#mercenary companies

[racefortheironthrone]

Do you know people usually went about joining a mercenary company in medieval times? Were there things like tryouts or did they take whoever wanted to join?

Yeah, I’ve covered this.

Basically, mercenary officers acted as recruiting agents and would go around hiring guys they thought would be good at it. They would show up in a given area (especially an area already known for mercenary work or an area that had established hiring fairs) and put on a show for young men, showing off their fancy clothes, buying drinks at local taverns, and paying signing bonuses to attract talent. As with the modern labor market, recruits who had professional training (especially in specialized areas like cavalry and artillery), work experience, and their own equipment were highly prized and would get higher pay rates compared to a green footslogger.

[corsair-news-alliance]

Not sure where the idea of mech pilots being squishy outside the mech came from. As a handler I think I fear a pilot outside the mech more than one inside. It takes a special kind of crazy to pilot a mech once. It's a complete other kind to pilot it regularly.

Caliaban pilots lose their fear of bigger targets, seen a five foot nothin pilot wrestle one of our biggest meanest enforcers to the ground in less than six seconds. Or a blackbeard pilot who will grapple hold just about anything.

You think a Gorgun pilot is gonna stop being a defensive bastard over whoever they deem as their friends. You think a minotaur pilot is even remotely normal outside?

I'll tell you this. A pilot is dangerous no matter where you put them. I'd just rather they're in the machine they're used to, rather than letting them improvise in a bar fight because some dipshit decided to play grabass with the adrenaline fueled killing machine.

//Signal\\

[valdevia]

"They say Curculio was a noble's son who chose the mercenary life after the crops in his village were ravaged by the weevil plague. He doesn't speak or take his helmet off, so rumours abound about him… her? I think they prefer to let the halberd do the talking. And they're damned good at it, too."

[kikunai]

<- [WAW] Crimson Scar Ishmael [WAW] Cobalt Scar Heathcliff ->

[postdeathapocalypse]

---| . . . OPENING CONSOLE.

---| CHECKING REACTOR HEAT LEVELS. . . NOMINAL.

---| CONNECTING TO COMMUNICATIONS LINK. . . CONNECTED.

---| DISPLAYING PILOT INFORMATION;; > NIKOLAI "HEADLOCK" MOROZOV > VERTICAL TANK(S) IN STORAGE;; - GMS SAGARMATHA - "WICKED CHANT" > NO NCI (NON-CORPOREAL INDIVIDUALS) ON BOARD. . . > ACTIVATING COMPANION/CONCIERGE. . . ACTIVE. > HELLO WORLD. HELLO, OMNINET.

[oldschoolfrp]

"Members of the Mindulgulph Mercenary Company, scouting in the Shaar: (left to right) Gayrlana, leader of the company; Floshwa, loxo wizardess; and Karrlon, wemic scout" (Doug Chaffee, Forgotten Realms AD&D 2e supplement FR15: Gold & Glory by Tim Beach, TSR, 1992)

[artbyblastweave]

It's really amazing to me the extent to which the last issue of TF2 comics has caused basically the entire project to snap together into something pretty thematically coherent, and the theme in question is the same as Dead Money

[tridenopmoth]

My first trade ypieeeeeee As you can see - this is the art of the third \fourth Uptie. BUT! There is art for the first \ second Uptie and you can see it from: @redforia https://x.com/redforia_art Well, I finally switched from Dragon bone to Spine, you can't imagine how happy I was doing all the animation - it was so easy and even the quality didn't eat up. I can see the screw ups of course, but to be fair, I do bone animations once every half a year. Plus, I screwed up by doing the shadows on one layer instead of separately for each animation sprite (but I've noticed that the original sprites have this problem too, but not as noticeable, pu pu puh). And thanks again for the trade

[alexa-mwll]

The real life Commander Graves (Erik Prince)

Erik Prince was a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer that created the private military company Blackwater. When asked why he created the company he credited the Rwandan genocide "It really bothered me. It made me realize you can't sit back and pontificate" - Erik Prince.

It is not a myth that they wanted to put the Blackwater company as the Shadow Company and the Wagner group, as the Konni group.

For some years now, these two mercenary companies have been rivals.

[pampanope]

I turn my Japan trip photos into Graves + Shadow Company photos~

He got business in Japan and took some Shadows with him 🤷‍♀️

[ashevi666]

Crimson Scar Ishmael!

[racefortheironthrone]

Given events yesterday, there's a high likelihood of Machiavelli grinning smugly in some afterlife, right?

Hah! Niccolo was good at the smug grin, as you can see:

But yeah, the very sudden blowup of armed conflict between the Wagner Group and the Russian Army would absolutely be used by Machiavelli as an example of why mercenaries could be so dangerous.

Leaving aside that we don't know quite who's right about Prigozhin's claims of sabotage and friendly fire from the Russian Army, it was clearly a problem to have a significant element of the Russian military position in Ukraine under the control of a mercenary plutocrat with an intense rivalry with the Defense Minister.

But now the Russians have a real problem where the Wagner Group has seized control of strategically vital territories and it's become a real issue of whether Putin's forces can stop Prigozhin's drive for Moscow before he can make good on his "march for justice" and remove the evil councilors around the czar.

[corsair-news-alliance]

People interested in becoming Handlers, those about to be handlers, and those who just became handlers listen up.

You're gonna need this to get through Boots on the Ground after Boots on the Ground.

1. You're going to see everything your pilots see. You're going to see the unfiltered nightmare of the field. Make sure you've got a vice of choice that you can stay steady. Avoid booze. You need to be clear.

2. You're their guardian no matter how much they think they're bulletproof out there you're the one making sure they're actually bulletproof. The information you send them is what makes sure they don't die.

3. They will die. One of your pilots will die. You can't stop it. It doesn't get easier.

4. When they get back to base your job isn't done. You finish the after action report. You make sure your pilots get what they need. Only once they're settled is your job done for the night.

5. One day they're going to ignore an order. You have a choice. Keep yelling at them to try (and fail) to get them on track. Or you can buck command as well and make sure they survive.

6. You are not the pilot's friend. You're their handler. You point the weapon they are. The second they're inside their mech and you're in your chair talking to them on comms they're your ward.

7. Never celebrate right after a battle.

8. Never get comfortable in the chair. No mission is ever as simple as the briefing makes it.

9. Your pilot will prove you wrong.

10. Break all these rules the second it feels right. You're a handler, you manage pilots, the bastards fueled by willpower and spite. You've got to have more will than they do.

//Signal\\

[revvedandrunning]

first time playing lancer as a player, we were talking about drunk driving mechs and someone asked how my character, who always wears a gas hood, would smoke or drink, so i had to use show dont tell maybe i should make a blog for him

[kikunai]

nom nom nom

[postdeathapocalypse]

I am NOT believing the concept that MOTH PEOPLE are REAL. How would that even WORK.