|
What is a Contract?
A contract is a legal and binding agreement between a Mercenary Unit and an Employer. It involves a combat mission that the Employer pays a Mercenary Unit for.
Who is involved?
A contract is created by an employer who lists it on MERC-NET within the format set out by the SLDF Department of Mercenary Management. Then a Mercenary Unit under DMM registration views the MERC-NET listing and chooses which contract they wish to do.
Bounty?
Every contract within Battletech Mercenaries revolves around bounties. This is included as an incentive to you and your players, how this works is that at the end of a contract the Mercenary Unit Commanding Officer or Executive Officer will collate all posts into one 'Transcript' that will be submitted via a form to be reviewed. The unit will be paid C-Bills based on the word count of a valid Transcript. A unit will not receive any bounty if the minimum word count is not reached.
Timeframe?
Due to the fact that contract can take up to 12 months in game time to complete, it is not practical to have the same amount of time pass in real time. So a timeframe change is used to calculate game time vs. real time. The system is quite simple: '2 Days GT = 1 Day RT'
Example: A 4 month contract for a Merc Unitwill take 60 days in real time.
This is a simple method to keep things moving within the Mercenary Unitwithout having weeks of nothing happening. Simultaneously Mercenary Unit Commanding Officers won’t get burned out trying to keep things moving on the same plot for extended times.
Contract Types?
The 6 contract types and their 13 sub-catagories are based on the primary operations that a Mercenary Unit can face. They also help to give the Mercenary Unit an idea of what to expect of their own duties and how adversaries will react to them, please read up on their descriptions for more detail. Retainer Contracts?
Taking a retainer contract is a big step for a Mercenary Unit, it staples your Mercenary Unit to an employer for an extended duration and the people of the Inner Sphere will clearly see your lack of true neutrality but there can be great opportunities with retainer contracts. Please see the Retainer section of the Database for more information. (Click here)
When to bid for a Contract?
Multiple Contract Bids? As a Mercenary Unit expands into a Battalion or eventually into a Regiment size force the MUCO has the choice of bidding for more than 1 contract at any given time:
Company Size Unit: 1 Company Detachment Contract
2 Company Detachment Contracts 1 Battalion Detachment Contract
2 Company Detachment Contracts 3 Company Detachment Contracts 1 Battalion Detachment Contract 2 Battalion Detachment Contracts 1 Regiment Detachment Contract
Sub-Contracting Procedures?
Contract Expiration Date? Every contract has an expiry date when the contract will be dropped from MERC-NET due to no bids and to allow a feeling of time progression. There is an excellent opportunity for MUCO's because if a contract expiration date is within 48 hours, all you need is a reputation of 1 with that employer to bid of any and all contract types.
Transcript? The MUCO or MUXO needs to be keeping a single Transcript of all posts done on a contract. When the contract completion date has been reached the MUCO or MUXO needs to submit a Transcript via the MUCO Interface for review. The Transcript: 1. Can contain Scene and Signature tags 2. Should be in .doc Word Format 3. Title should be in this format: LA-GD-06-01 4. Should have Tahoma 10pt font
What happens when the Contract is finished? A MUCO or MUXO will need to collate the Transcript and submit it via a form for review, the contract payment for the word count bounty will not be released until this is done. Once it has been submitted the Director and/or Faction Ambassador will review it to see if the unit has completed or failed the contract requirements, in a nutshell: Word Count. The C-Bills will then be released to the units MHB Credit Account for use in buying and selling Military Hardware. (4 days wait is the norm, please make enquires if your submission takes longer to process)
Contract Failure?
Sometimes a Mercenary Unit does not meet the minimum Transcript word count or fails to submit the Transcript within the timefram given. When this happens the unit forfeits the contract and gets paid nothing, they also loose their positive reputation and keep any negative reputation. This might seem harsh but under the old Mercenary Review Board, Mercenary Units were actually fined for contractual failures.
Contract Release?
Sometimes a Mercenary Unit regrets or mistakenly bids on a contract they do not want to do. So to obtain a contract release the Faction Ambassador or employer concerned has the option of suing for ($ per word x $ minimum transcript) of the contract or a forceful release leading to -2 reputation points with that employer.
Supplement Contracts?
Some contracts may have one or two extra supplement contracts to extend your service with your current employer. You bid for them at the same time you submit your original contract transcript, there may be a delay before you start on the supplemental contract. Any and all supplmental contracts can be bided for no matter what your current reputation is with your current employer.
Common Procedures?
There may be small variations, but this is the common procedure a MUCO should follow:
|