History LIterature / HammersSlammers

* FasterThanLightTravel: What kind used is never explained, but it's mentioned to be migrane-inducing.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: In ''But Loyal To His Own'', Hammer suggests hiring out the Frisian Defense Forces as mercenaries, but Secretary Tromp dismisses the idea. Later on, Hammer takes over Frisia and carries out his plans.

* AltarDiplomacy: In ''Standing Down'', Hammer marries into one of the Great Houses of Friesland, thus gaining the support of the aristocracy and solidifying his position as the legitimate President. Ironically, his new wife is Anneke Tromp, daughter of the former secretary to the council responsible for the Slammers' exile in the first place. Nobody is particularly amused when Steuben mentions that he killed her father at the wedding.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Averted, mostly. Powerguns (a form of energy beam weapon) are by far the most common high tech weapons, even if they do have some substantial shortcomings.[[note]]Limited firing duration due to heat buildup, high risk of vision damage without protection, and the reality that the plasma bolts "liberate their entire energy on the first object they touch," meaning that they're "just as likely to vaporize a leaf as an enemy." (Per description in ''Rolling Hot'')[[/note]] Some armies use railgun rifles instead of powerguns because they have better armor-piercing capabilities. However, railguns don't [[{{BFG}} scale up like powerguns do]], are no cheaper since, while their workings are much simpler, their barrels have to be [[BlingBlingBang made from diamond]], and are energy-intensive. [[FrickinLaserBeams Portable lasers]] are a no-go because they require a 400-lbs. fusion reactor to reach killing power, and explosive bullets, while effective, must contend with the generally high level of armor used by vehicles and infantry alike. (Slammer armor is shown on more than one occasion to defeat high caliber and explosive projectiles, and even indirect EFP damage.)

* HandCannon: Pistols have 2 centimeter bores. This works out to having a 20 millimeter pistol. 20mm and up are ''grenade calibers''. Justified in that they're shooting the "powergun" energy beams, so there's no bullet and significantly less recoil than the barrel diameter would indicate for a typical firearm.

** AltarDiplomacy: In ''Standing Down'', Hammer marries into one of the Great Houses of Friesland, thus gaining the support of the aristocracy and solidifying his position as the legitimate President.
*** {{Irony}}: Hammer's bride was Anneke Tromp, daughter of Nicholas Tromp, former Secretary to the Council of State for Friesland. Secretary Tromp had been killed by Joachim Steuben (SEE: ''But Loyal To His Own''), and nobody was amused when Steuben brought it up again just before the wedding.

** {{Irony}}: Hammer's bride was Anneke Tromp, daughter of Nicholas Tromp, former Secretary to the Council of State for Friesland. Secretary Tromp had been killed by Joachim Steuben (SEE: ''But Loyal To His Own''), and nobody was amused when Steuben brought it up again just before the wedding.

** AltarDiplomacy: Hammer marries into one of the Great Houses of Friesland, thus gaining the support of the aristocracy and solidifying his position as the legitimate President.

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammers usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[note]]The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judged Nonesuch as untrustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its place, and Plattner's World mortgages its future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].[[/note]]

* CarFu: Done in "Rolling Hot" WITH A HOVERTANK!

** Powerguns, when tied into a computer, are extremely accurate. This, and the sheer destructive power, range, and speed of the weapon, renders ordinary aircraft obsolete. Artillery can also be interdicted, but remain effective. In one novel, recon and communications''satellites'' are considered viable targets so long as the tank's main gun can elevate to the proper angle necessary for line of sight to them.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Averted, mostly. Powerguns (a form of energy beam weapon) are by far the most common high tech weapons, even if they do have some substantial shortcomings.[[note]]Limited firing duration due to heat buildup, high risk of vision damage without protection, and the reality that the plasma bolts "liberate their entire energy on the first object they touch," meaning that they're "just as likely to vaporize a leaf as an enemy." (Per description in ''Rolling Hot'')[[/note]] Some armies use railgun rifles instead of powerguns because they have better armor-piercing capabilities. However, railguns don't [[{{BFG}} scale up like powerguns do]], are no cheaper since, while their workings are much simpler, their barrels have to be [[BlingBlingBang made from diamond]], and are energy-intensive. [[FrickinLaserBeams Lasers]] are a no-go because they require a 400-lbs. fusion reactor to reach killing power, and explosive bullets, while effective, must contend with the generally high level of armor used by vehicles and infantry alike. (Slammer armor is shown on more than one occasion to defeat high caliber and explosive projectiles, and even indirect EFP damage.)

* {{BFG}}: The main gun of a tank is said to be powerful enough to flash-fry a mountainside.

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammers usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[note]]The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judged Nonesuch as untrustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its' place, and Plattner's World mortgages its' future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].[[/note]]

* FictionalGenevaConventions: In addition to it's escrow duties, the Terran Bonding Authority enforces the Laws of War.

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammeres usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[note]]The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judged Nonesuch as untrustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its' place, and Plattner's World mortgages its' future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].[[/note]]

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammeres usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[note]]The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judging Nonesuch as not trustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its' place, and Plattner's World mortgages its' future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].[[/note]]

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammeres usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[note: The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judging Nonesuch as not trustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its' place, and Plattner's World mortgages its' future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].]]

* CrazyPrepared: The Slammeres usually try to be ready for anything, but in ''Paying the Piper'' Col. Hammer is especially crafty. [[spoiler: The Slammers were originally hired by the United Cities of Plattner's World to fight the nation of Solace. However, most of the funding for that war came from Nonesuch (also located on Plattner's World). Since Hammer knew exactly where his money was coming from, and (correctly) judging Nonesuch as not trustworthy, he put together a consortium of off-planet financiers...just in case. When the Slammers defeated Solace and the Nonesuch representative made his [[TheReveal Reveal]], effectively cancelling the Slammers' contract, Hammer was free to turn around and use his alternate funding source to sign a new contract with the UC and Solace to fight Nonesuch. So, the Slammers get paid twice for two wars in quick succession, Nonesuch gets put in its' place, and Plattner's World mortgages its' future profits for decades to come. And it was all [[ReadTheFinePrint completely legal]].]]

* MindProbe: Played with, particularly the story called " The Interrogation Team". Here the mind probe is semi-painless and takes the form of a directed hallucination. BOTH the interrogator and the person being interrogated are given the drug, and a second interrogator asks questions while the first, in rapport with the victim, experiences his/her memories as the questions are asked. The drug in question is a combination truth serum and hallucinogen, and is described by the first interrogator as akin to a drug high.\\

* BeamSpam: One of the staple weapons in the novels is the vehicle-mounted tribarrel, a weapon with three rotating barrels that shoots energy blasts (called "bolts") so fast that the bolts leaving the weapon appear to be a solid line - not individual bolts. The weapons scale up, too - his tanks in the series have both a tribarrel ''and'' a 20cm "main gun" that can literally cook mountainsides with one shot. The tribarrel is based on a cross between the real-life MG42 machine gun and the Gatling gun, both of which have beam-spam-class rates of fire.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Averted, mostly. Powerguns (a form of energy beam weapon) are by far the most common high tech weapons. Some armies use railgun rifles instead of powerguns because they have better armor-piercing capabilities. However, railguns don't [[{{BFG}} scale up like powerguns do]], are no cheaper since, while their workings are much simpler, their barrels have to be [[BlingBlingBang made from diamond]], and are energy-intensive. [[FrickinLaserBeams Lasers]] are a no-go because they require a 400-lbs. fusion reactor to reach killing power, and explosive bullets are "just as likely to vaporize a leaf as an enemy".

* ReadTheFinePrint: This point is lampshaded several times. Mercenary contracts are organized and guaranteed by the Terran Bonding Authority, to ensure that both parties live up to their end of the deal. Mercs who go rogue can expect to be hunted down and killed (SEE: the novella ''Hangman''); clients who don't pay will be lucky if they are "only" abandoned (and not targeted) by their former employees (SEE: ''Paying the Piper'').