Mercenaries in p1: Bad or Good?

[LienRag]

The more I think of it, the more I believe that the upkeep in metal could be only when they fight and/or are wounded; the rest of the time an upkeep in food may be sufficient.

Also, instead of having to hire all of them at once, a limit to how many mercenaries one can hire on promised pay could be set. As long as this limit has not been reached, it's possible to hire new ones before having settled the debt.

This limit could rise with some techs and also with the loot acquired (mercenaries able to loot are happy mercenaries)...

Needs very careful balancing, but could be really fun to play.