a lack of variety with mercenaries?

[KARTLOS]

is it just me or does this game lack variety in mercenearies compared to rome?

i think there should be much more unique regional units, and maybe more of the individual faction rosters should be opened up to merc purchase.

fun examples would be huscarls/viking warriors in denmark, serbian nobles, cossacks, broke lances (by there description they are effectively mercs irl) and forlorn hope.
are welsh longbowmen available as mercs? if not they should be as well.

another thing that was different in rome was that you used to be able to recruit units with a different prices depending on their experience, in this game they all start of with no exp - seems like a step back to me.

[lars573]

I think that the keen mercs don't show up right away. While Kerns and Welsh spears are common as dirt on the British isles. Gallowglaich and Welsh longbows are very rare. Swiss and Flemish pikes are more common. In fact the rebels of Bruges and Antwerp have Flemish pikes in them. Also some really good mercs need an event to show up. Like Free company longbows and men-at-arms, and merc arqubuiers. Also in the east neat mercs are more common. Bulgar brigands, Slav archers and spearmen, in the balkans. Armenian archers and cavalry, Cuman horse, Alan cavalry in Asia minor. Sudanese swordsmen in Egypt, Catalan mercs in Iberia.

[katank]

In rome you couldn't recruit troops with higher xp unless it had temples boosting it (Mars, Equina (sp?) etc.) Perhaps you were thinking of MP?

[KARTLOS]

In rome you couldn't recruit troops with higher xp unless it had temples boosting it (Mars, Equina (sp?) etc.) Perhaps you were thinking of MP?

at the very least in alexander, but i think in rome to you would get the same unit at different prices - this was due to variation in quality, i remeber it as experience by it might be armour or weapon upgrade.
eg there might be 3 units of eastern spearmen available at one price and two at another.

[Quillan]

There is quite a lot of variation in mercenaries, it just depends on where you are. Over in western Europe, yes, it's pretty much all the same: mercenary Frankish knights, mercenary spearmen, mercenary crossbowmen, ad nauseum. Go outside Europe. You'll find other things once you get to eastern Europe: Croat Axemen, Bulgar Brigands, Turkomans, Turkopoles, Armenian cavalry and archers, Nubian javelin skirmishers, Cuman horse archers, and the list goes on. Not all replenish at the same rate.

The thing I really like is that unlike RTW, it's possible to retrain mercs to restore losses. You just have to be in an area where they can currently be hired. It's let my Spanish use some decent spearmen as army core when in the early going all I had was crap infantry. God, I wish I had those in my Byzantine campaign.