your favourite mercenaries

[Brennus]

Bruttian infantry, Numidian cavalry and Carian warbands all make for great, cheap but hardy additions to a Mediterranean force.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

Bruttian infantry, Numidian cavalry and Carian warbands all make for great, cheap but hardy additions to a Mediterranean force.

Did you modify the stats on your Bruttians? As is, I find them completely underwhelming.

[The Celtic Viking]

Well, when playing as non-Celts I always bring some Celtic mercenaries. Any Celtic mercenaries. However, speaking purely about usefulness, some of my favourites would be Tekastos, Samnitici Milites and Iberi Scutari.

[Intranetusa]

My favorite mercs are the Saminite Heavy Infantry, Babylonian Heavy Spearmen, horse archers, Persian archer-spearmen, falx men, Thraikioi Peltastai (cool looking heavy-pelastai with a pseudo-falx), and Thrakioi Prodromoi (or any other medium-heavy cavalry lancers).

[rickinator9]

I usually don't hire mercenaries, because they are very expensive in the game. Not to mention I always want to have something on the build que. I do hire the occasional Gaesatae whenever they are available.

For regional troops, I liked the Nizagan-i eranshahr and the illyrian thureoporoi

[seleucid empire]

are gaesatae available as mercs?? i can only get the galatian valiant as mercs

[geala]

They are equal to gaesatae, I think. Using javelin and sword, fighting naked and frighten others. Gaesatae means nothing else than bearer of spears, what they exactly were (a religious band, a warlike boygroup, a special unit or just young able bodied warriors) remains a little bit cloudy.

I usually recruit only small numbers of mercenaries, they are very expensive. I recruit what I like, mostly Cretans, Celts and Balearic units, because they were known for being mercenaries. Later in game I use a lot of natives instead, mainly Celts, Italians and Thrako-Celts (I normally play as Macedon, Epeiros or the Ptolemeians). I also like "Nubian" units. I don't like eastern troops, although one or two horse archers are often used.

[rickinator9]

are gaesatae available as mercs?? i can only get the galatian valiant as mercs

I meant those, other unit, same function.

[Brennus]

Did you modify the stats on your Bruttians? As is, I find them completely underwhelming.

Correction, your right they are a bit pants.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

Pants? I'm unfamiliar with this expression...

[Brennus]

Less than spectacular/dissapointing etc. Alternatively the word "naff" can also be employed to the same effect.

Jews! Now there are some hearty and tough troops.

[seleucid empire]

they arent mercs tho

[Brennus]

they arent mercs tho

True, but I couldn't help myself.