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My Marienburg army will have many 'counts-as' units represented by mercs. I got to thinking about the old Dogs of War (some units I really like and will likely incorporate from amongst the Tileans and Estelians esp) and how some of the units just seemed a bit too ott for me (undead mercs, elflords on dragons etc).

What races/troop types do you see serving in an empire styled army? Usurped Brets, elf soldiery, dwarf handgunners, norse marauders?

The Undead Mercs actually made sense, given that they were loyal Empire soldiery who were forcibly cursed.

Elf soldiery, not so much though. The really well-trained Elven soldiers don't leave Ulthuan or the Tower of Dusk and they're not likely to play well with an Empire General in charge.

Now, Shadow Warriors functioning as your version of Huntsmen...that'd definitely work.

There are groups of Dwarfs living within the Empire(and actually used to be a troop type in 4th and 5th), so they work.

Elven soldiers actually make lot of sense in a Marienburg army, since Marienburg has an elven trading post.

During the vampire wars the elves help defend Marienburg from Manfred

MeanGreenStompa wrote:My Marienburg army will have many 'counts-as' units represented by mercs. I got to thinking about the old Dogs of War (some units I really like and will likely incorporate from amongst the Tileans and Estelians esp) and how some of the units just seemed a bit too ott for me (undead mercs, elflords on dragons etc).

What races/troop types do you see serving in an empire styled army? Usurped Brets, elf soldiery, dwarf handgunners, norse marauders?

Norse Marauders. Because tribal type warrior are pretty much mercenaries in the old days.

Aslong as they are offered payments and a good fight im sure they'll join even the Empire.

Undead makes no sense as they serve the purpose of who ever resurrected them.
Elves and Dwarfs wouldnt trust humans.

aurelion wrote:Elven soldiers actually make lot of sense in a Marienburg army, since Marienburg has an elven trading post.

During the Vampire Wars the Elves help defend Marienburg from Manfred

A trading post doesn't mean that there'd be soldiers present though, especially not actual, highly trained line soldiery. You'd see maybe some Ship's Company, which are about equivalent to the Empire's Free Companies.

And again:
They're not "High" Elves. They're called "Sea Elves", and tend to be traders who know the passageways between Ulthuan and the Empire.

Shadow Warriors or Elves to be used as Huntsmen/Archers, maybe a few random ones decked out as characters/sergeants for line infantry units are gonna be your best bet to incorporate them.

Norse
Ogres
Dwarves
Tileans, natch.

Halflings?

Kanluwen wrote:

aurelion wrote:Elven soldiers actually make lot of sense in a Marienburg army, since Marienburg has an elven trading post.

During the Vampire Wars the Elves help defend Marienburg from Manfred

A trading post doesn't mean that there'd be soldiers present though, especially not actual, highly trained line soldiery. You'd see maybe some Ship's Company, which are about equivalent to the Empire's Free Companies.

And again:
They're not "High" Elves. They're called "Sea Elves", and tend to be traders who know the passageways between Ulthuan and the Empire.

Shadow Warriors or Elves to be used as Huntsmen/Archers, maybe a few random ones decked out as characters/sergeants for line infantry units are gonna be your best bet to incorporate them.

Sea Elves maintain a soldiery in Marienburg and police their own enclave according to the fluff. They do sally out in times of war and contribute and collaborate in military ventures.

Norse are pretty obvious, in that they're the "If they're going to pillage something, why not hire them to pillage someone else so that you aren't pillaged as well as sapping your rivals / the norse in the same go." They're different from Orcs in that they're also Human, and they can still sorta be relied on to act "reasonably" within line of sight of a settlement (see: Not immediately wonder if it's on the menu).

Dwarves are pretty obvious, especially things like Slayers who are more looking for a mean to a glorious death than they are looking for money.

Elves I can't really see as Mercenaries, barring perhaps Dark Elves (in a similar manner to said Norse) or some small Elvish Outcast group.

Halflings, because there's always a few that wander around to do their own things.

Ogres, for pretty obvious reasons.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

aurelion wrote:Elven soldiers actually make lot of sense in a Marienburg army, since Marienburg has an elven trading post.

During the Vampire Wars the Elves help defend Marienburg from Manfred

A trading post doesn't mean that there'd be soldiers present though, especially not actual, highly trained line soldiery. You'd see maybe some Ship's Company, which are about equivalent to the Empire's Free Companies.

And again:
They're not "High" Elves. They're called "Sea Elves", and tend to be traders who know the passageways between Ulthuan and the Empire.

Shadow Warriors or Elves to be used as Huntsmen/Archers, maybe a few random ones decked out as characters/sergeants for line infantry units are gonna be your best bet to incorporate them.

Sea Elves maintain a soldiery in Marienburg and police their own enclave according to the fluff. They do sally out in times of war and contribute and collaborate in military ventures.

Just for a comparative measure, I'd say look into some of the Forgotten Realms/D&D background settings. Towns like Waterdeep or Silverymoon would be a good basis for Marienburg, I'd think.

They have Elven enclaves in the city, which do similarly police themselves--but given that crime is basically non-existent in those parts(except for outsiders coming in and wrecking the place), they tend to be heavy on archers or mages--which they then contribute to the city in its times of need.

I'm reading the original (1st ed WHFRP) 'Sold Down the River' atm, it's fairly amazing in detail. It has the original 'Treaty of Amity and Commerce' in it which details Ulthuan's pledge to Marienburg as it's sole trading partner in the Old World and to uphold military support to her defence and ventures...

" It became painfully clear, though, after the defeat of the Imperial Army of the Lower Reik when Count Zelt was forced to surrender his sword to a Sea Elf wizard before
a combined force of Wastelander militia and Sea Elf Marines.
Whatever their reasons, the High Elf Kingdom of Ulthuan has committed itself to the defence of Marienburg." - Sold Down the River, Hogshead Publishing.

So a couple of my mages would be Elven, and I could employ some of those sea guard from Blood Island as 'counts as' also.

How about the basic DoW pikemen, I know that saliors used pike (if alittle bit shorter than normal ones) to fend of boarders and with Marienburg being a port you could say some of the salty sea dogs came to help out while their ship was undergoing repairs.

Yep, Rico's and the Lost Company are both in the running for large units. I'll be making militia companies up to look like the ship's crews.

Just checked my copy of Warhammer Armies from 3rd ed WFB.

The Empire were allowed allies from the following:
Halflings
Old Worlders
Wood Elves

And mercenaries from these:
Dwarfs
Norse
Old Worlders
Ogres

Slinky wrote:Just checked my copy of Warhammer Armies from 3rd ed WFB.

The Empire were allowed allies from the following:
Halflings
Old Worlders
Wood Elves

And mercenaries from these:
Dwarfs
Norse
Old Worlders
Ogres

Nice, thanks!

Replacing woodelves with 'sea' elves (high elves with a sea theme really), and I think that makes a comprehensive list...

With an addition, I'm going to use some Nipponese in the army somewhere...

Another idea is to use Tilean crossbowmen. These are the most common mercenaries in the Empire.