Why do mercenaries suck?

[Patron]

javelins suck

[ichi]

Two things to remember.

First Jinettes get four shots before running empty, and these are best used on elite armored troops.

Second, Javelins can suck, but they can also be deadly. They are quite effective when trying to break down a high valor elite armored unit holding a bridge or hole in a castle. Place them on Hold Form in deep formation and order them right up behind your good inf, then manually order them to toss their pointies at the toughest enemy unit.

Javelins can also work well in the open skirmishing against enemy inf. Just don't let them try to melee. They can kill some or at the very least, exhaust an enemy unit trying to chase them down.

ichi

[Budwise]

Jinette sees camel, Jinette switches to skirmish mode using javelins. Camel run speed = 14 (charge = 16), Jinette run speed = 24 (charge = 26). Who's going to catch who in this scenario?

Easy, the Berber Camel when they fire back.

[bretwalda]

Easy, the Berber Camel when they fire back.

Exactly - never mix them up with plain Camels: they are deadly in desert. You can try to take Berbers out with a horse archer if you have a height advantage or archer + fast cavalry combo.

[Talain]

I use mercenaries for three things.

Mercenaries are primarily for absorbing casualties and filling out a line so your national troops can flank and destroy the enemy and get the Valour. Lovely Italian Light Infantry and pretty much any Muslim foot fill that position nicely.

My secondary use of mercenaries is for throwaway cavalry. In this form they are the disposable RPG of the medieval era, to chase down a thicket of archers or get a quick charge in faster than my knights can get there. Light horse and Horse Archers are preffered, along with Jinettes. When a couple brigades of Khwazariman are going to stomp on my flank a bit before I can break their line, harassing mercenaries force them to chase, and if they ignore them a couple volleys of Javelins will ruin their day, as will being charged in the rear, even if its just by Hobilars. Scotch Highlanders and Irish Gallowglasses do a good job as fire-and-forget weapons too, but I usually am England and pumping them out at a steady pace.

The tertiary use is for filling up on one-use gimmick units without having to payout for the infrastructure. I don't want to have to spend thirty years and thousands of florins to be able to nationalize artillery support for the one or two castles I'll bother assaulting in the course of a game. And Longbows are in scarce supply even when I am playing England, since I have to replace line infantry casualties and replace my fire-and-forget troops on a regular basis. If I see them, I grab them.

[dgfred]

So do you just siege most of the castles you run across?

I didn't think of the florin savings by NOT trying to build up for siege
weapons and such . Give me some mercs .

[Talain]

No no no, I find that I'm rarely ever sieging a castle that has more than a dozen men in it, so I don't need regular supplies of siege engines. Especially since I'd rather starve out most of those sieges too!

[antisocialmunky]

Sometimes, you'll see time based units pop into it like Bombards in early and Huscarles in high. The thing I really wished is that the AI would build good units so they pop up in the pool.

[Varangian Berserker]

Sometimes, you'll see time based units pop into it like Bombards in early and Huscarles in high. The thing I really wished is that the AI would build good units so they pop up in the pool.

I had Arquebusiers(sp?) show up as mercs during 1220! Europe had'nt even discovered gunpowder yet!

[dgfred]

I had Arquebusiers(sp?) show up as mercs during 1220! Europe had'nt even discovered gunpowder yet!

Isn't that supposed to be 1260?

[lilljonas]

No, I've seen handgunners in Early in the merc-pool, so it's definately worth to keep an eye on it regularily. The turks got quite surprised, I guess, when I brought a cannon against them in Early... *boom* ;)

[mfberg]

Some mercs are available in 1205 that would only get built past 1260.

I buy and keep mercs if they are a unit I couldn't otherwise build, like Pavise arbs as the turks, or longbows. I also buy and keep cannon and other seige weaponry, the upkeep is so cheap anyway, and it gives me time to build up the foundries for my heavy ships rather than seige cannon.

mfberg

[Shahed]

I just saw this at Dailyrotten.com

AUG 20 1191
Crusaders massacre 3,000 bound Muslim prisoners at Acre, after a breakdown in negotiations over payment of their ransom. The kinllings take place in full view of the army from which they were taken.

Like I said, ransom was about everything back then.

Hey I tried to find this on the site you mentioned but I could'nt. Can you please give me a link to this article ?

[dgfred]

[QUOTE=mfberg]Some mercs are available in 1205 that would only get built past 1260.

This I did not know........amazing . *dgfred rubs hands
together in anticipation*

[Bregil the Bowman]

Some mercs are available in 1205 that would only get built past 1260.

I buy and keep mercs if they are a unit I couldn't otherwise build, like Pavise arbs as the turks, or longbows. I also buy and keep cannon and other seige weaponry, the upkeep is so cheap anyway, and it gives me time to build up the foundries for my heavy ships rather than seige cannon.

mfberg

This is my strategy too, and I was amazed to pick up not one but three organ guns before 1260 in my current campaign. I sometimes pick up "exotic" merc units just out of curiosity, to see what they can do, though they are rarely worth it in the long run. But longbows and artillery are usually worth having, and in the Viking campaign game there are quite often mounted sergeants to be had.

It is probably historically accurate to have a few professional bands whose equipment and training is ahead of the game (although organ guns in 1235 is perhaps pushing it a bit far). And the English longbowmen definitely hired themselves out to other employers during the gaps in the 100 years war.