Free mercenary build

[PeachTree]

Hi,

Recently, i played vs. a player who beat me only using mercenaries in a nr 20 game mode. He told me there is a tech that lets u ship mercs for free... Is this a viable strategy in rush games? Thanks

[edeholland]

Doesn't that tech cost like 4k gold + an age 2 shipment (700 res) for unique church upgrades + 100 wood for a church? I think only @Aizamk can make this viable. You could potentially get more resources than you invest, but you still have to wait for a long long long time before it pays off. You also still have to invest shipments which aren't free.

[PeachTree]

So its 4k gold... Wow, only reason it was so good in that nr20 game i guess.. Cuz germans get extra mercs and a merc boost card... Plus free uhlans for stall and raid

[Kaiserklein]

Hi, no it's not viable. It's as Germany, you need to ship the church card, build a church, and research that upgrade that costs 4000 gold lol. Since you anyway need to be at least age 3 to ship mercs, we can consider that the church card is worth at least an age 3 shipment, so around 1000 resources. So we can call it 5000 gold to get that tech basically. There's no way it's worth it, because you would need to be industrial and shipping like 3 mercenaries shipments to make it pay off, in which case going mercs is bad because they have fortress stats. If you're just fortress, you won't even be able to ship enough mercs to make it worth it. And regardless of the age, it's obscenely long and risky to gather 4000g and ship so many cards to just get units instead of simply training them. Just don't do it.

In no rush it's also horrible to go for this instead of shipping upgrades and stuff, but at least I guess you have time to gather the 4000g and ship mercs without dying lol.

[PeachTree]

Ya i didnt realize it was 4000 gold, so is the church card worthless then? There is the speed boost tech and the 12 dopp one..

If this is the case then i will just put in advanced arsenal.

Also, does it effect only shipped mercs or also ones from saloon (ex lil bombards)

[edeholland]

Ya i didnt realize it was 4000 gold, so is the church card worthless then? There is the speed boost tech and the 12 dopp one..

If this is the case then i will just put in advanced arsenal.

Also, does it effect only shipped mercs or also ones from saloon (ex lil bombards)

Only shipped mercs. I'm also 99% sure it won't affect the infinite TEAM 5 jaegers card.

[Kaiserklein]

Well the 12 dops are available in industrial iirc, so that's not really an option in sup, where you rarely reach that age, and if you do you won't go dops anyway.
The speed boost is the most viable tech in the church card, but since it affects only infantry, it's usually not very good as germany (around half of your army will be cav). If you're making full infantry mercs from the saloon though, it's interesting.

Advanced arsenal is also not viable in 1v1 sup as germany.

The tech affects only shipped mercs, that's why it's so bad. Obviously if it made all mercs in the saloon free, it might become somewhat interesting, although I believe you shouldn't be able to stack 4000 gold without losing the game lol.

[Method_man714]

Hi, no it's not viable. It's as Germany, you need to ship the church card, build a church, and research that upgrade that costs 4000 gold lol. Since you anyway need to be at least age 3 to ship mercs, we can consider that the church card is worth at least an age 3 shipment, so around 1000 resources. So we can call it 5000 gold to get that tech basically. There's no way it's worth it, because you would need to be industrial and shipping like 3 mercenaries shipments to make it pay off, in which case going mercs is bad because they have fortress stats. If you're just fortress, you won't even be able to ship enough mercs to make it worth it. And regardless of the age, it's obscenely long and risky to gather 4000g and ship so many cards to just get units instead of simply training them. Just don't do it.

In no rush it's also horrible to go for this instead of shipping upgrades and stuff, but at least I guess you have time to gather the 4000g and ship mercs without dying lol.

But the cheaper mercenaries card reduces the cost to 2000 and if you can get to age 4 drop one of the huge age 4 merc shipments onto the army seiging your tc you could win. Plus then you get the other age 4 mercs for free. The age 1 tc card would buy time with a wall and uhlan raids will help buy time.

[Kaiserklein]

Yeah it reduces it but you need to send the card, which is basically 1000g. So you're still behind by 3000g + a shipment for super long. Btw, how do you get the coin to go fortress + industrial + church tech, without any map control since you're going indus? And why would you even have age 4 mercs in deck? XD
And how long does it take to go industrial with church card + cheaper mercs + send an indus merc shipment...

[Gendarme]

Aren't you normally in Imperial Age in NR20?

[Kaiserklein]

yes

[duckzilla]

If you're making full infantry mercs from the saloon though, it's interesting.

Advanced arsenal is also not viable in 1v1 sup as germany.

I have to admit that the church card and AA are in all of my german decks, simply for the small chance that I find Fusiliers in the Saloon. You can easily get them to be a speed 7.15 musketeer with 90 dmg and high siege. Such a fun unit.

[Kaiserklein]

Yeah they get crazy fast.
Yesterday I played on pampas sierras and got 9 speed ninjas with the inca tech lol. And 100 siege with the mapuche

[edeholland]

Aren't you normally in Imperial Age in NR20?

With a lot of civs, yeah. With some you can instead have a strong age 4 push or even a revolt.

[Kaiserklein]

Nah you're age 5 if you do it properly

[Papist]

Yeah, this build isn't even remotely viable in NR 20. Neither is revolting for that matter -- your opponent is going to have a maxed out eco and army if he understands the gamemode.

[Imperial Noob]

Free mercenaries are fun in FFA though. If you do not get attacked, you have a nice timing that can sweep two or three players.

[momuuu]

Aren't you normally in Imperial Age in NR20?

With a lot of civs, yeah. With some you can instead have a strong age 4 push or even a revolt.

I think that can work, but only in 1v1. You can try to then overwhelm your opponent with an all in push.