Not Freelancer, but Landsknecht

The other day, walking through the expanses of YouTube, stumbled upon a video dedicated to Wagner PMCs, namely, manifested in the Syrian Republic of Courage. Video, in itself, does not have any significant artistic value, but the topic forgotten in a popular culture rises in it-mercenary romance.

REFERENCE
Mercenary in itself, t.e, participation in military conflicts, in order to obtain personal benefits from one of the warring parties – is prohibited by the Geneva Convention, as well as the legislation of the majority of the globe of the globe. Article 47 Part 2 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva Convention determines the mercenaries of people who:
1. Specially recruited to participate in military conflict.
2. Actually takes part in military conflict.
3. Has an agreement on one of the parties to the military conflict on material reward for participation in one. At the same time, the compensation of the mercenary exceeds the salary of the personnel of the armed forces of the country participating in the military conflict of a similar rank and functions.
4. Is not a citizen of a member of a military conflict or a person permanently living on its territory.
5. Not included in the personnel of the armed forces of the part of the conflict.
6. Is not a seconded personnel of peacekeeping missions or states that do not participate in the conflict.
Such units as: the French Foreign Legion and Private Military Companies do not fall under this definition. The first: although they are recruited from non -citizens, they receive a salary similar to other military personnel of the French Army, and the second: they do not actually take part in armed conflicts. Mostly PMC specialists perform the functions of mentors, guards, advisers.

But often, PMC specialists create conditions in which they, without participating in clashes with the enemy purposefully, carry out combat missions of one of the armies, t.E become mercenaries. During the war in Iraq, the employees of the American PMC Blackwater, performing the tasks of protecting the diplomatic mission, participated in the war together with the regular army of the United States.
The now deceased, South African PMC “Executive Outcomes” was famous for at the end of the twentieth century as “the most successful international private military company in history”. In the period from 1992 to 1994, employees of the “Prefected Exodus” provided methodological and military assistance to the Angola government in the struggle against the unit. Only the UN intervention forced Angola to break the contract with “EO”.

In 1995, the company was waiting for the next https://nonukcasinosites.co.uk/trusted-casinos/ major contract to combat the militants of Orf in Sierra-Leone. 200 Employees of the PMC in May 1995 arrived in the area of ​​the combat mission, crushed the uprising and forced the Orph group to conclude a peace agreement. But again, the pressure from the UN forced the government to break the contract with the “EO”, they were replaced by the peacekeepers of the UN, which, ultimately, led to the loss of the capital and the seizure of power in Sierra-Leon.
December 31, 1998 Executive Outcomes ceased to exist. The reasons for this were: the accusation of employees of violation of human rights and tightening the legislation of South Africa in relation to military assistance.
Separately, I would like to mention such a person as Georgiu Kostas. Ethnic Cypriot, Corporal of the British Parachut-Development Forces, in 1975 was recruited by a team of European mercenaries in Angola. Before that, without the officer rank and experience of the command, together with the group he waged a partisan war against the forces of the government and the Cuban expeditionary corps, while not carrying numerous losses among the personnel. Unfortunately, the small number of the unit did not allow the massive attack of the enemy. Despite the tactical success and courage, many noted Kostas as a person psychopathically cruel. In 1976, Georgiu Kostas, along with his unit (13 citizens of Great Britain and the USA), was captured and devoted to the court. For mercenary activities, torture and murders of Kostas and 3 of his subordinates were sentenced to Rastrel, the rest of the group were detained for a period of 16 to 30 years.

In culture
The German writer Ernst Junger at the age of 18 escaped from a closed school in Hanover in order to take a lies with a foreign one and in 1934 releases the African Games Autobiographical Book. So Africa. The new replenishment of the foreign legion goes to Morocco, and the main character of the story spends several weeks in the barracks, where he studies with curiosity human types, by the will of faded together. He became friends with some of the soldiers, admired some, despised and shrugged, and used one of the most stingy and helpful to their intended purpose, as his own servant. At the same time, Junger (if you associate him with the main character) always remained an outside observer, which allowed him not to create strong friendly ties, but alone to study people, determine his position, his desires.
The desire of the 18-year-old young man was not to engage in combat training (although in this he found certain benefits for himself), but to go deeper into the continent, to the Supreme of the Nile or Congo, where he could start the real life of a strong and free person, as he imagined it then. It remained only to escape from the military town. But the escape failed the next day – since such a game of fugitives and hunters is verified in this area thoroughly and always ends with a loss, although it brings a lot of entertainment for soldiers, officers and local residents.
Moreover, the whole game in Africa ends with a visible loss. Yunger is fired after only a few weeks of staying in Moroccan barracks. His father through diplomatic channels achieved the dismissal of his son from the Legion and his return to Germany.
A classic work on the life of mercenaries is the book of Frederick Forsyt “Dogs of War”. The action takes place in 1970, when a geologist discovered on the territory of a small African country Zangaro (fictitious, although the prototype, it seems, served as the equatorial Guinea) the richest deposits of platinum. James Manson, the head of the Men-Con, who received this report, is eager to get control over the deposit, but there is a problem. The country is ruled by President Jean Kim, who got power shortly after the proclamation of independence, and enjoying certain support of the USSR. And the Union, being one of the exporters of platinum, is unlikely to want another supplier on the market. And then Manson with several close ones develops another plan and secretly, not on his own behalf at all, offers one of the well -known ones (in certain circles, of course) hired soldiers to first evaluate the opportunity, and then carry out a revolution to Zangaro to bring their protege to power. At the same time, the leak of some data is still happening, the union plans to send its geological expedition to the country, so the time for the operation is extremely limited. The protagonist of the work, Carlo Shannon, was written off from the “ideal mercenary” of Gales Taffy Williams, and the plot of the book later lay down the basis of the Jagged Alliance series.
In cinema, films about mercenaries are known to a wide range of people, so dwelling in them in detail – it makes no sense. I will only designate the main and most interesting, IMHO:
1. Trilogy “Unreflecting”
2. “Team A”
3. “Wild geese”
4. The series “Unit”
5. Documentary “Shadow Company”

In the game industry

Jagged Alliance
The theme of mercenarism is widespread in tactical games. The largest and most cult work is, of course, Jagged Alliance 2. It is the second contract a.AND.M received the largest move in the masses: “Jaga” is still considered by many to be the standard of step -by -step tactics. Arsenal of a variety of weapons, complex tactical battles, an interesting plot, telling about the struggle of a prince-extension with a despotistical dictator, with the help of a group of professionals-mercenaries, excellent characters (which only Ivan Dolovich stands), amazing localization, a sea of ​​user modifications-all this provided the game with a cult status. Unfortunately, Jagged Alliance, unlike another cult series of X-Com, did not receive a decent restart: Back in Action-turned out to be low-grade tracing paper with Russian.62, and Flashback is one of the victims of Kickstarter, Online is a good browser game, but not more. It remains only to wait and believe that there is his own Firaxis on Deadrana Rayman.

Games “Apiner”, except “Magor”
The St. Petersburg Studio “Apeyron” in 2005, I am not afraid of this word, invented a “smart pause”. Inspired by the creation of Sir-Tech Software, the developers have developed their setting: the Latin American country (Palineuro), the main character is the mercenary and group-mercenaries, Viva La Arulko (Palineiro). Despite a lot of similarities, there is a lot of vast.
Firstly, the battle mode: fights are in real time with a pause of pause at certain points.
Secondly, the details of weapons and equipment: for each weapon there is a certain unique set of devices, unlike Jagged Alliance (where they were universal).
Thirdly, adrenaline: each event on the battlefield affects the hero’s certificate, and therefore his combat effectiveness.
Fourthly, simplification of micro-study: the need to seize mines that extract resources and training of militia by members of the group-either abolished or it is simplified.
Despite the unharismatic of mercenaries, a huge number of bugs game, deservedly as for me, collected a handful of titles “Best Tactical Game – 2005” from a variety of domestic publications, but Western critics were accepted very coldly (IGN set 3/10), which did not prevent her from becoming a cult, but in narrow circles of connoisseurs of realistic battles.
This was followed by 7.62 and the High Calibre addon, and followed by a “Magor” … They were not bad, these were really solid tactics, but they did not have gameplay differences from the Brigade E5. Because of this, the assessments began to fall and gradually “Apreon” left the radar. But all, without exception, are the games of St. Petersburg developers are worthy of acquaintance: now there are almost no bugs, there are a lot of user modifications of expanding, already huge, tactical potential, reliable (adjusted to distances in the game) and a rich arsenal. 10/10, Karoch, the best tactics 00.

Silent Storm: Sentinels
In April 2004, the light saw an addon to a step -by -step tactic from Nival Interective, posted by the struggle of secret military organizations “Watch” and “Hammer of the Torah”. Under the wing of the “sentries” were many characters of the countries of both allies and axis from the original Silent Storm. The main difference was that in the addon all the equipment needed to be bought, and the characters in the group – hire. The Core-gimpley moved from the original-we move around the world, come to the location, carry out the task (capture of the “language”, documents, technologies or stripping) and move back to 1 point. The tactical component was Jagged Alliance with 3D graphics and destruction. It was with Silent Storm: Sentinels that my acquaintance with the genre of tactical games began.

Also, a separate line should be mentioned by the Merceenaries series, it also tells of the difficult life of the “soldier of good luck”. Games are TPS with the open world, reputation in fractions and complete destruction. The first part tells about the civil war in Korea, and the second in Veniswell. The first part received laudatory reviews as from players and critics, and often appears in the tops “The most successful GTA clones”, the second part of the same successful.
The life of “wild geese” is associated with constant risk, money and the lack of personal life – an excellent environment for creating art works of any format, but now developers, directors and writers bypass this topic, but a pity ..