[Vynd]

One strategy you might pursue is to always build troops first, and only bid on mercenaries with what you have available afterwards. Or if you have the discipline, you could set a limit as to how much money you will spend on mercenaries on any given turn (or over the course of three turns, or whatever). THe main thing is to force yourself to have money left over with which to build troops. Because once you build enough of your own troops you'll find that you don't really need the mercenaries anymore.

But if you just can't force yourself to stick to these strategies, then I agree with Gateway103: Play a nation that simply cannot use mercenaries effectively, like undead Ermor or miasma C'Tis.