[Firebreath]

Originally posted by HotNifeThruButr:
Don't merc companies with less men cost less money?

Yes. Some. I think they loose maybe 1/3 of their original cost, without the troops. This doesn't seem logical, if you only look at unit commanders, but many merc leaders are also wizzards, and it would not make sense go 'give' wizzards away at ridiculously low prices, which is probably why it's only 1/3. As it is a (relatively) minor issue, the devs havn't bothered doing anything more complicated (i think).

I throw mercs into the blender all the time, they've got no real loyalty to me and I've none for them.

That's their purpose. You're paying them to either: kill lots of enemy in 3 turns, or else save lots of your own units being killed in those 3 turns by dying themselves. Since most mercs are ordinary heavy inf. or worse, the second choice is the only one. Anything else is either bluffing the AI into thinking you're stronger than or are, or else wasting you $.

And to answer the thread creator, when you hire a merc, it tells you 'bob has x men and costs y gold' - so you know exactly how many men he has with him. After a while, you remember what kind of men they are (usually heavy inf).