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Old 01-30-2010, 03:16 PM
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Raellus Raellus is online now
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Default Mercenaries in T2K: Thoughts and Questions

No, not Merc 2000.

I'm wondering what kinds of troops would be considered mercenaries in the Twilight War/WWIII c.2000, and what the Geneva conventions says about the treatment of captured mercenaries. (I doubt that most militaries/soldiers would bother to abide by most rules in the Geneva convention in the later years of the Twilight War).

Who/what is a mercenary in the context of T2K?

My take is that someone that is not fighting under the flag of their own nation but is part of an organized body of troops fighting for some recognized entity could be considered a mercenary. Would this extend to soldiers of who have become part of an allied nation's military? For example, a British soldier serving in a U.S. unit? I'm thinking "no" on that one.

Foreign troops serving in the Marquis of Silesia or the "Baron" Czarny would probably be considered mercenaries, although you could just as easily consider them mercenaries, I suppose.

There's probably a very fine line between marauder and mercenary. It'd probably be up to the their enemies to decide. I figure that just about every nation's military in 2000 would summarily execute captured marauders, or perhaps put them to work as de facto slave laborers. Would mercenaries earn the same?

How about NATO troops serving in some Polish militia somewhere? Would they be considered mercenaries? Does it depend on why they're doing it? Are they a mercenary if they serve for room and board but not if they are fighting for idealogical reasons?

I'm thinking of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. A lot of them, or so I've read, where from foreign militaries. Ex-Wehrmacht and Waffen SS men, Vietnam Vets, former British/Commonwealth soldiers, etc. Where they considered mercenaries or naturalized Rhodesian soldiers?

I'm toying with the idea of a unit fighting for- or alongside- the forces of the Polish Free Congress in the winter of 2000 (post Omega). It's made up of troops from just about every belligerent nation, but mostly NATO SF types- Germans who love to fight or hate communism/Russians, U.S. operators who didn't want to "abandon" the Poles to Soviet domination, Brits, Danes, Canadians, Poles, ex-Soviet troops... you name it. Some of them are just born warriors, some are idealists, some are nutters. They just can't imagine a world where they're not in the thick of the fight. I'm going to call this unit the 1st Inter-Allied Commando. It's about company strength. Technically, they are not under NATO control. They work for the PFC but have a great deal of autonomy in how they operate. Frankly, the PFC are a bit frightened of them and tend to stay out of their way.

I figure that most everyone would consider this group as mercenaries.

I'm interested in your answers to any of the questions I've posed above or just your general take on mercenaries in T2K.
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