About Mercenaries

Mercenary FYI


Like all contractors, mercenaries love to get paid twice for the same job.


The only thing mercenaries love more than a fight with two paychecks is getting paid to not fight at all.


Mercenaries are almost never honest, but often trustworthy.


Pay attention to mercenary advice in battle; they make their living surviving war. 

Ignore any other advice offered by a mercenary; they have failed at love, honest work, and peaceful pursuits to get where they are.


Do's and Don'ts of hiring Mercenaries.


Don't hire mercenaries for homeland defense.  A militia of local farmers and shopkeepers may seem inadaquate, but they are less likely to turn on you for money, have a vested interest in local defense, and are very hard on looters.


Don't hire mercenaries to train your soldiers.  First, mercenaries have little interest in creating a formidable fighting force they may have to fight later.  Second, such training is the perfect place to recruit spies.


Don't hire mercenaries for intelligence duties.  With no country or allegiance, mercenaries have few qualms about spying.  Pay a mercenary to keep your secrets and you are simply paying him twice to spy. 


Don't hire mercenaries for personal protection.  If you must, make sure payment comes AFTER you don't need them anymore.  Pay a mercenary to protect you and you are simply paying him twice for the assassination. 


Don't hire mercenaries unless you intend to pay them.  Merc's are more interested in paychecks than pensions or parades.  They do dirty work that nobody else wants to do and expect to get paid even if that means robbery, betrayal, or murder. 


Do hire mercenaries if you have numerical advantage over your enemy.  Your enemy can't hire them without you knowing, you have a better chance of negotiating a surrender, and mercenaries love getting paid to not fight.


Do hire mercenaries to defend rear areas.  Mercenaries love getting paid to do nothing and will eagerly hunt down insurgents who mess up that gig.


Do place mercenaries in the middle of your battle formation.  Deploying them on flanks or as reinforcements is just more temptation to desert.


Do give mercenaries bounties on confirmed enemy kills, but take care what proof you ask for.  Ears and scalps, for instance, are too easy to get from civilians, so require items of enemy equipment - and turn a blind eye to your own soldiers selling trophies to mercenaries.


Do tip mercenaries after a successful campaign.  Everyone loves a good tipper and better service is worth it.