are completely indifferent too,
but useful as human wave cannon fodder and money for Putin and Erdogan.
I am not trying to be political, just bringing up the other side of Mercenary life
and how you might portray it in your games. Not every Merc is Mike Hoare,
most are probably some dumb broke bloke.
Chumbly
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-55238803
the long term experienced and well trained professional soldier, model generally
being Mike Hoare's south African Mercenaries in the 60's Congo.
But the Term WIld Geese actually comes from the Irish Cannon Fodder Mercenaries
that was extensively used by the Great European Powers for a couple of hundred years
of bloody wars. For example, my understanding that there were over 30 regiments
of Irish Wild Geese in French and Spanish Armies with around the same amount in
British service in the 1600s-1800s. They were cheap cannon fodder used
by Great Power's because no nation really cared whether they lived or died,
and economic destitution and desperation were the principle motivator
for Irish becoming wild geese.
Well, the era of Wild Geese Cannon Fodder has returned. Russia and Turkey
are exploiting the economic desperation of the respective Syrians that
each side backs to use them as cheap cannon fodder for other people's wars.
There is a really interesting BBC article, the link posted below, on the
recent use of Syrian Wild Geese in the recent Azeri-Armenian war.
I recommend anybody contemplating a mercenary traveller campaign
to read it to get an understanding of life as a cheap exploited canon fodder
merc. In a land where a dollar a day or under income is normal,
they were promised several thousand dollars a month to go be "sentries".
The Turks then flew them in Turkish planes to Azerbaijan, where
their "sentry" duty turned into being human wave cannon fodder,
where the Azeri's didn't want to waste their own soldiers. Conditions
got so bad, the Syrians mutinied and refused to fight. The Azeri's
sent them home and cheated them out of any payment. The
leaders of the mutiny were then shot by the Turkish Backed Al-Nusra
Group, which was getting money for the cannon-fodder.
The article then brings out that Russia has grabbed Syrians from
Assad controlled regions and is using them in Libya to
fight for Gen Haftar, while the Turks(Erdogan) are using
Syrians from rebel areas to fight for the Tripoli Government,
in a repeat of the Azeri-Armenian conflict. There are poor
soldiers, fighting for causes they are completely indifferent too,
but useful as human wave cannon fodder and money for Putin and Erdogan.
I am not trying to be political, just bringing up the other side of Mercenary life
and how you might portray it in your games. Not every Merc is Mike Hoare,
most are probably some dumb broke bloke.
Chumbly
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-55238803