And because it's always worthwhile as the occasional repost...
The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries
MAXIM 1: Pillage, then burn. MAXIM 2: A sergeant in motion outranks a lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on. MAXIM 3: An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody. MAXIM 4: Close air support covereth a multitude of sins. MAXIM 5: Close air support and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart. MAXIM 6: If violence wasn't your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it. MAXIM 7: If the food is good enough the grunts will stop complaining about the incoming fire. MAXIM 8: Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it's on the far side of the air lock. MAXIM 9: Never turn your back on an enemy. MAXIM 10: Sometimes the only way out is through… Through the hull. MAXIM 11: Everything is air-droppable at least once. MAXIM 12: A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head. MAXIM 13: Do unto others. MAXIM 14: "Mad science" means never stopping to ask "what's the worst thing that could happen?" MAXIM 15: Only you can prevent friendly fire. MAXIM 16: Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth. MAXIM 17: The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster. MAXIM 18: If the officers are leading from in front, watch for an attack from the rear. MAXIM 19: The world is richer when you turn enemies into friends, but that's not the same as you being richer. MAXIM 20: If you're not willing to shell your own position, you're not willing to win. MAXIM 21: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he's lucky just to be alive, and he'll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow. MAXIM 22: If you can see the whites of their eyes, somebody's done something wrong. MAXIM 23: The company mess and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart. MAXIM 24: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun. MAXIM 25: If a manufacturer's warranty covers the damage you did, you didn't do enough damage. MAXIM 26: "Fire and forget" is fine, provided you never actually forget. MAXIM 27: Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence. MAXIM 28: If the price of collateral damage is high enough, you might be able to get paid to bring ammunition home with you. MAXIM 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less. MAXIM 30: A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go. MAXIM 31: Only cheaters prosper. MAXIM 32: Anything is amphibious if you can get it back out of the water. MAXIM 33: If you're leaving tracks, you're being followed. MAXIM 34: If you're leaving scorch marks, you need a bigger gun. MAXIM 35: That which does not kill me has made a tactical error. MAXIM 36: When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support. MAXIM 37: There is no "overkill." There is only "open fire" and "reload." MAXIM 38: What's easy for you can still be hard on your clients. MAXIM 39: There is a difference between "spare" parts and "extra" parts. MAXIM 40: Not all good news is enemy action. MAXIM 41: "Do you have a backup?" means "I can't fix this." MAXIM 42: "They'll never expect this" means "I want to try something stupid." MAXIM 43: If it's stupid and it works, it's still stupid and you're lucky. MAXIM 44: If it will blow a hole in the ground, it will double as an entrenching tool. MAXIM 45: The size of the combat bonus is inversely proportional to the likelihood of surviving to collect it. MAXIM 46: Don't try to save money by conserving ammunition. MAXIM 47: Don't expect the enemy to cooperate in the creation of your dream engagement. MAXIM 48: If it ain't broke, it hasn't been issued to the infantry. MAXIM 49: Every client is one missed payment away from becoming a target, and every target is one bribe away from becoming a client. MAXIM 50: If it only works in exactly the way the manufacturer intended, it is defective. MAXIM 51: Let them see you sharpen the sword before you fall on it. MAXIM 52: The army you've got is never the army you want. MAXIM 53: The intel you've got is never the intel you want. MAXIM 54: It's only too many troops if you can't pay them. MAXIM 55: It's only too many weapons if they're pointing in the wrong direction. MAXIM 56: Infantry exists to paint targets for people with real guns. MAXIM 57: Artillery exists to launch large chunks of budget at an enemy it cannot actually see. MAXIM 58: The pen is mightiest when it writes orders for swords. MAXIM 59: Two wrongs is probably not going to be enough. MAXIM 60: Any weapon's rate of fire is inversely proportional to the number of available targets. MAXIM 61: Don't bring big grenades into small rooms. MAXIM 62: Anything labeled "This end toward enemy" is dangerous at both ends. MAXIM 63: The brass knows how to do it by knowing who can do it. MAXIM 64: An ounce of sniper is worth a pound of suppressing fire. MAXIM 65: After the toss, be the one with the pin, not the one with the grenade. MAXIM 66: Necessity is the mother of deception. MAXIM 67: If you can't carry cash, carry a weapon. MAXIM 68: Negotiating from a position of strength does not mean you shouldn't also negotiate from a position near the exits. MAXIM 69: Sometimes rank is a function of firepower. MAXIM 70: Failure is not an option; it is mandatory. The option is whether or not to let failure be the last thing you do.
