Welcome everyone! This will be a sci-fi military role play set in the universe of David Drake's Hammers Slammers, an armored mercenary regiment. This is going to be more free form than many rp's and I encourage you to improvise elements of the plot at will. If something is too out there I will reign it in.
This is a military themed RP and it will be correspondingly graphic, you have been warned.
This is a military themed RP and it will be correspondingly graphic, you have been warned.
Trabzon is a relatively prosperous world. It was settled in the early diaspora by a majority Muslim Turkish stock. For decades it eked out an existence based on cultivation of wheat, high protein fungus and light manufacturing. With the increased galactic warfare of the last thirty years however, Trabzon has found a new lease on life. Increasingly sophisticated electronics have been coming into use throughout the galaxy from first tier worlds like Calth and New Friesland. As these worlds move to more and more high tech and expensive, components, space has opened up for producers of cheap but serviceable electronics for poorer worlds. Thanks to wise economic leadership in the past, Trabzon
Unfortunately this new found prosperity has bought with it social strife. Former agricultural magnates, who once ruled vast fiefdoms, are losing power to their prosperous merchant rivals. These conservative oligarchs are known collectively as the Wheat Barons. They have organised themselves into a loose alliance to attempt to quash their urban rivals and ensure they stay in power. The Wheat Barons have near total control of the rural areas and are powerfully connected to the Islamic faith. They have routinely used this connection to stir up religious strife, inciting the ‘pious’ rural people rise up against their more prosperous/decadent urban brethren.
With the death of the last president and a contested election, the violence has begun to intensify. Urban magnates see it as the moment to break the power of the old feudal families and the rural elite see it as the last chance to put down the upstarts from the cities. After a wave of bombings and violence by local militia groups, President Jamal Khalid took the drastic step of hiring Hammer’s Slammers with the goal of preventing the violence from degenerating into civil war.
For the past three months the Slammers have kept a lid on the violence, with only minor actions of riot suppression and counterinsurgency. Unbeknownst to anyone, in the Slammers or the Government, the Wheat Barons have hired mercenaries of their own and are now moving to ambush the would be peace keepers and destroy them before they can adjust to the new strategic situation.
Allied Forces:
Hammer’s Slammers – A large mercenary armored force consisting of tanks, combat cars (effectively open topped gun carriers), artillery and mounted infantry. All Slammers vehicles are air cushioned hover craft.
Indig(enous) Forces – A rag tag, undisciplined and under equipped local army, corrupt and not particularly willing to fight. It is also very factional with more loyalty to local commanders and paymasters than the national government. Some elements have gone over to the enemy.
Enemy Forces:
Rural Militia- About what you would expect. Untrained but adept at ambushes and IED style attacks.
Enemy Mercenaries
The opposition has hired several smaller units rather than a single large one. These include specialist commando elements that are responsible for the initial strike against the slammers. I encourage you to invent mercenary units. They will contain infantry, armored and artillery elements, although these may not all arrive during the first phase.
Tactical Picture
At the beginning of the story Hammer’s Slammers fall victim to a massive surprise attack which has been carefully coordinated by off planet mercenaries who specialize in these tactics. Several fire bases are decimated by bombings and the deliberate crashing of space craft. Outlying units like Task Force Tambre (the group to which players are currently assigned) are subject to ambush attacks with the goal of destroying them wholesale. At the same time, all Slammers communication satellites are taken out by the locals, resulting in a partial communications blackout and a loss of all satellite recon capabilities. The slammers will respond by taking out enemy satellites but the resulting intelligence black out will give the enemy a chance to begin landing regular forces at various points on Trabzon.
Unfortunately this new found prosperity has bought with it social strife. Former agricultural magnates, who once ruled vast fiefdoms, are losing power to their prosperous merchant rivals. These conservative oligarchs are known collectively as the Wheat Barons. They have organised themselves into a loose alliance to attempt to quash their urban rivals and ensure they stay in power. The Wheat Barons have near total control of the rural areas and are powerfully connected to the Islamic faith. They have routinely used this connection to stir up religious strife, inciting the ‘pious’ rural people rise up against their more prosperous/decadent urban brethren.
With the death of the last president and a contested election, the violence has begun to intensify. Urban magnates see it as the moment to break the power of the old feudal families and the rural elite see it as the last chance to put down the upstarts from the cities. After a wave of bombings and violence by local militia groups, President Jamal Khalid took the drastic step of hiring Hammer’s Slammers with the goal of preventing the violence from degenerating into civil war.
For the past three months the Slammers have kept a lid on the violence, with only minor actions of riot suppression and counterinsurgency. Unbeknownst to anyone, in the Slammers or the Government, the Wheat Barons have hired mercenaries of their own and are now moving to ambush the would be peace keepers and destroy them before they can adjust to the new strategic situation.
Allied Forces:
Hammer’s Slammers – A large mercenary armored force consisting of tanks, combat cars (effectively open topped gun carriers), artillery and mounted infantry. All Slammers vehicles are air cushioned hover craft.
Indig(enous) Forces – A rag tag, undisciplined and under equipped local army, corrupt and not particularly willing to fight. It is also very factional with more loyalty to local commanders and paymasters than the national government. Some elements have gone over to the enemy.
Enemy Forces:
Rural Militia- About what you would expect. Untrained but adept at ambushes and IED style attacks.
Enemy Mercenaries
The opposition has hired several smaller units rather than a single large one. These include specialist commando elements that are responsible for the initial strike against the slammers. I encourage you to invent mercenary units. They will contain infantry, armored and artillery elements, although these may not all arrive during the first phase.
Tactical Picture
At the beginning of the story Hammer’s Slammers fall victim to a massive surprise attack which has been carefully coordinated by off planet mercenaries who specialize in these tactics. Several fire bases are decimated by bombings and the deliberate crashing of space craft. Outlying units like Task Force Tambre (the group to which players are currently assigned) are subject to ambush attacks with the goal of destroying them wholesale. At the same time, all Slammers communication satellites are taken out by the locals, resulting in a partial communications blackout and a loss of all satellite recon capabilities. The slammers will respond by taking out enemy satellites but the resulting intelligence black out will give the enemy a chance to begin landing regular forces at various points on Trabzon.
