Getting Mercs as New Spain

First of all can I say that Kingdoms is absolutedly incredible. The campaigns are so immersive it is unbelievable. I just finished as the Scots in Britannia, and some of the battles I fought were crazy. The AOR system is brilliannt, and pikes seem to be sorted, even against infantry. :2thumbsup:

Now I'm playing as New Spain in the Americas. Finding it easy enough, but I don't seem to be able to get many mercenaries. So far I can get two types of mercenary infantry, and one kind of Native Archer mercenaries. I have alliances with several factions, so I'm not sure what to do to get any more mercs.

Anyone know how to get more of these mercs?

You can only get Aztec units if you are allied with the Aztecs. You can then hire them in Aztec lands. This is the same with native other mercs. Mayans can be hired in Mayan country etc.

I'll second those kudos for Kingdoms. Smaller-scale campaigns with more local detail and a tighter focus ... makes conquering the map seem actually feasible, from a "historical accuracy" standpoint.

The campaigns seem tougher, too. Playing as England in Kingdoms can actually be rough, and New Spain is no cakewalk.

The merc recruiting system is pretty interesting, then: you need to ally with natives, but then be on their land, trespassing (unless you have military access) to actually get the mercs. Very underhanded!

I'm not sure how this system works exactly.

Having been allied with the Tlaxcallans for a while, two types of Tlaxcallan mercs appeared in my Vera Cruz region, but they only appeared after I had been allied for quite a while.

And even when I was allied with the Tarascans there were no special mercenaries in their lands. But when I declared war on them and attacked one of their northern provinces I was able to recruit two excellent types of Chichemec mercs (another ally of mine) in the Tarascan region.

Which makes me wonder if it was originally a Chichimec region and that the mercenary recruitment is based on starting regions.:juggle2:

The merc system works with regions. You can look that up in the descr_mercenaries file. For instance the Mayans can be hired in: Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Canpech, Chetumal, Althun Ha, Tikal, Yaxchilan, Xicalango