Mercenary Army?

[henyo10]

Hmm I was wondering if anyone has ever made a pure mercenary army because it would be nice. What would be its cons though?

[Navajo Joe]

To be honest when I go on Crusade 65% of the stack are Mercenaries, usually Crusaders, but I also like the Prussian Spearmen and Unhorsed German Knights. The thing is once you are not on Crusade you pay thru the teeth for these sort of units.

I found in the British Isles the calibre of the mercenary was poor, except the Longbowmen, always useful.
Currently my offensive stacks comprise about 25% mercenaries

[nostradamouse]

High cost, low morale. (usually)

So I usually take them for 1 battle/siege and then I throw them away. I simply don't like having to take mercenaries.

[MoToM]

Upkeep is the killer, most merc spears cost around 3-4 hundred upkeep, cav 4-5, thats compared to the order knights on foot around 160, mounted still only 200.
Hawkwood is a hard barginer

[ginger_hammer]

not to mention those mercenary frankish knights with 600 upkeep!

[moosey]

I will usually us mercenaries to bolster my armies if im on an offensive, or if i need to relieve a seige. I usually use these troops to fight for the walls or be first into battle as they are short term "disposable units". I really like Mercenary crossbowmen though

[TheLastPrivate]

some factions depend on merc spears due to their only spears being spear militia (e.g. Aragon)

[eskrogh]

i usally got on crusade with my general and some crappy militas, and when i join the crusades, i disband them and live of mercenarys, when im finally done, i have earned enough cash, by taking the target and nearby citys, that i can hold them to the end, so i got full merc armies

[NW Leyt]

I've created mercenary armies with cheats just for and giggles before, but it's nothing too memorable. I don't think you can retrain them in settlements to get a full unit back, though, and considering their price, that's quite a con.

[nostradamouse]

They can be retrained in settlements
except that it is so random that I really don't know how...

Sometimes it works, others it doesnt. (but it's really cool to be able to retrain heavy unhorsed knights in a city)

[NW Leyt]

I may have retrained mercenaries once or twice in my two years of playing, but if it's really that rare then it's not worth it. Or I simply don't have the patience to wait for retraining to become available. Once I've taken a settlement, I train a small garrison and then I'm gone; on to another one.

[Heathen Hammer]

I just hire them before siege, use them at the frontlines, so my main units don't have casualties, and than disband them after successfull siege. Don't see any point in keeping them, because good mercenary units cost a lot in upkeep.

[Inhuman One]

you can only retrain them in areas where you can recruit that specific kind.

I personly like to put a local mercenary unit in a garrison once in a while, to reflect the local population. When I got money for it.

Their upkeep may be too much though, I would rather see that reduced some and their recruitment cost increased. Also, the more mercenaries you have, the less loot you should get from capturing a city.

Full mercenary armies should also be more likely to rebel. You should require enough troops of your own to keep them in line. They could even be able to kill the general that was leading them when they turn rebel.

[Hinty]

sometimes i hire a mercenary army to take out rebels in my provinces if i can't spare a local garrison.


As to retraining Mercenary units it works like retraining your own units. The local Mercenary pool fills up at a pre-set rate and once enough of that unit are available it can be retrained.

[meese]

Well I had one with 18 mercs, a monster bombard and my general...it was more of a I-don't-have-to-worry-about-casualties army. It's still going too!

[Skooma Addict]

I love using mercs. Sometimes they're the most interesting units on the battlefield. I mean, if it weren't for Flemish Pikemen, I would have murdalized the French in my old Sicilian campaign. As for merc armies, do crusaders count? But seriously, I would like too but it's hard to find enough of them to make a full stack. They usually run out and then I have to wander the land looking for more while they run up their pretty hefty tab.

[ace4455]

Crusader mercs are probably one of the most recruited mercs that I no of ... imagine if there was a peasant merc

Peasant: "Captain why is no one hiring us?"
Captain: "Because we suck gosh darn it, look at you, you are all bones and you weapon is a frieken pitch fork"
Peasant: "But we have 3 gold chevrons that counts as something"
Captain: "When you are a peasant nothing counts, we are defenseless, offenseless, and pretty much dead"

[Henry707]

Like LastPrivate's comments, I started using mercenaries for my Spanish empire, mainly spearman. but, as I'm rich now I have just carried on using them. All the crusader units come home & settle into my armies. I have jsut found that I cannot produce enough heavy units so I hire them.

Like the English premier league, I try to ensure I have a good native component to most armies but mercenaries continue to play a role.

Henri

[jonny duck]

Crusader mercs are probably one of the most recruited mercs that I no of ... imagine if there was a peasant merc

Peasant: "Captain why is no one hiring us?"
Captain: "Because we suck gosh darn it, look at you, you are all bones and you weapon is a frieken pitch fork"
Peasant: "But we have 3 gold chevrons that counts as something"
Captain: "When you are a peasant nothing counts, we are defenseless, offenseless, and pretty much dead"

You can still push a siege ram under heavy fire

Or at least the 3 units of you that I hired can get it there

[nostradamouse]

Once, my peasants pushing the ram ran away before they even reached the gate (sucks to say that they were my only infantry...)

So yea, I don't rely on peasants for anything anymore (except peasant archers)