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In MTW I always wished I could recruit mercenary longbowmen, and now in RTW I can in the form of Cretan Archers! ~:cheers:
But seriously, I love how factions can recruit awesome mercenaries of types they normally couldn't get. Even if it does take forever to recruit a second unit of war elephants once you grabbed the first one from a given province.
I only wish there were chariot mercenaries..
Is there onager mercenaries in RTW? I remember, back in MTW, I used to hire all my siege equipment, when it was needed, then disband them.
I really like the mercenary system in RTW. Especially, because the mercs aren't so random as in MTW. For example as Carthage I know, I'm going to have a steady supply of Balearic slinger mercenaries in one province. So all I have to do is to check that province with a family member every once in a while.
Playing recently with far more rich factions like the Seleucids, I've taken great pleasure in simply sending a family member on his own at a target now and then. By the time he arrives, he's recruited every damn thing that'll accept money and lays siege. :D
Many cool stuff to recruit. As Brutii I often recruit Illyrian mercs to fight rebels, and Hoplites as extra manpower against Macedons. However, slingers and Cretan archers are 1st priority. And of course Bastarnae Mercenaries.
Seleucids I hire Bedouins and Arab cavalry. The mercenary system in RTW is awesome!!!
to bad you can only recruit certain units
Dudes, you've forgotten the best (j/k) merc unit out there ELEPHANTS... ~:cheers:
I usually post a weak or young family member in elephant country to recruit merc elephants. I've invaded Britain and Egypt with elephant toting armies, mainly because of the crunch sound they make with chariots!
I too love how much more functonal mercs are in RTW. Even for the historically merc heavy factions in MTW, mercs were just too expensive and thin to work well.
While on the merc jag, is there any way for the barbarian factions to get their hands on onagers or ballistae? I would love to be able to steal siege equipment from a routed foe.
mercenaries they do help when attrition saps your army as well. I have yet to hire an entire army, it sounds like fun.
The main thing I use mercs for (other then getting archers and slingers) is to maintain momentum. For example, I conquered and occupied Corinth, and didnt enslave or exterminate, so I needed a pretty big garrison to keep order for a little while. I wanted to get to Sparta quick before the garrison there was reinforced, so I just used mercs to fill in the gaps and hit Sparta the next turn. Then, I used the same army, with some more mercs that were recruited farther north by another general, to attack Athens the next turn. The Greeks and Macedonians never knew what hit them.
The other thing I will do is send out a crappy general behind enemy lines at a key point, have him recruit some mercs, and sit in a fort keeping reinforcement armies bottled up. Then, once I have conquered the cities, I can bring my main army up to kill the reinforcements in the field, which is much better than fighting them in a city.
So I guess what I am trying to say is, I like em too. ~D
i couldn`t live without them, Cretan archers and Rhodian slingers are great for bridge assaults.