Yeah, i'm sticking with the same couple of mercs.
I don't know what you mean by 'Rifle Company'
I've using the Savant from Sloppy Moes. He's retarded, but a damn good shot.
I gave my non-combatants pistols because of the low recoil. (I forget how the recoil mechanic works, but it's like a skill-check for ranged damage skill, I think?)
I also drag them along just for the respect bonus.
As for Hunting, you are hard-capped on attempts per day. If you show up first thing in the morning, you get four attempts before it gets dark.
I'm not sure where to invest, to be honest. There's the place near the hunting ground, but a lot of the others look like shady ventures that will likely either not pay off or give me big negatives.
Once I get the annex up, I guess I can hire more slaves and have them work menial jobs for free income, while I work on training my main two.
Huh, havn't had a food shortage yet.
True.
Not sure, but the mercs aren't a loss. If you keep the same two mercs around long term, and one of them is Rifle Savant (who is basically free) then maintaining the two mercs barely costs anything once you've bought them armour.
It's 60c for Aiko and 3c for RS. With the two of them (and my now one capable rifle-slave) I can hunt bandits for cash.
Bandits with guns are still threatening, but if i'm lucky I can win.
Melee enemies are kind of a joke. Getting a full round of attacks off for free before they can reach me is a huge advantage.