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SMAN's The Ancient World at War - Soldiers of Fortune

"Remember: Pillage THEN burn…" -- Anon


SMAN’s The Ancient World at War – Soldiers of Fortune (AWAW-SOF) Companion Mod adds 15 Mercenary units to the game, covering from the Ancient to the Enlightenment Eras. The AWAW mod is required for this mod to work.

Mercenary units are a quick way to augment your armies. They are much cheaper to `hire` than normal units are to purchase. Additionally, they are available immediately upon purchase. They do not require Gold maintenance, Resources, and do not count against your unit support limit.

Mercenary units are purchased in your cities. There are 3 different units for each Era, mostly land units, but there are also a couple ships as well. They have a `contract` of varying length, based on game speed. For Marathon games, it is 80 turns, 35 in Epic, 20 in Standard, and 15 in Quick. A quick popup will appear at the start of each game to remind you of this contract duration.

Before the contract expires, you will see a notification on the right hand side of the screen 5 turns beforehand. This notification informs you that one of your Mercenary units is about to leave your service. If you left-click on the icon, screen focus will center on that specific unit. The icon for this notification is the specific unit icon. This is the only warning you will receive before the unit formally disbands.

When the contract expires, the unit simply leaves your service, and is removed from the map. You will see a notification to this effect, also with the unit icon, but with the crossing swords animation to let you know the unit is no longer available. Left-clicking on the notification icon will also center the map where that specific unit was last seen before disbanding.


Mercenaries might be fairly cheap to hire, they come with baggage:

• Desertion: Towards the end of their contracts, it's possible they will simply desert (i.e. disappear) without warning. A notification with the unit`s icon will appear, and left-clicking on the notification icon will center the map where that specific unit was last seen before abrogating on their contract.
  
• Mutiny: There is a small chance a Mercenary unit will abandon your cause, siding with the Barbarians. This chance increases if your Civilization is unhappy. A notification with the unit`s icon with a red background will appear, and left-clicking on the notification icon will center the map where that specific unit is located.

Specific Mercenary Units Available for Hire: There are 3 Mercenary Units available in each Era, from Ancient to the Enlightenment.

Ancient Era Mercenaries:

• Rabble: a rudimentary melee unit
  
• Ghazi: a more capable melee unit
  
• Madyan Archers: powerful early ranged unit

Classical Era Mercenaries:

• Spartan Hippeis: mounted unit, more capable than the Horseman
  
• Dhow: naval melee unit that can capture cities more easily than normal units
  
• Black Army: melee unit that excels at attacking

Medieval Era Mercenaries:

• Genoese Crossbowman: world-famous mercenaries, quite capable
  
• Condottieri: another famous unit more suited to attack than defend
  
• Lil` Bombard: a lumbering cannon that excels at siege, but is quite vulnerable

Renaissance Era Mercenaries:

• Swiss Guard: excellent defensive melee unit
  
• Great Bombard: a more capable version of the Lil` Bombard, but is also vulnerable
  
• Cavalier: exceptional mounted unit that excels at routing enemies

Enlightenment Era Mercenaries:

• Black Riders: mounted unit that can attack twice per turn
  
• War Junk: naval melee unit that excels at capturing cities
  
• Wild Geese: a famous, yet tragic mounted band of renegades, who also excel at routing enemies and attacking twice per turn

Acknowledgements: Many, many previous modders deserve credit for the art, models, etc., appearing in this mod. The usual suspects, Horem, JFD, Bouncymischa, Snafusmith, Ekmek, Wolfdog, Nomad or What, Civitar, bernie14, Nutty, danrell, Lord Tirian, etc. – all contributed greatly to this mod.

Further thanks to Pouakai's (Enlightenment Era), Tomatekh & Emperor of Awesomeness (Religions).

Also, special thanks to my collaborators at Civfanatics on structuring AWAW: YINGCHENG, arievillo, askmarcoanything, MariusMagnus, DauntlessGuy, and Natan35.

And I would be completely in remiss if I didn't thank LeeS and whoward69 on Civfanatics for the extensive support provided on database adjustments and Lua scripting.

I will continue to add contributors to this list as I find them. If I've missed anyone, please let me know and I'll add them to this list.