 July 29, 2018 - 5:40am | In the history of mercenary and military organizations the French Foreign Legion holds a special place and is unique in its make up and traditions. where and how could we craft a FFL inspired organization? 1 part mercenary unit, one part militia unit, and all bad arsed through and through a unit that takes the dregs and the outcast and hammers them into some of the most elite soldiers in the Frontier. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 29, 2018 - 5:49am | One possibility is on Kdikit at Madderly's star where Merco is headquartered. A quasi mercenary unit that rents out but has the status of militia authorized by the Kdikit government. It does accept vrusk and the ones that it attracts are tough hombres- total thousand yard stare and look right through you. Merco mercenaries, who clearly out number them on planet, step aside for them or they are moved aside. They are the meanest of the mean and the toughest of the tough. Their loyalty is to the unit and each other and the unit's reputation- they never quit, they never say die. Part of their reputaion is that 10 of them can hold off thousands although the incident that they bit of legend is based on was about 24 who held off 490. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 29, 2018 - 7:38am | It might make sense if they predate other organisations such as Merco, etc. But the FFL only really make sense because on Earth we still stick to nationalism and the concept of countries, but this doesn't exist on the Frontier. Things are more unified. Maybe people still join the organisation you imagine just for the prestige and the challenge but, like the FFL, their actual use is somewhat limited. |
July 29, 2018 - 9:37am | It might make sense if they predate other organisations such as Merco, etc. But the FFL only really make sense because on Earth we still stick to nationalism and the concept of countries, but this doesn't exist on the Frontier. Things are more unified. Maybe people still join the organisation you imagine just for the prestige and the challenge but, like the FFL, their actual use is somewhat limited. I like the idea of predating the Frontier and if so Kdikit does not work as a home due to the History there. EDIT I think the issue of nati0nalism is shifted from various countries to planetary government. for all intents and purposes any planet that is a new colony can be reasonably expected to have a single government with the exception of Ourter Reach which has, IIRC various crime lords holding power on the surface and the Malthar holding court on Dark World Staion. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 29, 2018 - 11:07am | Sure, but in SF the planet you originate from is not an issue. Therefore, there's not even a nationalism based on a person's homeplanet. It may just be that this particular group is the oldest merc group there is, and being accepted into it's ranks is something that has to be hard won. Aside from that, they're just another bunch of mercenaries, but possibly their repuation means that individuals within their ranks are paid much more and have various other exclusive perks. The only problem really is that they'd probably spend most of their time being involved in corporate wars. Maybe they had some role to play in the Sathar Wars, but ostensibly they're still just guns for hire. Perhaps their only redeeming feature is that they are prepared to take on missions that no-one else would be crazy enough to attempt. |
July 29, 2018 - 11:15am | Sure, but in SF the planet you originate from is not an issue. Therefore, there's not even a nationalism based on a person's homeplanet. there is setting evidence that contradicts this statement: The whole Gollywog thing implies that there is a "national" or colonial identity rooted to the planet of birth and culture surronding pride and prejudice about that. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 29, 2018 - 11:17am | I actually think that there will be natural colony identification/sentimentality In the Galaxy Cup, who you going to root for? home planet team. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 29, 2018 - 12:49pm | Ok, but possibly Gollywog is an aberration. As this would be a 'multinational' force of sorts, you'd have to figure out how and why any particular planet would stand out as being the homeworld of this legion. Perhaps the planet itself is a hostile environment, possibly a moon around a particular planet in a particular system. Even surviving basic training there is not a given, and possibly the legion's HQ is there just to show how tough the whole outfit is. It's also less likely to be attacked. |
July 30, 2018 - 6:01am | Another idea: perhaps there's a legion within Star Law that takes on all of the dangerous missions that regular SL units cannot do. So, rather than being mercenaries, they're an elite group who are called in whenever the going gets tough. Perhaps they also specialise in operating in dangerous environments, and/or sometimes operate into areas outside the Frontier when the need arises. Maybe they also go looking for suspected Sathar bases or infiltration points. It's also possible they they're used to counter the wost excesses of megacorp mercenaries - perhaps they step in to stop full-blown shooting wars between megacorps. |
 August 2, 2018 - 6:50am | Well, I think one Zebs "canon" version of the French Foreign Legion is the Humma's (and excuse me if I spell it wrong) the "Hopping Hundred and Eighth" from the Second Sathar War. If I'm not mistaken, they have a quasi-FFL feel to them... or perhaps the Humma unit more akin to the "Flying Tigers" of World War II or there were the Americans who went over to France to fight for the Allies before America entered World War I. Joe Cabadas |
August 2, 2018 - 6:51am | Another idea: perhaps there's a legion within Star Law that takes on all of the dangerous missions that regular SL units cannot do. So, rather than being mercenaries, they're an elite group who are called in whenever the going gets tough. Perhaps they also specialise in operating in dangerous environments, and/or sometimes operate into areas outside the Frontier when the need arises. Maybe they also go looking for suspected Sathar bases or infiltration points. It's also possible they they're used to counter the wost excesses of megacorp mercenaries - perhaps they step in to stop full-blown shooting wars between megacorps. Now that definitely might fit the FFL idea. Joe Cabadas |
 January 30, 2019 - 10:50pm | I'd give the Clarion Royal Marines an Auxilliary with the characteristics of the FFL... |
January 31, 2019 - 6:43pm | I'd give the Clarion Royal Marines an Auxilliary with the characteristics of the FFL...
What if its a Royal Guard auxiliary? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 4, 2019 - 9:26am | Alien Auxiliary? Cant do Alien Legion. The Royal Alien Auxiliary? RAA The Royal Alien Warrior Auxiliary? RAWA The Royal Auxiliary Cohort? RAC The Royal Alien Auxiliary Cohort? RAAC Royal Auxiliary? RA The Clarion Alien Legion? CAL I'm liking the name cohort after looking it up on word hippo and i like RAC and RAAC both pronounced the same. Citizens enlist in Royal Guard and Royal Marines. prisoners and aliens enlist in the RAAC note prisoners get the sentence commuted by enlisting in the RAAC. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 10, 2019 - 11:20am | You can always watch Abbott and Costello Join the French Foreign Legion -- available on YouTube -- for inspiration.  Joe Cabadas |
