Mercenaries

[TranquilSilence]

It's why I also didn't go with the Varangian Guard, because I know (classified?) intends to use them in his Byzantine civ. But I suppose I can figure something out. So I take it having Jannissaries as a Contractor and the unique unit of the Ottomans doesn't bother anyone? If not, I may just add their kind in. I can incorporate your additions, too, zwei833, if that's fine with you, which would at the very least reduce the chances of conflict with HRE. Although this is exactly the kind of thing Pouakai wanted - are you guys conspiring?

I can understand being apprehensive about giving other civs a way to acquire another civ's UU. However I don't think it's the biggest concern as the current iteration of Mercenaries allows for this anyways, just on a more random basis. I'd be all for having special contracts for UU's that were historically mercenaries, such as the Varangian Guard and the Gallowglass, provided that these contracts only appeared if their relevant civ was not in game.

I agree! Give me more idea about the contract name and description and I can make it!

Thanks for the offer Zwei! I'll try and get you a little write up on them after I've gotten a little more sleep.

 

[zwei833]

I can incorporate your additions, too, zwei833, if that's fine with you, which would at the very least reduce the chances of conflict with HRE. Although this is exactly the kind of thing Pouakai wanted - are you guys conspiring?

Thank you, JFD, That is so nice.


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It is not a very hard job to incorporate the Varangian into Merc.mod from ItRD, just like the cuirassier, but I don't want to do it now. The reason is that, first, as JFD said someone may use Varangian as a UU of a new BYZ civ later, second, the promotion of the Varangian in ItRD depends on some other mod(CP or Piety, IIRC) and this may cause some problem.

Thanks for the offer Zwei! I'll try and get you a little write up on them after I've gotten a little more sleep.

I would do the gallowglass after I finish the Reiters(Black Rider before). And could you please also provide the idea of the special promotion of the gallowglass contract too?

 

[TranquilSilence]

Given that this mod is discussing Mercenaries - I'm surprised no one has mentioned a certain group as an easter-egg/joke contract;

'Sent to prison some years ago for a crime they did not commit, they have since escaped and have been serving as Soldiers of Fortune in a foreign empire. If we could find them, maybe we could hire ... The A-Team.'

Oh yeah, and Outer Heaven could work as a contractor for GDR's, again from the Metal Gear franchise.

I would do the gallowglass after I finish the Reiters(Black Rider before). And could you please also provide the idea of the special promotion of the gallowglass contract too?

Thanks again Zwei,

Gallowglass;

'Elite, aristocratic warriors hailing from Northern clans. Wearing heavy armour and wielding heavier weapons, they provide a strong defence and are useful in holding the line against enemies.'

For the promotion; Something like increased defence, or higher strength against other melee units. Their actual role as mercenaries was originally to supplement Irish armies which largely consisted of poorly armed and trained footsoldiers and aristocratic cavalry, their popularity fell off after the development of gunpowder however.

 

[Hypereon]

I didn't realize this. I'll have to have a look. This would at least allow your Finland to have unique dialogue and... omg... I wonder if the Pistolero has unique dialogue...

Ahh, unique dialogue for the Finlands, I'd love it! Especially because it's so different from any other major language there are little reasons to use any Unit Dialogue with Cultural Diversity, except basic English - and Swedish (though considering history, it would make all units sound quite upper-class). Anyway, they go under the anglicized name 'Hackapell' and the dialogue consists from eight basic words. (Mixing in the Civ dialogue a couple Swedish words could also be historically correct, but it could make some fennomans quite angry )

BTW, I remember Pistolero had some unique dialogue too, though I ain't sure.

 

[zwei833]

@Zwei
Being German and interested in medieval stuff, I have _never_ heard the term "Vortragsschwert".
Even google doesn't know it - where does ist come from?

You'll find information about Vortragschwerter in this 2 posts:

Spoiler :

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15290&highlight=Vortragschwerter
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10095&highlight=Vortragschwerter

If Vortragschwerter is not suitable enough, what a about a Doppelsoldner Contract of Die Schlachtschwertierer with promotion of city attack?
Reference:

Spoiler :

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlachtschwertierer
http://www.sg-horn.de/html/schlachtschwertierer.html
http://www.antikportal24.de/cms/?Li..._andere_Blankwaffen:Bidenhänder_aus_Horn

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And the Reiter code is release now.

Aa I said before, the Reiter is origin from the Cuirassier in JFD's ItRD mod, so thanks JanBoruta for his fantastic unit protrait and JFD for his original code.

The Reiter is a special mercenary unit which do not replace any unit, they can only aquired through mercenary contract, see the pictures below for more information.

Spoiler :

People who want to add this unit into their Mercenaries mod should download the .7z file in the attachment and add the 'Cuirassier_zwei' folder into their own Mercenaries mod.

 

[zwei833]

@TranquilSilence
The code of Gallowglass contract is also release now.

The Gallowglass unit is an UU of the MC's Scotland, so this code is a component of of MC's Scotland mod(at least for now).
If you want to use the gallowglass contract, please add the files(1 xml and 1 sql) in the attachment into your own MC's Scotland mod.

 

[Vicevirtuoso]

How feasible would it be to enable Civilizations to hire out their units as a UA if this mod is loaded? I could really enhance the experience of my Metal Gear Civs if you could actually make them function as PMCs.

 

[Hypereon]

Umm, shouldn't the foreign mercenaries speak their respective languages? While I'm playing as India, all units speak with the same Hindi(?) tongue? Fixed.

A new bug: I got an option to buy Saleraioi Bersaglieri in the classical era. Quite strong a unit for early game - and not even five stars!
EDIT: And it looks like contracts are opening way too early - I'm in Classical era and might already buy Black Bands and Mamlukes! Ahh sorry, it seems that these can't still be contracted, I'm just seeing them there.

 

[Natan35]

Hmmm... How about (hunnic) Horse archers as mercenaries?

 

[ldvhl]

How feasible would it be to enable Civilizations to hire out their units as a UA if this mod is loaded? I could really enhance the experience of my Metal Gear Civs if you could actually make them function as PMCs.

I am also interested in this for my (pending) Ba civ.

 

[TLhikan]

After re-loading a save, I got a messed-up version of the Contracts screen that wouldn't go away. Has this happened to anyone else?

Log-a-log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ormlr6wbci9o4ew/Lua log.zip?dl=0

 

[JFD]

Hm. No issue for me when used in combination with: Piety & Sovereignty, ExCE, and CulDiv. Are there any other mods that anyone knows of from the list in the log file that use TSL?

Or, if DarkScythe is around, what does this error actually mean:

Error loading tables: checksumOld=970, checksumNew=1121

As for selling your units, it's something I thought about, but quickly dismissed for the work that would be involved. Maybe in the distant future, when I'm looking for something to do.

 

[Kesler]

Maybe in the distant future, when I'm looking for something to do.

Ha. Haha. JFD not busy enough, hoho, that's a good one...

 

[JFD]

I knew you'd get it

 

[Natan35]

JFD, I feel that 2 extra techs(combined with piety) at the beginning of classical era really slow the game down...

 

[zwei833]

JFD, I feel that 2 extra techs(combined with piety) at the beginning of classical era really slow the game down...

Really? I don't think so

 

[JFD]

Oh Natan, you're lucky I am a benevolant Emperor.

Mercenaries updated:

• May now disable the Mercenary Contracts tech in the user settings file.
  • Gaesatae and Merc. Contracts unlocked at Currency.
  • Jiayuguan Fort unlocked at Construction.
• Fixed an issue which prevented the AI from taking Merc. Contracts.
• Fixed an issue where beginning in a later era would spawn you with Gaesatae/Hessians.
• Updated Atholl Highlanders and Mamlukes to use the new dialogue types introduced by CulDiv's latest update.
• Hashshasins now obsolete with the Renaissance Era.
• Added 6 new Contracts. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I may add more later, but I wanted to get this update out asap, and I only added those that didn't need too much thought/work (I started adding a few others, such as the Varangians, Black Riders, Janissaries, etc., but its gotten a bit late for me now, which is why you'll see, in the files, those added but disabled)
  • Harland and Wolff
  • Stradiot
  • Hackapell
  • Barbary Corsairs
  • Cebeille Stingers
  • Diamond Dogs
• Added the accidentally missing Flavors for the Jiayuguan Fort.
• Lowered the cost of hiring out Mercenary Contracts.
• Mercenary Contracts will now only 'advance' with the human player, instead of with the first civ to reach a new era.
• Contracts will no longer choose units of Civilization in-game (if you are using the Community Patch and CulDiv)
• Fixed an issue preventing the Privateer from updating as a Merc. unit properly.
• Privateers no longer capture ships. This is now the job of the Barbary Corsair. They now gain their Plunder bonus from their Contract Promo. However, the Dutch Sea Beggar retains Coastal Raider I, and so stacks.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Sounds fantastic!! Appreciate the update, thanks JFD .

 

[Natan35]

Oh Natan, you're lucky I am a benevolant Emperor.

Mercenaries updated:

• May now disable the Mercenary Contracts tech in the user settings file.
  • Gaesatae and Merc. Contracts unlocked at Currency.
  • Jiayuguan Fort unlocked at Construction.
• Fixed an issue which prevented the AI from taking Merc. Contracts.
• Fixed an issue where beginning in a later era would spawn you with Gaesatae/Hessians.
• Updated Atholl Highlanders and Mamlukes to use the new dialogue types introduced by CulDiv's latest update.
• Hashshasins now obsolete with the Renaissance Era.
• Added 6 new Contracts. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I may add more later, but I wanted to get this update out asap, and I only added those that didn't need too much thought/work (I started adding a few others, such as the Varangians, Black Riders, Janissaries, etc., but its gotten a bit late for me now, which is why you'll see, in the files, those added but disabled)
  • Harland and Wolff
  • Stradiot
  • Hackapell
  • Barbary Corsairs
  • Cebeille Stingers
  • Diamond Dogs
• Added the accidentally missing Flavors for the Jiayuguan Fort.
• Lowered the cost of hiring out Mercenary Contracts.
• Mercenary Contracts will now only 'advance' with the human player, instead of with the first civ to reach a new era.
• Contracts will no longer choose units of Civilization in-game (if you are using the Community Patch and CulDiv)
• Fixed an issue preventing the Privateer from updating as a Merc. unit properly.
• Privateers no longer capture ships. This is now the job of the Barbary Corsair. They now gain their Plunder bonus from their Contract Promo. However, the Dutch Sea Beggar retains Coastal Raider I, and so stacks.

All hail his modjesty and his modelicious brain!
(Also hail the Vice Artisterach* Zwei)

Spoiler :

the only words I write well are those Ive thought about

 

[Vicevirtuoso]

Since you're adding Metal Gear stuff, I have a model for the MSF Sneaking Suit used in my MSF Subsistence mod if you want to use it.

And now to update said mod so it deletes the Diamond Dogs contract, because we don't want other players to be able to hire DDs to fight themselves, eh?