Contacts
Contacts are acquired in the same way as in the basic game, but have a slightly different meaning. Instead of the contact representing a prewar occupation, it represents a current one. Any contact can lead to jobs, but contacts can prove directly useful to a merc. Need details of the power system in Alma Ata? Get in touch with your old pal at Georgetown University. Need a short biography of a drug kingpin? Try your pal who's now with the Washington Post. Need a double who's a dead ringer for the dictator of Parador? Doesn't your old buddy the actor the guy who's starving doing dinner theater in Arizona look a little like....
The type of contact needed for purchase of a particular type of equipment varies.
The contact types and their relevant equipment types are discussed below. Some types of contact are not particularly useful in obtaining equipment (entertainment, for example, or journalist), and have been omitted. Contacts have certain requirements that must be met in order to remain on good terms. Buying tanks using a British government contact and then using them contrary to British interests will destroy any good relations between the contact and the character. Some referee discretion should be exercised here: Obviously, nobody will care about innocuous items like skis or radios. Here's a short rundown on what the various types of contact can provide help with:
Business: Business contacts can help locate civilian weapons and explosives, body armour, specialised electronic equipment, military vehicles except IFVs and AFVs, and any forged document. Equipment cannot be used contrary to the contact's interests (defined by the referee), and equipment may be of any nationality.
Criminal: Criminal contacts can help locate civilian weapons and explosives, body armour, military small arms, forged documents, lockpick tools, any civilian vehicle and any military unarmed cargo vehicle. There are no restrictions on use, and equipment may be of any nationality.
Government: Government contacts can help locate military weapons and explosives, body armour, military vehicles of all types, and specialised electronic equipment, providing that these items will not be used against the contact's government. Equipment may be of any nationality.
Intelligence Community: Intelligence community contacts can help locate military weapons and explosives, body armour, military vehicles of all types, and specialised electronic equipment, providing that these items will not be used against the best interests of the contact's agency. Equipment may be of any nationality.
Law Enforcement: Law enforcement contacts can help locate civilian weapons, body armour, lockpick tools, gas masks and incapacitating chemicals, and specialised electronic equipment, provided that the items are to be used outside the contact's jurisdiction. Equipment may be of any nationality.
Medical: Medical contacts can help locate medical supplies. There are no restrictions on use.
Military: Military contacts can help locate military small arms, body armour, specialised electronic equipment, and explosives, provided that they will be used outside of the contact's country. The equipment is limited to the nationality of the contact.
Specialist: The precise equipment provided by specialist contacts will depend on their specialty. Some will have none, engineers will help with explosives, and so on. Any restrictions are a matter for the referee's judgement.
Wealthy: Wealthy contacts can help locate civilian weapons and explosives, body armour, military small arms, forged documents, lockpick tools, any civilian vehicle and any military unarmed cargo vehicle. There are no restrictions on use, and equipment may be of any nationality.
As a rule of thumb, the more valuable and/or dangerous an item, the tougher it should be to get.
