Weak Golden Horde

[Procrustes]

TWO Organ guns , that is going to leave a mark .

Ha! I hope they do. I've never actually had the opportunity to use them before - I hope it doesn't rain that day!

Where/How did you hire them by the way?

Around 1200 all hell broke loose and everyone started attacking me. I ended up swallowing Turkey after a tough campaign, and found an inn in Trebazond. I watched it for a while, and they popped up over the next few years - not at the same time. Maintenance was low so I just stuck them in a castle and left them there, waiting for the Horde.

Inns are fun - I build one here and there, along contested borders especially. I look for unique units I can't build myself - I've gotten several longbows and firearms this game. Disciplined cavalry is a good buy if you are playing a christian faction.

Best,

[dgfred]

I'm not much for inns, but I didn't really think about the unique units . I'll have to get me a couple .

[Procrustes]

The AI seems to build them, although I'm not sure it ever uses them. I find them in captured provinces fairly regularly.

If you build them, you'll get more troops if you have less infrastructure in the province (keep the castles, watchtowers and town guards to a minimum) and if you build them close to someplace where folks are fighting (you won't find many mercs in your backwater provinces.) You can't really depend on them, though - it's something to try if you are curious or desperate.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

The problem with Inns is that mercs are usually one shot units. After one or two battles all you have is a remnant. Especially with Cav.

Still, such is life. Currently my empire is hemoraging around 6,000 florins a year. First thing I did was ditch the merc cav.

[EatYerGreens]

The problem with Inns is that mercs are usually one shot units. After one or two battles all you have is a remnant. Especially with Cav.

Don't ever underestimate the worth of Cavalry cadres.

I've had units of 8 men which scored more kills and captures in their second and subsequent battles than they ever did when they were a full unit of 40.

Valour seems to count for a heck of a lot in this game and a 40 man unit reduced to less than 20 typically has gone up to V1 or V2 (due to the averaging of internal values for individual men) and, when down to less than 10 men, it's gone up V4 or more. Add a general's bonus to take them up to V8, for example and they're surprisingly effective.

High valour units seem to have the ability to intimidate low valour AI units, on occasion - triggering rout or withdrawal before even making contact. Once in a scrap, they kill more and rout them sooner. Chasing routers, they pick up numbers of prisoners totally out of proportion with their unit size.

In some cases, the AI behaves as if a very small unit is no threat to it at all. Given the choice, it will engage or archer into a unit wich is further away and of lower worth, apparently because it has more men in it. Good time to pounce!

Fair point though - a badly broken merc Cav unit which contrived to still be at V0, I would disband myself, on the basis of high maintainance versus low combat effectiveness. Apologies if this is what you actually meant.