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Jon_Dahl
2014-10-05, 03:42 PM
I'd like to have a better understanding how mercenary companies come to be and how they function. I've read about condottier, the ancient Mercenary War, several articles on Wikipedia, Machiavelli and even AEG - Mercenaries, but I'm still not clear on everything.

How do mercenary companies start? What does their life cycle look like?
How do they select their leaders and how do they agree on hierarchy?
In practice, how does the leader of a mercenary company differ from a general of a standing army?
What do mercenaries do when there are no wars or conflicts? Does the company just re-form again when a new war begins?

Just to get started, I will give you a few examples and then you can say how common and how accurate they are.

1. Some rich guy wants to start a mercenary business. He hires and equips a band of able-bodied men, makes everyone sign a contractm which basically says "you belong to me now!" and then he "loans" them to people who need mercenaries. The people pay him very well and it pays off, unless the mercenaries don't have demand. In that case the company will be promptly disbanded.
2. A band of war veterans start to hire themselves out as mercenaries. They all know each other very well and one of them is the undisputed leader and a living legend. They are successful and the band grows and grows. It's a long process but eventually the mercenary company will be formidable. The sheer charisma of the leader of the original veteran group is enough to keep the group together at all times.
3. A country needs mercenaries for their war. Men from all over the world come to the country's aid, and the country organizes them into a cohesive unit and selects the mercenary leaders. After the war the company may stick together and head somewhere else.
4. Please tell me more options!

Calen
2014-10-05, 04:37 PM
How do mercenary companies start? What does their life cycle look like?
Soldiers that were disbanded from an army might band together because they don't want to return to a life of [insert profession here] or they can't otherwise pay for the lifestyle they want.

How do they select their leaders and how do they agree on hierarchy?
I think this would be much like pirates, the leader is someone that has proven their effectiveness at leading and fighting or who has the charisma to persuade others to follow. Voting for new leaders would be a common way to replace old leaders.

In practice, how does the leader of a mercenary company differ from a general of a standing army?
Probably more concerned with the group income and expenses. The unit as a whole, and therefore the leader, will be more concerned with looting, safe tactics and not getting into un-winnable situations. Seeking bids from competing forces would likely be a thing, as well as the potential for backstabbing.

What do mercenaries do when there are no wars or conflicts? Does the company just re-form again when a new war begins?
Robbery and blackmail. When a city or country says they no longer need a mercenaries services the companies would often start living of the countryside until they were persuaded to leave, whether by opposing forces or by bribery.

Vitruviansquid
2014-10-05, 05:43 PM
Sometimes mercenaries are organized by a local government and hired out to fight foreign wars, such as the landsknecht and Swiss mercenaries. Or so Wikipedia says.

TheThan
2014-10-05, 06:09 PM
A military leader becomes disillusioned with the government or an individual (I’m loyal to country, not to king) he works for and decides to go at it alone, probably taking a few loyal underlings with him. He begins hiring others and sells him new military unit out to other countries.


A low ranking knight goes elsewhere to fight as a mercenary, earning fame, prestige and money. After a few years, he comes home wealthier than he was before (if he lives that is).

Oracle_of_Void
2014-10-06, 04:18 PM
I think the most common historical way for companies to form were soldiers not knowing what to do when the war ended so now they sell their sword-arms. Other options could be that a high level adventurer got tired of fighting dragons and wanted an easier job, so they recruited able-bodied men to form a company. Local gangs and thugs could have banded together to become more efficient and profitable. A king could put out a notice for sell-swords, they fight together in a battle, and decide to stay together for fun and profit.

A mercenary leader would be concerned for his troops, either on a personal level or on a financial level. Even the most greedy, cold heart having leader needs soldiers to make a profit after all. Also, in most civilized places, using mercenaries is illegal or seen as dishonorable; meaning most mercenaries would be chaotic in nature and possibly have criminal pasts.

Stubbazubba
2014-10-06, 05:05 PM
Ever seen Ghostbusters? A bunch of on-the-edge scientists are kicked out of their sponsoring institution and risk everything they have left on a small business doing what they had been doing before, which eventually earns them money and so much demand they have to hire on additional help to cover it all. That's a mercenary group.

The institution they came from is usually an army, but it could be another mercenary group, a criminal gang, or any other group where you fight to get something done. For whatever reason they are downsized (either they broke rules too often, they stepped on some higher-up's toes, or the war ended and they were sent home), and instead of just going back to farming or smithing, they decide to hire themselves out as mercenaries. When demand for mercenaries is huge (e.g. there's still a big war going on and the crown needs lots of bodies) it's easy, but if the war is over it might not be so easy.

Leaders of such small groups tend to be organic; one might be the leader on the battlefield, another the leader for the business aspects. Pirates, so I understand, were pretty democratic when they weren't actively raiding a ship. The captain was a battle position that gave him some credibility once battle was over, but he couldn't just give commands all the time. These aren't soldiers, after all. They won't take orders from someone if they don't want to. The leadership has to constantly convince (or coerce, but it's more dangerous) the underlings to follow, and competing leaders are an oft-occurring source of friction. That situation can end in multiple ways: one competing leader acquiesces to the other, the competing leader takes a bunch of men and splits off into his own company, or the competing leader tries to oust or kill the other leader to obtain/maintain dominance. It's pretty rough-and-tumble.

Once you get big, things tend to calm down. You can pay everyone handsomely, so there's less discontent, and you're an established figure, so people trust your judgment. So long as business is good, there's usually not much internal friction. But when the wars are all over and you're unwilling to turn to pillaging, you get small very fast; most mercenary groups aren't saving up huge reserves for a rainy day, and as soon as the men have to tighten their belts, you need to downsize or you'll be facing their ire (or they could just desert, but that's boring). Which one ends up happening relies on the business acumen of the leaders. It's entirely possible that you disband entirely in a period of peace, and reform later when there is more work.

At least this is how a private, extra-legal mercenary group would function.

rs2excelsior
2014-10-06, 06:07 PM
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that the mercenary company is a business, first and foremost, just that it's business is fighting. Have you ever read the Hammer's Slammers stories by David Drake? They're sci-fi rather than fantasy, but it's still an interesting glimpse into how a mercenary unit might work. In that universe, though, there's almost always fighting of some sort going on, so the company does not disband between engagements. But regardless, they will follow where the money is. So I would expect various mercenary companies to show up in areas where political unrest looked likely to turn into war, hoping to land a contract and pay for their men.

Also keep in mind that the soldiers are the company's means of business, but that engaging in a battle is going to get them killed. Lose too much of your manpower and you're no longer in business, but get a reputation for retiring from battle too early and you'll never get hired again. Throw in the fact that commanders are probably less likely to trust mercenaries than their own troops (depending on their respective reputations, it is possible for the opposite to be true), and so might deliberately send the mercenaries into the most vulnerable/exposed positions on the battlefield so as to not risk their own troops, or they may not come to the aid of a mercenary unit that is hard-pressed.

As to what they do when there are no wars, I seem to recall that medieval mercenary groups tended to settle down somewhere after a war was over in the same general area it had been fought and become what amounted to bandits. You might want to confirm that, though, as it's a vague half-recollection on my part and very well could be incorrect.

And if you're looking for other books about mercenaries, look up "The Ten Thousand" by Paul Kearney. It basically rips off history, but it's a well-written ostensibly fantasy novel about a mercenary group of basically ancient Greeks. That book is probably the best depiction of phalanx-style fighting I've seen.

Hytheter
2014-10-06, 07:08 PM
There doesn't have to be an active war for mercenaries to find business. Even in peace time there is often a need for security, and mercenaries could be employed as bodyguards or escorts, guards for an important facility etc. Alternately mercenaries could be hired for small-scale conflict or task, like to kill or capture a particular person, steal something.
Depending on the setting mercenaries might also be employed to attack/defend against dangerous creatures or whatnot.

Obviously these tasks will not require the full force of a large mercenary company. They'd break up into smaller groups depending on the client, but all still ultimately under the banner of their company, to which they will return after the contracts has been fulfilled.

To summarise, during peace time mercenary companies can hire out smaller squads to clients who are in need of a few swords.

Of course, retiring or turning to banditry are possibilities too.

jedipotter
2014-10-06, 07:30 PM
How do mercenary companies start? What does their life cycle look like?

Someone gathers warriors. Often to make money, but just as often they simply need the troops. Just as often they are ex-military or other ex-combat types.



How do they select their leaders and how do they agree on hierarchy?

Most often whoever runs the company makes the call. They might use any method though.



In practice, how does the leader of a mercenary company differ from a general of a standing army?

They don't about 99% of the time. The only big difference is the mercenary does not have a ''side'' other then ''who pays''.


[QUOTE=Jon_Dahl;18212057]
What do mercenaries do when there are no wars or conflicts? Does the company just re-form again when a new war begins?

They might disband. Though they might find other work. There is always work for fighter types...even if it's just being a guard.



1. Some rich guy wants to start a mercenary business. He hires and equips a band of able-bodied men, makes everyone sign a contractm which basically says "you belong to me now!" and then he "loans" them to people who need mercenaries. The people pay him very well and it pays off, unless the mercenaries don't have demand. In that case the company will be promptly disbanded.

This is a quite normal way for a guy, like a noble, to make money and have fun. Even in the 21st century.




2. A band of war veterans start to hire themselves out as mercenaries. They all know each other very well and one of them is the undisputed leader and a living legend. They are successful and the band grows and grows. It's a long process but eventually the mercenary company will be formidable. The sheer charisma of the leader of the original veteran group is enough to keep the group together at all times.

And this is quite common too. Lots of ''armies'' become mercenaries.




3. A country needs mercenaries for their war. Men from all over the world come to the country's aid, and the country organizes them into a cohesive unit and selects the mercenary leaders. After the war the company may stick together and head somewhere else.


And this is common too.

Vitruviansquid
2014-10-06, 08:08 PM
Also keep in mind that, in a lot of times in history history in a lot of places, warfare isn't considered incredibly undesirable. The promise of booty was a pretty big deal and the chances of being killed in a pitched battle could've been fairly slim.

edit: As for what mercenaries did when there was no war... I suspect (and it would be cool if someone could confirm or deny this) that there is often a lot more war to go around in antiquity and the middle ages. There may be less battles and less carnage, but hostilities between political entities could be ongoing in that time, and there were simply more possible employers who could possibly be involved in a feud, religious disagreement, business rivalry, or whatever that would require them to call on mercenaries.

Curbstomp
2014-10-06, 11:13 PM
Colonels of mercenary companies were historically paid by their sponsor according to the amount of troops they could muster. That is they would literally have a regimental muster for the paymasters from a king or queen to count in person. Units of this type would usually stick together on the larger scale and would work for various sponsors over their careers, but individual desertion was common. In the 1600's when virtually all fighting in Europe was done by nobles with retainers or mercenary companies it was not uncommon for deserters to rejoin the same unit that they had left. Switching sides was also fairly common. After being defeated in battle mercenaries for the losing side would often enlist in the winner's army.

Arbane
2014-10-06, 11:16 PM
Another good series about mercenaries is Glen Cook's Black Company novels - about a company of mercs in a high-fantasy world who find themselves working for the Evil Overlord.

Erik Vale
2014-10-06, 11:33 PM
-Various what about when the fighting ends quotes-

Have you heard of the 100 year war/looked in a history book? And claiming there's less now. *Switches on the news* "SORRY! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER MY WAR!"
Humans fighting each other has been going on basically since reasons to fight each other existed. What that fighting is called varies, as do the exact duration of the conflicts and whether or not they are recognized as such. It's such to the point where I'd say not fighting on some scale would be almost unusual for humans, which is something that should carry onto fantasy like settings. At most Mercenary companies need to move off somewhere else.


Another thing for mercenaries to do should their be no conflict in their immediate vicinity is to train militias/professional armies.

hamishspence
2014-10-07, 07:06 AM
What's New with Phil & Dixie (D&D comic) had some interesting things to say about mercenaries:

http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100502

Ravian
2014-10-07, 08:23 AM
Have you heard of the 100 year war/looked in a history book? And claiming there's less now. *Switches on the news* "SORRY! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER MY WAR!"
Humans fighting each other has been going on basically since reasons to fight each other existed. What that fighting is called varies, as do the exact duration of the conflicts and whether or not they are recognized as such. It's such to the point where I'd say not fighting on some scale would be almost unusual for humans, which is something that should carry onto fantasy like settings. At most Mercenary companies need to move off somewhere else.


Another thing for mercenaries to do should their be no conflict in their immediate vicinity is to train militias/professional armies.

Actually the 100 year war was an interesting time for mercenaries. The thing is it wasn't constant fighting, but ebbed and lulled in intensity. This meant that a lot of the mercenary companies employed by both sides kind of ruined the countryside when there was no work. One of the prime reasons the papacy decided to move back to Rome from Avignon was because of the vast numbers of mercenaries that had moved in and ruined the place while the war was going cold.

Fighting and war are a constant in the world, but in a fantasy or historical world, it's not a sure thing that you can reach where that fighting is. A company on the move is expensive, and generally its better for business to hang around near where you can generally count on where there will be fighting, and try to survive until the next conflict, or else risk moving to where you heard a war was happening, and hope you have some work waiting for you after a month long trek. That's why mercenaries were so common in the Holy Roman Empire and the Italian city states. There were so many princes competing over land and personal gain over a relatively traversed area that the companies could rely on sticking around until two got mad at each other.

tomandtish
2014-10-07, 12:36 PM
Another good series about mercenaries is Glen Cook's Black Company novels - about a company of mercs in a high-fantasy world who find themselves working for the Evil Overlord.

I’ll second the Black Company. Mercedes Lackey’s “By the Sword” also has an interesting look at mercenary companies. Ironically, even the Battletech novels do a good job of explaining how some companies might form.

Mercenary companies have been formed in a variety of ways and used in a variety of means. So a lot will depend on how you choose to define the term. In the American Revolution, Britain paid several German princes for the use of about 30,000 Hessian troops. In modern day they would probably not be considered mercenaries, but rather a loan of troops. Back then they were considered mercenaries.

Even sell-swords can arguably be considered mercenaries, just not ones attached to a large group. Did your adventuring group agree to a reward in exchange for removing that nagging dragon? They are arguably mercenaries if they are doing it for the pay only.

Regarding your examples:

1) Is very common today. “Private military contractor” is the modern term. No clue how binding the contracts are, but there are and always have been those who will hire their own military forces. In your world you’ll have to decide what the local laws allow? Do rulers like having these forces available to call on? Or do they see them as potential threats?
2) Very common in fantasy works, not so much in reality (especially modern times). You still need someone to bankroll the operation (see 1 above). It is more likely that a group of close friends might join the same mercenary band and rise in the ranks. For number two, while it can happen, realistically it may very well occur over decades. It is only in fantasy that you fight 7 major battles every week for 10 years.
3) Biggest problem with three is that the leaders aren’t going to be mercenaries, but persons from the country’s own military. Either you’ve hired large standing units already (such as the Hessians above which were complete units), or you have individual soldiers coming in. If the second, you’ll be putting your own officers and NCOs over them to make sure you have unity of command. So when the group disbands, there’s no real leader figure to take over.

Of course, you’ll always have to decide how the various powers in your world see mercenaries. Is there a guild regulating their conduct? Do they post bonds? Do some rulers have bias for or against them?

Ravian
2014-10-07, 01:02 PM
Mercenary companies have been formed in a variety of ways and used in a variety of means. So a lot will depend on how you choose to define the term. In the American Revolution, Britain paid several German princes for the use of about 30,000 Hessian troops. In modern day they would probably not be considered mercenaries, but rather a loan of troops. Back then they were considered mercenaries.


If I remember correctly this was a fairly common practice for small nations to make money by essentially loaning out their own nation's troops as mercenaries. Part of the reason many hessian troops deserted while in the US, not only were they fighting a distant war with barely anything to do with their own nation, but their ruler was seeing every penny of it while they were stuck with the regular soldier's pay. Mercenary work without the perks.

I believe Switzerland had a similar policy. Part of the reason they were able to establish themselves as a neutral nation was because practically every nation contracted swiss mercenaries and no one wanted to see that supply run thin.

Brother Oni
2014-10-08, 08:09 AM
To counterpoint the 'all mercenaries are amoral', there are a number of fictional groups that were very scrupulous in their contracts and once paid for, were very loyal.

In real life, technically speaking, the Gurkhas in the British Army are mercenaries as are the French Foreign Legion. Since the modern definition of a mercenary is covered (and banned) by the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Mercenary_Convention), PMCs are skirting the issue on a technicality as well.

TheThan
2014-10-08, 03:43 PM
That only applies to those that have signed that treaty. So if you didn’t sign, what can the UN actually do to you?

I didn’t see the USA, Great Britain or France on it…

snowblizz
2014-10-08, 04:08 PM
There's also the 3+1 version. Country is at war so it commissions people (usually nobles as quite often they'd have to buy the commission) as licensed mercenary captains who raise men for their personal companies (if they didn't get enough usually they'd be out and the men folded into another unit, but if we're talking cronies severely understrength units were possible, at one point a bunch of commissioned officers were made into a bodyguard when low on manpower, interestingly there were set limits for shortage in men, basically a certain embezzlement was accounted for). The company owner runs it as a business, kind of, quite often an experienced (ex-)regular soldier is the effective commander ('cause it sucks getting shot leading your company in a battle, or he has a another commission to lead). The regiment could be given over to an accomplished follower (or crony), eg if the owner retires (or dies!) or ascends to high command or gets a better regiment or even sold to the same or someone else. In extreme cases, entire armies would be handed over, which happened in the 30YW a couple of times.
Usually the soldiers weren't considered mercenary as such, but more like regulars. Eg the Swedish in 30YW would essentially differentiate between conscripts (basically nationals), paid soldiers and mercenaries. The first two were almost treated the same (basically some nationalities were trusted more eg British were considered as good as their own by Sweden, Germans were less reliable as it was "home country" to them) and part of the army and got equipment and other issues as an army (as much as such were done). Wallenstein was basically a mercenary general with his own military-industrial complex backing him. And Bernhard of Saxony and his entire army was turned over to France during the later stages of the war.

Brother Oni
2014-10-09, 03:25 AM
That only applies to those that have signed that treaty. So if you didn’t sign, what can the UN actually do to you?

I didn’t see the USA, Great Britain or France on it…

There's a variety of things the UN can do, but given that all 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council haven't signed it, you're right in that the UN won't actually do anything if you're employing PMCs, unless they're caught doing for you that breaks other international laws.

Storm_Of_Snow
2014-10-09, 05:58 AM
There's a variety of things the UN can do, but given that all 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council haven't signed it, you're right in that the UN won't actually do anything if you're employing PMCs, unless they're caught doing for you that breaks other international laws.

And given that the 5 permanent members all have veto powers, even if someone is caught doing something, it's not impossible for the UN to be completely and utterly unable to do anything anyway. :smallsigh:

The_Werebear
2014-10-09, 04:01 PM
Back on topic, there are some nonviolent "happy ends" to a mercenary company. True, they may be wiped out or fall apart due to desertion, but there are instances of mercenary usage being so ingrained in a particular area that they essentially become regular or semi-regular troops. The Varangian guard of the Byzantine Empire leaps to mind. Norse mercs and adventurers get hired on to help out, and are so effective that they eventually become a fixture.

Knaight
2014-10-09, 04:19 PM
It wasn't that uncommon for urban militias to go into mercenary work. A city gets a bunch of people trained up, and then at least some of them end up going out into mercenary work. You'll see a lot of references to "Genoese crossbowmen" in the hundred years war, for example. That generally meant members of the urban militia of Genoa hired en-mass as mercenaries; Genoa had a reputation for expert crossbowmen and that's what generally got hired. Condoterri soldiers often had similar starts.

BootStrapTommy
2014-10-14, 02:46 PM
2. A band of war veterans start to hire themselves out as mercenaries. They all know each other very well and one of them is the undisputed leader and a living legend. They are successful and the band grows and grows. It's a long process but eventually the mercenary company will be formidable. The sheer charisma of the leader of the original veteran group is enough to keep the group together at all times.
3. A country needs mercenaries for their war. Men from all over the world come to the country's aid, and the country organizes them into a cohesive unit and selects the mercenary leaders. After the war the company may stick together and head somewhere else.
These sound the most convincing. You are either a veteran who grabs a group of veterans to make a living doing what your good at (hint: fighting) or your a young one who joins a foreign army in exchange for what seems a good paycheck.

Jaycemonde
2014-10-15, 01:46 AM
Private military contractors are another thing entirely from stereotypical mercenaries. They never disband, and they mostly pull security details. Escorting dignitaries and supporting troops overseas and such. A lot of them are actually focused heavily on humanitarian efforts, despite the tarnished reputation certain companies gave the lot.

Rion
2014-10-15, 05:40 AM
In early Renaissance / Late Medieval Italy, the general mercenary companies arise in one of five ways, with the much larger condotta companies (or mercenary armies) generally evolving from three of the five types.

One way a mercenary company could arise, is from veterans who found they liked warfare better than what they did before. The best example of this form during the Middle Ages, comes from France during the Hundred Years' War. During the warm parts of the war both French and English (and Burgundian) nobles would call up feudal retinues, and as well as hire sorta-standing army companies, that is companies organized in the same way as the companies of a standing army, but for the explicit purpose of only being active for as long as combat lasts.
During the lulls in the war some of these men would decide that they never liked civilian life as much as they liked their current one, and would stay soldiers. Since their commanders in wartime were nobles with estates to return home to, these companies would choose someone with leadership experience they respected, and then wander around as brigands, looters and bandits until someone hired them to fight. The nobles and retinues that didn't choose the mercenary life, would then often try to drive them off, which ment a good number of them ended up in Italy where mercenary contracts were more numerous, and they wouldn't have to resort to brigandry as often. Other examples of this were the almugavar companies that followed the King of Aragon in his war for Sicily. Some of them decided to stay in Italy plying their trade as mercenaries.
If one of these companies was led by a particularly reknowned and respected captain, others might join him and he would end up as the general of a condotta, making this one the companies that can evolve into Condottas.

Another way mercenary companies could form, was by individual mercenaries joining up as a company to fulfill a specific goal. One the examples of this, was a company of unhired individual German knights doing brigandry, who formed a condotta company for the specific purpose of looting an Italian town. This company mostly disbanded after succeeding, but other companies forming up remaing active and roamed the countryside looting and looking for employment.
The reason that company was formed by German knights was because there were a lot of them acting as individual mercenaries in Italy. They were mostly second, third and fourth sons of lesser nobility, grown up trained in the arts of combat and living in relative luxury, with the only prospect of inheritance on the death of their father being arms, armour and a warhorse (unless they were sent to join the church as many second sons were). Often they would claim their inheritance before that, and then set off to earn enough money to keep a noble's lifestyle through mercenary work.
The leaders of these companies would mostly be those among the nobility would have shown promise and aptitude for tactics during wars prior to become mercenaries. Since it had already been mentioned previously, it's almost unnecessary to point out that this was another type of company that could evolve into condottas.

The third type of company that could evolve into condottas, was the retinues of minor Italian princes who decided to achieve greater wealth and power through mercenary work. The difference between this and option 1. in the openeing post, is that this was not some rich guy hiring individual mercenaries and acting the middle-man getting them contracts as a whole, but rather a feudal ruler of a smaller state who decides the low-level warfare those commonly engage in, isn't as lucrative as hiring out himself and his army as mercenaries to far richer states. This is somewhat similar to the previously mentioned Hessians and other Germans of the American War of Independence, but with the difference that the ruler always also hired himself out as the general of the army*.
In renaissance Italy, these companies were often made up of Italians, more specifically Italians from the states smaller than Milan, Venice, Florence and Genoa, since the smaller states couldn't compete with them in the battle over power and land.

The two types of mercenary companies that couldn't evolve into condottas were the "militia mercenaries" and the "colonial companies".

The first needs some explanation of medieval militias, the defence and police force of medieval towns were often militias organised by the guilds. The military prowess of these varied greatly according to time and place, but generally they can be summed up as one of three types: civilian militias, "weekend warriors" and professional forces. Most militias started out as "weekend warriors", militias whose members were first and foremost craftsmen, traders, artisans or some other form of civilian, but who trained and drilled from time to time to hone their skills and be able to defend their town. These militias were not as skilled as veteran mercenaries or the retinues of nobility, but they could hold their own, and with proper tactics and terrain on their side they could win over them.
A lot of times however, they degenerated into "Civilian Militias", the members didn't hone their skills, they may have used bribery and nepotism, or the guilds may have neglected the militias to focus on trade and craftsmanship. What ever the case, the members of a civilian miltia had not trained or drilled in years (if ever in their lifetime), and if they ahve any experience at all, it's exclusively acting as a police force. These militias were completely useless, and often only survived as long as there wasn't any war. Once they experienced war, their leaders often disbanded them to instead hire mercenaries instead.
The third type of militia, "Professional Forces", was just what their name implies. The guilds took pride in how well they had organized the militias, and their members often trained and drilled more than they plied their civilian trade. In many cases some militia members acted as soldiers full-time, and due to the expenses incurred by the city in keeping such well organized militias, it was quite common for the city to loan some of these militias as mercenaries. Examples of this kind of mercenary company includes Genoese crossbowmen and Flemish and Swiss pikemen. Since each company was still a part of the official armed forces of a city or state, they were always hired to supplement an existing army, rather than forming the core of a condotta on their own.

The "colonial companies" of Italy were organized by the state which hired them. The best explanation and example would be the stradiots of Venice. Through their colonies and trade outposts in the Balkans, Venice had contact to the Albanians, Serbs and other people with a strong horsemanship tradition. Some of the cavalry of these nations were willing to serve as mercenaries, and the Venetian colonies both sent out the call for mercenary cavalrymen, and when Albanians (and others) from outside the Venetian holdings answered the call as individual mercenaries, Venice was responsible for organizing them into full-blown mercenary companies. Since these mercenary companies were basically standing army companies exclusively made up of foreigners, they didn't form Condottas because they were already part of an army.

*One very important thing to note is that the whole "mercenary company formed by people who only act as middlemen rather than actually lead the company into battle", didn't exist among the condottas (though both non-condotta companies start that way). That's because the power held by a condotta is immense, and for medieval Italians (as opposed to the later Germans serving out of nationalism) there is nothing preventing the actual leader of the condotta from usurping command and ownership of the company. Mercenaries are often infamous for disloyalty, treachery, betrayal and all manner of fair-weather friendship, but (at least in medieval context) that's mostly of the company to their employers, rather within the company itself. The power of the mercenary general was that the company he led actually was loyal, but to him rather than the employers. Someone who bribed a condotta to switch sides didn't bribe every member of it, they bribed the general to turn-coat and the army automatically followed. While people on the forums who either currently or have served in a nations armed forces can correct me if I'm wrong, soldiers don't show that kind of loyalty to a leader who isn't actually in the field leading them, unless they are fighting for an ideology. Which they in our case aren't per definition, as mercenaries only motivated by gold (again in contrast to the much later national armies motivated by nationalism, who are loaned out by the ruler of their nation).