Claymore Pty Ltd
Claymore Security was founded in 1060 by Colonel Sir Lawrence Hogg, KC, MM and former commander of the Berwickshire Highland Regiment (a Stirling-based unit of the Caledonian Army. Seeing a need for private troops to fill a variety of missions, Hogg incorporated Claymore, with assistance from his the family of his wife, Sheila Cathcart, Viscountess of Ainsforth. With the aid of Ainsforth money (and a 20-by-30 mile piece of the Viscount's estate turned into a corporate "campus", and training ground), Hogg aggressively sold services to several market segments:
- Private corporations that needed protection in dangerous places, inside and outside the Principality. These engagements run the gamut from a team of four men guarding an executive on a trip to a dodgy area, to a reinforced rifle company guarding an exploratory mining expedition.
- Systems, and areas on balkanized systems, and even private employers and petty nobles that need professional military cadre to train indigenous forces and retainers to a useful level.
- Missions for the Caledonian Special Service
- Missions involving straight-up set-piece combat are by far the rarest - but they occur, and Claymore "project teams" are ready when they do; Claymore employees have dished out far worse than they've taken, historically.
Claymore is quite profitable; although the Ainsforths made the bulk of their fortune in exports, the "Security" business turns them a handsome profit.
Operators[edit]
Claymore employs the following:
- Infantry - Claymore's infantry group includes:
- 14 company-strength infantry teams drawn from Infantry regiments on TL11-12 worlds. Each company is drawn from a specific, well-regarded Caledonian Army regiment from a TL12 or TL11 system; each is led by a veteran Captain or Major and an even more-qualified First Sergeant. By doing this, Claymore leverages the esprit de corps developed through the mens' careers in their original units to Claymore's advantage. There are usually at least 2-3 applicants for each open spot in each team.
- 12 company-strength infantry teams drawn from Cuillinese regiments. These companies are based, and train, at a Claymore reservation on Cuillin; while Cuillinese troops are TL9, their acclimation to the thin atmosphere on their home world enables them to perform at a very high level on worlds with thicker atmospheres. Claymore employs these TL9 troops on lower-tech worlds - a frequent happening.
- Engineers - Claymore employs:
- 4 Combat Engineer "companies"
- 8-10 four-man Ordnance Disposal teams
- Transport
- 6 grav transport squadrons, each capable of hauling an infantry "team" /company, but generally employed to give basic air support to a project group. The crew are carefully selected from among the best veteran grav pilots in the service.
- A "Surveillance Group" with multiple 6-10-person teams - sometimes mixed-gender - of specialists in general and urban close reconaissance and surveillance. Most are veterans of the Long Range Scout Companies.
- An "Executive Protection" group - 8-12 six-man teams of skilled executive protection operators, many of them veterans of the Guards executive protection unit.
- 9 "project management" (i.e., "headquarters") groups.
"Project Management"[edit]
A "project" - a Claymore group on an assignment - is led by one of Claymore's "Project Management Teams"
A "Project Management Team" comprises:
- A highly-regarded veteran Caledonian major or lieutenant-colonel
- A former Army or Marine Sergeant Major
- A 2-3 man logistics planning team
- a 2-man intelligence team
- a 3-man operations-planning team
- A 2-man administrative section.
- A 4-man medical detachment
- A 4-man Signals section.
A Typical "Project"[edit]
Claymore will hire out units ranging from teams of four men to secure a shipment to a brigade-sized task force.
A typical Claymore engagement - in this case, a mission to train the private guard force for a TL-10 strongman - might include:
- Project Management team - as above
- Two companies of infantry - one for training the retainers, one for security.
- Two platoons of combat engineers - splitting training and fortification duties.
- Three Grav Sleds, providing basic air support.
Claymore must frequently hire transport for "project teams" and their equipment, as well as specialists like wet-water transportation operators. Also, the Project Management team will frequently engage trusted ships and their crews to help with the team's logistics.
Headquarters[edit]
The town of Ainsforth, located just south of the Ainsforth's manor, is a Claymore company town housing about 10,000 Claymore troops, support employees, and their families, as large as a large area for training.
The Claymore reservation on Cuillin includes a similar company town, "Upper Ryoth", on the continent of Dickensia, with a similar company town and training facility for the Cuillinese units.
Recruiting[edit]
As noted above, each "company" in Claymore service is derived from an established Caledonian Army regiment. Each company recruits primarily men from their parent regiment (although exceptions happen).
Recruits are drawn by several factors:
- Double their regular service pay
- Extra pay for dangerous duty, and bonuses for successful missions, sometimes amounting to 100% of the troops' salary for the duration.
- Health insurance and education benefits for employees' families, including an excellent company school
- Pension (on top of their Army one, if applicable) after 12 years service.