The old mercenary system

[Chris lol]

Who else hopes CA ill use the old mercenary system for Rome II? I was playing the old RTW before doing some SP Shogun 2 today, and i noticed how much i disliked the ability to hire mercenaries being gone.

It added a lot of flavour to the factions. While playing rome for instance i could hire greek mercenaries and have them be in a phalanx formation, something otherwise not available in the Scipii faction. This sort of gave you a little taste of what the other factions were like. So, mercenary druids/chariots/war elephants/hoplites anyone?

[Petroniu]

Yeah, I think they should have mercenaries back too, but I don't know how exactly are they going to do that. I haven't seen any possibility of recruiting mercenaries in the warscape based TW games so that is up to them. The point is that they should have them back because many ancient era armies relied on them and they were a part of warfare then that must not be missing from the game.

[johnny_b_good]

Yeah, I think they should have mercenaries back too, but I don't know how exactly are they going to do that. I haven't seen any possibility of recruiting mercenaries in the warscape based TW games so that is up to them. The point is that they should have them back because many ancient era armies relied on them and they were a part of warfare then that must not be missing from the game.

Explain?

[Aeneas Veneratio]

Explain?

Warscape = Engine used for ETW, NTW, S2TW, ROTS and FOTS.

Neither of those games had the possibility to recruit mercenaries like in M2TW or RTW (IE rightclick the general, see available mercs, buy the ones you can afford/want).

On topic: I would like the old system back. I didn't really exploit it (weird, how many people need something taking out of a game, because THEY have to exploit it - easist solution would be to grow a spine) and just used it to add flavour to my armies and gather forces quickly after joining a crusade.

[saxdude]

Having Hannnibal would make Mercs a must.

[Awake]

I usually just recruited mercs when I was invading provinces or was about to be invaded and didn't have enough time to recruit where necessary. Not that that isn't what they should have been used for, but it felt kind of like a cheat button.

Honestly I wouldn't mind mercs coming back, but I think it should be more of a 'rent' system. Pay mercs to fight for you for a year or so and then they disband and you have to hire them again.

[Chris lol]

I usually just recruited mercs when I was invading provinces or was about to be invaded and didn't have enough time to recruit where necessary. Not that that isn't what they should have been used for, but it felt kind of like a cheat button.

Honestly I wouldn't mind mercs coming back, but I think it should be more of a 'rent' system. Pay mercs to fight for you for a year or so and then they disband and you have to hire them again.

Mercenary units have upkeep costs just like any other unit. For other units these upkeep costs are salary, for mercenary units its just you paying them to stay i suppose. They have never been a one time pay kind of thing...

[Adufka]

I think they will allow us to recruit mercenaries as this was a normal thing in ancient times ...(recruiting mercenaries to the army and replace killed soldiers)

[Drtad]

It shouldn't be the old system, since that was wayyyyyy too easy and cheap. Perhaps if they were made far more expensive, or if you needed a particular region and could just recruit them from their..

[♔The Black Knight♔]

It shouldn't be the old system, since that was wayyyyyy too easy and cheap. Perhaps if they were made far more expensive, or if you needed a particular region and could just recruit them from their..

I think the mecenry troops in a unit should be reduced drastically aswell.

Hopefully they will also cost more and are a lot harder to find. Plus their morale should be very low too.

[Drtad]

I think the mecenry troops in a unit should be reduced drastically aswell.

Hopefully they will also cost more and are a lot harder to find. Plus their morale should be very low too.

Their numbers should be decent, not small. Carthage was able to field tons of mercenaries. This came back to bite them... though they did end up winning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary_War

[Death Merchant]

You should be able to field large amount of mercenaries, they were very common until the late middle ages, and of varying quality.

mercenaries were triky.You coulden t rely on them...they were after all fighting just for money,not for their family or country.So they could have deserted to the enemies,or simply left if they faced certain death.

Many regular troops would have had no reason to fight other than being forced to, these would flee or desert the army given the first chance to do so. Most mercenaries should have decent morale, very few soldiers would want to fight to the death after all.

[Mausolos of Caria]

Well I suppose in Empire, Napoleon & Shogun they were left out because historically they weren't too important during that time. In Rome II they will hopefully be back, though. I'm not sure how the recruiting system should work, but that of Rome I was defo too easy and simple. I mean, their upkeep wasn't even higher than that of normal soldiers

[Ichon]

Why alot harder to find? Mercenaries were fairly common and often found far away from their home regions. Celts hired by Greeks, Balearic slingers hired by Phoenicians, African cavalry fighting in Egypt, etc. Mercenaries weren't that much more or less expensive than other state troops as they might cost more for wages but they also provide their own weapons and training and are an instant force were legions had to be raised, trained, and equipped by the state- not so cheap to do. Mercenaries main benefits were a quick force that provided some capability the hiring party did not have. Also mercenaries are more limited than state troops but in nearly every region there should be the chance for some. It would be interesting to have mercenaries hired for a single high lump sum payment and then automatically begin deserting after 4 turns without that payment renewed. The payment would average out over 4 turns a bit higher than state troops. So if a good archer unit cost Rome 500 denarius to recruit and 200 upkeep Balearic slingers might cost 1,500 but need no wages for 4 turns but on the 5th turn another 1,500 or the men begin deserting quickly so that the entire unit is gone in another 4 turns. So you might be able to skimp a couple turns and the mercenaries remain useful but after that either a payment or you might as well disband them. If payment is late the mercs when re-hired would slowly recover just as if wounded in battle in Shogun 2. IE- require friendly territory and a few turns.

[MagicCuboid]

Hey I like that idea, Ichon. It adds a new dynamic to mercenaries. They're not actually more expensive, but you need cash on hand right when you hire them, so you have to plan your war ahead a bit. Very nice!

[removeduser_4536284751384]

I don't see how hiring mercenaries is cheap. Many entire armies were mercenaries?

I would be satisfied if local troops are trainable from a special auxiliary barracks in addition to having a more expensive mercenary version.

[Aetius]

You should have to bid on mercenaries vs other countries. And they should be expensive with set contracts that need to be renewed.

Also if a battle looks like it might be lost, they should rout. And after the battle they should leave your army. Only the elite mercenary groups would not do this.

As the saying goes. "Mercenaries are paid to fight, not die."

[Andreius Pretorianus]

mercenaries were triky.You coulden t rely on them...they were after all fighting just for money,not for their family or country.So they could have deserted to the enemies,or simply left if they faced certain death.

[AMW]

Mercenaries morale should be low and they should not be a permanent fixture in an army, thier should be a system in place where after a few turns you either have to pay them to retain their services or else they leave.

[MagicCuboid]

Yup, super low morale I agree. Mercenaries should make good flanking troops or even "meat shields" but I wouldn't rely on them to hold a line.