Byzantines/Strategic Overview

With regards to mercenaries, the Byzantines, like all major factions, has a considerable pool of mercenaries  who can be called upon to do their bidding. While they do have the Outpost units - Slavic Raiders, Brigands, and Caucasus Mountain Men - the real draw of the Byzantine mercenary component lies in the Mercenary Quarters. Being buildable right off the bat, and at a considerably lower cost, the Byzantines are capable of forward building from the earliest minutes of the game, resources willing, so that the Byzantine army on the march can often be a terrifying prospect. If being faced with heavily armoured cavalry and superior infantry does not faze opponents of the Byzantines, then possibly the prospect of early game mercenary raiding by hardened Germans and crafty Turkish cavalry could well scare them.