Mercenary ArmIes
Unlike normal Levies or Men-At-Arms, Mercenaries are armies from outside your realm that can be hired by rulers for 3 years. The gold cost is paid upon hiring the Mercenaries and there is no additional upkeep cost like there is when Men-At-Arms are raised. At the end of the 3 year period they will disappear from your control and the map if their contract is not extended. The Mercenary army’s rate will be the same as the initial cost of hiring the army.
For every culture there are between one (1) and three (3) mercenary companies depending on the number of Counties of that culture, with each additional company being bigger and more expensive than the previous one. The Mercenary army will pick a County of their culture as their headquarters and will be available to be hired by anyone with a capital within diplomatic range of that County. Range between Mercenary armies come with one or more specific Men-At-Arms regiments, contain a number of knights, and is led by a Mercenary Captain. Mercenary regiments reinforce three (3) times faster than regular regiments.
How to Hire a Mercenary Army
To hire a Mercenary Army to fight for you in a War, Holy War, or Great Holy War you will need to go to Military tab. The Military tab is on the right side of your screen on the vertical toolbar and is represented as the red coat of arms. If you are not sure hover over the icon without clicking and the name of the tab will pop up. Once the military screen pops up you will see two buttons at the top (Raise All Armies & Disband All) these are fixed and will stay with you as you change tabs on the military screen. You will see that you are currently on “Your Armies” tab when the military screen opens. Now click on the one next to it titled “Mercenaries”
From here you will see a list of different Mercenary armies to select from. All Mercenary armies are Duchy-Rank titles and will have different names based on their culture and location. Underneath the name you will see the different Men-At-Arms regiments belonging to the army. In the upper right of each row will show the amount of armies and quality of army next to that number. Below that will show you the amount of gold needed to hire there service.
The amount of gold will be highlighted in red if it will put you into Debt to hire the Mercenary army. If the number is highlighted in red there will be one (1) of two (2) warnings. The first is a yellow triangle that tells you that you will be put into Debt. This warning means you can still hire the army, as you have enough monthly gold (with armies unraised) to get out of Debt within 24 months. The other symbol is a red circle warning. You won’t be able to hire this group as you would still be in Debt after 24 months.
Basically you are allowed to go into Debt for up to 2 years in order to hire Mercenary armies.
Mercenary Army Names
Mercenary armies select a name based on their culture and their location. Below is a table showing the possible Mercenary army names:
| Culture/ Culture Group | Names |
| Default | Culture adjective Band of location |
| Akan Group | Ashanti Band, Company of the Volta, Followers of Akwei |
| Arabic Group | Mamluks |
| Bedouin | Wanderers, company of location |
| Mashriqi | Sarkans of location, Company of the Oasis, Desert Brethren |
| Egyptian | Host of the Nile, Keepers of the Lighthouse |
| Maghrebi | Union of Swords, Army of the Senator |
| Andalusian | Almogavars of location, Mawali Band, Treasurers of location |
| Baltic Group | Baltic Band, Riders of the Coast, Company of the Deeplands |
| Butr | Army of the Crossing, Location Band, Riders of the Mountains |
| Baranis | Followers from location, Company of location |
| Burman Group | Arakan Band, Company of the Valley |
| Burmese | Company of Irrawadd, Burmese Host |
| Mon | Sadhuim Company, Mon Host |
| Byzantine Group | Manglabites, ten thousand |
| Greek | Varangian Guard, Herules, Hoplites of location |
| Georgian | Veterans of Chaldia |
| Central African group | Sahelian Band, Company of the Chad, Company of Gambra, Followers of Bayajida, Followers of Sundiata |
| Pictish | Woad Raiders |
| Welsh | Lawgoch’s Followers, Band of the Horn |
| Breton | Company of Bretons |
| Cornish | Bodyguards of Gwendolen |
| Saxon | Teutonic Brotherhood, Saxon Steelbearers, Hansa Guard, Sons of Widukind |
| Franconian | Great Company, Franconian Company, Thuringian Blades, Rhenish Band, New Franks |
| Swabian | Swabian Band, Alsace Fighters, Alemannic Sellswords, Helvetic Guard |
| Bavarian | Bavarian Band, Austrian Company, Tyrol Warriors, Sytrian Panthers |
| Dutch | Company of the Brabancon Wolf, Flemish Band, Company of the False-Earl |
| German | Great Company, Veterans of the Marches, Swiss Guard |
| Dravidian Group | Velaikkarar of location, Company of the Tiger, Tungabhadra Gang, Dreamers of the Jog, Company of the Ghats, Guards of Rama Setu, terrors of Tamilakam, Company of Koyil |
| Ethiopian | Ge’ezan Company, Tigrayit Band |
| Nubian | Noba Company, kushite Band, Company of Meroe |
| Welayta | Company of the Leopard, Gondershe Band, Guardians of Almnara |
| Daju | Army of the Crossing, Beja Place band, Riders of the Mountains |
| East Slavic | Kievan Band, Varangian Host, Raiders of Caspia, Company of the Rus, Followers of Oleg |
| French | Tard-Venus de location, Band of location, Routiers of location, location Band |
| Norman | Band of the Black Monk, Iron Arm’s Company, Normas of Drengot |
| Occitan | Routiers of the Archpriest, Host of the Viscount, Marchers of Wasconia, |
| Irish | Band of Kerns, Madhmann’s Company, Company of Shield and Scian |
| Gaelic | Gallowglasses, Redshanks |
| Iberian Group | Almogavars of location, Almogavars of location |
| Basque | Navarrese Company |
| Castillian | Slaughterers, Band of the Brigand Emperor |
| Catalan | Great Catalan Company |
| Portuguese | Count’s Exiles |
| Galician | Slaughterers, Band of the Brigand Emperor |
| Asturleonese | Slaughterers, Band of the Brigand Emperor |
| Aragonese | Slaughterers, Band of the Brigand Emperor |
| Indo-Aryan Group | Tigers of location, Apabhransa Band |
| Bengali | Company of the Delta, Bengal Host |
| Oriya | Oryia Band, Company of Odisha |
| Hindustani | Company of Many Colors, Hindustani Band, Company of the Ganges |
| Gujarati | Company of the Great Rann, Band of the Nilgai, Company of the Stone Anchor |
| Punjabi | Company of the Punjab, Host of Sangala |
| Rajput | Rajaputra Band, Company of the Exile, Followers of the Priest King |
| Sindhi | Company of the Dead Men, Harappan Band |
| Marathi | Company of Rou Kings, Servants of the Vatandar, Badami Companions |
| Kashmiri | Company of Kashmir, Host of Kashmir |
| Sinhala | Company of the Staff, Rice Grain Band |
| Iranian | Ghilman, Warriors of Zaranj, location Cataphracts |
| Persian | Band of Medes, Immortals of location |
| Sogdian | Company of Sogdiana, Sogdian Warriors |
| Tocharian | Band of Tokharoi |
| Kurdish | Band of Sermaj |
| Afghan | Khorasani Band, Company of Shahids |
| Baloch | Company of Makran, Westwards Band |
| Daylamite | Daylamite Company, Band of Sermaj |
| Khwarezmian | Company of Khwarezm, Khwarezmian Warriors |
| Tajik | Company of Bukhara, Dehqan Warriors |
| Latin Group | Company of the Bull |
| Italian | Company of the Star, Black Band, Italian Condottiere Band |
| Cisalpine | Company of Saint George, Company of the Star, Company of the Hat, Company of the Rose, Cisalpine, Condottiere Band |
| Sardinian | Sardinian Band |
| Sicilian | Sicilian Condottiere Band, Sicilian Band |
| Lombard | Longbeard Band |
| Magyar Group | Band of the Fields, Band of the Arrow Rain, Company of the Saint |
| Mongolic Group | Location Horde, Army Under the Sky, Riders of Mongol location, True Khan’s Faithful, Company of the Yurt, Steppe Dancer’s Band, Chastisement of location, Band of the Father, Company of the Goad |
| North Germanic Group | Thinglith, Army of Kylfingar, Company of Jarl Landless, Huscaris of the Sea, Band of Firesmoke, Queen’s Hird |
| Swedish | Gota Band |
| Norwegian | Birchers of location |
| Danish | Border Reaver’s Band |
| Sahelian Group | Sahelian Band, Company of Awkar, Followers of Kayamagha |
| Senegambian Group | Sahelian band, Company of Gambra, Followers of Sundiata |
| Somali | Company of the Leopard, Gondershe Band, Guardians of Almnara |
| Beja | Army of the Crossing, Beja Place Band, Riders of the Mountains |
| Afar | Company of the Leopard, Gondershe Band, Guardians of Almnara |
| South Slavic Group | Stratioti of location, Wayfarers of location, Band of location Stratioti |
| Bosnian | Bitter-Winter Band, Knezevi of the Road, Forest Wolves |
| Serbian | Allemannic Guard |
| Vlach | Sheperds of the Romans |
| Bulgarian | Company of the Skull Cup, Brothers of Bayan |
| Turkic Group | Location Horde, Army Under the Sky, Turkic Riders of location, True Khan’s Faithful, Company of the Yurt, Steppe Dancer’s Band, Chastisement of location, Band of the Father, Company of the Goad |
| West African | Sahelian Band, Company of the Gambra, Followers of Sundiata |
| English | White Company, Hawkwood’s Band |
| Anglo-Saxon | Retinue of Hengist, Wake’s Guard, Band of Horsa |
| Scots | Border Reivers, Warband of the Great Hall, Company of the King’s Son |
| West Slavic Group | Companions of the Woods |
| Pomeranian | Oder Free Company, Company of the Dog |
| Czech | Free Lances of Branys, Army of the Ore, Company of the Cruel Hand |
| Polish | Druzynan Host, Free COmpany of the Pospolite |
| Polabian | Band of the Fallen Knez, Company of the Stout Horse |
| Slovien | Freelances of Velehrad, Army of Morava Bend, Company of the Faithbearers |
| Yoruba Group | Yoruba Band, Company of the Niger, Followers of Oduduwa |