I recently stumbled a couple of times upon the expression "posse of pips", and right now, I hardly have a clue of what that may mean. Could it have anything to do with games, or assets? I'm in the dark here, and any piece of enlightenment would be greatly appreciated!
Regards
EDIT : added two quotes:
a) from a British Army-themed forum:
If only some form of referendum was used (not to make decisions but to gauge Corps feeling). Thats what the visits of big-knobs used to be for. To see what the man on the ground thought. Now it seems big-knobs turn up at the end of a weeks worth of pushing brooms and cleaning stuff to have a very stage managed beer in the mess with a posse of pips and crowns giving everyone that "You move off the party line and I'm going to finish your career" look before they're whisked off to the Posh Boys Mess.
b) from an Western-themed interactive fiction:
You bring along some extra help with these Tests and Challenges in the form of your Posse-O’-Pips. The Posse-O’-Pips represent extra six sided dice you can spend in addition to your "free" die, where Lady Luck rides shotgun! You may spend these extra dice at any time you are asked to make a Test or Challenge. You do not have to, of course, you might want to save them for what you consider really important checks. The Posse-O’-Pips represent an edge you have in a particular situation and could take the form of something useful you possess, perhaps you have knowledge or experience in the current circumstances you find yourself in or maybe you just have a burst of adrenalin, confidence or motivation to get you through.
Best Answer
A posse was originally a group of (usually) men in the 19th Century USA Wild West recruited by a sheriff (law enforcement officer) to hunt lawbreakers. Informally it means a group of people with a common purpose, and even more informally, a group of people or things.
The first extract is British or British Commonwealth Army related. Officer ranks are denoted by insignia worn on the uniform. Ranks below Major-General use combinations of various heraldic stars (of the Order of the Bath, the Thistle or the Shamrock, depending on regiment) and the royal crown. A star is known informally as a "pip". A Captain has three pips, a Lieutenant-Colonel has one pip and a crown. A "posse of pips and crowns" is a somewhat disparaging Army way of referring to a group of officers brought together for some purpose.
The second extract refers to gaming dice (plural, singular die) which have different numbers of dots ("pips") on each face. A "Posse-o'-Pips" is a way of talking about a collection of gaming points.