So I played a game where I had access to 3 goon type mercs and just wanted to make a few notes/many sugesstions for changes (played as China)
First the Kanuri Guard
They feel are surprisingly bad to me as a goon unit because their attack was mediocre and while they are good at tanking range, they are squishy in melee. They are cheap and only cost 2 pop so maybe they are balance?? They do have 300 more Range hp then Black rider but 10 less attack.
Then the Zenata Rider
they are basically upgraded Manchus with the same ATK, HP, ROF but with increased range and different resists (animation makes the rider feel a bit faster, but i can’t confirm)
I think they are a bit too similar to one another I feel, suggest to reduce base HP of Zenata Rider so that they have same range HP as Manchus, that way they are more vulnerable to cavs as well. ( so about 320 HP). This make them have to kite rather then try to stand and tank hits.
OR
reduce their range to 10 and keep their other stats to make them sort of like close range DPS units
yeah zennata riders are better versions of manchu. Kanuri guards although looks decent with 40% Range resist actually have same effective ranged HP as black riders but black riders have more attack which justifies the extra 50coin.
The problem with adding the extra mercs into the game it that it really messes with saloon merc rolls as now it is possible to get 3 age 4 units or 3 goon units etc. I mean i had a game where i rolled elmeti, jat lancer and lil bombard. There should be no game where i ever roll jat lancer AND elmeti as they function as the same unit
The problem with theafrican maps and MU’s african civs is that it pushes euro civs to make a saloon for desert infantry which naturally leads to mercs in age 3. but the merc rolls are a mess. In RE there was seemed to be a high chance ofgetting a decent merc due to the reduced merc pool.
I am sort of ok with similar-ish rolls, RNG should be RNG. I do think the units do need to be a little bit more speacilised in their roles so that there is more to play around with rather then it being just same units with different stats.
That is why my problem is that the Manchus and Zenata are a bit too similar, if you get both I will always go for Zenata. But if it was say Manchus vs Kanuri eh I think thats a more intersting trade off.
Agreed on the age thing though, should make sure that there are always age 3 and age 4 mercs
Now we have several mercs fulfilling the same role, so the three random mercs should be drawn separately from pools of different unit types (first draw from infantry/heavy infantry/cavalry/light cavalry/artillery, then draw one unit of that unit type), not one combined pool.
But I’d prefer at least partially remove the randomness thing. Give some cards/techs that definitely enables certain mercs. Randomness makes the entire mechanics a meme most of the time.
