Crusader Kings II - Dev Diary 9 - Mercenaries and Holy Orders

[KonradRichtmark]

Mercenary need something more beside trait, maybe relation to player? In every paradox game, mercenaries = body to throw at enemies, you can lose a battle with them until they have 0 man, they never protest, deserted or complaint. Maybe if you take care your mercenaries by giving them good job (siege, winning battle with them, standing around waiting for your manpower recover), next time when you want to hire them they have lower initial cost and better replacement rate, but if you abuse them you got bad reputation among mercenaries, they will want more money and lower mercenaries replacement rate?

If your reputation really bad among mercenaries, no merc will want to work for you, they even give initial recruit cost discount to your winning enemy for a chance to loot at your country! Or you can give some money to your fourth/fifth son with no chance to inherit any title but have high martial ability to become mercenary captain, let them take a chance at world, who know later they can help you or become some sort of pretender (civil war) with mercenary army

Well, mercenaries do seem to have a quite significant initial recruit cost, a lump sum you need to pay to get them. So holding on to them is, relatively, cheaper than getting them. Which should provide an incentive to preserve them, at least for the duration of the current war.

The reason why mercenaries charge such exorbitant rates, and the reason why they should do so, is that you only hire them when you actually need to fight. Unlike a regular army that you hire and pay for even when there's no fighting to be done. So as long as they are appropriately costly, I don't see any problem with them seeing rough and frequent use.

[Dark3lf]

You as a ruler would like to put them in rough and frequent use, but the mercenary wouldn't. Who would want to sign up to, for example Mercenary X company who got wipe out in battle every year when they work for DarkElf ruler, or would you signup as Mercenary Y who got easy job (sieging, defending, etc2) with LightElf ruler. If the pay is the same, every soldier who want to be mercenary will try to enlist at Mercenary Y first before they even think to enlist at Mercenary X.

[Marquis d Blois]

You as a ruler would like to put them in rough and frequent use, but the mercenary wouldn't. Who would want to sign up to, for example Mercenary X company who got wipe out in battle every year when they work for DarkElf ruler, or would you signup as Mercenary Y who got easy job (sieging, defending, etc2) with LightElf ruler. If the pay is the same, every soldier who want to be mercenary will try to enlist at Mercenary Y first before they even think to enlist at Mercenary X.

Well unpaid mercenaries already mutiny, or at least take captured land for themselves (thus creating states of their own). Adding that they should do so upon mistreatment... would be hard, but not impossible.
But note that in CK2 the relation of mercs and normal troops is reversed. I mean, in EU3 and later games regulars replenish (from national manpower pool) while mercs do not. However, in CK2 levies do NOT replenish while standing, as opposed to mercenaries who do replenish (unless wiped out to 0 men). Thus here mercenaries will be a much more lasting asset in wars, not a hire-batter-discard stop-gap measure they are in EU3.

And mercenaries being veterans (having been to actual battles) are much more useful on the field than levy troops (rabble not being worthy of mention, but even knights have not seen actual battles, only jousting). Thus for their increased price and shaky loyalty, they are much more intensive fighters.
Edit: by 'intensive fighters' I mean that 5K mercenaries have similar fighting abilities as up to 10K levies, given the difference in battlefield experience.
Edit2: although much of this difference comes from their leaders gaining Martial from previous battles, a similar effect can be observed with the common soldier as well.

[Valiant_Hogers]

So if i as a rich county(without a overlord) send out these holy knights, i get them as holy land vassals?

[Marquis d Blois]

I guess you get an independent holy state.

[Panjer]

Hm, looking back at this AAR I have to ask something;

If the leader of the Company of the Rose (Benvenuto) takes over a province and has a son, what will be his dynastic name?

[Nick B II]

Hm, looking back at this AAR I have to ask something;

If the leader of the Company of the Rose (Benvenuto) takes over a province and has a son, what will be his dynastic name?

He'll already have a name.

The Captains of mercenary companies are characters just like anyone else.

I'm hoping most of them are descended from other characters, so your third son's landless sixth son could become one. But at a minimum they'll be randomly generated courtiers just like the ones you use in your Cabinet.

Nick

[ChewChewShoe]

Regarding mercenaries: At the start of my game I had 22 regiments of mercenaries available to hire, and now I only have 2. Is there any way to get more mercenaries available to be hired?

[AndrewT]

This thread is obsolete, start a fresh one please.