Mercenaries and Marauders Throughout The Land

[Tonguez]

AFAIK, letters of marque were given to 'pirate hunters' because the nation didn't have the naval forces or training to take care of the matter themselves. On land, the army, guard, etc, would have been able to take care of such matters.

No Letters of Marque were used by the British Government (at least) to licence private mecenary ships to attack Spanish and/or Dutch shipping. For instance Sir Francis Drake was a Privateer operating under such a letter of Marque.The Privateer was licenced to raid foriegn shipping and take cargoes returning a portion of it to the Crown as payment.
Sometimes if the Privateer was getting desperate they would turn to piracy themselves. One of the reasons Bucanners thrived in the Caribbean for so long was because the British colonies supported their attacks on Spanish settlements and ships.

Generally too Medieval armies were not contiguous units but were instead distinct bands of Knights, men-at-arms and foot soldiers lead by their particular Lord. Each Lord was technically independent however as most were close relatives of the King and held position by his favour they were generally loyal.
The point though is that each Lord was free to break away and return to the north if they so chose.
Mecenaries in such a setting are those not attached to a Lord but instead able to be hired by anyone willing to pay.

Of course, if most of the army is on the southern border fighting a war their might easily be room for expanding into mercenary security for those not conscripted into the army. Or maybe the last generation was wasted, along with the national resources. Its all the nation can do to maintain the integrity of the borders and prevent civil unrest, so selling letters of marque in an effort to get semi-official security wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[mmadsen]

AFAIK, letters of marque were given to 'pirate hunters' because the nation didn't have the naval forces or training to take care of the matter themselves.

You're half right. Letters of marque were given to private captains who effectively became pirates, attacking the enemy's shipping lines. This method of building a quasi-navy worked because private ship-owners already owned an expensive piece of military hardware, their ship, and because attacking enemy ships yielded tremendous booty.

On land, the army, guard, etc, would have been able to take care of such matters.

It's much more difficult to get men to plead for the right to attack enemy soldiers than it is to get a ship's captain to volunteer to plunder enemy ships full of gold from the New World.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have an area of border city states that at war, families hire mercenaries to fill their ranks in attacks and protection. Some of these groups have started to hold cities for ransom, hire us or we take stuff motto. The easy life is hard to turn away from.

Overall I keep size of groups 200 or so, fighters sub-contract with some major PC/NPC, who then sells service to a family, that uses that service to pay homage to the city. Loyality is to family but duty is city. Getting the best deal is important here.

Fighters can break contact for a number of reasons. Groups, I like to have a vote, pluses for winning, money, charisma of leader.

Now it is of note that my area is one of chaos, it has been designed for conflict. It is an area that breeds the need for a 3rd party fighting force.

 

[mmadsen]

I have an area of border city states that at war, families hire mercenaries to fill their ranks in attacks and protection. Some of these groups have started to hold cities for ransom, hire us or we take stuff motto. The easy life is hard to turn away from.

They sound like the Italian condottieri, of course, the mercenaries who had their way with Renaissance Italy. Can anyone recommend any good books on the condottieri? There have to be some great (nonfiction) stories out there...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Re: Mercenaries: Born of Blood

I swear, it's coming soon. Soon. No really.

You can view the cover here: http://www.otherworlds.cx/images/mercs.jpg

You can chat on the forums about it here: http://www.otherworlds.cx/sforums/f...T_ID=6&Forum_Title=Mercenaries:+Born+of+Blood

Soon, my precious, soooooonnn.

Soon is relative isn't it? Do we mean soon as in the end of '02 or first quarter 03' or something else to be defined as soon?

 

[mmadsen]

Can anyone recommend any good books on the condottieri?

Anyone? Certainly Machiavelli has a field day, lambasting them, but I'd like to read more about just what they did. They sound just like a D&D party (only bigger).