I like that I have to pay the Mercenaries, Hunters, and Knights of Asok, but I agree that the amounts that I have to pay for them is ridiculous. 4.5 gildar for something on par with the basic militia units I can train at the beginning of the game? No thanks. 9 gildar for Knights of Asok? I can train my own Knights who are almost as good (or just as good, if I have the ability that grants Warhorses) and they cost less. Only advantage from the Knights of Asok is that I don't have to use up part of my supply of horses to train them, yet with the small unit size and high cost they really aren't worth having. If they came clad in full Champion Plate Armor with Champion Pikes, well, that would be a very different story, but they seem to be made to be a vaguely elite mercenary force for someone who has skipped researching much of anything in the Warfare Tree (and perhaps the Magic Tree) to use in support of a hero army or two.
Maybe if Knights of Asok, Mercenaries, and Hunters were more consistently available relatively early in the game the cost for having them would be understandable (because then the cost for them would be consistent with the power they provide), but as it stands now they tend to become available late enough in the game (at least, in the games I've played) that I can easily enough produce my own units of equal or better quality, which cost me less in the long run than the Knights and Mercenaries and Hunters, and usually last longer (especially in the case of Mercenaries and Hunters).
