Bad Company General Report Six

Since The Brothers are starting to arrive Ranks, Troops/Sections and Support have begun to play an important role in the effective operation of Bad Company. Most of your questions have concerned these aspects of Bad Company so here's an extract from a letter to another Brother which attempts to explain how they work in greater detail than on The Code and also how they are related to each other.

Rank: The purpose of Ranks are not to dispense orders! They don't allow one Brother entitlement to anything more than any other Brother. Indeed, high Ranks are likely to find they wind up with less than lower Ranks. I will explain this later. The purpose of Ranks is primarily to organize Bad Company. This is achieved through Support and Troops/Sections. But I would say that an additional bonus of Rank is that it gives a sense of identity within Bad Company. And pride of course, for no Brother simply gets given a Rank. He has to work for it.

Support: The whole point of the existence of Bad Company is to create a group that works together in an attempt to achieve more than individuals could on their own. The structure of Rank presents an ideal opportunity through which this can be accomplished. I am sure you are aware that the number of Ranks at each level is half that of the previous level. So it seemed like a good idea if each Rank were to Support 2 Brothers directly under him. This involves supplying equipment that is needed by Brothers in question. For example, if a Brother can make a Spyglass or knows how to make good Armour and Weaponry, he really should help Brothers without this knowledge. After all,is this not why Bad Company exists?

Troops/Missions: So where do the resources come from? If you consider the situation above, you will notice that each Brother is handing over twice the amount he receives! But The General receives nothing, while The Warriors give nothing. This is clearly not efficient. The Warriors would eventually drain Bad Company's resources! So the idea is that Brothers should belong to a Troop or Section. Every so often a Troop/Section Mission will be undertaken. Sometimes these Missions will be to find a particular Plant, Creature or Structure. But usually these Missions would be concerned with generating income with which to pay for Support. For example a Sergeant has equipped his 2 Warriors with Spiked Clubs, Leather Armour, Spyglasses and Blow Pipes. This is nothing to be scoffed at! This Sergeant has done his job,and done his job well! He decides that a Troop Mission is needed as he is skint and can no longer afford to equip his Warriors. He decides to indulge in the mass exploitation of a Small Cave and spends several turns doing this with his Warriors.

The Warriors must now pay for their Support. Obviously, any excellent items found will be kept by the finder. Just as the Sergeant would not be expected to Support his Warriors with items he could not replace. But anything which can be used as currency (Bodkins, Silver Stuff, Creature Parts, etc) should be given to the Sergeant so he can continue giving Support,and pay for his own Support. This evens everything out!

In my opinion this is the best way to run Bad Company. Obviously The Brothers are not going to be ordered around! But Ranks require Troops and Sections in order to enable Support. I am relying on the goodwill and sheer enthusiasm of The Brothers to make this work.

The main concern,and understandably so,is that Troops and Sections are an excuse to order Brothers about. This is not so and in fact goes against everything Bad Company stands for. No Brother should feel that he must participate in Missions or join a Troop or Section if he does not want to. The only type of Mission in which a Brother must cooperate is The Slugfest. All others are optional.

Though bear in mind that you can't just pick and choose to go on Troop and Section Missions that are beneficial to you! If you have particular reason to avoid a Mission then that's fair enough. But if you are a part of a Troop/Section, then your TC/SC will want to be able to rely on your regular help. In return for which he will be giving you regular Support. If you don't like the idea of Troops/Sections,then you must find a Troop in which there are no responsibilities. Your Sergeant won't Support you, but you won't be expected to undertake Missions. You would then be free to do whatever you felt like doing,whenever you felt like doing it.

Although at this point I must stress that there will be stacks of time during Missions for you to amuse yourself.The advantage of Troop/Section Missions is that you get equipped with stuff through Support. Although you pay for your Support through the income you get from Missions.

It is also worth remembering that the above are ideal guidelines only, and in practice different circumstances will arise. For example, Troop A might be doing extremely well while Troop B would be doing rather badly. In this case Troop A may decide to Support Troop B for a while, possibly even for free. The key idea is cooperation, and if Brothers attempt to follow the above guidelines then they benefit both themselves and all others involved.

Another concept which needs discussing is Rank itself. Both Sergeants and Captains will need to put a fair amount of effort into organizing their Troops and Sections. It is important that Brothers with a Rank greater than that of Warrior are prepared to spend a significant amount of time doing this.

It is essential that Sergeants are enthusiastic as they will need to motivate a Troop and organize Missions. Don't apply for promotion unless you think you can handle this. Although having said that, the Sergeant's responsibilities are not that great considering he gets to organize and lead Missions.

It is essential that any potential Captains are fanatics. They really need to believe in Bad Company. The responsibilities that face a Captain are very great. Captains must organize entire Sections when necessary. A Captain is also a Senator and should also hold an additional Post. This by itself is no easy task. A Captain should also take the initiative to deal with problems relating to any part of Bad Company as they arise. Of course Supporting 2 Sergeants is a necessity. And perhaps worst of all (or best depending on how you see things), being a Captain is dangerous! The Senate will not be sitting around ordering Warriors into the fray when a Slugfest occurs! Captains will be first in and last out, behind The General of course.

Only apply for a Rank if you think you can do the job better than any other Brother!

The last concept on the agenda is that of Posts. All Brothers will be sent BCC4 with this General Report, so if you want a Post you'd better grab it quick. As previously stated,it is not a good idea to take a Post simply because it's available. Only take a Post if you think you can do the job better than any other Brother. They are all still available bar The Soothsayer. Posts currently held will be detailed on the latest BCBn for those interested in contacting the relevant Brothers.

Note that The Senate has replaced The Council on BCC4. This is because the Senator is now technically a Post. Captains automatically gain this Post when promoted. These are the only Posts to have a requirement in order to run (ie,being a Captain),and all other Posts may be operated by any Brother. For those of you wondering where The Tactician went, all Senators are effectively Tacticians.

If you come up with any ideas for new Posts then write to me and we'll sort something out.

Well that just about covers The Code. There shouldn't be any confusion left as to how Bad Company is organized now.

Recruitment;Try and recruit enthusiastic Brothers that already follow Fuvah. If they have already made this decision then it's likely that the potential recruit is already on our wavelength. If any of you need surplus Codes to send out then ask and ye shall receive! Though don't send any other Forms or Reports to potential recruits until they are actually Brothers. Write to any monsters you meet on your travels as they may well possess useful information. At least a third of BCMI4 and a large part of BCE5 was obtained by threatening and/or persuasive behaviour. Don't be afraid to sling your weight around, but be prepared to back up rational argument with senseless violence. It usually works! The former method tends to gain information, while the latter makes you feel better if you don't!

The Ceremony;A couple of Brothers have written to me asking whether we should postpone The Ceremony for a while. I think this is a good idea for a number of reasons.

1. It gives the remaining Brothers time to get here.
2. During the time it take the remaining Brothers to get here we will have a good opportunity to get some recruits in the area.
3. It gives us all a chance to explore The Kunbar region and find some really good Totems instead of the poxy ones we've got now.
4. It gives us time to rebuild a Temple before we go Official.
5. We can then hold The Ceremony at a Temple we've rebuilt or found.
6. It gives all Brothers the opportunity to experience the operation of Bad Company, and thus decide if they really want to join. I can imagine nothing worse than Brothers buggering off because they don't like being in The Group,hence reducing our maximum possible membership.

For all the above reasons I reckon it would be best to hold The Ceremony in 4 months time somewhere between the Upper/Mid Mor/Kunbar border and 30 or 40 squares East of that point. It really depends on where we find a convenient Temple. Either myself or Sergeant HMG II will soon be able to tell you approximately where the Mor/Kunbar border is as we're both about to cross it.

I think that's about it for now. One interesting thing has happened in Turn 2 with respect to another monster I started up. Funnel Snakes and a Tuvian Plant (or Tree,I can't remember),were both found! Heh,heh. Easy!

And I go down a Small Cave 4 times on the trot this Turn! Excellent! I will definitely get a few bits of treasure as I've got Bashing 4 and have a nice Spiked Club handy. For the Wrestlers, Pointed 3 with a Smamppus Rake will serve you well! If I get any surplus stuff it's going to be given out on a first come,first serve basis. See you in Kunbar!

General Groan