Yes, I understand the regional recruitment concept perfectly. But my idea is to recruit units from the surrounding regions, not the local area. For instance, a low level Roman merc recruitment network in Italy would be limited to a few Gallic units and the odd Illyrian here and there. However, if the network was fully upgraded, the Romans would be able to recruit a smattering of unit types from all over the Mediterranean, although the Gallic mercs would have the greatest availability.

This may at appear to de-emphasize the regional MIC system, but there is a fix for that. Merc recruitment centers could be linked to the regional MICs. A level 2 regional MIC could be a prerequisite for a level 1 merc network, for instance. There are ways to implement this without supplanting the MIC system.