[Crimsondude]

As for why you don't see more non-American merc companies, there are two reasons that spring immediately to mind. 1) While North America is not one of the places mercs typically do most of their active work, it is a place with lots of money, and lots of soldiers to recruit from, given that there are how many national militaries dotting the landscape? Combined with the fact that people in North America have the luxury of not living in hellholes like Africa, where tribal influences would undermine any unit cohesion, and any groups already tight enough to be an effective fighting force are already involved in things like piracy other such things... Remember, mercs are people you bring in from SOMEWHERE ELSE because there's too much crazy going on in your neck of the woods, and you can't trust your own people to be skilled (or loyal) enough to do the job.

This is pretty much the discussion that I've had with some people for a while. There are a lot of militaries in North America, but there is also a lot more of a reason for entire units to have and continue to go rogue (for example, the four or five ex-U.S. military units that were running around the Mojave in the CFS sourcebook – at least one of which, the Desert Rats, is also made up of Marines). I think there is generally a "lifer" ethos that keeps a lot of warfighters in their respective units. You don't have people bouncing between national, corp, merc, and "independent" shops and back again every six/twelve months as a contract comes due like you might see with a lot of mercenaries IRL. Especially the national guys, they are a lot like the Special Forces Trooper from the back of Cybertechnology.


Anyway, not to speak for Mystic, but it was my understanding that this book was to fill that niche of small and medium-sized mercenary units. Right now, the largest and most well-known mercenary corporations are:

• MET2000 (Germany)
• Tsunami (Japan)
• 10,000 Daggers (Constantinople)
• Combat, Inc. (Macao)

Even among private intelligence/espionage corporations the breakdown goes:

• Aegis Cognito (Lisbon)
• ARGUS (subsidiary of MET2000) (Germany)
• Esprit's SDEI (France, but now a subsidiary twice removed of Aztechnology)
• SIS (CAS)
• Index-AXA's Infolio (France)

As to why there isn't a major American merc shop, I think there is a political/cultural reason that basically goes with the idea that a lot of these guys would believe they are in the field of defense or security, and not outright privatized militaries or what might be considered the "offense industry." So when it comes to North American paramilitary defense, security, and intelligence/counterintelligence industry, the 800 pound gorilla is Knight Errant. The shops covered in 10 Mercs are the little guys that those big guys subcontract out when they're overstretched fighting wars on four continents.

[bannockburn]

<snip, SR is America-centric>

Yes, I understand that. Of course the game is American-centric, and I don't complain about this. The thing is, that with the established merc hot spots (Macao, Lisbon, etc.) this would have been a great opportunity to look beyond the American nose and incorporate some other nationalities. Hence, why I said 'a squandered opportunity'. Nevertheless, I liked the book, overall.
It is not my main criticism, just a point of interest for me.

Right now, the largest and most well-known mercenary corporations are:

• MET2000 (Germany)
• Tsunami (Japan)
• 10,000 Daggers (Constantinople)
• Combat, Inc. (Macao)

Storm Front spoiler:
[spoiler]Three of which are now defunct and ... replaced by the Free Marysue Corps[/spoiler]

And this is a bad thing. I have no problem at all with the described tactics.

Here is what I personally do not like:
- Their suddenly inflated manpower by a factor of 10!  (explained by an offhand comment which amounts to 'We take care to obfuscate')
- The 884m warship (that should be feet, btw. America-class amphibious assault carriers aren't almost double the length of the world's largest tanker, nor are they 2,65 times as long as an actual aircraft carrier like the Gerald R. Ford class) that is capable of running at over 45 knots (which is too much by a factor of 30-50%, depending on actual technology)
- The ability to KEEP the Green Bay, directly after their inception, with low manpower, just because neither CAS nor UCAS 'wanted to admit that they lost a ship and risk a war over it'. In my eyes this is a really weak explanation for allowing an essentially private organization to have a heavily armed warship capable of supporting amphibious assault actions.
- 315 marines + Kane assault a 'secret compound' and cause casualties 'estimated in the thousands' (emphasis mine). Yes, surprise action and all that. But the Aztlan / Aztech isn't exactly an untrained militia, and secret compounds are usually not protected by such. Unnecessary exaggeration on the writer's part, IMHO
- Kane paid them ... One eighty million nuyen. I am assuming this is military slang for 180.000.000, as 1.80 million wouldn't even be enough for the operation to be funded, let alone being able to refit the Iwo Jima afterwards. Grossly inflated number, IMO.
- They spend 'two nightmarish months' fighting shedim and other ugly stuff and profit from this. Suddenly, the funds from Kane aren't used up anymore and they are still flush with it. I may read too much into this, but this kind of sounds weird.
- They concentrate on training and further expansion and then offhandedly purchase 2 Hunt-class frigates and order 2 more. Man, life as a merc must be good if you can afford 20mil from your small change after 5 years of  contracts that aren't even worth mentioning.

They are not 'honest good guys' - they are dogs for hire and work with a known pirate, rapist and mass murderer, and their morals are flexible. 'An understanding', indeed. Throw enough money at 'em and they'll understand you well enough, apparently.

The short blurb by Picador in the Kane chapter of Street Legends Supplemental was much more enjoyable than this fleshed out writeup.

TL;DR version: They never suffered any setbacks. They only ever get the good stuff. They are the shiny beacons of American mercenary domination and hero worship. No visible flaws. Boring.
I enjoy the occasional over-the-top-ness and pink mohawks (Thunder Corps is great!), but this jumped the shark.

Edit: Clarification

[Nath]

As to why there isn't a major American merc shop, I think there is a political/cultural reason that basically goes with the idea that a lot of these guys would believe they are in the field of defense or security, and not outright privatized militaries or what might be considered the "offense industry." So when it comes to North American paramilitary defense, security, and intelligence/counterintelligence industry, the 800 pound gorilla is Knight Errant. The shops covered in 10 Mercs are the little guys that those big guys subcontract out when they're overstretched fighting wars on four continents.

The list that feature MET2000, Tsunami, 10K Dagger and Combat, Inc. on top and no North America group is a relic of the Cold War and original cyberpunk setting. It comes from the first sourcebook on mercenaries, Fields of Fire, which was published in 1994, and written by people who weren't necessarily foreseeing the changes they were at the very beginning at.

During the Cold War, mercenaries were a small-scale independent business where units were recruited and paid in cash by leaders like Bob Denard or David Stirling. When there was a company involved, it was nothing more than a mailbox. Those operations were mostly post-colonial matters, involving usually either French or British interests, or European ones anyway. US strategy and foreign policy, on the other hand, were entirely shaped by the Cold war. The US were in a near-state of war with the Soviet Union, and there were no efforts to waste on private wars: in the American mind, soldiers were to serve their country and defend freedom.

Two companies would change things. Both were created in 1989, Executive Outcomes in South Africa and Sandline International in the UK. At first, they were only offering training services, a business where you had 'big' US companies like Dyncorp who were only involved in support role, and not yet in combat operations. EO was the first to break the frontier, in Angola in 1994 and Sierra Leone in 1995. Sandline sent combat troops in New Guinea in 1997, and then also in Sierra Leone in 1998.
At the same time, the Cold War was over, and a diminishing US defense budget and, more importantly, the diminishing number of senior and general officers positions, sent a growing number of US soldiers looking for new opportunities. The starting point of the new, current era would be 2002, with the creation of Blackwater Security Consulting (its parent company, Blackwater USA, was created as soon as 1997, but limited itself also to training) and the rise of private military companies and contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq as we now know them all too well.

Back to Shadowrun and the early nineties, that's why in first and second editions sourcebooks, the authors only mentionned corporate military forces as limited in scope and size. Japanese troops were the one who secured California (and the Imperial Ideal doesn't cope well with soldiers-for-hire), not corporate forces. In Corporate Shadowfiles, the largest were only regiment-size. Knight Errant was solely a civilian security outfit, with all the existing actual military units belonging to Ares Arms. Corporations were aiming at vertical and horizontal integration: their military forces were to fulfill their own need for security, not rented to another party. In Fields of Fire, MET2000 and the like were labelled as "organizations", not as corporations.

This gradually changed. Aztlan (published in 1997) description of the operation Reciprocity can be considered as a cornerstone (both IC and OoC in fact). In Corporate Download (published 1999), Knight Errant was retconned with the mention of special ops and counter-insurrection. Interestingly enough, that was then somehow ahead of Real Life.

[Mirikon]

Bannockburn, I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. I'll take things point by point.

Here is what I personally do not like:
- Their suddenly inflated manpower by a factor of 10!  (explained by an offhand comment which amounts to 'We take care to obfuscate')

So the megacorps are the only ones who can lie about how many employees are where? Also, read what lead to their sudden jump in manpower: the military not being able to pay its soldiers. That'll send a lot of them to the private sector, and any Marines or Navy men who left would be quite likely to find their way to the FMC if they took the merc route. Since then, they've been doing an active campaign over the last decade or so, to bring them up to a force of 10000 fighters. This is not 'suddenly', this is a planned expansion over the course of years.

- The 884m warship (that should be feet, btw. America-class amphibious assault carriers aren't almost double the length of the world's largest tanker, nor are they 2,65 times as long as an actual aircraft carrier like the Gerald R. Ford class) that is capable of running at over 45 knots (which is too much by a factor of 30-50%, depending on actual technology)

So someone made an error copying down the length, understandable, since all other measurements in SR are metric. As for the top speed, first, the Wikipedia for the America-class says 20+ knots, possibly more. However, that is in 2013. At the very least, over sixty years they would have had major parts replaced, probably getting a new engine to increase speed and power, etc. Also, there's no rules that say you can't turbocharge marine vessels. Just sayin'.

- The ability to KEEP the Green Bay, directly after their inception, with low manpower, just because neither CAS nor UCAS 'wanted to admit that they lost a ship and risk a war over it'. In my eyes this is a really weak explanation for allowing an essentially private organization to have a heavily armed warship capable of supporting amphibious assault actions.

The UCAS and CAS had just gotten their butts handed to them by the NAN back when they were the US, and then they were still in the process of realigning all their armed forces. We're talking massive chain of command issues here. The CIA was tasked to sink the ship, but naval warfare isn't exactly what the CIA is known for, you know? Plus, the FMC would have still had plenty of friends in the Navy and Marines, the only forces the CIA would be able to reliably call on if they needed help. Given the political situation, it isn't surprising. Also, there were probably bribes exchanged.

- 315 marines + Kane assault a 'secret compound' and cause casualties 'estimated in the thousands' (emphasis mine). Yes, surprise action and all that. But the Aztlan / Aztech isn't exactly an untrained militia, and secret compounds are usually not protected by such. Unnecessary exaggeration on the writer's part, IMHO

Or exactly what happens when most of your hardened combat troops are drawn off to the north and south borders, and are stuck in the quagmire that is the Yucatan. They didn't face the elite Jaguar guards. They faced the guards who were stuck on prison watch. Come in with shock and awe, do the job, and get out before the big guns can come to bear. Perfect 'nonconventional warfare' tactics, which is also something the Marines have typically been pretty good at.

- Kane paid them ... One eighty million nuyen. I am assuming this is military slang for 180.000.000, as 1.80 million wouldn't even be enough for the operation to be funded, let alone being able to refit the Iwo Jima afterwards. Grossly inflated number, IMO.

No, Kane paid them 180 million nuyen and an Aircraft carrier. And that number shouldn't be inflated, since the hundred million nuyen number is mentioned in Kane's write-up in Street Legends Supplemental.

- They spend 'two nightmarish months' fighting shedim and other ugly stuff and profit from this. Suddenly, the funds from Kane aren't used up anymore and they are still flush with it. I may read too much into this, but this kind of sounds weird.

Never said the profits from Kane's adventure were used up. Also said they were contracted to run protection, meaning they were paid, either in nuyen, foci, or other such things. Which means that, yes, they profited from it. That's what mercs do. They visit hell, and get paid for it.

- They concentrate on training and further expansion and then offhandedly purchase 2 Hunt-class frigates and order 2 more. Man, life as a merc must be good if you can afford 20mil from your small change after 5 years of  contracts that aren't even worth mentioning.

Lots of small jobs, plus not getting the drek kicked out of you by Crash 2.0 like people who set up shop in more civilized places in the world, will give you some nuyen to move around. And there are these things called 'loans' which can be used to buy things you normally wouldn't be able to afford all at once. And it never said how close to combat ready the Iwo Jima was to begin with. Also, just because they didn't make headlines, didn't mean they weren't working.

They are not 'honest good guys' - they are dogs for hire and work with a known pirate, rapist and mass murderer, and their morals are flexible. 'An understanding', indeed. Throw enough money at 'em and they'll understand you well enough, apparently.

Please note that they are never once called the 'honest good guys', except by Slamm-O! They are described as attempting to embody the spirit and ideals of the old USMC, and Picador says they are the most trustworthy bunch of mercs you can work with. But those USMC ideals don't mean "We're the good guys". They mean "We pick jobs that fit our beliefs." And given their background, rescuing a POW who has been disavowed by her own country, and sticking it to the Azzies at the same time? Why wouldn't they go for that? The 'understanding' likely has to do with Kane not causing trouble at places where they're on the job.

TL;DR version: They never suffered any setbacks. They only ever get the good stuff. They are the shiny beacons of American mercenary domination and hero worship. No visible flaws. Boring.

You mean they were smart, and stuck to jobs that were within their skillset, and trained  religiously, so that when fighting came, they were all the equivalent of Special Forces? They had some luck, but training and reliable equipment help, a lot. And I'll just say that, unless a flaw develops natrurally, there's no point. The FMC have managed to position themselves at the right place, at the right time.

[bannockburn]

You mean they were smart, and stuck to jobs that were within their skillset, and trained  religiously, so that when fighting came, they were all the equivalent of Special Forces? They had some luck, but training and reliable equipment help, a lot. And I'll just say that, unless a flaw develops natrurally, there's no point. The FMC have managed to position themselves at the right place, at the right time.

To set one thing right, Mystic himself called them the 'honest good guys'. I commented on that.

It's fine to disagree. Your points, however well made, do not convince me of your opinion. They are just different interpretations.
It doesn't make the FMC more interesting to me, and what happens in Storm Front just follows the same regrettable trend in regards to this unit. Super duper guys with super duper equipment who are super duper special, and always super duper win because marines are heroes. Not buying it.
One person's mary sue is the other person's lovechild.

Edit: Unbolded. That snuck in

[Digital_Viking]

Sounds like your problem isn't with the FMC but the Corps itself.

And it's spelled Marine 

[Longshot23]

In the 1930s, the USMC faced total disbandment. It came down to a single-digit number of votes in Congress (I think). As we see, they're still going strong.

[Mystic]

<snip>

Anyway, not to speak for Mystic, but it was my understanding that this book was to fill that niche of small and medium-sized mercenary units. Right now, the largest and most well-known mercenary corporations are:

• MET2000 (Germany)
• Tsunami (Japan)
• 10,000 Daggers (Constantinople)
• Combat, Inc. (Macao)

Even among private intelligence/espionage corporations the breakdown goes:

• Aegis Cognito (Lisbon)
• ARGUS (subsidiary of MET2000) (Germany)
• Esprit's SDEI (France, but now a subsidiary twice removed of Aztechnology)
• SIS (CAS)
• Index-AXA's Infolio (France)

As to why there isn't a major American merc shop, I think there is a political/cultural reason that basically goes with the idea that a lot of these guys would believe they are in the field of defense or security, and not outright privatized militaries or what might be considered the "offense industry." So when it comes to North American paramilitary defense, security, and intelligence/counterintelligence industry, the 800 pound gorilla is Knight Errant. The shops covered in 10 Mercs are the little guys that those big guys subcontract out when they're overstretched fighting wars on four continents.

Pretty much hit it on the head. The "Big Four" can't be everywhere at once and someone has to take up the slack, not to meantion not everyone can afford the . One of the things I wanted to show in 10M was to specifically highlight a few of the smaller or medium sized units to show some diversity in the SR merc industry.

And MET2000, Tsunami, and Combat, Inc. are not "defunct". MET and Tsunami are severely mauled, that's it. It happens in war. Combat Inc has to watch themselves becasue of what happened in both South America and Denver so they have THAT to deal with. The FMC is now positioned and has the potential to be one of the more prominent merc units in the world; after they repair their base at Roosevelt Roads. They have their small fleet, but their base was trashed. Some day, instead of the "Big Four" it may (or not, who knows) become the "Big Five". *shrugs*  The only one who came out relatively intact was 10K Daggers, but only because they chose their battles wisely.

[Nath]

I'd really like to say one of those FMC guys saying "Semper Fi" in front of any US citizen from San Diego, San Antonio or Corpus Christi whose hometown is occupied by the same drug cartel-backed government the FMC is taking money from to occupy Colombia.

Always Loyal to the Corps and the Country-except-for-a-few-counties ?

Do they intend on censoring "From the Halls of Montezuma" for commercial reasons ?

[Mirikon]

Nath, you do realize that it isn't Aztlan/Aztechnology that called in the FMC, but the UN, where they're acting as peacekeepers, right? Or did you not actually read the book yet?

[Hellion]

Mystic loved the book.... Not gonna enter into the FMC discussion aside from saying if ya don't like it don't use the info..... Would love to see a series of missions set around bravo company.... Thanks for the great read and stormfront is next on the shopping list

[Nath]

Nath, you do realize that it isn't Aztlan/Aztechnology that called in the FMC, but the UN, where they're acting as peacekeepers, right? Or did you not actually read the book yet?

No. Only the "Hidden spoilers" (Bogota 11). Unless Storm Front includes a last minute change with a UN plan for Colombian independence, the peacekeeping operations are helping Aztlan to enlarge the territory it controls (to "help facilitate the transfer of power in local villages" as it puts it). It's actually even worse if they're wearing the blue helmet, since it makes the entire international community pay for this instead of Aztechnology (IRL, only the operations led by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operation, and thus paid on UN budget, can wear the blue helmets, but they usually have very stringent rules of engagement ; a UN mandate can be given to its members for peace enforcement - the NATO operations in ex-Yugoslavia for instance - which leave the participating forces to establish RoE and fund themselves).

[Mirikon]

Well, the situation is that the fallout from the Azzies using their new anti-dragon weapon on Sirrurg has a bit of a side effect on metahumans. Namely, it makes them into psychotic killers for a time. And the wind currents blew that lovely stuff down on Bogota, just as the Amazonians were trying to retake the city. The whole bloody city went mad, and started tearing itself apart, before the Azzies started bombing, well, EVERYTHING. The UN decided it was time for this mess to stop, and called the FMC (who was already on hand helping enforce sanctions against Aztlan) in to send everyone back to their corners. Before they arrived, the gas wore off, and the Amazonians tried to retreat. The Azzies were given orders to pursue, and the UN countermanded those orders, sending the FMC in to make sure they stayed countermanded. They remain in place to serve as peacekeepers to prevent the Azzies from being their normal selves with the populace until order has been restored, while the UN (and by extension, the Corporate Court) keeps a close eye on the situation.