mercenary a song of ice and fire

[Alex Gu]

i never understood the cost of mercenaries in a song of ice and fire due to lanisters hiring mercenaries as extra  soldiers for war of five kings. are mercenaries cheap or does the lanisters have the money to invest in their military plus mercenaries?

[ChuckPunch]

Different companies cost different amounts and it will depend on how many people are trying to hire them. The companies are "companies" after all, they are pretty economically diverse. The Bloody Mummers are cheaper than the Golden Company for example. It seems like Tywin hired some extra muscle while not spending a ton of cash. 

[Adam Yozza]

2 hours ago, ChuckPunch said:

Different companies cost different amounts and it will depend on how many people are trying to hire them. The companies are "companies" after all, they are pretty economically diverse. The Bloody Mummers are cheaper than the Golden Company for example. It seems like Tywin hired some extra muscle while not spending a ton of cash. 

Pretty much. For the most part it seems that the larger the company is the more it costs, with some variation for quality. Then there are the individual sellswords (and freeriders and hedge knights) that swear themselves to a lord during war in exchange (usually) for cash. There's a lot of these guys so they quickly swell the numbers a bit.

[Lykos]

Some jobs are also better left to troups you can easily distance yourself from later on, like rabid dogs and foreigners, and not your loyal bannermen.

There's a tool to every task, as Tywin would say.

 

[Фейсал]

It depends, as others pointed out. I think The Golden Company is likely the priciest of the bunch - then comes the Second Sons and all the other companies after that. 

I doubt sell swords/hedge knights cost enough to live a life of relief, unless it's a very special case like Bronn.

[Dorian Martell's son]

3 hours ago, Alex Gu said:

i never understood the cost of mercenaries in a song of ice and fire due to lanisters hiring mercenaries as extra  soldiers for war of five kings. are mercenaries cheap or does the lanisters have the money to invest in their military plus mercenaries?

Mercenaries will work under a variety of terms. Straight payment like the golden company or the promise of the spoils of war, like the bloody mummers.  

[Lykos]

1 minute ago, Dorian Martell's son said:

Mercenaries will work under a variety of terms. Straight payment like the golden company or the promise of the spoils of war, like the bloody mummers.  

This is true, they will still cost you however, as they won't pay for the journey and will expect food and - err well probably rather camp followers for comfort than actual lodging.

[falcotron]

3 hours ago, Alex Gu said:

i never understood the cost of mercenaries in a song of ice and fire due to lanisters hiring mercenaries as extra  soldiers for war of five kings. are mercenaries cheap or does the lanisters have the money to invest in their military plus mercenaries?

The Lannister have the money.

And that's exactly what you should expect. The Tyrells, for example, are rich because of tons of fertile farmland, which means they can support a huge population, and therefore can raise a huge army just by calling their banners. But the Lannisters are rich more because of gold mines than food, which means they can't support nearly as huge an army, but have extra gold to buy one when needed.

[elder brother jonothor dar]

No need to pay them if they did though, Stannis merchs mostly died and have yet to be paid

[Universal Sword Donor]

19 hours ago, Фейсал said:

It depends, as others pointed out. I think The Golden Company is likely the priciest of the bunch - then comes the Second Sons and all the other companies after that. 

I doubt sell swords/hedge knights cost enough to live a life of relief, unless it's a very special case like Bronn.

Of course the Golden Company is the most expensive. Even ignoring their discipline and reputation re their contracts, they have the most men, mixed combined arms, and several elephants. I don't think we've seen archers in other mercenary companies, let alone a solid 10% of their total numbers.