Bidding on Mercs

[tinkthank]

Two questions here:

First one: How much more do you bid on mercs in MP games -- especially during the beginning of the game (turns 1-3)? Do you bid +3, +5, +10, or what? Your opinions and reasons for them are greatly appreciated!

Second one: You bought Bob and his merc troop, and Bob survived three turns and is up for bids again; Bob's original price was 200 gp. Do I understand correctly that Bob would rather work for you for the next three months if you bid 104 than for your enemy if your enemy bids 203? Or does this half-price-for-continuing-deal also halve your "extra" bid (e.g. your bidding 104 is considered to be only "two" more than he is asking, or "eight" more?).

Thanks

EDIT: also, is there any way to turn mercs off? That is, during game creation, stipulate: no mercs in this game? I couldnt find that

[ March 10, 2004, 17:15: Message edited by: tinkthank ]

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
How much more do you bid on mercs in MP games -- especially during the beginning of the game (turns 1-3)? Do you bid +3, +5, +10, or what?

In Doms 1 bids like 2-3 times the asked price were not uncommon. In Doms 2 with the nerfed econ it's much harder to achieve, but I've lost a bid at 200 + 54 once (in turn 10-15). But I've not played that many Doms 2 MP games yet.

Your opinions and reasons for them are greatly appreciated!

Obvious reason: more troops means faster expansion with less casualties to attrittion.

... does this half-price-for-continuing-deal also halve your "extra" bid (e.g. your bidding 104 is considered to be only "two" more than he is asking, or "eight" more?).

No idea, but I see no logical reason why the +4 extra on the second bid should be halved. 100+4 counting as full double (ie, 200+8) vs other players' bids makes more sense to me.

[Norfleet]

If you are the current employer, your bid is doubled: If you bid $104, it's equivalent to if you were not the owner and bid $208. Therefore, you will beat somebody else's bid of $203.

There is no option to play without the mercs. They're supposed to be considered an integral part of the Dominions experience, and turning them off would be like turning off pretenders. This is also noteworthy in that there are some particularly misunfortunate situations that you can get yourself into, early game, that only mercs can get you out of! If you have a no-magic pretender and your lab explodes, for instance, you're SOL without a merc.

As for how much to bid on mercs, it's really dependent on how much you want the merc. Often you can bid only the asking price, and win by default because no other nation was interested. Merc Groups come in varying degrees of effectiveness and expense: Also, the asking price of a merc drops if nobody hires it, so the longer you wait, the cheaper it gets.....but the odds that somebody else will bite first increases. Some mercs are worthwhile and great bargains at any price....others are less than impressive.

[Wauthan]

Anyone got a list of a sort on the mercenaries? I never really bother to hire them since I favor troops that stick around even when I forget about them. I hired the Ettin once or twice as well as the crystal amazons. I figure all the "Mercenary" units in the game makes it onto the list as well.

Any more noteworthy units one should keep a lookout for?

[Bossemanden]

The eternal Knights are VERY good for their price.

[liga]

No one answer to the question: is tehre a full list of the mercenary avaible in the game ?

(I try to search the forum for mercenary list but I found nothing)

thk