Mercentary Contracts & Gunrunning Within Our Hostile & Cosmos 68 Campaigns

 After the Easter holiday, it's time to dive back 2d6 OSR rpging & let's talk about Hostile for moment.  And pick things back up from here on the blog.  And today a fellow DM friend of mine told me that besides G.E.A.R. there's another book from Independence Games that could easily be moved straight over into Hostile. 

And this is 21 Vehicles for Third Edition of the Clement & Earth rpg's respectively. Why because of the fact that the colonies within our Soviet style Kosmos 68 campaign conforms to many of the inspiratuons found within 21 vehicles: 

• Star Trek, The Original Series, with its implied Communist triumph future. This is the aspiration: what it’s all supposed to look like and what state propaganda tells everyone it is like
• Blake’s Seven. This is a lot more what it looks like: a totalitarian system
• Starship Troopers. Again, the utopian version of life in a hierarchical, militaristic system, in a time of war with an enemy that cannot be bullied or ignored
• Aliens. The dystopian version of life in the near future – not so pretty at all
• The writings of Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky brothers, and a long list of other brilliant Soviet era science fiction writers. Their wry humour and insightful predictions inform everything
• Dan Dare. The venerable British comic that informs so much of what a post-war heroic future should look like. Rockets and khaki: that’s what
• Science Fiction movies of the 1960’s and 1970’s

Many of these devices and vehicles conform to the material laid down in the Hostile Rpg setting book. And they do so because of the attention to detail that Michael Johnson brings to the table. For a mercenary outfit there's a lot to cherry pick from here. And because much of Clement & Earth rpg sector books have that Space Western vibe to them. Many of these vehicles could simply be dropped into an existing campaign such as ours. And there's a reason why the Soviets would be employing American mercenaries besides the propaganda boon. There's vast economic reasons ala the late Roman empire where American corps could easily be inserted into a star spanning Soviet empire. Not only would the American corps be spying on the Soviets. The distances involved allow the Rocket Collective could be the glue that holds both the Americans & Soviets depending upon each other. The Soviet Rocket Collective maybe visiting tons of American colony worlds. And these could be bringing not only news but also new technological designs. And here's where the  21 Vehicles  supplement fits in. 
The American colonies trade data, designs, and technologies with thier Soviet counterparts. Remember the Soviet's technologies are very reliable. And the Soviets love thier reliable technologies this includes weapons systems. Weapons systems such as the Cossack Infantry Combat vehicle certainly fits the Soviet empire's parameters. And this along with the transport lorry certain fit any of the Soviet ideals. And there's a ton of vehicles within  21 Vehicles  that fit the retro technologies of Hostile without any modification. And this is especially true of the  Union Defence Force (UDF) (Army) which would be the first to operate many of the planes, antigrav and other military vehicles found within 21 Vehicles.  Given the real threat of Zhuki the UDF would be more then ready to purchase military vehicles from the American & European corps. 

There's plenty of opportunities for American corporations to exploit the Zhuki situation for military sales and contracts. Given this and the attitudes of the corporations within the Hostile rpg universe. It doesn't take genius to see that there's plenty of time & energy out there for gun running within a Kosmos 68 campaign. Given the rate at which the Soviet's colonial military forces are facing the Zhuki then it stands to reason all of the more for mercenary outfits to lend a hand to the Soviets. And this would definitely be welcomed later in the Soviet/Zhuki war.
  21 Vehicles for Third Edition of the Clement & Earth rpg's  is a great addition to a DM interested in adding a bit more military & equipment diversity within thier Hostile rpg campaigns. And it certainly puts a slightly different spin on a campaign.