New Gm with first game - just looking for ideas or opinions

[Stonefur]

105 PA - Starting as Mercs in Kingsdale.
But, this is an overview of regional politics.
I am ignoring the canon siege of Tolkeen so please consider that.
Currently, the CS are at war with Free Quebec, and it has become a protracted war, where the FQ slowly give ground and make the CS grind. Utilizing militia and resistance movement style tactics, the FQ focus on slowing down and disrupting the advance.
Currently, Tolkeen is on the radar, and the Empress Prosek is still hidden away, a prisoner of the Federation of Magic.
Through a combination of luck and destiny, a group of mixed humans and d-bees managed to rescue her, heal some of the damage done to her, and return her peacefully to the CS. Of course, the response is less than grateful, and the CS says that the whole thing is a ploy and that Tolkeen is responsible for an elaborate conspiracy, but the Empress speaks to her husband, and tells him that the Federation of Magic, and other powers are a much greater threat than Tolkeen will ever be. Her "healing" has also opened her mind, and she has realized that the war with FQ is the first of many.
The CS will continue to expand, and if the CS gets too grabby with power, the locals will follow FQ example...and this will lead endless conflict. The Empress wants to wipe out the Federation of Magic, with a passion.
Also, the Black Market and Bandito arms have been trying to carefully avoid CS hunting parties looking for their stashes and hidden factories. The CS is currently engaged in a concentrated campaign to reduce the reach of these smugglers. The introduction of multiple SAMAS models from out side CS or FQ control is a large concern, and the CS Lone Star is especially active in this endeavor.

Both the Naruni and Bandito see Kingdale as a possible base of operations, the Naruni are unwilling to sell heavy vehicle or combat power armor, and Bandito can't risk drawing the CS to kingsdale...so Bandito is in a weird spot, where they are trying to expand east.

The Simvan and Indians are not really interested in Kingsdale for much at the moment, beyond the rare individual interest.
The presence of the CS states so close to Kingsdale is a large detriment to its ability to seek allies west.
Also, there are ties between the magical powers of Kingsdale and the Federation of Magic, and if the CS goes to war with the FoM, then those ties might be called upon.
On a smaller scale, the kingdom of Whykin is being courted by the CS, and after a few incidents, has stopped trading with Kingsdale all together.
The tensions are growing, and the whole scenario stinks of CS manipulations, using Whykin as the head of the spear to cement control of the whole area.
Also, this is before any of the events of Juicer uprising, which will be handled non canon as well, but the idea of drawing juicers away from Kingsdale is a good strategy if one wants to attack it at or undermine it.
The players will start as rookies in a detachment of mercenaries sent to fortify a position in the town of Laramay, and protect the farming town from attacks and raids.
Any ideas or constructive criticisms would be appreciated.

[Killer Cyborg]

A bit of indentation would make that post a lot easier to read.

[Stonefur]

Indented

[DhAkael]

Hmmm... have you considered WHAT is raidng the village / town?
If the players are all level 1, perhaps mixed bag of Humans and Ogres / Orcs with medium MDC armour & Laser weapons and SDC projectile guns (shot guns and slug throwers, maybe a flame thrower?) with one BIG vehicle armed with a fair ammount of heavy firepower.
*shrug*
Or just have them ALL human bandits with the above mix of gear.

Now here's the M. Knight Shalyman "twist": the bandits, in their moment of triumph (or defeat, depending on how competent the players are), get assaulted from behind by;
1) a small Sploogorthian slaver group.
2) Mechanical men looking for "The twisted man"

[Stonefur]

Hmmm... have you considered WHAT is raidng the village / town?
If the players are all level 1, perhaps mixed bag of Humans and Ogres / Orcs with medium MDC armour & Laser weapons and SDC projectile guns (shot guns and slug throwers, maybe a flame thrower?) with one BIG vehicle armed with a fair ammount of heavy firepower.
*shrug*
Or just have them ALL human bandits with the above mix of gear.

Now here's the M. Knight Shalyman "twist": the bandits, in their moment of triumph (or defeat, depending on how competent the players are), get assaulted from behind by;
1) a small Sploogorthian slaver group.
2) Mechanical men looking for "The twisted man"

I like, we seem to think alike, lol. I have actually had option 1 happen to me in a game...my GM was very unhappy when my juicer lost initiative then managed auto-dodge every single attack for three rounds straight. Lol. Its a smaller, brooding conflict to start out with, and then my goal is to widen the focus of influence that starts to add spin to the hurricane on the horizon....