You cannot put a price on having more guns than the other guys. - Drake McBain
The Steelheads have men for hire who are equipped to deal with any threat on any battlefield. Working in concert with other Steelheads or the regular forces of a client army, the riflemen are soldiers capable of decimating enemy lines or providing covering fire to ensure their allies reach the enemy in one piece. Every rifleman is a reliable shot; when ordered to concentrate their fire at a single target, a group of riflemen become truly deadly.
Although anyone can apply to join the Steelheads, only those meeting the company’s standards of professionalism are accepted as riflemen. Because of this preference, it is no surprise that many disgruntled former soldiers of national armies make their way into rifleman forces, seeking better pay, wider travel, or a greater variety of engagements. Their ranks also contain more than a few former long gunners and Winter Guard, with Ordic militiamen and Llaelese refugees just as commonplace. Men and women with such experience are usually inducted as officers or quickly rise to leadership. Mixed backgrounds occasionally create interpersonal conflicts as old rivalries and grudges flare up. Lieutenants and captains are adept at quashing squabbles and seeing that unavoidable brawls between the men take place off the battlefield—and after the client has paid.
While the overall quality of men is high, these units are filled out by a number of lowlifes and criminals drawn to the mercenary life. Often these are individuals desperate to escape punishment who join the company with the understanding they will be posted far from the nation or gang pursuing them.
Ultimately, coin is the driving force for every member of the company, and Steelhead quartermasters are experts of financial manipulation. As an incentive to increase their skills and decrease wasted shots, riflemen earn bonuses based on their conservation of ammunition. Although this rarely leads to problems, more than one client general has made a dour remark after witnessing the riflemen making a show of aiming at a routed enemy without actually firing. This stinginess with ammunition also leads to riflemen ruthlessly scavenging from their killed or unconscious comrades.