Narrowing down a mercenary company name.

[Nighty_Knight]

Long story short, for years I had been drawing a blank on a name for a renowned landsknecht company/band name. It is a company of about 600 men, the founder opting for that instead of a regiment or brigade or battalion due to more practical logistics for travel. I came up with a few but changed them, one in particular I thought was decent then the next day realized it sounded like an aftershave or deodorant. Came up with a placeholder for a short while but that name was used for a romance novel series already (Forsaken Sons hehe) of all things. This is what I have narrowed it down to. Simple for the most part, but I don't want it sounding like a sports team... or a hygiene product.

The Bloody Devils Company
Band of the Bloody Sons
The Bloody Sons Company
Band of the Bloody Bastards
The Bloody Company
The Gold Servants Company
The Devils Guard
Company of the Valiant Bastards/Sons


Any other ideas.

 

[pmmg]

Newer old spice guys?

Whats wrong with those you have above?

How about forgotten sons?

 

[Nighty_Knight]

Newer old spice guys?

Whats wrong with those you have above?

How about forgotten sons?

That's not bad either. Any you liked more than the others of what I listed?

 

[pmmg]

Bloody Sons? I think all of those have one word too many for nice flow.

I think band of bloody bastards. Which could become 3 b’s. And since b is the second letter and 3x2 is 6…

Anyway a lot to play with with that.

 

[BearBear]

Bloody hell bloody bastards blood brothers
Alibaba and the 590-something theaves
Devil's blood servants & co.
Death marauders of the traveling pants
Bloody bastards inc.
The sunday sweet shop boys (that's how you know for sure they're evil)

 

[Nighty_Knight]

Bloody hell bloody bastards blood brothers
Alibaba and the 590-something theaves
Devil's blood servants & co.
Death marauders of the traveling pants
Bloody bastards inc.
The sunday sweet shop boys (that's how you know for sure they're evil)

The infamous Bloody hell bastards dastardly brothers alibaba and the 590-something theaves of the traveling trousers inc. & co. Has a nice ring to it.

 

[Orc Knight]

The Devil's Bastards
Crimson Sash Company (For polite society) aka The Bloody Band
Red Cap Company
Whoreson's Bastard Company
Bloodsworn Company
The Six Hundred (even after losses)

 

[BearBear]

Oh oh

Whoreson-Basterdson's Bloodswarm Monkey Riders

 

[Queshire]

Now I'm imagining an army scooping up whatever mercenaries they can before a big battle and having to deal with the logistics of having a dozen different bloody somethings on their roll.

 

[BearBear]

"The Bloody Somethings"

 

[Orc Knight]

Now I'm imagining an army scooping up whatever mercenaries they can before a big battle and having to deal with the logistics of having a dozen different bloody somethings on their roll.

Makes for an entertaining backstory for the company. The Baron of Blood and his retinue forms the core and then they gather the bloody bowman, the bloody pikemen, the bloody men at arms and the bloody bastards with the artillery.

 

[Phietadix]

Nice to see that the forum collectively decided to help "narrow down" by suggesting even more options.

Out of the options you listed "The Devil's Guard" and "The Bloody Company' are the ones that sound best to my ear. Short and sweet, and have a nice ring to them.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Company No. 5 instead of Chanel, heh heh.

I would tend to shoot for some historic event/battle/tactic that they became known for and try to cobble a name from that.

 

[pmmg]

Nice to see that the forum collectively decided to help "narrow down" by suggesting even more options.

That's cause we aim to please. No list of suggestions is complete without a hundred more.

 

[Finchbearer]

I would just omit the word ‘the’ from some of those titles - ‘Band of Bloody Sons’ ‘Band of Bloody Bastards’

 

[CupofJoe]

Whatever their official name is there will be at least one unofficial name for them.
I can't think of a regiment that doesn't have their own name for themselves or one they are known by in addition to their formal name.
In the British army it was almost compulsory!
An example is the 17th Lancers, aka Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancer. They were also known as The Death or Glory Boys, The Horse Marines, The Tots, and The White Lancers.

 

[Prince of Spires]

What is the company actually like? What are their values? What do you have to do to get in? Can anyone hire them or do they have some principles they adhere to? The name of the company will shape the ideas of the person hiring them, as well as the reader's ideas about them.

If you're going with the Bloody Bloodies, or some variation of that, then you'll have people expect a violent or tough company that likes to get into the thick of things. If you go with the Valiant Brotherhood, you get a more noble company, the Maurauding Maurauders are wild and unpredictable but great if you're expecting a lot of fighting. The Forsaken Sons (nothing wrong with it, everything has been used somewhere already) maybe is more about a group of people who don't really fit in anywhere but have banded together to form a tight and loyal group.

Now, the name doesn't have to match the company ideals of course. But I would personally either have them match, or have them be the exact opposites. For instance, the Maurauding Maurauders could be a fairly peaceful company you'd hire to be the guards of your city as well. But the name should mean something either from their history or in how they view themselves or want others to view them. Going with the Bloody Bloodies if they're just a normal company with nothing bloody about them will feel weird to me.

 

[Nighty_Knight]

Whatever their official name is there will be at least one unofficial name for them.
I can't think of a regiment that doesn't have their own name for themselves or one they are known by in addition to their formal name.
In the British army it was almost compulsory!
An example is the 17th Lancers, aka Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancer. They were also known as The Death or Glory Boys, The Horse Marines, The Tots, and The White Lancers.

This is a good idea.

 

[Nighty_Knight]

What is the company actually like? What are their values? What do you have to do to get in? Can anyone hire them or do they have some principles they adhere to? The name of the company will shape the ideas of the person hiring them, as well as the reader's ideas about them.

If you're going with the Bloody Bloodies, or some variation of that, then you'll have people expect a violent or tough company that likes to get into the thick of things. If you go with the Valiant Brotherhood, you get a more noble company, the Maurauding Maurauders are wild and unpredictable but great if you're expecting a lot of fighting. The Forsaken Sons (nothing wrong with it, everything has been used somewhere already) maybe is more about a group of people who don't really fit in anywhere but have banded together to form a tight and loyal group.

Now, the name doesn't have to match the company ideals of course. But I would personally either have them match, or have them be the exact opposites. For instance, the Maurauding Maurauders could be a fairly peaceful company you'd hire to be the guards of your city as well. But the name should mean something either from their history or in how they view themselves or want others to view them. Going with the Bloody Bloodies if they're just a normal company with nothing bloody about them will feel weird to me.

Very professional. A bit more noble, but violence in combat is ultimately what they are most known for. They company was an started from recruiting from a much larger Brigade of about 5k. The founding members broke off to do their own thing, less numbers in order to be able to be more mobile for more contracts.

With lesser numbers they were also allowing themselves to be pickier about who could join and the guidelines they had to follow. A heavy training schedule and a lot of movement for contracts, they also limited gambling, whoring, and drinking (while it was still allowed, it was limited). This made for a pretty high turnover rate with a handful of long term dedicated members. They purposely recruited from areas they traveled through. They actively seek out elite fighters and people who have specialties that could benefit their unit, and make them better than average offers off needed. Knights and higher nobles typically don’t want to join a band of sellswords, but they have a lot of success with recruiting with a little sweet talk. Appealing to what they think will convince them to join, whether they are a lesser sibling likely not to inherit, or people who feel their specialties are underutilized and appreciated, to even bandits who just want to make a killing with money.

Their code of honor is really about professionalism. Keeping to a contract had nothing to do with honor or loyalty, but about future employers willingness to hire them. And as with any proper landsknecht band, failing on the part of the employer to pay will result in sacking whatever castle or town/city/countryside of the employer to make up the payment. Like the 1527 Sacking of Rome by Imperial Landsknecht Rome failed to pay. Sack of Rome (1527) - Wikipedia

Ultimately they are well known mostly for their efficiency on the battlefield. They may not be the only band who are disciplined, have standards within the unit, and try to recruit not just relying on people trying to join. They are just the most successful. Plus, being more mobile has allowed them to gain a reputation rather fast. They also are one of the only ones who applies a multitude of tactics, with the base being pike and shot tactics, they also are capable of using small light Calvary, as well as a few heavy armored shock troops and riders, as well as using varies underhanded tactics to level battlefield odds. They once dressed as bandits, and on horseback repeatedly raided the supply caravans traveling to battle of the opposing army. Professionalism before honor, and victory is professional.

 

[BearBear]

The Professional Bloody Blood Brothers (TPB³)