Opinion on Mercenaries

[Dogmeat]

Just wondering what peoples opinions on mercenaries are.

In a lot of miniatures games I`ve played in the past they`ve generally been frowned on.  "They don`t fit in!" people cry out.  "They`re cheesy!" others cry.  Looking at them though there are a few that seem to blend in well.  Alazais would fit in with any Demon warband, while Isaia wouldn`t look out of place in a Western or Saracen group.

What are peoples views on the other side of the coin though.  Do you think less of somebody using Alazais in a Lost warband to add spellcasting ?  Do you scoff at Gotz the Christian joining the many Demon Satanists out there ?  Am I spending too much time on forums when I should be working ?

[Bork]

personnally how the army looks visually is very important. i have a big problem with pairing up my demons with any obviously good mercs, bad ones yes i can see it working as it will fit the evil theme of the army. the idea of demons hiring mercs at all is pretty wrong IMO but if i did they would have to be of an evil nature.

my beef with mercanaries in any army in any game ive ever played is so often they are taken simply because of their rules, often bridging a gap that a model of the original faction cannot fill with no thought to actual appearance or realistic alliances. i can imagine saracens and westerners hiring mercs of most kinds to forfill a role but the lost and demons to me are wholy evil and proberly wouldnt even give the mercs a chance to nail their for hire poster up before they chowed down on them.

i havent played a game yet and i dont own any merc figures so i cant really say how they effect this game but from previous experience i dont like using them and proberly will refrain from doing so out of a desire to keep my factions looking unique with models that "belong" together.

[Dogmeat]

personnally how the army looks visually is very important. i have a big problem with pairing up my demons with any obviously good mercs, bad ones yes i can see it working as it will fit the evil theme of the army. the idea of demons hiring mercs at all is pretty wrong IMO but if i did they would have to be of an evil nature.

my beef with mercanaries in any army in any game ive ever played is so often they are taken simply because of their rules, often bridging a gap that a model of the original faction cannot fill with no thought to actual appearance or realistic alliances. i can imagine saracens and westerners hiring mercs of most kinds to forfill a role but the lost and demons to me are wholy evil and proberly wouldnt even give the mercs a chance to nail their for hire poster up before they chowed down on them.

i havent played a game yet and i dont own any merc figures so i cant really say how they effect this game but from previous experience i dont like using them and proberly will refrain from doing so out of a desire to keep my factions looking unique with models that "belong" together.

That was pretty much my previous thought on the matter.  Have you had a look at Alazais for your demons though ?  She`s a spell caster that can mess up enemy command and auras quite easily.  She`s also a satanist so would quite happily join the demon armies.

[Bork]

ive considered using her and tsilla rather than asaliah but thats something for the future, i want to practice with what ive got ATM before branching off too much.

[Tobyn]

My problem with the mercs is that, they have not draw backs. If you look at the factions they all have limitations. By adding mercs you can go someway to plugging those gaps. Having played against mercs a few times i dont really feel that they are that balanced and some of them are far too good for there points.

Now if they were more expensive than the equivilant troop from a faction that would be different but a lot  of the time they are better which does unbalance the game

[lapiaz]

 tell you what ...  they are strong ..  really strong ...   using  all the available  models we have rigth  now  using quijote as  officer  and if you are lucky and  have the traveler  independent  version
your company will have a  good  infernalist  two  big hitters  Gotz and  Traveler  a total monster  Golem  and  3 to 4  troopers   with ricochet 2 ...   and an officer with charisma 2  ...     they are  one of the more no brain  companies outthere ...  just go and bash the oposition ...

[jty3]

My friend and I haven't started using Mercs yet so we dont really know how powerful they are.  However, we will probably try to stick to ones that fit into a background for a faction, instead of just trying to choose the best ones.

[lapiaz]

 I  like  them more  for the fact that they can actually play as a faction   on  their own..

[Jalikoud]

I find them interesting to play :

Don Quichotte is so much better than Vargas ( a lot of people around here play this dreamer instead of Vargas) and as a consequence, westerners players tend to field him a lot. The combination of his extended charisma radius and Gôtz Von berlichtingen unique order can be very deadly.

Rossinante allow some nice combo : you can play westerners, sarracen AND mercenary models with her ( it ?). But she has less to offer to his troop.

The second profile for the Voyageuse : she will have a new mini and she will become a new mercenary officer for 65 points. Quite the same as before, except that she swops her kukri for a war spear ( gainin the First contact ability). She can also give a magic weapon to one mini in your warband ( which give it spiritual damage). And she can enlist troopers of one faction ( who said lost Retiarii and Squamata Warriors  ). But if you do that, all members of the faction you took the troopers of will have Sworn Ennemy/the Voyageuse. 65 points, not so expensive.

Even if the have some really nice mini ( Götz can really boost troopers), mercenary have various problems :

No heavy hitters at the moment. Sure, there is the golem, but Big Smashy tends to be quite unreliable when Isaïa dies at the worst moment.

Their troopers are not as good as the regular factions one in my humbe opinion. Piétaille Damné are very squishy, if they die too quick, it is like if you were conceding domination to your opponent. The same goes for Déserteurs and Squamata Wanderers ( quickly hurt, and they get DEF 2 when they are in this state), although squamatas ability really make them shine during the terraformation phase.

An overpricy infernalist ( heck! 30 points, loosy def and 8 hit points ), but still useful.

But they have over the top independents, and some of them are very subtle to play with, others are not ( Voyageuse anyone ?).

[lapiaz]

Pietallie  Damnne    yes they die fast but tell you what  they are  real good for they points   I have so far only used two of the possible abilities  they have ,defensive combat and  ricochet ...   and suported by  Quijote  they can dish some damage before going ... or really annoy the oponent wich is  a bonus  in my book

Golem  just move  the beast   into the enemy company  and keep your own guys away  or at least the futher you can manage  if Isaias go  the golem will go for  the closet  one ...

Azalias   drain de vie 6 inches away  can  debilitate  that  model with high defense and protection at the right moment ..  his spell to steal double the amount of comand poitns is  worht every point she cost ...   

Voyaguese  ,if you have her you don't need  any other  hitter,  she can go  and smack silly anyone ,anywhere ....  she will die but she will take a few with her ....    team her with Gotz and  see the damage the two of them can do   keep Quijote  close for the charisma  and  thing get even  better ...  just  kill those pesky  artillery and grenadiers  as soon as possible   and you will be alright .

squamata wanderer . if you are using the terrain rules you will see  why they are good ..  get al least 4 of them in a list and you can set the table your way ...   tell you  don't know about  other  faction using them  but Merc on their own  have the most trick  on their sleves ... 

[Metropolis]

I've bought Gotz to go along with my Westerners - I think he fits very well being a Christian and all - and to get a second infernalist into the bargain is good (love her lemure). Gotz certainly looks the part in my cabinet and has the armour I expect. And his CMD helps me to compete for initial domination. How well does he play with the Demons for example?

I've toyed with the idea of picking up Don Quioxte but have so far resisted - I have 3 officers for my army: do I need another (two)? I'm interested that you say that many people use the Don instead of Vargas - I've only ever played with the Baptiste as my leader, so don't know how Vargas plays and what his limitations are.

I'm unlikely to to pick up any of the other mercenaries - I don't think they fit the feel of my army and I have a squad of mercenaries for Warmachine and Confrontation gathering dust in my games room.

Ron @ metropolis