Mercenaries

Throughout the early modern period mercenaries formed a significant part of any European army fighting on the mainland. This is because professional armies needed to be equipped and paid full time, in peace time or war. Mercenaries were convenient to use, in some of the wars across Europe during this period a battle between two nations may turn out to be a battle of two different sets of mercenaries! As time went on however mercenaries were used less as the 17th and particularly the 18th century saw the growth of the professional armies. In Age of Empires III many kinds mercenaries are portrayed, below I will give an explanation of the background and the historical accuracy behind these soldiers of fortune!

To find out more about the units in Age of Empires III, why not visit our units section?

Swiss Pikemen

These were the most prolific mercenaries used across Europe especially by Italian city states and the French monarchy. They were some of the finest troops to use in battle from the 15th century onwards. Their proven battlefield capabilities with the pike made them the most sought-after mercenary troops in the world. The pikemen would fight in deep ranks, terrifying for any charging cavalry regiment.

As technology improved however the pike attack of the Swiss mercenaries proved to be too vulnerable to improved firearms and artillery. Also across Europe armies adapted to take on the blocks of pikemen. One of the most effective of these also a unit in Age of Empires 3 were the Spanish rodeleros. Their light armour and manoeuvrability enabled them to get in amongst the ranks of pikemen.

Jaegar

Jaegers, also known as Hessians were the well drilled German riflemen used by the British crown in the 18th century. The term Hessian refers to the inhabitants of the German state of Hesse. This was because through the connections of the British crown in across Germany. They even formed one third of the British army in the American Revolutionary War and were respected for their discipline and excellent military skills.

Landsknecht

Landsknecht were the German, mercenary pikemen and foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century. They achieved a reputation almost to rival that of the Swiss pikemen, and were common mercenaries, found in armies all across Europe.

In Age of Empires III Landsknecht are shown to fight with, double handed long swords. There is an element of truth in this. Unlike with the Swiss Pikemen they did not all carry the same weapons and some of the Landsknecht would carry these long swords as an alternative to the traditional pike. This was done to give variation to the regiment meaning they could more effective against a wider range of attackers.

Mameluke

A Mameluke was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. However, over time they became a powerful military caste, and existed as a military body as late as the 19th century. In the early modern period The Mamelukes were suppressed especially by the Ottoman Empire, although bands of mamelukes controlled areas such as Egypt and modern day Iraq at certain times.

Mamelukes were used as mercenaries in Europe, particularly by the French. Throughout the Napoleonic era, there was a special Mameluke corps in the French army. They fought in a number of major battles such as the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and in Napoleon’s Belgium campaign.

Highlander

With the highlander mercenary unit in Age of Empires III I believe that ES have used their poetic license to create a more interesting mercenary unit. Scottish mercenaries were found all over Europe, increasingly as part of the British army as the period went on and as Scotland became more established under the British crown. These "highlanders" though, would be probably quite simply armed musketeers. Unlikely to be the efficient expensive units seen in Age of Empires III itself.

Stradiot

Stradiots were light cavalry recruited mostly from Albania, Dalmatia or Greece and mainly used by Venetian armies during the 15th century. They were used in Venice's wars against the Ottoman Empire. They employed hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, feigned retreats and other tactics that were mostly unknown to European armies at the time. In some ways, these tactics echoed those of the Ottoman Spahi (also featured as a unit in Age of Empires 3)

Impressed by their unorthodox tactics, other European powers (such as France and Spain) quickly began to hire the Stradioti up into the 16th century. However Stradiots were famous for being rambunctious, rowdy and sometimes disloyal. This unreliability was particularly evident in the Battle of Fornovo, in which they forewent a tactical advantage over the French to loot a baggage train. It was this sort of conduct in battle which led to the Stradiots becoming a rarer and rarer sight on a battlefield into the 16th century.

Hackapell

Hackapells were Finnish light cavalryman who excelled in sudden and savage attacks, raiding and reconnaissance. The term hakkapeliitta comes from the Finnish war cry hakkaa päälle which is most commonly translated as "Cut them down"! The greatest advantage of the fast and lightly-armoured Hakkapeliitta cavalry was its charge. They typically had two pistols, a sword, a helmet, and their horses were stronger and more durable than their Swedish counterparts.

Hackapells were most famously used in the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War (1618 to 1648). Although there is evidence to say that these well trained mercenaries were also used in small regiments by German city states but primarily there were a Swedish mercenary.

Barbary Corsair

Though at least a proportion of them are better described as privateers, the Barbary corsairs were pirates that operated out of Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Salè and ports in Morocco, preying on shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century. As well as attacking trading vessels these pirates also would attack European coastal ports looking for slaves that could be sold into the markets in Africa.

These corsairs were extremely unlikely to be used as troops in an organised army as they are portrayed in Age of Empires III. However it's much possible that ships run by corsairs could be hired in times of need or for a specific cause.

Black Rider

I have found very little evidence to support any major mercenary regiment known as the "black riders". However in Germany especially there are accounts of mounted dragoons acting as mercenary bands. These horsemen would be heavily armoured, with pistols and possibly a lance for hand to hand combat. There were cavalry regiments with similar characteristics to the black riders shown in Age of Empires III well into the 20th century. Remember the Polish cavalry charge against the German panzers!

Manchu

Manchu were fast moving and hard hitting cavalry archers from China and Mongolia. The Manchu preferred to use a much larger and stronger bow than most normal cavalry archers and were very skilled horsemen. The heaviest draw weights of almost 150 lbs!

It's quite possible that professional horse archers would have come west from China especially in Eastern European nations, you must remember that some Mongols still lived on as Tartars around the Crimean until late in the early modern period. However by the late 16th century archery was rapidly vanishing and the market for horse archers in Europe would certainly be vanishing very quickly, replaced by heavily armed cavalry and dragoons armed with superior firearms.

Ronin

Ronin were masterless samurai during the feudal period (1185-1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favour or privilege. Since a ronin doesn't serve any lord, he is no longer a samurai.

Ronin were therefore mercenaries and so it's not particularly surprising that they come up in Age of Empires 3 as an exotic and interesting mercenary unit. However there is very little evidence to support that ronin ever played much of a part in the armies of Europe. In a time when communications and transport was extremely difficult it's thousands of miles of difficult terrain to cross, very few would have ever made it to Europe.

What I have tried to show above is that there is some historical accuracy with the mercenaries in Age of Empires III; ES however tend to use their poetic licence to find the most interesting and exotic units they can to give a variety of different units available to many more nations that they would have been.

By NAT, 8/10/2006