In my crusaders campaign as Britannia I made extensive use of mercenaries because I find the British armies to be severely lacking many areas and the generally nomadic nature of any faction trying to perform such a scenario. I had to use mercenaries to replace fallen troops because I was only allowed to hold certain settlements. While my ships sailed around Spain I picked up mercenaries from Southern France, Iberia, Numidia and Africa so that by the time my fleet reached Sicily, I had an unstoppable horde of an army with excellent troop variety. In Sicily I was able to recruit hoplites. I decided the destruction of the SPQR faction would help my cause by breaking the Roman factions apart so I captured Rome and gave it to the Greek Cities as a gift, which allowed me to recruit Samnite mercenaries (with the huge cash boost this gave).
I often found myself left with armies that were more mercenary than regular or totally mercenary save for the general. A truly multi-national Britannic Empire it was.
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