Using Mercenaries

[matteus the inbred]

They were really thinking he was smoking real money

heheh, that's good, wonder if i can get them here!

i also prefer really good teched-up troops with all possible upgrades, whereas the AI prefers fielding loads of rubbish, particularly Egypt with their mass peasant armies. although i do build some sort of castle structure everywhere, even economic provinces.

as for the mercs, well if they're any good, they'll survive, if not...pah. plenty more where they came from. the occasional unit gets retained (lots of noble cav units about in my current game, eg) cos they're very good, i've even had merc units gain 2-3 valour fighting for me, but that of course makes them more expensive. I even had one i'd have made into a governor if he wasn't a sell-sword piece of untrustworthy rubbish (and if it was actually possible...!).

[Procrustes]

One cool thing is that you can buy merc gunpowder units in High, even though you can't build them yourself until Late. I scoop up any hand-gunners, organ guns, arqs that I can find 'cause I get a kick out of them.

I like mercs - I tend to grab the kinds of units I can't build myself - druz cav, italian light infantry, muslim dessert fighters, horse archers, bulgarian bandits, etc. - whatever would be useful. I also get a kick out of not disbanding them when they get worn down - I like taking the 15 remaining mercs from a unit on a battle against overwhelming odds with a general I'm trying to get some good traits for - a very depleted but high valor merc can often do as much damage as a vanilla unit that I built - and by then the upkeep is nothing and I have a better chance of getting 'expert attacker/defender' virtues for my general. (I take the remnants from the units I can build and keep re-combining them - that way I can build some full-strength, high-valor units of my own. Make sure to turn 'automerge' off.)

[matteus the inbred]

One cool thing is that you can buy merc gunpowder units in High, even though you can't build them yourself until Late. I scoop up any hand-gunners, organ guns, arqs that I can find 'cause I get a kick out of them.

yeah! i've got a siege waiting to be played out where i've hired about six different kinds of merc artillery including organ guns and mortars...it's gonna be fun! and very noisy...

[Procrustes]

yeah! i've got a siege waiting to be played out where i've hired about six different kinds of merc artillery including organ guns and mortars...it's gonna be fun! and very noisy...

Watch out for those mortars - you get three shots and then each additional shot runs the risk that the gun will explode. Don't put them too close together, or stand any of your other units too close, or you'll loose some extra guys when they go....

[matteus the inbred]

surely that's all part of the fun? they're expendable, and i've never seen my own guys blown up before (except for careless naphtha throwing...)

[Loucipher]

I also get a kick out of not disbanding them when they get worn down - I like taking the 15 remaining mercs from a unit on a battle against overwhelming odds with a general I'm trying to get some good traits for - a very depleted but high valor merc can often do as much damage as a vanilla unit that I built - and by then the upkeep is nothing and I have a better chance of getting 'expert attacker/defender' virtues for my general.

Yes, undermanned mercenary units have their uses. Like, say, ganging up to five-six of them in a vain attempt to bring the castle gate down when the fire mission from your 'pultaboys just isn't an option to consider On the other hand, when you have them valoured up to the task, they can act like a dagger in enemy's side. A small (and therefore nimble and easy to manoeuver) band of high Valour hired swords can spell disaster if properly directed Keep in mind, attacking or defending with undermanned units can bring you a good virtue only when you actually win the battle, and undermanned units tend to get overwhelmed sometimes...

[antisocialmunky]

Mercs are good arrow bait and you don't pay their upkeep in crusades I don't think.

[Alexios]

I agree that merc units are bought to be used (i.e., expendable). Many times I will throw them at the enemy first before attacking with my own. But I have often wondered, do routed mercs with high valour have a morale effect on your own men, or do they even care? So far I haven't been able to clearly tell one way or the other.

[Loucipher]

From my own observations, yes, fleeing mercenary units can affect your own troops morale - after all, they wear the same colours. But still, mercenaries taking the beating are much better than our national men...

[matteus the inbred]

Mercs are good arrow bait and you don't pay their upkeep in crusades I don't think.

IIRC from somewhere else...you only pay their hiring fee and then once they're in a Crusade you don't pay for them anymore. a lot of my Crusades are full of mercs, particularly when i need emergency reinforcements, although it does seem to make the Crusade less effective when auto-calcing.

another merc question...are the feared and downright nails Jomsvikings available only as mercs in the Viking period in VI?

[Roark]

Joms are available to the Viking faction, as trainable troops, or as mercs to other factions.

Yeah, Joms Vikings are death on legs, pure and simple.

[Loucipher]

Upon quick inspection of MTW-VI_viking_tech_tree.pdf:

Jomsvikings: available to Vikings (surprise, surprise )
Requires: Keep, Royal Court.

Nuff said.

[matteus the inbred]

Upon quick inspection of MTW-VI_viking_tech_tree.pdf:

Jomsvikings: available to Vikings (surprise, surprise )
Requires: Keep, Royal Court.

Nuff said.

thanks man...after actually thinking of having a look for it, i have the file as well...!