The Carnage Legion will stick around because I'm not going to junk mercenaries I'm already building an OOB for after just one turn of not being hired.
I had a lot of other mercenary options conceptualised but didn't put into the post whether because they weren't finished to a degree I deemed satisfactory by the personal deadline I set for myself or because with some extra thinking on it I didn't think they made sense to be hireable at this point. I also have some extra characters for each mercenary group squirelled away for later since I was originally going with four characters and two legions of legend each before truncating it to make the deadline and have something to anticipate later.
I also never ended up getting to the detachments or solo-characters or LoLs due to said deadline.
As for the cut mercenary band ideas I had:
- A Drukhari Kabal with an allied Wych Cult and Haemonculi Coven that provides a lot of tier Maximus punch that is very pricy but could have its cost cut down by offering them the POPs of either the enemy or yourself.
- Dawi Mercenaries who specialise in Runecraft, simply not shifting from a position, and the lore of the Old Ones.
- An original Abhuman society who are to the Eldar as the Leagues of Votann are to the Dawi presently labelled as the Epsilon Advent (making the two RTS factions they're a reference to very obvious) who specialise in esoterics but especially Psionics.
- Non T'Au affiliated Kroot Mercenaries because everyone's gotta have some Kroot Mercenaries.
- Greenskin Freebooters who while cheap and recover losses very quickly on their own, need to be involved in at least one combat action every turn or else they'd turn on you.
- Loxatl mercenaries for people who want more sneaky gits to shank people in the dark and particularly want energy weapon resistant newt people to do it.
- Fra'al for lots of psychic shenanigans from weird crystal alien things who match you tier wise.
- Morrallian Deathsworn because you just love toxicity so much you see nothing wrong with neutron irradiation and the oxygen destroyer being parts of your kit.
- Saharduin: Yes the sharkmen are assholes whose primary empire generally associates more with the Druchii, Drukhari, or the Dawi Mornhall more than anything resembling polite company, but they are very hardy fighters and also as an aquatic species are great at taking aquatic territory and have a long history of conflict with the strangers.
- Unsworn Godsbane: Renegade but not Chaotic Space Marines built around the renegade chapter known as the Godsbane who've developed their own military doctrine to support themselves without the Imperium's grace. Have ties with a renegade knight house and hereteks and a rogue trader house who had their writ of trade revoked for shortchanging the Adeptus Terra on the Tithe of the colonies they set up and deciding to run away before the Ordo Apostata and Seditiosus of the Inquisition could send in the Storm Troopers to break their legs. Still wanted by the Inquisitorial Conclave of Tethar.
- Targatron's Terminators: Targatron is a xenos-machine of a make known as the Chalydoteks, which outlived their original makers for reasons they are very cagey about discussing. Tagatron's Terminators are an all machine army that specialises in brutal CQC and warzones that organics might struggle with, and the former Gladiator Bot itself was undefeated in its circuit for a thousand years before the unspecified incident that saw the Hardak Principate disappear leaving behind only its machines with the robots quietly abolishing sapient robotic death games afterwards.
- Fellowship of Yhorm: A band of Jotunar, often known much less specifically as "Giants" that while relatively few in number and of course poor in anything that cannot be improved by giant, highly warp-attuned warrior-mystics partaking in it, are of course fucking magic giants in arcane armour with similarly titanic technology and wondrous artifice to match their near-godly strength and power and the elemental fury they can call upon through the warp's power in their very bodies.
- Scalebound of Lansseax: Dragonkind is often described as having four great houses; the Occidental, the Oriental, the Borealic, the Australic, and the Central. As dragons are naturally proficient shapeshifters, whether they even have a true form or not is a matter of debate, with the preferred manifestation being down to personal taste. But Occidental dragons such as the Scalebound are most associated with a six-limbed body with four legs and two wings, and the Scalebound, though relatively few in number when counting only true, full dragons; have many dragonkin amidst their ranks from the results of dalliances as well as dragon fellowships that seek the wisdom of the dragons. Through their genius minds, they have designed and crafted the equipment of their soldiers, and use it to gain the precious metals and gems that resonate with their magic to serve Lansseax's purposes.
- Kharadron Dawi: Their primary interest is "fuck you pay me" and they are aggressively antithetical to your economic system due to being a literal plutocracy but they will accept any pay they see as valuable in terms of their Aether-Gold note currency. Masters of aerial warfare and capable of absolutely cataclysmic amounts of firepower but as a rule, very unfond of getting close to much of anything. Basically available anywhere and everywhere as they ply the webway.
- Pirates of Syracusa: Space Sartosans who do all the pirate things like hit and run, loads of guns, boarding, and being very good at either giving enemies the slip or preventing them from doing so. Working with them also means that on their honour, other Syracusan pirates aren't going to bother you while they're in your employ.
- Thyrrus Travelling Show: Some of the strangest Sophonts in existence, the Thyrrus seem to be possessed of an absolute conviction that their every action is being judged by some sort of divine "audience" and thus they must live their lives in an entertaining way for them, which extends to their approach to warfare which is entirely based on what is cool and flashy over what would actually be effective, holding them back despite being advanced enough to have plasma guns as standard issue as well as power weapons, and hard-light shielding for even the basic "squid"; putting their baseline of technology at a frightfully high level. However they are seemingly utterly fearless, and incorruptible at that perhaps as a result of their particular delusion.
- Ronin Bands: Soldiers from Allied Asahikyo not bound to present commandates, like Asahikyo itself; the Ronin are extremely diverse with humans only being a plurality of the non-Ayakashi and Seirei inhabitants of the People's Solar Domain. Significantly more aggressive in its approach to warfare than its long ally of Tian'Chao or nearby Gojinguk, the Asahikyojin are often considered the Yang to Gojinguk's Yin and Tian'Chao's balance; though stating this in the presence of those who truly study the three cultures will almost certainly start arguments. In war, the Asahikyojin are often breakneck fast and make extensive usage of transforming or combining vehicles to allow for greater flexibility at the expense of single-role strength as well as their powerful esoterics to further bolster their often strange technology.
- Nagaji Sorcerer Legions: The Nagaji of Khuredesh are some of the longest running rivals of the Tian'Chao and were some of the very first to embrace Darkness, but they are not Eidolons; instead being things with free will and the ability to decide their natures. And they are quite fond of the irony of the Tianren's pupils reaching out to the hypnotic serpent masters for aid. The Nagaji's greatest Empire is one of slavers and mind controllers who compel the enslaved to direct worship towards them and their gods, but they are honourable; a contract is a contract, and they have no love for destructive forces that would threaten their dominions, and perhaps even the serpent can be taught redemption.
- More Ogor bands: You know 'em, you love 'em.
- Ithilmani Techno-Eldar: The Ithilmani are the descendants of those who broke away from the decaying Old Witch Kingdom and decided to focus not on the works of the gods and mysticism, but instead technology and science, seeking to unlock the mysteries of Windstones and true, non-psychically pupetted robots. Sometimes derided as "Necrons born in the wrong bodies", the Ithilmani have extensively studied the science of space and time, developing the famed Chronospheres among other inventions to strike at foes who might have some awareness of how the Webway works; and the much feared Paradox Engines able to stop time itself to allow their forces to kill the now defenceless foes at their leisure until the Paradox Engine requires recharging. However, they require payment in Soulstones, having little interest in more conventional resources, and their psychic abilities are more stunted compared to many other Eldar.
