Unlikely mercenaries

**Gilrandir** · 04-10-2011, 11:53

I have noticed (as probably many have) that some units appear as mercenaries fairly often, others never do.

Here I give a list of the latter (those that really matter to me)
Boyars
Golden horde heavy cavalry
Kataphraktoi
Pronoiai Allagion
Varangian guards
Naptha
All janissary units
Ghulam cavalry
Knights
Lancers
All swiss units
Huscarles
Genoese sailors
All gothic units
Has anyone had any luck in hiring them? Why are they not available and can you somehow attrack them to the inn (special booze they prefer

)?

**gollum** · 04-10-2011, 14:40

Download the gnome editor from teh org downloads\tools and look into the mercenary use column (penultimate iirc) in the unit_production txt file in your main MTW folder. You'll see that indeed some units are not available as mercs. You can change that and make who you want as availabe by modding the unit_production file (just put YES instead of NO manually).

**edyzmedieval** · 04-10-2011, 17:23

Swiss units should be available as mercs, I found it as a lapse why they did not include those.

**gollum** · 04-10-2011, 17:26

If they were there would be little point in taking over Swissland. Its either one or the other in gameplay terms ie have the unit as recruited in few areas like the Armenian heavies and teh Swiss or have them mercs. One defeats the other as it makes it redundant.

**Gilrandir** · 04-11-2011, 13:18

I had armenian heavies as mercenaries a couple of times (as well as Byzantine infantry), therefore I don't see why the swiss or varangians shouldn't be available. So redundancy does not explain it all.

**gollum** · 04-11-2011, 13:24

Hello Girlandir, you are free to make your game as you like - no doubt about that. From a gameplay perspective if you make a unit that has strict homelands available as mercs, the strict homeland feature is not much use - you can get them as mercs anytime. So i understand why certain units were not put forth as mercs by the developer - to get them instead one needs to have the areas they come from. But, yes in practice you are free to setas mercs whichever you like. No arguing with personal preferences

edit Mistaken you for Girlandir! Where are my spectacles...
edit2 It was not a mistake... Forget it, i need to sleep more...:)

**edyzmedieval** · 04-11-2011, 13:21

Originally Posted by gollum

If they were there would be little point in taking over Swissland. Its either one or the other in gameplay terms ie have the unit as recruited in few areas like the Armenian heavies and teh Swiss or have them mercs. One defeats the other as it makes it redundant.

I still found Armenian heavies as mercenaries. Swiss Halbediers never, only normal Halbediers.

I like it when Arquebusiers are mercenaries before 1260, you get the firepower advantage.