[Morkilus]

Mercenaries, irrelevant? Tell that to Orion and the Shipwreckers. I couldn't disagree more; the ability to have an instant army pop up in any of your provinces for a relatively tiny amount of gold is very powerful, and the bidding wars in multiplayer are sometimes so tricky that I've seen use of mercenaries banned as a house rule until turn 10. And who cares if they die? I'm happier if So-and-So routs into oblivion rather than have him clog the mercenary queue with the two or so spearmen he retains. There are so many more bands to replace them.