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Book 1: Mercenary Second Edition

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In the universes of Traveller there are countless souls sailing across the sea of stars in search of fame, fortune and perhaps some deeper meaning to it all. Some are looking for the answer to the eternal questions of their civilisation, others simply want to get away from it all and find something better in the void. Anything can happen in the stretches of emptiness between worlds, and sometimes this can mean trouble. For the unprepared, this is often fatal. If someone cannot protect themselves from the dangers of the universe, there are always others who will – for a price.

This all new edition of Book 1: Mercenary provides a great many rules and revisions suitable for all ground-based combat in any Traveller campaign. With this book, you will be able to;

* Recruit squads, platoons, companies and entire armies from across the stars to create your own force of mercenaries.

* Engage in massed battles between these forces using a new system that is just as quick as combat between individual characters!

* Take your character through university and higher education before embarking on a career.

* Wield the all new Destructive weaponry to annihilate any foe you meet on the battlefield, while using forward observers to rain artillery and orbital fire down upon them.

* Use the all new ticket system to pick up mercenary contracts and earn massive amounts of Credits.

* Build strongholds, fortresses and bunker complexes, and then engage in sieges and assaults to destroy them.

* Learn the secrets of bulk-buying huge amounts of weapons at a discount, and pick up some new vehicles designed specifically for mercenaries along the way.

* Apply the new gun combat skills and revisions to your games for a greatly enhanced battle experience.

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Reviews (3)
Discussions (6)
Customer avatar
Kary W June 24, 2018 8:52 pm UTC
Hi. I was wondering if a print version of this title will be available? I see that the first version offers a print option, but would prefer the second edition and as of today a print option is not listed.
Customer avatar
Chuck D July 01, 2014 9:01 pm UTC
I will say, just as a potential purchaser of Traveller by Mongoose, this has put me off of purchasing any of their books until the second edition reissues (if any). I almost purchased this one a little bit ago... and to see this second edition hit without an upgrade makes me think I need to wait a bit.
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Customer avatar
Rory H October 11, 2014 5:31 am UTC
You’ll note this is an upgrade made several years after the first edition book. It’s release has more to do with addressing issues highlighted with the original book rather than an attempt to revise the whole line. We may see some revision of other books over time, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you!
Customer avatar
Rory H May 31, 2014 1:02 am UTC
It's worth noting that there has been a slight design shift by Mongoose - not just in the cover style, but also with the interior layout. There is also an upshift in the quality of art too. The content, as billed, is substantially more meaty than the previous edition (a very rushed product). The usual expansions on character creation, tactics and technology is still there, as is the 'Tickets' (patron encounters and mercenary missions) from the previous edition.

Of more interest is the mass combat rules for building an army and fighting with it. Broadly this links Traveller as a RPG towards it being a war-game (although not necessarily a miniatures based one). The book finishes off with a catalogue of vehicles, guns and some pregen stats.

In all, a considerable lift from the previous edition, and arguably the best in the 'Book' series in terms of utility….unless you don't want to play military campaigns of course!
Customer avatar
christopher M May 30, 2014 10:47 pm UTC
I too am curious about this?
Customer avatar
Mark H May 30, 2014 9:59 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hmm. I can't help feeling cheated by this.

Don't get me wrong, I've not bought this, but I did buy the original version, and it was liberally spread with poor proof-reading, errors and inconsistencies, which was also repeated with many of Mongooses' Traveller products, even after they started crediting proofreaders several supplements down the line.
They seemed to be too interested in churning out the products too fast, too soon to polish them properly.

Needless to say, although I bought most of their Traveller products [Yes, I was a mug], I was disappointed they only improved slightly as time went by.

So what I now need to know is: Is this version really worth bothering with if you already have the previous error-ridden version and errata?
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Customer avatar
John G May 31, 2014 7:56 am UTC
According to the information available on the Mongoose Traveller boards, large parts have been re - written so as to make the first edition redundant. If you bought the first edition you now have to buy this second edition as a separate product.
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Customer avatar
Rory H May 31, 2014 9:57 am UTC
My views on the product itself are above.

However, I do think the counter-argument to what you say here is that the original Book 1: Mercenary was one of the weakest books in the whole line. It was also the first supplemental release for the game (which was more than 5 years ago now). Like with the 2nd edition Supplement 1: 770 Patrons, this is really a response by Mongoose to the criticism they received, and an attempt to clean up the game line as a whole. Given that there is no compulsion to buy it, I can't really see what is wrong with that - so long as the new product has added value (it does!).
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Customer avatar
Timothy K June 24, 2014 9:23 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This book is not worth it. It's an appendix at best. It "solves" things by getting rid of them. No Mercenary careers, Mass Combat is 4 pages, no rules for training troops, no system for creating Tickets. I have questions for folks rating this above a 1. I wholeheartedly disagree that this book adds anything to your gaming experience besides a nifty set of things to buy for your Evil Villain Lair. Mass Combat can be summed up as unit=character=standard combat+morale.
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Product Information
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Pages
132
ISBN
978-1-908460-30-1
Publisher Stock #
MGP 4000
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12.13 MB
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File Last Updated:
May 30, 2014
This title was added to our catalog on May 30, 2014.