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Message no. 1
From: Michael Coleman <mscoleman@********.NET>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 03:47:10 -0500
> (SNIP)
>
> Magicians probably go to at least three training schools. Boot
> camp, since
> everyone does. OCS, so they can justify giving them officer's bars. And
> an appropriate magic school, almost certainly combat, though certain
> aspected magicians might be trained as military healers or spies.
>
> Erik J.
>
I agree with pretty much all you said except I think mages would be
separated from the rest of the military. They probably have their own boot
camp and training schools. They would be to valuable to go out on patrol or
anything. I see them as more like air strikes or artillery strikes. "This
is RoverOne, we have a spirit tearing the sh!t out of us! We need a mage
strike NOW!" I can see them evolving into a separate branch of the
military, like the Army Air Corp. became the Air Force. In fact UCAS Mage
Corp. is a good name. I can also see the Mage Corp. recruiting all the
PhyAds as special force units and as protection units for the full mages.
Imagine the esprit de corps they would have if they were an initiating
group.

Mike
Message no. 2
From: "Ojaste,James [NCR]" <James.Ojaste@**.GC.CA>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 09:41:09 -0400
Michael Coleman wrote:
> strike NOW!" I can see them evolving into a separate branch of the
> military, like the Army Air Corp. became the Air Force. In fact UCAS Mage
> Corp. is a good name. I can also see the Mage Corp. recruiting all the
>
I think "UCAS Paranormal Forces" or "Special Paranormal Forces" sounds
better. Plus, you get to make all sorts of bad puns about sunblock. ;-)

> PhyAds as special force units and as protection units for the full mages.
> Imagine the esprit de corps they would have if they were an initiating
> group.
>
I think they'd let mundanes protect the mages - the adepts are far too
valuable in a special forces-type role. Stealth, speed, physical
conditioning all superior to that of regular troops plus other bennies
like weapon foci to attack spirits, pain resistance etc. A small group
of adepts could cause major havoc behind enemy lines. Hmm... Sounds
like a campaign to me. :-)

James Ojaste
Message no. 3
From: Slipspeed <atreloar@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 00:24:24 +1000
James Ojaste wrote:
>I think "UCAS Paranormal Forces" or "Special Paranormal Forces"
sounds
>better. Plus, you get to make all sorts of bad puns about sunblock. ;-)


Hrmm, I misread that as "UCAS Paranoid Forces" or "Special Paranoid
Forces"
first time round... Somehow I get the feeling that it's still valid... :)

>I think they'd let mundanes protect the mages - the adepts are far too
>valuable in a special forces-type role. Stealth, speed, physical
>conditioning all superior to that of regular troops plus other bennies
>like weapon foci to attack spirits, pain resistance etc. A small group
>of adepts could cause major havoc behind enemy lines. Hmm... Sounds
>like a campaign to me. :-)


Perhaps... It takes a LOT of work for a para-military game to work,
however, especially witha group of roleplayers. There just isn't much
opportunity to roleplay when the objective is to get in, kill target X and
get out again without being spotted.

Slipspeed

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
"It's called tourist season, so why can't we shoot them?"
Adam Treloar aka Guardian, Slipspeed
atreloar@*********.com
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1900/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Message no. 4
From: David Foster <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 10:56:45 -0400
On Fri, 18 Sep 1998, Slipspeed wrote:

->Perhaps... It takes a LOT of work for a para-military game to work,
->however, especially witha group of roleplayers. There just isn't much
->opportunity to roleplay when the objective is to get in, kill target X and
->get out again without being spotted.

Hmmm... how about a 2060 equivalent of the the UCAS version of the
British Secret Service? (I don't know what it'd be called, the CIA?) PCs
are called in for jobs and are given an officer's pay rate, plus whatever
they make on their own (why do you think you see James Bond always
gambling, eh?).

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?
Message no. 5
From: "Ojaste,James [NCR]" <James.Ojaste@**.GC.CA>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 10:51:51 -0400
Slipspeed wrote:
> >I think they'd let mundanes protect the mages - the adepts are far too
> >valuable in a special forces-type role. Stealth, speed, physical
> >conditioning all superior to that of regular troops plus other bennies
> >like weapon foci to attack spirits, pain resistance etc. A small group
> >of adepts could cause major havoc behind enemy lines. Hmm... Sounds
> >like a campaign to me. :-)
>
> Perhaps... It takes a LOT of work for a para-military game to work,
> however, especially witha group of roleplayers. There just isn't much
> opportunity to roleplay when the objective is to get in, kill target X and
> get out again without being spotted.
>
Heh - sorry, I should have said "basis for a campaign". Have the
players run a couple of missions, get comfortable with their chars and
setting, then all of a sudden they run into problems. They make a
little too much noise (or the security was tougher than they expected),
but when they get chased to the designated pick up, there isn't anybody
there.

So, the team works to escape on their own and figure out what the frag
happened later. The team beats the opposition and tries to make contact
with the army. Insert fun stuff here:

1) Temporary emergency
1a) They're CAS soldiers, and the CAS has just been invaded by Aztlan -
their pickup got emergency-redirected to another site. Aztlan has moved
the border far enough up that the team (already in Aztlan turf) is now
seriously behind enemy lines.
1b) Their pickup got ambushed and destroyed before it could get to the
rendezvous
1c) The army wanted to fake their deaths to turn them into a really
black ops team (dangerous mission coming up, army needs plausible
deniability)

2) The army disavows any knowledge of the group.
2a) The group got sent out (and set up) as bait
2b) The group got set up as a sacrifice (say to encourage a CAS-Aztlan
conflict)
2c) Conspiracy (lots of options here)

It's a good jumping-off point. :-)

James Ojaste
Message no. 6
From: Lady Jestyr <jestyr@*******.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 01:24:58 +1000
>->Perhaps... It takes a LOT of work for a para-military game to work,
>->however, especially witha group of roleplayers. There just isn't much
>->opportunity to roleplay when the objective is to get in, kill target X and
>->get out again without being spotted.
>
> Hmmm... how about a 2060 equivalent of the the UCAS version of the
>British Secret Service? (I don't know what it'd be called, the CIA?) PCs

The various British intelligence-related agencies are usually MI-, where -
is a number, I believe.



Lady Jestyr

- Eagles may soar, but turkeys don't get sucked into jet engines. -
jestyr@*******.com.au URL: http://www.geocities.com/~jestyr
Message no. 7
From: "Christopher M. Coulter" <kamikaze@*********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 12:25:52 +0000
> The various British intelligence-related agencies are usually MI-,
>where - is a number, I believe.

Useless trivia- M.I stands for Ministry of Intelligence
The numbers of well known fame is MI 5 and MI 6.

MI 6 is the James Bond Secret Service
MI 5 is the equivalent of the United States FBI

-Kamikaze
Message no. 8
From: Micheal Feeney <Starrngr@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 15:00:13 EDT
In a message dated 98-09-17 13:33:04 EDT, you write:

<<
Useless trivia- M.I stands for Ministry of Intelligence
The numbers of well known fame is MI 5 and MI 6.

MI 6 is the James Bond Secret Service
MI 5 is the equivalent of the United States FBI
>>

Actually, MI 5 is COUNTER intelligence. They speciallise mostly in tracking,
capturing, or turning spys, and in general handle everything that has to do
with counter espionage.
Message no. 9
From: Spike <u5a77@*****.CS.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Marines ][ ( Mage as officers)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:40:01 +0100
And verily, did Christopher M. Coulter hastily scribble thusly...
|
|> The various British intelligence-related agencies are usually MI-,
|>where - is a number, I believe.
|
|Useless trivia- M.I stands for Ministry of Intelligence

Actually, I believe it's "Millitary Intelligence", not Ministry.
I don't think we have one of those.

And MI5 doesn't deal with common crimes. (Like what the FBI does).
I don't think the MI5 has very much contact with the general populace.
--
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