#mercenary companies

[racefortheironthrone]

Thanks for answering the question on banks, maester. I hope it's not too much to ask to wonder how mercenary companies became to be. Is it a Mount and Blade thing where a rich guy goes to a village and hires a bunch of peasants? Wouldn't the local lord be upset about the lack of manpower? I never understood that part.

I'm very happy to help. So if you're asking how mercenary companies come to be, let's discuss the example of the rise of the Italian condotterie.

You're actually very close to guessing the whole of the right answer. It is indeed, very close to "rich guy goes to a village and hires a bunch of peasants?"

The step that you're missing is that a lot of rural Italian noblemen, having lost most of their political power over the cities and (indeed over their own rural estates) to the urban bourgeoisie and their populari political machine, decided to take up a career as a mercenary officer, because they at least had been trained as knights from an early age.

See, the way that mercenary companies worked was that officers were essentially sub-contractors who were responsible for recruiting rank-and-file soldiers, and who were paid a bonus salary and additional loot shares in proportion to how many men they had brought into the company. In this fashion, officers were incentivized to bring in enough rank-and-file soldiers, and the company would hit its targets for number of mounted cavalry, number of archers, number of pikemen, etc.

So in a lot of cases, the way it would work is that the former signore would arrive in a village and instead of ordering his subjects to provide a feudal levy, he would offer his former peasants mercenary work for good wages - usually offering to provide them the necessary equipment out of his family's arsenal. And in a lot of cases when the signore made their offer, bored young men who didn't have much in the way of prospects in declining rural economies jumped at the opportunity to win gold and glory as mercenaries.

[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."

[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\\

[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

[pampanope]

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

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

[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

[ashevi666]

Crimson Scar Ishmael!

[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.

[mellot02]

Don't you wanna try ABNO☺️

[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\\

[kikunai]

nom nom nom

[postdeathapocalypse]

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

[thelostgirl21]

One thing I really want to see happen in Season 4...

Valdo Marx: Nice to see you again, Joseph!

Jaskier: *Heavy sigh* That's -

Yarpen: *Stepping in front of him protectively.* Julian Alfred Pankratz to you, you dying sounding beached whale! Only his friends call him Joseph!

Jaskier: Ah, actually, that's Jaskier.

Yarpen: *Dismissively.* Yeah, I KNOW.

Jaskier: *Getting all teary eyed.* I know you do.