Poll: Do you use mercenary units in Native?

[Gallus Domesticus]

I am making changes to the game system in my mod and I'm just wondering what players here think about mercenaries.
I personally never use them due to the cost, but it's still a very important part of the game and I am thinking of changing something about it.

So, what do you guys actually feel about the mercenaries?

 

[Count Dusseldorf]

I use them every once in a while, a few watchmen can be invaluable early in the game due to the fact that you don't have to train them like recruits and they are somewhat cheap compared to other mercs.
Hired Blades are also useful during sieges and cavalery mercs are useful if you have a Nord or Rhodok army and need cavalery.

 

[Lt. of the tower]

I use them if I need more men for a campaign or I need a certain type of troop to complement my army (eg. merc horsemen for Rhodoks).

 

[Swadius 2.0]

Like the Count I only use them in the early levels, particularly the horsemen if I can't be arsed to go all the way into Khergit territory to pick up some cavalry. However, in sieges they don't come in numbers so five or six hired blades aren't really worth the price of hiring them for the assault. Likewise in parties, but that's probably me trying to homogenize as much as possible.

 

[master of the templars]

If some high level ones happen to be in the same tavern as me i will usually pick them up.

 

[The Wandering Knight]

I love them, actually.  However, to show the weakness of having two answers to one question, I voted both the first and last option

In all seriousness, most of them are pretty good (stats wise they fall between the cracks of the faction troops if I recall correctly), but generally lack in flavor.  A while back I added a bunch in for fun, including some cheap but fairly crappy ones and some highly trained but lightly armored guys who threw stuff (like nords, but never in anything heavier than leather).  I'm adding a few in with the module system now, as well as a few other tweaks to the mercenary system I hope to implement to make them a bit more handy.

 

[Zandman]

I mostly use Hired Blades when I use mercs. They're actually pretty good for sieges once you get them inside the castle or town. Whenever I bring them along, I just see those wonderful kill messages in green pop up.

Merc Cavalry I only pick up if they're rescued prisoners. They tend to get killed a lot.
And Merc Crossbowmen are also best when they're free, but I never bring them along. They're best when they're packed away defending a town/castle.

 

[yeung]

They are expensive but not as useful as other faction's highest rank soldiers. I never use them but i will hire one each and put them garrison the castle.
I do the same to all other useless soldier types such as caravan master, brigand etc. Keep one only in the castle.

 

[Sorkenlol]

I used to, but now I don't. Sometimes I get Mercenary Cavalry though, if I find one or a mercenary horseman.

 

[Hoylander]

I don't use them normally since their salary is too high compared to what you get.

 

[Destichado]

Love these guys. 

Even though I play Swadian -making all my top level troops way better than the equivalent merc troops- early on in the game they're just *too* handy.  Every time my castle is sieged or about to be sieged early on, I'll wind up emptying my troops to enlarge the garrison, then run away to the nearest towns, recruiting everything I can get my hands on from the local taverns.  Having those quickly hireable mercs was occasionally a deal-breaker.

 

[MountainBlade]

They're too expensive to keep around for long times but the Hired Blades are nice for sieges. I just make sure that they're all dead before payday comes

 

[acutedeath]

I have to be desperate to take them for free, and extremely deperate to hire them.
Usually in times of extreme desperation they aren't good enough anyway, but the convenience is helpful.

 

[Captain Pyjama Shark]

In one of my games I'm a crossbowman, and I would only use Mercenary Crossbowmen. So I was playing along this whole mercenary thing, and I was hired as a mercenary by the Rhodoks, so it was all cool until they were all massacred by some Swadian Knights.

 

[Dreen]

Sword Sisters are basically mercaneries as well. I used a lot of Sword Sisters in 0.960 but havent bothered to recruit them since. Its quite hard to get an army of them... but they level fast, very fast!
Dont know how is it now but in 0.960 they were the only troops with full plate. afair they used a longsword and some round shield. no helmet though :/

I did get about 100 hired blades as well once, but it wasnt as great as it looked.

 

[Skeletor]

I usually don't buy them, but if I free them and there is enough space in my party I let them join me.

 

[MountainBlade]

Sword Sisters are basically mercaneries as well. I used a lot of Sword Sisters in 0.960 but havent bothered to recruit them since. Its quite hard to get an army of them... but they level fast, very fast!
Dont know how is it now but in 0.960 they were the only troops with full plate. afair they used a longsword and some round shield. no helmet though :/

I did get about 100 hired blades as well once, but it wasnt as great as it looked.

They now have plate, a guard helmet and a crossbow. Still ride a courser.

 

[Selothi]

I had an army with about 30 sword sisters once. They are kick-ass units. The trick is to go into Khergit territory, in there, every single Steppe bandit party had at least three peasant women, and seeing as there were about fifty Stepped bandit parties, all I had to do was attack, rescue, and train. Still, CTRL-X came in handy when I couldn't be arsed to whack them with a pole in their undies ...

Mercs ? In my first game, I used a fair amount of cavalry mercs, but the price you pay them, and the fact they die quite often, put me off. Also, I believe that if you fight, and lose, badly, they all go to the enemy side. At least, that's what happened to me when I lost against a Vaegir 200 strong war-party. I didn't see THAT many mercs in the casualty list, but I still lose them all. Then, again, I was captured, so ...

I haven't tried hired blades yet, but apart from looking good, they don't seem THAT effective.

 

[SellSword]

Mhhh... those precious Hired Blades in their shining armors...
I always recruit the Hired Blades, other mercenaries get bend...
Even though they cost alot and aren't so effective, their armor shine...

 

[Pii100]

I don't really use them, they cost pretty much and for the same money I can get 2 better units.
I only use some low mercs, like crossbowmen, to get my freshly rolled character alive until he gets some nord footmen/rhodok xbowmen/vaegir skirmishers and can stand all alone in the cruel calradia.