[Pocus]

Originally posted by aldin:
Mercs: Why do they seem SO powerful early in the game? It almost feels like cheating to amass a few armies of mercs in an SP game and go stomping through the countryside. Do experienced players limit themselves to a single merc contract at any given time to keep the challenge up?

I never bid for mercs in SP, at least early, because it bias completely your appraisal of the race you test. But thats because SP for me is always a preparation for MP.

Also, in MP, how much do these guys go for? Double the asking price?

really depend. If you get the shambler company and you really want to wet your feet, then yes doubling what they want can (should in MP) be done. On the other hand, if its turn 30 and you just want mercs to renforce slightly one of your army, then you will not want to pay much above the regular price.

Morale: I seem to notice I lose a lot of combats I would win with a morale reinforcing priest. Are morale boosting items as good as having a priest along? Should you always try to send a priest with a merc army?

morale boosting items can act like a standard, that is they suppress partly the morale penalty incurred by troops which already failed there morale loss check. I would think that the spells does somehow the same thing, and dont really boost the base morale.

Munchies: How bad is the starvation effect? I've had it happen for a couple of turns but it didn't seem to have a big effect on my army. Is it worse the more you exceed the supply cap?

each supply point that you dont have will result in a starvation icon given randomly (I think!) to a unit. Starvation give -4 morale. Next turn, if you are still undersupplied, units which are already starving and get again a starvation pick can become diseased. And then they are generally doomed (loose 1 hp a turn, cant recuperate except by battle spells). You might not notice the problem but it can be a battle looser.